In the quiet garden path, Mr. Feng stood on the gravel path, looking at Chen Ji with great interest. “How did you guess?” he asked.

Chen Ji thought for a moment before replying, “When you first arrived at Cuiyun Lane, Mr. Feng, you immediately asked who was commanding the Tiger Armored Cavalry. This showed that this personal guard unit was not under your control, and you were very interested in knowing who their new commander was.”

Mr. Feng chuckled. “Then why would I want to kill General Qian?”

Chen Ji looked directly at Mr. Feng. “Because someone as intelligent as you dislikes anything that isn’t under your control.”

Without waiting for Mr. Feng to speak, he continued his serious analysis. “The commander of the Tiger Armored Cavalry was originally General Zhou, but now it’s General Qian. I suspect this was also your doing; you orchestrated General Zhou’s removal. You likely believed that by getting rid of General Zhou, you could gain control of this personal guard unit. However, you didn’t anticipate that Elder Liu would not choose you, but instead hand it over to General Qian.”

Mr. Feng gradually stopped smiling and said casually, “Do you know that being too smart isn’t always good?”

Chen Ji sincerely replied, “As long as it’s useful to you, Mr. Feng, that’s all that matters.”

Mr. Feng patted his shoulder. “Young man, remember this: the promise I made to you earlier at Dragon King’s Knoll is eternally valid. Imperial Physician Yao and the others will remain here in this princely manor. If you can help me kill General Qian within one day, they will live. If you fail, prepare to collect their bodies.”

To gamble with several lives, Chen Ji was unwilling to accept, but had no choice. This Mr. Feng acted unscrupulously, inciting civil unrest and even killing his own people to seize power; there was nothing he wouldn’t do.

If he didn’t accept, Zhang Zhuo, his master, and the others would truly die.

Chen Ji took a deep breath and said with certainty, “Alright, I’ll go kill General Qian.”

Mr. Feng smiled brightly. “This General Qian is an innate-level official master, and he always has a hundred cavalry guards with him. Killing him won’t be easy.”

Chen Ji frowned and asked, “What kind of official master is he?”

Mr. Feng shook his head. “I don’t know either. He’s a loyal operative my master has cultivated for years, always kept hidden like a treasure.”

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, “Seizing power must be very important to you, Mr. Feng. How about having Jiang Yan put on armor and accompany me? That way, we’d have more certainty.”

Mr. Feng laughed heartily. “Jiang Yan has his own matters to attend to; he has no time to assist you. If you want Imperial Physician Yao and your fellow disciples to live, you’ll have to figure it out yourself.”

With that, he turned and walked towards Jing’an Hall with his hands behind his back. “Follow me. I’ve been delayed here for too long and missed Prince Jing’s chess game.”

Jing’an Hall was brightly lit, with armored guards standing in dense rows at its entrance.

Mr. Feng arrived at the hall’s entrance, stepped over the high threshold, and entered. Chen Ji and Zhang Zhuo could only wait silently outside.

Inside the grand hall, Elder Liu and Prince Jing sat facing each other in front of the Hidden Dragon Screen.

The chess game was nearing its end. Elder Liu, dressed in simple grey cloth robes, sat at the chess table and slowly said, “Your Highness, you lost your mother at a young age. If my sister had not adopted you and patiently raised you in Kuning Palace, you would likely have been harmed long ago. In those years, she kept you by her side, raising you alongside His Majesty as if you were her own child. Did she ever mistreat you in the slightest?”

Prince Jing kept his eyes on the chessboard, not raising his head as he replied, “Never. In winter, she would specifically instruct palace servants to prepare charcoal fire for me, and in summer, she would send ice from the cellar to cool me down. Everything His Majesty had, I had too; things His Majesty didn’t have, I also had. Even my childhood tutor was personally chosen by her.”

Elder Liu rolled up his sleeves and placed another piece. “After His Majesty ascended the throne, both of you became estranged from her. Now she grieves in Cining Palace, her appearance withered. To painstakingly raise two sons, only for both to become strangers to her—no mother in this world could endure such a blow.”

Prince Jing calmly said, while pondering the chess game, “Father-in-law, you are also a reasonable person. After His Majesty ascended the throne, the Empress Dowager should have let go earlier and not indulged the Liu family in their arrogance and abuses of power. No person stays fortunate for a thousand days, and no flower blooms for a hundred; the recent troubles of the Liu family were sown long ago.”

Elder Liu smiled. “Your Highness, you were enfeoffed as a prince at twenty-one, and your first task was to head south to collect grain taxes for His Majesty. I remember when you first arrived in Jiangnan, those prominent families killed their own wives and brought them to the yamen, gathering thousands of people to claim you had driven people to their deaths with your taxes. In the end, it was the Liu family who stepped in and helped you collect the grain.”

Prince Jing sighed. “I was young and inexperienced back then, unsure of the gravity of things. Thankfully, I had your assistance, Father-in-law.”

Elder Liu continued, “In the winter of the eleventh year of Jianing, during the Nan Guang bandit rebellion, you contracted a lung illness while leading troops to quell the unrest and fell unconscious, besieged by bandit forces in Liuzhou. It was also my Liu family who went to Lao Jun Mountain Daoist Temple to seek an immortal medicine and sent troops to support you, which finally lifted the siege. At this very moment, Liu Mingjing is on his way to Lao Jun Mountain Daoist Temple, saying he will spare no effort to seek the ‘Rebirth Feather Elixir’ for you.”

Prince Jing’s hand paused as he was about to place a piece, then he sighed, “The Liu family has helped me greatly.”

