Physician Yu arrived hurriedly, medicine case in hand, his robes still spattered with dried medicine stains. He gave a hasty bow and went to examine the patient.

Gu Yanxi looked toward Lai Fu. “Attend him well.”

“Yes.”

The Emperor felt a flicker of warmth, waved at him, and said, “All right — go attend to your affairs.”

Outside, members of the Qisu Division were already waiting to report. Gu Yanxi turned to leave. He had just reached the doorway when he heard Gu Chengan suddenly call out a name behind him: “Yiqiu!”

Gu Yanxi turned around at once.

“Yiqiu — it could be her!” Gu Chengan scrambled to his feet. “Yes — it’s her. I remember now. When my men were telling me about the Yinshan Pass affair, Yiqiu happened to be present. Let me think — let me think.”

Gu Chengan paced back and forth several times. “Yes — she said she had a purple sable cloak, beautiful and warm, said it had come from that region. But she had grown taller and it was already a little short on her, and she asked me to find her another one. I didn’t think anything of it and agreed. I later had people look into it and learned those things weren’t cheap.”

Gu Yanxi had already walked back over. He did not interrupt.

“Not long after, she came to me again. Said she had just found out that purple sable pelts were both expensive and hard to obtain, and told me not to bother. She would have someone buy it from beyond the frontier. I asked her at the time what the price was out there — yes, it was from that conversation that I first learned how large a profit there was in bringing goods from beyond the frontier into the Central Plains. Afterward I had people look into it, and that’s how I found out there was a black market at Yinshan Pass specifically for trading goods between inside and outside the frontier — and that was when all those ideas began. Yes — it all started from that moment!”

Third Princess Gu Yiqiu!

The Emperor had laughed himself to fury. “Very well — very well indeed! First my consort, then my princess — am I to wonder next whether this daughter is even of my blood?”

Gu Yanxi turned to give an instruction: “Go and verify whether His Majesty has ever bestowed a purple sable cloak upon the Third Princess.”

“Yes.”

The movements inside the palace could not be hidden from those paying attention, and Gu Yanxi no longer intended to be subtle about it. “Request that His Majesty issue a decree: all persons within the palace are to return to their designated places and are not to move about.”

“Granted.”

Gu Yanxi called Chen Qing forward. “Close the palace gates. Keep watch over the Third Princess’s Mingyue Palace. Lai Fu — have your people coordinate with the Qisu Division to inspect all palace staff. Anyone extra or anyone missing — determine their whereabouts.”

“Yes.”

“Order the Third Division to rigorously interrogate Noble Consort Tong. Do not let her die.”

“Yes.”

Gu Yanxi swept back the hem of his robe and knelt before the Emperor. “This official requests to reopen the investigation into the First Imperial Prince’s case. I beseech Your Majesty’s permission.”

The Emperor’s expression was unreadable. “Your meaning is — that the Chaoli tribe also had a hand in the elder one’s affair?”

“This official does not dare assert it without certainty. An investigation will tell.”

The Emperor gave the word of approval through gritted teeth. He did not dare imagine how many years the Chaoli tribe had been scheming — step by step replacing his ministers, and now extending their reach into those at his very side. If they waited another three to five years, would his entire inner circle be Chaoli people?

No — not three to five years. Perhaps in another year or two, the dynasty would already be bearing a different name.

Gu Yanxi went to Fushou Palace. Yuxiang quickly dismissed all the others and stood guard at the door herself.

Removing his mask, Gu Yanxi prostrated himself at once. “Your grandson pays his respects to Grandmother.”

The Empress Dowager gave a soft sigh and helped him to his feet herself. Looking at his travel-worn appearance, she felt both tenderness and helplessness — the most exhausting burdens of the entire realm all rested on this one grandson’s shoulders. There was not a single person in the imperial household capable of helping him. That would have been bad enough on its own — but they kept adding to his troubles instead.

“You must take care of yourself.”

Gu Yanxi helped her to a seat. A faint smile crossed his face, but no words came — the weariness in his mind was far heavier than anything in his body.

