Upon returning to the Shen Residence, Su Xingze woke up Su Rong. She rubbed her eyes, waved at him sleepily, held the umbrella and the hand warmer the Imperial Concubine had gifted her, and staggered to her own courtyard.
A few steps out, she seemed to wake up a bit and turned to Su Xingze, "Big Brother, I’m so tired. I won’t meet Uncle and Aunt Shen. I already had dinner at the palace. Please tell them."
Su Xingze waved at her, "Got it, I’ll go myself, you go back!"
Su Rong responded with an "mmhmm" and quickly walked away.
Su Xingze sighed and went towards the main house.
Returning to her room, Su Rong was now fully awake. She put down her hand warmer, undressed, quickly changed into her night clothes, extinguished the lamp to pretend to sleep, silently left her room, climbed over the wall to leave the Shen Residence, and headed straight for the Eastern Palace. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮
Heavy snow had been falling for two to three days, and the entire Imperial City was covered in it. Arriving at the Eastern Palace, she climbed over the wall and entered the palace using a familiar route.
She found her way into the Crown Prince’s study. As usual, the study was lit, and Yan Huisheng was sitting at his desk, writing something while an individual stood across the desk, talking to him.
Su Rong landed at the entrance of the study; someone demanded, "Who’s there?"
Considering that she failed to enter the study stealthily every time, Su Rong realized the guards at the Eastern Palace’s Crown Prince’s study area were always diligent. This was good news. She cleared her throat and replied softly, "It’s me, Su Rong."
The guards exchanged a glance, immediately withdrew their swords, and silently retreated into the shadows.
Hearing the commotion outside, Yan Huisheng immediately looked towards the window from inside the room. The man standing in front of him also looked back abruptly.
By then, Su Rong had already entered. She took in not only Yan Huisheng but the man standing before him – Zhou Gu. She slightly furrowed her brows.
Zhou Gu had just arrived as well, having also climbed over the wall. He had never done something like this before. Even when Grand Tutor Qin confined him to the Eastern Palace, he would only confront the guards there, using only legitimate methods. If he won, he would leave; if he lost, he would stay in the Eastern Palace honestly or complete the task assigned by Grand Tutor Qin, either finishing it before leaving or staying put if he could not. However, ever since he met Su Rong and got influenced by her eccentricity and unpredictability, he felt climbing over the wall seemed more convenient, especially during his recuperation period when his grandmother’s men were watching him. He pretended to sleep and then quietly came to the Eastern Palace, which proved to be a very smooth journey.
Of course, although he was quite nimble, he was not as proficient as Su Rong at sneaky tasks. Just after bragging about climbing over the wall of the Eastern Palace, and barely reaching the Water Pavilion, he was discovered by the palace guards.
Zhou Gu did not expect such a coincidence - Su Rong arrived just as he was just making his way in.
He felt uncomfortable and upset when he saw Su Rong frowning at the sight of him. He stood in place without greeting or saying anything.
Yan Huisheng asked, "Why are you here again?"
Su Rong replied, "Urgent matters. I’m being watched now, it’s inconvenient if I don’t sneak in."
Yan Huisheng nodded, signalling Su Rong to sit, and poured her a cup of tea personally.
Su Rong took the tea but didn’t sit. Instead, she held the tea, glanced at Zhou Gu and asked, "What are you doing here? Didn’t I tell you to recover properly? Did you just dismiss what I said yesterday?"
Zhou Gu looked at her, saw her calm face, and shook his head, "No."
He explained to Su Rong, "I received news that Marquis Nanping, upon learning about the incident with the Crown Prince’s wife and Ning Ze, is conspiring with the eighteen mountain bandit camps in Nanping to rebel. This is a significant matter, so I came to discuss with the Crown Prince."
After pausing, he spoke in a lower voice, "I didn’t mean to deliberately ignore your advice."
Su Rong furrowed her brows, "Is this news from Ning Chi?"
"No." Zhou Gu shook his head, "It’s from a spy I planted inside the eighteen camps three years ago. When I discussed with the Crown Prince back then, the eighteen camps were in an advantageous position. They were righteous bandits and did not engage in burning, killing and looting, so the Imperial Court did not suppress them. However, because they were in Nanping and had a connection with Marquis Nanping and the Crown Prince, it wasn’t assuring, so I took over this issue and secretly arranged for someone to monitor their movements. We received this news not too long ago."
Su Rong nodded, turned around to ask Yan Huisheng, "What about Ning Chi? Has he sent a letter?"
Yan Huisheng shook his head, "Not yet."
Su Rong said, "This Ning Chi, he seemed sincere when he joined us in Jiangning County, and he was reliable. But since he hasn’t sent a letter yet, let’s wait for his letter before making a decision."
Yan Huisheng agreed, "I was also thinking the same."
He asked Su Rong, "What’s the urgent matter you mentioned?"
Su Rong quickly shared with them what Lipin and Yu An had told her earlier that day, along with the hiding place of the evidence found from the interrogation. Then, she continued, "I plan to retrieve the evidence tonight. As for Feng Si’s place, I’ll handle it. As for Yu An’s house located a hundred miles outside the Capital, the Crown Prince should send someone."
Yan Huisheng hadn’t expected Su Rong to have collected so much evidence in one day. He nodded and agreed, "I will send Yun Ze and his men."
Su Rong added, "More than half of the Eastern Palace’s secret agents should be dispatched. We cannot afford any mistakes."
Yan Huisheng understood clearly, nodded, called upon Yun Ze, and gave him instructions.
Upon hearing, Yun Ze’s eyes lit up. He immediately took more than half of the palace secret agents and left the Eastern Palace.
After Yun Ze left, Su Rong was about to leave when Zhou Gu immediately said, "I’ll accompany you. I’m familiar with Feng Si’s residence."
Su Rong glanced at him, but before she could speak, Zhou Gu quickly added, "My wounds have healed. A little walk won’t hurt. As long as I don’t get into a fight, it’ll be fine." He promptly stated his position, " Feng Si’s neighborhood is full of hutongs and is quite hard to find. You’re not familiar with the area, and if you happen to get lost or go to the wrong place, wouldn’t that waste time?"
At this time, Yan Huisheng spoke up, "Since he happened to run into you, let him go. He’s been cooped up at home for so long, he must be itching to get out. If we don’t let him go, he’ll fidget all night long. He’ll probably stick around here and disrupt my peace."
Su Rong turned to look at Yan Huisheng.
Yan Huisheng picked up the pen again, waved at her and said, "He has the guards from the Duke Residence with him. If there’s any trouble, they can still hold their own. After all, this is the Capital City, and I would also be uneasy if you went alone."
Su Rong turned her gaze back to Zhou Gu, "Then, let’s go. Be careful."
Zhou Gu happily responded, "Okay."
The two of them left together, with Su Rong in front and Zhou Gu behind. Before the door closed, Zhou Gu turned around and thanked Yan Huisheng with a gesture.
Yan Huisheng saw everything clearly, stared at the now closed door for a while before returning to writing.
Qin Luan brought in freshly made snacks to replace the ones that had gotten cold. Seeing that Yan Huisheng didn’t issue any commands, he quietly retreated, not disturbing Yan Huisheng at all, silent as a ghost.
The room was quiet, and snowflakes fell outside the window.
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