Chapter 32

Xue Jin'an had finished what he needed to do and there was no need for him to stay in Yihe Palace any longer. When the Fourth Prince learned that he was leaving, he was so happy that he wanted to jump up and play music to see him off.

However, looking at the Buddhist hall where they were, and with their previous conversation still ringing in his ears, the Fourth Prince could no longer laugh.

Seeing Xue Jin'an get up, his body acted faster than his mind, reaching out to grab his hand, only to find it empty.

Xue Jin'an sensed the unusual air vibration behind him, and before the backend security software could react, he easily dodged the Fourth Prince's outstretched hand by slightly turning his body to the side.

He tilted his head, looking at the other person's dazed expression, and said, "It looks like it's not fixed properly? Do you need after-sales service?"

There's a saying that goes, "If you're going to help someone, help them to the end; if you're going to help someone, help them to the end." Plus, this charging station was storing the battery he wanted, so Xue Jin'an, who was a repairman for the first time, was very proactive in getting his problem completely solved.

Unfortunately, the enthusiastic cell phone technician was firmly rejected by the customer. The Fourth Prince waved his hands, backed away, and shook his head repeatedly, saying, "No, no, no, no, no!"

"I... I just wanted to ask you..." The Fourth Prince scrutinized Xue Jin'an's expression, and seeing that he didn't seem angry, he mustered his courage and hesitantly asked, "Will you make the matter of this Buddhist hall public after you leave? Is it really impossible not to tell?"

"No, I can't," Xue Jin'an replied in turn.

There are still many clues about the death of the original owner's mother. Zhenfei has been identified as a suspect, but Xue Jin'an knows that Zhenfei is not the only one behind this matter. In fact, Zhenfei is not the mastermind. The real mastermind is still hiding in the shadows.

There are many suspicious points in the case of Consort Zhen poisoning the Tenth Prince. Putting everything else aside, the clearest point is that she had no motive.

Consort Zhen had the emperor's favor and a prince by her side, while Consort Zhen had two princes but was still only a Zhaoyi. The difference in their status was enormous. Even if they had some irreconcilable conflict, Consort Zhen only needed to show her attitude and many people would be willing to fight for her. Why would she need to personally poison an infant? Such a method only showed her despicable and stupid nature.

Such an obvious bug, yet not a single programmer in the entire court noticed it. It's a problem no matter how you look at it. Moreover, the emperor clearly knew the truth of the matter, yet he remained silent.

If it were merely Consort Zhen's scheme, the Emperor's attitude would not be like this. To put it bluntly, the Emperor doesn't take the Chu family, whose title is almost gone, seriously.

Therefore, it can be basically determined that there is another interest group behind Consort Zhen, and that interest group has penetrated too widely and too deeply in both the harem and the court, making those in power hesitant to act against it.

Consort Zhen is currently the only clue, and releasing her would yield greater benefits. However, releasing her would only be temporary. Once her value diminishes compared to others, it would be time for her to achieve "immortality."

Xue Jin'an's answer did not entirely meet the Fourth Prince's expectations, but the latter still breathed a sigh of relief.

In any case, nothing bad will happen now. He still has time to think about how to persuade his mother to completely destroy the Buddhist hall. That way, when the truth comes out later, even if his father is furious, without evidence, his mother will only be scolded, confined, or demoted... The Fourth Prince felt that these costs were within acceptable limits.

With his security secured, the Fourth Prince visibly relaxed. He cheerfully cleared a path for Xue Jin'an and saw him off, then pushed the door open but didn't budge.

Realizing belatedly that the door was locked, the fourth prince looked at the Buddhist hall covered with yellow talismans and began to panic again. "How are we going to get out? If we go through the window, Mother will definitely find out!"

Xue Jin'an replied, "Go upstairs."

"Huh?" The fourth prince looked up blankly.

The Buddhist hall was not large to begin with, and the doors and windows were sealed off. With incense and paper money being burned year-round, ventilation openings were made around the roof to ensure air circulation. These openings were larger than those in ordinary houses, allowing a small child to squeeze through. The only problem was that the ventilation openings were level with the roof beams. Ancient houses had ample ceiling height, and palace buildings had even higher ceilings.

The Buddhist hall was not built to the standards of a palace, but it was still constructed by the Construction Bureau. Its height was beyond the reach of the fourth prince, who was not yet twelve years old.

The round pillars around the Buddhist hall were too thick and very smooth, making them difficult to handle. Xue Jin'an grabbed a piece of silk cloth with a picture of a deity on it. It felt thick and he pulled on it to test its sturdiness. After confirming that it could support the weight of a child, he started using it directly.

