They were just this kind of people. They never did things merely for glory and wealth. For them, satisfying the twisted desires in their hearts was what truly made them feel satisfied and applaud with delight.
This meant that the person delivering messages to Prince Gong had already reached the capital one step ahead and had already made their move with such astonishing speed.
But who was it? Song Chuyi went through all the people around Empress Lu one by one. These people were all utterly loyal to Empress Lu, or at least had always appeared utterly loyal on the surface. To pick out a traitor from among them was truly not easy.
Ma San was very worried. Looking at Song Chuyi’s expression, he blamed himself with concern. “It’s just a pity that we didn’t find out who exactly the traitor is. However, there is good news.” He took a sip of hot tea and looked at Song Chuyi, his face full of pockmarks becoming lively and interesting at this moment. “Miss, Han Yang didn’t just tell us this news. There are other matters.”
Ma Wangkun beside him couldn’t help but interject, “Yes, yes, Miss, Han Yang will help Marquis Dingyuan and Prince Zhennan obtain military command over more than thirteen thousand guards.”
This was truly good news, and it was also like Uncle’s style. When Uncle employed people, he always utilized them to the extreme. It was also remarkable that amidst the chaos of war, he could thoroughly investigate the Han family with just one letter. But speaking of it, Han Zhengqing only had himself to blame. He thought he was flawless, thought everything was under his control, but he forgot that as long as someone was human, they had emotions and desires. No one would act completely according to another person’s wishes. As long as they were human, they had selfish interests and weaknesses. If these weaknesses were utilized well, anything was possible.
He usually treated his sons with such disdain and coldness that his sons’ resentment accumulated bit by bit. Over time, it became a bomb just waiting for its fuse to be lit, and Prince Dongping’s matter was undoubtedly that fuse.
Furthermore, Prince Zhennan was in Jinzhong. If Marquis Dingyuan could truly obtain the thirteen thousand guards of Weihaiwei, then he could unite Weihaiwei and Jinzhong without obstruction. This way, Huang Yiqing’s offensive would also intensify. When Prince Gong was attacked from both front and rear, as long as Cui Shaoting restrained Han Zhengqing, Prince Gong would be even less of a threat.
Of course, these were military matters. She could only roughly guess at Uncle’s and Marquis Dingyuan’s intentions. Her scheming and tactics couldn’t play any decisive role in such warfare. Cui Shaoting was far more skilled at these things than she was, so she wasn’t worried. After asking more about the matters that Cui Yingyin and Cui Yingtang had instructed, learning that the Cui family could still hold out and were united against the common enemy with Hu Yingming, and had even incidentally incited the common people and county magistrate of Yangquan to resist Prince Gong together, a trace of a smile couldn’t help but appear on her face.
Although Uncle, the Supreme Commander of the Three Borders, was in charge, Guyuan was really too far from Jinzhong. In between were still so many cities controlled by Prince Gong. Although she didn’t say it, she had always been very worried for her uncles in her heart. After all, the first thing Prince Gong would definitely do upon raising troops in rebellion was to eliminate internal troubles, and the Cui family naturally bore the brunt.
After asking clearly, both Ma San and Ma Wangkun looked at her and asked, “Miss, do you have any other letters you want us to take to Prince Zhennan? Or to go see His Lordship…”
At this time, no matter what three-hundred-li express or eight-hundred-li express was useless. Those messengers often couldn’t get close before being killed. Prince Gong didn’t recognize any talk about not killing messengers.
Song Chuyi waved her hand. “No need to go to the northwest. Whatever it’s like there now is what it is. We can no longer intervene.”
The value of a person lies in self-awareness. She should deliver a fatal blow to the enemy where she excelled.
Ma San and Ma Wangkun exchanged glances and asked her again, “Then what about the traitor matter?”
After all, Miss had married His Highness the Crown Prince. If this traitor truly intended to harm Miss, wouldn’t it be very easy? Moreover, having a traitor close to the Crown Prince was always a matter that made one’s hair stand on end just thinking about it. Who knew what exactly Prince Gong and Han Zhengqing wanted to use this traitor to do? Perhaps they might even directly poison the Crown Prince.
Song Chuyi also very much wanted to know who exactly the traitor that Han Zhengqing had placed near Zhou Weizhao was.
But Han Zhengqing was so cautious that even when sending his own son to deliver messages, he only spoke in veiled terms, not planning to tell Prince Gong clearly who exactly the traitor was, only what to do.
Did he truly only want to poison Empress Lu to death, then direct all public opinion toward the Eastern Palace?
Then what was the traitor near Zhou Weizhao supposed to do?
Seeing her furrowing her brows, Ma San lowered his voice. “Miss, why not tell His Highness the Crown Prince and have His Highness investigate carefully? This is after all no small matter…”
If they didn’t tell the Crown Prince, he wouldn’t even know when he suffered harm from this traitor. After all, this person was right beside the Crown Prince—truly impossible to guard against.
Qing Ying also felt worried for Song Chuyi. She lifted the teapot and refilled Ma Wangkun’s water. “We also know it’s no small matter, but His Highness the Crown Prince has already had Old Kong investigate, and is normally already very cautious and careful. The people he brought down from Longhu Mountain are all trusted confidants—not one of them has anything wrong about them. We can’t just rashly arrest all these people and interrogate them, can we? After all, they’re all longtime people who have followed His Highness for so long. If we investigated them without any evidence, we’d also have to fear chilling their hearts…”
Qing Ying paused and looked at Song Chuyi again. “I always feel that those two little wenches Qing Luo and Han Yan still haven’t said everything clearly… If it really was Yuan Jin who said those things to them, why has Yuan Jin shown no unusual activity recently?”
Song Jue had already personally investigated Yuan Jin and went to Zhang Tianshi to inquire. Yuan Jin was Zhang Tianshi’s nephew who from childhood had been by Zhou Weizhao’s side and grown up with Zhou Weizhao. Although he wasn’t as good at speaking as Qing Zhuo, he was also an extremely honest person. When coming down from Longhu Mountain, he had even blocked a knife for Zhou Weizhao.
Thinking of this point, anger faintly appeared on Qing Ying’s face. “Could it be that these two little wenches are talking nonsense?”
This wasn’t impossible either. After all, Qing Luo and Han Yan clearly didn’t wish Song Chuyi well. Perhaps they really would do such things that harmed others without benefiting themselves. They always enjoyed seeing Song Chuyi suffer misfortune.
Whether it was true or not, investigating would make it clear.
Of course not investigating like Song Jue did. Someone who could serve as a traitor beside Zhou Weizhao and hide for so long—how could they reveal flaws so easily? Waiting for them to jump out and cause trouble on their own was really too difficult. They could only throw out bait to lure them to take the hook.
Fortunately, she had already thrown out one portion of bait. She didn’t mind preparing another portion.
As for how big a fish they could catch—riding the donkey while reading the songbook… they would just have to wait and see.