Someone called out from behind, “Lord Shen.”

It was Su Jin. She was an external official, stopped outside the Court of Imperial Clan. Her gaze swept over the wet nurse’s body, also revealing worried concern.

Shen Xi said, “Let her in.” Then, without smiling or exchanging pleasantries, he turned to ask a nearby attendant, “Where are your officials in charge?”

The Court of Imperial Clan originally had positions of Imperial Clan Administrator and Imperial Clan Justice, held by imperial princes. Later, when the princes went to their respective fiefs, and those remaining like Zhu Shiqi were too young and inexperienced, the hall positions remained vacant. The vast Court of Imperial Clan was managed by several officials.

A man hurried out from the hall—precisely Secretary Hu, who had received orders from Zhu Minda tonight.

Shen Xi asked directly, “How did this wet nurse die?”

Secretary Hu knew the person before him held an important position and was from the Eastern Palace, so he dared not be negligent. He replied respectfully, “Reporting to Lord Shen, she took her own life. Just after signing her confession, in a moment of inattention, she bashed her head and died.”

Su Jin asked, “Did she confess the circumstances of her crime? Did she leave any final words?”

Secretary Hu replied, “She confessed. This subordinate also had people find that box of poisoned date-flower pastries. She had buried it beneath a plum tree in the Palace Garden. The specific case details will be submitted by the Court of Imperial Clan to each of the Three Judicial Offices. However…” As he spoke, his expression became hesitant. “Before her death, this wet nurse did leave one statement. These words were very strange. This subordinate fears His Highness the Crown Prince would be furious upon hearing them. Might Lord Shen and Lord Su convey them on my behalf?”

Shen Xi and Su Jin exchanged glances and asked in unison, “What words?”

Secretary Hu still hesitated somewhat.

He still remembered the wet nurse’s eyes before death. He had never seen such complex eyes—as if sorrow and resolution intertwined, mixed with regret and relief.

“She said—everything was false. In this life, she wronged the young prince. Even in death, she cannot atone.”

It was now the hour of chou. The wind and snow had lessened somewhat. Su Jin and Shen Xi left the Court of Imperial Clan, walking toward the front palace.

The pitch-black night was illuminated slightly by the snow, but this dim white light was like an impenetrable fog, enshrouding the entire deep palace halls within it.

Shen Xi walked to the entrance of an abandoned palace gate and halted. He seemed tired, slowly sitting down on the threshold. From his sleeve pocket he took out a folding fan, tapping the empty space beside him.

Su Jin paused briefly, then walked over to sit beside him.

Shen Xi asked, “Why did you come to the Court of Imperial Clan?”

Su Jin thought that by now, there was nothing to hide from him, so she said, “It’s about the Petition Drum case. Someone wants me to investigate the case quickly, wanting to destroy the Fourteenth Prince and the Ministry of Works. Therefore, they did not hesitate to use the young prince’s convulsions to remind me of the true cause of death of the last victim beneath the Petition Drum, Lu Qianqian. I cannot understand why this person wants to destroy Zhu Shisi. Actually, the Fourteenth Prince…” She paused and continued, “Only appears powerful. If there truly were a succession struggle, he could not prevail against anyone. I thought the young prince’s wet nurse might know who this person is, so I came to inquire. I didn’t expect to be a step too late.”

Shen Xi hummed in acknowledgment and said, “Then who do you think it is?”

Su Jin shook her head. “I don’t know.” She asked again, “In Lord Shen’s view, who would it be?”

Shen Xi did not answer immediately.

After a moment, he bent down and wrote several characters in the snow with his index finger—”Four,” “Twelve”—saying, “Zhu Yushen and Zhu Qiyue each command troops in the Northern Border and Lingnan. They have the power to contend for succession.”

Then he wrote “Three” and “Nine.” “Zhu Jiyou and Zhu Yutang superficially submit to Zhu Shisi. In reality, through the Ministry of Works constructing traveling palaces and selling labor appointments, they amass wealth on a large scale. Combined with their long-entrenched positions in their fiefs, they also have the power to contend for succession.”

