To her surprise, when the old woman lifted her head, it left Feng Yue stunned.
“Lady Chai?!”
When her clouded eyes met Feng Yue’s, Lady Chai couldn’t react for a long while. After all, the young woman before her was wearing a face veil. Though her eyes looked familiar, she couldn’t immediately place who she was.
Before Lady Chai could respond, Feng Yue took a deep breath and, holding her hand, asked, “There’s a teahouse nearby. Would Lady Chai like to sit and rest there?”
The fire-breathing and sword-walking performers were all dumbfounded, and the surrounding crowd turned to look. Nan Ping felt somewhat uncomfortable with the attention, so she said softly, “I enjoy watching your performances. There’s a feast prepared at the teahouse next door. Why don’t you all take a break? I’ll treat you to some good food.”
Appreciating the princess’s quick thinking, Feng Yue smoothly led Lady Chai toward the teahouse.
Upon reaching the upper floor and seeing Yin Gezhi and Feng Ming seated there, Lady Chai was greatly startled and immediately knelt: “Crown Prince! Young Lord Feng!”
Nan Ping was startled – though her royal brother and Feng Ming’s clothes were somewhat eye-catching, how could a mere commoner recognize who they were at first glance? There were many princes and generals in the court!
The guards cleared the floor, leaving the second floor empty. Yin Gezhi looked at her directly but couldn’t recall who she was even after studying her for a moment.
Feng Ming suddenly slapped his forehead and exclaimed: “Lady Chai!”
Lady Chai was the mother of Deputy Commander Chai Weiming. When Guan Canghai was still alive, she frequently visited the Guan residence and the palace. Though not considered part of the Guan clan’s extended family, she was quite close to the Guan household. After the Guan family’s extermination, Chai Weiming was implicated and demoted to a prison guard at the Imperial Prison. Since then, Feng Ming had rarely seen her.
He never expected their next meeting would be under such circumstances.
Yin Gezhi’s impression of Chai Weiming wasn’t very deep, so he merely nodded politely and had Guanzhi help her up to sit.
Nan Ping sat obediently beside Feng Yue, confusion in her eyes, but she didn’t rush to ask questions and waited quietly.
Lady Chai trembled with emotion, tears streaming down her face: “Upon learning that you both had returned to Lidu, I’ve been trying to find ways to contact you! But alas, both the Prince’s mansion and the Marquis’s residence were too heavily guarded for me to approach!”
Mindful of Nan Ping’s presence, Feng Yue dared neither remove her veil nor speak, just listening as Feng Ming asked: “Though the Chai family has fallen from grace, Weiming still holds a position at the Imperial Prison. How did Lady Chai end up on the streets?”
At the mention of Chai Weiming, Lady Chai knelt again, weeping and kowtowing: “Weiming was killed by villains six months ago, dying an unjust death! I have no close relatives in Lidu, and those we used to associate with can no longer be contacted due to the Chai family’s disgrace. Weiming died wrongfully! I beg you both to seek justice for Weiming!”
Chai Weiming is dead?! Feng Yue frowned, closing her eyes momentarily.
He had been one of Guan Canghai’s men. Because he had an elderly mother to care for, she hadn’t written to him at the time. But he was an upright and loyal person – how could he have died so suddenly?
Yin Gezhi rose to help her up, but Lady Chai insisted on kneeling, continuing to kowtow while crying hoarsely the sound piercing everyone’s hearts.
Feng Ming stood up and without a word lifted Lady Chai’s skeletal frame, placing her in a chair. He frowned and said: “Stop crying first and explain clearly – how did Chai Weiming die?”
Startled by his action, Lady Chai did indeed calm down. Taking the handkerchief Nan Ping offered, she wiped her face and spoke hoarsely: “More than three years ago, after the Guan family was destroyed, Weiming was demoted to a prison guard and endured much humiliation. Because of my old and sickly body that couldn’t withstand travel, he worried about me and endured silently to continue living in Lidu.”
“He was skilled in martial arts and diligent, making many friends among his fellow guards at the Imperial Prison. I thought living such a life would be fine – after all, the higher you climb, the harder you fall. But unexpectedly, after more than two years passed, one night he came home excited, telling me that General Guan had been wronged – he hadn’t committed suicide out of guilt, but had been poisoned!”
At these words, everyone’s expression changed. Feng Yue clenched her fists, eyes closed as she struggled to contain herself, lest she lunge at someone in front of Princess Nan Ping.
Glancing around, Lady Chai continued angrily: “I was foolish then, thinking that since General Guan was already dead, reopening the old case would only invite trouble, so I told him to keep quiet! Who would have thought that this secret was revealed by some guards while drunk, and once sober, one of them reported it to their superiors? Within two days, Weiming was carried home… They said he had drunk too much and died falling into a ditch, but his body was covered in injuries – he was beaten to death!”
“For half a year now, I’ve told everyone about this, hoping to reach the emperor’s ears and seek justice for Weiming, but no one believed me… I had no evidence… No one believed what I said… Weiming died unjustly! They buried him hastily, the prison authorities refused to give any explanation and even drove me out of Lidu… If not for those kind street performers who were willing to feed me, I might not have lived to see this day!”
