Madam Yang hastily stood up and rushed out of the room. The Marquis of Guangping stood by the window watching her hurried figure, his expression indifferent.

How could he have married such a foolish woman back then? Not only was she stupid herself, but she had dragged Fei Zhan down with her instigation, placing the entire family over a raging fire to be roasted!

His fists clenched so tightly they creaked and ached. Ever since Princess Consort Gong, née Yang, returned to the capital and summoned his wife for a talk, he should have been on guard. Imperial family matters were simply not something they could meddle in—the Su Family was a cautionary tale right before their eyes!

But things had reached this point. He had already lost one eldest son and absolutely could not make any more mistakes that would displease His Majesty. The Marquis of Guangping felt a chill in his heart. He found Prince Gong terrifyingly formidable—he had actually managed to deceive Fei Zhan into committing such a grave error by helping him escape, and had even planted people inside the Imperial Guard. He could only hope that Madam Yang would prove to be a useful pawn, that she could salvage some of the mistakes Fei Zhan had made—Fei Zhan had probably been killed by the mole in the Imperial Guard. Otherwise, with the Imperial Guard’s capabilities, making someone unable to live or die as they wished was all too simple. How could they possibly make the mistake of letting a prisoner die so easily?

His guess was correct. Both Lai Chenglong and Chen Ping had faces dark as iron as they stared at each other, especially Chen Ping. Although he was only an Assistant Commander of the Imperial Guard and Lai Chenglong’s subordinate, his anger could no longer be concealed. Looking at Lai Chenglong, he felt utterly humiliated. “Our Imperial Guard has never had a case where we couldn’t interrogate a prisoner and had to rely on His Majesty to step in!”

For the invincible Imperial Guard, this was simply the greatest humiliation.

Lai Chenglong was somewhat calmer than him. Seeing the usually silent and cold-faced King of Hell this agitated, he felt somewhat helpless. “There’s no helping it. The Marquis of Guangping did His Majesty a favor back in the day, and His Majesty still wants to leave him a way out. We can consider this a lucky accident.”

Back when Prince Tai rebelled, the Marquis of Guangping, who had also been invited to Prince Tai’s manor for a banquet, had grabbed Emperor Jianzhang when escaping. Emperor Jianzhang actually cherished this old sentiment quite deeply.

Chen Ping let out a scornful laugh. “But how can you be certain the Marquis of Guangping wasn’t involved? Running to His Majesty to suggest this idea—you’ve really outdone yourself. What if the Marquis of Guangping and Madam Yang are in cahoots and have long been Prince Gong’s lackeys?!”

Lai Chenglong knew that Chen Ping was under tremendous pressure now, so he didn’t press him, sighing and shaking his head. “I don’t know, so we’ll just have to wait and see.”

He had taken that young girl’s advice. He had arrested the Marquis of Guangping’s heir, Fei Zhan, and brought him back, but before they could interrogate him, Fei Zhan was already dead—his throat slit with a blade. But for someone who had fallen into the Imperial Guard’s hands, even seeking death was difficult. Without someone helping him, he wouldn’t have died so swiftly and silently.

With Fei Zhan dead, the lead was cut off—all the other people exposed by Elder Du were just small fry who knew nothing about such critical, confidential matters.

Song Chuyi had suggested he go find Emperor Jianzhang and have the Emperor summon the Marquis of Guangping to help. At the time, he had been ready to arrest the Marquis of Guangping and interrogate him first, but Song Chuyi’s words made him stop and reconsider. After thinking it through repeatedly, he adopted her suggestion and truthfully told Emperor Jianzhang about the possible mole for Prince Gong within the Imperial Guard, asking the Emperor for help. This way, the traitor hiding in the Imperial Guard would have no choice but to expose themselves—if the Marquis of Guangping was truly involved, he faced the disaster of clan extermination and would certainly try to save himself. To save himself, he couldn’t avoid contacting Prince Gong’s people. If he wasn’t involved, he would naturally cooperate even more with the Imperial Guard to deceive his wife into seeking help from the traitor. Looking at the current situation, the latter possibility seemed more likely. That young girl Song Chuyi’s guess was remarkably accurate—the Marquis of Guangping himself had nothing to do with this matter.

He was deep in thought when Liu Tong came running in from outside, wiping away sweat and interrupting his discussion with Chen Ping. Somewhat hesitantly, he said, “My lord, Madam Yang—Madam Yang didn’t leave the house all afternoon. She only sent a maid out to order a table of food from Lion’s Tower.”

Chen Ping was somewhat surprised—after the Jia Yingxin affair, Lion’s Tower had been taken over by Lai Chenglong. He was well aware of this and had even mocked Lai Chenglong for his black-on-black tactics.

Lai Chenglong was even more surprised, his brows knitted tightly, the ominous premonition in his heart growing heavier. After a long moment, he asked, “And then?”

Liu Tong scratched his head, looking troubled. Finally, with a bitter expression, he said timidly, “And then… that table of food was delivered to the Marquis of Guangping’s manor by Dazhi, the kitchen helper, along with some waiters. Then Dazhi hurried out and went home.”

Chen Ping looked at Lai Chenglong.

Lai Chenglong seemed both incredulous and yet as if it was only natural. A trace of understanding actually appeared between his brows. “So that’s how it is,” he said, then let out several bitter laughs.

After laughing, he immediately stood up and looked at Chen Ping. “To Willow Leaf Alley!”

Willow Leaf Alley—the name sounded very familiar. Chen Ping’s body reacted faster than his brain. He had already stood up, the Embroidered Spring Blade at his waist seemingly radiating cold light in the sunlight. He paused and looked at Lai Chenglong, suddenly remembering who this Dazhi was.

Dazhi was Hongfa’s younger brother, his biological younger brother.

That explained everything—Hongfa was Lai Chenglong’s trusted confidant. Only he knew every decision Lai Chenglong made, and he was the one who had been sent out of the capital to pursue and kill Prince Gong.

No wonder they were always just a step behind. No wonder they later completely lost track of Prince Gong.

He dared not delay. Together with Lai Chenglong, they rushed straight to Hongfa’s home in Willow Leaf Alley and arrested Dazhi just as he was preparing to pass on a message.

After arresting Dazhi, they rushed to the Wang family home of the Vice Minister of Rites in Tongzhou.

Indeed, just as Song Chuyi had said, the Wang family was truly involved in this matter.

Lai Chenglong broke out in a cold sweat—the Wang family belonged to the Grand Princess Fan, to the Crown Prince, and was moreover the intermediary station for communication between Han Zhengqing and the Crown Prince. Now that the Wang family was connected to Prince Gong’s escape, then it was truly as Song Chuyi had said—Prince Gong and Han Zhengqing had already colluded together.

He dared not hesitate. Following Song Chuyi’s advice, he personally searched the Wang family from top to bottom first, every nook and cranny, thoroughly and carefully. Only after confirming there were no oversights did he dare order his subordinates to continue searching—if they were to find anything belonging to the Crown Prince, that would be difficult to report. It was better to be meticulous.

The Wang family situation was manageable—not one of them could escape, and there was no worry about information leaking out. Following the lead from Madam Yang, pulling up the whole vine, and with Elder Du’s assistance, most of the traitors had been caught. There were people intercepting the line to Xibei, so there was no fear anyone could pass messages out. But what about Hongfa? Hongfa was far away in Jin Province after all!