Xie Lin ordered Ning Yao to be guarded and simultaneously detained Ning Ze, arranging for his wounds to be treated and supervised closely. Then he collected Ning Yao’s testimony and exited their private dungeon with Fen Ling.
After leaving the dungeon, Xie Lin inquired Fen Ling, "Do you really think Lipin is the mastermind behind all this?"
Having never met Lipin, Fen Ling shook her head, "I don’t know. I’ve never met her."
Contemplating Lipin’s demeanor and reputation, and weighing her testimony, Xie Lin pondered, "I find this matter rather mysterious."
He said to Fen Ling, "In my opinion, Miss Lipin doesn’t seem capable of orchestrating such a grand scheme. It could be the Fourth Prince, who is quite clever for his age."
"So you’re suggesting that under the watchful eyes of the Crown Prince and closer yet, within the gap sighted by the First and Second Princes, a fifteen-year-old Fourth Prince found an opportunity?" Fen Ling asked Xie Lin, "Do you think it’s possible?"
Xie Lin choked, "That’s why I find this whole thing mysterious."
Fen Ling patted Xie Lin’s shoulder, "What about Lipin’s relatives? Have they been controlled?"
"My father has sent people to keep them under control," Xie Lin replied.
"Let us arrest Lipin’s father and second uncle for further interrogation." Fen Ling expressed worry, "I hope your father successfully secured them, or else it’ll be too late when we find two corpses."
Anxiety crossed Xie Lin’s face, "What are we waiting for? Come on, let’s hurry."
The pair departed from the Rui’an King Residence and headed to Lipin’s family home.
As Fen Ling expected, when they arrived, they found the household in an uproar. Xie Lin’s face hardened while Fen Ling was unsurprised, realizing that with Ning Ze’s return to the Capital City, the mastermind anticipated Miss Lipin might crack under pressure and preemptively acted.
Two bodies lay on the ground, those of Lipin’s father and second uncle.
A guard from the Rui’an King Residence knelt in shame before Xie Lin, "My Lord, we were unable to guard them. These two somehow committed suicide. They slit their throats with fragments of teacups. By the time we discovered them, it was too late."
On the night Rui’an King discovered connections between Lipin’s family and Feng Si, his team immediately interrogated all of Lipin’s relatives. After half a night, they only established that Lipin’s niece has a crush on Feng Si. She secretly gave part of her own money to Feng Si’s mother for medical treatment. This evidence aligns with Zhou Gu’s earlier discovery of a highly valuable medicinal herb, Tianma, in the drug residue from Feng Si’s mother.
Since they did not uncover much evidence, the Rui’an King arranged for security around Lipin’s family and planned to further the investigation once new leads emerged.
Unexpectedly, before they could proceed, the wife of the Crown Prince revealed herself. Due to her younger brother, evidence arose linking Lipin’s father and second uncle to the case. But someone beat them to the punch — thus, the two ended their own lives.
Xie Lin commanded in a darkened tone, "Investigate! Find out everyone who has had contact with them within the past hour."
If no one had contacted them, it would be impossible for them to be coerced into suicide. Whoever forced them to suicide must have held some level of control over them.
Rui’an King’s men acted quickly, identifying everyone who had interacted with the duo in the last hour. Among them was a frail young girl around thirteen or fourteen years old. Before they could interrogate her, she fell dead from bleeding from the seven orifices.
Clearly, she had ingested poison.
Xie Lin was infuriated beyond words.
Fen Ling patted Xie Lin’s shoulder, "Every act leaves a trace. While the girl is dead, everything she used or touched is still here. If we carefully untangle these threads, we will find clues. The poison the girl took also points to something. It’s called ’Instant Death’, and it isn’t something ordinary people can get their hands on. Except for the black market, no apothecaries carry it."
On hearing this, Xie Lin brightened a bit and instructed sternly, "Search meticulously, tie all of these people up, search them thoroughly, question them one by one."
The guards complied.
After Crown Prince Yan Li’s incident, second prince Yan Lin grew frantic. He hastily gathered his advisors to discuss countermeasures.
His advisors were equally surprised at Yan Li’s inability to withstand the investigation. The crisis had escalated seriously with the deployment of the Imperial Guard to Yan Li’s residence.
One of his advisors said, "Your Highness, please be patient. You started working with Crown Prince recently. After joining forces, if you think about it, you have not done anything egregious that might incriminate you."
The other advisors nodded in agreement. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞
Now that Yan Lin thought about it, Yan Li was always impatient and saw him as timid. Little did he know, he was just exercising extreme caution. Now Yan Lin appreciated his caution as Yan Li got tangled up in this mess. This way, Yan Lin escaped getting implicated.
Having avoided significant involvement, Yan Lin was relieved and said to his advisors, "Thanks to your advice, actions cannot be rushed. Yan Li was too impetuous and suffered as a result. I wonder how the Emperor will handle this."
"Patience is a virtue, Your Highness. If the Crown Prince can be patient, so can you. Only those who endure unbearable suffering can reach unattainable heights." one of the advisors said, "As for Crown Prince, it depends on whether the Emperor wishes to disrupt the current equilibrium and whether you are willing to help. Although we do not know why the Emperor insists that Rui’an King unleashes a thorough investigation, it’s a fact that the Crown Prince and the Duke’s Residence have annoyed the Emperor over the years. How can it change overnight?"
"You’re right" Yan Lin replied, "But whether we can help or not, we have to observe the situation."
"Even if it’s possible, Your Highness, you should try to help Crown Prince. Otherwise, if Crown Prince is removed from the picture, I’m afraid we won’t stand a chance against the presence of the other prince," an advisor advised.
Yan Lin nodded with a somber expression. Although he didn’t want to admit he was no match for Yan Hui Sheng, he had to concede to Yan Hui Sheng’s capabilities. If Yan Hui Sheng didn’t fall, he would never have the opportunity to claim the throne.
With Fen Ling’s assistance, Xie Lin took half a day and a night to uncover more about Lipin’s family. It turns out that they were dealing with medicinal herbs and tea leaves, most of the herbs ended up at the palace’s Royal Medicine Bureau and the tea leaves were associated with Zhao Fei
Armed with a pile of testimonials and evidence, Xie Lin returned to Rui’an King.
Looking at the evidence, Rui’an King sighed, "Times are changing."
Exhausted, Xie Lin had no energy to ponder over the shifting dynamics and replied to Rui’an King, "Father, I am truly exhausted. I will go and sleep."
Rui’an King intended to ask him a few more questions but seeing him so worn out, he nodded, "Go on."
After Xie Lin left, Rui’an King wondered who the real person pulling the strings was. It definitely wasn’t Lipin, who was likely another scapegoat in this intricate plot.
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