Prince Ling suddenly remembered something and said to Fang Fulan, “Speaking of which, that day at the golden hall when Mingying pleaded the Marquis Zhongyong’s case, the reason he didn’t mention Fourth Brother poisoning our eldest brother was twofold: first, it was a tactic of retreating to advance—forcing Father into a corner where he had no choice but to charge Fourth Brother. Second, he was holding something back.”

“Holding something back?”

“Yes.” Prince Ling nodded. “Because even though all the clues pointed to Fourth Brother, without solid proof, he still wasn’t certain who exactly had been trying to kill him.”

He sighed heavily. “Someone who plans things this carefully—since he’s grown suspicious of you, he’s probably already had his guards secretly following you.”

Fang Fulan said quietly, “I know. But I really did need to come to the apothecary this time.”

Her eyes dimmed. “A while back, A’Ting… grew suspicious of me too, and had Qin Jiu follow me around for a while.”

“It’s nothing to worry about. Mingying is fond of Yun Xi, and she’s only just marched out to war—he wouldn’t want to trouble her with worry. Even if he has someone follow you, it won’t cause any commotion; at most he’ll have his people look into the Hechun Hall apothecary. Let him look, if he wants to. As for Qin Jiu, you’ve never shown any flaws in front of her anyway—why worry?”

Seeing she still looked distracted, he took out a small brocade box and pushed it toward her. “The quality isn’t great, but it’s rather distinctive.”

The jade pendant inside the brocade box was indeed of poor quality—cloudy in color, a bit rough in texture—but if one looked closely at the veining within the jade, it seemed to form the natural shape of a green calyx plum blossom.

Fang Fulan glanced down at it and said gently, “Thank you, Your Highness.”

But she didn’t accept the pendant.

A shadow crossed Prince Ling’s tender eyes for a moment. Then he smiled, put the box away, and said, “As before, then—I’ll keep it safe for you.”

A guard approached and reported, “Your Highness, Lord Chai Ping of the Censorate has arrived.”

Hearing this, Fang Fulan rose to her feet and said to Prince Ling, “Since Your Highness has important matters to attend to, I’ll take my leave.”

Prince Ling looked at her and nodded. “All right.”

The moment Chai Ping entered the courtyard, he caught sight of a pale-colored hem disappearing through the small side gate into the back courtyard. He paused for a moment, then stepped forward and bowed. “Your Highness.”

Prince Ling asked, “What has Mingying been doing lately?”

“It’s rather odd, actually. The Third Young Master hasn’t gone to his office for several days now—word is he’s been ill. This morning, this humble subject went to inquire at the Imperial Physicians’ bureau, and the physician who examined the Third Young Master said he’d suddenly fallen into a deep sleep for three days, appearing critically ill at the time. But once he woke, he seemed perfectly fine—perhaps it was simply from overexertion.”

Prince Ling gave a soft “Mm,” then said, “This Cheng Mingying—he can’t be allowed to live any longer.”

Chai Ping paused, seeming not to understand, and bowed silently toward Prince Ling.

Prince Ling said, “He’s already had Wei Jie start investigating Fang Yuanshan.”

Hearing the Fang family mentioned, Chai Ping mulled it over for a moment, then asked, “Is Your Highness worried he might trace it back to the two guards who died suddenly when the Fang residence was raided all those years ago? That’s nothing to worry over—those two guards’ deaths weren’t Your Highness’s doing to begin with. Your Highness merely cleaned up the aftermath for the Fang family. If the Third Young Master tries to press Your Highness on this, it would actually be quite easy to distance yourself—”

Before he could finish, he suddenly met Prince Ling’s sharp gaze and fell silent at once.

After a moment, he asked instead, “Does Your Highness mean that this time, we should act directly, ourselves?”

Prince Ling nodded. “Yes.”

“But the Third Young Master is simply too alert. The slightest anomaly won’t easily escape him, and wherever he goes these days, guards from Prince Cong’s household follow close behind.”

“I’m aware of that.” Prince Ling said. “But there happens to be a good opportunity right now.”

“What opportunity?”

