Chapter 59 Drag Me Down

Upon learning of this, Cai Mingshu not only did not stop or expose it, but instead saw it as an excellent opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

Cai's faction secretly manipulated the situation, using their connections to adjust Ling Hua's inspection schedule so that she would be present at the site and guide the pragmatic Crown Princess to discover the unnatural signs of construction.

The Crown Princess witnessed the crime firsthand, catching the perpetrator red-handed.

In this way, the noble faction would suffer a loss after their attempt to sabotage the important water conservancy project, and they could also take advantage of the vacancy to recommend their own people for this lucrative position.

She calculated people's hearts and the timing of when the hidden dangers in the project would be exposed, but she failed to calculate the weather on that day.

On the day of Crown Princess Linghua's inspection, the weather on the East China Sea suddenly changed. An unusually large tide, which should not have appeared at that time, swept towards the coast with a violent storm.

The seawall collapsed with a roar, and all plans were out of control. Ling Hua fell into the water, was seriously injured, developed lung disease, and eventually died.

What was originally a political game and a struggle for interests turned into a conspiracy between two factions that were mutually antagonistic and wanted to destroy each other, but by a twist of fate, they became accomplices in the death of the Crown Princess.

In the aftermath, to cover up the truth, all those directly involved were quickly silenced or framed, and the case files were sealed, as if it were just an unfortunate natural disaster.

...

"Cai Mingshu! Say something! Think of a solution!" Seeing her remain silent for so long, Marquis Yongchang was both anxious and angry, and couldn't help but roar, "Haven't you always boasted of your wisdom and resourcefulness? If it weren't for your people interfering and cleverly changing the Crown Princess's itinerary, things wouldn't have gotten to this point that's so out of control!!"

Cai Mingshu's cheek muscles twitched slightly, but she did not refute it. At this point, blaming each other was meaningless.

She looked at the anxious-looking Marquis of Yongchang, then slowly shifted her gaze to the empty, cold courtyard outside the hall, and began to speak slowly:

"Is Her Highness the Third Princess currently in the residence?"

Marquis Yongchang was taken aback, then jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, staring at her in disbelief: "Why are you asking about the Third Prince? What... what do you want to do? Do you mean to..."

“Not only the Third Princess,” Cai Mingshu interrupted her, her voice icy and desperate, “we also need to send a message to the Second Princess.”

"Are you insane?" Marquis Yongchang gasped. "You want to walk right into their trap? Tell them about this? Do you want us to die even faster?!"

"Walking into a trap?"

Cai Mingshu wanted to laugh, but found that her facial muscles were out of control, but her words were still clear: "After the Crown Princess passed away, the Fifth Princess was seriously injured and crippled, and the Sixth Princess was unruly and incompetent. In the whole court, who is the most likely to inherit the throne? Isn't it the Second Prince and the Third Prince?"

She sneered, "After the incident, you so quickly led the Yongchang Marquis's Mansion to fully support the Third Prince. Wasn't that also to find the biggest backer for the family and to place your bet in advance?"

Marquis Yongchang was speechless, his face turning pale and then flushed.

Cai Mingshu continued, “Tell them that you don’t need to be afraid. If the seawall case is fully exposed and the crime of murdering the former crown prince is confirmed, then no matter which prince is found to be involved with the case, her reputation will be stained with an indelible mark, and she will basically be out of the running for the throne. Your Highnesses should understand this.”

"Instead of handing us over immediately, they will do their best to clean up our mess. Because our sins, to some extent, have become their leverage."

Moreover, if we involve the Second Prince as well, letting them know that the other side isn't clean either, and that we hold their secrets, then whoever ascends the throne in the future, we won't be purged.”

If only one party knows they might be silenced, and all three parties know, then there can only be checks and balances; otherwise, no one can guarantee that if one is eliminated, they won't be next.

Marquis Yongchang felt a chill run down his spine, but he had to admit that this might be the only way to disrupt the situation and buy time.

Seeing her ever-changing expression, Cai Mingshu threw out her most important bargaining chip:

"Furthermore, the Fifth Princess has been hiding her true abilities, which far exceed what the outside world knows. The Xishan case was her doing, revealing this information to them all at once."

Those who can't sit still are the two princes.

The Marquis of Yongchang's eyes flickered; she understood Cai Mingshu's entire intention.

This is like using one tiger to devour another, diverting disaster eastward.

The secret and crisis were exposed to the second and third princesses at the same time, forcing them to join forces to deal with the fifth princess, who might hold fatal evidence, because of their own interests and the struggle for the throne.

Meanwhile, Cai Mingshu and she took advantage of this chaotic gap to purge all the people involved in the old cases at all costs, so that even if they were investigated, they could cut off the clues and shift all the blame to their subordinates who were blinded by greed, thus cutting off the tail and surviving.

"Can those two princes really join forces to deal with the Fifth Princess as you wish?" Marquis Yongchang still had doubts.

"I can't guarantee it." Cai Mingshu closed her eyes wearily.

"But the old case of the seawall, in the end, was decided by our subordinates acting on their own initiative. If we act promptly and sever all ties completely, there's still a glimmer of hope. But if we were to personally intervene now and directly target that elusive Fifth Princess who has clearly set her sights on us..."

She looked at Marquis Yongchang and said, slowly and deliberately, "I'm not sure. At that time, it will truly be a matter of life and death."

The Marquis of Yongchang's expression shifted, and he remained silent for a long time, with only the occasional crackling of charcoal fire in the hall.

Finally, she made up her mind: "I'll do it! I'll go see the Third Prince right now! I'll not only tell her that the Fifth Princess is hiding her talents, but I'll also tell her that the Fifth Princess has found clues about the seawall case and is planning to use this case to stir up a storm, with her as the target. She must make plans as soon as possible."

She wanted to personally plant the seeds of doubt and crisis in the heart of the Third Princess, and to incite the two princesses to share a common hostility towards the Fifth Princess.

Cai Mingshu nodded slowly. This person was no fool to be able to gain a foothold among the nobles.

Marquis Yongchang did not linger any longer, turned around and left in a hurry, his figure quickly disappearing into the shadows of the courtyard and corridors.

Cai Mingshu remained alone in the empty, cold hall for a long time, staring in the direction where the Marquis of Yongchang had disappeared, as if looking through the layers of buildings towards the more distant imperial palace.

Human nature... greed, fear, suspicion, selfishness, the desire for power, the fear of loss... After a lifetime of ups and downs in her official career, she had only just begun to understand these things.

But her insight into and utilization of these things alone were enough to make her the Grand Secretary and keep her family prominent for decades.

This time, however, she was stirring up the strings of the struggle for imperial power.

Will it bring about towering waves or mutual destruction?

She didn't know.

But once the move is made, there's no going back.