Chapter 56

Chapter 56

The weeds around the Cold Palace had been cleared away. The bodies of the dead spies were dragged aside, and peculiar flower tattoos were discovered on the slain "palace attendants." Ye Xuanjiu was shocked as he reported all of this to Qi Hanzhou.

"Junior General, we were right to search here," Ye Xuanjiu said, astonished. The results had exceeded their expectations—or rather, from the moment they encountered those assassins at the thatched hut, everything had ceased to be just a simple political struggle. "Some of the people outside have the assassin tattoos, but others don't. Those with the tattoos are all the Cold Palace cleaning attendants."

This meant the tattoos weren't universal; anyone with a bit of status in the palace would avoid carrying such conspicuous marks.

Qi Hanzhou looked at the deceased Shuang Yue before him. She also bore no tattoos. "Cut open the skin and have a medic identify it."

A chill ran down Ye Xuanjiu's spine. We've been investigating these people for so long, and now they're just dead?

"Junior General, then we've lost the lead, haven't we?"

Qi Hanzhou turned and walked out. "No, because that person doesn't care about the lead."

Ying Fusheng's target was never a single hidden piece. He cared about the role that piece played.

Ye Xuanjiu asked, "Junior General, where are you going—"

Qi Hanzhou's face was icy.

"To see the Emperor."

As night fell, a commotion stirred in the depths of the palace. It seemed the Imperial Guards were moving.

It seemed quiet and stealthy, but there was an undercurrent.

A palace attendant hurried to the Cining Palace, whispered something to Song An, and then left. Song An nodded coldly. "Got it."

In the side hall of the Cining Palace, Xiaoqing was scarfing down the food in front of it. Ying Fusheng reached out to tease the bird, and it nuzzled against his hand. He had a small, ugly scar on his palm. When Song An entered, Ying Fusheng seemed to sense his presence and looked up, a smirk of mockery curled on his lips—

Looks like he lasted a few hours less than he thought.

He tossed the brocade pouch he had used to play with the bird into the charcoal brazier. The simple embroidered emblem on it was devoured by the flames. With the assassins at the thatched hut and the attack on the crown prince, from the moment earlier today when Shuang Yue lost her cool and touched that pouch, he knew the plan could succeed.

Song An bowed his head and said, "But Your Highness, this way we lose the lead on Shuang Yue."

Shuang Yue adhered to the rules and was the head palace maid beside the Empress.

She was a high-ranking female official, dignified and steady, gradually gathering power in the inner court. With her as the leader, there would undoubtedly be countless connections—either the Xu family, or schemers behind the court... We could have investigated her thoroughly if we kept her alive, but you chose to kill her.

Ying Fusheng said, "If you think so, then Shuang Yue would think so too."

Someone like her had a natural confidence, knowing her role was extraordinary, and with that, she could always have a countermove in reserve.

Kill her. Eliminate the threat. The sooner, the better.

"Do you know what the fastest way to uproot everything is?" Ying Fusheng asked.

Beside the bird feed, the chaotic chessboard from earlier had been rearranged, pieces in order. Ying Fusheng picked out the key white piece that completed the encirclement and casually let it drop into the bowl. Now the bunch of thieves had no leader.

He glanced toward Qianqing Palace.

"Then, the next move is mine."

...

Late at night, urgent reports reached the Emperor's desk.

In the depths of the Cold Palace, bizarre poisonous insects had been discovered. Shuang Yue, the head palace maid beside the Empress, had been eaten by the parasites and died of poison. Because of the nightly patrols after the crown prince's attack, the Imperial Guards uncovered clues and found traitors.

The lanterns in the Qianqing Palace were lit. The living mother parasite and half a plant of Changxin were processed and brought before the Emperor. The Emperor, cloak over his shoulders, sat with a chill gleamed in his eyes in the lantern light. "The former dynasty...?"

"Yes." Qi Hanzhou bowed. "Some in the Imperial Guards are good at identifying things. This item has no record in Dayuan, but there's some mention in former dynasty secret records."

He waved his hand, and someone handed over a scroll, which bore a detailed drawing of the Changxin plant and the mother parasite, closely matching what was before the Emperor.

"Additionally, tattoos were discovered on the slain palace attendants."

Copies of the tattoos were presented to the Emperor.

When he saw the flower tattoo, the Emperor's eyes narrowed slightly, and he stared at it for a long time.

