Prince Dongping’s reminder came at such an opportune time that Song Chuyi no longer exchanged empty pleasantries with him. She directly asked: “Why do you say the key lies in this character?” She looked thoughtful: “Has the Prince heard something?”

Prince Dongping glanced at the area behind the screen, clasped his hands behind his back, stood up and walked to the window, pushed it open to look at the vast expanse of white snow outside, then from this snow looked to the carved decorations under the eaves, before finally turning back to look at her: “I said, this is only my speculation.” He thought for a moment, perhaps feeling these words might be misunderstood as impatience, and quickly added: “Actually it’s not hard to guess. One Qingbai alone doesn’t really have such great ability to influence the Crown Prince, does he? Taking ten thousand steps back, if Qingbai truly were that formidable, would he expose himself so easily?”

Song Chuyi’s gaze gradually became sharp—she hadn’t known before that Prince Dongping was such a clear-headed and rational person.

Seeing she didn’t speak, Prince Dongping spoke first: “Moreover, doesn’t sister-in-law think that Qingbai died far too easily?”

Though he said he was only offering a suggestion, only his own speculation, he was actually quite worried—worried that Song Chuyi wouldn’t take his words seriously. Therefore, he couldn’t help saying more.

Song Chuyi didn’t disappoint him. She nodded: “Thank you for the reminder.” After thinking, she added: “As for the Crown Prince’s situation here, please take extra care.” He was right. The Crown Prince’s illness—last time it could be cured by an old ginseng root; this time, it might not be impossible for it to happen again.

Prince Dongping involuntarily breathed a sigh of relief and shook his head: “You’re too kind.” He added: “As for the people from the Fan family, I’ve already handed them over to the Crown Prince. However, I fear he has too many matters to attend to and won’t have time to interrogate them. Sister-in-law might go take a look.”

Zhou Weizhao had indeed been exceptionally busy recently. Song Chuyi nodded and first went to Qingning Palace to see Empress Lu.

Empress Lu was just telling Princess Rongcheng about Lu Chonghua’s matter: “We should still send people to search carefully.”

Princess Rongcheng had already agreed. Empress Lu gasped for breath and coughed for a while, forcibly maintaining her spirits to say a few more words. She beckoned Song Chuyi over, her expression somewhat troubled: “I heard from Rongcheng that at this morning’s court session, Zheng Sansi and others advocated for offering amnesty to Prince Gong and Han Zhengqing.” At this point, she struggled to take another breath before finally recovering: “These are two hungry wolves—how could they possibly agree to amnesty?”

She laughed coldly, not a trace of warmth in her eyes: “Even if they agreed to amnesty, they would still be ready to bite at any moment. Yet at court, those who agree with his view are actually split half and half with those advocating war.”

Princess Rongcheng’s complexion also didn’t look good. She sighed in agreement: “Han Zhengqing has quite a few people in his hands. Most of Xibei’s military forces are in his and Zhou Hong’s hands, and with the Tatars assisting them, it’s inevitable that some in the court would want amnesty.”

Song Chuyi understood Princess Rongcheng’s meaning. Zheng Sansi might not necessarily want the court to forgive Prince Gong or compromise with him—he truly had no other options. The Wuhan floods, the震动 in Jiangxi’s official circles, appropriations to rebuild the Yangtze River dikes, plus Fujian’s continuously climbing military expenses year after year—the court needed money everywhere. With the Xibei war being fought like this, it was truly difficult to sustain.

But what Song Chuyi found strange was that Zheng Sansi had previously gnashed his teeth at Prince Gong over his cousin’s death as an imperial commissioner who had gone to Xibei with Prince Zhennan and died in Taiyuan. How could he suddenly be thinking of amnesty?

Though one could say that Zheng Sansi as Minister of Finance was worried the national treasury might not hold up, this change had come far too suddenly.

Amnesty…

Thinking about these matters made Empress Lu feel particularly irritated. She shook her head, no longer dwelling on it, and spoke to Song Chuyi about other matters: “I’m telling you this because the war faction has proposed to take Weiyang and Weiyan, those two children, to the military front.”

Taking them to the military front was naturally to threaten their father.

Princess Rongcheng lowered her head. She felt some compassion for these two children, but in the current situation, there was no room for her compassion.

Take two children to the military front as sacrificial offerings? The war faction was led by people like Song Chuyi’s grandfather Old Master Song, and Old Master Song would absolutely never do something like using two children as sacrificial offerings—the court’s military campaign against Prince Gong was waged under the banner of Prince Gong being unbenevolent, unrighteous, unfilial, and merciless. If Emperor Jianzhang used his own grandsons as sacrificial offerings, even if he held the advantage of propriety and righteousness, he would inevitably be called cold-hearted.

Moreover, once at the military front, who knew whether the people would truly be used as sacrificial offerings?

What exactly were the intentions of these people proposing to use the Emperor’s own grandsons as sacrificial offerings?

Song Chuyi came back to her senses and heard Empress Lu continue: “Those people actually said they wanted to kill them. They’re just two children—what can they influence? Even if they killed them, what use would it be?! They’ve truly lost their minds!”

No, they might not have lost their minds.

Song Chuyi helped Empress Lu sit down. She knew why Empress Lu was telling her this. After thinking, she said: “I’ll go out and ask Grandfather. This may not necessarily be Grandfather’s instruction.”

Among the war faction at court, none had more resolute positions than Song Chengru and Minister of War Cen Biliang. And since Song Chengru was both Minister of Personnel and an Elder, he had clearly become the core of the war faction. It wasn’t surprising that Empress Lu would mistakenly think that using Zhou Weiyan and Zhou Weiyang as sacrificial offerings was Song Chengru’s idea.

Empress Lu nodded. She really didn’t want to concern herself with Prince Gong’s affairs. As Emperor Jianzhang had said, he wouldn’t be jumping around much longer—with the war god Cui Shaoting there, how long could he keep jumping?

A person who could help foreign tribes invade his own nation’s territory—no matter how capable he was, what did it matter?

Since ancient times, those who follow the Way have many supporters, while those who defy it have few. Prince Gong’s actions were morally bankrupt and corrupt. He might think it was a game of winners and losers, but that showed he underestimated the backbone of Great Zhou’s common people and underestimated the court’s courage.

She only pitied Zhou Weiyan and Zhou Weiyang for having such a father. The two of them were still far too young.

Song Chuyi left the palace together with Princess Rongcheng. Zhou Weizhao was about to be invested as Crown Prince, and she as the Crown Princess was also highly conspicuous. It wouldn’t be proper for her to return to her maternal home too frequently, so naturally she had to think of other methods. As Zhou Weizhao’s biological aunt, it was perfectly reasonable for Princess Rongcheng to be close to her. Therefore, Princess Rongcheng’s residence had now replaced the use of that house she previously had at the Yellow Immortal Temple.

Song Jue and Song Yan had already received word and arrived. Princess Rongcheng didn’t listen to what they were going to discuss. After Song Jue and Song Yan performed their courtesies, she had tea and water served, then personally led everyone away, letting them speak freely.