Although Duke Xu was politely declining, his tone carried no real conviction.

Other officials could sever their ties with Prince Yan, but the Xu Family were Prince Yan’s maternal relatives — a bond of blood that could never truly be severed no matter what.

And now Prince Yan had come in person, speaking with such humble deference. Both reason and sentiment made it impossible for Duke Xu to simply turn his back on him.

This reaction had been well within Prince Yan’s expectations.

Prince Yan was undaunted, his expression remaining earnest and sincere. “Uncle’s years are advanced, and you hold no active post at court at present. I would never presume to task Uncle with anything. I only hope that Uncle might lend me quiet support behind the scenes. As long as loyal hearts remain, I can weather this period of difficulty, and better days will come.”

Weather this period of difficulty, and better days will come?

Duke Xu was momentarily stunned, staring at Prince Yan in a daze.

Matters had already come to this pass — to simply preserve oneself would already be no small achievement. Yet Prince Yan still harbored hope for “better days”?

Should one call this man blindly overconfident? Or should one praise him for an unyielding resilience that refused to be discouraged?

Prince Yan seemed to divine what was running through Duke Xu’s mind and gave a faint smile. “What is it? Does Uncle feel that what I say is sheer fantasy? Or that I am overestimating my own abilities?”

Duke Xu gave a somewhat embarrassed cough and found he could not quite meet Prince Yan’s eyes directly. “Your Highness misunderstands — I had no such thought.”

Prince Yan fixed his gaze steadily on Duke Xu, his voice slow and resolute. “It would be understandable if you did think so. Right now, who knows how many people are secretly looking on, waiting to delight in my downfall. The more things stand this way, the more I cannot allow myself to retreat and fall at this point.”

“I intend to let everyone watch — that even without Imperial Mother standing behind me, I can still win Imperial Father’s regard and favor. Those who abandon me now will, one day in the future, regret the choice they made today.”

“Uncle, I came today for two reasons: first, to tell you of my resolve; second, to earnestly ask that you stand with me. At a time like this, I need your support.”

“Should the day come that I claim the throne, the Xu Family shall be elevated to the highest rank among court officials and enjoy wealth and honor for all their days.”

These words were both stirring and powerfully persuasive.

Duke Xu’s heart surged with a tremor of excitement. Looking at the hope and expectation burning in Prince Yan’s eyes, the ambition that had been extinguished within him stirred again, restless and eager.

Great fortune is won through great risk!

If Prince Yan fell completely, the Xu Family would be merely eking out a miserable survival.

So be it — one more gamble!

Duke Xu clenched his jaw and said with a solemn expression, “If Your Highness has any command, I shall not refuse!”

He had finally persuaded that stubborn old man!

Prince Yan inwardly breathed a quiet sigh of relief, a small smile of ease and release appearing on his face. “I will not disappoint Uncle’s expectations.”

For the sake of one Xu Qian, Duke Xu had gone straight to the Emperor without care or scruple to denounce Princess Changping — thinking of all this, Prince Yan could not have been completely free of resentment. But the predicament he currently faced gave him no latitude for willfulness. He could only bow his proud head, rebuild morale, gradually piece together the wreckage, and find his way out of this hardship.

Over the following days, Prince Yan quietly paid personal visits to a number of powerful officials. Without exception, these were all men who had previously supported him — men whose attitudes had since grown ambiguous and unclear.

Prince Yan calling on them personally might not win back every heart. But it did demonstrate a side of himself that earned their appreciation. Prince Yan’s faction of followers, which had been on the verge of complete collapse, was for the time being somewhat steadied.

As for Lu Ping — his rank and position were not yet such that he would merit Prince Yan calling on him personally.

Lu Ping had spent these recent days in a state of unease and gnawing regret.

That Princess Changping had been secretly plotting to kill her Prince Consort — he had vaguely sensed something of the sort beforehand. He had even written back to Princess Changping, obliquely assuring her that he would ensure Lu Hong would dutifully become her Prince Consort.

