Mister Qingfeng fished out a few pine nuts from the pouch at his waist to shell, scoffed, and tossed the kernels into his mouth: “Everyone says these two brothers appear harmonious but are secretly at odds, but now it seems that’s not entirely true. At the very least they’re quite alike in one respect—haven’t they both calculated you into their schemes? They both want you dead, and want to use your deaths to strike at each other, don’t they?”
Zhou Weizhao said nothing. If the Crown Prince’s injury and attack were self-staged, that meant he wanted to pin both Song Chuyi’s ordeal at the Qingxu Temple and his own assassination on Prince Gong. Thinking of this, his mind stirred, and he turned to look at Song Chuyi: “That living witness—you haven’t interrogated him yet, have you?”
Mister Qingfeng interjected: “Of course not yet. Those people are clearly death warriors, every single one willing to die. If we hadn’t prepared early today and brought skilled hands who could fight, we’d probably all have died there. This time the Crown Prince really spent his capital. Keeping death warriors is a grave crime in this dynasty. Even when Prince Duan got involved with such matters, didn’t he die? If it’s truly confirmed these are the Crown Prince’s men, he won’t get off easy either—keeping death warriors, are you trying to disrupt the court or commit treason? That all depends on someone else’s word.” Mister Qingfeng paused here, unable to help stopping to think for a moment before continuing: “Since we already know they’re death warriors, naturally we know interrogation won’t work. Didn’t all those people we didn’t kill on our side commit suicide? Originally the plan was to take him back and hand him over to the Empress for her to decide, but now it seems if we bring him back, what this person spits out may not necessarily incriminate His Highness the Crown Prince. No wonder Ma San has disappeared.”
No wonder Ma San had disappeared. Song Chuyi thought of this almost simultaneously with him, suddenly raising her head—whether it was the Crown Prince or Prince Gong, at this moment both wanted the person in Ma San’s hands—the Crown Prince wanted to get him back and find a way to bring him before the Empress, to have him admit that the mastermind behind murdering Song Chuyi and even assassinating the Crown Prince was Prince Gong. As for Prince Gong, needless to say, he wanted to make that person confess by any means that he was a death warrior raised by the Crown Prince. These two men were truly unbridled in not treating others’ lives as lives. Song Chuyi couldn’t help but laugh bitterly—once she had thought Prince Gong was a pitiful man, someone who had lost his childhood sweetheart because of the Crown Prince’s paranoia and suspicion and Empress Dowager Lu’s unprincipled favoritism. But now it seemed that whatever kind of person Prince Gong had been in the past, she didn’t know; the current Prince Gong could in any case be worthy of the three words “ambitious schemer.” Perhaps it was years of accumulated disappointment, or perhaps these years had long since polished him into a politician and ambitious schemer. In any case, this person was now no different from the Crown Prince in terms of threat.
“Ma San is clever.” Song Chuyi smiled lightly, though the smile didn’t reach her eyes: “He crawled out of a pile of corpses, so he knows best how to protect his own life. Besides, he has Changgui and the others with him, and Qing Zhuo has rushed over. Let’s protect ourselves first.”
Whether it was the Crown Prince or Prince Gong, both now regarded them as chess pieces in their game, as bargaining chips to deal with each other. Today those who wanted their lives weren’t just one person—one was the current Crown Prince, one was a regional prince. If either of them had such thoughts, it would already be terrifying enough, let alone both this time.
Zhou Weizhao’s throat tightened. He had thought that after Song Chuyi married him she might encounter many troubles, but for the first such major trouble to come from his own biological father truly made him both ashamed and furious.
The wind gradually picked up, the surrounding trees all bending to one side. The paulownia and poplar trees in the capital suburbs all grew tall. When the wind blew, leaves from the trees fell in profusion all over the ground. In no time, thick piles had accumulated around Mister Qingfeng.
Song Yan frowned with great worry: “Earlier the city gate commander said he needed to go in and request instructions from the Imperial Guard Commander. Now it seems even if we enter the city, it may not be a good thing.” He glanced at Song Chuyi: “We don’t know how things are at home yet. Today just happens to be the day Grandmother and Eldest Aunt entered the palace to see Consort Song. If the Crown Prince really makes an issue of this matter, it could very likely implicate them too.”
Indeed, the right time, place, and people were all aligned. If the Crown Prince’s scheme was truly set so cleverly, he could immediately turn to accuse the Song and Cui families of colluding with Prince Gong to commit assassination if killing Song Chuyi failed. If they entered the city at this moment, they would probably be immediately arrested and sent to the imperial prison. Even Zhou Weizhao might bear the crime of patricide, wouldn’t he?
Song Chuyi furrowed her brows, then quickly relaxed them: “With Grandfather and Elder Brother at home, I don’t think it will come to that. Although Grandmother and Eldest Aunt have entered the palace, both Consort Song and Empress Dowager are reasonable people. If the Crown Prince wants to claim the assassination in the palace was their doing, it’s not so easy—every first and fifteenth of the month, the palace consorts can summon family members to visit. It’s not just our family. If he insists on targeting our family specifically, it would seem too deliberate.”
“With your grandfather and elder brother presiding over your household, nothing major will happen.” Mister Qingfeng also echoed Song Chuyi’s words: “The key now lies with you all. If you die now and the people on Ma San’s side are also abducted, then there will truly be no way to prove your innocence, and it will all depend on what others say. At that time, your family will truly be unable to clear its name no matter how many mouths you have. Right now you should think carefully—you can’t enter the city, and staying here isn’t safe either. What should you do?”
The wind blew strong. Having sat on the ground for quite some time, he suddenly yawned, rubbed his nose, and casually turned his head to glance to the side. He immediately scrambled up from the ground and asked in shock and anger: “Have you heard the story of the butcher and the wolf?”
His question was strange. Song Chuyi’s eyes showed some surprise. Seeing his gaze fixed tightly on one spot, she followed his line of sight to look into the distance and couldn’t help but immediately step back two paces—in the not-too-distant darkness were many gleaming green lights, like stars in the darkness. But these weren’t stars after all, and didn’t bring any joy whatsoever—these were wolves’ eyes.
Zhou Weizhao had already swiftly pulled her into his arms and moved backward, his gaze falling on those green lights hidden among the trees, bright as lanterns. He had already sensed something was wrong—there was a small hunting ground in the capital suburbs where many nobles and wealthy households hunted. Because hunting had its seasons, hunting was forbidden during spring and autumn. Every time this season came, incidents of wild beasts appearing and injuring people occurred frequently. But for so many wolves to appear simultaneously…