Chapter 184: The Situation is Settled

Chapter 184: The Outcome is Decided

In late April, as apricot blossoms scattered, marking another day off, the spring scenery was splendid outside the Inch Gold Tower.

Qiu Huanian and Du Yunse found themselves alone in the Inch Gold Tower under the guise of enjoying spring and a drink together. By the window, a long couch was arranged with a carved side table, holding a food box shaped like plum blossoms and clear wine. Each compartment of the food box held a different snack.

Despite the splendid spring scenery and delicious food, neither was in the mood to indulge.

Qiu Huanian rested his chin on his hand, sitting sideways on the couch. Apart from the small area where he and Du Yunse were sitting, the rest of the couch was covered with assorted poetry collections, both old and new.

These were the works of Qingchi Xianren, gathered diligently by the Crown Prince's faction without alerting anyone. Nearly all of his works that had been in circulation were here.

Spanning sixteen years, over fifty collections and a thousand poems were displayed, revealing anomalies to any observer.

Even if Qingchi Xianren were a reincarnated Li Bai or Liu Sanbian, it would be impossible to sustain such a steady, prolific output over so many years, as if "he" never tired, never faltered, or grew weary.

Qingchi Xianren occupied a peculiar niche in the Yu Dynasty's literary circles. Though he was quite famous, his works weren't deemed highbrow, so no one bothered to compile his complete works, nor did anyone openly analyze or discuss his works, hence why these irregularities had gone unnoticed.

It wasn't until Du Yunse heard Jiu Jiu's account that "Qingchi Xianren isn't one person" and gathered all his poetry collections over the years that he detected something was off.

As a Number One Scholar who had aced six levels of the imperial examination, Du Yunse was exceptionally skilled in practical studies and examination essays, but that didn't mean he wasn't skilled in poetry.

On the contrary, his expertise in poetry and lyrics was among the finest in the entire Yu Dynasty, though he wrote less because of his busy schedule.

Qiu Huanian rested his chin on his hand, watching Du Yunse, who was quickly flipping through the poetry collections on the couch. After finishing each book, he placed it in a fixed spot beside him. By the afternoon, the collections were divided into six stacks, each containing about nine books.

"Were these written by six different people?" Qiu Huanian ventured to ask.

Du Yunse shook his head, "They were revised by six different people."

"What do you mean?" Qiu Huanian asked while feeding Du Yunse a small piece of red date and lotus root powder cake.

While Du Yunse was categorizing, Qiu Huanian wasn't idle either, admiring and feeding him, having already emptied half of the snacks in the food box.

Du Yunse swallowed the soft and sweet cake, the touch of Qiu Huanian's fingertips lingering on his lips. He instinctively licked the corresponding spot.

Facing Qiu Huanian's puzzled look, Du Yunse chuckled, "I carefully examined all the poems. Most of them were originally written by different people and then uniformly revised into a similar style."

"Judging by the publication dates of the poetry collections, the person responsible for revising the poems has been changing over the past sixteen years, with a new person taking over every few years, causing the style of 'Qingchi Xianren's' poems to shift significantly."

Du Yunse picked up a collection from over four years ago, which was placed separately, and flipped to the marked pages. Over a dozen poems in this collection had been circled by him.

Qiu Huanian skimmed through them. His appreciation for poetry was average, but he could tell that these poems were all descriptive poems about scenery, with a unified style. Reading them felt like sipping fresh spring tea or listening to the sound of light rain on lotus leaves.

"These are Qing He's poems."

Qiu Huanian was startled as Du Yunse continued, "I taught her for half a year. Qing He no longer enjoyed writing poetry at that time, but she respected her teacher and always completed the poetry assignments I gave her with diligence."

"The style of these poems is slightly different from Qing He's later works, but from the habitual use of words and the consistent poetic sentiment, it's clear they were written by the same person."

Qiu Huanian naturally trusted Du Yunse's judgment.

The fact that Qing He's poems appeared in Qingchi Xianren's collections with almost no revisions was suspicious. It was possible that she knew the person responsible for uniformly revising the poems during those years.

Her statement that "Qingchi Xianren isn't one person" clearly indicated that she knew the secret behind the poem revisions.

But the Chi Clan was unaware of this; otherwise, they would never have let Qing He go, and she wouldn't have been able to fake her death to escape.

Later, when the information leaked, the Chi Clan began searching for a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl who had visited the Chi family villa a few years ago. Even at this point, they still didn't know that the girl was Chi Qinghe.

How did Qing He meet the person responsible for revising poems at that time, Qingchi Xianren? Why did this person include Qing He's poems in the collection?

When Qing He was falsely accused by the mistress of the household and almost drowned in the pond, why did she refuse to defend herself no matter what?

These mysteries will only be solved after we hear back from Zhang County. For now, their focus must remain on the poetry collection in their hands.

Qing He believed that hearing this sentence would be enough for them to understand its meaning and obtain the necessary help, indicating that a huge secret lies hidden within the poetry collection.

"Why did the Chi Clan go to such great lengths and effort to create the identity of Qingchi Xianren?" Qiu Huanian asked the key question.

Du Yunse half-closed his eyes, countless clues and poems flashing through his mind, connecting into a vast network.

"To transmit intelligence."

"What?"

"The Crown Prince and I have been wondering about one thing—how did Prince Jin and the Chi Clan ensure messages flowed smoothly in that vast spy network?"

"You must understand, most of the fake spies who were replaced ended up in the inner chambers of high-ranking officials and nobles. Those in the inner chambers have limited movement, making it hard to send and receive intelligence without eventually raising suspicions."

