But this was beyond her ability to fathom. Perhaps the Crown Prince and Prince Gong’s affairs had dealt too severe a blow to Emperor Jianzhang. Five of his adult sons had suddenly either died or been deposed, two of whom were legitimate sons he had poured countless efforts into raising since childhood. He was already vastly different from before.

Song Jue turned around and stroked Song Chuyi’s head: “He went to the Imperial Mausoleum.”

The Imperial Mausoleum. Prince Gong.

Emperor Jianzhang had ordered Prince Gong to guard the mausoleum for three months. It had only been just over a month now. The Double Ninth Festival had only passed a few days ago—it was far from time for Prince Gong to return. What was Lai Chenglong doing at the Imperial Mausoleum now?

The two sat down on the white-painted round stools beneath the Cherokee rose trellis. In the distance, yellow sophora flowers were falling everywhere, practically laying a yellow carpet on the ground. The Boston ivy climbing over the rockery was lush and green, making the green leaves and yellow flowers particularly beautiful.

Before Song Chuyi could figure out what the Imperial Mausoleum matter meant, Song Jue had already turned the topic: “Grandfather just received a letter from Uncle. Without him needing to act, the Prince of Dongping had already taken care of the Wei father and son’s matter first.”

The Wei father and son had been detained in prison by the Xiangfan Prefect under charges of robbery. Now that Hubei was in complete chaos, the Prince of Dongping simply used the excuse that the Xiangfan Prefect had colluded with the Chen family to frame them and was in league with Jiang Tianping, completely clearing the Wei father and son’s names. He had also thoroughly plundered the Chen family in the process.

Song Jue curled his lips in a cold laugh: “All these years, Fan Liangdi may not have taught him anything else, but she certainly filled the Prince of Dongping with schemes and plots. Using his identity as Deputy Imperial Commissioner and taking advantage of Hubei’s chaos, he pinned the charge of profiteering from disaster on the Chen family and Xiangfan Prefect, openly and legitimately washing the Wei father and son clean as snow.”

Although it led to the same destination as Cui Yingshu’s goal by different routes, the Prince of Dongping’s decisive and efficient action was alarming. Song Chuyi and Song Jue exchanged glances, then both smiled knowingly. What kind of clean son could someone like Fan Liangdi raise? It was just that the Prince of Dongping was more seasoned than they had imagined.

Song Jue lowered his voice and asked Song Chuyi: “Do you still remember when you had His Highness the Crown Grandson investigate exactly how the Crown Prince was poisoned?”

Later, when Zhou Weizhao investigated further, he surprisingly couldn’t find a single trace—yet this shouldn’t have been possible. All those who served the Crown Prince that day were recorded and thrown into the imperial prison. A young eunuch had even spoken up, saying that among everything the Crown Prince consumed that day, there was only one old ginseng root that he hadn’t tasted first. Unfortunately, before he could reveal the origin of this old ginseng, he died.

Now Song Jue seemed to know something. Song Chuyi raised her eyebrows at him: “It wasn’t the Prince of Dongping, was it?”

But no matter how she thought about it, the Prince of Dongping had no reason to harm the Crown Prince. If something happened to the Crown Prince, no one would be more unfortunate than the Prince of Dongping. No one wanted the Crown Prince well more than the Prince of Dongping should have. Previously, both she and Zhou Weizhao had felt that Prince Gong was most likely responsible.

Song Jue coughed and nodded: “Wei Xun and Wei Yansheng are extremely close.”

Song Chuyi naturally knew this. Wei Yansheng and Wei Xun had practically grown up wearing the same pants since childhood. The two were as close as blood brothers—and they actually were true cousins. And Song Jue was both Wei Xun’s classmate and close friend.

Song Chuyi understood: “What news did you hear from Wei Xun?”

“It can’t really be called news. Just yesterday, because Li Er was getting married, Wei Xun invited me to accompany Li Er for drinks. During the feast, Wei Xun got drunk and said that before Wei Yansheng went to Xiangfan, he had told him that he might need to make a trip to Datong.”

Datong. What was in Datong? The Governor-General of Datong was… Marquis Jinxiang, Han Zhengqing.

“He went to Datong at the Prince of Dongping’s request, supposedly to handle an extremely urgent matter.” Song Jue curled his fingers and tapped the table, looking up at Song Chuyi. “He went to ask Marquis Jinxiang for a treasure of the Jinxiang Marquis household—supposedly a ginseng root that ginseng diggers had guarded for many years before obtaining it, which had already taken human form.”

There were no such coincidences in this world. Song Chuyi raised her head, just meeting Song Jue’s bright, flashing eyes.

Marquis Jinxiang Han Zhengqing’s loyalty to the Eastern Palace was truly too inexplicably fervent and costly. When Young Madam Fan and Han Zhi were still alive, Song Chuyi could still find a reason to think Han Zhengqing was betting on the Eastern Palace, and that he and the Crown Prince were brothers-in-law.

But later, after Young Madam Fan and Han Zhi both died at Elder Madam Fan’s hands, Han Zhengqing remained completely unwavering, not even causing the slightest disturbance. Wasn’t this too strange?

Recently, incidents had been happening one after another. Song Chuyi simply hadn’t had time to think about Han Zhengqing, the Governor-General of Datong far away in the northwest. But thinking about it now, things seemed far too coincidental—coincidental to the point of seeming deliberate.

If the Crown Prince had truly been poisoned by eating that old ginseng root, and if this ginseng root had come from Han Zhengqing’s hands to the Prince of Dongping, then the Prince of Dongping naturally wouldn’t have wanted the Crown Prince to die. As Wei Yansheng said, his purpose in seeking this old ginseng was to hope the Crown Prince would live longer. And since it wasn’t the Prince of Dongping, then it was… Han Zhengqing?

But if Han Zhengqing wanted to avenge his son and daughter-in-law, shouldn’t he target Elder Madam Fan and the Prince of Dongping? Although Datong was far away, by now the news of the Crown Prince’s poisoning should have long since spread. If he truly wanted to both kill the Crown Prince and frame Dongping, he should have made his move long ago. Yet he remained quiet to this day.

Song Chuyi’s brow twitched violently. She instinctively felt something was wrong here.

None of this made logical or emotional sense. The entire affair reeked of inexplicable strangeness.

Now Emperor Jianzhang had made it clear he was elevating the Prince of Dongping. If they made a move against the Prince of Dongping now, it would seem too deliberate. This was also why Song Chuyi had advised Cui Yingshu and Song Yan not to scheme against the Prince of Dongping in Hubei.

But if the Prince of Dongping became connected with the crime of murdering his own father…

Song Chuyi immediately looked at Song Jue: “Should I write to Uncle and have him investigate?”

This matter naturally needed investigating. Song Jue nodded, then asked Song Chuyi: “Why do you think Han Zhengqing hasn’t jumped out to accuse the Prince of Dongping until now? If he truly wanted to avenge his wife and children, then using this incident—the Crown Prince would be finished, and neither the Prince of Dongping nor the Fan clan would escape involvement. Wouldn’t that truly be catching them all in one net? Yet he hasn’t made a single move.”

Making no move at all could only mean he wasn’t thinking that way. Since he wasn’t thinking that way, since he didn’t want the Prince of Dongping’s life yet wanted to use the Prince of Dongping’s hand to kill the Crown Prince…

Thinking of Elder Madam Fan’s trust in Han Zhengqing, her deep hatred for Young Madam Fan and her son, and Han Zhengqing’s abnormal loyalty to the Eastern Palace while Elder Madam Fan was alive, Song Chuyi’s heart pounded heavily again.