Chapter 28 offers a plan to stir up the mess even more.
After leaving the noodle shop, Qi Jingxuan took Shen Yan for a long walk on the street, visiting many of his favorite places.
When they got tired of shopping and were ready to go home, the carriage was filled with the odds and ends of what they had bought that day, mostly food, and then the many auspicious items that had been brought to Ya Feng Garden.
Seeing that it was getting late, Qi Jingxuan wanted to take Shen Yan home by carriage, but Shen Yan shook her head and said in a low voice, "I have something I want to say to Your Highness. Let's walk back slowly."
As he spoke, he glanced back.
Qi Jingxuan understood and waved for the servants following him to step back before lowering his voice as well: "Speak."
Seeing that the surroundings were open and the scene on the street was clearly visible, anyone who tried to eavesdrop on their conversation would be noticed immediately, Shen Yan spoke up.
"I'd like to ask Your Highness, do you have any leads on who plotted to frame us?"
Shen Yan was completely dragged into this matter and naturally didn't know who was most likely the mastermind, so she could only ask Qi Jingxuan.
Qi Jingxuan paused for a moment, then shook his head: "I don't know."
Fearing that Shen Yan might think he was always preoccupied with trivial matters, he quickly added, "I have thought about it, but I really can't think of anyone who would do such a thing."
"Since the crown prince was established six years ago, no one has targeted me. Even if some people are at odds with me, it's just minor squabbles, nothing life-threatening."
If he really dies, the Emperor will definitely investigate to the end. Even if he can't find out who the other party is for a while, as long as the other party's actions leave any clues, they will be found out sooner or later.
Therefore, he couldn't think of any compelling reason why the other party would want to kill him, a prince who was clearly far removed from the center of imperial power.
You should know that although he seems to be favored, this favor can only bring him some convenience in life, and it has no other use.
He was neither good at literature nor martial arts, and was neither the eldest son nor the legitimate heir. He was born outside the palace and was later adopted, so he was often criticized.
If it weren't for the fact that he had a face that resembled the emperor's, making it obvious that he was the emperor's son, someone would probably have used his identity to their advantage and driven him out of the capital long ago.
As far as his mother's family was concerned, his mother was of low birth. Although her family doted on her, they were of little help in the court and the palace, so it was impossible for them to help her son ascend the throne.
Therefore, given Qi Jingxuan's status and position, he shouldn't be seen as a thorn in the side by those vying for imperial power, no matter how you look at it.
Unless his older brothers and their sons all die, there is no way he will be able to take the throne.
But aside from the struggle for the throne, what else could possibly warrant the enormous risk that the mastermind would take to kill him?
When Shen Yan heard that he didn't know, she wasn't in a hurry and asked again, "Has anything unusual or different from usual happened around you recently?"
If he wasn't being hunted down because of his status or position, then it's probably related to the people and events he's recently encountered.
Qi Jingxuan shook his head again, saying helplessly, "No, I just eat, drink, and have fun all day long. I haven't changed much lately."
He had thought about these things many times in his previous lives when he was imprisoned in the royal palace, but no matter how much he thought about it, he still didn't know what he had done that would anger both heaven and man, causing the person behind the scenes to have to kill him.
He's clearly the same as before, just idly wandering around.
Shen Yan frowned, and after a moment asked, "Has Your Highness offended anyone? Are there any enemies who particularly hate you, especially those you've recently provoked? Are there any who hate you to the bone and want to get rid of you as soon as possible?"
"It's not necessarily related to a power struggle; think about the others too."
Qi Jingxuan frowned and counted on his fingers: "If we're talking about enemies, there are too many. I've never been very disciplined growing up, and I've offended quite a few people. They probably all wish I were dead."
"But to say you'd personally kill me..."
He shook his head again: "Then probably not."
"Although I like to cause trouble, I'm not stupid. I won't offend everyone. I always try to avoid those high-ranking officials. At most, I'll talk back to them when they scold me."
"As for the conflicts between them and their children, in the eyes of these adults, they are just children playing around and there is no need to care. At most, they will write a memorial to vent their anger for their children and scold me a few times. They will not really threaten to kill me."
"To say that their children attacked me themselves..."
Qi Jingxuan scoffed: "It's not that I look down on them, but they really don't have that ability."
He offended only spoiled brats like himself. They were good at cockfighting and dog racing, but if they really tried to plot against or assassinate someone, their own parents would find out before they even left home, give them a beating, and lock them in the ancestral hall.
Shen Yan asked him everything she could, and seeing that he really couldn't remember anything, she pondered for a moment and said, "Then Your Highness might as well travel around recently and meet with those who have grudges against you or have conflicts of interest with you, and find trouble for them one by one."
Qi Jingxuan was taken aback by these words, and asked in confusion, "Why?"
He thought that given Shen Yan's personality, she would advise him to avoid trouble and be more honest and obedient in the future. He never expected that she would actually encourage him to take the initiative to cause trouble for those people.
Shen Yan said, "The people who framed us first arranged the Cheng'an Marquis's Mansion incident. After learning that you took the blame, they immediately arranged for the students to cause trouble and spread rumors about me everywhere, trying to force me to commit suicide. It is clear that they were eager to confirm your crime of forcing the daughter of a court official to death."