“We can make use of Wei Jie.”

“Master Wei?” Chai Ping said, startled. “Master Wei and the Third Young Master trust each other completely. Driving a wedge between the two of them would be exceedingly difficult.”

Prince Ling said lightly, “You said it yourself—they trust each other completely. That’s exactly the trust you can exploit.”

Chai Ping, still confused, bowed again. “Please instruct me, Your Highness.”

“There’s something odd about Mingying. Sometimes I think that the person he was before falling into the water, and the person he is after, aren’t quite the same man. Before, he drifted through life aimlessly, indifferent to everything. After, he became clear-headed, sharp, extraordinarily perceptive—but leaving all that aside, the strangest thing is that he operates by his own set of rules, unlike anyone else.”

What exactly was different about him?

In truth, even Prince Ling couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

He was easygoing with people, courteous and well-mannered, and yet at the same time kept everyone at arm’s length. He seemed utterly cold, and yet possessed a deep sense of goodness and righteousness. Though he had the temperament of someone who repaid every wrong, he disdained underhanded schemes, and even faced with the greatest injustice, he would never resort to unscrupulous means.

His conduct and reasoning both seemed bound within some extremely rigorous code—one he would never step outside of, even if the sky itself came crashing down.

Thinking about it this way, Prince Ling found himself almost admiring the man.

“He’s rather self-contradictory, actually. Most of the time he’s extraordinarily cautious, and yet toward the people he trusts, he lets his guard down completely—Yun Xi, for instance. Wei Jie, for instance.”

“Yes, this subject has noticed that as well.” Chai Ping said. “Wherever the Third Young Master goes, he brings his guards along, but whenever he visits the Imperial City Bureau or the Marquis Zhongyong’s residence, he simply has the guards wait outside. Which makes sense, I suppose—Master Wei’s skills are unmatched by anyone, previously only General Yun Luo could—”

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly caught himself.

“Does Your Highness mean we could act at the Imperial City Bureau itself?”

Prince Ling said, “Yun Xi has marched out to war. The one person Mingying won’t be on guard against is Wei Jie.”

Chai Ping thought this over carefully, then shook his head. “But that would be far too difficult. The Imperial City Bureau is almost entirely staffed by Master Wei’s own men. Not only would it be hard for our people to infiltrate, but even if we managed it, we’d at best be able to station them in the outer bureau. And even if our numbers doubled those of the Imperial City Bureau, in an open confrontation, they’d be no match for Master Wei’s men.”

“There’s no need to go into the inner bureau. The outer bureau will do.” Prince Ling said flatly.

“Right now Father doesn’t trust Wei Jie, and he’s already ordered Xuan Zhi to handle reshuffling some of the personnel between the Palace Guard and the Imperial City Bureau. Even a small adjustment, if timed right, should make it easy enough to place our people within it. And besides, if Mingying keeps going to the Imperial City Bureau to see Wei Jie, surely he won’t stay cooped up in there forever.”

“This subject understands. Your Highness means that we could station men in ambush in the outer bureau of the Imperial City Bureau, and once the Third Young Master enters the inner bureau and lets his guard down, lure him back out?” Chai Ping asked.

A thought struck him, and he clapped his hands. “Of course—between the inner and outer bureaus of the Imperial City Bureau, there’s a passage of moderate length, with duty rooms on either side connected to one another. If we strike there, the Third Young Master’s guards would have no way to reach him in time to help.”

As he finished speaking, Prince Ling seemed lost in thought, his slender fingers drumming slowly against the stone table, and for a while he didn’t respond.

Chai Ping fell into thought as well, then muttered, “That’s not right… it still won’t work.”

His brow, just smoothed a moment before, furrowed again. “When the Third Young Master leaves the Imperial City Bureau, Master Wei will surely see him off in person. With Master Wei protecting him, we’d have no chance of success.”

“That’s easy enough to solve.” Prince Ling said. “Find a way to draw Wei Jie away, that’s all.”

