Chapter 460: Forget It
Xiao Wu looked up, blinked, and then it dawned on her. ’Looks like my sister knows those people!’
That put her at ease.
Xiao Wu yawned. She had probably eaten too much for dinner and was now getting sleepy.
In addition, a maid had already prepared a brazier in the room, making it toasty warm. It chased away the last of the chill, making her eyes too heavy to keep open.
Ye Chutang looked away, acting as if she hadn’t noticed anything, and took Xiao Wu to wash up.
Once everything was settled, she draped a snow-white cloak over her shoulders and sat down at the table again.
Tucked into her quilt, Xiao Wu drowsily watched her sister pick up a brush, seemingly writing something.
She wanted to go take a look, but she fell into a deep sleep before she could even move.
Ye Chutang’s expression was calm, her movements as fluid as flowing water as she wrote, stroke by stroke.
She was writing a prescription.
Emperor Muwu had a heart condition. Compounded by his advanced age, there was no possibility of a complete cure.
The only thing she could do was to alleviate his suffering as much as possible.
As Ye Chutang wrote, the Eldest Princess’s words from earlier today surfaced in her mind.
’Why don’t you go with him?’
A drop of ink fell onto the Xuan paper, quickly blooming into a dark stain.
Ye Chutang snapped back to reality and silently removed the ruined sheet of paper.
This time, however, the brush tip still hesitated, unwilling to fall.
An unknown amount of time passed before a sigh seemed to ride in on the night wind.
Ye Chutang gently pinched the bridge of her nose.
’Shen Yanchuan mentioned Qingzhou during the court assembly, so everything that followed must have been within his expectations. He was planning to investigate it all along.’
But Ye Chutang hadn’t expected him to go in person.
What she had expected even less...
...was that when the Eldest Princess made the suggestion, she had wavered for a moment, thinking it wasn’t such a bad idea.
Ye Chutang’s eyelashes fluttered lightly, like a dancing butterfly.
She took a deep breath, suppressed the turmoil in her heart, and completed the prescription.
Gazing at the finished prescription, Ye Chutang collected herself, lost in thought.
’News of Emperor Muwu’s heart condition must not get out. Otherwise, the court officials will immediately submit memorials to the throne, urging him to name a crown prince.’
’At that point, I’m afraid it will be chaos.’
’The overt disputes between the various factions are one thing, but the most dangerous part is the undercurrent lurking beneath the seemingly calm surface.’
Ye Chutang narrowed her eyes as a question suddenly flashed through her mind.
’Who exactly sent the Southern Hu Blade Man at the hunting grounds?’
...
「Dingbei Marquis Mansion.」
Shen Yanchuan sat alone before a Go board with an unfinished game.
"You’re saying that group still hasn’t confessed?"
His clear, deep voice was like the chime of jade striking stone in the cold night.
Kneeling on one knee, Lian Zhou shook his head. "They’re all tough nuts to crack. I heard the best interrogators from both the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court were put on the case, but they still couldn’t get anything out of them."
Shen Yanchuan wasn’t particularly surprised by this.
"They were chosen one in a thousand. Naturally, they wouldn’t be so easy to deal with."
Lian Zhou said, "Lord Xu’s meaning is... he was wondering if you might be able to help again?"
Shen Yanchuan paused, tilting his head slightly. "Oh?"
Lian Zhou explained, "Those Nanhu barbarians refuse to talk, no matter what. Just like Xu Jie was. Lord Xu probably thinks that since you were able to make Xu Jie confess the truth, then..."
No one knew that it was Shen Yanchuan himself who had handed Xu Jie’s confession to Xu Fengchi.
Xu Fengchi was actually also very curious about how he had managed to make Xu Jie talk, but it wasn’t his place to ask.
Now that another difficult problem had arisen, the first person he thought of was, once again, Shen Yanchuan.
"This matter is of great importance. Do you think..."
CLACK.
His long, pale fingers loosened slightly, and a black game piece fell back into its bowl with a crisp sound.
Shen Yanchuan said lightly:
"If they can’t be interrogated, then let it be."