Pei Lan and Yao Hangshan both froze again.

What did the Young Prince mean by this? Surely Prince Cong’s household didn’t intend to get involved in this matter too?

But since Cheng Chang had asked, Pei Lan said, “To say there’s no way at all wouldn’t be entirely accurate.”

“The solution, in truth, is quite simple—someone would need to convince His Majesty that there is evidence proving Yun Luo’s innocence, and request that the case be postponed further, allowing more time.”

Back when Zhaoyuan’s defection led to defeat and Yun Luo’s death, it had been Pei Lan who led troops to salvage the situation. Now that he had returned victorious with evidence and witnesses in hand, naturally his word on the matter would carry more weight than anyone else’s.

Pei Lan said, “It’s not that I haven’t brought up Yun Luo’s case to His Majesty before, but the Pei household and the marquis’s household have, after all…” He paused, leaving unsaid what could not be said. “In the end, His Majesty simply doesn’t quite believe it.”

“Of course, someone else could bring it up instead, but the matter is somewhat sensitive, and it’s already been delayed for several years. One misstep, and it could easily backfire.”

Pei Lan’s explanation was rather vague, but Cheng Chang understood perfectly well.

The Pei household and the marquis’s household had a history between them. If Pei Lan insisted on clearing Yun Luo’s name, it would only arouse His Majesty’s suspicion, making him think the Pei household was deliberately shielding the marquis’s household.

Moreover, His Majesty was no longer in the prime of his years. As people age, they inevitably grow more suspicious and anxious.

A few years back, the crown prince had died of illness, and His Majesty had grieved deeply over it. With few remaining children, he had only three sons left, and though not all of them were mediocre, none seemed entirely to his satisfaction—the position of crown prince remained vacant to this day.

Given this, what he feared most was factionalism among his officials.

Zhaoyuan’s betrayal had already long been a thorn in His Majesty’s side, and Yun Luo’s entanglement with the matter was simply a stroke of bad luck.

If some official were to insist forcefully to His Majesty that General Yun had been wronged, and that the evidence was about to be found, His Majesty would wonder—where did this baseless claim come from? Ah, the Pei household. And then he would further wonder whether this official was trying to curry favor with the Pei household by currying favor with the marquis’s household first.

In the eyes of the supreme sovereign, this would look exactly like forming a faction.

Looked at this way, Pei Lan’s choice to stay cleanly out of the matter didn’t seem to be a wrong one.

But Cheng Chang couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something being concealed in his words—something that didn’t quite add up.

Cheng Chang picked up his teacup and said nothing more.

He had only been here a little over a month, and had met the Emperor himself only once. He had no idea how many twists and turns lay hidden within the matter before him, and since he didn’t understand it, he wouldn’t jump to conclusions, nor did he need to press further.

Some matters, if pushed too hard, would only end up sealing off the path entirely.

Better to wait and see.

Seeing Cheng Chang fall silent, Yao Hangshan quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Just now, with that cool, composed air about him, he’d nearly mistaken the Young Prince for someone possessed by some immortal spirit, with eyes that could see through the mortal world.

But now, seeing him again, the Young Prince seemed back to his usual self. Since his fall into the water, his temperament had grown somewhat more restrained, but he was still muddle-headed as ever—the moment something required actual thought, he lost interest in dealing with it. He probably hadn’t even understood half of what Pei Lan had said.

Yun Xi said, “Might I ask the general to tell me the prisoner’s name, his hometown, his family’s current circumstances, and roughly where they moved to?”

Pei Lan asked, “You still intend to search for that urgent letter?”

Without waiting for her answer, he spread out a sheet of paper on the desk, dipped his brush in ink, and wrote down a few lines, handing them to Yun Xi.

“The last few names are scouts I’ve left at the northern frontier, helping to track down the letter’s whereabouts. Since you’re determined to clear Yun Luo’s name, you may seek their help.”

Yun Xi took the paper. “Thank you, General.”

Pei Lan sighed. “Let me offer you one more piece of advice—this matter won’t be easy, and it can’t be rushed.”

Yun Xi said, “But I must still do everything in my power to try. I cannot let my brother bear this unjust accusation in vain.”

With that, she bowed to everyone in the room and withdrew from the office.

Cheng Chang had already thought through what kind of position he wanted.

A military post was definitely out—taking a military office would only mean running errands and doing menial tasks for others.

A civil post probably wouldn’t work either—he could only read classical Chinese at a basic level and couldn’t handle ancient official documents; he’d have to learn everything from scratch, and the procedures were troublesome besides.

Naturally, he needed something that let him move around frequently. In this life, he’d finally been given a sturdy, healthy body—sitting in an office all day wasn’t good for it, too prone to neck strain from prolonged sitting.

Oh, and ideally something that let him manage discipline too—the mere thought of that household full of servant boys who’d cause trouble at the drop of a hat gave him a headache. Finding a post overseeing conduct and discipline would let him lead them by example.

After Cheng Chang stated his job preferences, Pei Lan thought for a moment and said, “The Privy Council doesn’t have the kind of post the Third Young Master wants, but there is one official position that I think would suit you quite well.”

“Patrol Censor of the Censorate.”

In short, it meant strolling around the streets all day, keeping an eye on public order, and catching the occasional bandit or thief.

Though it was a censor’s post, there wasn’t much paperwork involved, the prospects for promotion were good, and it even came with a horse.

“That’s the one, then.” Cheng Chang was quite satisfied.

