Chapter 106
The night was as dark as ink, and the cold wind blew the remaining snow, knocking against the window frames.
Inside Guanyun Hall, the lights were bright. Shen Yanzhi sat behind his desk, his fingers tapping the surface intermittently, making a dull sound. Chunhe's death was like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing the joy of Bai Ri's resounding victory and exposing their opponent's ruthlessness and decisiveness nakedly before them.
"What a clever escape!" Shen Yanzhi sneered. "He wants to take all the blame for the life of a maid, so that Uncle Wei can rest easy? He really underestimates me."
"He's not looking down on you. He's just calculating that we don't have direct evidence." Song Qingyuan walked up behind him and put his hand on his tense shoulders. "Chen Ruyi's words have limited weight in the eyes of the emperor. A jealous and envious concubine, before dying, made random accusations to exonerate herself. This argument is too easy to be dismissed."
"So, the key lies in that 'Huichuntang'." Shen Yanzhi held her hand with his backhand and looked up at her.
"That's right." Song Qingyuan's eyes flashed with wisdom. "Chun He is dead, but Hui Chun Tang is still there. The shopkeeper Qian who gave Chun He the poison is the new clue. But we can't just go and arrest him."
"Stirring up trouble." Shen Yanzhi immediately understood what she meant. "Since the King of Wei could kill Chun He without hesitation, he must have set up defenses at Huichun Hall. If we take action, they will just repeat their old tricks. By then, Manager Qian will 'commit suicide out of fear of punishment,' and the clue will be truly lost."
"So, we have to try another way and let them hand over the evidence themselves." Song Qingyuan walked around to the table, picked up a pen, and wrote the three words "Huichuntang" on the paper.
"What do you mean?" Shen Yanzhi's interest was piqued. He liked to see her strategizing and having a grasp of the situation.
Song Qingyuan's lips curled up into a sly smile. "Your Highness, what do you think the people in Prince Wei's Palace would do if they knew we were targeting Huichun Hall and were collecting evidence of their dealings?"
“They will destroy all real evidence immediately.” Shen Yanzhi’s eyes lit up.
"That's right." Song Qingyuan pointed at the three words "Huichuntang" with the tip of his pen. "So, the first step we need to take is to spread the word."
"How do I put it?"
"Your Highness could send a team of imperial guards to raid Shen Ruyi's Qingzhi Pavilion with great fanfare, searching for evidence of her affair with someone outside the palace. Then, they could 'accidentally' discover a large expenditure in her account book that points to Huichuntang, under the guise of 'purchasing expensive supplements.'"
Song Qingyuan explained, "Of course this account is fake. I asked Tingyu to imitate Shen Ruyi's handwriting to forge it. But it is enough to give Your Highness a fair reason to investigate Huichuntang."
Chen Yanzhi clapped his hands, "Great! This way, our investigation into Huichuntang won't be based on Shen Ruyi's last-minute accusations, but rather on the seizure of the 'stolen funds'. It's perfectly legitimate, and no one can say anything."
"This is just the first step, a conspiracy for King Wei to see." Song Qingyuan drew another circle on the paper, encircling "Shopkeeper Qian." "Next, the second step is a trap set specifically for this Shopkeeper Qian."
She lowered her voice, leaned close to Shen Yanzhi's ear, and explained it this way.
After Shen Yanzhi finished listening, his eyes were almost overflowing with admiration. He pinched Song Qingyuan's cheek and said with a smile: "Sometimes I really wonder what is in your little head. Why do you always have so many unexpected ideas?"
Song Qingyuan slapped his hand away and said angrily, "Your Highness, if you make fun of me again, I will not do this job anymore."
"Okay, okay, it's my fault." Shen Yanzhi quickly begged for mercy, his eyes full of pampering, "I will listen to you, my military advisor."
The next morning, a group of imperial guards stormed into Qingzhi Pavilion, rummaging through the cabinets and causing a great deal of commotion. Within half an hour, the commander of the imperial guards returned to the Crown Prince with a copy of "incriminating evidence"—Shen Ruyi's account book. The Crown Prince was furious and immediately ordered a thorough investigation of Huichuntang, the company that had financial dealings with Shen Ruyi.