Former dynasty. After the late Emperor overthrew the former dynasty's regime, the remnants of the former dynasty were all wiped out to lay the foundation of Dayuan. Over the years, there had been occasional rumors about the former dynasty, but most were unfounded hype—until Consort Ning appeared, and Suihongzi entered the palace.

Now it seemed, not only had the former dynasty's secret medicines surfaced, but even in the depths of this palace, there were death warriors and hidden guards concealed among the palace attendants. How many of them were there, and where were they hiding? All unknown.

Qi Hanzhou waited silently. The Qianqing Palace was utterly still.

The chill in the Emperor's eyes grew deeper.

Shuang Yue bore no tattoos, but as a female official of the Empress, she had appeared late at night in such a secret place.

For that reason alone, even dead, she couldn't avoid suspicion.

The Emperor suddenly laughed. "I've been campaigning for years, and the Xu family still has plenty of surprises for me."

With a secret decree from the Qianqing Palace, as soon as Qi Hanzhou stepped out, the covert investigation authorized by imperial power began quietly. His trusted Imperial Guards moved out in full force, tracing Shuang Yue's network. The palace attendants who had close dealings with her were still asleep when the Imperial Guards, warrants in hand, came to take them away.

News of the upheaval in the Cold Palace spread within half an hour. The Crown Prince was suddenly jolted awake in the Eastern Palace, and a hidden guard knelt before him. "Your Highness, something has happened. Shuang Yue is dead."

Hearing this, the Crown Prince's face went pale. To him, Shuang Yue wielded extraordinary influence in the inner court; anything he gave her to handle would be fine. Besides, Shuang Yue was highly skilled in martial arts. How could such a person die all of a sudden?

"How is that possible?"

"All the palace attendants at the Cold Palace stronghold are dead. The spies connected to Shuang Yue have been discovered. Our people hadn't even reacted before the Imperial Guards moved," said the hidden guard. "Other hidden guards will take care of it, but they probably won't be as fast as the Imperial Guards."

"Such action could only be with the Emperor's permission."

Shuang Yue's death was sudden and mysterious, without even a whisper of news leaking out. And now the Cold Palace stronghold was entirely in the hands of the Imperial Guards.

Shuang Yue had controlled the power around Empress Xu, basically the boss of the inner court's secret network. Many matters had to be arranged through her. If she was in trouble, the master would have his own arrangements. But the key point was that she died suddenly, completely upsetting the deployment in the inner court, giving them no chance to clean up the mess.

Soon, another person came to report, and the hidden guard vanished without a trace.

A palace attendant from the Kunning Palace entered. "Your Highness, it's bad. Something has happened at the Kunning Palace."

At the Kunning Palace, Empress Xu watched as two palace attendants were taken away. The Imperial Guards were conducting a sweep under the pretext of investigating the Crown Prince's attack and had traced it to her close maid Shuang Yue.

When the Crown Prince arrived, he saw several palace attendants from the Kunning Palace being led away. Shaken, he hurried to the side of Empress Xu. If Shuang Yue were found to be problematic, the Xu family would inevitably be implicated. He rushed over to look.

"Your Majesty, Shuang Yue died mysteriously in the palace, and parasitic insects were found on her," the Imperial Guards reported truthfully. "We need to thoroughly examine everything related to her. She cannot be cleared of suspicion."

Upon hearing "parasitic insects," Empress Xu's expression shifted instantly. "What parasitic insects?"

The Imperial Guards bowed and then ordered others to move out. "That's not clear yet. His Majesty ordered us to investigate."

Seeing this, the Crown Prince tried to call out "Mother Empress," but noticed Empress Xu's gaze fixed on the departing Imperial Guards. She tightened her grip on his hand, and in that moment, the Crown Prince felt a strange sense of unease, as if something were slipping out of control.

All the palace servants who had clear connections with Shuang Yue were taken one by one to the Jinyi Wei's prison for interrogation.

In the deep palace, undercurrents surged, and many palaces were gripped by fear.

...

Only a faint light glowed within the Cining Palace. When Qi Hanzhou entered, there were no other palace attendants in the hall, save for a light burning in the inner bedchamber. The young man had not yet fallen asleep; he sat before a table, draped in a robe, his figure appearing exceptionally frail.

Candlelight cast his shadow flickering unsteadily, as if a slightly stronger wind from outside the window would scatter this person along with his shadow.

Before him lay a chaotic chessboard—black and white stones scattered at random, as if the result of the youth's casual placement. Yet, having personally set this game in motion, Qi Hanzhou knew it was no random set of moves.

