Warning From Prince Ling

After the little excursion to admire the pomegranate flowers, everyone’s mood and thoughts calmed down as they began a new cycle of busyness.

They had to start investigating all the leads they had come up with the last time, like finding the midwife, for example.

The results came back faster than expected.

That night 18 years ago, there was no births occurring within five miles of Beiqing Mountain, so no midwife had been called upon to provide her services on that day. There were no traces of a midwife appearing at all, so it was as though all their guesses were just a hallucination, or that Linglong had not seen any woman giving birth and had merely lied to them.

But Linglong wouldn’t have lied to them, and they were not idiots who could not think of other possibilities.

Zhao Zhi continued investigating further and finally found out that someone from the palace passed through Beiqing Mountain back then.

It was someone from the palace, a woman who was not young, and had travelled in secret, covering her tracks as much as possible…

Zhao Zhi’s instinct told him there was more to this story. No matter how hard it was, he continued to investigate this matter further and finally found out that this person was actually someone who happened to pass by – the older Madam Liang. This was the older sister of the younger Madam Liang from the murder case back in Luanze. The younger Madam Liang moved to Luanze after getting married, but the older sister remained by the empress’ side and went from being just a maid to one of the empress’ most trusted subordinates.

And she also had a very special skill. She knew how to deliver babies.

The details were quite clear too. That night, the older Madam Liang had not gone up Beiqing Mountain and had merely gone past the foot of the mountain. She did not get involved in whatever was happening on the mountain either. She had appeared in this place because of the empress.

The empress was also not in the palace at that time.

There was a terrible famine that year, along with a major locust attack. The emperor made a public apology to the people and got the entire royal family to pray to the royal ancestors for their blessing. The empress, as an example for all women in the country, also headed personally to the royal temple, Huangci Temple, to fast and meditate. She did that for two whole months and proved her sincerity in caring for the people, so the people and the courts were moved and loved her even more after that.

If that were the case, then…it must be that the empress needed something urgently, so elder Madam Liang had to run an errand for her and ended up running to the Beiqing Mountain incident.

After all, Huangci Temple was quite far from Beiqing Mountain.

But to run into such a thing at such a time in such a place…still sounded somewhat suspicious.

Elder Madam Liang was someone who remained close to the empress at all times and would not be sent to do anything unless it was extremely important. And the empress…had never given birth before.

Qi Yan finally caught the main point for once. “So, where’s this elder Madam Liang? Can’t we just call her in for questioning?”

“Clearly, that’s where our problem is,” Song Caitang looked at him, “she has already passed on.”

Qi Yan clamped a hand over his mouth in shock. “How do you know that?” He turned to Zhao Zhi. Had Zhao Zhi told her in advance?

Wen Yuansi chuckled. “You’ve forgotten the case we handled in Luanze?”

Qi Yan stared at him blankly. “Which one?”

Zhao Zhi rolled his eyes at Qi Yan. “The one about the younger Madam Liang.”

Back then, there was a serial murder case in Luanze where all the victims were courtesans. The main two victims, Yuetao and Wenxiang, were both the younger Madam Liang’s granddaughters. Madam Liang herself had died under suspicious circumstances, so an investigation was conducted and the truth turned out to be a real family tragedy.

The notes about the younger Madam Liang naturally included some information about her older sister.

But the older Madam Liang had died a long time ago. Way earlier than her younger sister.

The empress, known as a kind and virtuous woman who had to set the example for all women in the country, made sure she showed kindness to elder Madam Liang’s remaining family. After elder Madam Liang passed away, the empress continued to show favor to the younger Madam Liang, so the younger Madam Liang’s family prospered greatly.

“One more very important thing.” Zhao Zhi tapped the table with his fingers lightly as he tried to think of a good way to put this. But he said it anyway, “When the previous empress gave birth to the crown prince, her situation was precarious as she had lost a lot of blood. Elder Madam Liang had gone to help out at that time too.”

That sounded super suspicious.

Nothing that occurred within the royal family was a small matter, because every move they made could affect a lot of people’s lives. Their descendants played a very significant role.

Regardless of what was going on back then, whether it was an accident or a coincidence, the fact that the current empress’ most trusted maid had gone to help with the previous empress’ delivery would make everyone think there might have been something going on here.

After all, the previous empress passed away just a few days after giving birth. The crown prince was left without a mother, so when the current empress proved to be a kind and gentle woman with motherly love, she was made the empress.