Finally, he smoothed the snow and wrote a solitary “Ten.” “Actually, the first person I thought of was him—Zhu Yiheng. His intelligence is not displayed outwardly, yet it exceeds the other four. His mind is steady yet restrained and unexpressed. He appears transcendent and detached, but if he had ambitions to contend, who knows if he might not be another Seventh Prince? However—” Shen Xi paused, the teardrop mole at the corner of his eye flashing as he frowned slightly. “Precisely because he was the first I thought of, I ruled him out. If the answer were so obvious, there would be no need for vigilance. Moreover, I’ve investigated him these years. His political achievements in his fief are mediocre. Even his personal guard troops are scattered and disorganized.”

Su Jin said in surprise, “Why would Lord Shen tell me all this?”

Shen Xi withdrew his fingertips, reddened by the accumulated snow, and suddenly leaned back, falling into the snow behind him. Looking at the snow particles flying through the sky, he said quietly, “I feel something is going to happen. Do you believe me?”

Su Jin did not answer.

Shen Xi was silent for a moment, then said, “When I was seven, one day I wanted to eat mulberries. My eldest sister doted on me and went personally to the Huai River to pick them. It was an early summer morning. I was asleep. When I woke, rain accompanied by thunder fell so heavily the sky turned dark. I suddenly felt panicked, feeling that eldest sister would meet with disaster. Three days later, someone found her body by the Huai River. It was said she fell into the rapids while picking mulberries. The two maids who went with her also disappeared.

“When I was fourteen, my third sister was enfeoffed as a county princess. The day I accompanied her into the palace, the sun blazed fiercely. Though it was autumn, I always felt that day’s sunlight scorched like a blade, as if it would take lives. Later, my third sister and I were indeed pursued and attacked at Qionghua Garden. Though palace attendants passed by, it was as if they could not see us. At the time, I thought my third sister and I would die there. Later, Thirteen arrived and saved both our lives.

“And then there’s today—this scheme I cannot see through. My intuition has always been accurate. I feel something is going to happen, yet I cannot grasp where the source lies. I hope I’m wrong.”

Hearing his words, Su Jin thought for a moment, then smiled softly. “So there are matters in this world even Lord Shen cannot fathom.” Then she said, “Somehow, I find that fortunate.”

Shen Xi glanced at her. After a moment, he also chuckled lightly. “If I could penetrate all worldly affairs, what would I be doing here? Wouldn’t setting up a street stall be better?”

Su Jin looked back at him in surprise.

Shen Xi raised his arm to prop himself up in the snow, saying lightly, “Set up a fortune-telling stall with sixteen large golden characters written above.” He raised his folding fan, pointing in the air several times, saying with complete seriousness, “Can divine life and death, can predict fortune and misfortune, one character worth a thousand gold, more meritorious than building pagodas.”

Su Jin paused, then after a moment, replied with equal seriousness, “Indeed. When that stall is established, from generals and ministers to common people, all would crowd before Lord Shen’s stall begging for divinations. You would treat all equally, having everyone line up in long queues. Yet you would write slowly, stroke by stroke. At that point, why bother being Vice Minister of Revenue? You should change professions to become a divine calculator. Within a year, you’d be wealthy enough to rival nations.”

Shen Xi snapped his folding fan closed, sat up from the snow, looked at Su Jin, and suddenly grinned. “Correct! Imperial Censor Su speaks so well, this divine calculator will first bestow upon you a marriage divination. You can ponder it yourself.”

As he spoke, without waiting for Su Jin’s reply, he continued directly, “First, the first half of the divination. Last spring, you were pursued by Seventh Prince’s people and fell into Cloud Gathering River. Thirteen saved you and discovered your female identity. At that time, two guards from Chengtian Gate jumped into the river with Thirteen. Your jade pendant and Thirteen’s were actually retrieved by these two men. Thirteen feared they would harm you, so he had them sent to the Northwest overnight. Who knew these two men would actually disappear midway.”

Su Jin paused briefly, lowering her eyes. “Yes, Lord Liu told me about this.”

“Later, Liu Yun and I investigated. One man was captured by Seventh Prince, but it appears he did not know your identity. The key lies with the other missing man.”

Su Jin pondered for a while and said, “Your Lordship means to say the other missing guard was captured by tonight’s schemer?”

Otherwise, in the midst of that night’s intensive interrogations, why would someone inexplicably bring up a jade pendant carved with the character for ‘rain’? Presumably, that schemer had already captured the other guard and learned from him about the jade pendant, and moreover knew that Su Jin was actually a woman.

With Shen Xi’s prompting, Su Jin suddenly understood.