Pei Lan nodded and wrote him a letter of recommendation, which he and Yao Hangshan both stamped with their seals, telling him to take it to the Censorate the next day.

Tucking the document away, Cheng Chang made his way out of the Review Bureau’s courtyard. Glancing up, he saw someone standing at the end of the short corridor, dressed in bright vermillion attire—it was Yun Xi.

Yun Xi had also spotted Cheng Chang and walked quickly toward him, clasping her hands in a bow. “Third Young Master.”

Cheng Chang was taken aback. “Something wrong?”

Yun Xi lowered her eyes and said, “Just now… thank you, Third Young Master, for your help.”

“Oh, it was nothing,” Cheng Chang said, unconcerned. “You were there first anyway.”

Yun Xi pressed her lips together and added, “And thank you, Third Young Master, for being willing to speak up on this humble officer’s behalf.”

Yun Xi was no fool. She had clearly noticed how evasive and vague Pei Lan’s words had been regarding Yun Luo’s case. But she held little standing or influence—what could she possibly do about it?

If it hadn’t been for Cheng Chang’s seemingly offhand remark just now, prompting Pei Lan to reveal a bit more of the truth, he likely wouldn’t have even given her the prisoner’s whereabouts at all.

Cheng Chang said flatly, “It’s nothing, I didn’t really help with much.”

His tone was calm and gentle.

Hearing this, Yun Xi couldn’t help but glance up at him.

Others might not have noticed, but Yun Xi certainly did—she had witnessed Cheng Chang fall into the water with her own eyes, seen him pulled out, checked his breath, and watched him come back from the brink of death.

Since his fall into the water, he really had become somewhat different.

Yun Xi lowered her eyes again and said, “The boatman responsible for the Third Young Master’s fall is proving hard to track down. This humble officer has been investigating for over a month and has only just gotten some leads. If he’s caught someday, I would ask the Third Young Master to come to the Jingzhao Prefecture to confront him and confirm the testimony.”

Cheng Chang was taken aback again at this.

That Prefect Zhang had clearly wanted nothing to do with this matter—he’d have guessed the case was long since closed at the yamen after all this time. Yet she was still investigating?

But Cheng Chang didn’t press further, only nodding. “All right.”

Yun Xi continued, “This humble officer has already thoroughly investigated the boatman’s background—the two gold bars used in the attack couldn’t possibly have been his. He’s very likely not the true culprit behind the harm done to the Third Young Master. I wonder if the Third Young Master has recently made any enemies—if I ask around one by one, I might turn up more leads.”

Cheng Chang had nothing to say to that.

Given his predecessor’s conduct, making enemies had practically been a daily occurrence—there were probably enemies scattered across the whole of Jinling by now. Otherwise, why would he have brought along that dozen or so troublesome servant boys today, of all things?

Wasn’t it precisely because he was afraid of being ambushed and beaten senseless somewhere along the road if he walked alone?

But there was nothing wrong with Yun Xi wanting to investigate—his life was at stake, after all, and with whoever had tried to harm him still unaccounted for, he couldn’t feel at ease either.

Cheng Chang said, “I’ll take you to ask my household servants.”

Yun Xi nodded. “Much obliged to the Third Young Master.”

As the two of them spoke, they walked out of the Privy Council together, and upon looking around, both froze.

The group of servant boys lay sprawled out in every direction at the foot of the Privy Council steps, each one looking like a dried salted fish, thoroughly worn out to within an inch of their lives.

Cheng Chang glanced at the sky, then looked back at the Privy Council behind him.

He’d been inside for two hours, but they’d only run two laps around the building—they should have long since recovered. How had they ended up in such a state?

Cheng Chang asked, “Zhang Dahu, what happened here?”

The PE monitor Zhang Dahu stepped forward. “Reporting, Young Prince, halfway through the run, someone fell behind. Per the rules, I punished stragglers with a hundred push-ups.”

Cheng Chang was taken aback, and before he could say anything, one of the servant boys sprang up shouting, “Damn it, running laps around the mansion’s pond is one thing, but this is the goddamn Privy Council—it’s huge! And you, some martial arts expert, sprinting ahead at full speed like you’re rushing to a funeral! We all fell behind together, and after struggling all the way back, you punish us with a hundred push-ups?”

“Exactly!” another chimed in. “Fine, we did the push-ups—but after all that, you wouldn’t even let us have water!”

Cheng Chang asked, “Why weren’t you given water?”

After strenuous exercise, dehydration could have serious consequences.

The servant boy pointed a shaking finger at Zhang Dahu, complaining, “He said the Young Prince never gave the order to dismiss, so we had to stand at attention!”

Zhang Dahu stuck his neck out stubbornly. “The Young Prince said you can only move freely after being dismissed! No dismissal order, you stand at attention—rules can’t be broken!”

Several of the servant boys, unable to take it anymore, started rolling up their sleeves. “You looking for a beating?”

Zhang Dahu rolled up his sleeves too. “Try it, all of you together.”

Just as it looked like a brawl was about to break out, Cheng Chang barked, “Keep it up, and it’s another two laps for everyone.”

The servant boys froze in place at once. After a moment, they quietly rolled their sleeves back down.

Cheng Chang then said, “Drink some water first.”

His voice was cool and clear, and the servant boys, hearing it, felt a chill run through them. After hurling a few more empty threats at each other, they finally settled down, each grabbing their water pouch and gulping it down.