Steal A March On The Other Party

It was only after Zhao Zhi heard Lu Yuxue’s account that he realized there was something they had all overlooked. Millet’s Dream was an almost mythical drug that had a formula nobody knew anymore. It would be impossible for an ordinary person to get their hands on it. You had to be someone in a position of great power.

It appeared in the Night Sanctum case because everyone involved were very well-known and influential figures in the martial arts world. Things were different for Zhao Zhi. How could Prince Ping’s household still stand if they lost the prince himself? Why would his aunt feed him something like that?

It was the doing of Empress Chen.

And Empress Chen might have done it perhaps…because of what he saw when he followed his butler, Zhao Zhong.

Zhao Zhong was definitely one of Empress Chen’s, and was involved in betraying the country.

Zhao Zhi followed this line of thought and quickly sorted his past out.

He had seen something he shouldn’t have and was in danger of being silenced. Consort Ping was a clever woman and must have been terribly frightened. She had spent half her life taking care of him, hoping only for him to grow up well and succeed his father’s position. If he died, what was she going to do? She had no choice but to try and think of a way while carefully gathering information.

And then, Millet’s Dream landed in her hands.

Back then, Lu Yuxue didn’t know who was the real provider of this drug. In the name of being helpful, she offered it to Consort Ping. Consort Ping probably didn’t know the whole truth either, but since a path had already been presented to her… If she didn’t take it, she would die. If she took it, she wouldn’t live well either.

But she wouldn’t die. A little discomfort was fine.

After Zhao Zhi figured all of that out, he let out a long sigh.

His aunt must have known that there was a problem with Zhao Zhong, but even if she didn’t know what the problem was at first, she knew about it later on. She decided to join the salt shipping business possibly as a form of insurance – she was now in the same boat as all of them, so she would not do anything stupid, and she just wanted them to leave her family alone.

She was a careful woman who was risk averse. She might not have known much about who was involved in these treasonous acts, what they had done, what they were planning, and might not have helped them either, but she would have known a thing or two, and would be more sensitive than others when danger arose.

Did she know that Lu Yuxue was serving a second master?

If the empress could send one mole, she could send another. Were there a lot of moles within this house? Lu Yuxue was even put in charge of the household expenses and all that…

But then again, didn’t he know what sort of person his aunt was?

She was a fierce, resilient woman who could outdo anyone in a battle of wits and patience, and knew plenty of ways to torture another person.

Were the account books in Lu Yuxue’s hands the real account books of the household?

Zhao Zhi narrowed his eyes and turned from the path leading to the gate toward the main house instead.

…

After he left his house again, Zhao Zhi headed straight to where Wen Yuansi and Qi Yan was to tell them what Lu Yuxue told him as well as to make arrangements for what to do next.

“But Empress Chen was not the one who personally saw to any of these arrangements, so we don’t have any evidence.”

Qi Yan slammed the table hard. “To hell with this woman! But all clever people like to distract others in order to conceal their actions, and the more she hides in the shadows, the more problematic she really is. She must have been the one behind this! I’m going to say this right now – if I’m wrong about it, I’ll chop my head off and let you guys kick it around like a ball!”

Wen Yuansi agreed. “The fact that she has gone so far as to kidnap a person proves that she’s guilty.”

“One only finds the concealed weapon after the full map has been unrolled,” Zhao Zhi tapped his fingers against the table with a frosty glint in his eyes. “I think that the other side has reached the end of the road. This traitor, the person behind the whole organization is either Empress Chen herself, or she is heavily involved.”

Qi Yan nodded vigorously. “That’s right, she’s definitely part of this!”

“But with regard to the kidnapping of Song Caitang, Lu Yuxue was just an accomplice in the initial stages, so she doesn’t know the full plan and has no idea where she’s being held captive.” Zhao Zhi sighed. Lu Yuxue had given him some information, but it still wasn’t enough.

QI Yan asked, “She wasn’t lying?”

Zhao Zhi shook his head. “I don’t think so. There was no need for her to either.”

It had come to a point where it was pointless for Lu Yuxue to prove her loyalty to Empress Chen by lying or covering up. Besides, he was familiar with Lu Yuxue’s mannerisms and expressions. She had indeed told him everything she knew. She wasn’t hiding any information and did not lie to him.

Wen Yuansi furrowed his brows. “So, it’s still the same problem. We need to find where she’s being kept.”

