The man wore a silver mask, obscuring his face, but his eyes, which were visible, were deep and unfathomable.
Chen Feng rode forward and asked, "Who's blocking the way?"
The man ignored Chen Feng and instead looked at the carriage, asking, "Where is Prince Ling?"
Xie Jingyan looked at him, "You're looking for me?"
The man gripped the reins and said, "A man named Chen Qi asked me to deliver a letter to you."
Before he finished speaking, the man flicked his hand, and a letter flew towards Xie Jingyan.
Xie Jingyan reached out and took the letter.
Seeing that he had taken the letter, the man said nothing more, turned his horse around, and rode away.
Xie Jingyan accepted the letter, but his gaze remained fixed on the man.
For some reason, this man gave him a vague sense of déjà vu...
He turned his gaze back to the letter in his hand.
Chen Qi.
It was the secret guard he sent to Wangzhou, the fiefdom of King Cheng, to investigate the iron mine.
After so long without any news, and having to ask someone else to deliver a message, something must have happened.
Xie Jingyan opened the letter, glanced at it a few times, and his brows furrowed.
Shen Wan looked at him and asked, "Chen Qi, have you found out anything?"
Xie Jingyan said, "The Prince of Cheng's fiefdom not only has iron mines, but they have been mined for two years."
Shen Wan's heart skipped a beat.
In his previous life, after Xie Jingyin ascended the throne, King Cheng took the initiative to report that an iron mine had been discovered in his fiefdom. Xie Jingyin trusted King Cheng greatly and not only did not give him a different fiefdom, but also entrusted the mining of the iron mine to King Cheng.
Because King Cheng took the initiative and did not seize the iron mine for himself, Shen Wan thought that King Cheng had not yet discovered that there was an iron mine in his fiefdom. In fact, he had been mining it silently for two years.
Mining without the permission of the imperial court is a capital offense.
The Emperor is Prince Cheng's elder brother from the same mother. Prince Cheng chose to hide it from the Emperor, but took the initiative to tell Xie Jingyin what Prince Cheng really wanted to do.
The more Shen Wan learned about King Cheng, the more terrifying he seemed.
In her past life, her father and brothers died tragically, and Xie Jingyan raised an army in the Northwest to rebel. On the surface, it was all the work of Xie Jingyin and Empress Song, but she knew nothing about what Prince Cheng did behind the scenes.
After the death of the Crown Prince, the Princess of Cheng attempted suicide in the palace. During the mourning period for Princess Yong'an, the Empress Dowager arranged for her to marry far away. From then on, she kept the Shou Kang Palace closed, refusing to see Xie Jingyin or the Prince of Cheng...
The Empress Dowager must know that Prince Cheng played an indispensable role in Xie Jingyin's ascension to the throne. Perhaps the Emperor's death in the previous life was indeed murdered, just as she suspected, and it might have been Prince Cheng's doing. Otherwise, the Empress Dowager wouldn't have avoided seeing her own son.
Shen Wan took the letter from Xie Jingyan and glanced at it. The letter roughly stated that Chen Qi was ordered to investigate the iron mine. The iron mine was heavily guarded, and he was unable to send messages after sneaking in, which delayed him. After finding out the mining time of the iron mine, Chen Qi was about to leave when he was discovered by the guards and chased after him.
He was assassinated and fell off a cliff. Fortunately, there was a lake at the bottom of the cliff, so he didn't die. He was floating in the water with only his last breath. A man passing by in a boat found him floating in the lake, clinging to a piece of wood. He pulled him out of the water and recognized him as a man of the Prince of Ling from the token he was carrying. Chen Qi didn't know how the man recognized him. Only Xie Jingyan and his trusted secret guards knew about the token, but the man recognized him.
Chen Qi was seriously injured and unable to return to the capital to report until he recovered. Knowing that the man had business in the capital, Chen Qi decided after much deliberation to take the risk and ask the man to deliver the letter to Xie Jingyan.
The seal was made of wax and showed no signs of being opened before it was delivered to Xie Jingyan, indicating that the masked man was trustworthy.
