"Master, why don't we wait? Perhaps other clues will emerge." Lanqin recalled that it seemed to be the Third Prince who went to Emperor Kangxi to "report" Yinti, not the Fourth Prince.
"Wait?" Fourth Master asked.
“Yes, perhaps we should wait and see. Maybe someone will speak up,” Lanqin said.
"Hmm. I can't investigate right now. How about we investigate at Prince Heshuo's residence?" This was the source of the Fourth Prince's frustration. Kangxi had entrusted him with this thorny matter, but the target of the investigation was none other than Prince Heshuo, Yinqi. Was he being asked to expose this cold-faced prince?
Lanqin's guess was correct; the two people who had driven Yinti crazy were currently at the side gate of Prince Yi's residence, talking to several gatekeepers.
"You two get out of here right now, or I'll call someone to beat you up!" The young servant at the door saw an old man and a young man who looked like beggars standing at the door and insisted on seeing Prince Yi.
"Go and inform the Prince immediately! Tell him that if he agrees to see us, you'll be assured you won't be scolded by your Prince Yi!" the young man urged. Both men were dressed as beggars, their clothes so tattered they were unrecognizable.
"Pah! You two, get out of here right now! If you dare say another word, watch out for your lackeys!" The servants at the gatehouse, seeing the two beggars insisting on seeing Prince Yi, wished they could immediately grab their weapons and beat them to the ground.
"Now I can finally see Prince Yi, right?" The older beggar took out a silver ingot from his tattered bag and gave it to the gatekeeper.
The servant was taken aback when he saw that the beggar could produce such a large piece of silver. However, he still didn't believe the two men in front of him, so he asked, "What brings you to see our prince?" The servant asked, for the sake of the silver.
"Young man, this is very important. If you don't go and report it, your prince will find out and you won't be able to escape punishment," the old beggar said, making a tugging motion around his neck.
The young servant was frightened by the old beggar's actions, shrank back, and finally nodded, saying, "Wait here, I'll go and inform him."
The door was closed again. The two beggars looked at each other, then looked around. Seeing that no one was there, they breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hey, Master, even if we talk to Prince Yi, will we still not survive?" the young beggar asked.
"We won't survive if we don't talk. Do you think our master will let us go?" the old beggar said.
"Why don't we run away together?" the young beggar said.
"Escape? Where can we escape to? Do you think we can escape his grasp?" the old beggar glared at the young beggar.
“Indeed! All the land under heaven belongs to the king!” said the young beggar.
The two of them caught their breath and sat down together on the steps by the door. After all, their clothes weren't any cleaner than the ones on the ground.
After a while, the door behind the two creaked open from the inside.
Both of them quickly turned around and stood up from the ground.
"Come in with me!" the servant said calmly.
"I knew Prince Yi would see us!" the old beggar said, patting the dust off his clothes.
The two of them stepped onto the stairs one after the other and entered the door.
After the servant led the two strange people inside, Prince Yi withdrew from his study.
"This humble servant greets Prince Yi!" The two said almost in unison to the Third Master, who was dressed in casual clothes.
The Third Master was having his meal at Madam Tian's place when his personal eunuch, Sanhuan, heard a report from the gatekeeper and immediately went to inform him. The Third Master initially didn't want to see them, but Sanhuan reminded him, "The matter of the Crown Prince is still unresolved; why not see them and see what they want?"
Third Master always listened to this servant, so he left Madam Tian behind and went to the study in the front courtyard to meet them.
"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Third Master frowned as he looked at the two beggars in front of him, and even regretted coming to see them.
"Your Highness, I have come to see you because I have a very important matter I wish to discuss with you and make a deal!" said the older beggar.
Third Master already felt that meeting these two beggars was a waste of his time, but he never expected that these beggars would want to do business with him!
This is absolutely absurd!
"How dare you! What do you want? You actually want to make a deal with me!" the Third Master said angrily.
"Does Prince Yi not want to know the secret of the Crown Prince being poisoned? If I were to use this to make a sexual deal with Your Highness, would that be acceptable or not?" The beggar remained unmoved.
Third Master stared at the two beggars in astonishment; he hadn't expected that Third Ring's prediction would actually come true.
"It seems Your Highness doesn't want to know, then I'll take my leave!" Seeing that the Third Master was looking at the two of them with surprise and remained unmoved, the old beggar was about to pull his companion's arm and leave!
"Wait!" Third Master immediately called out to the two of them.
The old beggar's lips curled up, as if he had already anticipated that Third Master would call them back.
"Do you really know about the Crown Prince being infected with the Gu worm?" Third Master asked, still looking incredulous.
“I dare not speak nonsense before Third Master. We are being hunted by him, and we might not survive if we go out! I know that Third Master is benevolent and will not stand idly by, especially since the Crown Prince is involved!” the old beggar said.
"Who exactly are you? Tell me quickly!" Third Master had already accepted the situation.
The old beggar smiled and said, "Your Highness, now that we've spoken, can you guarantee our safety?"
"Who exactly are you? If you dare to deceive me, I will never let you leave this palace again!" the Third Prince said coldly.
The two beggars exchanged a glance, and the younger one began to recount his story with Prince Yinqi, starting with fortune-telling, and continuing until he led Yinqi to see the old man. It turned out that these two beggars were actually Gao Tan and the old man in disguise. After escaping from Prince Yinqi's estate, they deliberately disguised themselves as beggars to evade Yinqi's pursuit.
"You...you mean the Crown Prince's poisoning was done by Prince Heshuo?" Third Master asked.
“That’s right, exactly. He’s utterly ruthless and insane in his desire to get rid of the Crown Prince. He’s forcing us to do something as devastating as exterminating our entire families. Your Highness, we were all forced into this, which is why we escaped from him. Your Highness, please save us! We’re willing to do anything for you, as long as we can keep our lives.” Gao Tan said, looking earnestly at the Third Master. He was no fool.
Third Master felt this was a perfect opportunity to eliminate Yinti, but he was also a little worried about whether he could get rid of him safely. Would it backfire?
“Your Highness, if you don’t dare to report Prince Heshuo to the Emperor, then we will have no choice but to tell others.” Old Master Shan said, seeing the Third Master’s hesitant expression.
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