"What!?" Yun Xi exclaimed in surprise.
"How did you find out? What does the emperor mean by this? Is he going to take action against A Yuan?"
"Not sure yet." Frowning, Hun Yuan replied, "I just discovered it two days ago."
"Speaking of which, I owe this discovery to Lian Yi. On the first day of the lunar new year, all the princes entered the palace. I went to offer prayers as usual. Since I had just taken Lian Yi in, she had to familiarize herself with these things, so I took her with me."
"Who would have thought that Lian Yi secretly signaled to me, saying that Yi Yuan was stained with a color she had never seen before. And this color was also on the emperor."
"You know, the emperor and A Yuan are just monarch and subject, and it's normal for them to have interactions. But Lian Yi specifically told me about this, so this color must have come from someone else, and it must be someone they both accidentally came into contact with."
Putting his hand on the table, Hun Yuan lowered his voice even more. "Lian Yi's intuition is dozens of times sharper than ordinary people's, so I took extra care. When I went back and divined for A Yuan, I found that a disaster was indeed approaching. Moreover, I also noticed that all the files and brochures left by the master had been tampered with."
Trimming his clean fingers and gently tapping on the table, Hun Yuan pondered. "However... I've actually found a clue about that concubine in the palace who Zhang Huan said had a close relationship with the old prince."
"Oh?" Yun Xi's eyes lit up and she asked eagerly, "Who is it?"
Sighing dejectedly, Hun Yuan's eyes showed a hint of sadness. "It's Concubine Qing, who was once extremely favored by the late emperor."
"Concubine Qing?" Yun Xi widened her eyes. "I heard about her when I was young. It's said that she was the daughter of a merchant the late emperor accidentally met during his southern tour. She had fair skin and a beautiful face, comparable to a goddess. The late emperor fell in love with her at first sight and immediately promised her marriage and brought her back to the palace. She was conferred the title of concubine a few years later."
"It's a pity that she was unlucky. She had no children and died of the epidemic a few years after entering the palace. Otherwise, with the late emperor's preference for her at that time, the position of the queen might have ended up in her hands."
"But..." Scratching her cheek in confusion, Yun Xi didn't understand. "Considering Concubine Qing's unparalleled favor in the harem at that time, even if the position of the queen wasn't in her hands, except for the empress dowager, she was the most noble woman in the palace. If she had a prince..."
Yun Xi paused and didn't say the following treasonous words. Instead, she said, "Anyway, no matter what, she had no reason to take such a risk and do something that would implicate nine generations of her family. And even if it was really her and the old prince who jointly planned the epidemic, why would she sacrifice her own life?"
The air suddenly fell silent. The two looked at each other and thought of the same answer:
The only thing that could make a woman willingly give up such supreme nobility and do things for others was love.
Although the late emperor and the old prince were born of the same mother, the late emperor was about ten years older than the old prince. It was understandable that Concubine Qing favored the old prince, Yi Fu.
But love wasn't something where if you wholeheartedly loved someone, that person would love you back wholeheartedly. In fact, a man's true heart often changed much faster than expected.
Concubine Qing might have truly loved Yi Fu. But for Yi Fu, Concubine Qing's identity as his sister-in-law, the late emperor's woman, was a sword hanging over his head. The best way to prevent this sword from falling and hurting himself was to get rid of the sword.
And the epidemic happened to be the most perfect and reasonable solution.
Not knowing what to say for a moment, Yun Xi and Hun Yuan both fell silent.
"I think there might be other hidden reasons." Jiang Ning, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up. "The saying goes that like father, like son. Even if there might be some differences, if the old prince was really such a person, the King of Chi Xuan and the King of Yu An, who were carefully taught by him, wouldn't be like this."
This was indeed true.
Even though Yun Xi wasn't familiar with the King of Chi Xuan, just the fact that the King of Chi Xuan was willing to give up his wealth and glory for the sake of the Great Yin Dynasty and go to the border with his wife and children to endure hardships made Yun Xi reluctant to believe that the old prince could be so cruel.
Glancing at Hun Yuan, who was also deep in thought, Yun Xi asked, "A Ning is right. Senior brother, besides finding out that the concubine is Concubine Qing, do you have any other clues?"
"Especially the people who served Concubine Qing closely at that time, or the confidants around the old prince..."
Before she could finish her words, Hun Yuan showed a look of anger and pounded the wooden table heavily. He said angrily, "Stop talking. I don't know which damned person recorded the files back then. There's hardly any information about Concubine Qing. There's just her title and a sentence saying that she was from a merchant family and was extremely favored by the emperor. There's nothing else. I can't even find out her original name."
"Uh..." No wonder Hun Yuan's eyes were so sad just now. Yun Xi glanced at Jiang Ning sideways and asked persistently, "Then... what about the palace servants who served Concubine Qing at that time?"
Hun Yuan pulled the corner of his mouth numbly, and his eyes even showed a hint of emptiness. "The late empress used the epidemic as an excuse to get rid of them all."
"Tsk..." Yun Xi couldn't help but be shocked. "She really is worthy of being a queen. She really acts quickly and ruthlessly. It seems that she really hated Concubine Qing."
"Sigh..." Sighing, Yun Xi said with a hint of regret, "It's a pity that the late empress passed away not long after the emperor ascended the throne. Otherwise, she must have known a great deal about Concubine Qing's matter."
"Look at what you're saying," Hun Yuan gave Yun Xi a disdainful look. "Even if the late empress were still alive, would you dare to go and ask her? You probably wouldn't even be able to leave the Shoukang Palace."
Although... Hun Yuan was right.
Yun Xi pouted and thought for a while. As if suddenly thinking of something, she suddenly stood up abruptly and shouted, "Something's wrong! Something's really wrong..."
"Ah? What's going on?" Startled by Yun Xi's sudden outburst, Hun Yuan and Jiang Ning looked at each other and couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"
Yun Xi paced back and forth beside the table, then suddenly turned around and looked at Hun Yuan. "Senior brother, we can almost be sure now that the old prince was the real mastermind behind the epidemic. One of the reasons is that you found in the files that the old prince secretly entered and left the palace before and after the epidemic. He had a close relationship with one of the mysterious organization members who caused the epidemic that Master Qing Yi found out about, and it even led to the death of the late emperor."
"Then I got confirmation from Zhang Huan that the person who conspired with the old prince to create the epidemic and attempt to usurp the throne was a concubine in the palace, which is the Concubine Qing we found out about. Am I right?"
"Yes, what's the problem?" Hun Yuan nodded and didn't understand why Yun Xi was bringing this up again.
"And that mysterious organization," Yun Xi continued without answering Hun Yuan's question. "We've already confirmed that it's the group of the Holy Master, right?"
Nodding again, Hun Yuan's expression suddenly turned solemn. "Do you mean that since Concubine Qing was a member of the Holy Master's organization, then the Holy Master's group was the old prince's doing!?"