Fourth Master and Tang Bin stared at the empty cell, each feeling a pang of unease. They had almost caught them every time, but each time they escaped.
"Go in and take a good look!" Tang Bin instructed several guards, whose usual professional instinct was to examine any traces left behind.
"Lord Tang, it seems the other party found out very quickly!" Fourth Master said.
"Yes, the other side has also placed spies around us!" said Lord Tang.
Fourth Master looked around and said, "It seems that it will be impossible to capture them without spending some effort."
"Sir! There's something going on here!" A guard who was inspecting the prison was squatting on the ground when he suddenly noticed something. He immediately stood up and shouted to Tang Bin.
Fourth Master and Tang Bin exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes, and then quickly entered the cell.
"Your Highness, Your Excellency, look! There are some words here!" The guards said hurriedly as they saw the Fourth Prince and Tang Bin enter.
Fourth Master and Tang Bin walked together in the direction the guard pointed, and squatted down to look at the place he was pointing to.
Sure enough, on the ground beneath a pile of hay, someone had carved four characters with a sharp object: I am in Shijia!
The Fourth Prince's eyes narrowed, and he felt as if his heart was about to leap out of his chest. His guess was indeed correct; it was all the work of the Shi family, the Crown Princess's family, who had orchestrated this series of events that shocked the court.
"Your Highness, let's search Shi Bingde's house. They must have received a tip, which is why they moved him away. But I have a question: why didn't they just kill Shi Junyan? Only the dead can keep secrets. Why go through all this trouble to hide him?" Tang Bin said.
"There must be something about Shi Junyan that makes them hesitant to kill him easily, otherwise they would have silenced him long ago," Fourth Master said.
"It seems the key still lies with the Shi family," Tang Bin said.
Fourth Master nodded. After everyone had left the courtyard and returned outside, Fourth Master and Quan Xinwei were the last to come out.
The Fourth Prince was not happy to have found Shi Junyan, and he rode his horse sullenly along the path. After they parted ways, the Fourth Prince had Quan Xinwei accompany Su Peisheng back to the Yong Prince's Mansion.
However, when the Fourth Prince stepped into the gate of Prince Yong's mansion, he saw that the servants who came to greet him all had their heads bowed and their faces filled with sorrow. Before the Fourth Prince even reached the front courtyard, he saw that all the servants had white gauze wrapped around their waists.
Someone in his own household had died? How come he didn't know! This thought suddenly struck the Fourth Prince, and he immediately stopped a servant, saying, "What's going on? Why are you all wearing white mourning clothes? Who died?"
The young servant dared not look at the Fourth Master's face and stammered, "Yes, yes!"
"Master!" Lanqin, supported by Cui Niang, walked out from the front yard and saw the Fourth Master questioning a young servant. Following closely behind her were Madam Song, Madam Wu, and Madam Geng.
Another person came out from the other side; it was Nian Shi, and then it was Wuya Shi.
Fourth Master noticed that their faces all showed sadness, and that they had all changed into plain white clothes, and their hair was no longer adorned with colorful pearls.
The Fourth Prince racked his brains, going through himself and all the older or chronically ill people in the palace, but found nothing. Could it be the old concubines in the palace?
"Who died?" Fourth Master asked, looking at Lanqin.
"Master, yes, it's the Third Prince Hongjun who's gone!" Lanqin said, a tear streaming down her face.
Fourth Master stared at Lanqin in disbelief, then looked at the others, all of whom were wiping their eyes with handkerchiefs.
"How could this be! Isn't Hongjun in the palace?" The Fourth Prince's throat felt as if a wad of cotton had been stuffed into it, and he suddenly became hoarse. Perhaps because several children had already died, he thought his heart had hardened like iron and he wasn't so sad anymore, but when he heard Lanqin say that Hongjun was gone, his heart couldn't help but suddenly ache.
"Your Highness, Hongjun is inside. People in the palace say he was arguing with Hongxi, and Hongjun fell from a tree, broke his neck, and died instantly," Lanqin said. It turned out that while the Fourth Prince and Tang Bin were leading people out, in the Imperial Study in the palace, Hongjun and Hongxi had a quarrel. They somehow ended up at Jieyu Abyss, and both fell into the water. However, when they were rescued, Hongxi was still breathing, while Hongjun was dead.
"How could this be? They fell into the water at the same time?" Fourth Master's mind went blank. But no matter how much he couldn't believe it, Hongjun's body wouldn't lie.
Fourth Master staggered into the front yard, where he saw a small coffin laid out in the very center, and inside lay Hongjun, whom he had seen just a few days ago. He didn't see these children every day anymore; often, he wouldn't see them for several days at a time.
Fourth Master rushed to Hongjun's coffin and looked at his handsome features, which had begun to mature. His appearance was a combination of Fourth Master's and Li Shi's; one could say that this child was very good at growing up, resembling both his parents.
Lanqin looked at twelve-year-old Hongjun, who already looked like a young boy. Although he wasn't her son, she had raised him for two years, but now he could only lie in a cold coffin, lifeless.
"Who spread the news from the palace? The conclusion is that he fell to his death?" The Fourth Prince forced out a few words through gritted teeth, suppressing his grief.
“It was Mother who sent them. She has already invited the imperial physicians to examine the body. He fell from a height and hit his neck,” Lanqin said.
The Fourth Prince's fists clenched suddenly, his shoulders twitched, and he said, "Don't hold the funeral yet. Lay Hongjun's body out and put ice in his coffin. I'll go to the palace immediately and demand an explanation from him."
Seeing that the Fourth Prince was going to the palace, Lanqin quickly said, "Yes, Your Highness, I will accompany you."
"No need, you still have Hongli with you. You all need to keep a close watch on him. I can't let Hongjun die without knowing why," Fourth Master said.
As the Fourth Prince, with a grim expression, rode a fine horse towards the Forbidden City, the Crown Prince's palace was also shrouded in gloom.
Hongxi had already been punished by the Crown Prince and made to kneel in the courtyard of Minqing Palace. The Crown Princess Shi stood beside the Crown Prince, while Li Shi held a handkerchief and looked at her son with a worried expression.
"You unfilial son, kneel here and die! How am I supposed to explain this to your fourth uncle! Did you push Hongjun?" The crown prince was furious.
“No, it wasn’t my son. My son didn’t push him,” Hongxi said firmly. He was also terrified at that moment, because he had watched helplessly as someone pushed Hongjun into the water.
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