Chen Dafu dared not say anything more and quickly pushed the teacup closer.

"Your Majesty, have some tea to calm down."

The tea was at the perfect temperature, and the emperor, in his anger, didn't think much of it and drank it all in one gulp.

Chen Dafu stared at the empty teacup, his eyes flickering for a moment, but quickly disappeared.

The emperor pondered for a long time, then summoned the deputy commander of the Imperial Guards and ordered him to investigate who was behind the rumors about the Eighth Prince.

Although the emperor had wanted to depose the crown prince for years and he did indeed favor the eighth prince the most, he was still dissatisfied that the eighth prince had been pushed forward now that the crown prince had just disappeared.

Reason told him that the Eighth Prince was young and had no connection with the outside world, so it couldn't have been him. But the thought that this son also coveted his throne made all his former affection vanish.

It's true that there's no kinship in imperial families.

The commander of the Imperial Guards acted swiftly, finding the source of the rumors within two days and immediately reporting to the palace.

"The person spreading these rumors is a businessman surnamed Jin. He owns several shops and does a variety of businesses. He started by selling medicinal herbs, then grains, and recently he has started selling salt."

"Salt?"

The emperor astutely grasped the key point.

The commander of the Imperial Guards nodded and then presented the evidence he had gathered.

The merchant surnamed Jin acted arrogantly, seemingly with some kind of backing. The commander found out with little effort that he had dined with the managers of several major trading companies, and then made a detailed record of everyone Jin had contacted in the past two months.

The emperor flipped through the names listed on the paper, and suddenly his expression turned cold.