“I don’t know how His Majesty will deal with you once this charge is proven, but Your Highness is not young now. I imagine that all the officials in the court will petition His Majesty to send you out of the capital and let you go to your fiefdom. They might even ask His Majesty to demote you from a prince to a duke.”
"When the prince leaves the capital and is no longer under His Majesty's protection, it will be much easier for the other party to take action against you."
Shen Yan wasn't just guessing; this was how things unfolded in her "dream."
Although she couldn't be sure whether the "dream" was real or not, since some parts of it overlapped with reality, she wouldn't just treat it as a dream and forget about it after waking up.
She clearly remembered that although she was also framed in the "dream", the other party did not rush to kill her.
This shows that the person behind the scenes didn't necessarily want her to die, but had other purposes to achieve.
In the dream, the other party did not attack her in the end, which obviously meant that her life or death had no impact on the outcome. It didn't matter whether she lived or died, so there was no need to go through the trouble of eliminating her and revealing any clues.
After figuring this out, Shen Yan began to think carefully about the reasons. She eventually discovered that the root of the problem was that Qi Jingxuan took the blame in the "real world," which caused a situation that originally had no room for maneuver to take a different turn.
He took the initiative to confess his guilt and asked to marry Shen Yan. Once the Shen family agreed to the marriage, the big problem could be turned into a small one, and the small problem could be resolved. What was a shameful matter that had to be brought to the forefront could be turned into a romantic affair, or even a happy event.
In the "dream," the Shen family never intended to form a marriage alliance with the Prince of Jin, and Qi Jingxuan felt that he had been tricked by Shen Yan, so he was very resistant to her.
The two sides disliked each other intensely, making reconciliation impossible, let alone marriage.
Unless Qi Jingxuan can get to the bottom of things in a short time, he will ultimately find it difficult to clear his name.
The Shen family was of humble origin, and even if the charge were proven true, it would be impossible for a prince to pay for it with his life.
Ultimately, under pressure from court officials, there were only two possibilities.
Either Qi Jingxuan is demoted to a prince but remains in the capital, or he is sent out of the capital to his fiefdom.
If they all stayed in the capital, given the emperor's favor towards him, it would make no difference whether he was a prince or a duke, which was certainly not the outcome the people behind the scenes wanted.
Having ruled out this possibility, the mastermind's purpose becomes clear: to drive Qi Jingxuan out of the capital.
Even after leaving the capital, Qi Jingxuan could still live a carefree and unrestrained life as long as he didn't care about his title.
The person behind the scenes went to such lengths, it couldn't possibly be to let him live a carefree life in his fiefdom, so it could only be to make it easier to take action against him after he left the capital.
Upon hearing Shen Yan's speculation, Qi Jingxuan nodded repeatedly: "That's right, that's what I thought too!"
Because that's how it happened in his previous lives, he can't help but think that way.
"But what does this have to do with what you just said? Why go looking for trouble with them?"
He still didn't understand.
Shen Yan replied, "Your Highness just said that you have many enemies, but they are all trivial matters and not life-threatening. So it is unlikely that anyone has suddenly gone mad and wants to kill you."
"If that's the case, then it's probably related to the people and things you've encountered recently."
“This person either wields significant power himself or has powerful individuals willing to serve him. You may not have offended him in the past, but you must have had some interaction with him recently, and something may seem insignificant to you, but it is crucial to him.”
“This matter is so trivial that you might not even remember it, but he cares about it extremely. This means that once you remember it, it could pose a great threat to him, which is why he is so eager to drive you out of the capital and get rid of you.”
“In this situation, even if he fails this time, he will definitely try again next time, and the interval will probably not be long.”
"After all, things can change in the long run. He'll be worried all the time that you might remember him, so to put his mind at ease, he'll naturally want to get rid of you as soon as possible."
"You managed to escape this time by defaming yourself, but you might not be able to do so next time. Instead of doing that, you might as well take the initiative and stir up the mess even more."
"When the time comes, just say that you were framed, find out whoever you think might have framed you, and make a scene in front of them."
“There are three advantages to doing this. First, when the other party sees you running around like a headless fly, they will know that you have no clue who framed you and that you don’t understand why you were ambushed. This will put their minds at ease for the time being.”
"Secondly, your reckless actions will only make those who didn't do it think you're being unreasonable, but the real mastermind might feel guilty and dare not take action against you again until they are certain of their success."
"Otherwise, if something happens to you, His Majesty will definitely start by investigating those who have recently had disputes with you, and it will be easy to trace it back to him."
"The third one... is to try your luck."
"There's a saying, 'Even a novice can defeat a master with a flurry of punches.' What if we get lucky and actually manage to find out who it is? Wouldn't that be even better?"
Qi Jingxuan's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he sincerely praised, "You're so clever! I couldn't have come up with such a good idea."
Shen Yan chuckled upon hearing this: "Your Highness is quite clever to come up with a way to smear yourself and break the deadlock. If you hadn't taken the blame upon yourself first, the two of us wouldn't have had a chance to stand together and talk about these things. We would probably be led by the nose by the other party."
Just like in her "dream".
Qi Jingxuan awkwardly touched his nose. He had died eight times before coming up with this idea. What kind of cleverness was that? He was just forced to come up with it because he was afraid of dying.
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Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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