“But the empress is such a powerful person with so many subordinates. Everyone has their fair share of private properties. Where do we start looking?” Qi Yan was also worried about something else, something that made him shudder. His mind refused to accept this as a possibility. “And what if…we cause too much of a stir and the other side notices, and decides to kill their captive? Do you think we should lie low for a while and be careful not to alert the other party?”

Compared to him, Zhao Zhi and Wen Yuansi weren’t too worried about that.

Based on their earlier analysis, the empress needed Song Caitang for something. As long as she was needed, her life would not be in danger.

But even if her life wasn’t in danger, she was still being held captive…

The two men exchanged glances, then Zhao Zhi said, “We’ll keep as low a profile as we can. If you can’t cover all your tracks perfectly, it’s fine. We need to move faster than the other side. Efficiency is more important than anything else.”

“Alright! I’ll listen to you!” Qi Yan stood up first. “So, where are we looking next?”

Zhao Zhi went on, “Since the empress is behind this and all her networks are within the palace, let’s start with her servants and maids, and their families. Especially that Nanny Sun…”

As he spoke, he dipped a finger in the tea and began to draw a map.

He outlined a simple map of the palace and told them where the families of these important servants lived.

The three men had solemn looks on their faces as they put their heads together to slowly form a plan and fill in any gaps they saw…

But even though the team wanted to conduct their investigation quietly, the other party didn’t want to let them have their way. Someone else was stirring trouble again.

After the paternity test was conducted in the palace that day, Prince Ling had been accused of being a man who had shown disrespect to his biological mother by not acknowledging her, so the emperor sent him to kneel at the royal temple, as well as removed all his posts and work, making him a prince in name only once again. He was also not allowed to go anywhere else. That meant his future ahead…was pretty bleak.

Prince Ling was like a young rooster that had lost a fight. His head was bowed and his stare was blank when Zhao Zhi led him away that day, as though he had resigned himself to his fate.

But for some reason, either he had sunk into some sort of despair or perhaps he realized that he could never get back any of the status he once had, but he suddenly broke down and did something ridiculously stupid.

He started cursing Empress Chen out loud.

It didn’t matter whether he was all by himself, or when he was with others. As long as he was awake, he would start yelling and cursing. In fact, when there were more people around, it made him excited and he would curse even harder.

He said Empress Chen was like a venomous snake or scorpion, that she was pretending that she didn’t know anything while just making use of others to help her get things done.

He said that Empress Chen always claimed that she only cared about the reputation of the emperor and how the country could benefit, and that she didn’t care for anything else, but in reality, she had never done anything good for him, or the crown prince, or even the emperor.

He said that Empress Chen always just took a back seat and allowed certain things to happen even though it was in her power to stop them. If anyone didn’t like what she was doing, she got rid of them by killing them. After being empress for so many years, she had accumulated so many skeletons in her closet. The number of people she had killed were impossible to count.

He said Empress Chen was not a fair and just woman. In order to make sure that nobody in the harem managed to climb up the ranks, she would change the rules for the prettiest ones such that they could not see the emperor as much as possible.

He said Empress Chen was petty, easily jealous, stooped to unscrupulous means to get what she wanted, and that she was the one who killed the previous empress…

Besides all that, some were just purely character assassination. He was even able to name examples that sounded realistic. In short, Prince Ling seemed to have lost his mind. He kept yelling all day about how awful Empress Chen was, and the more he yelled, the nastier his words became.

Most people were able to sense the fury in Prince Ling’s heart. He used to genuinely think that Empress Chen was his biological mother, so he genuinely looked up to her, admired her, tried to get close to her and also did a lot for her.

For example, he often made things easier for Empress Chen. He helped to support her family. He was also investigating what happened 18 years ago because it was about his birth, but when he found any information that might hurt the empress’ reputation, he did not tell anyone about it and even took the initiative to threaten Zhao Zhi so that nobody else would find out…

But in the end, Empress Chen wasn’t his mother at all. She had just been making use of him.

However much he used to love and protect her in the past was however much he hated her now!

Prince Ling had made such a huge commotion, it was impossible for the empress to have no idea about it.

She didn’t cry, she didn’t make a scene. She brought a letter written in her own blood to the royal temple. Each word looked like a bloodied tear, each line filled with reasonableness.

Men are the sky, women are the ground. They should remain where they belong and quietly guard their portion.

Women were born not to gain fame or rule. Her glory and shame are all tied to her husband.

