With everything arranged, Shen Xi He could finally focus on recovering. She was truly exhausted now, even walking a few steps left her breathless, but she still insisted on walking. Despite the dizziness, falling, and getting bruised, despite labored breathing, she persisted to her limit.
Fortunately, Xie Yunhuai was at the Princess’s residence and could monitor her physical limits at any time. After two days of such determined persistence, Shen Xi He could finally leave her bed and walk from her room to the courtyard and back by herself.
During this time, Mo Yuan had identified those monitoring the Princess’s residence and reported to Shen Xi He: “Princess, that person accidentally fell into the water and died on the twelfth.”
Shen Yun’an had left the capital on the tenth of September, she was targeted on the eleventh, and this person died the next day.
“Their identity?” This was within Shen Xi He’s expectations; she wasn’t disappointed.
The perpetrator was meticulous in planning, cautious in consideration but bold in execution.
“He was a commoner, orphaned, widowed, idle all day, without even two fixed places to stay. He rarely interacted with others. We couldn’t trace who contacted him or who assigned him to watch outside the residence,” Mo Yuan deeply realized for the first time how profound the scheming in the capital could be.
“What about the other two?” Shen Xi He asked.
“One is from a farming family, his mother was a former maid of the Ye family, relatives of Prince Ding’s wife.” Mo Yuan had investigated these two thoroughly. “The other is also a street idler, who contacted a distant nephew of Minister Hu of the Ministry of Rites’ wife.”
“Prince Ding and Hu Zhengyang.” Shen Xi He smiled lightly. “Indeed, Prince Ding is advancing by appearing to retreat.”
Prince Ding had cleverly chosen to keep a low profile from the start, but unfortunately, the princes were all clever, and his tricks hadn’t fooled all his brothers. After being exposed twice, especially the second time when he tried to interfere with military power, his ambitions became obvious to all.
At this point, with Emperor Youning’s disdain, his attempts to gather support and secretly cultivate followers were nothing but wishful thinking.
So he seized an opportunity, took a big gamble, helped the Emperor solve an urgent problem, and once again appeared to withdraw from the competition for the throne.
It’s worth noting that the Emperor was in his prime; barring accidents, he could reign for another ten or twenty years easily. Who knew what changes those years might bring?
He was cleverly converting from visibility to invisibility once again.
“He certainly likes using his wife’s people,” Shen Xi He rather disliked Prince Ding, who was as timid as the rats she despised most.
“Princess, should we arrest these two for questioning?” Mo Yuan asked for instructions.
“Let them be,” Shen Xi He raised her hand slightly. “What about the autumn grain robbery case?”
“It’s complex. Two million shi of grain vanished into thin air. After the grain was intercepted, the County Magistrate immediately sealed the city gates, and the Provincial Governor sent people to search, but they couldn’t find a single grain of rice,” Mo Yuan found it incredible.
“Grain can be stored for long periods. In suitable mountain or forest conditions, it can be hidden for a year or more without issue.” The dynasty collected grain as tax.
For some reason, Shen Xi He suddenly connected the autumn grain matter with Xiao Huayong.
She felt that his departure from the capital at this time might not be unrelated to this matter.
She wasn’t sure if he went to investigate or to handle the aftermath.
She couldn’t figure it out just by imagination, but since it likely involved the Ministry of Revenue, Shen Xi He wanted to hear more. She still wanted to replace Minister of Revenue Dong Biquan soon, unable to let the Emperor continue secretly depleting the treasury.
After sunset, someone knocked at the back door, delivering a letter to the Princess’s residence and into Shen Xi He’s hands.
It was sent by Cui Jinbai, who had investigated various government offices in the capital and not only found the person Shen Xi He was looking for but also discovered that many noble households in the capital had been removing death row prisoners from prisons for various shadowy purposes.
Though the person was found, Cui Jinbai hadn’t confirmed all the details yet. He sent word first to keep Shen Xi He informed, promising to visit personally once the investigation was complete.
With a lead, Shen Xi He became even more patient. Cui Jinbai worked extremely efficiently and came to visit the next afternoon.
He had just arrived and Shen Xi He had barely invited him to sit when Bu Shulin rushed in.
“You neglect your duties daily, aren’t you afraid of being impeached by the censors?” Cui Jinbai frowned upon seeing her, as Bu Shulin was supposed to be on duty today.
He was an upright and diligent person who despised idleness and incompetence, especially wastrels like Bu Shulin who never understood the meaning of responsibility!
“If I were like you, treating the Imperial Guard as my residence and establishing authority there, I wouldn’t need to worry about censors’ impeachment—His Majesty wouldn’t tolerate me in the first place,” Bu Shulin sat down carelessly, giving him a sideways glance.
Then she looked at Shen Xi He with affectionate eyes: “Censor Tao knows of my friendship with the Princess and won’t impeach me.”
The Censorate had frequently impeached Bu Shulin before, only easing their scrutiny after Shen Xi He arrived in the capital.
Initially hearing her first comment, Cui Jinbai felt somewhat guilty, not having considered her difficult position. But before he could speak, he heard Bu Shulin’s latter remark and became so angry his nostrils flared.
Ignoring her completely, he composed himself and addressed Shen Xi He: “Princess, this death row prisoner was named Zhang Zhuo, from Suzhou. He committed robbery and murder in the capital, killing a family of three for money, and was sentenced to execution after autumn, with not many days left to live.
But on the Double Ninth Festival, he suddenly fell ill, foaming at the mouth, and after examination by the prison’s medicine woman, was pronounced dead. He was then dragged out of the prison and placed in the public mortuary, waiting for relatives to claim the body.”
Pausing briefly, Cui Jinbai continued: “The prison’s medicine woman was bribed and had done many such deals. Zhang Zhuo was alone in the world, and the medicine woman deceived him about having a serious illness that would prove fatal, so he took this job. This official has learned from the medicine woman that Zhang Zhuo’s life was bought by an examination candidate named Fu Jin, a poor scholar from Xianming Commandery.”
The result was unexpected to Shen Xi He, who asked: “Does Fu Jin have close connections with any officials or nobles?”
Would a poor examination candidate dare to attempt her assassination?
Cui Jinbai shook his head: “He doesn’t associate with others, and neighbors have never seen wealthy or noble people visiting his residence.”
“Xianming Commandery…” Shen Xi He narrowed her eyes. “I vaguely recall that the Bian family’s ancestral home is in Xianming.”
“Princess, you mean the Bian family of the former Minister of Works?” Cui Jinbai asked.
“Yes,” Shen Xi He nodded.
“Isn’t Bian Xianyi the only one left in the Bian family?” Bu Shulin said after taking a few sips of tea. “Do you have grievances with Bian Xianyi?”
“There was some friction, but not enough for her to try to kill me,” Shen Xi He felt something was strange. She wouldn’t marry Sixth Prince Xiao Changyu, so there was no conflict of interest with Bian Xianyi.
Bian Xianyi just wanted to live well, and shouldn’t want to provoke her.
“Why worry about it? I’ll go arrest her and torture her…” Bu Shulin stopped halfway through speaking as she met Cui Jinbai’s cold gaze. “Alright, alright, I know torture is your specialty. I won’t steal your moment to shine.”