Crown Prince’s residence, secret chamber.
The Crown Prince paced like a furious trapped beast.
Several core advisors stood silently below, faces grim, hardly daring to breathe.
“Listen carefully!” The Crown Prince halted suddenly, bloodshot eyes glaring at them, words firing like arrows. “I’m finished! No—almost finished! That wretched Zhaohua has the *Zhang* command token—the one I gave that fool Ji Huai’an to replace the hidden guards of the capital. That’s a crime punishable by extermination of nine clans! She revealed it in court today. Though she didn’t say it outright, that thing is a blade hanging over my head!”
The chamber froze.
Chen Siming sucked in a sharp breath. The other advisors turned pale.
To tamper with the capital’s guards—this was treason.
“Ji Huai’an, that useless failure!” The Crown Prince spat, teeth grinding.
“He’s dead, fine—but how dare he leave such a deadly thing in his mansion, only for Zhaohua to seize it! I don’t believe he only hid the evidence shown in court. He must have kept other letters, other documents—anything that could point to me!”
“Your Highness!” Chen Siming was the first to recover, his voice urgent but clear. “There are three priorities. First, destroy all remaining evidence in the consort’s mansion! We must search the ruins before anyone else, turn them inside out, and ensure no trace of your dealings with Ji Huai’an remains. Even if we dig three feet deep, not a scrap of paper must be left!”
“Yes!” The Crown Prince’s red eyes turned to the commander of his shadow guards. “Send your best men immediately—go to the consort’s mansion now! Search especially his study. There must be hidden compartments. Find anything with writing—letters, documents, ledgers—especially those tied to me. Bring them back! If you can’t, burn them to ash. Do you hear me? Anything—even half a word on a scrap of cloth—must be destroyed. Quickly, secretly!”
The commander bowed without hesitation, turning to leave.
“Wait!” The Crown Prince stopped him, eyes cold. “Tell them—if anyone blocks you… kill without mercy! At all costs, the evidence must be retrieved or destroyed!”
Yet unease gnawed at him. He knew Zhaohua would not leave the ruins unguarded.
“Second, the payroll!” Chen Siming pressed on, voice heavier. “His Majesty has ordered the Ministry of Justice to investigate all northern payroll records. The Ministry of Revenue’s archive is the key. Your Highness, those massive sums we siphoned in Youzhou—the original ledgers and stamped records are still in the archives. Those are the true death warrants! If the Ministry uncovers them, the evidence will be irrefutable—far worse than Zhaohua’s grain ledger!”
The Crown Prince shuddered, blood seeming to freeze in his veins.
Those Youzhou sums were the foundation of his secret power.
“Master Zhou!” He turned sharply to his financial advisor. “Vice Minister Xu Chao of Revenue oversees the archives. Send him a secret order—at any cost, he must enter the archive and destroy every original record and transport document tied to northern payroll. All of it, immediately!”
“The originals must be destroyed completely—not a single scrap left!”
“Rest assured, Your Highness!” Master Zhou’s face was pale, but his tone firm. “I will send word immediately. Vice Minister Xu knows the stakes and the exact location and markings of the files. I’ll have him stage an accident, flawless and seamless!”
“Good! Tell him I’ll remember his merit. But if he fails…” The Crown Prince left the words unsaid, though the murderous gleam in his eyes made Zhou shiver.
“Third, the leaked defense map and Sun Yun’guang!” Chen Siming’s gaze turned to Master Wu, the intelligence chief, with ruthless intent. “Sun Yun’guang is finished. He won’t last long. The Imperial Prison’s tortures break even iron men. Once he confesses and names Your Highness, all is lost. We must strike first—dump the filth elsewhere!”
Madness flickered in the Crown Prince’s eyes. “Onto whom? Third Brother?”
“Exactly!” Chen Siming declared. “Zheng Bin is publicly aligned with the Third Prince. We’ll say the leak was orchestrated by him at the Third Prince’s command! Zheng Bin feigned loyalty to Sun Yun’guang, gained his trust, and used him to access secrets, stealing the defense map. First, to frame General Xiao Yan and topple him, paving Zheng Bin’s rise. Second, to collude with the northern royal court—trading three frontier cities for their support to put the Third Prince on the throne.”
“Evidence… Master Wu, forge letters of secret contact between Zheng Bin and the Third Prince. Imitate Zheng Bin’s handwriting and use the seal of a hidden steward from the Third Prince’s household. The content must be vague yet incriminating.”
“Once forged, slip them into Sun Yun’guang’s belongings in the army—or have our men in the prison guide him to implicate Zheng Bin and the Third Prince during interrogation. At the same time, spread rumors that Your Highness once intercepted clues of the Third Prince’s secret dealings with northern merchants.”
Master Wu’s eyes gleamed, calculating. “Forging letters is easy. I have experts. Planting them on Sun Yun’guang requires timing. But our men in the prison can steer his confession. Spreading rumors is simpler—the capital’s underground channels are wide open. I’ll see to it at once.”
“Good! Fast and ruthless!” The Crown Prince slammed his fist on the desk.
“I’ll make Third Brother taste the agony of being unable to defend himself—drag him before Father to explain!”
“One more matter, Your Highness!” Master Zhou suddenly recalled. “The silver in Youzhou’s treasury—so much hard coin piled there. If the Ministry investigates, or if His Majesty sends inspectors in anger, the risk is too great!”
The Crown Prince’s pupils shrank. He had nearly forgotten. “Yes! Transfer it—immediately!”
“Master Zhou, send word to our shadow in Youzhou. Activate the *Hidden Dragon* plan. Pack the silver overnight, move it in batches through our secret waterway, and deliver it to the new base at Blackwater Pool. Tell him—work quickly, erase all traces. As for the boatmen and laborers, you know what to do.” He drew a hand across his throat, face cold and merciless.
“I understand!” Master Zhou bowed and departed.
After arranging everything, the Crown Prince sat heavily, sweat streaming, chest heaving. Only Chen Siming remained with him in the chamber. The frenzy of orders had drained him, but the fear and anxiety gnawed on.
“Master Chen… can I survive this?” His voice trembled faintly, betraying weakness.
At that moment, he was like a man standing at the edge of a thousand-foot cliff, the wind howling, darkness yawning beneath his feet.