He jogged a couple of steps, then used the arc of the swaying silk cloth to step on a pillar, stretched out his body in mid-air and pounced on another piece of silk cloth. Using the momentum, he swung again, kicked off another pillar, and did a somersault in mid-air—after such a dazzling and overwhelming series of movements, he landed lightly and gracefully on the roof beam without even making a loud noise.

The fourth prince's eyes widened, his rather dashing willow-leaf eyes almost turning into bulges. He looked at the ground and then at the person on the roof beam, and said incredulously, "How did you do that?"

"Is this lightness skill? Where did you learn it? Does your master still accept disciples?" The fourth prince asked, expressing his desire to learn.

"I don't have internal energy, and I don't have lightness skill." After saying that, Xue Jin'an waved to him and, following the etiquette textbook, informed the Fourth Prince that he should inform the host before leaving his seat. "I'm leaving."

"Hey, wait a minute, what about me?" The fourth prince reached out his hand, trying to stop him.

"It's your home, do whatever you want." Xue Jin'an, who hadn't unlocked any helpful skills at all, but instead learned a lot of "stabbing your brothers in the back" skills from the Fifth Prince, thought for a moment and gave him an idea: "You can wait for Consort Zhen to come back and take you out, then you can get a beating."

"..." The fourth prince, choked with shock, watched helplessly as he crawled out of the ventilation shaft and disappeared from sight.

The square Buddhist hall, which resembled a fortified city, was now empty except for the Fourth Prince. He attempted to replicate Xue Jin'an's success, but not only did he fail, he also misjudged the distance and crashed into a pillar.

The fourth prince, who has taken martial arts lessons in the Imperial Study for four years and is still stuck at the horse stance stage, has no real skill in martial arts, but he has a profound understanding of how to abandon martial arts.

The fourth prince lay on the ground for a while, clutching his face which was numb with pain, before finally recovering. "Looks like I'll have to go through the window."

The fourth prince carefully selected a window in the corner, gently tore off a corner of the yellow talisman on it, slowly pushed open half of the window, and peeked out like a thief for a while. Before he could even step over the windowsill, he heard Aunt Ziyun talking to someone, and shadows flickered on the wall at the corner of the corridor.

The fourth prince quickly pulled his leg back and closed the window again. He then crouched down under the windowsill with his head tucked in. Almost the instant his shadow disappeared from the window, Ziyun, sensing something, swept her gaze over.

Halfway through her sentence, Aunt Ziyun suddenly turned her head with a cold and stern expression, her sharp gaze sweeping out, startling the little palace maid Xiyun beside her.

Xi Yun was brought out from the summer palace by Consort Zhen last November. She only had a vague understanding of many things in Yihe Palace. She only heard people say that the two head maids by the Empress's side were Cuiyun, who had a gentle temperament and could talk to everyone, and Ziyun, who was cold and stern and would be crippled if you committed a crime.

When Xi Yun arrived, she was assigned to work under Aunt Zi Yun. She was quite nervous for a while, but then she found that Zi Yun just didn't like to smile or talk and hadn't scolded anyone much. However, she was probably tall and gave people a strong sense of pressure, which is why she was talked about like that in private.

This was the first time she'd seen Ziyun with such an expression, and it was actually quite intimidating. Xiyun stuck out her tongue inwardly, mustered her courage, and peeked out from behind her, whispering, "Auntie, what's wrong? Has some daring thief sneaked in?"

"No." Ziyun's hawk-like gaze swept quickly around the surroundings, but found nothing suspicious. Her excellent eyesight also showed no signs that the mechanism locked at the entrance of the Buddhist hall had been triggered.

"Let's go." She withdrew her gaze, lifted her foot, and continued walking forward, while issuing a warning, "Her Majesty doesn't like anyone coming near here. Don't come over unless you have to, or I won't be able to save you from being punished if you get caught."

"Oh," Xi Yun responded, then, as if remembering something, glanced around and asked in a low, mysterious voice, "So, Aunt, you got injured because the Empress discovered you were sneaking in? Ouch—"

Ziyun withdrew her hand from her forehead and said calmly, "Keep your mouth shut, don't ask questions you shouldn't ask."

As the sounds of their conversation faded into the distance, the Fourth Prince, whose legs had gone numb from squatting, plopped down on the ground. He tilted his head back, let out a long breath, and muttered, "Aunt Ziyun is really scary..."

The sound abruptly stopped, and the fourth prince saw a small figure silently reflected on the window paper, hovering there like a ghost, before slowly disappearing after a long time.