Qi Yan was a little overwhelmed. “So…we still haven’t fully understood what happened 18 years ago, but we’ve found another problem?”

They still hadn’t found out which woman had given birth back then, but they discovered a possible problem surrounding the death of the crown prince’s biological mother?

“Not just that,” Zhao Zhi frowned slightly, “I widened my scope and started investigating people from both inside and outside the palace but within Bianliang, and discovered that a lot of people who might have some connection to them…have all died one after another.”

“Given their age, it’s not impossible that they might have died from natural causes, but the fact that they all disappeared slowly with all sorts of strange reasons… It doesn’t sound right to me.”

Lastly, he gave them an example, “For example, Wei He’an’s biological mother who supposedly died from an illness.”

Wei He’an was an important character in the Count of Peace case. He was Madam Wei’s nephew, the son of a concubine. He lost his mother at a very young age and was sent to his family’s home in Zhending, but was called back to the family in Bianliang because the heir to the Wei family had passed away unexpectedly and he was next in line.

He had always suspected that his mother died under suspicious circumstances and had always wanted to question Madam Wei about it, but he never got the chance to.

But now, Zhao Zhi was saying that there was indeed an issue surrounding Wei He’an’s mother’s death, but it had nothing to do with Madam Wei. Someone else…had silenced her.

Song Caitang asked, “What did Wei He’an’s mother do?”

His mother had merely been a concubine, so as someone of lower status, there were a lot of limits on where she could go and what she could do.

Zhao Zhi understood her considerations. “But she was very clever. Madam Wei’s social status was high enough for her to attend all sorts of events organized by aristocrats, and the day the previous empress gave birth, a banquet was actually being held in the palace. Madam Wei was at that banquet too, but she was only part of the outer circle of things and was quickly sent out of the palace. When she got home three days later, she boasted about what happened when she was at that banquet. My guess is, she might have noticed something or accidentally revealed something, but while she didn’t realize what the implications were, Wei He’an’s mother did.”

And that would be reason to silence her.

Wen Yuansi continued this line of thought and recalled Auntie Huang, an auntie who was also involved in the younger Madam Liang case. “Back then, I’d always felt that there was something off about this Auntie Huang. She seemed very loyal and did things in line with a loyal person, but she was actually filled with great hatred and seemed somewhat contradictory. Could she have been forced into it?”

Qi Yan didn’t get it. “Can you explain yourself more clearly? What do you mean?”

“I’m thinking, this Auntie Huang wasn’t saved by the younger Madam Liang by accident at all, so she wasn’t working for Madam Liang because she was grateful and all that. I think that accident was deliberate, or that someone else had arranged for this to happen, and so Auntie Huang would have a good reason to end up serving Madam Liang and stay by her side.” Wen Yuansi’s gaze glimmered as he raised his finely trimmed eyebrows slightly. “She remained by Madam Liang’s side not out of loyalty, but because she was tasked to watch Madam Liang.”

His guess was that Auntie Huang had been working for someone else all along. Madam Liang could buy her services, but she couldn’t buy her heart. If Madam Liang had been a kind employer, then Auntie Huang could have just continued serving her as she watched her. But Madam Liang turned out to be a difficult employer and the atmosphere in the family suffered as a result, and she also angered Auntie Huang in other aspects. So, Auntie Huang both carried out her mission while getting her revenge at the same time…

“That younger Madam Liang was the younger sister of Elder Madam Liang. Elder Madam Liang knew a lot of things, so perhaps her younger sister also…” Qi Yan was so shocked by his own thoughts that he clamped a hand over his mouth. “Someone was really trying to silence her!”

Who could this person be?

Was it the empress? Or someone who didn’t like the empress?

“Frightened already?” Zhao Zhi’s lips curled into a cruel smile. “Don’t forget, one of the suspects from our previous case, Ji Bo, is not only someone who’s loyal to Prince Ling, but we’ve also discovered some ties between him and Auntie Huang.”

Qi Yan’s eyes were as wide as saucers.

Good heavens! How many important figures were involved in this?!

There was the previous empress, the current empress, the crown prince, Prince Ling, the emperor – who knew what was happening? Who didn’t? Who was in cahoots with who? Who was just pretending to be close to another person?

Qi Yan felt like his brain had turned into a ball of glue and he couldn’t figure it out.

But there was no real evidence to prove any of the above directly. There was just suspicion behind some of their actions and how they were secretly tied together that made everything scary.