The gods are always watching. A woman ought to watch her words and actions, and develop a womanly character. If she does anything that makes her unworthy to be a wife, it follows that anyone will be allowed to kill her.

What is considered an achievement? For a man, it is to have a family and career, to expand and develop what they have, to be an upright and law abiding citizen, to leave their name in history! For women, it is to take care of their man and watch over their families.

The words in her letter spoke volumes. At the end, she finished off with a more emotional section, saying that actually, it was easy for a woman to abide by the rules set for her, because she just had to watch her own heart. But if a woman were to be attacked, the rules said that a good woman would not fight back.

She was implying that it wasn’t her fault that she couldn’t fight back. It was the fault of the men. Women had already given so much, why couldn’t the men protect them? It was because they were incapable!

The mother of the nation had been humiliated, which was the same as a direct insult to the nation. That was not a glamorous thing, was it?

Sometimes, when things were said too plainly, they weren’t as impactful. But when it was implied through such gentle and frail words, the men really ate it up.

There was no need for Empress Chen to do anything. Countless people immediately took a step forward and began to defend her dignity, because defending her dignity was the same as defending the dignity of the people and the dignity of men.

Prince Ling was at the height of his fury, so even though he was outnumbered, he didn’t hold back. He simply rolled his sleeves up and quarreled with anyone who tried to scold him.

This ridiculous scene happened again and again, everywhere from the palace to the heart of the city.

And the lead character in this crazy thunderstorm, Empress Chen, fell sick at such an opportune time.

That only made things worse.

Qi Yan was so angry, he overturned a table. “Why is this idiot suddenly causing so much ruckus! Brother Zhi should have beat him to death that day so he wouldn’t be able to get in our way!”

It was chaos both inside and outside the palace, there were people everywhere caught up in something new every other minute. How were they supposed to ask anyone about Song Caitang at this rate?

Zhao Zhi agreed with him for once. “He really shouldn’t be making such a scene. It doesn’t match his situation or his character. The fact that he’s gone berserk is actually an abnormality.”

Qi Yan didn’t get what Zhao Zhi was trying to say, but Wen Yuansi got it. He furrowed his brows, “We didn’t want to alert the other side, but the other side took the first move and stole a march from us.”

“What?” Qi Yan scratched his head. He clearly had no idea what they were talking about.

Wen Yuansi added, “The other party is very clever too. They didn’t attack the emperor, and did not attack the crown prince or Prince Ping.”

Making Prince Ling go through this was the easiest way to blow things out of proportion while still making sure it was easy to clean up the mess afterward.

Qi Yan finally got it. “You’re saying…this is all arranged by Empress Chen too? She’s made herself a victim so that others would pity her and side with her?”

Zhao Zhi and Wen Yuansi nodded at the same time. “I’m afraid so.”

“Women are so difficult to deal with!” Qi Yan gasped as he began to despair. “What are we going to do then? Tangtang’s still waiting for us to save her!”

Zhao Zhi raised his brows and snorted. “What else can we do? We’ve got to just keep searching!”

“But how?!” Qi Yan glared at him. “I’m not really that stupid – I get it now! Empress Chen didn’t do anything else besides write that letter with some poor chicken’s blood and pretend to be ill, and there’s already so much chaos with people defending her left and right. She’s now supposedly sick, so everyone has only gotten even more defensive. If we go around asking questions that make us seem suspicious of the empress, the people are going to attack us even more viciously than usual and treat us like enemies! We didn’t create this problem, but the reality is that our actions have been curtailed as a result!”

Zhao Zhi and Wen Yuansi fell silent for a moment.

Qi Yan was right. Empress Chen’s move had made it difficult for them to do anything that could be detrimental to her. Her move had turned out to be pretty effective.

It was definitely unwise to just go ahead regardless, and it wasn’t a good idea to side with Prince Ling either. They would fail to achieve their aim and might make them despise themselves instead.

“The best would be to distract the people,” Zhao Zhi narrowed his eyes.

Wen Yuansi caught it immediately. “We need to move the people’s attention away from this matter.”

Qi Yan nearly applauded them before rolling his eyes immediately. “That’s easy to say, but how are we going to do that? The ones involved in this mess are people of such high status! What sort of people could we get and what sort of terrible situation could we create such that everyone would turn their attention to something else?!”

Even if they thought of something, it would be something so insane and so scandalous, no ordinary person would be willing to do it!

Just then, a bright and clear voice rang out, “I’ll do it!