With those words, Yan Sanhe and Li Buyan’s expressions remained normal.
Third Master, Young Master Pei, and the others all blushed darkly.
Especially Huang Qi, whose face turned as red as a monkey’s bottom, glancing down at himself.
Mm, I’m also tall and burly!
Yan Sanhe didn’t notice the men’s unusual reactions in the room. “Xie Little Flower, what else do you know about this qin entertainer named Chengfeng?”
Xie Little Flower: “I only know his seven-stringed qin playing was excellent, he was handsome, women liked him—beyond that, I don’t know anything else.”
Yan Sanhe looked up at Xie Zhifei. “Could it be that man surnamed Dong?”
“We’ll know once we investigate.”
Xie Zhifei scratched his chin: “Ding Yi.”
“Master.”
“Pack up and leave immediately for Jinling Prefecture. Inquire about this person called Chengfeng.”
“Yes!”
“Wait.”
Yan Sanhe called him back. “For a round trip to Jinling Prefecture, how many days do you need?”
Ding Yi: “Miss Yan, if all goes smoothly, I should be able to return around the eighteenth of the first month.”
As soon as he finished speaking, there came a “thud thud” sound—something struck the window.
Someone there?
Li Buyan was just about to draw her sword when Zhu Qing on the bed urgently said: “Miss Li, don’t move. It should be one of our own. Ding Yi, go out and check.”
Ding Yi pushed open the window and leaped out.
In just a moment, he jumped back in through the window, his voice low: “Third Master, there’s news from the Grand Imperial Grandson.”
Xie Zhifei: “Speak!”
Ding Yi: “Regarding the heart demon matter, he asks that Third Master and Young Master Pei must be extremely, extremely careful.”
Xie Zhifei and Pei Xiao’s hearts simultaneously skipped a beat.
Huairen wouldn’t speak such words without reason—something must have happened in the palace.
……
The Grand Imperial Grandson’s warning not only alarmed Xie Zhifei and Pei Xiao, but even Yan Sanhe didn’t dare act rashly.
The entire heart demon case was actually stuck at one point: Was it Consort Xia or Shen Duruo who placed the voodoo dolls?
After organizing the clues they had, it should be Consort Xia without question.
But—
There was still no evidence.
It all relied on speculation.
For several consecutive days, Yan Sanhe sat withered in the study, going through the heart demon case again and again, writing the names of all related people on paper.
Those with clear causes and effects got a checkmark.
Those unclear got a question mark.
After several days, she discovered the names with the most question marks were Shen Duruo and Dong Chengfeng.
With Dong Chengfeng, she simply couldn’t guess this person’s background.
As for Shen Duruo…
Yan Sanhe constantly remembered one sentence she’d said: Being an itinerant doctor is deeply sinful, done to atone for sins.
If she hadn’t been used by the Zhao Prince, where would the sins come from? Why would she need to atone?
Just as Yan Sanhe couldn’t eat or sleep properly because of the heart demon case, a major event occurred in the Four-Nine City—
The Han Prince had fallen from favor.
No one knew why the Han Prince suddenly fell from favor. On New Year’s Eve, when His Majesty returned to his bedchamber, he’d specifically designated the Han Prince to support him.
But the Han Prince had truly, genuinely fallen from favor.
On the first day, when the palace held ancestral rites, the Han Prince was blocked at the palace gate.
On the fifth day, at the palace family banquet, the Han Prince was again blocked outside the palace.
On the sixteenth of the first month, the day the court reopened, the Emperor’s first edict was to enfeoff several military generals to accompany the dragon carriage on the personal expedition.
Bu Liu was enfeoffed as Pacification General.
The Emperor’s second edict commanded the Han Prince to return to his fiefdom immediately after attending the Grand Imperial Grandson’s wedding banquet, and not to return to the capital without summons.
When this edict was issued, among the hundred officials, some breathed long sighs of relief, some had their hearts tightly clenched into knots, and some, like Minister of Rites Du Jianxue, nearly fainted on the spot.