“I suddenly thought of one more thing, and it’s scary too,” Qi Yan swallowed a mouthful of saliva. “When Princess Changning gave birth, I think the empress was around, and…I think Elder Madam Liang had been around to help too.”

Wen Yuansi furrowed his brows. “The official statement about Princess Changning’s son is that he died, but rumors have it that he had gone missing.”

Song Caitang was rather surprised. “Princess Changning?”

“Remember we ran into Cao Zhang on our way back from viewing the pomegranate blossoms?” Zhao Zhi looked at her. “The end of the small road where he appeared from is the temple where Princess Changning lives.”

Song Caitang had no idea, but she could ask more later. She was more concerned about one thing now, “When was the official statement about Princess Changning’s son released?”

Qi Yan raised his hand to answer this question. “18 years ago.”

Song Caitang frowned. 18 years ago. Again.

“But that child was not a newborn by then. Regardless of whether he died or went missing, he was already five years old.”

And so even though it sounded like a coincidence, he definitely wasn’t the baby born on Beiqing Mountain that night.

…

After that long discussion, they got some leads and had some random thoughts, but everything was just confusing now.

“We don’t have a choice, we just have to keep investigating.”

They had to look further into their leads, what happened 18 years ago and all the people involved, and expand their scope.

Wen Yuansi could look through old case files and sort out the connections between people; Song Caitang could look through past autopsy reports and dig up bodies to do another autopsy if she found anything unusual; Qi Yan could go around teahouses in the day and rooftops in the night to gather any gossip around the most influential families in the city…

As for checking out the palace, that was obviously Zhao Zhi’s job.

The group wasn’t able to put the truth together in one day, but they had their work cut out for them and they were not demoralized.

Song Caitang and the other two managed to carry out their work easily without running into any obstacles, but it was tougher for Zhao Zhi to investigate the palace in secret. It was only natural that someone would eventually find out about it.

In no time, Prince Ling approached him first.

He stood in Zhao Zhi’s way and stared at Zhao Zhi arrogantly. “Prince Ping is very busy, I see.”

According to their rank, Zhao Zhi had been crowned a prince, while the other man was a prince because he was the son of the emperor. Both men had the surname Zhao and were members of the royal family. But according to their place in the family, one was the son of the emperor, while one was merely the emperor’s nephew. In this case, it was correct for Zhao Zhi to be more deferential to the other man.

But Zhao Zhi had a fierce temperament since he was a child and had fought with Prince Ling before too. He never got along with Prince Ling, so he didn’t bother to act polite now. He greeted the prince casually and said, “Well, since you know about that…”
Then why are you standing in my way?

“I see you’re annoyed by me,” Prince Ling’s smile looked bright, but it was filled with iciness, “but I’m also annoyed by you and I really don’t like seeing you around. But there’s one thing I want you to remember.”

When it came to trying to act cool and scare others into submission, Zhao Zhi was no stranger to this game. He immediately folded his arms, stood with his feet apart and gave the prince an even nastier and more domineering smile. “Well, since it’s coming from Prince Ling, of course I’d listen verrryyy carefully.”

His body language and tone of voice showed his attitude clearly.

Prince Ling wiped the smile off his face and said quietly, “I know you’ve already arrested the killer for the previous case and the case is already closed. So why are you still investigating?”

“I’m fine if you and your team have high standards of others and yourselves, so you want to really dig deep, there’s nothing wrong with that. But…to suspect the mother of our nation? Don’t you think you’ve gone overboard?”

Prince Ling looked furious. “Don’t you know what sort of status the empress has and how many of her people love her? How could you even think of such a thing? Zhao Zhi, I’m warning you, if you continue being so disrespectful, don’t blame me for getting nasty!”

After he said those words, he stormed off haughtily like a little rooster trying to pick a fight.

Zhao Zhi frowned deeply as he watched the prince walk away. Just then, he suddenly realized something. Prince Ling’s age.

He was officially 19, but official records liked to bump their ages up. Prince Ling was not 19 yet, actually.

When he put this together with Prince Ling’s behavior before this, especially what he said to Wen Yuansi. He sounded like he was trying to get Wen Yuansi on his team, but he was actually trying to sound Wen Yuansi out.

Why was Prince Ling so interested in the previous case?

What was he thinking about? What was he afraid of? What did he hope to get out of it?

Zhao Zhi’s heart sank suddenly as he felt like he had just touched something he shouldn’t, a place that he couldn’t put in words, a place that weighed his heart down heavily.