Aunt Ziyun is really scary! To avoid any more people lying in wait outside, the Fourth Prince planned to wait until his mother returned to the palace and everyone in the palace went out to greet her before taking the opportunity to leave.

He quietly climbed onto the prayer mat and sat down. Looking up, he saw the long table with the Buddhist shrine on it. His gaze lingered on the incense burner: Xue Jin'an seemed to pay special attention to this incense burner before. What's inside?

The fourth prince dragged the prayer mat over, half-kneeling and rummaging through the incense burner. Unexpectedly, he actually pulled out a familiar red wooden bead from inside. "Isn't this Xue Jin'an's bracelet? No, it seems that my mother also had a blood dragon wood bracelet, so was it lost by my mother? Why would Xue Jin'an want this?"

The Fourth Prince was completely baffled, but it didn't matter. He just needed to know that he wouldn't let Xue Jin'an get what he wanted. The Fourth Prince wiped the incense ash off the beads with his sleeve and put them into his sleeve pocket.

As he prepared to sit back down on the prayer mat, his gaze fell upon the memorial tablets in the Buddhist shrine. He hesitated for a moment, then bowed twice. "Tenth brother, this Buddhist shrine will probably be demolished soon. I'm sorry, but you have to understand. If these things are discovered, Mother will be in a difficult position. You understand, right, tenth brother?"

The fourth prince lay on the offering table, talking incessantly to the memorial tablets, and unknowingly fell asleep.

When he woke up again, he was lying on his bed in the palace. It was already dark outside. After his initial shock, the Fourth Prince's first reaction was ecstatic joy: "Great! It was all just a dream! How could Xue Jin'an possibly come looking for him? And all those inappropriate things in the Buddhist hall were fake!"

The fourth prince, overjoyed, tumbled off the bed in a clumsy, almost comical, manner. Without a sound of pain, he sprang to his feet and ran outside, grinning foolishly. "Shunxin, Shunyi, Shunde, where have you all been hiding? This prince is hungry! I want to eat Eight Treasure Duck!"

No one answered. The fourth prince walked out of the inner hall in surprise and saw the three kneeling on the ground sprinkled with stones. The youngest, Shunde, looked dazed and was about to fall. Shunxin, who was the most skilled in martial arts, was also pale and looked terrible. Only Shunyi had his head down and looked nothing out of the ordinary. The three of them had no idea how long they had been kneeling there.

His mother, meanwhile, sat there silently, her fingers resting on her jade prayer beads, watching him without a trace of sadness or joy. Without turning her head, she instructed the people behind her, "Go to the imperial kitchen and prepare a meal for the Fourth Prince. The main dish should be Eight Treasure Duck, but without duck. Everything else should be vegetarian, without meat."

"Mother..." The Fourth Prince felt a wave of dizziness upon hearing this. He wanted to step forward and act coquettishly, but was nailed to the spot by a look from Consort Zhen. He chuckled awkwardly and scratched his face.

Consort Zhen gestured to the three kneeling figures with her eyes and said calmly, "I am punishing them because they neglected their duties and failed to keep a close eye on you, causing you to go to a dangerous place. You are the mistress and can forget the rules, but they cannot."

"After serving you breakfast tomorrow, tell them to go back to Yihe Palace to learn the rules. Once they've learned, they won't need to come anymore." Consort Zhen gently twirled her prayer beads, her eyes lowered with a compassionate expression. "If you understand, get up. Don't repeat this mistake in the future."

"Yes, we understand. We will definitely learn the rules well and never make the same mistake again. Thank you for your grace, Your Highness." The three women helped each other up and left.

The only one with a pale face now was the Fourth Prince. He swallowed hard and forced a smile, trying to make light of the situation, "Mother, there's no need for them to serve me breakfast. Since we're all in Yihe Palace anyway, I'll go to the main hall to have breakfast with you in the morning..."

"I've already had your things packed. You'll be moving back to Suhui Courtyard in a bit." Consort Zhen interrupted him, helping Ziyun to her feet. "Don't go to the Buddhist hall anymore."

"Mother, I won't go, and you shouldn't go either, okay? Smash the Buddhist hall!" The Fourth Prince grabbed Consort Zhen's sleeve, looked up at her, and pleaded repeatedly, "Smash it, Mother."

Consort Zhen silently lowered her eyes and looked at him for a while, then gently stroked the Fourth Prince's cheek. The cinnabar mole under his eye looked like a tear or blood.

"Mother..." The fourth prince's heart was filled with hope, thinking that he had really persuaded his mother. Before the joy that had climbed to the corners of his eyes and eyebrows could bloom, it was extinguished by a single sentence.

