Chapter 29: Not a Single Innocent Soul

Wei Zhang remained silent.

"Your Ladyship..." Huo Yun choked out, breaking into tears.

Yuetang smiled and beckoned him over. "It is alright. Come inside with me; I have things to discuss with you."

She led him into the room, followed by Hua Lin. Yuetang asked first, "How is my condition?"

Hua Lin replied, "Nothing serious. It is merely that you have not engaged in strenuous activity for a long time, causing your internal energy and blood to become agitated. I will adjust your prescription; taking it for ten days or so will bring improvement."

Yuetang nodded and turned to Wei Zhang and Lan Qin, who had entered behind them. "Little Huo has surely told you about what happened last night.

"Zhang Shaode’s words confirmed my suspicions: that night’s events were far beyond the capabilities of the Du family. Yet, the Du family remained so tight-lipped from start to finish that they did not even reveal a hint of it to the He or Zhang families. This shows just how cautious the person behind them truly is.

"But the more cautious they are, the more it proves that this conspiracy is not as simple as it appears on the surface."

Twenty-two people had accompanied her that night; besides Wei Zhang, twenty-one were killed.

The tragic deaths of those twenty-one, the loss of her father, and the severe injuries she herself sustained—these could not even be fully accounted for.

If not for the fact that Huo Yun’s father, Huo Xiao, had noticed the river at the bottom of the cliff during that critical moment and conspired with Wei Zhang to use A-Xiu’s body to pose as hers, she would have undoubtedly become a wandering ghost in those woods.

The burden of vengeance she carried was heavy indeed.

If she could not uncover the truth and thoroughly expose the conspiracy, the spirits of those who died for her would never find peace.

The Du family had to be eliminated, but it was not the time for rash action. If Du Minghuan were killed too easily, the thread leading to the truth behind the scenes would be severed forever.

"Your Ladyship is absolutely right," Wei Zhang nodded. "To be able to orchestrate a murder attempt on you in a single night while simultaneously manipulating the situation in the palace—this is certainly not the work of an ordinary person."

On the night of the third day of the seventh month, it was not only the Princess of Yongjia who "died"; the late Emperor also passed away.

Even Prince Duan, who had remained in the palace to accompany the Emperor as he always did, had unexpectedly taken his own life within the palace walls.

Why did Prince Duan take his own life?

After rescuing Yuetang, the story Wei Zhang gathered was that the late Emperor had turned his wrath upon Prince Duan for suggesting that the First Prince leave the capital to welcome the Second Prince, and ordered him to commit suicide.

The late Emperor’s first wife, Empress Mu, had suffered a miscarriage with her first pregnancy. The prince subsequently born to Imperial Consort An became the First Prince by order of succession.

However, the Emperor held Empress Mu in such high regard that, even though the First Prince was exceptionally talented, he refused to issue an edict naming him Crown Prince. Instead, he insisted on waiting for the Second Prince—born of the Empress—to return to the capital upon reaching his sixteenth birthday before making his choice.

In June of that year, with only a month left until the Second Prince’s sixteenth birthday, the Emperor began selecting suitable candidates to travel and welcome the Second Prince home.

When he asked for Prince Duan’s opinion, the Prince recommended the First Prince. His reasoning was that the two brothers had been separated for a long time, and having the elder brother personally welcome the younger would demonstrate the Emperor’s favor while fostering brotherly affection. Furthermore, over the previous years, the First Prince had frequently visited the Mu estate to deliver gifts during the holidays.

The Emperor gladly agreed, allowing the First Prince to lead a retinue of guards and a palanquin specially crafted for the Second Prince as they set off.

But halfway back to the capital, less than a hundred miles away on the Grand Canal, a sudden flood capsized their ship. Both princes, along with several guards and attendants, were caught in the disaster.

With the fate of both princes unknown, the news reached the capital, and the Emperor’s health took a sudden turn for the worse.

Prince Duan rushed to the palace overnight to provide care. Everything seemed normal then; Yuetang, who was outside the capital, had received word of this through Prince Duan’s messengers and was rushing back to the city.

It was only after she survived the assassination attempt that her first thought upon waking was to contact the Prince’s estate. Only then did she learn that on the very night she was ambushed, chaos had erupted in the palace as well.

With two biological sons involved—one of whom was the heir-apparent—it was perhaps reasonable that the Emperor would turn his anger toward Prince Duan, no matter how deep their bond.

But since Yuetang’s ordeal was undeniably a conspiracy, the death of Prince Duan and the events in the palace that night could not be viewed in isolation.

"The Secretariat is led by the Shen family, and the person behind the Du family is the Shen family. They are the primary suspects, especially since the late Emperor left such a decree for Empress Dowager Shen. The rapid rise of the Shen family could not have happened without them benefiting from it.

"Furthermore, the Du family mobilized over a hundred men to kill me. The Du family of that time could not have organized such a force, but the Shen family, with four generations of officials, certainly could.

"Their family is not only vast but also possesses immense wealth. Even setting aside the tens of thousands of taels of silver lent through the Du family to the He and Zhang families, adding the share given to the Du family would be no difficulty at all."

Yuetang rolled a wax pellet between her fingers, her brow furrowed. "However, the Shen family’s rise has been so aggressive that it feels almost too convenient to be true.

"If it truly were the Shen family, there would be no need to wait three years for us to seek revenge. The predatory Mu family or the calculating Chu family would have long ago found evidence and dragged them out into the light."

"Yet the timing of Empress Dowager Shen’s ascension is highly suspicious, and it is hard to say the Shen family is innocent," Wei Zhang voiced his concerns. "After Empress Mu passed away, the late Emperor declared he would never name another Empress.

"But later, he suddenly installed the Shen woman, who had only been in the palace a short time—and he did so while he was bedridden.

"Three months later, when the Emperor was on his deathbed, he suddenly left a will granting Empress Dowager Shen control of the Imperial Seal. All of this is highly irregular."

"The Shen family is certainly not innocent. However, our current strength is too meager, and our only advantage is that no one yet knows we exist. We must follow the vine to find the root."

Yuetang set down the wax pellet and placed the blueprints she had brought back from Feiyun Temple on the table. "The Du family is the vine we must climb. Zhang Shaode has already mapped out the locations of the sentries in the Du family’s study. I have calculated the positions based on the five elements and the eight trigrams, and they should be correct.

"But after last night, the Du family will surely have tightened their security. A frontal assault would be walking into the tiger’s den.

"We must find another opportunity to bypass these eyes and ears and reach Du Minghuan’s study."

When they escaped last night, Du Yu had already discovered their presence.

"A guilty conscience"—with a third party outside of the Zhang and He families knowing the Du family’s secrets, how could the father and son sleep?

Not to mention that after laying a massive trap, they realized their prey had still managed to escape!

Under these circumstances, the Du family would naturally be the first to increase their defenses and lockdown the estate.

"The news of the Marquis of Guangling’s upcoming birthday banquet is already spreading like wildfire. I will walk the streets; perhaps I can scout out an opportunity."

"Let Little Huo go," Yuetang said, looking at Huo Yun, who had shrunk into a corner like a quail. "Your master has just returned; let him rest. I have other tasks for him later."