The Prince of Dongping didn’t ask any more questions. Any further questions would be futile—Song Chuyi had no intention of having a deep conversation with him. She simply needed him to write this letter.
But were the words of this young woman before him truly credible? He clenched his fists and hesitated for a moment, then suddenly nodded: “Alright, I’ll write it.” As he spoke, he followed Song Chuyi’s instructions and his brush flew across the paper.
Only after Song Chuyi watched Qing Ying pick up the letter did she nod to the Prince of Dongping: “Thank you for your cooperation, Your Highness. Please be at ease.” She looked at Zhou Weiqi earnestly: “As long as Your Highness stays quietly in the Eastern Palace caring for the Crown Prince, no matter how the heavens change, not a single raindrop will fall on you.”
After seeing off the Prince of Dongping, Qing Ying let out an exclamation of amazement. She blew on the letter extremely carefully to dry it, sighing somewhat: “This Prince really cannot be judged by appearances. This letter is simply… the wording is so malicious, I’m afraid when Han Zhi sees it, he’ll be so enraged his heart will attack him, won’t he?”
Han Zhi was already extremely obsessive by nature. Back then, he had committed countless unthinkable atrocities. Now he would have even fewer scruples. Song Chuyi had deliberately not killed him, instead having people indulge him all the way to Fujian—wasn’t it precisely to plant this chess piece to use against the Great Madam Fan later? It was just that now there was no need to deal with the Great Madam Fan; they could change targets.
With this letter, Han Zhi—who likely already knew the entire truth and was immersed in the grief of his family’s destruction—would probably fly into a rage beyond all reason, wouldn’t he? And when someone flew into such a rage… Just imagining Han Zhi going mad made Qing Ying shudder involuntarily: “This is too terrifying.” She turned to look at Song Chuyi: “But how do we deliver the letter?”
Things in Fujian weren’t peaceful either. Han Zhi had now assumed a false identity and joined the pirates, even becoming the adopted son of the pirate chief. Pirates always shuttled back and forth between the coast and Japan, drifting with uncertain whereabouts. To deliver the letter accurately into his hands was truly too difficult.
After expressing her amazement, Qing Ying looked somewhat worriedly at the dark circles under Song Chuyi’s eyes—these past few days, Song Chuyi had barely slept at all, spinning around like a top. She hesitated for a moment, then looked at Song Chuyi and said: “Your Highness, we’ve more or less avenged Madam Sun’s death.” She deliberately made her tone lighter: “Haven’t you already used the list that the Old Master gave you—the officials who were most vociferous about advocating peace negotiations—and followed the trail to uncover the spies Han Zhengqing planted? Now those officials advocating peace are all imprisoned, and when His Highness assumes regency, he’ll have them all executed… We’ll have taken our revenge…”
She knew how heartbroken Song Chuyi was. Qing Luo and Han Yan didn’t matter much—after all, they had never truly considered themselves Song Chuyi’s people. But Sun Zhaodi and the others were different. This group had been by her side the longest, accompanying her from being a little girl with nothing to her current position as Crown Princess Consort who could manipulate the situation. The significance was different.
Qing Tao glanced at Song Chuyi but said nothing. She had always been clever and knew this matter must not be so simple.
That day, Song Chuyi had decided to go to the residence at Huangdaxian Temple on a whim. Zheng Baihu had also only been sent there the day before. Without someone tipping them off at the last minute, how could this killing to silence witnesses have gone so smoothly?
The timing was just right. When they entered, the blood was clearly still warm—the person had just died—yet Ma San had chased out so quickly but caught nothing.
Where had the killer gone? Others might not think too much about it, but she had to think more, and she knew her young mistress had to think more as well.
It was true that Han Zhengqing had sent people to the capital to incite court officials to advocate for peace negotiations and appeasement, attempting to disturb people’s hearts. It was also true that there was a spy at Scholar Chen’s residence. But the killer could absolutely not have been this spy.
She looked at Song Chuyi, gently stirred the charcoal in the warming stove for her, and covered it with an embroidered magnolia warming cover, saying softly: “Your Highness, don’t be too anxious…”
Song Chuyi said nothing. After a moment, she handed the letter to Qing Ying: “Take this to Elder Brother and tell him that this letter must be delivered into Guo Yantang’s hands.”
Master Qingfeng had already gone to Fujian, first to Huizhou. Guo Yantang had also been transferred by Emperor Jianzhang from the Jinwu Guard to Huizhou before the new year to serve as a Garrison Commander. Because of old connections with the Guo family, and because Guo Yantang himself could be considered a local power, Master Qingfeng had naturally established a relationship with Guo Yantang.
And when Sun Ergou communicated news with people, he now did so through either Guo Yantang or Ye Jingchuan.
She had failed Sun Zhaodi, and even more so failed Sun Ergou who had trusted her wholeheartedly and entrusted his sister to her. Thinking of this, the killing intent in her eyes showed undisguised for the first time.
She must deliver this letter into Han Zhi’s hands. She wanted Han Zhi and Han Zhengqing to be like beasts in a cage, fighting to the death.
After watching Qing Ying leave, Qing Tao finally knelt down worriedly before Song Chuyi: “Miss…” When anxious, she often forgot to address Song Chuyi as “Your Highness.” She paused and said: “We’re now in danger on all sides. I know you’re very heartbroken about Madam Sun’s matter, but right now the more important thing is to find the traitor… This is too frightening…”
Yes, exactly who had tipped them off, and who had ghosted into the residence at Huangdaxian Temple to kill Zheng Baihu and silence him? This was truly too frightening.
“They’ve already shown their tail.” Song Chuyi gripped the warming stove in her hands: “Wait a bit. It won’t be too long.”
Indeed, it wouldn’t be too long. Qing Ying went out once and returned absent-minded, nearly knocking over the tea on the table. She bit her lip and quietly told Song Chuyi: “Your Highness, something has happened…”
“Rumors are flying everywhere in the city right now.” She looked at Song Chuyi, her eyes containing deep worry: “Everyone’s saying His Majesty’s illness is suspicious, and also saying… saying that Prince Gong’s rebellion was forced by the Crown Prince and Crown Grandson. They say the Crown Prince has sent assassins multiple times to try to assassinate him since Prince Gong was first enfeoffed to his territory. They also say this time at the Imperial Mausoleum, Prince Gong was forced to flee because the Crown Grandson sent death warriors to kill him. Because he was truly too wronged and couldn’t bear to see His Majesty deceived by petty men, he decided to raise troops to purge the villains at the Emperor’s side…”
Wars always easily stirred people’s hearts. Combined with the recent bitter disputes between the two factions of officials in court over whether to negotiate peace or advocate war, the common people were already in a state of constant anxiety. Han Zhengqing was using popular sentiment to manipulate the situation, wanting to throw the capital into complete chaos. He wanted to begin whitewashing Prince Gong into a paragon of righteousness and virtue while painting Zhou Weizhao as a sinister and shameless villain.