Mu Xueshi looked toward the young girl once more. She still stood there with a calm expression, yet because of his own guilty conscience, Mu Xueshi kept feeling as though she was secretly laughing at him.
“Wenshu, the Third Prince and I need to discuss important matters. You and our daughter may withdraw for now. The servants in this room should leave as well.”
“Yes, Master.”
The moment Envoy Zhong gave the order, his wife respectfully bowed and led their daughter out into the courtyard.
Mu Xueshi cleared his throat and asked the Third Prince, “Do I need to leave too?”
“No.” The Third Prince’s voice was cold.
Mu Xueshi stuck out his tongue and obediently sat back down beside him.
Once only the three of them remained in the room, Envoy Zhong spoke to the Third Prince. “Your Highness, just as you predicted, soldiers from Lubei are still continuously infiltrating Yunxi. Originally there were two routes available, but after the Emperor ordered that no more grain be transported to Lubei, one of those routes was cut off. Now only a single route remains.”
“So my suspicions were correct. The very first group of soldiers smuggled in had hidden themselves among the grain transport teams, and Deputy General Mo never noticed. As for the remaining soldiers, they were part of the grain convoy we previously investigated—those secretly transporting supplies to Lubei. That operation was arranged in secret by Eunuch Li.”
Envoy Zhong could not help admiring the Third Prince’s intelligence. Nearly everything he had investigated had already been guessed by the Third Prince with frightening accuracy.
“Then how does Your Highness plan to deal with Eunuch Li?”
The Third Prince let out a cold laugh. “I’m afraid someone else has already dealt with him for me.”
A worried expression appeared on Envoy Zhong’s face as he cautiously asked, “Could it be that the Emperor already discovered Eunuch Li’s actions and ruthlessly executed him?”
“You are only half correct. Father Emperor indeed learned of his actions, but the one who killed him certainly was not Father Emperor. If Father Emperor truly intended to execute him, he would have announced it publicly before the officials during court as a warning.”
Envoy Zhong nodded. “Your Highness truly considers everything thoroughly.”
“Why can’t I understand any of this?”
Right as the atmosphere in the room was becoming increasingly tense, Mu Xueshi suddenly blurted out that sentence.
He had been holding it in for a long time already. At first, he had been fascinated by the conversation and thought discussing affairs of state sounded extremely interesting. But after listening for so long, the topic kept circling endlessly around grain, soldiers, and Eunuch Li. Every time Mu Xueshi finally felt like he understood part of it, the Third Prince and Envoy Zhong would suddenly fall silent. Then after Mu Xueshi waited forever for them to continue, they would shift to another topic entirely.
“You don’t need to understand. Just sit quietly at the side.” The Third Prince glanced at Mu Xueshi with a faint warning in his eyes.
Mu Xueshi immediately lifted his handsome chin and turned his gaze away from the Third Prince toward the opposite wall, humming unhappily to himself.
Even the usually stern Envoy Zhong could not suppress a slight smile.
“Based on your observations, ever since Hao Lin arrived in the imperial capital, approximately how many soldiers have infiltrated Yunxi through those two routes?” The Third Prince brought the discussion back on topic and ignored Mu Xueshi again.
“At least close to ten thousand men. When Emperor Lin previously led troops in the assault on the palace, that was only a fraction of their total force. Their initial advantage also came from the strength of their weapons. Those weapons had been hidden inside grain sacks and beneath the transport carts when the convoys returned. When the inspectors questioned it, the soldiers claimed they were weapons rewarded from Lubei’s military armory as thanks for Yunxi’s aid. The inspectors therefore paid little attention.”
“So those inspectors never reported it to Deputy General Mo?” The Third Prince’s expression darkened further.
“That’s correct. And after the incident occurred, they became even more afraid to speak up. I suspect the low-ranking soldiers responsible for transporting the weapons were already executed under Emperor Lin’s orders. Otherwise, we might still have been able to capture a few of them and interrogate them harshly to uncover where the weapons are hidden. Once their weapons are taken away, with only the forces they currently possess, defeating all of Yunxi would be nearly impossible.”
Crash!
The sharp sound of shattering porcelain instantly halted the Third Prince’s thoughts.
Mu Xueshi swallowed nervously as he stared at the antique vase broken across the floor, his face alternating between pale and dark. He cautiously glanced toward the Third Prince, obvious fear written all over his expression.
The Third Prince strode over with a dark face and immediately grabbed Mu Xueshi’s hand to inspect it. Seeing no injuries, he finally relaxed slightly. Meanwhile, Envoy Zhong quickly called for servants to clean up the shards, showing not the slightest intention of blaming Mu Xueshi. Instead, he even asked with concern whether Mu Xueshi had been hurt.
Deeply moved, Mu Xueshi said to Envoy Zhong, “This lord is truly kindhearted. If I ever see another vase like this one in the future, I’ll definitely buy it and send it over…”
“Ah!”
A sudden cry escaped him as he leapt backward. One hand clutched the other tightly while fear filled his large eyes.
At that moment, what the Third Prince held in his hand was the bamboo ruler he had casually picked up from the table. Normally, Envoy Zhong used it to discipline his mischievous young son. Earlier, upon hearing the Third Prince had arrived, he had hurriedly instructed his wife to lock their troublesome son away, yet forgot to put the ruler aside afterward.
