TBR CH151

Chapter 151: Ripples Stir – Who Did a Guilty Deed?

The jade pendant felt cool to the touch, played with carefully by Prime Minister Chu.

When he looked up, he saw Ji Ying, who had been nowhere to be found earlier, walking back to the pond. His dark hair was finally not scattered over his shoulders but bound with a hairpin. The eyes that had been hidden in shadow were now slightly illuminated by the sunlight, which made him appear somewhat novel.

Among those present, only Chu Huaicun’s gaze lingered on him for a moment.

Qin Sangzhi felt a little ignored, which displeased him. He proudly tilted his head, feeling superior for not clinging to Chu Huaicun’s sleeve and weeping like those common women. Moreover, he had once again donned snow-white robes after a long time, and his back straightened with them. He began to mimic the demeanor of a gentleman, elegant and aloof from worldly affairs.

“My poetry isn’t something just anyone can listen to.”

He haughtily addressed the others, dusting off imaginary dust from his clothes, then looked at Chu Huaicun affectionately. “This poem… I wrote it while suffering an unjust imprisonment, longing for an old friend. It’s merely an expression of my feelings, composed on a whim. I only wish that the person in my heart can also feel this cherish.”

Chu Huaicun, however, whether he didn’t understand or was mindful of Qin Sangzhi’s status as a pure scholar, simply said, “Your poems are naturally good. No one here would disagree. Young Master Qin, you truly suffered in the past few days, and today another accident occurred. These are all due to my negligence—”

“H-how could that be?”

Qin Sangzhi hadn’t expected the conversation to shift from romance to guilt.

Guilt was indeed a feeling he desired, but at this moment, he felt something was off. Through replacing the “white moonlight”, Chu Huaicun’s guilt and compensation towards him were already substantial; all that was missing was a moment of deep affection.

Qin Sangzhi bit his lip, his gaze involuntarily shifting to Ji Ying in the crowd. The implication couldn’t have been clearer:

“Of course, Prime Minister Chu can’t be blamed for this. I know there’s someone else behind the scenes. I don’t care about anything else; I believe no one can ever send me back to that hellish place again. Prime Minister Chu, why not first listen to me read… recite this poem I wrote for the person in my heart.”

He didn’t want to waste such a good opportunity.

It could both advance his progress in conquering Chu Huaicun and allow him a grand re-entrance before the public. Only Qin Sangzhi himself knew how much he longed to erase the disgrace of his imprisonment by standing before everyone again, enjoying the spotlight.

He wanted to arrogantly display his extraordinary talent and make everyone fall for his brilliance.

Ji Ying in the crowd, targeted by Qin Sangzhi, his expression quickly darkened, a mocking smile on his lips. Beside him, Prince Duan gave Ji Ying a meaningful glance. Although his face didn’t look good either, he seemed to be warning Ji Ying not to act impulsively at this moment. A silence fell among the crowd, waiting for Qin Sangzhi to fill it with his next lines of poetry. Until…

Someone no one expected broke the silence.

The Seventh Prince’s voice was like a mosquito’s buzz, drawing many gazes.

“Young… Young Master Qin is right,” he stammered, seemingly unaccustomed to being the center of attention. His face suddenly turned pale, and he seemed to doubt what he was about to say. “Prime Minister Chu doesn’t… doesn’t need to blame himself. I think there genuinely is someone behind the scenes targeting Young Master Qin.”

This was simply stating the obvious.

Even Chu Huaicun, as the host, looked somewhat helpless. “It’s difficult for Your Highness to speak up for me, but there’s no need to discuss this matter now—”

The Seventh Prince seemed to gather all his courage, finally shifting his gaze from his toes: “I’m not talking about before; I’m talking about what happened today.”

What happened today.

What else could it be? Of course, it was the attack and kidnapping that Young Master Qin endured.

