Chapter 78 Warning: That's his own sister!

Mu Kun served in the Imperial Guard and was a confidant of Consort Jia, who had always helped her with her private affairs. But now, Consort Jia had sent him to investigate her own son.

Consort Jia felt a pang of sorrow, but she did not retract her order and waited silently for news from him in the palace.

On the 28th of July, Mu Kun handed over what he had obtained to a palace attendant, who then took it into the palace.

"Lord Mu said that His Highness Prince Ning is very tight-lipped and has handled things very cleanly. He has not yet found out why Prince Ping has a grudge against him."

"However, the Prince of Ping and the Marquis of Cheng'an's residence have been making quite a bit of noise lately, and they have found out some things."

The eunuch recounted how the Marquis of Cheng'an's residence had moved many servants to the estate, and how the Marquis of Cheng'an and his son had visited Xu Che at the estate half a month prior. He also mentioned that Gao Zheng was secretly investigating the He family, Xu Jinyu was investigating a silk shop, and Qi Jingxuan was questioning the palace servants about which guests had left the palace banquet during the first month of the lunar calendar.

"To avoid alerting the enemy, Lord Mu did not dare to investigate the details further. But there is no doubt that the mole at the Cheng'an Marquis's spring banquet was his Ninth Master."

"As for why Prince Ping wanted to investigate the palace banquet in the first month, and why Prince Xu wanted to investigate the silk shop, we really have no way of knowing. Lord Mu guesses that this should be the source of everything."

"As far as he knows, His Highness Prince Ning also left the banquet that day. If Your Majesty wants to know the crux of the matter, you will have to ask His Highness why he left the banquet that day, where he went, who he met, and whether he encountered Prince Ping."

"Once these things are clarified, the truth should come out."

The eunuch finished recounting everything in one breath, and then added, "Lord Mu also said that although not much has been found out about His Highness Prince Ning, he has been getting very close to the Xie family lately, and the Xie family seems to have done a lot for him."

"The silk shop that Prince Xu was investigating had a manager surnamed Sun. In the first month of the lunar calendar, shortly after the palace banquet, this manager hired several embroiderers from southern Jiangsu to embroider handkerchiefs and purses using their techniques. These were given as gifts to the shop's regular customers. The patterns on these handkerchiefs and purses were mostly butterflies among flowers, with peonies as the main flower and butterflies in either red and green or red and blue, all very similar in style."

"Because they were given in large quantities, and the materials and techniques were of good quality, many women in the families of high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital now have these items."

"This was originally a small matter, but strangely, the manager did a good job, but not long after that, he resigned, saying that his parents were old and he had to go back to take care of them."

"Lord Mu wants to follow this lead, but the steward's ancestral home is far away in Jiangzhou, and it will be difficult to get any information in a short time. Moreover... Lord Mu believes that this person should already be dead, so there is no point in investigating."

"The reason he brought this up was because in February, when he was patrolling the streets, he saw Steward Zhou, who was next to Master Xie, drinking with a middle-aged man while he was having a meal at a restaurant. When Lord Mu passed by, he heard Steward Zhou call that man Brother Sun."

"Lord Mu felt that things were somewhat coincidental, so he sent someone to the silk shop to ask about the appearance of Manager Sun. It turned out that he was indeed the same person he had seen that day."

On the surface, Mu Kun seemed to have no connection with the Xie family, but he was a follower of Consort Jia and had always paid close attention to them. Therefore, although the Xie family members were not familiar with him, he was very familiar with them, especially their masters and those around them.

After the palace banquet in the first month of the lunar calendar, the manager of the silk shop, surnamed Sun, suddenly hired a new batch of embroiderers to embroider handkerchiefs and purses with the same pattern. Not long after, he resigned and left the capital. Before leaving, he happened to meet the Xie family, which made Sun feel that it was too much of a coincidence.

"Lord Mu then investigated the Xie family's recent activities and found that they had been in frequent contact with the Prince Ning's mansion, especially after the palace banquet in the first month of the lunar calendar, when the two sides had been interacting frequently."

"My lord suspects that something must have happened at the palace banquet that day, and the Xie family was helping Prince Ning clean up the mess. But because they handled it so well, they didn't leave any trace, so no one noticed. In fact, Lord Mu didn't find anything either; he was just suspicious based on the existing clues."

The Xie family is the maternal family of Consort Jia and the maternal grandfather's family of Prince Ning. It is normal for Prince Ning to have dealings with them. Everyone in the court knows that they are close. But since Mu Kun said so, it means that their interactions have been more frequent in the past few months.

Consort Jia... knew nothing about this.

When Consort Jia heard about the design of the handkerchief, her expression changed drastically. By the time she heard the last part, her face had turned deathly pale.

But in front of this eunuch, she still forced herself not to show anything, and only said after he finished speaking: "I understand, you may leave."

The eunuch acknowledged and left. After he left, Consort Jia's stiff back could no longer hold up, and she slumped into a chair.

Granny Chang was startled and rushed to help her up, only to find her hand ice-cold when she grabbed it.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please don't frighten this old servant!"

She was so anxious she almost burst into tears.

Consort Jia sat frozen like a clay statue for a long while before slowly turning her head to look at her: "Granny, that's his own sister! That's his own sister!"

Granny Chang understood what she was saying, her eyes filled with tears, but she didn't know how to respond.

