Chapter 59: We Can't Let Him Go to Waste

Shen Li sat behind the desk, surrounded by a circle of attending servants, while the two men who had entered with him stood by the side of the desk.

By this time, the voices had grown low, and the conversation was intermittent.

Below them was a large contingent of guards, and under the eaves of the opposite building, members of the Du family were also present; it was impossible for Yuetang to move any closer.

At this moment, even if someone from the Secretariat arrived, or if actual evidence of guilt appeared, she would be powerless to act. Only the personnel sent by the Du family could achieve anything.

This was the first time Yuetang had heard of the Shen family experiencing accidents year after year.

However, Wei Zhang had said it had been continuous for four or five years. Recalling the past last night, she could only remember that in the autumn of the year Empress Dowager Shen was invested as Empress, her maternal grandfather had indeed broken his leg while riding.

The old man was already over sixty; he lay in bed for two or three months and died after failing to recover from a common cold.

The reason Yuetang, far away in the outskirts of the capital, knew of this was because after the old man died, the late Emperor had specially permitted the successor Empress to return home to offer condolences.

This gesture had become a major piece of evidence at the time of Empress Shen's favor.

The Shen family's power had soared later. If these annual accidents were the result of someone working against them in the shadows, it would be unlikely for a family of the Shen's strength to fail to uncover it.

But if they truly were accidents, how could it be such a coincidence that they always occurred during the same season?

As the sun began to rise, distant Buddhist chants drifted into Yuetang's ears.

While she was lost in thought, two elderly monks entered carrying a tray covered with a red cloth. Beneath the cloth, several long cylinders protruded, faintly suggesting they were scrolls or similar items.

An attendant beside them lifted the red cloth, revealing three scrolls, though they did not look like confidential documents.

From Yuetang's angle, she could see a clue on the opposite beam; they were indeed lying in wait, motionless.

"Eldest Young Master, Lord Hu from the Secretariat has arrived."

The voice of a guard drew everyone's attention, including Yuetang's.

At that moment, the shadow on the opposite beam indeed flickered twice.

A middle-aged official in crimson robes walked in through the door. Upon entering, he cupped his hands and called out, "Lord Shen," then pulled an object from his robes and pressed it into Shen Li's hand.

The two whispered to each other, making it impossible to overhear the content of their conversation.

On the opposite beam, several hands with bulging veins had already appeared; they were bracing themselves against the beam, ready to spring.

The Du family had hidden that batch of incriminating evidence pointing to the Shen family's faction in a secret compartment. As for their actual attitude toward the Shen family, Yuetang only needed to fan the flames—to make the people arranged by Du Yu be exposed to Shen Li—and the outcome could then be determined!

The difficulty lay in how she could fan the flames by herself without burning herself in the process.

Seeing those hands on the beam, she thought of the pills in her pouch.

Just as she was pondering whether it was possible, a very faint whistle drifted in from the window—two long notes and one short, sounding like a bird—

Wei Zhang?

Yuetang immediately straightened her posture and looked toward the source of the sound through the window.

Wei Zhang, disguised as a servant, was standing under a tree outside the wall, peering toward her.

The plan of action had been estimated by both her and Wei Zhang simultaneously. Over the years, Wei Zhang had accompanied her to many places; under these circumstances, he likely knew roughly where she was hiding.

Yuetang, who had been worrying about finding an opportunity, felt a surge of joy. Though she didn't know why Wei Zhang had suddenly appeared, since he was here, there was no reason not to cause trouble!

She raised her hand to signal. Then, concealing her form, she pointed toward the opposite beam and made an exploding gesture.

Wei Zhang glanced toward the opposite side, nodded, and then swiftly left the shade of the tree.

Yuetang counted to three in her head, and by then, the order among the Shen family guards surrounding the house had already broken down!

Soon, two men hurried into the room, looking toward the Du family's hiding place while walking up to Shen Li: "Eldest Young Master, we just received a secret report..."

The guard reported quickly, and Shen Li immediately stood up, his face filled with undisguisable shock, as he spun around to look toward the beam opposite Yuetang!

Seizing the moment, Yuetang flicked the pill in her hand toward the hands that were rapidly retracting!

There was a *thwack* sound from where the noise originated—the exact spot where the eyes of the two Shen family guards below were focused!

They shouted, "There! Quickly, escort the Young Master out!"

In an instant, chaos erupted in the room.

The male servants were one thing, but the maidservants had never seen such a scene; though they tried to force themselves to remain calm, they were like headless flies.

Gritting his teeth, Shen Li glared furiously at the masked men who had been exposed on the opposite beam, while being ushered out by the crowd!

The people on the opposite beam naturally never expected that a third party, other than the Shen family, would discover them.

By the time they reacted, half a silhouette had already fallen into the sight of the people in the room, and the Shen family guards surrounding the house had already rushed in, drawing their blades and leaping up one after another!