Previously, King Cheng had subtly helped King Jin, arousing their suspicions. The iron mine incident, however, completely exposed King Cheng's true colors.
The servant drove the carriage back to the Prince Ling's residence.
Inside the carriage, Shen Wan looked at Xie Jingyan and saw his furrowed brows. She asked, "Should we report this to Father Emperor?"
Xie Jingyan said, "This concerns Prince Cheng, and Father Emperor may not believe me."
Prince Cheng is the Emperor's own brother, born of the same mother. Furthermore, the last time he asked the Emperor to ask Prince Cheng who he favored as the Crown Prince, the eldest prince or Prince Jin, Prince Cheng said he favored him. Then he told the Emperor that there was an iron mine in Prince Cheng's fiefdom, which seemed more like an attempt to sow discord between the Emperor and Prince Cheng.
Shen Wan said, "How do you know the Emperor doesn't believe you if you don't tell him?"
At most, the emperor might not believe it, but that wouldn't cause them any other trouble, since the emperor wouldn't ask Prince Cheng.
Xie Jingyan said, "I'll mention it to Father Emperor next time I go to the palace."
After he finished speaking, seeing Shen Wan looking at him with a hesitant expression, Xie Jingyan asked, "What do you want to say?"
Shen Wan asked, "Father's birthday banquet is approaching. What birthday gift do you plan to give him?"
Shen Wan intended to take on this task, but recently Xie Jingyan had been privately calling the Emperor "Father," so Shen Wan changed her mind. It would be better for Xie Jingyan to prepare the birthday gift for the Emperor himself.
"I will paint a picture as a congratulatory gift."
Xie Jingyan spoke up without even thinking.
Shen Wan's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this, and she quickly said, "Please don't..."
Xie Jingyan looked at her and said, "Such a strong reaction, can't you send the painting to Father Emperor?"
It's already quite generous of him to give a painting he painted himself; otherwise, he would have just picked something from the storeroom as a birthday gift, perhaps even something bestowed upon him by the Emperor.
Sending a painting is certainly an option, but the problem is that the painting Xie Jingyan sent in my previous life was of Consort Chen.
The Emperor was quite pleased to receive Xie Jingyan's birthday gift, but when he opened it and saw that the portrait was of Consort Chen, the Emperor's expression changed immediately. In fact, if Xie Jingyan hadn't been in a wheelchair, the Emperor probably would have wanted to chop off his head.
Consort Chen is a taboo subject for the Emperor; he can't even mention her. Yet, he sent Consort Chen's portrait on the Emperor's birthday. Wasn't he deliberately trying to upset the Emperor?
Shen Wan remained silent, while Xie Jingyan asked, "Why won't you let me deliver the painting?"
Shen Wan said, "Then promise me you won't paint Mother Consort."
Xie Jingyan, "..."
Xie Jingyan's forehead creased with annoyance. He pinched Chen Wan's nose and said, "In your eyes, do I really look that stupid?"
Shen Wan, "..."
I've never seen anyone insult themselves like that.
She looked into his eyes and said, word by word, "In my dream, you gave me a portrait of my mother, which infuriated my father."
Almost instantly, Xie Jingyan's brows furrowed into a tight knot.
He knew that in Shen Wan's dream, before the Emperor's death, he was in a wheelchair. He harbored resentment towards his father, but no matter how much he hated his father, he would not use his mother's portrait as a birthday gift on the Emperor's birthday. He had many ways to anger his father, but he would never do such a thing with his mother, which would remind people of his mother and cause them to gossip behind his back.
Back then, Xie Jingyan believed Shen Wan when she said she had someone she loved and was even willing to die from being pierced by a thousand arrows to save her. But he didn't believe her this time. He looked at Shen Wan and asked, "Are you sure I sent you a portrait of my mother?"
Shen Wan nodded. In her previous life, when the emperor saw the portrait of Consort Chen, he was furious and threw the painting on the ground. She was sitting close to the emperor and could see it clearly.
Xie Jingyan's brows furrowed deeply.
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