Chapter 166
The trusted eunuch who was instructed by Consort De was very discreet. After the eldest prince entered the prince's residence, he did not follow him. Instead, he found a secluded spot and quietly watched the entrance of the prince's residence while waiting.
The trusted eunuch knew that the purpose of his master ordering people to follow the eldest prince was to ascertain his whereabouts, not to spy on what he was doing. Otherwise, the Consort De's order would not have specifically emphasized "following from a distance."
In addition, there were some reasons that could not be told to others: First, Consort De was cautious by nature and intentionally guarded against those around her, leaving enough safe space for the eldest prince; second, she believed that the fewer people knew about what the eldest prince was going to do, the better.
Of course, the above conclusions were drawn by Xue Jin'an through data analysis and have not been officially recognized by Consort De.
In the scene, Consort De was still playing with the crudely finished gold nugget, which was out of place with the style of the palace paintings. Xue Jin'an didn't even need to guess to know that this thing was obviously related to the eldest prince. It was very likely a gift from the eldest prince to Consort De, and it should have an extraordinary symbolic meaning than its original value.
Although Xue Jin'an felt that there was a 94% chance that the background story of this piece of gold was related to the direction he was exploring, out of the instinct of a code life to collect data, he still took a screenshot of the gold nugget at a specific angle, preparing to allocate some computing power to analyze it.
At the same time, Xue Jin'an brought up the live stream homepage and started refreshing it. After all, the live stream of his trusted eunuch had already followed his gaze to the entrance of the prince's residence. If he wanted to know who the eldest prince was going to see, he would have to switch to the live stream of another spy.
Fortunately, when the emperor deliberately forced Xia Xiazi to the princes' quarters, he had placed many spies from the Imperial Clothing Service in the courtyards of each prince. If nothing unexpected happened, it wouldn't be difficult to follow the eldest prince's movements throughout the entire process.
If nothing unexpected happens, then something unexpected is about to happen.
The eldest prince disappeared after passing the intersection where he could see the residences of the two princes. The fourth prince's Suhui Courtyard and the fifth prince's Hanxiang Courtyard were separated by a wall. The two were also enemies. Despite their extremely incompatible personalities, they were not only ranked next to each other, but also lived together.
In the daily news compiled by Fu Lu, the two of them inevitably quarrel whenever they meet. The Fourth Prince is no match for the Fifth Prince in an argument. After a few words, he can't help but turn red in the face and become angry. Whenever this happens, the Fourth Prince can't help but reach out to the Fifth Prince. It's unclear whether he's covering the Fifth Prince's mouth or simply wants to beat him up.
Then the Fifth Prince would quickly and mercilessly press him to the ground in different positions, and he wouldn't be able to get up for a long time.
Based on the fact that fortune and wealth are completely useless, the Fifth Prince's speed in suppressing the Fourth Prince has improved from the initial time it takes to drink a cup of tea to the current time it takes to blink of an eye. He has certainly mastered it.
The fourth prince, who used to struggle for a while after being pinned down, has now become like a quail with its neck being choked, lying on the ground pretending to be dead. In a way, he has also trained himself.
It's hard to say that three years have passed since the heart ailment, yet the Fifth Prince's martial arts skills show no signs of being exposed, which has nothing to do with the fact that he has always faced the Fourth Prince, who is known to be useless.
Xue Jin'an even had some doubts about how the Fourth Prince, with his practically zero martial arts skills, managed to get on the wall when he first arrived.
Xue Jin'an's doubts remained unanswered; he was the only one concerned with this issue. As for the others, they were more focused on: "Why did the Fourth Prince still act despite knowing he couldn't win? Is it simply that he forgets what he's learned, or is it that he knows the answer but can't remember, and is just plain incompetent with a huge addiction?"
This time, contrary to the norm, everyone except Xue Jin'an firmly believed it was the former.
"He gets punished every time, and it's already quite impressive that he can still reach out again next time. If he wants to beat someone up every time and is unrepentant... he must have something special about him." Cui Zui's comments were very tactful, and Shou Quan and Xuan Shiyi didn't quite understand.
Xue Jin'an thoughtfully translated: "The probability of suspecting a masochistic tendency is 99%."
Cui Zui sighed, "If it's the latter, he must be very happy."
After all, they don't remember being beaten each time, and they'll just go and get beaten again next time.
Xue Jin'an was much more direct: "Memory (brain capacity) is like a dashcam; unimportant things are simply deleted in a twelve-hour cycle."
Cui Zui didn't know what a dashcam was, but he understood that Xue Jin'an was saying the Fourth Prince was brainless.
In short, these two brothers, who were very close to each other, lived too close to each other to be able to guess who the eldest prince was going to see based on his movements.
