In Emperor Youning’s twenty-third year, the Crown Prince passed away.

Regarding that chaotic night, mysteries abound. Even those who witnessed the entire event or participated in it could not see through this complex assassination plot.

The Emperor faced an assassination attempt, and Prince Jing was accused of rebellion.

Why did Prince Jing rebel? Was it merely because of the defeat at Minjiang River and the Emperor’s severe punishment excluding him from power? This hardly seemed sufficient reason for Prince Jing’s rebellion, as the barely twenty-year-old prince had countless other ways to bide his time and make a comeback.

Moreover, Prince Jing only mobilized the Lingwei Army for his rebellion. Could he truly have been naive enough to attempt rebellion with such limited forces, yet still have been capable of governing Annan?

Furthermore, how did Prince Jing mobilize the Lingwei Army, which only moved on imperial orders? Afterward, His Majesty executed the Lingwei Army’s general and two lieutenant generals, claiming they were deceived by Prince Jing.

The civil and military officials found this hard to believe. There must have been more to the story, but with His Majesty’s explanation, the officials had no choice but to accept it.

Beyond Prince Jing’s unclear rebellion, the Third Prince’s death remained a mystery.

When the Third Prince intercepted Prince Jing at the Furong Garden gates, how did the Imperial Guards, Lingwei Army, Jinwu Guards, and the Five Cities Military Command become entangled in mutual slaughter? How did this lead to the Third Prince’s death at the hands of the Lingwei Army?

How did assassins infiltrate the Imperial Guards protecting Furong Garden, and why were there two groups of assassins?

When Prince Jing arrived shouting that he came to save the Emperor, why did His Majesty trust him so readily, allowing him to approach?

These strange, unsolved questions left the officials afraid to investigate deeper. This was royal family bloodshed, beyond their right to comment.

The Crown Prince died saving the Emperor, who ordered the Ministry of Rites to arrange a state funeral with the imperial ceremony.

The court was suspended for three days as the nation mourned.

Prince Jing, captured by the Northwestern Prince and his son, was imprisoned in the imperial dungeon without trial.

Everything would be dealt with after the Crown Prince’s burial.

White cloth draped the Eastern Palace and everyone within wore mourning attire. Shen Xihe wore a plain white dress, her black hair flowing like a waterfall, with a white silk flower at her temple, appearing cold and thin.

Today was the Crown Prince’s burial, but she did not attend. She had fainted while keeping vigil yesterday, and the Imperial Physician-in-Chief ordered her to rest in bed.

Considering the child in her womb, neither His Majesty nor the Censorate commented further, so she remained in the Eastern Palace to recuperate.

“Your Highness, the Third Prince Consort requests an audience.”

Shen Xihe was folding Xiao Huayong’s old clothes. These were garments he had worn before; after their marriage, she had made many clothes for him. This time when he left, he took some unworn ones with him.

Hearing Tianyuan’s report from outside, Shen Xihe remained silent for a moment before saying, “Receive her in the Small Elegant Pavilion.”

With the Crown Prince’s state funeral and Li Yanyan also widowed, Li Yanyan, who usually wore bright reds and purples, now wore plain white. She looked even more haggard than Shen Xihe, her eyes red with exhaustion.

Seeing Shen Xihe, she still performed a courtesy.

Shen Xihe raised her hand slightly, not wanting to exchange pleasantries: “Third Sister-in-law, speak directly of why you’ve come.”

Li Yanyan’s lifeless eyes were hollow, having lost their usual vitality. She spoke directly: “Crown Prince Consort, I’ve come with a request.”

Shen Xihe looked at her calmly, waiting for her to continue.

Li Yanyan handed Shen Xihe the note received at Shen Yingruo’s wedding: “Crown Prince Consort, could you help me find who delivered this?”

At this point, she shed her listlessness, her eyes fixed intently on Shen Xihe, revealing her suspicion and attempt to probe.

Shen Xihe lowered her gaze to glance at it: “Third Sister-in-law, you believe the Third Prince’s death was caused by whoever sent you this message?”

“Is it not?” Li Yanyan’s hateful gaze blazed like an erupting volcano as if wanting to burn someone to ashes.

She suspected Shen Xihe without reason or evidence, purely on instinct.

Facing Li Yanyan’s twisted expression, mockery spread through Shen Xihe’s calm eyes: “You’re wrong. The one who drove the Third Prince to his death was you!”

“You’re talking nonsense!” Li Yanyan shrilly protested.

Shen Xihe remained composed, facing the enraged Li Yanyan: “The Third Prince went with death in mind, and you were the one who drove him to it.”

Xiao Zhengchen and Li Yanyan had tormented each other for over a decade. Too many events had left Xiao Zhengchen physically and mentally exhausted until he finally had no strength left to continue their entanglement, so he chose death.

Perhaps he had contemplated suicide long ago, but as a royal son, if he died because of his wife, His Majesty would not spare Li Yanyan or the Li family.

He needed a way to escape that would leave no one to blame. This time he seized the opportunity, deliberately not dodging that fatal blow.

His thoughts were likely deeper than most imagined. He probably knew all this was connected to the Eastern Palace and guessed that the Eastern Palace would prevail again, so he cooperated with them as much as possible.

The Eastern Palace wanted him to intercept Xiao Longyan, so he did. They wanted the four armies to fight each other, so he cooperated with Xiao Longyan to create mutual slaughter, giving the Jinwu Guards, Imperial Guards, Lingwei Army, and Five Cities Military Command no chance to think deeply.

With Xiao Zhengchen’s deliberate misdirection and “Xiao Longyan’s” intentional creation of conflict, the four forces became locked in bitter combat.

Probably seeing that “Xiao Longyan” wanted to escape, Xiao Zhengchen let him go.

By helping Xiao Huayong’s plan succeed perfectly, he only asked that Xiao Huayong allow him and his wife to be buried together.

These words reached Shen Xihe after the person impersonating Xiao Longyan successfully withdrew.

Shen Xihe had expected Li Yanyan to follow in death, but after waiting so long without movement, it turned out Li Yanyan simply refused to accept that her delusional obsession had tormented Xiao Zhengchen.

Looking at her now, evading, lashing out in all directions, trying to find a self-deceptive reason to shift blame and convince herself it wasn’t her fault but still her beloved’s – this Li Yanyan.

Shen Xihe thought of Xiao Huayong, who took a sword wound for her and was rushed unconscious from the capital. He could have chosen another way to fake his death, just as Xiao Changtai had done years ago – through fire or flood, leaving nobody to be found, able to return once healed.

But he deliberately cut off his path to becoming emperor. Even if he could heal, he could never return. Crown Prince Xiao Huayong would no longer exist in this world; Crown Prince Xiao Huayong was buried in the imperial tomb.

“You are not worthy of the Third Prince’s wholehearted devotion.”

These words shocked Li Yanyan’s mind blank. She suddenly pulled a dagger from her sleeve and lunged at Shen Xihe.

But before she could reach Shen Xihe, a flying figure kicked her away.

Mo Yu stood in front of Shen Xihe, shielding her behind him, looking at Li Yanyan as if she were already dead.

“Shen Xihe, if you don’t kill me today, I will never let this end!” Li Yanyan propped up her upper body, staring at Shen Xihe with ghostly viciousness.