Chief Clerk Ling didn’t sleep at all that night. He watched with wide-open eyes as the candle on the table, unshielded by any gauze lamp, gradually burned down into wax drippings. He watched as the horizon brightened with the pale light of dawn, watched the wind and snow fill the sky. Little by little, he shifted his numb feet and moved out of the room, heading straight toward Prince Gong’s quarters.
Zou Yanzheng had just come out from Prince Gong’s room, his expression rather unpleasant. Seeing Chief Clerk Ling, he had time to sigh at him and stopped in his tracks, kindly advising him: “The Prince is in a bad mood over the matter in the capital—you should know about it, right? Sir, it’s not my place to say, but what harm would it do to offer a good suggestion? Stop being so stubborn with the Prince.”
The furious appearance Prince Gong had displayed just now had truly given everyone quite a fright. Based on Zou Yanzheng’s many years of understanding Prince Gong, this was genuine rage. One wrong move, and there would truly be mortal danger. Chief Clerk Ling had no sons or daughters, but he was a decent person—there was really no need to rush headlong into conflict with Prince Gong at this moment. Wasn’t this courting death?
Chief Clerk Ling nodded slightly at him to indicate he understood, but still stood expressionlessly in place, waiting for someone to go in and announce him, displaying an attitude that he absolutely had to see Prince Gong.
This was really… Zou Yanzheng looked at his back, sighed after a long moment, and walked away. Forget it—right now he couldn’t even take care of himself, let alone worry about what Chief Clerk Ling wanted to do.
Prince Gong’s voice thundered furiously from inside the study. Chief Clerk Ling stood without moving. A moment later, Wu Qianli and Wu Feng both came out together, glanced at him, and then a eunuch from inside came to invite him in.
“What is it?” Prince Gong’s tone was very unpleasant. He stared at him and laughed mockingly: “What? Have you woken up now, sir, and come to offer me advice?”
Chief Clerk Ling shook his head. Completely deaf to Prince Gong’s mocking tone, he lowered his head to look at his own feet and said in a cold voice: “This old man has come to bid you farewell.”
Farewell?! Prince Gong laughed sharply, the mocking curve at the corner of his mouth widening even more: “Farewell? Where do you plan to go?!”
He looked at Chief Clerk Ling, the suspicion he had originally harbored toward him deepening from two or three parts to seven or eight parts. His eyes flickered with murderous intent: “Didn’t you say before that you would definitely assist me? How is it that now, when I’m about to accomplish great things, you want to leave?”
Once a person harbored suspicion, all of the other party’s former goodness could be completely erased. Right now, Prince Gong couldn’t remember any of Chief Clerk Ling’s past kindnesses at all, couldn’t recall the sacrifice Chief Clerk Ling had made for him when his arm was dislocated. He could only think that the matter in the capital had failed—there was a traitor.
And although Han Yang was under suspicion, looking at it now, Chief Clerk Ling’s suspicion was no less than Han Yang’s—this old thing, for some unknown reason, had started opposing him lately, saying this was wrong and that was wrong, and had mentioned leaving several times. Now that such a major incident had occurred in the capital, instead of thinking about helping him, he wanted to escape…
Chief Clerk Ling sighed: “The Prince now has the Tartars helping from outside and Marquis Jinxiang offering strategies from within—where would you still need me? This old man is aged and no longer of much use. I beg the Prince to grant me this.”
Prince Gong didn’t even want to look at him anymore. His face was iron-blue as he looked at him: “So this is what you think, sir.” The murderous intent in his eyes intensified, but suddenly a eunuch outside knocked on the door, saying a scout had sent news.
At this moment, any news was extremely urgent. Prince Gong couldn’t be bothered with this muddled madman. After thinking for a moment, he had him sent out and ordered someone to summon the scout inside.
Chief Clerk Ling was half-dragged and half-hauled out by the eunuchs. He stood dazed in the courtyard for a long while. When he raised his head again, he only felt that the entire sky was shrouded in a layer of gray. After quite some time, the scene before his eyes finally cleared, and he turned to go back to his room.
He had just returned to his quarters and was packing his things when the door to his room, which had been neglected for some time, was knocked upon.
At this moment, with Prince Gong treating him with extreme coldness, everyone knew how to adjust their treatment based on status. He thought for a moment, assuming Prince Gong had sent someone to tell him to get lost. He opened the door and looked, only to discover it wasn’t someone else—it was White Stork’s grandson.
White Stork’s grandson was a guard at Prince Gong’s side. After White Stork’s incident, in order to win people’s hearts, Prince Gong hadn’t completely destroyed the Bai family. After all, White Stork had served him loyally for so many years, and the Bai family was also a prestigious local clan. Therefore, the position of White Stork’s grandson, Bai Qun, was still retained.
He was somewhat stunned. Seeing Bai Qun cup his hands in greeting, he frowned and said: “I wonder why Young Master Bai has come here…”
Bai Qun cupped his hands and with utmost sincerity bowed deeply to him: “This junior has come to seek the sir’s guidance.”
Chief Clerk Ling stared deeply at him for a moment. His mind, which had been foggy from not sleeping all night, finally started working again. After thinking for a moment, he said: “You’ve come for revenge?”
Seeing Bai Qun’s face register shock and immediately start to wave his hands in denial, Chief Clerk Ling smiled, opened the door wider, and let Bai Qun in: “Come in to talk.”
Bai Qun pressed his lips together and hesitated in place for a long while. Finally, he still nodded and entered the room.
Chief Clerk Ling used his remaining right hand to pour him a cup of tea and pushed it toward him: “The matter of leaking information—is it related to you as well?”
This time, Bai Qun was truly shocked enough to jump up. His expression was complex and alarmed as he looked at Chief Clerk Ling, saying nothing.
Chief Clerk Ling didn’t need him to speak. He continued smiling on his own: “Let me think… The Prince was actually quite right. Those who know about this matter, who know what he went to the capital to do—there are only these few people. You can count them all. If it’s not this one, then it’s that one. Let me guess… Zou Yanzheng definitely wouldn’t do this. He has no way out—his entire family, old and young, are held in the Prince’s hands. Commander Wu would definitely not do this either—the Prince is his savior and his patron. The Prince suspects Han Yang… it’s Young Master Han, isn’t it?”
Bai Qun’s expression could no longer simply be described as terrified. He knew that Chief Clerk Ling was Prince Gong’s strategist, and he was a guard at Prince Gong’s side. He knew about how Chief Clerk Ling had enraged Prince Gong yesterday to the point of fury, which was why he had set his sights on Chief Clerk Ling—after all, Chief Clerk Ling had already provoked Prince Gong’s anger. Someone who refused to work for Prince Gong and had made him so angry had probably already been marked in Prince Gong’s book. To frame him further would be a natural course of events.
But he hadn’t expected that while Chief Clerk Ling had indeed developed thoughts of retreat and was utterly disappointed in Prince Gong, his powers of perception were still extraordinarily strong.
Chief Clerk Ling couldn’t be bothered to waste words with him. He used his right hand to stroke his beard, raised his eyes to look at Bai Qun, and suddenly asked him: “Why did you betray the Prince?”
This question was somewhat redundant. Bai Qun’s gaze suddenly changed from alarmed to sharp. He stared viciously at the ground and spat: “Of course it’s for my grandfather!”