White Stork and Lin Chong died quite unjustly. Both of these men could be considered Prince Gong’s old retainers, but they were also subjects of the imperial court, receiving the court’s stipend. They simply recognized the Son of Heaven rather than Prince Gong. Just because they wanted to hand over military authority to the imperial envoy, Prince Zhennan, they were killed in a trap set by Prince Gong.

Chief Clerk Ling couldn’t understand why Prince Gong had become like this. Clearly the Prince Gong of before wasn’t this way. But whether he could understand it or not, Prince Gong had already become this kind of person. Not only had he become so deranged that he wanted to poison even his own parents, but he also regarded the lives of people throughout the realm as worthless as grass. He brought foreign tribesmen into Great Zhou’s borders to ravage his own people. Could such a person become the Son of Heaven?! Never mind the saying that history is written by the victors—even Emperor Taizong of Tang, who had the Xuanwu Gate Incident, never dared to collude with foreign tribes…

His thoughts were wandering too far. Chief Clerk Ling coughed and looked at Bai Qun: “Your grandfather, he…” He sighed: “Never mind, let’s not talk about that. Tell me—how did you leak the information? To whom did you leak it?”

Chief Clerk Ling didn’t even want to ask why Bai Qun had chosen to frame him. He had already fallen from favor now. Prince Gong himself already harbored some suspicion toward him. At this moment, if they didn’t frame him, who would they frame?

He was only curious why Han Yang would suddenly choose to betray Prince Gong. After all, this plan had originally been brought and presented to Prince Gong by him. There was no reason to switch sides midway—Han Yang’s father was Marquis Jinxiang. Where would he have any room to regret?

Bai Qun’s expression was somewhat uncomfortable. He himself felt Chief Clerk Ling’s attitude was a bit strange, but somehow, Chief Clerk Ling’s calm and composed demeanor made him feel very relaxed. He lowered his head: “We…”

After saying these two words, he didn’t know how to continue. The more you say, the more mistakes you make. What if Chief Clerk Ling was only amiable on the surface but betrayed him behind his back? He should still bite down and deny everything.

There was no sun today. The sky was overcast and snowing. Cold wind drilled straight into one’s bones. Chief Clerk Ling was just feeling his severed left arm aching faintly when suddenly a commotion arose outside.

His courtyard wasn’t far from Prince Gong’s sleeping quarters—naturally when Princess Consort Gong was still alive, this place had strict rules, but now there was no mistress in the residence, and Prince Gong was planning a rebellion, so of course he couldn’t be bothered with such matters. He had arranged all these strategists and close officials nearby so they could discuss matters at any time. Right now, he could tell the disturbance was coming from Prince Gong’s quarters.

“What’s happened?” He glanced at Bai Qun, already having a vague guess in his heart: “Did you all cause this?”

He used the word “you all,” having calculated that behind Bai Qun there must be Han Yang. Thinking it through, there was no one else.

Bai Qun was somewhat uneasy. He stood up and walked a few steps toward the outside, watching the commotion outside, his expression turning very poor.

Chief Clerk Ling glanced at him: “What exactly are you planning to do today?” Seeing Bai Qun look toward him, he pointed at his bundle placed on the bed: “I’ve already decided to leave. Prince Gong is not a wise master. I’ve already decided not to serve him anymore. Whether or not you’ve betrayed him—I don’t particularly care.”

He truly didn’t care. Ever since Prince Gong had agreed to Han Zhengqing’s proposal, he had completely given up on Prince Gong as a person. The reason he still wanted to ask Bai Qun about Han Yang’s matter wasn’t for Han Yang’s sake.

Han Yang was Han Zhengqing’s son. By all accounts, he shouldn’t disobey Han Zhengqing’s orders. So, sending messages to the capital couldn’t be Han Zhengqing’s idea, could it? Could it be that Han Zhengqing wanted to tear down the bridge before crossing it and was already planning to swallow Prince Gong whole and raise troops himself?

This wasn’t impossible. This person had always been so deranged—those shockingly wicked ideas were all suggested by him to Prince Gong.

The guards outside were all startled and surged in groups toward Prince Gong’s quarters. Only then did Bai Qun panic a little. One hand reached into his sleeve, seeming very hesitant.

Chief Clerk Ling, seasoned with age, saw his appearance and after thinking said: “You wanted to lure people to my place, didn’t you? If you don’t leave now and are discovered here by someone, you won’t be able to escape, and you won’t be able to frame me either.”

Bai Qun had already been terrified once before, so this time he wasn’t terrified. Looking at Chief Clerk Ling, he bit his teeth and lifted his foot to leave.

He wasn’t planning to frame him anymore? Chief Clerk Ling raised his eyebrows and called out to him: “Leave the thing behind.”

Bai Qun stopped in his tracks and turned to look at him. His right hand in his sleeve moved. This time he wasn’t terrified—his face was full of shock.

“You came this trip just to frame me, didn’t you? If the stolen goods aren’t at my place, how can the framing succeed?” Chief Clerk Ling sighed: “To tell you the truth, I’m very pleased that you were able to send messages to the capital. If I had the capability, I would have sent them long ago. So, whatever thing you need to leave, hurry up and leave it.”

Bai Qun was still hesitating when Chief Clerk Ling had already stepped forward several paces. With quick eyes and agile hands, he snatched from Bai Qun’s right hand and tucked a stack of papers into his own sleeve, then pushed him outside: “Go quickly. You must have already lured away the people monitoring my place before coming. When they return, or when the Prince investigates and reaches my place and sees you, you won’t be able to escape.”

With this push, Bai Qun immediately came to his senses. He looked with complex emotions at Chief Clerk Ling standing at the threshold, missing one arm, seemingly aged by more than ten years. After hesitating for a long while, he immediately turned and ran off.

Chief Clerk Ling glanced at the bundle on the bed, straightened his somewhat disheveled clothing, sat in the round-backed chair, and slowly unfolded the letter to look at it. There was still a roll of paper remaining, which he placed in his sleeve.

Hmm, this handwriting was his—the imitation was very good.

He stroked his beard. This letter was actually written to Marquis Dingyuan. In the letter, using his tone, it instructed Marquis Dingyuan to be sure to contact Wu Feng. Wu Feng was now a favorite person at Prince Gong’s side and would certainly take over White Stork’s thirteen thousand-plus guard troops in the future. If they could win over Wu Feng then, they wouldn’t worry about accomplishing great things.

So it was Marquis Dingyuan… Chief Clerk Ling was somewhat stunned. Outside, the sound of armor and weapons scraping arose. He quickly came to his senses and held the letter toward the candle that had been burning all night and was now only the size of a finger to burn it.

But he only had time to burn one corner before someone kicked him to the ground with a foot. He was instantly kicked far away. His throat tickled, and he vomited out a mouthful of blood.

Prince Gong, his face iron-blue like a furious lion, walked out from behind Wu Feng. He glanced at Chief Clerk Ling and personally picked up the letter that hadn’t been completely burned. After reading it just once, he extended his leg and viciously stomped on Chief Clerk Ling’s chest.

Chief Clerk Ling’s entire body was like a shrimp cooked in boiling water, curling up his body and arching completely, his pupils dilating with pain.