"Xuan'er, that's none of your business, it's not your concern. Forget about it and go back to Suhui Courtyard." Consort Zhen withdrew her hand and said, "Your mother is doing this for your own good."

The fourth prince watched his mother turn and leave, reaching out but failing to grasp the hem of her cloud-patterned brocade dress. His eyes instantly reddened, and tears welled up uncontrollably, only managing to hold them back with great effort.

Everything is real. Xue Jin'an is real, the Buddhist hall is real, and the mother who went astray is real. It's not a dream.

"Why..." Mother, why won't you turn back? The Fourth Prince didn't understand. He didn't understand what his mother was thinking, he didn't understand what to do next, and he didn't even know who to confide in. He dared not let anyone know anything about the Buddhist hall or his mother... What should he do? Is there anyone who can tell him...?

Wait, there seems to be one more person... Yes, Xue Jin'an! Since everything is true, then it's also true that Xue Jin'an wants that bead. He can use this as leverage to confront Xue Jin'an. The Fourth Prince wiped his eyes hard and reached into his sleeve pocket.

I didn't touch anything.

The fourth prince searched his entire body, even turning the bed upside down, but he still couldn't find the Blood Dragon Wood Bead.

The fourth prince was dumbfounded.

*

While the Fourth Prince slept soundly in the Buddhist hall until dark, Xue Jin'an returned to Qifeng Courtyard. Upon entering the prince's residence, although everything seemed normal, he keenly sensed a subtle atmosphere.

It's a feeling that's hard to describe. Humans usually call it the sixth sense. Cultivators also have it, and they are even more acute. A very few powerful ones can even evolve their sixth sense into premonition, foreseeing fragments of the future. That's what otaku are like.

However, the otaku's predictions are always unpredictable, and they tend to come true for the bad side. For example, he had a premonition that he was about to undergo a tribulation and enter a new world, so he would practice swordsmanship under a tree to consolidate his cultivation even on rainy days, only to be struck by lightning and transmigrated to the modern world. Or, he had a premonition that a magical artifact would give birth to a spirit, so he would be able to break free from his status as a slave to his phone and would order a bunch of phone cases to let the new artifact spirit experience a rich and colorful human life, but... that's how it is now.

Human life is indeed wonderful. It was a strange feeling to be a spirit of a human for the first time. The shut-in also successfully escaped his status as a slave to his mobile phone because he no longer had a mobile phone.

They all have bright futures ahead of them. Xue Jin'an was in a cheerful mood and genuinely happy for the shut-in.

Xue Jin'an had been a human for some time now, and this was the first time he had triggered his sixth sense. He scanned his surroundings with his high-definition camera but still couldn't find anything wrong. With a slight thought, he followed the guidance of his sixth sense and opened the live streaming software.

As soon as the page refreshed, the familiar paparazzi perspective filled the screen, but this time it wasn't in Qian Yuan Palace, but in the Prince's Residence. Their live stream was no longer filled with static tiles and walls; instead, some of the videos were constantly moving, some showing people in crowds, others doing work... The Blood-Clad Guards disguised themselves as palace maids and eunuchs and infiltrated the Prince's Residence.

Even in his own courtyard, there were two more eunuchs, one sweeping the courtyard and the other tidying up the rooms. Both of them had live streaming rooms, which meant that they were spies who sold information to the outside world. However, only the live streaming room host who was sweeping the courtyard had the words "Fengyi Chu" (奉衣处) in his name.

There was nothing unusual in the live stream room where he was tidying up; all you could hear was the sound of him tidying up. However, in the live stream room of the spies from the Clothing Department, you could hear Fu Lu Shou Quan and his companion speaking in hushed tones.

The two people were not visible in the video, and their voices were faint and muffled, clearly indicating that they were both on guard and trying to avoid being eavesdropped on. However, the spy from the Imperial Guard had enhanced hearing through internal energy and was still able to catch their voices.

Fortunately, both of them were cautious and established an equal and mutually supervisory status from the beginning. They would only discuss truly important information when Xue Jin'an was present, or they would discuss it privately with Xue Jin'an.

Previously, Fulu had privately reported to him that Shouquan's network of relationships was too complicated; Shouquan also told Xue Jin'an that Fulu often wandered around the Imperial Hospital, trying to strike up conversations with the imperial physicians and build relationships.

Since the two were only reporting and did not exchange meaningful glances, Xue Jin'an, who still only had a vague understanding of the art of human language, assumed that they were concerned about each other and praised them, encouraging them to keep up the good work.