Now Envoy Zhong could not help regretting it slightly. He only hoped the Third Prince had not struck too hard. If Mu Xueshi were actually hurt, then wouldn’t he become the guilty party instead?
“I was only trying to see what era it came from…” Mu Xueshi muttered weakly in self-defense, secretly pointing one finger toward the shattered vase on the floor.
Seeing the Third Prince raise the ruler again, Mu Xueshi hurriedly hid behind a chair and pleaded, “Don’t hit me anymore! I’ll compensate them, alright?”
“And with what exactly will you compensate them?” The Third Prince’s expression remained dark.
“I… I already said that if I see one, I’ll buy it for him,” Mu Xueshi replied softly.
The Third Prince snorted with amusement. “Buy it? Where would you get enough silver to purchase such a valuable antique?”
Envoy Zhong immediately interjected, “Your Highness, it truly doesn’t matter. Even this entire residence was bestowed upon me by Your Highness. Breaking one or two objects hardly amounts to anything.”
Envoy Zhong knew the Third Prince was not actually angry because Mu Xueshi had broken something in the house, but out of courtesy, he still had to say such things.
Mu Xueshi’s attention immediately fixated on the words “valuable antique.” Originally, he had wanted to say he could just steal some treasure from a random courtyard and sell it off, but when he met the Third Prince’s mocking gaze, he stubbornly declared instead, “At worst, I’ll go do odd jobs somewhere. Once I earn enough silver, I’ll buy another one.”
“No need. You can simply serve me every day instead. I guarantee the wages I pay would be enough to buy an entire antique shop.” The Third Prince spoke with clear amusement.
Mu Xueshi instantly exploded with indignation. What does he take me for?!
He had just been about to retort when he noticed the expression on the Third Prince’s face and realized he was joking.
“Enough. Sit here properly and don’t touch anything else in the room.” The Third Prince pulled Mu Xueshi toward a broad chair.
Mu Xueshi pouted and said nothing, though he still felt rather wronged inside. The Third Prince wouldn’t allow him to join the conversation, and now he was not even allowed to move around. Wasn’t he obviously being treated as a nuisance?
A sharp glint flashed through Envoy Zhong’s eyes as he asked the Third Prince, “Your Highness, I’ve thought of an idea. I wonder whether it might work.”
“Please speak, Envoy Zhong.”
“Since the soldiers from Lubei are still secretly infiltrating Yunxi, why don’t we send our own men disguised among them to travel alongside them? That way, wouldn’t we discover where they’re hiding?”
The moment Envoy Zhong finished speaking, the Third Prince smiled faintly.
“I already thought of that long ago. Otherwise, I would not have allowed them to continue infiltrating without interference.”
The moment the Third Prince said this, admiration filled Envoy Zhong’s face. Watching from the side, Mu Xueshi could not help feeling slightly jealous, mainly because he still had no idea exactly what it was that Envoy Zhong admired so much.
“It’s just that every soldier we’ve sent has never returned.”
The instant he heard that, Envoy Zhong’s expression changed again. The trace of excitement from before vanished, replaced entirely by worry.
“Then what does Your Highness intend to do? Should we report this matter to the Emperor? In my opinion, we should seal that route off as soon as possible. At present, the number of infiltrated soldiers is still under twenty thousand. But if their numbers continue to grow and we still cannot locate their hideouts, then there truly will be no way to reverse the situation.”
“Do you really think they only have twenty thousand soldiers?” The Third Prince’s eyes darkened. “The reason I have not sealed off that route is, firstly, to discover where the Lubei soldiers are hiding, and secondly, to draw out an even larger rebellious force.”
“What?!” Envoy Zhong’s face filled with shock. “Your Highness means that besides Eunuch Li, there are still other officials colluding with Lubei?”
“Eunuch Li was merely a decoy. Once he dies, Father Emperor will believe the true traitor within has already been eliminated and will naturally lower his guard,” the Third Prince replied.
The more Envoy Zhong thought about it, the graver his expression became. Finally, he looked toward the Third Prince and said solemnly, “Your Highness, I understand now. Emperor Lin’s purpose is simply to incite internal chaos, sacrificing the least amount of military force in exchange for the greatest possible gain. Could it be that the number of traitors is even greater than the number of Lubei soldiers infiltrating here?”
“I’m afraid it exceeds them several times over.”
“Then if they truly join forces, wouldn’t the imperial court have no ability left to resist at all?!”
“There is only one method,” the Third Prince said. “We must secretly eliminate the internal traitors before Lubei officially deploys troops.”
Only after hearing those words did Envoy Zhong fully understand how severe the situation truly was. He sat silently across from them, his brows tightly furrowed.
Meanwhile, Mu Xueshi had finally managed to vaguely piece together the general situation. Yunxi and Lubei were on the verge of war. Not only had Lubei secretly hidden military forces within Yunxi, they had also colluded with traitors from inside the nation itself, placing Yunxi in a disadvantageous position.
What Mu Xueshi still did not understand, however, was why Lubei intended to attack Yunxi in the first place. If it was because the Third Prince had killed Princess Wenyang, then why had nobody mentioned that matter at all during their discussion?
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