Just this past January, shortly after the palace banquet, Prince Ning presented the Third Princess with a handkerchief. Embroidered on it were butterflies flitting among flowers, two butterflies dancing among several peonies, one red and one green, exactly as the eunuch had described.

Although she didn't know exactly what happened at the palace banquet, it was clear that the handkerchief was very important; it might be the evidence that allowed Prince Ping to testify against Prince Ning. And Prince Ning, in order to clear himself, gave the handkerchief... to his own younger sister.

Two lines of tears fell from Consort Jia's eyes, and a bleak smile appeared on her lips: "He has always doted on Yunying. He gives Yunying whatever she wants. When Yunying gets into trouble, he always stands in front of her to protect her, preferring to take the blame himself rather than let Yunying be punished. I thought... I thought that the relationship between the siblings was extremely good."

As she spoke, she gripped Granny Chang's hand tightly: "I know his kindness towards outsiders is always an act, but could it be... could it be that he treats his own sister the same way? If he treats Yunying like that, then what about Xun'er? And me? Is it all just an act?"

Granny Chang hurriedly shook her head: "No, Your Highness, no. The Prince... he might have just acted rashly."

"In a moment of desperation, would you really push your own sister out? If you encounter a similar situation again in the future, would you still push Xun'er out, and me out too?"

Granny Chang was speechless and could only hold her hand and cry with her.

Although Consort Jia was heartbroken, she had been in the palace for many years and had experienced a lot. She stopped crying after a while, wiped the tears from her face, and said to Granny Chang, "Perhaps I should be happy for him. He... can be considered to have inherited his father's qualities."

These words sounded like both praise and sarcasm, which made Granny Chang feel somewhat uneasy.

Consort Jia said, "Granny, have someone take away Yunying's handkerchief and destroy it. If she asks, just say that I recently heard that this kind of pattern is popular in the capital, so I took it to look at it and accidentally dirtied it. I'll replace it with a new one for her later."

"Furthermore... send someone to the Xie family and tell them that Hao'er is indeed the Fourth Prince, but he is first and foremost my son! If they dare to overstep my bounds again, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

The families of these concubines almost all had one problem: they only used them as tools to fight for power and profit, and didn't take their words seriously.

When they felt their daughters were useful after entering the palace, they would act as if they were completely obedient to them; when they felt they were useless, they would ignore them and leave them aside.

The Xie family was keen to promote Prince Ning to compete for the crown prince position, a fact that Consort Jia had long known and supported. Her son was no less talented or handsome than the crown prince, and as a mother, she naturally hoped that her son could sit on that throne.

But she also told the Xie family that this matter couldn't be rushed. They had to wait and be patient.

The emperor is now in his prime, and because of his experience of almost being usurped as a puppet in his early years, he is very sensitive about the struggle for the crown prince position. If Qi Jingxuan hadn't been implicated and nearly lost his life back then, he probably wouldn't have chosen an heir at all.

But even if a crown prince is established, what then? The affairs of the court can change drastically overnight. Rather than taking risks when there is no certainty, it is better to bide one's time and wait for the opportunity to strike decisively when it arises.

Although the Xie family currently possesses iron mines and troops, they are far from being able to achieve a decisive victory. Compared to the emperor's army, their chances of winning are at most between 30 and 70. However, with that 30%, they will have a significant advantage when the emperor grows old and the power transition leads to instability in the court.

However, the Xie family ignored her advice and secretly instigated Prince Ning to compete with the Crown Prince, hoping to bring down the Crown Prince as soon as possible and make Prince Ning the heir apparent.

How ridiculous!

The He family was determined to have Consort Hui give birth to the eldest son of the emperor, believing this would give them an advantage and ensure their grandson would rightfully claim the crown prince position. To ensure Consort Hui gave birth earlier than another pregnant concubine, they even resorted to medication to induce premature labor!

As it turned out, the concubine gave birth to a daughter, while Consort Hui did give birth to a son, but he was born prematurely and was born with congenital deficiencies, and died of illness after only a few years.

The eldest prince was perfectly capable, but the He family ruined him.

Therefore, what's the point of rushing to establish an heir? Only the side that ultimately wins is the real winner.

She repeatedly advised the Xie family not to rush things, but they thought she was being womanly and refused to listen to her advice. If she hadn't kept a close eye on Prince Ning all these years, he would probably have been spoiled rotten by the Xie family and become arrogant and ignorant.

But now it seems that in the years since he left the palace and established his own residence, Prince Ning has still been influenced by the Xie family. Now that he has caused trouble, he doesn't even tell his mother, the concubine, and directly lets the Xie family clean up his mess.

Those fools in the Xie family are probably still happy that Prince Ning is getting closer to them.

Consort Jia clenched her fist and said, "By the way, ask them who Hao'er was with on the day of the palace banquet in the first month of the lunar calendar. If it was just some unmarried daughter, that's fine, but if it was the wife of an official, or..."

She swallowed the words "imperial concubines" and said, "They had better really clean things up properly, otherwise... if His Majesty gets angry, no one knows what might happen."

The thought of this possibility filled Granny Chang with dread.

Although Lord Mu did not find out the specific reason for the feud between Prince Ning and Prince Ping, the handkerchief was clearly a woman's possession. If this item could threaten His Highness Prince Ning... it could only mean that he left his seat to see someone he shouldn't have, and that it was a woman.

It's easy to imagine what happened when a lone man and woman met in secret.

Granny Chang agreed and hurried off to deliver the message, hoping in her heart that it wouldn't be the worst-case scenario.