"The assassin in the mountains, his true master is a man wearing a fox mask."

This was the first thing Ye Zhen said to Xie Tingzhou after waking up.

Xie Tingzhou already knew that the assassin had nothing to do with Xie Yunzhou, but he didn't ask who the masked man was.

At this moment, he was more concerned about Ye Zhen, because she cried out in pain in her dream and begged him to stop and let her escape first.

She trembled violently in his arms, and Xie Tingzhou felt her pain and despair, his heart breaking.

"Don't dream about me anymore, Ye Zhenzhen."

Xie Tingzhou hugged her, "I will return to the palace as soon as possible. I will do everything you want to do, and no one will harm you again."

The moment Ye Zhen cried out in pain, Xie Tingzhou made this decision: he didn't intend to wait another six months.

He couldn't change her past life, so he would protect her in this life.

If she wants to find Shi Yan and Ye Jinghong, then he should return to the Eastern Palace and search for them on her behalf in the name of the Crown Prince of Dayuan.

As long as they are in this world, they will always be found.

"The masked man must be related to Ye Wantang, but I don't know who he is..."

Ye Zhen paused, carefully recalling everything in the dream, "But the fact that he came to me must be related to you."

That man had said that he originally looked down on her, and he didn't seem to have much lust for her. He wanted her to be a dog, and to humiliate her more. He wasn't surprised when he learned that the Crown Prince had appeared.

In the first nightmare, Ye Wantang mentioned that the Crown Prince had a girl he liked.

Ye Wantang was unhappy about this, so he took it out on her, locking her up in a dilapidated Taoist temple and slowly torturing her.

Given Ye Wantang's narrow-mindedness, she would surely believe that the Crown Prince's reluctance to marry her was due to that girl, and she would definitely hate that girl intensely and investigate her identity.

After the masked man was injured by Ye Zhen, Ye Wantang rushed over in time, and her words and actions revealed that the two had a close relationship.

Furthermore, Ye Wantang knew the masked man's purpose in destroying the Taoist temple.

Therefore, Ye Zhen guessed that in his previous life, Ye Wantang must have found out that she was the person the Crown Prince was looking for, and she also knew that the masked man was jealous of the Crown Prince, so she instructed Xie Yunzhou to offer her to the masked man.

This justifies what the masked man said: "I never thought much of you."

But if he is jealous of the Crown Prince and wants everything the Crown Prince has, then it makes sense that he would set his sights on him, whom the Crown Prince has been searching for for many years.

In her previous life, Ye Wantang was always known as the Crown Prince's fiancée. If the Crown Prince hadn't left the capital, she would have been his wife.

Xie Tingzhou froze.

Was it he who brought suffering to Ye Zhen?

Ye Zhen told Xie Tingzhou this not to make him feel guilty.

She got up from his embrace, sat cross-legged facing him, and told Xie Tingzhou about the dream and her speculations.

"That person could make Ye Wantang and Xie Yunzhou grovel before him, which shows his noble status."

After I came to the capital, I hardly interacted with anyone. Later, I was even confined to a Taoist temple for several years, never seeing the light of day.

There are plenty of women in this world who are prettier than me, which is why I suspect he was after you. I don't blame you, and you don't need to feel guilty.

I'm telling you all this honestly because if my speculation is true, that person is definitely watching you from the shadows for the rest of their life.

He is our common enemy, jealous of the Crown Prince—this is a crucial clue.

Ye Zhen removed Xie Tingzhou's mask, his eyes solemn. "Xie Azhao, you went to great lengths to give me a second chance at life, and you've also changed the course of your life."

We can't waste this second chance. We must live well, find that person together, and kill him without hesitation!

Xie Tingzhou felt a mix of emotions; in the end, it was he who had implicated Ye Zhen.

“I used to own a fox, so I enjoy collecting fox masks.”

He agreed with Ye Zhen's analysis; that person must have been truly jealous of him, seducing his fiancée, wearing the mask he liked, and even attacking the girl he loved.

"Back then, the empress rebuked me for regicide and shot me in the heart with her crossbow."

Over the years, whenever I showed even the slightest hint of being the crown prince, the people who wanted to kill me never stopped.

I've also suspected that someone might be taking advantage of the situation, impersonating the emperor or empress to kill me.

But the Empress's confidant, the head of the guards at Fengyi Palace, personally delivered the deadly poison to me at midnight.

Xie Tingzhou looked at Ye Zhen, "The 'Midnight Heaven' pill was made when the late emperor was alive. There are only two in the world, and both have fallen into the hands of the empress."

If the King of Hell calls you to die at midnight, he will not let you live until dawn. My maternal grandfather died from this poison, which was personally given to him by the Empress.

The head of the guards rebuked me for being unfilial. As the late emperor's posthumous son, I should have been cautious and prudent, but instead I clung to the position of crown prince, putting the empress in a difficult position.

They also accused me of murdering the emperor during the autumn hunt, forcing the empress to kill her own son to protect him. Instead of understanding the empress's predicament, I fled the capital instead of obediently being killed, almost ruining the empress's reputation.

The commander of the Martial Virtue Division, who only obeyed the orders of the Emperor and Empress, also relentlessly pursued me with the Empress's token. All of this made me believe that the Emperor and Empress could not tolerate me.

It wasn't until you revealed your hatred for the assassin in the mountains that I sensed something was wrong and began to suspect the assassin's identity.

But I have confirmed that the assassin was indeed a palace guard.

If your dream is real, and his true master is the masked man, then it means someone has reached into the palace.

The fact that they could do this shows that they have a strong presence in the palace and enjoy the Empress's trust.

Xie Tingzhou considered several possibilities in his mind, and then said, "You said that in my past life I carried your coffin around praying to gods and Buddhas, but this place is also not right."

Ye Zhen continued, "If the Empress wants to kill you, the best opportunity will be after you show yourself."

But Xie Tingzhou is alive and well, and even took her overseas.

"So what do you plan to do?"

Xie Tingzhou pondered, "Previously, I thought the autumn hunt was a scheme set up for me by the Emperor and Empress. The reason it wasn't made public was because the scheme couldn't withstand a thorough investigation, since I myself never plotted a rebellion or murdered the Emperor."

I am a descendant of the late emperor. Once they make it public, the late emperor's faction will surely take the opportunity to cause trouble for the empress.

It seems there might be something fishy going on, so let's start by investigating the autumn hunt.

However, since many years have passed, investigating slowly would be time-consuming and laborious, so I want to start directly with the Grand Princess.

She is not as indifferent to fame and fortune as she appears on the surface; she must be keeping a close eye on everything happening around her.

Especially since she still had royal guards at the time, she must have some knowledge of what happened back then.

Ye Zhen nodded, "She also hates the royal family, and she might have been involved in things too."

Thinking of something, Ye Zhen added, "Oh right, there's also Kang Le. Neither of these princesses is easy to deal with; she might have gotten involved too."

And those two princes, investigate them too.

Ye Zhen's line of reasoning was very simple.

Anyone who wants the crown prince to be in trouble becomes a suspect.

After the Crown Prince left the capital, whoever benefited became a suspect.

The two princes were vying for the throne and both had the Empress's trust, making them prime suspects.

After all, not just anyone can get the midnight watch token from the Empress.

On the surface, the two princesses seem to have little to do with this matter, but if the crown prince had stayed in the capital, with his abilities, how would the two princesses have had the opportunity to do so many little things?