Those present couldn’t help but gasp, their ominous premonitions finally confirmed. The banquet hosted by Prime Minister Chu was no ordinary summer retreat; it was clearly a ‘Hongmen Banquet’ (a trap) from which there was no return. The atmosphere had already been quite grim when Qin Sangzhi was attacked, but fortunately, Prime Minister Chu resolved it quickly, and the matter seemed to have smoothly concluded.

The next step should have been for the imperial court to investigate the physical evidence and witness testimonies, and then determine the cause of the incident and find the so-called mastermind. This should have been a protracted process.

This Prince must have gone mad to bring this matter up again at this moment.

Prime Minister Chu, however, uttered an “Oh?” and turned to carefully examine the eyes of this unfavored Prince:

“Since Your Highness says so, do you already know who did this?”

He had indeed said he would give the Seventh Prince an opportunity to present his ‘letter of surrender’ (a token of loyalty), but he hadn’t expected him to fulfill it so quickly. Who did this? – Of course, Chu Huaicun himself. And the Seventh Prince definitely didn’t know this.

He began to wonder how this Prince would pin the blame on someone else.

Chu Huaicun’s gaze was like a chillingly sharp blade, or a predator carrying a fatal threat. The Seventh Prince’s expression instantly worsened, as if regretting having broken the harmonious atmosphere. He began to stammer in defense:

“Perhaps I saw wrong, I don’t mean to accuse anyone, I just… just wanted to say what I saw. No one will blame me, right? Maybe I just thought wrong…”

“Just speak,” Chu Huaicun said softly. “No one can touch you.”

He was practically a lit fuse in the crowd. His panicked eyes darted around, and whoever they landed on felt a shiver, fearing they would be chosen as the target of accusation by this unremarkable Prince. Crown Prince was looked at twice by him and almost jumped up, pointing at this troublemaking younger brother and cursing him; Ji Ying was stared at for a while but remained calm, merely tidying his hair with his fingers.

When his gaze stopped…

When his gaze stopped, Prince Duan, who had always appeared steady and composed in front of others, almost blurted out a few curses. Prince Duan’s nails dug deep into his palms, and the smile on his face contorted into a chilling arc.

“Seventh Imperial Brother,” he said affably, “this farce is enough. Although we are not very close, I consider myself to have treated you well. If this is just a joke, it’s still not too late to stop now. Lest we realize it’s a misunderstanding later, which would be quite undignified.”

The two seemingly ordinary sentences somehow made people feel a sinister chill.

“Misunderstandings should always be cleared up,”

Prime Minister Chu’s voice was even colder, shielding the Seventh Prince behind him. “I believe no one present is an unreasonable person, and His Highness is not speaking without basis. He hasn’t even stated the grounds for his accusation yet; who has the right to absolve themselves beforehand?”

“Yes… yes,” the Seventh Prince quickly spoke. “I have evidence, Imperial Brother, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say it like this. Actually, I felt something was off at the time. When the Prime Minister’s manor steward reported the news, Imperial Brother didn’t seem surprised at all, as if he had known this would happen.”

“Based on just that?” Prince Duan found it incredibly absurd.

To him, Qin Sangzhi was merely a scholar under Chu Huaicun. He usually appeared gentle and refined, but no one truly regarded him as an enthusiastic poet. He also maintained his own status. If anything happened to Young Master Qin, not only would he not mourn the poetic talent, he would secretly rejoice.

After all, the group of aloof scholars that Qin Sangzhi represented were also part of Prime Minister Chu’s influence.

He was indeed not surprised at the time, nor did he show any signs of nervousness. This much was true. But he never expected that all of this had been noticed by those ordinary eyes beside him, and now, with a simple description, it had indeed drawn some suspicious gazes towards him.

“Nonsense!” he said indignantly.

“Imperial Brother, don’t be angry,” the Seventh Prince said timidly. “Of course, there’s more evidence than just that. Imperial Brother, do you remember that before this incident occurred, Lord Ji had left for a while? And when I returned, even Imperial Brother was gone…”

“That’s because…” Prince Duan almost choked, nearly blurting out, “That was to follow you,” but he restrained himself. “Lord Ji naturally had something to attend to, and I was merely hot and went to ask the Prime Minister’s manor servants for some ice.”

