Chapter 371: Chapter 293: It Turns Out That Nobody Really Knew Him
The eunuch had just entered, and before long, the Empress came out. Beside her was a boy of about seventeen or eighteen, his face pale, his broad robes hanging on his thin frame, moving like wild grass in a strong wind.
The Crown Prince bowed and greeted her, "Mother," while the boy took a step back, bowed, and called out, "Your Highness."
The Crown Prince laughed, "Third Brother, you truly have a stubborn nature. We are brothers from the same womb; no one is closer behind closed doors than us. I’ve told you countless times, don’t call me ’Your Highness,’ call me ’Brother,’ but you still haven’t changed. I’m afraid Mother will scold me again later."
The Empress glanced back at the Third Prince without commenting, and simply asked the Crown Prince, "Did you just return from Prince Rong’s Mansion?"
"Indeed."
"I heard from the Chamberlain’s Office that you postponed today’s affairs. I thought you intended to stay longer with your Uncle and cousin. Why did you return so quickly?"
The Crown Prince replied, "That was my original intent; however, considering Father’s health has not improved, I felt uneasy being away. That’s why, even when Uncle and cousin insisted I stay for a meal, I declined."
"You are too cautious."
The Empress said as she stepped onto the veranda, chatting casually as they headed towards Qianqing Palace where the Emperor resided.
The Crown Prince gently supported the Empress as they walked ahead, while the Third Prince trailing behind, seemed like a mere shadow.
...
Luncheon was quite enjoyable; everyone at the table was delightful. Mrs. Cheng and Mrs. Du were both unrestrained, and even though they were now a generation apart from Fu Zhen, she still felt comfortable and relaxed.
During the meal, they took the opportunity to inquire a bit about the He Family, but ended up learning a lot of gossip.
The meal lasted until the sun was setting.
Afterwards, Fu Zhen waited for Pei Zhan, and ended up falling asleep under the lantern.
When she was shaken awake, she saw Pei Zhan sitting in the light, his eyes bright as stars looking at her. The halo of light seemed like a thin veil, softening his usually rugged face for no reason.
Fu Zhen involuntarily lowered her guard, "You’re back."
"Why didn’t you go inside to sleep?" Pei Zhan, rarely hearing her speak so gently, casually brushed away the stray hairs sticking to her face.
Fu Zhen’s face felt a bit warm; she brushed her hand over it and said, "Since I’d wake up once you called me anyway, I might as well wait here. I didn’t expect to actually fall asleep."
She looked over and saw that his hair was let down, his clothes changed, and there was a faint fragrance on him, indicating he had bathed and changed. She asked, "When did you return? What time is it now?"
"It’s after midnight. I came back at the first quarter of midnight."
Fu Zhen thought for a moment, "Why did you return so late today? Didn’t you already take care of everything?"
"There was a change at Prince Rong’s Mansion after dinner. Just as I was about to leave, someone from the Eastern Palace arrived and summoned Prince Rong and his son to the palace. Before leaving, Prince Rong asked me to wait until he returned, which I couldn’t refuse."
Hearing the words "Eastern Palace," Fu Zhen fully awoke, "Why did the Crown Prince suddenly summon Prince Rong again? With so much happening at Prince Rong’s Mansion now, what could be so urgent they both had to go?"
"They said there were matters from the Ancestral College to relay. However, after Guo Song patrolled the area in the afternoon, he returned saying that after the Crown Prince went back to the palace, someone from the Eastern Palace also summoned the eunuch Tian Fu, who was guarding Yongping at the Xu family’s place.
"After Tian Fu returned, the emissary from the Eastern Palace also arrived at Prince Rong’s Mansion."
Fu Zhen was now completely awake, "What is the Crown Prince trying to do?"
This was very peculiar. According to the timeline, after probing at Prince Rong’s Mansion, the Crown Prince returned to the palace, summoned Tian Fu from the Xu family, seemingly obtained some information from Tian Fu, and finally summoned Prince Rong and his son into the palace.
In the afternoon, when Guo Song came to see her, he had already informed her that the Crown Prince’s people had discovered that on the night of the incident, Prince Rong had led men to force their way into the Xu family. Now that the Crown Prince had summoned Tian Fu into the palace, what exactly was he suspecting? What did he want to investigate?
"It seems we don’t understand the Crown Prince as well as we thought." Fu Zhen looked at Pei Zhan, "Sitting in that position, he indeed seems more unpredictable than his peers."
Liang Ning has been deceased for more than six years, and during his lifetime, he also spent many years away from the capital. Pei Zhan had a similar situation, leaving home at a young age and only returning last winter, so he hadn’t had much time to interact with the Crown Prince.
Previously, everyone subconsciously overlooked him just coming of age, but thinking back now, it was our shallowness. With the Emperor and Empress’s intellect and means, how could the Crown Prince they nurture be anywhere near foolish?
Having depth is befitting of his status.
Pei Zhan adjusted the light brighter and said softly, "The clues emerging from the blood case on Baiyu Lane are increasing; logically, that should be a good thing, but the closer we get, the heavier my heart feels. I fear in the end, there might be a hidden bomb waiting for me somewhere."
Fu Zhen stayed silent.
She fully understood Pei Zhan’s concerns.
