After the bloodshed at Mingyin Temple, the late Empress had been tormented night after night by nightmares, bedridden with illness for so long that her health had grown worse with each passing year.

Pressed by Fang Yuanshan’s threats, she had finally resolved, after painful deliberation, to stop enduring in silence and tell Emperor Zhaoyuan the whole truth—from how she had first conceived the intent to harm Consort Wan, to how the old eunuch had secretly protected her; from how Fang Yuanshan had discovered Consort Wan was still alive, to how she had incited Consort Lu to kill Consort Wan a second time; from how Fang Yuanshan had let Cheng Xu and the young eunuch escape, to his insatiable greed in wanting to use the two of them to blackmail her for further advancement.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Zhaoyuan flew into an extraordinary rage. He immediately ordered Fang Yuanshan executed and had the entire Fang household punished.

“So back then, Fang Yuanshan was executed not because of embezzlement or writing Emperor Taizong’s name incorrectly?” Cheng Chang asked.

“No,” Ning Huan said. “Fang Yuanshan cherished his career and was meticulous in his work—by outward appearances, he was even a fairly upright official. But the crime he truly committed was far greater than what was made public.”

Yun Xi asked, “Then does Sister-in-law… does Fang Furan know any of this?”

“She shouldn’t. These matters were, after all, secrets of the imperial family—ordinary people could never have known them. And things moved so quickly at the time. The very night the late Empress told His Majesty the truth, he had Fang Yuanshan arrested, and the very next day sentenced him to execution. The day after that, Fang Furan’s mother, Lady Yu, hanged herself as well,” Ning Huan said. “But I don’t know all the details either—so many major events struck the court in quick succession back then: the Fang household being raided, the late Empress dying, the northern barbarians invading, His Majesty urgently searching for the Fifth Prince. The whole court was in chaos, and I, following the Crown Prince, had no time to look into anything else.”

Yun Xi asked again, “Didn’t Brother Ning just say the Fifth Prince and the young eunuch beside him ‘fled’ to the northern frontier?”

“Yes,” Ning Huan said. “The Fifth Prince and the young eunuch were clever. They knew Fang Yuanshan meant them no good, and that he’d secretly sent someone to trail them. So when the trouble broke out at the Fang household, they took the chance to shake off their pursuer and slipped into the army convoy transporting grain and supplies to the northern frontier, escaping there.”

“In theory, finding that pursuer and using him to trace the Fifth Prince and the young eunuch’s whereabouts shouldn’t have been difficult. But this pursuer had been a gambler in his younger years and had made no shortage of enemies. Not long after the Fifth Prince gave him the slip, one of those old enemies tracked him down and stabbed him to death. Before he died, he left behind only a single clue—that the Fifth Prince had gone to the northern frontier.”

Cheng Chang said, “So that’s the real reason the Marquis of Zhongyong marched out to the northern frontier?”

Ning Huan nodded and sighed. “The late Empress and His Majesty had treated each other with mutual respect their whole lives. Even in death, she should have been honored without limit. But unfortunately, once His Majesty learned the truth about Consort Wan’s death, he grew to resent her, and until the day she died of illness, he never once went to see her again.”

Before she passed, the late Empress had called the late Crown Prince to her bedside and told him she deeply regretted it—that if not for the single moment of misjudgment that led her to harm Consort Wan, she, holding the exalted rank of Empress, would never have fallen to such a state.

The late Empress said that in truth, good and evil in this world hinge on a single thought—there is no such thing as a person born wicked. It’s simply that after committing one evil act, one wrong step leads to another, and another.

Just as, after she had harmed Consort Wan, upon learning that Consort Wan and Cheng Xu were still alive, she had been forced, in order to cover up her past crime, to incite Consort Lu to kill Consort Wan a second time.

She said, “Sadly, the workings of fate in this world cannot escape the cycle of heaven’s law—the eight words of cause and consequence for good and evil. Perhaps only by planting good seeds can one reap good fruit. I planted an evil seed back then, and now, reaping what I sowed, it is only what I deserve. Ever since I harmed Consort Wan, these past ten-odd years have been utterly bitter for me—not a single day of true happiness. Now that I’m about to die, I suppose I’ve finally found release.”

At the end, the late Empress said to the late Crown Prince, “In truth, I remember Consort Wan as a rare, kind and gentle soul, and so gifted besides. The son she raised, Xu’er, must surely be as benevolent and pure-hearted as you are.”

“Yang’er, let your mother entrust you with one last matter.”

“Mother, please speak.”