"Usually, to ensure commands are transmitted smoothly, they would need a large number of subordinates responsible for relaying intelligence. The more people involved, the higher the chance of being caught. Yet, despite many methods employed by sixteen and others, even after tracking the fake Miss Zhao, they found nothing useful, as if they were sending messages without a trace, like in a dream."

Qiu Huanian's eyes lit up with understanding, "They didn't rely on people or letters to transmit intelligence one-on-one, but on Qingchi Xianren's poetry collection!"

Qingchi Xianren's poems spread widely across the country. The spies lurking in the inner chambers didn't need to contact anyone directly. They just had to listen carefully at banquets or operas, or casually ask during conversations, "Has Qingchi Xianren released any new songs? Let's have someone sing them to pass the time." Thanks to their training, they could pick out the needed information from the lyrics.

By tweaking a poem with hidden commands, they could flawlessly control the entire Yu Dynasty spy network.

This way of sending messages without a trace was almost like sending them in a dream!

With this line of thought, combined with specific intelligence from Qing He later, Du Yunse and others under the Crown Prince could deduce the commands from the poems and identify which key figures' inner chambers were compromised.

After his initial excitement, Qiu Huanian fell silent, looking at the stacks of poems collected over more than ten years.

To maintain the uniqueness of Qingchi Xianren's identity and ensure an adequate supply of poems, countless people had been hidden behind these four words over the years.

Who wrote the more than a thousand poems? Why were they willing to hand over their works to "Qingchi Xianren"? Where are they now, and what kind of lives are they living? Do they know their works have been sung all over the country?

Are they still alive?

Qiu Huanian turned to look out the window. At some point, dark clouds had covered the bright sunlight. Under the gray sky, a strong wind with sand and leaves hit the half-open window, making a rustling noise.

"The wind howls as the storm approaches," Qiu Huanian suddenly recalled this line of poetry.

Du Yunse got up, closed the window, put away the poetry collections, and took Qiu Huanian's hand.

"It's time for dinner. Let's go back and play with Gu Gu and Yang Yang for a while."

Talking about the two kids, both Qiu Huanian and Du Yunse felt warm inside, their faces softening.

As they walked downstairs, Qiu Huanian asked Du Yunse, "Yun Se, last time you mentioned that the Mei Family's old case might be related to Prince Fen's rebellion twenty years ago. Have you found any specific information?"

Du Yunse shook his head, "Most of the records of Prince Fen's rebellion were destroyed. Although His Highness the Crown Prince has some undestroyed documents, if this case is indeed related to the Mei Family and sixteen, His Highness would be very sensitive about it. I can't directly ask for it."

Currently, only a few people know Qiu Huanian's true identity. Sixteen didn't want to tell the Crown Prince, and Du Yunse didn't want to put Qiu Huanian at risk.

They can only plan to overturn the case once the new emperor is on the throne.

Thinking of sixteen, Qiu Huanian couldn't help but feel anxious, "It's been more than ten days since Little Uncle left the capital. He should have arrived in Zhang County by now, or perhaps even..."

Du Yunse tightened his grip on Qiu Huanian's hand. The situation was perilous, and words of comfort were futile. Du Yunse could only tell Qiu Huanian, "Recently, don't let the children go out. Warn the estate's inhabitants to stay vigilant, and it's best not to venture too far from the imperial estate."

Qiu Huanian's heart skipped a beat, and his entire body tensed up instantly. "Is it happening already?"

"Wu Shen has already arrived at the military camp," Du Yunse said in a low voice.

Those six words hinted at an impending storm of bloodshed.

Wu Shen had managed to return to the border army unnoticed by anyone, and his return was far from leisurely. Since ancient times, military power has been the prerequisite for any scheme to succeed.

Qiu Huanian took a few deep breaths and asked in a hushed tone, "The current emperor still has many years to live. If the Crown Prince leads troops to force the palace now, isn't he concerned about the public's inevitable outcry?"

The forces behind Prince Jin and Prince Shen were not to be underestimated, and the Yuanhua Emperor was not an incompetent ruler. Even if the Crown Prince succeeded in a coup by catching everyone off guard, he might not be able to hold onto the throne afterward!

Du Yunse chuckled softly, his eyes showing a hint of complexity but mostly confidence.

"The shadowy spy network, once elusive, is no longer a concern. As for Prince Shen, we already have enough leverage, and there's also an unforeseen ally lending us support. This game of chess has been played since the late emperor's reign, and now it's finally coming to its conclusion."

The two of them walked downstairs into the courtyard, where a tall and upright young man stood with his hands behind his back, surveying the storm he had set in motion.

Qiu Huanian's heart raced again, but he found his resolve. He belatedly realized that after all the trials and tribulations they had endured, Du Yunse had grown into a true figure capable of stirring the winds and clouds of the world.

"Prince Shen, goaded by Prince Pingxian, corrupted officials within the imperial army and launched a rebellion from the border. Prince Jin, with his wolfish ambitions, corrupted officials within the Central Military Command and forged an imperial decree to secretly mobilize troops from outside the capital, aiming to lay siege to the imperial city and usurp the throne."

Du Yunse calmly narrated the yet-to-unfold conclusion.

"As the future ruler, the Crown Prince led his troops to rescue the emperor in times of crisis, imprisoned Prince Shen, executed Prince Jin, and eradicated the treacherous forces, garnering unmatched glory."

"By then, the method of 'convincing' the emperor to step down willingly will be the Crown Prince's task."