Chapter 43 Verdant Greenery and Gentle Breeze (Part 3) "The Crown Prince actually planted someone in front of the Emperor..."

Yan Chao took the book, lowered his head, silently straightened the pages, and closed it. His fingertips lightly traced the spine of the book, his eyes narrowed slightly, and after a long while, he said softly, "Okay."

Lan Huaien had only been joking, but seeing her silence, he was surprised that she would actually respond.

Just as she was about to ask again, Yan Chao had already taken a step to put the book back on the shelf. He followed quietly behind her, keeping a distance of three steps.

Then he clearly saw her pause as she turned around before facing him, her expression still calm, her tone gentle: "Is it His Majesty's decree?"

Before he could reply, Yan Chao said again, "Let's go outside and talk." Lan Huaien bowed slightly, nodded in agreement, and stepped aside to make way for her.

As they reached the corner of the path, Lan Huaien suddenly called out to her, "Your Highness." Seeing her stop, he continued, "His Majesty has not issued any decree, but I feel it concerns Your Highness, so I have come to report."

"You say it." Yan Chao did not turn around, but upon hearing him say this, he couldn't help but think more, and his eyes darkened slightly.

Lan Huaien paused for a moment, then asked, "Your Highness, I would like to ask you first: regarding your assassination attempt at Funing Temple, did you already have someone you suspected?"

“Yes,” she nodded, but did not elaborate, remaining calm and composed. “Just say what you have to say. Since we are already investigating, my suspicions are of no use.”

"How much does Your Highness suspect me?"

Yan Chao was slightly taken aback. There were quite a few people who suspected Lan Huai'en, but most dared not speak out. After Deng Xun brought it up to her personally, it quickly reached the emperor's ears, and she didn't believe that no one had instigated it.

If you were to ask her if she had any suspicions, it would be hard to say. At the time, she was completely focused on Lu Yan and knew that there must be something fishy about him. She was pondering how to get to him when the Emperor himself was dealing with Lan Huaien's situation.

She looked steadily into his eyes and said only, "If you want to harm me, you don't need to go through all this trouble."

Lan Huaien smiled broadly: "Thank you for your trust, Your Highness."

He then added, "However, besides his suspicions, Lord Deng did indeed uncover some things. Qiu Cong of the Embroidered Uniform Guard just reported that Lu Yan had colluded with palace eunuchs about a month ago. Following the trail, they traced it back to an insignificant clerk in the Directorate of Ceremonial..."

Yan Chao frowned and asked him, "Are those your men?"

"I suppose so, but I don't usually pay much attention to him. That clerk has always been by the side of the eunuch Cheng'an, and the benefactor who promoted Cheng'an back then was Ji Weixian." He paused after speaking, glancing at Yan Chao's expression. Sure enough, he was somewhat moved.

However, both of them knew that Ji Weixian was not so easy to defeat. In terms of seniority, Ji Weixian was much more senior than Lan Huaien. He had already distinguished himself in front of the emperor when the late emperor was alive, but too many changes occurred afterward, or one could say that he was unlucky and others gained the upper hand.

Even if he were convicted of a crime now, it might not necessarily implicate him. Not to mention, it could involve King Shin.

Yan Chao hummed in agreement, then asked him, "What did His Majesty say?"

Lu Yan still wouldn't budge an inch.

"Your Majesty has ordered a trial. It is said that some bribes were found in the clerical staff's home, but I am not yet clear about the rest."

He sighed, then his tone became earnest: "Your Highness, I feel that this matter concerns you, and you should pay more attention to it. Although the investigation has now reached the palace, if His Majesty truly has no intention of investigating thoroughly, perhaps it will be downplayed and forgotten..."

How do you know I don't care?

She glanced at him sideways but didn't explain in detail. However, she had always tried to have as little contact as possible with the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Deng Xunyi usually only reported to her when there was significant progress, and her people were not entirely idle in secret.

She glanced into the distance unintentionally and suddenly realized that the path she usually walked on didn't seem so crowded.

If I remember correctly, at this time, if you go around the corner, you will see a bright and open space with pine and cypress trees planted around the corners of the walls. They are evergreen all year round, and the sunlight will be slightly softer on a sunny day.

"Thank you for informing me, Your Excellency," she said, being a little too polite today. When she came to her senses and saw Lan Huaien's complicated look of half surprise and half doubt, she coughed lightly and said, "You may go back now. I will go to see the Emperor later."

.

When Lan Huaien returned to the Eastern Depot, Cheng Tai immediately came to report that the eunuch who had been arrested was attempting suicide. He was washing his hands when he took them out of the copper basin. He paused for a moment, then casually wiped them with a handkerchief and nodded, saying, "As expected."

Turning around to look at Cheng Tai's face, he asked again, "Is the person dead?"

Cheng Tai replied, "No, he was only half-dead. Commander Qiu is quite capable; after this ordeal, it will be easy to get him to talk."

Lan Huaien tossed the handkerchief onto the plate and scoffed, "It would have been better if he had confessed earlier, but he's stubbornly dragging it out. The longer he drags it out, the more suspicious people will become of the mastermind behind it, and the more precarious Ji Weixian's position will become."

He lifted his foot and walked out, with Cheng Tai following closely behind, quite puzzled: "Doesn't the Grand Eunuch... Ji Weixian know this principle?"

“He knows. But he also knows that if the clerk doesn’t say a word until his death, he will be completely innocent,” he said, adjusting his hat and scratching a stray hair at his temple. “When the Northern Garrison is interrogating prisoners, you must personally listen in and take notes. Make sure you are very careful.”