"Your visit in the dead of night, Junior General." Ying Fusheng did not lift his head, idly toying with the loose stones in the chess bowl, speaking in a low voice. "Song An is asleep, so I have not prepared tea to welcome you."

"You had already decided to act this way since the attack on the Crown Prince occurred," Qi Hanzhou said.

The Jinyi Wei and the Qi family had the authority to secretly investigate many matters, but some things were not suitable for direct presentation to the emperor.

A blade is only a good blade under the tacit approval of imperial power. With the attack on the Crown Prince tacitly permitting the actions of the Jinyi Wei, all outcomes would then follow naturally.

When Shuang Yue died before his eyes, his best choice was to face the emperor.

And all of this was within Ying Fusheng's calculations.

Ying Fusheng said flatly, "The puppet master wants to strengthen the Crown Prince's position. When the opportunity is placed before us, why not seize it?"

He confessed openly, "Shuang Yue was an open card in your eyes. She herself did not know. Once the matter of witchcraft emerged, to prevent further calamities within the palace, she would act, and you would act."

Qi Hanzhou's gaze was deep, shifting from him to the hand holding the chess piece. "Did you know where she would die?"

"Who knows? Where she would die, I have no idea either." A frivolous smile appeared on Ying Fusheng's face. "As for the other Jinyi Wei, that's debatable, but with you, I felt I could gamble..."

Before he finished speaking, Qi Hanzhou suddenly stepped forward. Ying Fusheng's movement with the chess piece paused, his expression stunned, as his wrist was seized by Qi Hanzhou. The chess piece fell onto the table with a crisp sound, and Qi Hanzhou had already turned over his palm, exposing the hidden wound there.

The symptoms of the Empress Dowager, and the mention of the Mother-Child Gu at the thatched hut.

The old illness of the Empress Dowager could not be hidden from Qi Hanzhou. He had already understood the moment he saw Shuang Yue's death.

"Where is the child gu on the Empress Dowager?" Qi Hanzhou asked.

Ying Fusheng relaxed his posture, letting Qi Hanzhou hold his wrist casually. Knowing he could not hide anything from this keen-nosed wolf, he generously revealed the wound and said, "Didn't you see? Someone reaped what they sowed."

When Chen Xuqiu said the Mother-Child Gu was a secret drug from the previous dynasty, Ying Fusheng had already conceived a plan in his heart.

In his past life, Ying Fusheng had been entangled with Suihongzi until death, and Chen Xuqiu had used various methods to keep him alive. The poisons of the previous dynasty shared common pharmacological principles, and using gu to counteract poison was one such method. Chen Xuqiu had used gu to sustain his life. That night, when he bled the child gu out of the Empress Dowager's body, he realized that his own poisonous blood was effective against the gu. So he drew out the child gu and nurtured it with his toxic blood.

Once the child gu was drawn out, there was no fear that the puppet master could harm the Empress Dowager through it.

"She came at an opportune time today. The child gu was still alive, so I had Song An put it inside." Ying Fusheng gestured with his finger. "This small, smaller than a sesame seed. As long as we arranged for Shuang Yue to be injured, with so many people present, she wouldn't dare to act."

"How did you know the method to draw out the child gu?" Qi Hanzhou asked directly.

"Assassins are covered in poison. When the child gu smelled Shuang Yue's blood, it burrowed in extremely fast, requiring no effort." Ying Fusheng looked into his eyes and casually recounted the process of planning Shuang Yue's death. "Once the child gu entered her body, whenever she tried to kill the Empress Dowager, it would backfire on her."

Qi Hanzhou watched him change the subject nonchalantly, his tone calm, as if orchestrating a murder were just a simple plan. Having cooperated with this man for a long time, Qi Hanzhou for the first time could not see through him. When had Ying Fusheng begun to scheme? From the time the Palace Lantern revealed the hidden pawn by the Empress's side, or from the time he learned of the Crown Prince's assassins at the tavern...?

When they first met, Qi Hanzhou thought this man had considerable ambition, aiming for the throne, and that all his actions were for power.

But after multiple collaborations, Qi Hanzhou discovered that he harbored secrets, and that his desires went beyond the throne—he seemed to have more things he wanted to achieve.

The knife wound appeared to be only one, but the wound had been reopened repeatedly, clearly the result of multiple bloodlettings.