Feng Ming listened until his face turned iron gray. He slammed the table and stood up: “I’ll go find someone to question!”
With those words, he jumped directly from the second-floor window.
A chorus of gasps arose from outside, and Nan Ping hurried to look, only to see his graceful figure land steadily, mount a horse, and gallop toward the Imperial Prison.
Lady Chai watched with tears and a smile, wiping her eyes: “Why is Young Lord Feng still so impulsive, acting as soon as he speaks?”
“Don’t worry about him, he won’t come to harm.” Yin Gezhi pressed his lips together and looked at her seriously: “Regarding General Guan being poisoned in prison, did Chai Weiming only say this much?”
Slightly startled, Lady Chai thought for a moment and said: “No, he also mentioned something about orders from above and something about hidden masterminds…”
This wasn’t something to be discussed in public. Lady Chai became hesitant, glancing at the guards around them.
Yin Gezhi turned to Nan Ping: “Go with these people to look at the jewelry shop downstairs. Whatever you like, your royal brother will buy it for you.”
Nan Ping wasn’t foolish. She knew there were some things she shouldn’t hear, so she obediently agreed and led people downstairs. But as she walked, she suddenly became curious.
If she couldn’t hear these things, why could Feng Yue?
With only three people remaining upstairs, Yin Gezhi said: “Lady Chai can speak now.”
Lady Chai was startled, about to mention the veiled person still present, when she saw that person remove her veil, smiling with slightly reddened eyes: “Lady Chai, I also want to hear this.”
Guan Qingyue! Lady Chai was shocked, almost unable to catch her breath. She clutched her chest, overwhelmed.
“You… you’re alive?”
“Yes.” Feng Yue smiled, waiting for her to recover before saying: “We’ll discuss other matters later, Lady Chai, but you must tell me who killed my father.”
She had thought the truth could only be guessed at, yet unexpectedly there was still someone who knew.
Lady Chai nodded excitedly, choking with emotion. She held Feng Yue’s hand, trembling for quite a while before speaking hoarsely: “Weiming said that his team of guards happened to be the ones guarding death row back then, and two of them witnessed General Guan’s death… Originally, they were strictly ordered not to speak of it, and they kept quiet for two years, but one day they got drunk and relaxed, letting the secret slip – General Guan didn’t commit suicide, he was poisoned to death by Imperial Censor Shi, who then used his hand to stamp a confession with red clay… That’s where the story of ‘suicide due to guilt’ came from. He suspected someone behind the scenes wanted to harm the General, but with the entire Guan family gone, we could barely protect ourselves, so…”
At this point, Lady Chai became deeply regretful: “I should have known this matter was so serious, I shouldn’t have let him go back to guard the prison… Oh, Weiming…”
Feng Yue lowered her gaze, her expression very calm. So calm that even Yin Gezhi couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
“I will try my best to seek justice for Deputy Commander Chai’s death,” Feng Yue looked at Lady Chai and said: “As for what was said today, Lady Chai should not speak of it elsewhere. Please take care of yourself.”
Lady Chai suddenly became energetic, her eyes burning as she looked at her: “Are you going to clear General Guan’s name?”
“I don’t have that ability,” Feng Yue said: “But I can avenge him.”
“I won’t help you,” Yin Gezhi said coolly: “But I can tell you what I know – on the fifteenth of this month, the Shi family has an ancestral worship ceremony. Shi Youxin is part of the Shi family; as long as he’s still breathing, he will attend.”
“Good.” Feng Yue smiled, turning to look at him: “Thank you for your help, Your Highness. I’ll leave Lady Chai’s arrangements to you. I have matters to attend to, so when Princess Nan Ping returns, please convey my apologies.”
Yin Gezhi frowned, but before he could object, Feng Yue had already rushed downstairs.
She knows how to cause him trouble.
Pressing his lips together, he still looked at Lady Chai and said: “Please come with me to the Prince’s mansion.”
Feng Ming went to the Imperial Prison and directly caught someone to bring back. The teahouse was empty now, so he headed to the courtyard instead.
Feng Yue was looking at a map. Since the Shi family’s ancestral worship would be held at the residence of Shi Hongwei, the highest-ranking member of the Shi family, the Prime Minister’s mansion was heavily guarded, but surprisingly less so than the Imperial Censor’s residence – probably because Shi Hongwei had a clear conscience and was thus bolder.
“Yue’er!”
Just as she was thinking, Feng Ming threw someone into her courtyard: “Here’s the person, you can ask whatever you want.”
Looking dumbfounded at the black and blue-faced person wearing prison guard clothes, Feng Yue was quite troubled: “You just kidnapped someone?”
“What else?” Feng Ming said: “I checked – he used to work with Chai Weiming.”
The person on the ground was trembling, looking extremely terrified, clearly having already been beaten and now being particularly docile.
Crouching in front of him with a helpless smile, Feng Yue asked: “Who killed Chai Weiming?”
The guard’s body stiffened, and he quickly shook his head: “Wasn’t Chai Weiming the one who fell to his death? He fell to his death!”
Feng Yue looked up at Feng Ming, who understood and immediately stepped on the guard’s chest: “Do you believe you might also ‘accidentally fall to your death’ soon?”