Suddenly, Ji Ying was mentioned. He raised his eyes, his lips moving:

“I was looking for Prime Minister Chu, but I didn’t find him.”

“Didn’t find him?” The Seventh Prince was somewhat surprised now, but then he understood. He likely met Chu Huaicun in the peach grove to avoid being seen, while Ji Ying was led to the reception hall and kept waiting, so Prime Minister Chu didn’t go over.

However, this suited his purpose perfectly.

He composed himself and raised his eyes: “Imperial Brother, although I really don’t want to say this, I saw it at the time… Because I drank too much at the start of the banquet, I left early to relieve myself. But at that time, the banquet had just been set up, and the servants were busy, and I was drunk, so I wasn’t sure how to get back. I just wandered around the Prime Minister’s manor. Then, I suddenly heard someone talking behind the rockery…”

“You,” Prince Duan’s expression changed, and he gritted his teeth, “are simply talking nonsense!”

“This matter is absolutely true,”

This time, the Seventh Prince no longer cared about threats and continued. “I heard someone talking about something related to the imperial prison, and it seemed they also mentioned ‘keys,’ ‘family members,’ ‘act immediately’… I didn’t dare listen further at the moment and was about to leave, but the other party was hurrying to leave, so I had to hide in a hollow behind the rockery, holding my breath and waiting for them to leave.”

Prince Duan could no longer bear it. The veins on his face could no longer be suppressed, and he lunged at the Seventh Prince with a terrifying expression.

Chu Huaicun’s hand rested on his sword.

This action brought Prince Duan back to a bit of reason. A chilling smile appeared on his lips as he pressed the Seventh Prince:

“What are you thinking? Based on a mere conversation, a mere reaction, you’re trying to pin such a huge accusation on this Prince? According to your statement, you didn’t even see a face. On the Prime Minister’s own grounds, isn’t the Prime Minister the most likely to have acted? So quick to jump to conclusions, hehe, Imperial Brother, it seems this Prince has failed to properly discipline you…”

Chu Huaicun’s sword had already slightly left its scabbard, revealing a gleam of cold light.

“I…” The Seventh Prince’s voice grew softer and softer. “I’m sorry, Prince Duan, but I said I have evidence. I was terrified at the time, so I wanted to escape quickly. But just then, I saw a pendant fall to the ground. And that pendant, that pendant, I immediately felt it looked familiar…”

Everyone present involuntarily turned their gazes to Prince Duan.

On the hem of Prince Duan’s luxurious dark robe, where a jade pendant usually hung, it was now empty.

And the Seventh Prince, trembling, reached into his sleeve, and a glowing piece of precious jade fell into his hand. Carved on it was precisely Prince Duan’s personal seal.

For a moment, although everyone was in an open-air environment, the surroundings were completely silent. People’s gazes seemed to have heat, gathering together as if to ignite the jade pendant. Prince Duan’s expression at this moment was also utterly pale. He touched the corner of his robe, clearly not yet realizing how he had fallen into such a predicament, and murmured to himself:

“I did drop a jade pendant, but I only went to ask the Prime Minister’s manor servants for ice, and it disappeared between going and coming back. I intended to say it earlier, but I didn’t think of it just now. This isn’t a problem.”

“Then I must ask His Highness Prince Duan,” Chu Huaicun said calmly, “with such evidence appearing, can there be a bigger problem?”

“And, oh yes…” the Seventh Prince interjected, apparently not finished,

“After Young Master Qin returned safely, I asked someone about the situation at the time. If I heard correctly, a prisoner in the jail somehow opened the door and kidnapped Young Master Qin in an attempt to escape. Imperial Brother, you should be more familiar with that person’s name than I am.”

Even Chu Huaicun hadn’t expected the situation to become this exciting.