Xue Jin'an refreshed the homepage several times with lightning speed, but he still couldn't see the First Prince's shadow. This was obviously a problem.
After confirming that everything was normal in the other courtyards of the prince's residence, Xue Jin'an had made his decision.
"It seems to have been thoroughly cleaned up." Judging from personality, ability, motivation, and style of handling affairs, it seems more likely that the Fifth Prince was the one who carried out the cleanup.
After all, the Fifth Prince was difficult to deal with, had high martial arts skills, and was more perceptive in observing him. Xiao Shu's death was his desperate attempt to survive, and also his stepping stone to join the An Prince's interest group.
From this perspective, it seems quite reasonable that the Fifth Prince would eliminate spies in order to avoid exposing himself.
On the contrary, precisely because of the above reasons, his chances with Xue Jin'an have actually decreased.
The Fifth Prince was a daring and intelligent man. He was used to walking a tightrope between every household, leaving himself little room for normalcy. Rather than eliminating all the spies, the Fifth Prince preferred to put on a show under the watchful eyes of the public.
Xue Jin'an gave his final conclusion: the purge was carried out by someone closely related to the Fourth Prince.
As for why we didn't guess it was the Fourth Prince himself, please see the previous article for a detailed analysis report.
In Xue Jin'an's words, this is a dashcam; it simply doesn't have the memory to handle such complex thinking and subsequent matters. — This refers to quietly resolving the issue of the spies in the Imperial Wardrobe without the Emperor or Teacher Xiao X noticing anything amiss.
Through his outstanding performance in reviewing memorials, Teacher X has now taken over 70% of the emperor's political affairs and is still gradually infiltrating the system. Teacher X is now responsible for reviewing and approving almost all of the emperor's written work.
The emperor now lives a very leisurely life and visits the harem much more frequently.
He was quite generous in his favors, and good news kept coming from the newly selected concubines. The number of princes in the palace had reached seventeen, and the number of princesses was approaching double digits.
If this trend continues, the emperor could achieve his KPIs several years ahead of schedule and produce the number of princes mentioned in the story.
At the same time, the emperor's loving yet cold-hearted nature was also revealed. If he had to choose a concubine on fifteen days of the month, he would spend half of those days in the bed of a different woman. Once these women became pregnant, it would be difficult for them to see the emperor again. Even if they tried to use the child as leverage, Li Hechun would only come forward to appease them.
"If you're not feeling well, consult the imperial physician; if you're in a bad mood, find ways to amuse yourself... I am the emperor, I have no time to play around with them, tell them to behave themselves." These were the emperor's exact words, spoken with considerable impatience.
Many concubines were troubled and heartbroken by the significant difference in their appearance before and after the emperor had his way with them. Some even suffered miscarriages as a result. Some concubines who had not yet gained the emperor's favor or who had gained the emperor's favor but had not become pregnant tried to prevent pregnancy, but after a while, the emperor grew tired of them. Without children to rely on, their lives would only become more difficult.
The emperor's indulgence and favoritism towards them seemed to be solely for the sake of having offspring.
It seemed they had no choice at all; their only option was not to invest their true feelings in the emperor.
Yet some still couldn't help but fall for the emperor's feigned affection, wanting more, believing themselves to be different, that the emperor's "ruthlessness" was because he hadn't met them, firmly believing he would change, and fantasizing about replacing the late empress and Consort Zhen as the emperor's next "true love."
To date, all those who harbor such unrealistic ideas have failed miserably.
That said, the emperor's concern for the princes was limited, and he might not really care too much about the elimination of the spies. However, Teacher X was a code life form composed of data, and it had no bias towards any work. Therefore, if the reports from the spies in the Imperial Wardrobe were abnormal, it would definitely find out.
But Xue Jin'an had never heard Teacher Xiao X mention this matter.
This indicates that the spies west of the Prince's residence were not dead, but were sent elsewhere. There must also be an informant in the Imperial Guard assisting in the operation, and in a high position, so that the entire deception could be carried out smoothly without being detected.
In conclusion, the possibility that the Fourth Prince was the one who carried out this whole plan is almost zero, while the First Prince fits the psychological profile of the person behind the scenes very well.
To be honest, since Chu Wenwan's incident, the Fourth Prince has indeed become closer to the First Prince. However, the First Prince has focused on the court, while the Fourth Prince has become much more silent and less noticeable. Therefore, the relationship between the two is not so prominent.
The First Prince must have instructed the Fourth Prince to do something in secret, and the matter is of great importance. Therefore, the First Prince is extremely concerned about the issue of secrecy and has not hesitated to use the pawns of the Imperial Wardrobe.