She simply did not understand one point—this person knew her identity yet did not expose it publicly, instead using the jade pendant matter to hint to interested parties. What did this mean?

Shen Xi saw the confusion between her brows but ignored it, continuing, “Now for the second half of the divination. In tonight’s situation, my brother-in-law completely understands that Thirteen has the power to contend for succession. Fearing that others would create trouble and harm Eastern Palace members to provoke discord between him and Thirteen, he ordered Thirteen to return to Nanchang once the New Year passes.”

Hearing him mention Zhu Nanxian, Su Jin fell silent.

“You know Thirteen’s character. He naturally agreed. My brother-in-law felt guilty toward him, so he said that after the New Year passes, he would send you to Nanchang Prefecture to keep him company. Regarding this matter, what do you think?”

Su Jin paused, lowering her eyes. “I haven’t thought about it. All along, I’ve only wanted to properly be an Imperial Censor.”

Shen Xi laughed. “Then do you know how Thirteen answered?”

Su Jin stared at him blankly.

Shen Xi blinked but said, “I won’t tell you.”

Then he stood up, quite casually brushing the falling snow from his collar, saying with a grin, “Very well, this divination was quite exhausting. Consider it ten thousand gold you owe me. However, this divine calculator’s mood has suddenly improved again. I won’t quibble with you. You combine the upper and lower divinations and ponder them yourself.”

Outside Fengtian Gate was a plum garden. Years ago, several palace maids had mysteriously died tragically here, so few people visited.

After leaving the Palace Audience Hall, Liu Chaoming did not return to the Imperial Censorate but came alone to this place.

The snow had not stopped. He held an umbrella, waiting among the plum trees. Perhaps because blood had been spilled here, the red plums grew more lustrous each year.

Not knowing how much time had passed, someone approached through the snow, bowing with joined sleeves behind Liu Chaoming and saying respectfully, “Lord Liu, His Highness sent this humble servant to return the broken jade.”

This was a young palace attendant.

If Eunuch Zhang from the Palace Audience Hall were here, he would surely recognize this person as someone who had only been transferred to the Palace Audience Hall last year, often helping in the kitchen and being particularly inconspicuous.

Liu Chaoming did not turn around, only asking flatly, “How long has His Highness been planning tonight’s situation?”

The attendant said, “His Highness knew Your Lordship would ask this and commanded this humble servant to tell Your Lordship—ten years.”

Liu Chaoming’s eyes moved slightly. After a moment, he said, “Waiting ten years for an opportunity—indeed that is his style.”

The attendant added, “His Highness also had this humble servant thank Your Lordship. Only Your Lordship, with such brilliant wisdom, would immediately penetrate the entire situation and try the case toward the outcome he desired.”

Hearing these words, Liu Chaoming said coldly, “Does he think that with Shen Qingyue’s insight, he would not see through the irregularities? After tonight, Shen Qingyue will inevitably prevent the Eastern Palace from suppressing Qian Zhihuan, leaving an escape route for Zhu Zhaowei.” Then he paused and asked, “He wants to force Seventh Prince into a dead end—does he have some other leverage?”

The attendant said, “His Highness says Your Lordship need not concern yourself with the rest. After all, between His Highness and Your Lordship, there is only a covenant sealed with broken jade.”

As he spoke, he extended his hand, presenting the broken jade forward.

This was already the second piece of broken jade.

Liu Chaoming turned around holding his umbrella, looking at this jade stone of ancient and gentle hue, and suddenly began to smile slowly.

When he smiled like this, he was gentler than the moon, yet his eyes revealed an aura of ruthless determination.

He suddenly reached out, directly grasping the attendant’s throat, saying word by word with harsh severity, “Just now in the hall, deliberately mentioning Su Shiyu’s jade pendant—why? To threaten me?”

Liu Chaoming controlled his strength very well—allowing the person to still speak while also making him feel that if the hand pressed slightly harder, he would meet his doom.

The attendant’s face reddened, trying hard to maintain composure, yet he was still intimidated by those cold, murderous eyes. After a long while, he finally said, “His Highness… His Highness only wanted to tell Your Lordship that Your Lordship is someone who always keeps promises. Years ago, you promised the old Imperial Censor you would protect Su Shiyu for life. Presumably, you will not break that promise. If so, then the covenant between His Highness and Your Lordship from those years must also not be forgotten.”