These things were clearly arranged by him through Mr. Fang, but under the words of this Prince, they became inextricably linked to Prince Duan, reaching an undeniable point. Not only was there a witness, but also physical evidence, and not only physical evidence, it even involved a more complex identity.

“How would I know?!” Prince Duan subconsciously retorted.

“Even, even I have heard,”

The Seventh Prince recoiled another step, looking utterly innocent and even full of guilt for what he was about to say. “Back then, there was a murder case tried in the capital where the perpetrator killed dozens of people but was spared the death penalty, living a life of ignominy. Everyone said that Zhang Wu was the nephew of Imperial Brother’s mother’s family, with a high-ranking official backing him in court. This, this just lines up perfectly…”

As soon as these words came out, the matter was practically settled.

Prince Duan felt gazes like sharp blades piercing him, and for the second time in his life, he felt the same profound pain as when Chu Huaicun had driven him out of the capital years ago. He stared, his expression terrifying, at the Seventh Prince.

But no matter how the other party looked, he seemed just as terrified as Prince Duan, pointing to the sky and swearing: “I… this is all what I saw. I was wrong, Imperial Brother, I apologize to you, I don’t know what’s going on…”

He looked pathetic, almost on the verge of tears, not like someone who was lying.

“To dare to scheme against me,” Prince Duan gnashed his teeth. “Very good, very good. You are all very good.”

He appeared extremely suppressed and violent, but Chu Huaicun’s expression was not swayed by this noble Prince in the slightest, remaining as cold as the ice and snow on a mountaintop:

“If His Highness Prince Duan did nothing wrong, and merely went to get ice, how would his jade pendant have fallen off so perfectly?”

Although he knew this matter wasn’t done by Prince Duan, the Seventh Prince had indeed revealed something else:

—Prince Duan had a high chance of having done something wrong.

Looking at how he was still stubbornly clinging to his lie, it was probably something that couldn’t be easily confessed in a few words.

Qin Sangzhi was dizzy from listening, instinctively feeling something amiss, but after seeing Chu Huaicun’s expression, he relaxed. He thought that the other party would ultimately retaliate against anyone who hurt him, so he didn’t need to worry. Thus, he looked at Prince Duan with shared animosity, adding salt to his wound.

With things said to this extent, the banquet certainly couldn’t continue.

Not just the banquet, Qin Sangzhi’s first public appearance after his release from prison was also disrupted. The Seventh Prince was miserable, looking like someone who had accidentally stumbled upon a secret and feared being silenced. He humbly explained his experience to everyone he met, making it hard to distinguish between sincerity and pretense. Everyone couldn’t distinguish what exactly had happened and left the Prime Minister’s manor with their own thoughts, returning to their respective territories.

As for Prince Duan and Ji Ying beside him, they didn’t even make it back to their residence before being courteously detained by the Prime Minister’s manor staff.

Before the imperial court came to demand them, Chu Huaicun could still use some of his own methods.

Ji Ying was surprisingly quiet during the latter half of this farce, seemingly having long understood that no matter how much he struggled, he would fall into the trap set beforehand. He was also regarded as an accomplice and kept back, offering no opinions. His dark hair flowed along the curve of the hairpin, winding around the carved plum blossoms on the hairpin.

Upon seeing Chu Huaicun, he blinked and curved his lips:

“His Highness the Seventh Prince truly has good methods. It’s a pity… I didn’t even get to use those secrets I have about Prince Duan. Now I’m also kept here. Is this considered being temporarily confined by you? What does Prime Minister Chu want to do to me?”

His voice grew softer and softer. What should have been a normal matter became suggestive when he spoke it.

Ji Ying in this state had not been seen much lately. Perhaps the earlier kisses and promises had given him the courage to speak nonsense again.

Chu Huaicun was also happy to humor him, leaning down and looking into his pupils: “That depends on whether Lord Ji is willing to reveal those secrets.”

“If I’m not willing,”

Ji Ying raised his eyes, a faint, dark smile in their depths. “Will Prime Minister Chu personally interrogate me?”