He had been calculating cleverly, hoping to exploit this to attach himself to Prince Yan’s cause. But as things turned out, the Prince Consort was dead, Princess Changping had earned the notorious reputation of a wife who had murdered her own husband, and she had been sent to Ciyun Convent.

Ciyun Convent sat in a remote and obscure location. Common folk knew only that it was a place for female members of the imperial and noble families to take religious vows and practice Buddhism. Only a small number of people truly understood what those three characters of Ciyun Convent signified.

It was called a convent, but in reality it was little different from a prison cell. Once a person entered Ciyun Convent, they would never expect to come out again.

This move in the game had been a catastrophically wrong one!

Within the span of a single month, Princess Changping had entered Ciyun Convent, the Empress had been deposed, and Prince Yan’s followers had been defecting and losing faith one after another.

The more Lu Ping thought on it, the more he was consumed with regret.

Sadly, there was no remedy for regret in this world. The Lu Family had long since quietly pledged loyalty to Prince Yan, and he, as the Ministry of War’s Bureau Chief, had done quite a few things in secret on Prince Yan’s behalf.

Having done what ought and ought not to have been done, it was now too late to try to extricate himself and step aside.

“Second Uncle,” a familiar voice sounded near his ear.

Lu Ping collected himself and looked at the young man before him.

Tall and standing straight, with a handsome and refined countenance, outstanding in talent and learning, able to produce polished phrases at will, scholarly and elegant in bearing, with a manner that commanded admiration — wherever he stood, Lu Hong was invariably dazzling.

He was the most accomplished of the Lu Family’s younger generation, the hope of those who came after him. Sadly, he had now become entangled in this wretched affair — and who could say whether it would affect him.

Lu Ping could not suppress a sigh. “A’Hong, sit down. I have words for you.”

Lu Hong silently took a seat. The handsome lines of his brow and eyes carried a shadow of gloom.

Lu Ping gently comforted Lu Hong. “I know that these past days you have heard no shortage of idle gossip. You have been wronged.”

The matter of Princess Changping murdering her Prince Consort had, evidently with someone behind the scenes fanning the flames, been spread from street to alley until everyone knew of it. In the rumors, Lu Hong was cast as the dazzlingly handsome young man who had bewitched Princess Changping until she lost her senses — and thus the true culprit behind the Prince Consort’s death.

Among the students at the Imperial Academy, there was no shortage of well-connected sons of noble houses, who recounted the scenes of Lu Hong and Princess Changping’s private meetings in such vivid detail it was as though they had witnessed it themselves.

And yet Lu Hong had no way to refute any of it.

Even if it had not been of his own willing, the intimacy between him and Princess Changping was something real and undeniable. He had not killed his neighbor, yet his neighbor had died because of him. In the death of Prince Consort Xu, he could not escape blame.

Buffeted by the swirling gossip, Lu Hong had had no choice but to request leave and shut himself away within the Lu estate. He had been shut in for more than ten days, until the confinement left him agitated, ill-tempered, and inwardly wretched.

Then, thinking again of the bewitchingly beautiful Princess Changping, fallen from her high branch into the abyss, suffering within Ciyun Convent — Lu Hong felt increasingly unsettled.

He had never genuinely liked Princess Changping. Every visit had been under Lu Ping’s coaxing and coercion to attend the Princess’s manor. But whatever the circumstances, there had been this brief entanglement between them. Princess Changping had harbored a deep infatuation for him, and over time, even the coldest heart could not have remained entirely unmoved.

Lu Hong lowered his head, replying listlessly, “Second Uncle need not worry about me. I can endure this trifling matter.” He paused, then continued, “The talk in the capital is too loud. In a few days, I shall return to Jizhou to stay for a while. When a year or two have passed and things have quieted down, I shall come back to the capital.”

Lu Ping nodded with relieved approval. “That would be for the best — avoid the brunt of it for a time.”

While the uncle and nephew were conversing in lowered voices, the door of the study was rapped upon with urgency. “Reporting to the Master — His Highness Prince Yan has arrived.”