Earlier, it was already speculated that, given how meticulously Prince Rong preserved the evidence, the person he was guarding against must be of utmost significance. In the world, the position of Prince Rong is already exceedingly high, so how many people could he need to guard against?
Though King Yan is the Emperor’s own son, he resides in the palace, has no authority, is frail, and young; Prince Rong wouldn’t need to guard against him so heavily.
The remaining three, the Emperor, the Empress, and the Crown Prince.
Beneath the heavens, all land belongs to the King. If the Emperor and Empress wanted to kill someone, they wouldn’t need to go to such lengths.
A mere word would suffice, for there are plenty of means and people to handle it openly.
And if the one directing Prince Rong and his son to kill was the Emperor or Empress, then holding onto this evidence would be pointless for Prince Rong, as no one would dare to use it to right the dead.
That leaves the Crown Prince.
Everyone understood these truths, yet no one had voiced any suspicion towards the Crown Prince.
He is the Crown Prince; even suspicions need a substantiated basis.
But today’s behavior from the Crown Prince was too strange.
Such frequent probing into Princess Rong’s death seemed less like curiosity and more like anxiety.
In fact, after hearing Guo Song’s report at noon in Prince Rong’s Mansion, Fu Zhen vaguely had some speculations.
But her thoughts alone didn’t count; now, hearing Pei Zhan’s words, she realized everyone was on the same page.
"This matter cannot be handled hastily. The Crown Prince, being the Crown Heir, could not have casually directed the Heir of Prince Rong to kill. More evidence is needed."
"Regardless, I’ve already sent Guo Song to deal with the palace gate, aiming to gather more information about the interactions between the Eastern Palace and Prince Rong’s Mansion. Also, regarding the phoenix on the fan, I still plan to find a suitable opportunity to inquire with Grand Preceptor Gu indirectly."
"That sounds good," Fu Zhen nodded, "Grand Preceptor has abundant knowledge; perhaps he has seen or heard something before. But caution must be doubled; now that the Crown Prince is involved, every move is critical."
Pei Zhan nodded, "I’ll choose an appropriate time."
Fu Zhen poured herself half a cup of tea and said, "Xu Yin seems to know the secret behind that fan. Otherwise, he wouldn’t insist on obtaining it. Unfortunately, he’s an enemy; it’s impossible for him to divulge that information to me."
At this point, Pei Zhan said, "The guards have been in Tanzhou for some time; we should hear back soon."
"Indeed," Fu Zhen recalled.
Previously, Pei Zhan had already dispatched guards led by Jiang Lin to Tanzhou to investigate Xu Yin’s background, and the fellow villager Zhou Yi, who suddenly appeared from the northwest, as well as matters at Prince Rong’s Mansion, they couldn’t be neglected.
She gazed out the window into the night sky, "I wonder how they are faring?"
...
Tanzhou in summer is rainy. The morning was blazing hot, yet by afternoon, dark clouds gathered, and within a short nap, thunder roared, and rain poured down like erected bamboo poles.
Jiang Lin had been in Tanzhou Prefecture for three days. During these days, he first went to the government office, started with the local annals, and explored the distribution of all Xu families within the jurisdiction, finally reaching this county town called Xiangtan.
The place of origin Xu Yin registered in the Ministry of Personnel’s archives was Fish Mouth Village, Yunhe Town, Xiangtan County. The information found at the government office also confirmed that the Xu family of Xu Yin, who achieved the third highest scholar rank in the Shengyuan sixteenth year, had been rooted in this place the longest before migrating during the wars.
All signs indicated that to investigate Xu Yin, Xiangtan County was the destination.
Jiang Lin pushed open the windows of the inn located at the pier by the Xiang River; the accompanying guard Liu Quan entered, shaking the rainwater off himself, "Chief, I’ve found out that the county office confirmed that Xu Yin did indeed live in Fish Mouth Village, and a few years back, after he made his way up, he specifically returned to refurbish the Xu family ancestral house, now famous in the village.
"He’s also hired someone to take care of the house. It’s well-regarded in the village and town, even county-level; during festivals, they tidy up the ancestral hall of the Xu family."
"Who is the caretaker?"
"A person named Zhou Yi."
"Zhou Yi?" Jiang Lin furrowed his brows, "Are you sure about this name?"
"Look, here’s a register of servants from the Xu family I obtained. Check it out." Liu Quan pulled a dry booklet from inside his clothing and handed it over, "The Xu family doesn’t have residents. Xu Yin has never come back for family visits either, so there aren’t many servants, including those guarding the house, totaling twelve."
Jiang Lin flipped through it, his gaze pausing on the words "steward Zhou Yi" for a moment, then he looked out at the murky rain, saying, "Let’s rest for a while. Once the rain stops, we’ll go check it out."
In the southern summer, rain comes swiftly and leaves just as fast; due to the downpour, the journey was delayed, the cargo ships on the river gradually sailed away.
As the rain subsided, the murky river water lapped at the embankment, and the rice shop downstairs started buzzing with activity again.
Finally, as someone carrying a full load of rice walked out the store door, the rain had stopped entirely.
Jiang Lin donned silk robes, gathered his men, disguised as rice merchants, and drove their horses through the bustling bluestone pier, heading to the Xu Mansion at Fish Mouth Village five li away.