Prince Gong wasn’t like this before. Chief Clerk Ling curled up on the ground and sighed inwardly. But strangely, he truly had no thoughts left at all—disappointment, anger, and dejection were all gone.

Prince Gong stepped on his chest, unable to spare a thought for his current state of mind, furious like a rampaging lion: “Very good! Very good! So it really was you!”

He used the words “very good” twice in succession, yet his expression didn’t look good at all. He had suspected Chief Clerk Ling, but compared to his suspicion of Han Yang, it was insignificantly small. Yet it turned out to be Chief Clerk Ling after all. He felt his brain explode with a thunderous boom like fireworks, his entire person stunned. After a long moment, he turned around viciously and glared at Wu Feng.

Fortunately, he still had some rationality left. The letter only mentioned winning over Wu Feng, not that Wu Feng had already been won over. He felt somewhat uncomfortable in his heart, but quickly suppressed this slight discomfort. Staring at Chief Clerk Ling curled up in a ball, he asked him: “Why?!”

He couldn’t understand. Previously, Chief Clerk Ling would risk his life for him. That hand was lost because of him. Yet gradually, for some unknown reason, he had become increasingly cold and distant, and now he had actually betrayed him.

Chief Clerk Ling gave a bitter laugh and gasped out a rough breath. The taste of blood surged up from his throat. Looking at Prince Gong, he suddenly smiled: “What ‘why’? I’ve advised Your Highness many times—Han Zhengqing is a treacherous minister. His plan to bring the Tartars through the pass will be a calamity for ten thousand years…”

Prince Gong’s eyes were blood-red. Furiously, he kicked him again: “Talk about the matter at hand! How did you transmit information to Marquis Dingyuan? Where is he?! Where is he?!”

Speaking thus, he ran outside to look around again, pacing back and forth somewhat anxiously. He surveyed the room and ordered Wu Feng: “Search! Search thoroughly and carefully!”

Chief Clerk Ling huddled on the ground, gasping roughly, closing his eyes in extreme exhaustion, as if Prince Gong and all these people rummaging around in the room simply didn’t exist.

He’d had enough. This was fine, just fine. At least… at least he had atoned for some of his sins. After he died, he would have the face to meet his ancestors below.

Wu Feng searched high and low, even shaking out Chief Clerk Ling’s bundle completely clean, but still found nothing. He went to search Chief Clerk Ling’s person, and with this search, he found another roll of paper. Before he could look at it, Prince Gong had already snatched it away and eagerly read through it once.

It was a troop deployment map and a map of Taiyuan! This time, Prince Gong truly and thoroughly believed that Chief Clerk Ling had betrayed him. But when his fury reached its peak, he suddenly became clearheaded. His violent rage instantly subsided, and he ordered Wu Feng: “Take him away and imprison him. Interrogate him thoroughly—you must extract Marquis Dingyuan’s whereabouts from him!”

Wu Feng lowered his head in acknowledgment and dragged Chief Clerk Ling out.

When Zou Yanzheng heard the news, Chief Clerk Ling had already been thrown in prison. He stared at Prince Gong in a daze, uttered an “ah,” and his first reaction was actually to open his mouth and say: “That can’t be, can it?”

Chief Clerk Ling had followed Prince Gong for so long—it was simply impossible for him to abandon ship now. Had he gone mad or something?

Seeing Prince Gong glaring at him furiously, he quickly waved his hands: “This subject doesn’t mean that… What this subject means is… normally we haven’t seen anything unusual about Chief Clerk Ling at all. Moreover, how could Chief Clerk Ling have the ability to send letters to the capital? Even if he did, the capital might not pay attention to him. How could he possibly get letters delivered through the Songjing Palace to the Grand Prince and Grand Princess Consort?”

Prince Gong laughed coldly: “With Marquis Dingyuan there, why not?”

Zou Yanzheng was stunned: “Marquis Dingyuan?! How could Chief Clerk Ling possibly connect with Marquis Dingyuan?”

“How would I know?!” Prince Gong became furious again: “A scout brought back Wu Qianli’s letter saying that we suffered a major defeat against Huang Yiqing at Wu’an. Huang Yiqing seemed extremely familiar with our troop deployments and tactics and defeated us with ease. For the past two months or more, he’s been completely helpless against Wu’an! If this isn’t someone leaking information internally, what is it?”

Prince Gong exhaled a turbid breath, as if wanting to vent all the gloom and irritation in his heart: “How many people can enter my study? Those who can access these secrets are even fewer and can be counted on one hand. Today when Chief Clerk Ling came to my room to resign, I felt something was wrong. Later, after I met with the scout, thinking that perhaps someone had stolen something from me, I discovered that the map originally placed in the drawer was in the wrong position… The door guard said that last night after I finished meeting with Chief Clerk Ling, Chief Clerk Ling went back once more…”

With such abundant evidence, Zou Yanzheng had no choice but to believe it. For a moment he couldn’t react, feeling a mixture of emotions stirring in his heart. Chief Clerk Ling, this old retainer who had followed Prince Gong for so long—what was he doing this for? Alas…

While he was thinking this, Bai Qun was also looking at the shocked Han Yang, his emotions somewhat low as he repeated once more: “It wasn’t that I successfully framed him—he helped me frame himself.”

These words were a bit convoluted, but Han Yang, who had already heard the account once before, still understood. He scratched his head: “So you agreed to help me steal the map and sneak into the study because your grandfather died at Prince Gong’s hands. What was Chief Clerk Ling doing this for? Could this be a trick?”

He asked three questions in succession. Bai Qun had no idea how to respond. In fact, his own mind was also very confused, unable to figure out the reason: “It didn’t seem like it.” He still said: “Recently he’s often run to the Prince to resign. It hasn’t been just a day or two that he’s made the Prince unhappy. When I went over today, he was packing his luggage. It looked like he really wanted to leave.”

Han Yang himself was also bewildered. After confirming with Bai Qun once more that he hadn’t been exposed, he sent him back. He himself took seven turns and eight twists through the city, eating here and drinking there. Finally, his eyes became lost on Flower Street, and he felt his way into a brothel.

The person following him sneered: “It’s not that I look down on this young master, but does he look like someone who could accomplish great things?”

Han Yang didn’t care what the surveillance people thought. As long as Bai Qun wasn’t exposed, his association with Bai Qun was perfectly normal—right now Prince Gong still hadn’t said he couldn’t manage the White Stork matter. He and Bai Qun had already openly associated countless times. Privately drinking wine and watching opera was common—he wasn’t afraid of them overthinking it.

He went upstairs and sat down in a room with open windows, drinking wine with the courtesan across from him and listening to songs for half the day before closing the window.

Once the window closed, Marquis Dingyuan and Lu Ran both emerged from behind the screen.

Recently, the scrutiny had been strict, and there was nowhere good to hide, so they simply hid in the brothel.

Han Yang put away his frivolous demeanor and told them about Chief Clerk Ling’s matter, asking them: “What do you think his intention is?”