Wei Zhang shouted from within the crowd, "It's people from the Marquis of Guangling's estate! I just saw people from the Marquis's estate loitering nearby!"

In truth, as of now, Yuetang wasn't certain if that group on the opposite side had actually been sent by Du Yu.

But regardless, once this chaos broke out, it would certainly be perceived as such in the eyes of the Shen family!

Hearing these words, Shen Li's expression became even more shocked. He instinctively scanned the surroundings and asked angrily, "Why are the Du family members here?!"

The two attendants following closely behind him said in a panic, "Could they have been sent by the Emperor?"

The Du family controlled the Imperial City Bureau; if they were sent by the Emperor, it would be logical.

Shen Li gritted his teeth and glared gloomily at the beam: "Take them all! Don't let a single one escape!

"Keep them alive!

"Bring them to me for interrogation!"

After dropping this command with great force, he turned and retreated.

Since it had already been mentioned that they might be sent by the Emperor, the fact that Eldest Young Master Shen wanted to capture them for personal interrogation without hesitation showed the extent of the conflict between Empress Dowager Shen and the Emperor in the palace!

And since Shen Li actually took those words to heart and acted decisively, it did not seem as though he had any direct connection to the Du family.

Yuetang glanced at the chaos below, waited for an opportune moment to leap down quickly, blended into the crowd, snatched the several scrolls, tucked them into her sleeve, and then slipped out amidst the confusion.

Several Shen family guards in the midst of the fight spotted her and tried to pursue, but they were blocked by the retreating servants, who were being pushed along by Wei Zhang in the shadows.

Yuetang leaped out of the house and through the forest of stone tablets. Only when she was certain there was no one following her did she leap into the treetops. Looking back toward the Zen temple, she could hear the distant sounds of fighting; both sides were engaged in a fierce battle.

The bolder pilgrims had already gathered around; after all, when the Eldest Young Master of the Shen family ran into trouble, how many people would scramble to offer their lives?

The timid ones kept their distance but remained on the periphery to watch.

The news that people from the Marquis of Guangling's estate were hiding in Young Master Shen's room, waiting for an opportunity, would soon spread through these people.

Yuetang removed her outer cloak, returned to her appearance as a pilgrim, jumped down from the tree, and then pulled out the scrolls.

Inside were the records of the incense and offerings the Shen family had donated to the temple in recent years.

There were three scrolls: one for incense and oil, one for silver, and one for donations for building houses and conducting religious rites; the records were extremely detailed.

The content itself was nothing special, but when she flipped to the dates at the end of each scroll, her brow twitched and her expression suddenly changed!

"Master!" Wei Zhang arrived. "Twenty-four Shen family guards have all been deployed to besiege those five people. Two have already been brought down and tied up. Shen Li is conducting an interrogation on the spot. The rest will soon be wiped out!

"It seems our deduction was correct; the person behind the Du family is at least not the Shen family! Those pieces of evidence were used by the Du family to target the Shen family."

Yuetang closed the ledger. "Why did you come?"

"Prince Jingyang has gone to the Xu family!"

Wei Zhang steadied his breathing and explained the situation.

Yuetang looked up at the sky. The sun had only climbed halfway; it was only the hour of the Dragon. Yan Bei had already gone to the Xu family?

As a co-regent, was he really that idle?

But it was for the best; with him tying up Xu He, Wei Zhang was able to break free.

Having no time for deep thought, she shoved the scrolls into Wei Zhang's hands. "Look at these."

Wei Zhang flipped through the pages and then said, "As expected, every single incense donation is related to an accident in their household.

"The first year, their old patriarch was injured in a fall; the second year, the legitimate son of the second branch fell into the water while boating; the third year, the old matriarch contracted an epidemic—

"The old matriarch should not have left her home, and she was surrounded by countless servants; how could she have contracted an epidemic? This is certainly wrong.

"The fourth year, which was last year, their ancestral hall caught fire.

"This year—it hasn't happened yet this year.

"But in any case, none of these were major matters. If someone intended to do it, they wouldn't be difficult to arrange. This looks very much like a premeditated plot!"

At this point, he mused, "The Shen family's power has grown rapidly, so naturally, people are targeting them behind the scenes. But the fact that the Shen family suffered these losses without retaliating seems quite strange."

Yuetang's face was equally solemn. "Look again at the dates they donate the incense."

Wei Zhang looked at the dates and then held his breath. "The twenty-third of the ninth month?"

The words had barely left his mouth before he was startled.

"That's right," Yuetang finally said. "It is the very day my brother died, the twenty-third of the ninth month."

Yuetang's eldest brother, Yue Rong, had lived for only two months from the onset of his illness until his death. However, from the sudden onset of his severe illness to his death, only three days had passed; even the Hua family members who were in Luoyang at the time could not arrive in time to save him.