The news spread throughout the capital city as fast as it could grow wings.
In the study of Prince Wei's mansion, Prince Wei threw his beloved Ru kiln teacup to the ground, and the fragments flew everywhere.
"Chen Yanzhi! What does he want to do?" King Wei was furious. "With a fake account book, he wants to touch my people?"
Li Deyu, standing by, was calmer. He picked up the debris from the ground and said slowly, "Your Highness, please calm down. This simply proves that they have no other evidence and can only resort to this unacceptable method to deceive us."
"We can't just let him investigate!" The King of Wei paced back and forth impatiently. "Even though Huichuntang's accounts are kept clean, it would be troublesome if they found even the slightest clue."
"Your Highness is right." Li Deyu narrowed his eyes. "To be safe, let Manager Qian dispose of those unclean things. Especially... that leftover 'almond powder'. Keeping that stuff will only bring disaster."
"Well, you go and do it. Let him do it cleanly and don't leave any traces." King Wei waved his hand.
Li Deyu bowed and accepted the order, with a barely perceptible sneer on his face.
At night, at the back door of Huichun Hall.
A thin man in the clothes of a drugstore clerk poked his head out stealthily and looked around. Seeing that the alley was empty, he breathed a sigh of relief and walked out quickly, carrying a heavy sack.
He didn't take the main road, but chose to go through those remote and deserted alleys. His goal was the moat in the south of the city. As long as he threw the bag into the river, no one would notice, and everything would be over.
The alley was dark, lit only by a faint yellow light from lanterns hanging from the eaves of distant houses. The man felt uneasy and couldn't help but quicken his pace.
Just as he turned a corner, his foot suddenly tripped, and he lurched forward with a cry of "ouch!" The sack in his hands flew out, breaking open and spilling out a pile of bottles, jars, and several booklets. Worse still, one of the celadon bottles shattered, spilling white powder onto the floor. In the dim light, it gave off a faint, bitter smell of almonds.
The guy was so scared that he wanted to clean up in a panic.
"Don't move."
A cold voice came from above his head.
The guy raised his head stiffly and saw a man in black standing on the wall. He was as agile as a leopard and was looking down at him.
At the same time, several figures appeared silently at both ends of the alley, blocking all his escape routes.
The leader was none other than Lin Xiaoshu. He walked forward with a grin, a hemp rope in hand, and kicked the account book on the ground with his toes. "Hey, young man, it's late at night, it's not good to throw things around. What if it hits the flowers and plants? Even if it doesn't hit the flowers and plants, it would be bad if it hits the 'evidence' that His Highness wants."
The man's face turned pale as death, and he slumped to the ground, unable to utter a word. He knew he had fallen into a trap.
Lin Xiaoshu waved his hand proudly behind him: "Team up! We've caught the criminal red-handed. Let's go back and claim our reward from the Crown Princess!"
He hummed a tuneless little tune, feeling extremely cheerful. Last night, when the Crown Princess had assigned him the task, she had specifically instructed him not to rob, but to quietly pull a thin hemp rope along the path he had to pass. This trusted servant of Manager Qian, feeling guilty and panicking, stumbled and fell.
What do you call this? This is called "conquering the enemy without fighting"! The Crown Princess is truly amazing!
When the secret account book that recorded all the shady transactions between Prince Wei's Mansion and Huichuntang, along with the bag of bitter almond powder as evidence, were placed in front of Shen Yanzhi, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince finally revealed a truly relieved smile.
He looked at Song Qingyuan beside him. There was still a trace of fatigue on her face, but her eyes were brighter than any stars.
"Qingyuan," he held her hand and said solemnly, "After dawn, I will take these and go to the emperor and ask him to seek justice for us and the Eastern Palace."
The time has finally come to tighten this carefully woven net. This time, more than just a clever crab is caught in the net.
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