Chapter 33: The Person She Sacrificed

The lights in Yangrong Studio remained unextinguished all night. Yan Bei sat in the room for the entire night, and Gao An stood guard outside the door for the same duration.

It was not until the sky brightened and the attendants brought hot water for washing that Gao An reached out to take it and personally carried it into the room.

Yan Bei sat behind his desk with a heavy expression. Before him lay a marriage contract and a letter of divorce; both documents were frayed at the edges, suggesting their owner had pored over them countless times in the past.

There were also several tattered scraps of paper—the very pieces retrieved from the brazier the previous night.

However, upon seeing Gao An, the once unruly youth quickly shed the gloom from his face and regained his usual composure.

Three years of serving as a wet nurse's charge had, after all, worn away much of his hostility.

The man he was now was a powerful prince who could exercise control with effortless grace.

"Your Highness, it is time to wash," Gao An said, glancing at the stubble on his chin. Though he was clearly only twenty-two, a blooming youth, the appearance of stubble after an all-nighter made him look several years older.

Yan Bei slowly picked up the tea beside him. "Tell me, whom is she offering this memorial to?"

Was that not obvious!

Though the egg-sized scraps of paper could only be identified as a memorial text, and the sentences were fragmented and incomplete, making it impossible to deduce the specific subject of the sacrifice.

It would only be logical to burn a memorial text during a ceremony held for a close relative of the He family, wouldn't it?

Yet, after returning last night, the guards had conducted investigations throughout the night. The He family had no relatives surnamed Wang, let alone anyone in their circle of friends or family who bore any resemblance to Wang Huan.

Gao An was a head eunuch accustomed to storms and waves; having stood guard all night, his mind was clear as to what the Prince was thinking.

The Prince was asking a question he already knew the answer to!

Holding a razor in one hand and a cloth in the other, Gao An walked over. "This old servant remembers that when the He family incident first broke out, their daughter-in-law, Lady Liu, was imprisoned, which in turn brought rumors to light regarding the wrongful death of the Princess of Yongjia.

"If the cause of the Princess of Yongjia's death is indeed suspicious, then the Du family is highly problematic.

"And if the Du family is suspected of murdering the Princess, then the lady who also died that night at the hands of bandits could also be said to have died at the hands of the Du family.

"The one she is memorializing can only be the lost young heir."

In such a situation, no one would believe that an infant could still be alive.

If A-Li were dead, wouldn't the Du family be the murderers?

After shaving his chin, he paused his hand and said slowly, "In the capital, very few people have ever seen the Princess of Yongjia. I presume Your Highness is among them."

In other words, no one could judge whether the Princess of Yongjia looked different from Wang Huan.

And if Wang Huan was indeed the Princess of Yongjia, then her presence within the Du family's scheme, and her burning a memorial text in a brazier, became logical.

As expected, Yan Bei paused and shot him a glance.

Then, he leaned his head back against the chair and lightly closed his eyes. "I heard that the Princess of Yongjia was proficient in both civil and martial arts. If she were alive, she ought to seek revenge. And she would certainly have the ability to do so.

"After the incident at the Prince Duan's manor, the position of Imperial Commissioner fell into the hands of Du Minghuan. From that perspective, it makes sense that the Du family's hands are not clean.

"However—if the Du family wanted to seize power, they should have killed Prince Duan. Why kill Yongjia? Given the Du family's status and authority at the time, he did not have the capability to interfere with Prince Duan's death.

"Furthermore, I visited the scene back then.

"As I told you, the place where the Princess of Yongjia died is over ten miles away from where Wang Huan met with her accident.

"Around the place where she met with her accident, there was no one else besides that carriage and a pair of servants.

"Ten miles is not a short distance."

This was equivalent to nearly twice the distance from one end of the capital to the other.

If Wang Huan was the Princess of Yongjia, shouldn't she have realized the danger the moment the nanny and the maid died?

The Princess had lived alone outside the capital since childhood, studying under famous masters; logically, she should have been discerning. Why, knowing the danger, would she risk running forward ten miles to meet her death?

Moreover, everyone said the Princess of Yongjia always kept her child by her side. Logically, mother and son should have been inseparable. How then could A-Li have appeared near the carriage to be snatched by fleeing bandits?

Even if the Prince Duan's manor could fabricate a false identity with ease, assuming Wang Huan truly was the Princess of Yongjia, why was there only a single carriage by her side?

Where were the rest of her retinue?

And why, after leaving her post to return to the capital, was she carrying ordinary clothes worn while traveling?

Even though Yan Bei had imagined countless possibilities in his mind, these were all inexplicable facts before his eyes.

"True," Gao An said, breathing deeply as he continued to lightly shave the remaining stubble. "To uncover the truth, one cannot rely on conjecture."

What if the guess was wrong?

One must rely on logic and evidence.

"Have them post more notices, both inside and outside the city. If that fails, it is not impossible to conduct door-to-door inquiries."

Yan Bei took a wet cloth to wipe his face, then looked at his reflection in the mirror. He was still quite handsome.

His skin was no longer as tender as it was three years ago, but since he spent less time in the sun, he was no longer so dark.

His physique had stabilized over the last two years, and his muscles had grown. His chest was much broader now than when he had married; he suspected that if she saw him, she wouldn't be able to look away.

Once he found her, he would have to show off properly, to make her regret abandoning her husband and child. Facing such a mature and imposing man now, it would be a pity that she could see him but never touch him.

Hmph.

He slowly and steadily tucked the papers into a scroll, determined not to let Gao An catch even a hint of his inner thoughts.

Wiping the razor with a cloth, Gao An asked in confusion, "Why does Your Highness not simply post a portrait?"

"She is A-Li's biological mother after all; how could I allow her to be exposed to the public?"

Yan Bei removed his robe to change. He flexed his chest and abdominal muscles toward the mirror before putting on his new clothes. "Besides, that would easily alert the enemy, would it not?"

Gao An agreed wholeheartedly and presented the outer robe.

That night, Yan Bei had found no one by the river. Shortly after, the guards brought news of the palace coup: the late Emperor had passed away, followed by the death of Prince Duan within the palace. Empress Dowager Shen, who had originally managed affairs both inside and outside the palace alongside Prince Duan, had seized absolute power.

Realizing the political situation was dire, Yan Bei decisively left the scene. Carrying an imperial decree, he entered the capital and established himself in the court as a regency official appointed by the late Emperor.

He then took over the Bureau of Military Affairs overnight, suppressing the restless factions with lightning speed.

Simultaneously, he swiftly dispatched his trusted guards to escort the surviving Second Prince back to the capital.

With the authority to manage the Bureau of Military Affairs and military power in hand, these successive moves forced Empress Dowager Shen to push back the three-year-old Fourth Prince, whom she had already presented to the court officials.

Had Yan Bei arrived even slightly later, he would currently be assisting the Fourth Prince by decree, and the Shen family would have become the undisputed primary power holders.

And even if the Second Prince had not died in that accident outside the capital, he certainly would have been killed by the ascended Shen family later on.