So the question is, what qualities does the Fourth Prince possess that made the First Prince value him and try so hard to keep him by his side?
Xue Jin'an thought and thought, but only two words came to mind: No.
He had difficulty finding the longest plank on the wooden tub.
Time flew by as he pondered, and the First Prince reappeared in the scene. Xue Jin'an immediately scanned him from head to toe. He looked no different from before, except that the jade pendant at his waist was gone.
Xue Jin'an timed it; he had only been gone for a quarter of an hour, which included the round trip from the crossroads to Suhuiyuan. There wasn't even enough time left to drink a cup of tea.
Therefore, it is very likely that the eldest prince only met with the fourth prince once, handed over the jade pendant, and exchanged a few words.
After leaving the Princes' quarters, the eldest prince went straight out of the palace. Consort De's trusted eunuch watched him leave before returning to the horse farm to report to Consort De.
Consort De's expression was neither pleasant nor unpleasant. She silently rubbed the gold nugget in her hand for a while, and after a long while, she seemed to laugh out loud, "Little Stone, you're lying to me again, just as I thought."
After she finished speaking, she casually tossed the gold to the person behind her, "Go, melt it down and make it into a sphere, as small as you can."
Ignoring the expressions on her confidants' faces after receiving the order, she grabbed the riding whip and strode out, shouting, "Today I will ride my horse to my heart's content, and no one is to disturb me!"
Afterwards, Consort De indeed rode her horse to her heart's content, and the other horses in the riding arena were also eager to follow suit, but they had no choice but to put on their reins and could only hear a chorus of "whoa!"
The sounds rose and fell like a symphony. Xue Jin'an's prediction was very accurate. He immediately shut down the live stream the moment the first "whoosh" was heard.
Xue Jin'an continued to think intently about the First Prince and the Fourth Prince, tapping the virtual screen in front of him with his fingertip, pondering whether or not to release Xia Xiazi.
He brought all those spies to the prince's camp back then; who knows, he might bring in another batch if he comes again?
It wasn't that Xue Jin'an didn't have a better method; it was just that he was certain that the Fourth Prince had some kind of "insurance" from the First Prince. Xia Zi, as a free robber delivered to his door, was more cost-effective to use, and he wouldn't feel bad if he lost her.
Xia Xiazi ultimately failed to find a new job. While Xue Jin'an was pondering how to find out what the Fourth Prince had, someone was thinking of selling him the information.
Xue Jin'an had a habit of watching the recorded morning court session before going to bed. He opened the software while lying in bed, and a reminder popped up in the background:
[Blogger @Xue Ziyuan tagged you, come check it out! Live stream link: Xue Jin'an, I have a secret, do you have any wine?]
Xue Jin'an was stunned when he saw the unfamiliar name. When he clicked on it, the live stream was dark as if it hadn't started. He clicked on the profile picture to open the personal space and found that it was actually the Fifth Prince, Xue Junjue.
Ziyuan is probably the courtesy name the Fifth Prince gave himself. Xue Jin'an's abilities often reveal reflections of human reality or inner thoughts.
The Fifth Prince's live stream showed his newly chosen courtesy name instead of his given name, which shows how much he disapproved of his name and wished he could erase it altogether.
Xue Jin'an narrowed his eyes.
The First Prince went to see the Fourth Prince today, and since the two live close by, the Fifth Prince wanted to reveal a secret to him tonight... Xue Jin'an's data suggests that there is absolutely no connection between the two.
The Fifth Prince is someone who thrives on chaos, so it's likely that what the Fourth Prince discovered was even more deadly than Xue Jin'an imagined.
Xue Jin'an waited patiently for a while, but the live stream remained dark and silent.
This is clearly not a normal live stream.
As mentioned earlier, some of the things Xue Jin'an sees with his magic are often reflections of human reality or inner thoughts.
The reality is that the Fifth Prince discovered the secret and even hinted that he wanted to sell the information to him; however, in reality, the Fifth Prince is closed off and currently has no intention of revealing this intention.
It was already past Xue Jin'an's usual bedtime, and seeing that there was still no activity in the live stream, Xue Jin'an decided to give up.
Just as he was about to end the live stream, a voice finally came through.
The Fifth Prince spoke in a teasing tone, his voice slow and gentle, "Fourth Brother, you don't want Seventh Brother to know about this, do you? How about I help you—"
The words abruptly stopped, and the live stream shut down before our eyes.
Xue Jin'an: "..."
Xue Jin'an clicked the link again with a "snap," thinking expressionlessly: He said he would show him the secret, but his heart is so closed off that there is not a glimmer of light in it. He said he would help the Fourth Prince, but he sells out faster than he says anything.
The Fifth Prince's human nature is indeed that of a traitor.
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