After the Emperor confined Prince Liang, Li Mingrui had an audience with the Emperor, saying that he knew Prince Liang and had shared the bond of providing disaster relief in Yanwo. He wanted to send a few people to Prince Liang’s mansion to care for Prince Liang. The Emperor thought Li Mingrui was showing consideration for his old friendship with Prince Liang, so he had the hidden guards turn a blind eye and specifically instructed the Crown Prince not to interfere.

As for Prince Liang in Prince Liang’s mansion, Li Mingrui’s explanation was that he feared Prince Liang possessed correspondence between Left Chancellor Li Mao and the Second Prince, and worried that if Prince Liang were to die, he would drag someone down with him. So he provided extra care, while also sending people to monitor him.

Since Li Mingrui frequently sent people to secretly deliver food, necessities, and servants to serve Prince Liang, Prince Liang’s mansion was filled with Li Mingrui’s people. When the hidden guards saw the side gate porter of Prince Liang’s mansion open the door to let Wang Qiulu in, they didn’t think much of it, assuming it was Li Mingrui’s people going in to deliver something to Prince Liang.

Li Mingrui had played this hand extremely beautifully…

Old Fang’s hand, resting on his leg, moved slightly. Sensing that the Crown Prince no longer suspected Bai Qingyan but had turned his suspicion toward Prince Liang and Li Mingrui, he nodded calmly: “Exactly…”

“Could it be that this is a treacherous scheme set by Prince Liang and Li Mingrui to drive a wedge between me and Princess Zhenguo? Otherwise, why wouldn’t Li Mingrui let you tell me that he contributed to this matter? Instead of having you instruct me not to let Left Chancellor know about this!” The Crown Prince rested his elbow on the armrest of his chair. “No matter how I think about it… It’s strange!”

“If that’s the case, why not send someone to summon both Li Mingrui and Princess Zhenguo for a face-to-face confrontation?” Old Fang said.

The Crown Prince lifted his eyelids to look at Old Fang, not concealing his displeasure with Old Fang’s persistent targeting of Princess Zhenguo: “Just when I entered the palace to report the good news to Father Emperor, Princess Zhenguo’s condition became critical. Madam Qin sought an imperial physician at the Crown Prince’s mansion. How do you expect Princess Zhenguo to come to confront you?! Didn’t you know that Quan Yu just summoned imperial physicians to rush to Princess Zhenguo’s mansion? Old Fang… at your advanced age, why do you always make things difficult for Princess Zhenguo, a child who is loyal to me and willing to sacrifice her life for me!”

Old Fang heard the displeasure in the Crown Prince’s voice and quickly knelt to kowtow: “Your Highness, please calm your anger. This old one… truly didn’t know Princess Zhenguo was unwell!”

“Enough, enough! Your prejudice against Princess Zhenguo has long been ingrained in your bones! Someone…” the Crown Prince called out loudly, “Go! Summon Li Mingrui to the Crown Prince’s mansion immediately!”

The Crown Prince’s guards outside the main hall responded affirmatively.

The Crown Prince rubbed his aching temples, feeling that this day’s troublesome matters were endless!

This Prince Liang was truly good at causing trouble, just like weeds in a corner that couldn’t be stamped out no matter how hard you tried…

This Li Mingrui was also truly loyal to Prince Liang. Even after Prince Liang’s failed rebellion and forced abdication, he still remained devoted and wholeheartedly served Prince Liang. The Crown Prince couldn’t keep such a person around to cause trouble for himself!

After all, Li Mingrui was the Left Chancellor’s son. Who knew whether the Left Chancellor might side with Prince Liang in the future?

The Crown Prince suddenly froze, wondering if Left Chancellor had already joined Prince Liang’s faction.

“Send someone to summon Minister of the Court of Judicial Review Lu Jin! His Court lost a prisoner… he owes me an explanation!” The Crown Prince’s expression was grave.

“Yes!” Ren Shijie quickly rose and went out to relay the order.

“Take these three away! Just looking at them irritates me!” The Crown Prince pointed at Wang Qiulu, the jailer, and the Shouyang gambler kneeling on the ground.