The two edicts appeared plain and ordinary, but every word dripped with deadly intent.
The Emperor’s words carried no jest.
Previously, he’d clearly designated the Han Prince for the expedition, yet now “without summons may not return to the capital”—by acting this way, the Emperor was clearly and plainly proclaiming to the world—
My successor is the Crown Prince!
……
Outside the palace walls, firecrackers exploded, making the Han Prince’s estate feel even more deathly silent.
The palace servants shrank their heads, walked on tiptoe, fearing that any loud movement would bring deadly disaster.
In just over a month, this estate would become completely desolate as its master departed.
And what of them, these palace servants?
Would they, like this estate, grow old in cold desolation day by day?
Or would they try every possible means to go south with their master?
If they went south, would there be a day of return?
“Father, can we still come back?”
In just a few short days, this young master who had never suffered the slightest hardship from childhood had fallen from heights to depths, tasting fully the warmth and coldness of human relationships.
Noble circumstances nurture people.
The once fearless Heir Zhao Yixian now spoke in a voice so pitifully small, utterly lacking confidence.
Zhao Yanjin looked at his son and said coldly: “This is this prince’s home in the capital—why couldn’t we return?”
Zhao Yixian mumbled: “They say… they say your son will probably never, in this life or the next, return to the Four-Nine City.”
“What utter bullshit!”
Zhao Yanjin slammed the table, his eyes blazing: “Which little bastard said that? Just watch me whip him to death!”
Zhao Yixian hung his head, not daring to make a sound.
Dong Xiao stepped forward, speaking unhurriedly:
“The Heir need not heed the rumors and gossip outside. You need only remember in your heart the cold stares you’ve encountered and the mockery you’ve received these days, and someday repay them savagely!”
Someday?
Zhao Yixian’s heart stirred.
What did these words mean?
“You may go rest first.”
Zhao Yanjin glanced at his son. “When you have time, think carefully about the Master’s words.”
“Yes, Father!”
After the person left, silence fell over the study.
Dong Xiao personally brewed two cups of tea, placed them beside the Han Prince’s hand, then lifted his robe and knelt: “Your Highness, Boren has a few words that demand to be spoken.”
Zhao Yanjin looked at him. “Speak.”
Dong Xiao took a deep breath. “The first sentence: Your Highness’s years of plotting and planning have come to nothing.”
“……”
Dong Xiao: “The second sentence: Are you willing to accept this, Your Highness?”
“……”
Dong Xiao: “The third sentence: If you’re unwilling, what should be done?”
“……”
Zhao Yanjin’s face became terribly dark.
Three sentences, each one like a steel needle, stabbing into his heart.
That dragon throne was the pinnacle of power.
Holding the power of life and death over all under heaven, all the rivers and mountains belonging to one person—there wasn’t a single imperial prince or grandson who could resist the temptation of that dragon throne.
For over ten years, he had worked diligently plotting only this one matter.
How could he be willing?
But the legitimate path to ascending had been completely blocked. Could he really risk everything in a desperate gamble?
“Your Highness has also seen how formidable the Grand Imperial Grandson is. With just a few words on New Year’s Eve, he made His Majesty abandon you.”
Dong Xiao’s brows knitted tightly.
“After His Majesty passes, the Crown Prince might still spare Your Highness out of brotherly affection. But the Grand Imperial Grandson is ruthless—what is he incapable of doing?”
Zhao Yanjin’s eyes turned cold.
These words struck his heart.
On New Year’s Eve, he had just left the Emperor’s bedchamber when the Grand Imperial Grandson followed.
“Even if Your Highness doesn’t consider yourself, you must think of the Heir and the others.”
Dong Xiao sighed softly.
“When a bed is occupied, how can another sleep beside it? Some grudges can be resolved, others are a fight to the death. Where is their way out? Or rather… will the Grand Imperial Grandson give them a way out?”
—