“Prince Shun is not here. If Lord Yun has no other business, please leave.”

Xie Shi’an took the initiative and had someone escort Yun Ze out.

Prince Cheng turned his head, glaring at him furiously.

“Your Highness, do not be anxious.” Xie Shi’an spoke unhurriedly. “The court does not dare to kill Dowager Consort Yuan. She will not be in mortal danger, rest assured.”

“I’m about to force the palace, how could the court possibly spare my mother consort!” Prince Cheng took a deep breath. “Someone, go call Yun Ze back…”

“Wait.” Xie Shi’an stopped him. “If the court kills Dowager Consort Yuan, wouldn’t this matter be even more advantageous for Your Highness?”

Prince Cheng’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Your Highness is not forcing the palace, but rather bestowing sweet dew upon the common people. You have traveled all this way from Ningzhou to the capital out of dedication to this cause. These common people willingly followed you here—where is the treason in that?” Xie Shi’an said slowly. “Now Your Highness enjoys extremely high prestige among the common people. If the court kills Your Highness’s birth mother at this time, it would be equivalent to enraging the common people throughout the realm. More and more people will surely follow Your Highness. We currently have only two hundred thousand people, but if this number reaches three hundred thousand, we could completely crush the Imperial City!”

“But…”

Prince Cheng still wanted to rescue his mother consort first.

He had been raised by his mother consort since childhood. She had held him in the palm of her hand, afraid he might fall, bump into things, or get hurt. When he departed for his princedom, the person he was most reluctant to leave was also his mother consort.

No matter what righteous banner he flew, he was clear in his own heart that what he was about to do was the height of treasonous rebellion.

The court would definitely use his mother consort as a weapon against him.

“Those who accomplish great things need not be constrained by such matters.” Xie Shi’an spoke. “Prince Shun is also in our hands now. Like Your Highness, he is of legitimate imperial bloodline. With two Highnesses conspiring together for this great undertaking, success will come twice as easily!”

Prince Cheng fell silent for a long while.

After about half a shichen passed, he finally said, “Bring in Seventh Brother.”

Shortly after, two guards escorted a young man inside.

The young man was in a disheveled state, his hair in disarray, his face covered with grime, but his eyes were full of fury.

He rebuked angrily, “Sixth Imperial Brother, you’ve truly gone mad! You actually poisoned the common people to fabricate a plague, then created some Heavenly Maiden and used sweet dew to deceive the people. Do you know what you’re doing? This is treason!”

“So what if it is treason? Why should I be a princedom prince for my entire life while Chu Hongyu, a mere imperial grandson, gets to sit on that throne!” Prince Cheng’s eyes were sinister. “The five imperial brothers above me are all gone, so I am the most reasonable and legitimate successor! That throne originally belonged to me! What’s wrong with me taking back what belongs to me!”

“Father Emperor’s will stated that the Grand Imperial Grandson should ascend the throne. This is fact!” Prince Shun was burning with rage. “Sixth Imperial Brother, you’ve been bewitched by others—it’s all you people!”

He pointed at the dozen or so advisors beside them, fire in his eyes.

“Why must Prince Shun be so angry? Calm down.” Xie Shi’an poured a cup of tea and handed it to Prince Shun.

But it was knocked away with one swipe.

Tea splashed on his body, but Xie Shi’an showed no annoyance. He smiled and said, “If Prince Shun stubbornly resists, then there is only one path—death. Not only will you die, but your mother Dowager Consort Shu and your maternal grandfather’s Zheng family will all be buried with you. But if you obediently cooperate, when Prince Cheng inherits the throne, he will grant Prince Shun the most noble title under heaven, and the Zheng family will also rise to prominence. How about it?”

“You…!” Prince Shun’s eyes widened. “I’ve seen you before! Back then, you were Second Imperial Brother’s advisor. I saw you at Prince Gongxi’s manor!”

He had a deep impression of Xie Shi’an, not because Xie Shi’an was missing an eye, but because this person was too young—only two or three years older than himself. At the time, he had enjoyed Second Imperial Brother’s complete trust and regard… He never imagined that someone who once served Second Imperial Brother faithfully would become such a favored confidant by Sixth Imperial Brother’s side.

“Back then you incited Second Imperial Brother to rebel, and now you’re instigating Sixth Imperial Brother to commit treason. What exactly are your intentions!”

Prince Shun grabbed something nearby and threw it at Xie Shi’an’s face.

There was only one desk in this tent, with writing implements—brush, ink, paper, and inkstone—placed on it. He grabbed the inkstone and hurled it forcefully, but Xie Shi’an dodged and it struck his shoulder instead.

Xie Shi’an’s expression immediately darkened.

In the past, he had always been bullied with no ability to strike back.

But now…

He curled his lips in a cold smile. “It seems Prince Shun has not yet recognized the current situation. Someone, drag him out and give him twenty heavy strikes first.”

“Yes!”

Two guards entered and dragged Prince Shun out.

Xie Shi’an looked at Prince Cheng. “We need to accelerate. There are too many people on the road—complications could easily arise. Starting tomorrow, we travel through the night as well.”

Prince Cheng listened to everything Xie Shi’an said and nodded. “As you say.”

When he first became a princedom prince in Ningzhou, with no one to constrain him, he ate, drank, and made merry every day, living freely.

But problems soon arose. The local aristocratic families in Ningzhou began causing him trouble. Taxes that belonged to him were all seized by those aristocratic clans. As a prince, he lived worse than his subjects. Immediately dissatisfied, he clashed with the aristocratic families.

The result was that he was marginalized, becoming a prince in name only.

Just when he was in despair and helpless, Xie Shi’an came, devising strategies for him and executing a series of schemes that led those aristocratic families to voluntarily hand over all tax revenues to the princedom manor… It was Xie Shi’an who enabled him to completely control Ningzhou.

It was also Xie Shi’an who conceived this brilliant plan that made so many common people willingly follow him.

These common people brought their entire families along with them, even bringing their own provisions. He didn’t need to provide supplies or military pay—he only needed to bestow a little sweet dew water each day to make these foolish people follow him devotedly…

The next morning, when the Heavenly Maiden bestowed sweet dew, she announced they would accelerate their journey to reach the capital as soon as possible. No one raised any objections.

More than two hundred thousand civilians pressed toward the capital at extreme speed.

At the same time, those who had gone to investigate returned to the capital.

“Reporting to the Empress Dowager, we entered Changgan County to investigate and discovered problems with all the well water in the county…” The minister produced a water flask and poured out a cup of water. “The water quality is clearly problematic. This subject had physicians examine it—it’s poisoned. This poison causes the eyes to turn red when ingested, which matches the symptoms of the previous plague…”

Yun Chu nodded. “Besides the water, is there any other evidence?”

“All the corpses in Changgan County were burned, and many houses were also destroyed by fire. We couldn’t find other evidence…” The minister sighed. “This subject spent a high price to purchase some preserved sweet dew water. Besides the antidote, this sweet dew contains another medicinal ingredient that can cause people to temporarily lose their wits and judgment. This subject boldly surmises that Prince Cheng has been using this medicinal ingredient to control the common people…”

Yun Chu lowered her eyes.

These common people were actually being controlled by drugs. The situation was even more difficult to handle than she had imagined.

She spoke. “Have the imperial physicians prepare the antidote first.”