The Crown Prince’s guards responded and entered to take the three away.

Only the Crown Prince and Old Fang remained in the main hall. Old Fang was still kneeling and hadn’t risen. The Crown Prince felt utterly powerless: “Alright, alright, you can get up too!”

“Thank you, Your Highness!” Old Fang supported himself on a nearby chair and shakily stood up.

Seeing Old Fang, who had always been loyally devoted to him, in this state, the Crown Prince’s heart softened slightly, and he spoke: “Old Fang, it’s not that I’m criticizing you! Setting aside the fact that Princess Zhenguo is my savior, just consider the present situation… Great Liang is still at war! If you make Princess Zhenguo sick with anger, with Bai Jinzhi’s firecracker-like temper, even if it means disobeying my orders, she would kill her way back to fight you to the death. Do you believe that or not?”

Old Fang thought of Bai Jinzhi’s straightforward temperament and nodded repeatedly: “Your Highness speaks truly!”

The Crown Prince sighed: “With Princess Zhenguo’s physical condition, do you need to be so guarded against her? I doubt she can even last until the end of this year! Even if Princess Zhenguo were in perfect health, if you found her an eyesore and wanted to eliminate her, this isn’t the time! Jin and Great Liang are still fighting. This is when we’re counting on the Bai family. Not to mention that Princess Zhenguo is loyal to me! Even if Princess Zhenguo harbored ill intentions toward me, I couldn’t deal with her at this time. Do you understand?!”

Hearing these words, Old Fang knelt again: “This old one has failed Your Highness’s trust. This old one… this old one only saw Your Highness increasingly trusting Princess Zhenguo and feared Your Highness might be bewitched by Princess Zhenguo. To be honest with Your Highness, this old one has always felt that Princess Zhenguo is not entirely loyal to Your Highness.”

“Old Fang…” the Crown Prince suppressed the anger in his voice, “I’m not a fool. Could I be played by a woman?! Or in your heart, am I just an idiot?! Don’t you know that your constant targeting of Princess Zhenguo greatly annoys me?”

“Your Highness, please forgive me!” Old Fang quickly kowtowed.

“Enough, enough! Get up! Don’t kneel at every turn!” The Crown Prince lifted his hot tea and took a sip. “From now on, don’t suspect Princess Zhenguo of everything. I know your caution in this matter is also for my sake. When Li Mingrui arrives, we’ll know the truth with one question. Naturally… we can’t just listen to Li Mingrui’s side of the story. We also need to hear what Princess Zhenguo has to say.”

“Your Highness, when this old one suggested having both Princess Zhenguo and Li Mingrui come for a confrontation, it wasn’t to make things difficult for Princess Zhenguo. Both Li Mingrui and Princess Zhenguo are eloquent people. Only through an unprepared face-to-face confrontation can the truth emerge! These are the old ones’ sincere words… please, Your Highness, discern clearly!” Old Fang kowtowed heavily.

The Crown Prince’s brow furrowed as he leaned back against his chair. Old Fang’s words seemed to make sense. Only by having the two of them confront each other could they determine who was truly responsible for this matter.

After all, Bai Qingyan wasn’t entirely without motive. That Wang Jianghai had used Bai Qingyan’s fourth uncle Bai Qichuan’s jade pendant to trick Bai Qingyan into the Court of Judicial Review’s prison, specifically to beg Bai Qingyan to save Wang Jianghai’s son Wang Qiulu.

The Crown Prince raised his hand to touch the corner of his mouth: “But Princess Zhenguo’s condition has deteriorated to that extent. A confrontation would be difficult!”

Old Fang was about to speak when a young eunuch entered with quick steps, bowed to the Crown Prince, and said: “Your Highness, Princess Zhenguo’s second sister Madam Qin, has brought people and requests an audience. Also returning with her are the nanny from the Crown Princess’s side and the imperial physician.”

The Crown Prince sat up straight: “Quickly invite them in!”

The young eunuch acknowledged and left the main hall to go outside and escort Bai Jinxiu.

“You should get up first!” The Crown Prince still wanted to preserve Old Fang’s dignity.