The imperial physician's diagnosis was chest constriction—meaning a congenital heart defect.

Later, when Yuetang met Hua Lin and spoke to him about Yue Rong's symptoms, Hua Lin's judgment was the same.

Over these years, Yuetang had remembered the days she lost her father, her brother, and A-Li very clearly. Every year on this day, no matter where she was, she would perform sacrifices and burn paper. Naturally, Wei Zhang could see the problem at a glance.

Looking at the timing of the Shen family's incidents, in the tenth month of the year following Yue Rong's death, the Shen family patriarch fell from a horse, after which they began offering incense and praying for blessings in the temple. That year, the incense donation was in the twelfth month.

Since then, the timing of every accident had been different, but they all occurred around the twenty-third of the ninth month. Yet, the time the Shen family donated incense to pray for peace was set on this specific day every single year.

"How could such a coincidence exist?"

Wei Zhang had already realized Yuetang's thoughts. His voice carried a slight tremor. "The Shen family and the Prince's estate have never had a private friendship; it is impossible that they chose this date for incense donations out of remembrance for our Heir Apparent.

"Furthermore, Empress Mu and our Prince and Princess share a deep friendship. Since Empress Dowager Shen wants to replace the Second Prince with the Fourth Prince, she naturally would not view the Prince of Duan's estate as one of her own.

"While they are not enemies, they certainly cannot be called close.

"—Commandery Princess! Could it be that members of the Shen family had a hand in the Heir Apparent's death?"

If everything had been stable, no one would have suspected that the imperial physician's diagnosis could be wrong.

But in reality, Yuetang's accident back then was a conspiracy, the death of the Prince of Duan left even Yan Bei suspicious, and there were many strange things about the late Emperor. Now, with the Shen family's suspicious phenomena being tied to Yue Rong's death anniversary, how could one not suspect a conspiracy?

Wei Zhang's face was like ice. "The bead chain hidden in Du Minghuan's secret compartment is clearly a woman's item. Could it be that the chain belonged to Empress Dowager Shen?

"Was the Shen family setting a massive net long ago to seize imperial power?"

They had come to verify the relationship between the Shen and Du families, but instead, they had unearthed suspicion surrounding the Shen family!

If the Shen family had conspired to murder Yue Rong, then wouldn't it be logical that the assassination attempt on Yuetang was also orchestrated by the Shen family?

Yuetang frowned. "What you say is not impossible.

"But if the Shen family orchestrated the Du family's actions, the Du family's secret collection of evidence could be seen as self-preservation, but why would Du Yu dare to come and eavesdrop in secret?

"Could he, who was able to devise a plan to kill both Zhang Shaode and He Hui at once, not have considered that once they were exposed, the Shen family would immediately draw their swords to exterminate them?"

Wei Zhang paused, then said, "The Commandery Princess is thorough in her thinking; it was my mistake."

"No, you didn't make a mistake." She stopped under the tree, looking toward the direction of the Shen family's battle through the branches. "The conspiracy that night involved the palace, the imperial court, and the Prince's estate. It was not just a disaster for me, Yuetang alone.

"The Shen family chose to conduct an immediate interrogation of the captured Du family members rather than closing their doors to settle it privately. This only proves there is no direct collusion between them.

"But it does not prove that the now-powerful Shen family is innocent of the entire conspiracy."

She paused. "No one can be certain of their innocence.

"In a conspiracy of such vast scope, if it truly were the work of a single person, that person's power would be unrivaled.

"Perhaps the Second Prince wouldn't even have had the chance to ascend the throne."

Wei Zhang fell silent for a moment, then nodded slowly. "I understand. You mean our enemy might be more than one."

Yuetang nodded.

She continued to look toward the distant Zen temple. "We must still feel our way across the river, confirming the truth step by step.

"However, today's trip was still worth it. Now that the Shen family has captured these people, they will surely hold the Du family accountable.

"The Du family won't be able to withstand the Shen family; there will be a good show to watch next!

"Guess what will happen when the Du family can no longer hold out?"

Wei Zhang's eyes brightened. "They will naturally go to find their patron!"

"Exactly!" Yuetang curled her lips. "We are going to drive the Du family into a corner. When they are driven to desperation, that is when they will reveal their hand.

"Now, go back and scout again. See what the outcome is over there.

"I will go ahead to meet Qin Niang.

"Once you have finished your reconnaissance, go to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion and buy two jars of Peach Blossom Brew to send to the Prince's estate. I will wait for you outside the gates."

"Peach Blossom Brew?"

"Yes," Yuetang glanced at him. "I remember our Prince Jingyang has praised the wine at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion more than once. Pick the best and buy two jars; I will take them in.

"In the entire court, I can't find another 'enforcer' as handy as our Prince Jingyang; we mustn't let him go to waste."

Hearing this, Wei Zhang smiled. "The Master is wise."