The Empress Dowager patted his cheek as she used to when he was small. “What does Grandmother need to do?”

Gu Yanxi shook his head. “I only came to catch my breath here with you.”

“I have long been too lazy to trouble myself finding out what they’ve done this time,” said the Empress Dowager, shaking her head with resigned exasperation. “The Emperor even guards against me in my old age. I can’t be bothered to concern myself with any of it. The only thing I worry about is whether these two — uncle and nephew — can remain on good terms to the end.”

“Do not go anywhere. Keep only Yuxiang near you. Regardless of who it is, allow no one else to approach. I have posted several men in concealed positions to watch over you. Whatever happens outside — do not involve yourself.”

The Empress Dowager immediately knitted her brows. “Is someone unable to restrain themselves, planning a rebellion?”

“There are Chaoli tribe members who have infiltrated the palace.”

Meeting his grandmother’s suddenly wide-opened eyes, Gu Yanxi gave a wry smile. It had been how many years since Grandmother had last shown such an unguarded expression.

“The recently favored Tong Yi is a Chaoli person. Yiqiu is now under suspicion as well. We do not yet know the situation among the attendants of the others. This grandson must carefully investigate the people here in Fushou Palace. For the time being, please trust only Yuxiang.”

“I understand.” The Empress Dowager drew a slow, deep breath. “Go attend to your affairs without worry. I will not cause you trouble.”

With everything outside requiring his decisions, Gu Yanxi could not linger — yet he still personally searched every part of Fushou Palace before he left.

“There is never a moment of peace.” The Empress Dowager, supported by Yuxiang, walked to stand before the hall and looked up at the churning dark clouds overhead. “Before I die, I must leave a final instruction: when I go, do not bury me alongside the late Emperor. Bury me anywhere — anywhere will do.”

“If the Shizi heard these words, how grieved he would be.”

“He would grieve, but he would honor my wishes. I cannot even remember how long it has been since I last passed through the palace gates. Looking at this same patch of sky above my head every single day — I have almost come to believe the whole world is only this small.” The Empress Dowager stepped over the threshold and stood beneath the covered walkway. A gust of wind swept through, setting her robes to billowing. For a fleeting moment, she seemed to see the image of her younger self — her hair in two childish buns, setting out with joy on a spring outing during the Cold Food Festival.

All those years had already passed.

Wan Niang, who had been younger than her, was already gone. And yet here she remained, living out her days without taste or color within these narrow walls.

“Your Ladyship, the wind has picked up.”

“Yes. The wind has picked up.” Yet when had the wind ever known how to stop? It was simply a matter of gales and breezes.

Gu Yanxi went to Mingyue Palace. Along every path there were Imperial Guards in formation. The grandeur of carved railings and jade balustrades did nothing to conceal the taut, unsettled air that hung like the cry of cranes on the wind.

Chen Qing came up quickly from behind, keeping pace as he reported: “Chief, His Majesty has never bestowed a purple sable cloak upon the Third Princess. This subordinate has looked into the Third Princess’s maternal consort, Consort Zheng — her background presents no issues. Records exist from the time she conceived the Third Princess to the birth itself. She is without question of the imperial bloodline.”

Gu Yanxi was unsurprised. Consort Zheng held a reasonably favored position in the inner palace, and had only this one princess to her name. Her family, the Zheng family, had always been circumspect. They bore none of the Tong family’s sweeping ambition. With no internal motive and no external cause, they had no reason whatsoever to bring upon themselves the disaster of clan extermination.

The Third Princess needed even less consideration. She was a princess of the realm — what higher status could there be? If the Chaoli tribe were truly to supplant the Gu family and become masters of the Central Plains, she would be among the first to suffer. Furthermore, she was to be married before the year was out, to a young man of genuine promise and talent. A good life lay spread open before her — what could she possibly gain from such a course?

“Have the people of Mingyue Palace been gone through?”

“The search is already underway.”

Gu Yanxi gave a nod, looked up at the placard hanging high above the gate for a moment, and walked inside.