The prince's heart pounded like a drum.

After that southern tour, the emperor never left the capital again.

And it was from that time onward that the emperor's temperament changed a lot.

The crown prince was only thirteen years old at the time and was still studying. He had a lot of homework assigned by the great scholars every day and knew nothing about the outside world. In order not to distract him, the empress kept this a secret.

Therefore, in the crown prince's memory, his father had suddenly returned seriously injured and had become sullen, so he didn't think much of it.

Especially later, his mother fell seriously ill and passed away in less than two months. The young crown prince was heartbroken and had to observe mourning. He also saw the emperor less often, and over time, a rift developed between them.

All of this seems natural, but upon closer reflection, it is full of strangeness.

Could it be that something happened during the southern tour that caused the emperor's temperament to change so drastically?

Or perhaps...

A cold sweat suddenly broke out on the prince's back. He shook his head repeatedly, composed himself, and gave instructions to his subordinates.

"Rest for half a day, then come into the city with me after nightfall."

"Your Highness, what is the purpose of entering the city?"

"Go find someone and ask them some questions."

The crown prince pursed his lips, offering no further explanation.

There was silence for a while, and half a day passed quickly.

People in this small county town lead simple lives. After dark, everyone goes home to sleep, and the town and its surroundings are quiet.

The group quietly made their way to the back door of the pawnshop.

The prince left a few men to guard the gate, and took only Jin Xiang with him to climb over the wall and find the innkeeper's room.

The innkeeper, who was sleeping soundly on his back, was awakened by a pot of cold water. Just as he was about to shout, he felt a cold blade pressed against his throat, and he immediately trembled with fear.

"Please, please spare my life, great hero!"

The prince threw the jade pendant in front of him.

"Where did you get this jade pendant?"

Upon seeing the jade pendant, the shopkeeper immediately recognized the masked man in black. He could only lament inwardly that he had thought the man was a big fish, but it turned out to be a devil himself!

"This jade pendant was obtained legitimately by me..."

He dared not hide anything and confessed honestly.

Pawnshop owners often have dealings with shady characters. This jade pendant was bought by the shopkeeper from a tomb raider many years ago.

The tomb robbers found the jade pendant in a mass grave thirty miles to the south.

"Besides this jade pendant, there are some other good things, but that old thief refused to sell them to me. He sold them all to the prefectural city, saying that the pawnshops there offered higher prices."

The shopkeeper was still resentful about the incident and gave the pawnshop in the prefectural city a good scolding.

"Have you seen those things?"

The crown prince glanced at him.

"Can you draw it?"

The shopkeeper chuckled awkwardly, "That was so many years ago, how could I possibly remember? But I had an extremely beautiful belt with nine jade pendants inlaid on it, each one better than this. And a pair of boots, embroidered with gold thread and inlaid with the finest jade. Those people didn't know their stuff! They even picked out the gold thread."

The crown prince remained silent.

It's probably not that they don't know the value of the goods, but rather that they did it on purpose to avoid having their source traced.

A belt inlaid with jade pendants can be obtained if you have money, but how many belts can be inlaid with nine jade pendants?

It is likely that the place thirty miles to the south is the actual location where the emperor was attacked.

The prince remained silent for a long time, and even after leaving the place, he was still unable to come out of his thoughts.

The group headed south, and as dawn approached, his subordinates inquired about the next leg of the journey, at which point the crown prince suddenly looked up.

"We will split into two groups. Yi Liu, you take the rest of the brothers and proceed according to the original plan to go to Changde Prefecture to seek reinforcements from the General."

"And what about you, Your Highness?"

"I need to investigate something very important."

The guards naturally refused to let the Crown Prince act alone, and after much persuasion, the Crown Prince finally agreed to take Wu San with him.

So, as the sun rose, the group split into two teams, with the prince leading Wu San heading southwest.

He was lucky this time and bought two horses in the next town, which sped up his journey.

The two disguised themselves as ordinary merchants and made up a story about finding a lost relative. They traveled along the way, stopping frequently to try and find out some useful information.

But that happened more than a decade ago, who would remember it now?

The prince was not discouraged.

He believed that it was fate that led him to stay in that small county town and discover the jade pendant.

If that's the case, then he'll definitely be able to find a clue!

Song Xibai, who was far away in the capital, was unaware of the Crown Prince's experiences during this period.

There was still no news of the Crown Prince, and all the teams sent out to search for him returned disappointed.

Just yesterday, the emperor pretended to weep in court, saying that the crown prince was dead and that his soul should not be left without a resting place, and that a funeral should be held.

Of course, this was met with opposition from many ministers.

Censor Zhou stated directly that he wanted to see the prince alive or dead; if the prince's body was not found within a day, then he might still be alive.

The emperor nearly stormed off.

"I heard that the Emperor brought the Eighth Prince to court today, which prompted many ministers to offer their advice, and the court was in complete chaos."

By the stream in the backyard, Dingxiang was eating watermelon and talking about the rumors she had heard outside.

Song Xibai waved the round fan in his hand, his smile not reaching his eyes.

"They're already in such a hurry? Their intentions are as clear as day!"

After Dingxiang finished eating a slice of melon, she wiped her hands and felt a little sorry for Song Xibai when she saw that Song Xibai was covered in sweat.

"The timing of your pregnancy is just not good. In this heat, you can't eat ice or anything cold. I wouldn't be able to stand it. Fuliu, another half of chilled watermelon!"

Song Xibai paused, then glared at her irritably.

"You've already eaten half of it, do you want to eat more?"

Isn't this just deliberately trying to tempt me?

Dingxiang laughed and said, "I was afraid you wouldn't be able to resist, so I ate it for you first."

Song Xibai rolled her eyes, waved her hand, and let her go.

The watermelons were sent by the Princess of Qin; two large baskets were delivered, along with a thank-you letter.

Princess Qin discovered she was pregnant two days ago and was extremely grateful to Song Xibai, so much so that her letter was somewhat incoherent.

Even the King of Qin was delighted. After learning that it was Song Xibai's idea, he waved and sent over a large cart of fruits and vegetables, with watermelons being just two of the baskets.

Even if he is not valued, he is still a prince, a prince of the blood.

Even though we already have a son, no one would complain about having too many sons, right?

Song Xibai scoffed at the King of Qin's obsession with having a legitimate son. In her reply to the Queen of Qin, she wrote extensively about precautions during pregnancy, emphasizing the need to "guard against treacherous people."

Dingxiang watched her finish writing the letter and couldn't help but ask.

Aren't you afraid the King of Qin will see this?

"It was written for him to see." Song Xibai snorted. "Since he wants a legitimate son so badly, he should protect Princess Qin and suppress the concubines. What kind of man is he if he can't even protect his own woman and children?"

"Didn't they say he doted on his concubine? How could he possibly protect Princess Qin?" Dingxiang didn't believe it.