“Didn’t he want to investigate the bloodshed at Mingyin Temple all those years ago? Then feed him some clues about what happened between Father and Consort Wan back then, and at the right moment, let it slip to Father that Wei Jie has actually traced things back to Consort Wan. Consort Wan and Cheng Xu are Father’s greatest secret. If Father learns of this, he’ll surely summon Wei Jie to Wende Hall and deal with him severely.”

“As for how to lure Mingying away from the Imperial City Bureau, that’s even easier. Once Wei Jie has gone to Wende Hall, just have someone tell Mingying that Wei Jie has been harshly punished by Father. Wei Jie only started investigating the Mingyin Temple bloodshed from the Fang family case because Mingying pointed him in that direction. Cheng Mingying values loyalty and righteousness—hearing that Wei Jie was punished on his account, he’ll surely rush over to help. And in that state, leaving the Imperial City Bureau, he certainly won’t be paying attention to his own safety.”

Chai Ping sighed in admiration. “Your Highness’s plan really is flawless. Every step is backed by real facts—even if the Third Young Master tries to reason it through, he won’t find a single flaw.”

“That’s because he’s lost his memory.” Prince Ling said. “He knows nothing, which is exactly why we have this one chance.”

He thought for a moment, then shook his head. “But Mingying is still too clever. There’s only one chance like this, and it has to go off without a single mistake.”

“So—have the fifth son of the Zhou family leak the clue about Consort Wan to Wei Jie.”

“This subject has heard that this Zhou Cai Ying often used to spend time with the Third Young Master when they were children. If we ask him for help and he turns against us at the last moment, wouldn’t that ruin everything?”

“He won’t.” Prince Ling smiled. “Actually, I ought to thank Wei Jie for this.”

“If Wei Jie hadn’t gone stirring things up, questioning Zhou Cai Ying in his pursuit of the Mingyin Temple case, and thrown Zhou Cai Ying into such a panic that he came running to me for protection, I wouldn’t have gained such a useful pawn.”

He stood up and walked to the edge of the small pond, watching the fish swimming within. “Mingying has lost his memory, but Wei Jie hasn’t. Has he really not stopped to think it through? The Zhou family has been careful and cautious all these years—how could Zhou Hongguang possibly be careless in his official duties? The real reason the Zhou family was sent away from Jinling back then was because Zhou Cai Ying may have witnessed that bloodshed. Now that the Zhou family has finally managed to return to Jinling, and Wei Jie goes and presses Zhou Cai Ying about the Mingyin Temple case again—wouldn’t that be enough to drive Zhou Cai Ying to desperate measures?”

Chai Ping said, “The Zhou family was originally reassigned because of the Mingyin Temple bloodshed in the first place. If this fifth son personally hands the clue to Master Wei, and Master Wei follows it further, the deeper he digs, the more convincing it’ll seem, and the less suspicious he’ll grow. And since the Third Young Master trusts Master Wei completely, if Master Wei has no doubts, the Third Young Master won’t either.”

“And besides, there’s no chance Zhou Cai Ying would reveal the truth to Mingying.” Prince Ling said. “The death of Mingying’s older brother, the eldest son of Prince Cong’s household, has some connection to this Zhou Cai Ying, which is exactly why Mingying detests him so much. Zhou Cai Ying doesn’t even know Mingying has lost his memory—he’s too busy avoiding him to say anything.”

Chai Ping said, “This subject understands. It seems, then, that the only way for the Third Young Master to escape this is if he recovers all of his memories. But as things stand, he’s like an entirely different person—these blind spots are simply unavoidable.”

Having said this, he bowed deeply. “Once things come to a head in a couple of days, this subject will lead men to the Imperial City Bureau under the pretext that there are irregularities in the Marquis Zhongyong’s case, to make certain the Third Young Master has no way of escaping.”

“But your men alone going there won’t be enough. The passage between the inner and outer bureaus of the Imperial City Bureau isn’t without places to take shelter. If our numbers are insufficient, and someone happens to pass by and lend him a hand, or he manages to duck into a duty room, that alone could open up a path to survival.” Prince Ling said.

He reached up and rubbed his brow, his tender eyes narrowing slightly, a cold glint surfacing within them. “Set it on fire.”