Xie Jingyan said, "I'm going to the palace. You should go back and rest early, don't tire yourself out."

Shen Wan nodded, and Xie Jingyan then left.

Xie Jingyan thought the emperor had only summoned him, but after entering the palace, he encountered the eldest prince at the horse parking area.

During the days when the eldest prince was recuperating at the Ling Prince's residence, they saw each other almost every day. This was the first time Xie Jingyan had seen the eldest prince since he moved back to his own residence. The eldest prince's complexion was no longer as pale as it had been at the Ling Prince's residence; it was rosy, indicating that he had fully recovered.

Upon seeing Xie Jingyan, the eldest prince took the initiative to greet him, "Sixth brother."

Xie Jingyan asked, "Is the First Prince waiting for me here?"

The eldest prince...

This form of address sounded distant in front of the sixth prince.

The eldest prince paused for a moment, then said, "I was indeed waiting for you."

Xie Jingyan asked, "Did you need something from me?"

The eldest prince rode his horse two steps closer to Xie Jingyan and said, "Sixth brother, do you know why the Empress Dowager used the imperial pardon to save Prince Jin's life?"

Xie Jingyan hadn't expected the Crown Prince to be waiting for him to ask about this. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Didn't you go to the palace to see the Empress Dowager yesterday? Didn't you ask her about it?"

The eldest prince sighed, "Even the Empress Dowager forbids Father from asking, how dare I ask?"

Xie Jingyan laughed, "Does the Crown Prince think I would know?"

The eldest prince said, "I hope my sixth brother can inform me."

Logically speaking, Xie Jingyan shouldn't know, but he just felt that Xie Jingyan did, and this feeling was very strange.

Xie Jingyan's lips curled into a faint smile as he said, "The Empress Dowager has granted your permission to send people to hunt down Prince Jin, so why bother digging deeper?"

The eldest prince was startled. "You... how did you know?"

The eldest prince looked shocked.

How did Prince Ling guess that the Empress Dowager had allowed him to send someone to kill Xie Jingyin?

Xie Jingyan said, "The fact that you can ask me so calmly means you don't mind the Empress Dowager saving Prince Jin."

Xie Jingyan guessed that the Empress Dowager would send someone to kill Xie Jingyin, based on the fact that Prince Cheng and Empress Song had an affair and that Xie Jingyin was Prince Cheng's son. Although Xie Jingyan felt that his guess was correct, a guess is still just a guess. In order to verify it, he tricked the eldest prince. He did not expect that the Empress Dowager would actually do it.

The eldest prince concealed the shock on his face and said, "Sixth brother is indeed clever; there's nothing that can be hidden from you."

"I hope we will never be enemies."