“War is about to break out in the north, and it will soon fall into grave danger. Find someone you can trust, go to the northern frontier, find Xu’er, and bring him back to the palace. Take good care of him—consider it… consider it atonement on your mother’s behalf.”

…

“At the time, the general to lead the campaign to the northern frontier had already been decided. It was precisely because of the late Empress’s dying wish that His Highness recommended the Marquis of Zhongyong, asking the Marquis to go north and search for the Fifth Prince.”

“By then the Crown Prince’s health had already declined badly. As his personal bodyguard, though I knew how deeply he cared about the Fifth Prince’s safety, I didn’t dare leave his side without permission…”

Who could have known that not long after, news came back from the north that the Marquis of Zhongyong had died in battle, and that the Fifth Prince, Cheng Xu, had vanished without a trace as well.

When Emperor Zhaoyuan learned of this, fearing the late Crown Prince would blame himself, he laid all the blame on the Marquis of Zhongyong for having recklessly overreached in pursuit of glory. He then demoted Yun Luo to Deputy General under Zhaoyuan, and sent him out to the northern frontier once more.

The late Crown Prince pleaded in vain, and in the end could only send Ning Huan to the northern frontier as well, to uncover the truth of the Marquis’s death in battle.

Who could have known that no sooner had Ning Huan turned up a lead than Zhaoyuan betrayed them.

“The Crown Prince felt he had failed the Marquis of Zhongyong. Clinging to his last breath, all he wanted was to report the truth to His Majesty and clear the Marquis’s name of injustice. But by the time I raced day and night back to Jinling and had just told His Highness what I’d found, Prince Yun interrupted us.”

“Though the Crown Prince never drank the poisoned broth Prince Yun offered him, upon learning Prince Yun had tried to poison him, the shock and fury overwhelmed him, and he passed away from his illness before His Majesty could even arrive.”

At the end, the late Crown Prince said to Ning Huan, “Fourth Brother is a fool, Third Brother is ruthless and cunning. If I die of this illness, even if you report the truth to Father Emperor, without witnesses or evidence it will be hard to convict Third Brother—and you might well bring disaster upon yourself in the attempt. Go now, save yourself first, then go to the northern frontier, uncover every cause and consequence, and find Xu’er. Yun Shuguang owes Xu’er a debt of kindness—he will surely be willing to help clear the Marquis of Zhongyong’s name. Remember this: the Yun clan has guarded the northern frontier for decades. Its soldiers have shed their blood at the border defending our homeland—their loyalty and devotion shine as bright as sun and moon. We… must never let them grow cold of heart.”

Ning Huan said, “As for what happened afterward in Jinling, I have no idea. I raced day and night to the northern frontier, was ambushed along the way, and lost the sight in one eye. I spent over a year searching for the Fifth Prince in the north before I learned that Yun Luo was actually still alive. Since he too wanted to clear the Marquis’s name of injustice, the two of us joined forces.”

At this point Qin Zhong spoke up. “Actually, the Young General guessed early on about Prince Yun and that Yao Hangshan from the Bureau of Military Affairs secretly diverting military provisions. But at the time the northern frontier still had a little grain stored privately, so that alone wouldn’t have driven the Marquis to act so recklessly.”

“The Marquis had assigned our Heaven Corps to guard Jishan Ridge, so to this day we still don’t know why the Marquis chased the enemy beyond the border. But given the situation at the time, without some special reason, the Marquis’s decision to pursue beyond the border was, frankly, somewhat rash. That’s why, when officials at court accused the Marquis of recklessly courting glory, none of us from the northern frontier could really argue against it.”

“But Prince Yun and Prince Ling really were despicable. If Prince Yun hadn’t diverted the military provisions, and if Prince Ling hadn’t colluded with the enemy, tens of thousands of soldiers on the northern frontier wouldn’t have all died in battle.”

Cheng Chang asked, “Did you find anything when you went to the northern frontier to trace the Fifth Prince’s whereabouts?”

“Only one small lead,” Yun Luo said. “It seems that after Father arrived at the frontier, he did find the Fifth Prince and the young eunuch, because at the time, someone on the northern grasslands saw Father hand over two teenage boys to a man called ‘Mute.'”

“Uncle Mute?” Yun Xi was startled.

She remembered this person.

He was someone Yun Shuguang had picked up from the battlefield long ago—he couldn’t speak, and his mind wasn’t quite right, so people at the frontier called him Mute.

Mute lived apart from everyone else and trusted only Yun Shuguang, never associating with outsiders.

Because Yun Xi was Yun Shuguang’s daughter, when she was very young, Mute had once given her some flatbread to eat.