"Yes." Cheng Tai bowed and accepted the order. He wanted to ask something more, but after hesitating for a while, he finally didn't speak.

As a high-ranking official, the governor had encountered similar framing before, but he had never been as troubled as he was this time.

Although it involves the Crown Prince and other princes, and also drags Ji Weixian into it, it's not particularly complicated overall. The Grand Eunuch's current actions clearly favor the Crown Prince, and he doesn't seem worried about himself.

After realizing this, Cheng Tai initially intended to offer some advice, but then suddenly felt it was unnecessary. If the Grand Eunuch and the Crown Prince were on the same side, things would be much easier for them in the future.

He never had to think too much; he just knew to obediently follow the supervisor's instructions.

When he spoke again, he only asked, "Do we still need to take action against Cheng An?"

Lan Huaien stepped out the door, his tone casual: "Of course. Ji Weixian has a lot of henchmen, and we can take them down one by one. Besides, this time he delivered himself to our doorstep."

However, even so, Cheng'an's life or death still depended on the emperor's personal decision.

Cheng Tai nodded, then moved closer to him and said softly, "Lord Eunuch, there is one more thing I don't understand..."

"explain."

“Sun Shan, the eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, are you really going to ignore him?” He paused, lowered his head, suppressed his resentment and unease, and admitted his mistake first: “I know I should not have overstepped my bounds and said too much... but after all, the Grand Eunuch is often in the Emperor’s presence, and the people around him are unclear. I’m afraid it might mislead you.”

"I've tolerated Ji Weixian under my nose for so many years, why should I be afraid of a mere attendant? Besides, the Crown Prince doesn't have the energy to cause any trouble in the Directorate of Ceremonial. Let's put it on hold for now. Sun Shan has a good relationship with the Imperial Horse Administration and always likes to be a peacemaker, so there's no harm in it."

Lan Huaien wasn't angry. He walked past him and went straight down the steps, saying in a leisurely tone, "Make way. I remember that the Eastern Depot usually has a lot of work to do, but since it came under your control, they've become lazy. If you have nothing to do, go and train your subordinates."

After saying that, she ignored Cheng Tai, who was speechless and stunned, and went out the door.

If Cheng Tai hadn't suddenly mentioned Sun Shan, he would have almost forgotten about this person. After leaving the Imperial Household Department and returning to the Emperor's presence, he immediately began to thoroughly investigate the Directorate of Ceremonial, replacing many people under various pretexts, striving to ensure that he knew the background of everyone he could control.

As a result, they discovered that there was such a person as Sun Shan.

He was older than Ji Weixian and was a smooth talker, which was why he had survived the palace turmoil a few years ago. However, what Lan Huaien did not expect was that Sun Shan was actually the Crown Prince's man.

Further investigation revealed that Sun Shan's elder brother had worked in the Empress's palace and was highly favored by Empress Wenhui. Sun Shan did indeed have occasional interactions with the Crown Prince's palace, but even these few inconspicuous encounters were handled with care.

Sun Shan delivered messages late at night. Every time it was his turn to be on duty, he would go to the side room to cleanse himself and bathe. The messages would be hidden on the eunuchs coming in and out, and then sent out.

Sun Shan was a veteran in the palace, his prestige no less than Cheng An's, yet he remained unusually low-key. Lan Huaien had wondered about this before, but he never expected it to be for this reason.

He yawned, sat in the sedan chair, and, still lost in thought, muttered to himself, "I thought you were so upright and honest that you wouldn't stoop to such underhanded tricks..."

Meanwhile, Cheng An was extremely anxious. He requested to see Ji Weixian multiple times, but was finally able to meet him in the evening.

Before leaving, the eunuch standing nearby gestured for him to be quiet. Cheng An knew that Ji Weixian was also afraid of being implicated, but he couldn't even protect his own life, so he couldn't care less about anything else.

Ji Weixian was his only lifeline, and he was determined to seize the opportunity.

So, upon entering, she immediately knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly: "My benefactor, please save my life!"

Ji Weixian knew perfectly well that his words contained a threat. He had personally trained Cheng An, and he knew exactly how clever Cheng An was.

He sighed, knowing it wasn't the right time to use harsh words to pressure him. He personally got up and helped him up, lowering his voice and speaking gently, "I've brought you to where you are now, how could I really bear to see you fall? But even I dare not act rashly now. How about this, I'll show you a way out."

"Please enlighten me, my Lord."

Ji Weixian turned around, picked up the teapot, poured half a cup of tea into the cup, and handed it to him: "Don't rush, have a cup of tea to calm down. When you leave the palace later, take my token to Prince Xin's residence, ask the eunuch next to Prince Xin for an introduction, and meet His Highness Prince Xin. The rest is up to your fate."

Cheng An immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

As expected, experience is the best teacher. He might have been able to survive if he had only offended Ji Weixian, but now that he's fallen into Ji Weixian's trap and offended Prince Xin, he's determined to be killed.

He knew he was indirectly helping Prince Xin, but Ji Weixian had always been there to cover for him. Ji Weixian had already settled accounts with him regarding the oversight in the records, and now only he could save his own life.

Cheng An didn't even have time to drink his tea before hurriedly scrambling out the door.

Ji Weixian then went out and poured the half-cup of tea under a tree. Fine bubbles rose under the lamplight, and the slight hissing sound was drowned out by the chirping of insects in the grass.