Fang Xiaorou did not go see Elder Chen. He knew that with Elder Chen’s deep scheming and calculation, he had long since suspected him—in fact, he had been involved in every step of this, advising Second Master Chen at every turn. With Elder Chen’s intelligence and experience, these past days had been enough for him to realize this.

When he went to find Song Jue, he was somewhat worried: “He’s been an Elder for fourteen years.”

Fourteen years. Elders had changed countless times, yet he alone endured, never declining. Although relegated to second assistant, he remained immovable, standing firm and steady all these years.

If only he hadn’t offended the Cui clan, if only he hadn’t provoked Song Chuyi and the Song family—thinking this way, Fang Xiaorou felt that Song Chuyi and Song Jue were even more terrifying than Elder Chen. Two juniors. Back when they first spoke of plotting against Elder Chen, he had always felt it somewhat fantastical, but now they had actually done it.

Song Jue indeed was not very worried. He casually glanced at Fang Xiaorou: “This year’s Ministry of Personnel performance evaluation will certainly rate Your Excellency as superior, and since it’s superior, you should also go out to gain practical experience. Your Excellency, please rest assured.”

Fang Xiaorou had been waiting for just this word of assurance. Song Jue was the Song family’s future heir. Since he would say this now, it meant Song Chengru had approved. That Song Chengru had raised such a shrewd pair of grandchildren was truly his fortune.

Although Madam Fang had already received assurance from Song Chuyi’s letter, hearing from her husband that Song Jue had given another layer of guarantee naturally made her even more at ease. She couldn’t help but clasp her hands together and recite a Buddhist prayer. After finishing her prayer, she felt somewhat emotional: “Today the Chen family was raided. I heard the Chen family daughters were all frightened silly, thrown into complete chaos…”

Fang Xiaorou did not wish to hear more. He already knew he would be posted elsewhere in the future. That this matter, in the end, because of Third Master Chen’s death, did not place him openly in the spotlight to receive the world’s condemnation—he was already extremely overjoyed. To think further would inevitably make him feel guilty. He sighed and said: “Enough, don’t always inquire about these matters. Thinking about them is truly uncomfortable. Better to think about the past.”

Yes, think about the past. Their daughter had been the same, even worse. Madam Fang said no more. She served Fang Xiaorou in changing clothes, and thinking back to the Chen family, although she felt somewhat sorry for Third Madam Chen, there was no other solution.

The Chen family’s female relatives truly did not have it so easy. Old Madam Chen had never suffered such hardship. Having lived in comfort for so long, even her body had become delicate. Just the first night entering the prison cell, she broke out in rashes all over her body. Despite severe scratching front and back, it was no use.

The jailers in the Ministry of Justice prison were all accustomed to reading the wind. They understood the direction of the court winds perfectly clearly. When Elder Chen was first imprisoned, though the situation was unclear and there were many outside crying injustice for Elder Chen, they treated him with respect. Now the Chen family had been raided, the case had been tried, and their attitude toward the Chen family members had turned completely upside down.

Chen Mingyu shrank closer to her grandmother, then closer still. The tears she held back fell pitter-patter like an unstoppable stream that would never run dry.

She had grown up following her grandmother since childhood. How could her relationship with her mother be described as merely “thin”? Now she felt even more that only her grandmother could be relied upon. Clutching her grandmother’s hand, she wept: “Grandmother, are we… are we finished?”

Having reached the point of property confiscation, they must truly be finished, right? Back when Grandfather first entered the Ministry of Justice prison awaiting trial, the household was still orderly, showing no signs of chaos at all. But in the blink of an eye, how had it reached this state?

She still had Zhou Weizhao on her mind. What surfaced at this moment was not worry, but terror. If Grandfather truly met with misfortune, if the Chen family truly could never rise again, how could she still become the Imperial Grandson Consort?

Old Madam Chen coughed severely. After quite a while she finally recovered her senses. She patted her granddaughter’s hand. At this point, her heart had basically turned to ashes, but after all, she had experienced great events and deeply knew that being anxious now was useless: “Don’t think so much. At this point, being anxious is useless.”

Only now did she belatedly realize something was suspicious about the situation, and somewhat perceived the trickery within it, knowing that their family had been schemed against by someone.

Compared to the female relatives’ wailing, the men were much calmer—not that they could help but be calm. Elder Chen was meeting with former students who had come to visit him in prison, discussing matters. Second Master Chen and the eldest Chen grandson, no matter how foolish, knew that at this moment they absolutely could not cause trouble.

“As things stand now, the Eastern Palace will certainly abandon Teacher.” Military Armory Division Vice Director Zhende lowered his voice and moved closer to Elder Chen: “But given the current situation, if even the Eastern Palace abandons and ignores Teacher, Teacher will be in danger.”

Elder Chen had after all spent a long time in officialdom. Even now his expression remained unchanged. He had already been in the Ministry of Justice prison for two or three months, yet his person showed no signs of dejection or aged decline. He nodded and said matter-of-factly: “That is the reasoning. Does Zhende have any good solutions?”

No one brought up Fang Xiaorou anymore. How things had come to be—to pursue it now was meaningless. First they must preserve his life, then they could scheme for other things. A gentleman’s revenge is never too late, even after ten years. As long as Elder Chen could preserve his life, everything was possible.

Zhende glanced at Vice Minister Wei and leaned forward: “Teacher has after all served the Eastern Palace loyally for many years…”

Elder Chen shook his head. He knew the Crown Prince’s temperament. If he used past achievements to threaten the Crown Prince, even if he escaped from this current case, he would have no peaceful days in the future.

If there was still any best strategy now, it should still be approached from elsewhere.

“His Majesty may not want my life.” Elder Chen rationally spoke frankly with them: “Although people outside all believe I embezzled and took bribes, after all there is only my son’s blood letter and evidence of my son taking money. As for me, not a single piece of incriminating evidence has fallen into others’ hands. What the actual truth is, His Majesty likely knows perfectly well in his heart.”

Zhende and Vice Minister Wei exchanged glances, both looking toward Vice Minister Tong who arrived later.

Vice Minister Tong nodded along with Elder Chen’s words: “Elder Chen speaks reasonably. His Majesty may not be unaware of your innocence. But right now His Majesty wants to quell the anger of the scholarly community, and may not refrain from pushing you out directly to be the shield.”

Elder Chen stroked his beard and smiled: “So we must find someone to plead on our behalf, to set the charges lower. If he speaks up, then you all will also find it easier to speak up.”

Everyone perked up their ears to listen.

Elder Chen did not hesitate for a moment: “Zhende, you can go to Censor Tao’s residence this evening and ask him what his relationship with Wang Lun was when he served as county magistrate in Fujian years ago.”