“After the battle at the northern frontier, the Fifth Prince and the young eunuch disappeared,” Yun Luo said. “Mute’s dwelling was fairly close to where the fighting took place. He may have been caught in the chaos of war—after the battle ended, Mute went deaf. He can’t read, and his mind”—he tapped his head—”is a bit muddled too, so he can’t really communicate with people. Whenever we pressed him about the Fifth Prince and the young eunuch’s whereabouts, he’d point desperately toward the south.”

“It was only later we realized Mute had understood perfectly well what we were asking all along,” Ning Huan picked up where Yun Luo left off. “His desperate pointing to the south was his way of telling us that as soon as the battle at the northern frontier ended, the Fifth Prince and the young eunuch beside him had already headed for Jinling.”

“Over these past years, in order to confirm this, we searched tirelessly for the Fifth Prince’s whereabouts, and finally got word in the Huaibei region. About five or six years ago—the same year Yun Luo ‘died’—there was a drought in Huaibei, and two young boys came from the north, following the refugees southeast. Most refugees simply sought a place to survive and stopped once they reached prosperous land, but these two boys were unusual—they were single-mindedly heading for Jinling. Many refugees at the time remembered these two boys, but since their faces were covered in dirt and grime—likely deliberately—no one could recall what they actually looked like.”

Yun Luo continued, “This past year, His Majesty’s health has been declining day by day, and Prince Ling holds power firmly in his grasp, while the Fifth Prince’s whereabouts remained uncertain. Ning Huan and I discussed it and decided to first bring back to Jinling the witness we’d found among the Daman tribe long ago, then break into the palace to steal the defense map, and obtain proof of Prince Ling’s collusion with the enemy. In any case, we had to stop Prince Ling from ascending the throne no matter what. If we allowed a traitor like him to become emperor, not only would Father’s injustice never be cleared, it would also be a disaster for the officials and the common people of the realm. Unfortunately… without finding the Fifth Prince, we had no sure way to bring Prince Ling down, since after all His Majesty’s only remaining heir…”

Yun Luo stopped himself here.

He had originally meant to say that Emperor Zhaoyuan had only Prince Ling left as a son capable of inheriting the throne, but he suddenly remembered that the current situation in the palace was one of Cheng Chang and Prince Ling standing against each other in a stalemate.

He didn’t know what this powerful young prince before him truly intended. Perhaps he wanted to seize power for himself, then install a young child emperor as a puppet ruler?

Or perhaps, even if Cheng Chang had no such intention, given that he was a young prince and moreover a direct descendant of the previous emperor, his position was already extremely sensitive. Holding power to this degree, when the day eventually came for the throne to change hands, he too might be swept by the tide of events into a position where he had no choice but to contend for it.

After all, as the old saying goes about a chain of iron locks spanning the river—since ancient times, princes who wielded such great power in the end either rebelled or were executed.

Yun Luo suddenly realized that since he intended to find the Fifth Prince and support his claim to the throne, his own position might well be opposed to that of the Third Young Master before him.

Cheng Chang asked, “Right now, only Mute has actually seen the Fifth Prince and the young eunuch beside him. When you came from the northern frontier to Jinling, did you bring him along?”

Hearing this question, Yun Luo hesitated for a moment and did not answer.

But Qin Zhong, ever quick to speak, spoke up without hesitation. “We brought him, we brought him. But since Mute’s mind isn’t quite right, when he first arrived in Jinling he stayed hidden in his room all day, unwilling to see anyone. It’s only after a year that he’s gotten a bit better.”

Yun Xi was startled. “Why didn’t I know about this?”

“Your brother wouldn’t even let us tell you he was alive—how were we supposed to tell you about this?” Qin Zhong said. “Never mind. Some other day I’ll take Mute over to the Marquis of Zhongyong’s mansion and let your Uncle Mute see you, little girl.”

Cheng Chang noticed the heaviness in Yun Luo’s expression and guessed he had reservations about him, but he said nothing more about it, only saying, “You’ve all been up all night working hard. I’ve had Steward Lin prepare a few rooms at Chuntai Pavilion. General Xuanwei, Guard Ning, and the rest of you should go rest for a while. Guard Qin has an imperial physician looking after her—she should be fine.”

Since Cheng Chang had said this, Yun Luo and the others didn’t decline. They rose, thanked him, and were led by Steward Lin to the rooms at Chuntai Pavilion.

In truth, Cheng Chang himself hadn’t slept all night either, but his routine had always been very regular, and at this hour he found he wasn’t tired. He walked alone toward Fufeng Study, leaning against the pavilion’s corridor chair. He had barely closed his eyes to rest for a moment when he heard Yun Xi’s soft voice calling behind him, “Third Young Master.”