Finally, even Consort Liu couldn't bear to listen anymore and said, "Crown Prince, please stop crying. His Majesty is unwell and needs to rest. Don't make him worry anymore."

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince hurriedly began wiping away his tears, saying like a good boy, "Yes, yes, Your Majesty, I cannot disturb your peace. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."

He wiped away his tears but showed no intention of getting up, remaining kneeling by the bed, seemingly uninterested in the investigation.

The old emperor genuinely liked the crown prince. Although the crown prince wasn't very capable, he understood him best and was the most filial. For this reason alone, he was willing to pass the throne to him and help him expand his power and build up his reputation among the people.

The old emperor looked at him with affection and said, "Go on, the third son just left not long ago. If you ride fast, you can still catch up."

This time, the Crown Prince didn't speak, but just looked up at the old emperor with a "stubborn" expression. The old emperor gently urged him twice before he got up with a "pitiful" look and went out with Prince Jing and Prince Lin.

Although the Crown Prince said he didn't want to investigate the case, he actually ran faster than anyone else after leaving the palace and caught up with Prince Chen in no time.

Fortunately, Prince Chen was already used to it. He knew when he came out that this matter could not really be left to him alone, so he had no doubts about the three people who caught up with him.

Prince Chen returned to his residence and then sent people to seal off the Taoist temple.

At the same time, he sent someone to summon Lu Baichuan, as it would be best to have Lu Baichuan assist in the case at this time.

However, when Lu Baichuan appeared at the Taoist temple with Prince Chen, he immediately attracted the attention of the other three, all of whom stared at Lu Baichuan's mask.

"Why are you wearing a mask in the middle of the day?"

Prince Jing spoke up, his mouth full of sarcasm. He disliked Prince Chen, and therefore disliked everyone around Prince Chen.

"Your Highness, I am disfigured and ugly from the injuries to my face. I dare not offend Your Highness's eyes."

Lu Baichuan responded with a fist salute, his voice devoid of any discernible emotion.

When Prince Jing heard that he had been disfigured, he smacked his lips twice and said nothing more.

However, Prince Lin noticed that he referred to himself as "your subject" instead of referring to himself as "your subordinate" like the other guards.

This indicates that he held an official position, which was personally conferred by Prince Chen.

Judging from his voice, he's not very old. To have an official position at such a young age, he must have made outstanding contributions.

Almost instantly, Prince Lin recalled the murder of Crown Prince Nantai, which was rumored to have been carried out by Prince Chen's men, but he had never been able to verify it.

But at this moment, he actually felt that it must have been the person in front of him who did it.

While he was thinking, Lu Baichuan also noticed him, not for any other reason than that Lu Baichuan felt that his figure looked somewhat familiar.

He had memorized Lin Yiping's build a few days ago, as well as the person who met Daoping that night. Both of them had builds very similar to Lin Wang, so he suspected that they were very likely the same person.

However, the voice didn't sound like it, and he wondered if Prince Lin had any drugs to change his voice.

However, these are all just speculations for now. There are many men with similar builds, so we can't just target Prince Lin because of this.

This was also the first time Lu Baichuan had seen the other three up close. Because they were wearing masks, it was easy for him to look them over openly.

He doesn't have any particular thoughts about Prince Jing now, mainly because he feels that Prince Jing is brave but reckless and poses no threat. However, the other two, who seem simple-minded, are often the most difficult to deal with.

At that moment, he thought again, "If only my wife were here, she could recognize Lin Yiping at a glance."

Prince Jing spoke first: "Since Father has instructed us to investigate together, let's begin! Men, search this Taoist temple and find every clue you can!"

Prince Jing is currently in the stage of wanting to make merit. Although Daoping had taught him before that he could use Daoping's connections to get close to the old emperor, now that Daoping is in trouble, he does not want to get involved. If he can find out something and make merit, it would be much better than taking those underhanded methods.

All the Taoist priests in the temple had been taken into custody and made to squat on the ground in a circle. When the guards went in, they actually found quite a few strange things.

This naturally includes some poisons, as well as human skin masks.

These items were found in different rooms, suggesting that the incident happened so suddenly that there wasn't time to clean them up.

Daoping's room only contained a small amount of the same poison found on the old emperor, along with a lot of gold and silver jewelry; otherwise, there was nothing unusual.

However, those things alone were enough to prove that there was something wrong with the Taoist temple, and all the Taoist priests in the temple were imprisoned.

Strangely, no one resisted; they just cried out that they were wronged.

Lu Baichuan sensed something was amiss and whispered to Prince Chen, "These people are suspicious; we should keep a close eye on them."

Prince Chen nodded; he also felt something was amiss, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

That evening, two groups of people gathered at a dilapidated temple outside the city. There were only two people on each side.

It was clear that the situation was urgent, as both of them had tense expressions.

"Now that all our people have been arrested, shouldn't you give us an explanation?"

The person asking the question had an ordinary appearance, but a fierce look in his eyes. He stared directly at the person opposite him and spoke in a very impolite tone.

The person opposite said, "Who knew Daoping would actually drug the emperor? This wasn't mentioned before, and I didn't expect this outcome either!"

"Daoping has definitely been set up; he would never act on his own! Our people can't get in right now, so try your best to go and see for yourself, and ask him what's going on!"

"Okay, I'll keep a close eye on things and try my best to prevent things from escalating. But who could be the one who framed Daoping?"

"Who else could it be but Prince Chen? All our deployments in Jingzhou have been uncovered. We don't know what methods he used, but he's recruited quite a few of our people. This Prince Chen must be eliminated as soon as possible!"

The person on the other end didn't answer immediately, clearly surprised by the result.

All of his hideouts in Jingzhou have been raided, but what about his people?

His men have been silent for so long, they must have been taken down by now.

Is that woman really that amazing?

If that woman could be used by him, he wouldn't be in such a predicament now, would he?

But if you can't become one of his people, then keeping him around is just a nuisance.

It seems we still need to send someone to Jingzhou to gather information. That woman is definitely not that simple. We can't act so rashly next time.

Indeed, the person opposite him was Lin Yiping, but tonight he had changed his face again.

"I'm talking to you, what are you daydreaming about?"

The other person was a little angry and frowned at him.

Lin Yiping wasn't one to be bullied for no reason. Upon hearing this, he immediately said, "First of all, this was caused by your people. Secondly, now that you're asking me for help, you'd better be more polite to me."

The other party was a little annoyed, but it was indeed the truth, so they didn't say anything more.

Lin Yiping spoke again, "I will handle this matter as best I can and try to resolve it; otherwise, I will have to sacrifice Daoping."