The wound had not fully healed, and traces of styptic powder were evident, but with any larger movement, a little blood seeped out from the wound. Ying Fusheng had been on medication for years, and an inescapable smell of medicine clung to him. He had not bandaged the wound, so no one would notice when he had acquired an extra injury. The strong smell of medicinal powder had long masked the scent of blood.

No one had noticed at all... that the wound had already become infected and festered.

Noticing Qi Hanzhou's silence, Ying Fusheng was uncertain about handling this young blade.

How cunning the puppet master was—even in his previous life, Ying Fusheng had not managed to uncover his true identity, and the Qi family had struggled until the very end.

This man was slippery. His father, the emperor, was not lacking in literary and martial skills, and after returning from campaigns, he had repeatedly tried to revitalize the state. Yet even such an emperor was gradually consumed by the vast web spun by the puppet master, eventually triggering a palace coup. Facing such an opponent, the slower he moved, the easier they could control him. So Shuang Yue could not be spared; this hidden move had to be overturned completely to gain the upper hand.

What he was familiar with was the Qi Hanzhou of his previous life, when he and the Qi family had already formed a solid alliance.

But now, his father, the emperor, was still alive, Qi Shen was in the northern border, and Qi Hanzhou's wings had not yet fully grown. So every step, he had to tread carefully with Qi Hanzhou. He was using Qi Hanzhou, but could not cross the bottom line of the Qi family's loyalty to imperial power.

Had he not coaxed him well enough?

Ying Fusheng pondered everything just now. After all, Qi Hanzhou was only sixteen now.

He frowned slightly, but before he could finish thinking, the person beside him moved abruptly.

In the next instant, a cold gleam flashed. The blade from Qi Hanzhou's sleeve fell.

Ying Fusheng's pupils moved, but then he saw Qi Hanzhou take out a wine pouch. With practiced ease, he poured wine over the blade, and when it passed through the candle flame, it ignited with fire.

Wine...?

Ying Fusheng was slightly stunned.

At that moment, Qi Hanzhou grabbed Ying Fusheng's hand. A stinging pain came from the palm, and Ying Fusheng instinctively tried to withdraw his hand, but his hand was firmly held by Qi Hanzhou. The martial artist's palm was hot. Ying Fusheng had no escape as he watched the fire-scorched blade descend upon his palm.

"Bear with it," Qi Hanzhou said. "If you want to keep your hand."

Under the light of the candle and oil lamp, Qi Hanzhou carefully cut away the rotten flesh from his palm. His movements were extremely light; the thin blade was steady and agile in his hand, and within a few breaths, he had trimmed away the suppurating dead flesh in Ying Fusheng's palm.

Ying Fusheng looked at him in astonishment, but Qi Hanzhou said nothing.

The lamplight flickered with Qi Hanzhou's movements.

The face under the candlelight seemed to overlap with the person from his previous life. The torrent of time surged, and Ying Fusheng seemed to see the Qi Hanzhou of his past life. Back then, Qi Hanzhou always came late at night; as court disturbances grew and the government structure collapsed, the Jinyi Wei became the last line of defense before imperial power. A few times, when he woke from nightmares in the dead of night, Qi Hanzhou would sit by his bed, silently watching the wounds on his wrists from his daytime episodes of madness, and would treat them in the same manner.

Ying Fusheng looked at this young face until the pressure on his palm subsided, and a strip of cloth was wound around it, covering the gruesome wound completely. Only then did he snap back to reality. "The Junior General has such a skilled hand."

Qi Hanzhou looked at him, catching that momentary distraction. He cleaned up the other things, sheathed his knife, and turned to look out the window. Outside, the sky was gradually growing light. He did not stay any longer and turned to leave.

Leaving the Cining Palace, Qi Hanzhou vaulted onto the palace eaves and vanished in an instant.

Ying Fusheng's words concealed secrets. How could a prince in the deep palace know about drawing out gu by bleeding poisoned blood? Although bloodletting was a draining injury, his pulse was stronger than usual, and there seemed to be fresh needle-prick bruises on his wrist. Ying Fusheng had manipulated his own pulse; drawing out the gu was definitely not as simple as letting blood.

He had secrets hidden on his person.

Inside the Cining Palace, Ying Fusheng watched him leave, then raised his own hand. The wound was properly bandaged.

He looked down at it, turning it over, and flexing his fingers.

"Quite easy to coax, after all."

His expression slightly sobered, he turned to gaze out the window at the layers of palace walls.

Day had broken. There would be a good show today.