In the video, the two men are talking about two young eunuchs. It turns out they were sent by Li Hechun as a reward from the emperor to Xue Jin'an for his meritorious service in eliminating traitors. In addition, he is also told that Xue Jin'an will be enrolled in the Imperial Academy next year. The emperor also said that the coursework in the Imperial Academy is very heavy, so he has been given a tutor to help him build a foundation and study hard.

Xue Jin'an: "..."

Upon hearing the devastating news, Xue Jin'an ended the live stream. He sorted through the relevant clues in his mind and immediately understood.

Yesterday's palace search failed to find the assassin, proving he was well-hidden. His position within the palace must be very secure, arousing no suspicion, and his high rank meant he wouldn't be forcibly stripped and searched by guards. The fact that Xia Xiazi, a dutiful and honest spy, suddenly appeared suggests he received some information, and there's an 80% probability he's on the same side as the assassin.

The emperor deliberately placed Xia Xiazi in the princes' camp to lure them into a trap, while the princes, who were placed in the same dangerous place as the assassins, also became bait.

In fact, if the emperor had released the news that the assassin was in the princes' quarters, some people would have guessed that the emperor was trying to set a trap. But they dared to bet that an emperor who had driven the assassin to the brink of death and locked up his sons together would not be willing to kill his sons.

It was both a trap and a threat. Xue Jin'an nodded, having learned his lesson, and noted this elaborate scheme in his memo.

When Xue Jin'an passed by Green Bamboo Courtyard, he heard a faint noise inside, but he didn't pay much attention to it.

Anyway, the people inside are either from the Imperial Wardrobe or Xia Xiazi. Whoever they are, they are trained spies. If they can't get any useful information out of them, they are useless trash and not worth wasting energy on.

Xue Jin'an returned to Qifeng Courtyard expressionlessly. Sure enough, Fu Lu and Shou Quan wanted to come to him privately to report the news, but Xue Jin'an shook his head and stopped them. The two looked at each other and understood what was going on, and tacitly changed the subject.

Fu Lu smiled and said, "It seems the Imperial Kitchen made Eight Treasure Duck today. If Your Majesty would like to eat it, I will go and fetch it for you."

Xue Jin'an checked the battery level and realized he was indeed a bit hungry. However, instead of letting Fulu go out, he opened the Yellow Kangaroo app and ordered takeout.

"Stay home as much as possible these days." It wouldn't be good if the spies found out about Fu Lu Shou Quan's network of connections and the emperor thought he had some ulterior motive that made him worth keeping under surveillance.

Although he could simply turn on Do Not Disturb and sleep peacefully, undisturbed by outside noise, he didn't want someone lounging on the roof in the middle of the night. Of course, if they absolutely had to squat there, Xue Jin'an wouldn't do anything; at most, he'd let them listen to music all night.

He still remembered the "sound leakage" problem. The Fifth Prince's hearing was already good enough to hear him singing, so the spies from the Imperial Clothing Bureau should be able to hear it even more clearly.

Xue Jin'an glanced at the eunuchs sweeping the courtyard and decided that from now on, the fixed playlist for each night would be the chanting of sutras by the monks and Taoists.

"Understood." Fu Lu Shou Quan nodded in agreement.

Xue Jin'an originally thought that today's takeout would arrive within about 15 minutes, just like the previous times. However, as the delivery time approached, the courtyard gate remained empty, but he received delivery progress reminders from the takeout platform one after another.

[The road is congested, and the rider is working hard to deliver the goods. Delivery is expected in about 15 minutes.]

The rider is cutting off another vehicle.

[The delivery rider is unconscious; your food delivery has been hijacked.]

[We are replacing your rider with a new one]

[Xia Zi the robber is working hard to deliver your package; it is expected to arrive in about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.]

Xue Jin'an: "..." So the traffic congestion and the companions from where the prince was staying were actually coming for me.

However, time was running out. Xue Jin'an heard the approaching footsteps, which even used their lightness skill. He calmly opened the main page, and almost simultaneously, the food delivery platform popped up another new message.

[Your food delivery was delayed beyond the scheduled delivery time. On-Time Delivery has compensated you with one tael of silver for the late delivery fee. Please check your account.]

Your takeout has arrived. Enjoy your meal!

Xue Jin'an looked at the unexpected wealth that had suddenly appeared in his hand, and then looked up at Xia Zi, who had appeared at the door panting and barely able to speak, trembling as she reached for her suddenly deflated purse.

Xue Jin'an, who was receiving unexpected wealth for the first time, gave him a friendly, standard smile.

Thank you for the gift, robber. You're such a kind person.