Elder Liu looked up and stared intently at Prince Jing. “For all these years, Your Highness has toiled for His Majesty, but how has His Majesty treated you in return? The old officers of the Grandee Army have been demoted or executed. Take General Zhang, for instance, four years ago. He left his post without permission due to his mother’s death—a serious offense, but not one punishable by death. Yet, the eunuch faction executed him on his way to the funeral, reporting it afterward.”

Elder Liu continued, “Then there’s General Li, under your command, Your Highness. He clearly rendered meritorious service in quelling unrest but received no rewards. In the end, the eunuch faction fabricated a charge of discussing court affairs while drunk, threw him into the imperial prison, and tortured him to death. Consider my Liu family; are we any different? Although we may have wronged His Majesty, we were also meritorious subjects who helped him seize the throne. Why must he try to exterminate us completely?”

Prince Jing sighed, “Father-in-law, you worry too much. How could His Majesty try to exterminate us completely?”

Elder Liu slowly said, “Your Highness should know best who the person in Renshou Palace is. If Your Highness and the Liu family don’t perish, he won’t be able to sleep!”

At this point, he swept his hand across the chessboard, scattering the pieces. “Your Highness, if the Liu family weren’t doing this for you, why would we have endured for so many years? The time wasn’t right back then, so we had no choice but to drop it. But now, my Liu family’s army is strong and well-equipped, our provisions are abundant, and the Shenwu Army of the Jing Dynasty is coordinating from the north… Don’t hesitate any longer, let’s rise in rebellion!”

Outside the hall, Chen Ji suddenly froze. Had Prince Jing and the Liu family already discussed rebellion?

He had been wondering: where did the Liu family get the confidence to plot rebellion? And how did Consort Yun, merely a concubine, dare to contact the Jing Dynasty’s military intelligence?

This puzzle seemed to have always been incomplete, with many things inexplicable. But if Prince Jing was placed at the center of this puzzle, many things would make sense. However, the next moment, Prince Jing softly said, “Father-in-law, if we launch an uprising, I fear the people of several provinces will suffer greatly. I cannot agree to this.”

This confused Chen Ji. Looking at Prince Jing’s demeanor, he didn’t seem to have any intention of rebellion at all.

Where did things go wrong?

Inside Jing’an Hall, Elder Liu slowly stood up. “Your Highness, the arrow is already on the string; it must be loosed. You cannot hesitate any longer. You must sit on this throne, whether you want to or not. If you are to blame anyone, blame me alone, do not blame the Liu family.”

Just then, a burly general strode in from outside the hall, his footsteps thudding on the bluestone bricks.

He entered the hall and cupped his hands in greeting to Elder Liu. “Master, someone has detected the whereabouts of ‘Golden Pig’ in the East Market. This person is now living in seclusion, hidden within a courtesan’s small courtyard.”

Elder Liu waved his hand. “General Qian, take a unit of Tiger Armored Cavalry and make sure to capture him.”

Then, he turned to Mr. Feng and said, “Wenzheng, please escort His Highness, the Crown Prince, and the Princess to the Liu family’s grand estate. Tomorrow, we will open the ancestral hall, beat the drums to gather the masses, offer the heads of the eunuch faction as a sacrifice to our banner, and the army will set off!”

Elder Liu walked out, followed by dense rows of armored guards, surging outwards like a turbulent black tide. The intense, murderous aura was like scorching magma, capable of melting even raw iron.

Mr. Feng smiled, looking at Prince Jing. “Your Highness, please? Don’t make things difficult for me.”

Prince Jing calmly rose, smoothed the wrinkles from his robes, and led Bai Li out of Jing’an Hall. As Mr. Feng emerged, he casually glanced at Chen Ji, a profound meaning hidden in his eyes.

Impatient hoofbeats shattered the tranquility of Anxi Street.

Chen Ji and Zhang Zhuo, clad in armor, rode their horses, trailing at the end of the Tiger Armored Cavalry. All of them, with black armor obscuring their faces, galloped like a torrent towards Luocheng’s East Market.

Zhang Zhuo tightened his reins, rode closer to Chen Ji, and lowered his voice, saying, “Something’s amiss. I have a strange feeling about these people… they all seem off.”

Chen Ji looked up at the cavalry ahead, then slightly turned his gaze and whispered in response, “You feel it too, Sir Zhang?”

Zhang Zhuo leaned forward. “I think Prince Jing is problematic. The Liu family has surrounded Luocheng but has been reluctant to send troops north, clearly waiting for him to make a decision. How could Prince Jing, who has managed Yuzhou for years, be entirely unaware of the Liu family’s private casting of iron and raising of private armies?”

Chen Ji asked, “Are you saying Prince Jing is also involved, Sir Zhang?”

Zhang Zhuo hesitated for a moment. “That’s precisely where the problem lies. As the saying goes, ‘speed is precious in war.’ If he truly intended to rebel, he should have already raised his banner and headed north. Why delay here? There’s no benefit to him in this!”

Zhang Zhuo continued, “And then there’s Mr. Feng. At a time like this, he’s still engaged in internal power struggles? What significant benefit does seizing control of the Tiger Armored Cavalry bring him? I can’t understand it, completely can’t understand it!”

Chen Ji suddenly said, “Sir Zhang, if something unexpected happens later, immediately turn your horse and go to Tuoluo Temple to fetch reinforcements. Save my master first.”

Zhang Zhuo was startled. “Unexpected? What kind of unexpected event?”

Chen Ji said, “The timing of Golden Pig’s appearance is too coincidental. This is inherently a trap set for General Qian… They want to help Mr. Feng eliminate an obstacle.”

No sooner had he spoken than a sharp whooshing sound suddenly came from ahead.

Chen Ji abruptly looked up, only to see the windows of the two-story watchtowers on both sides of the long street burst open, and long spears whistled through the air, piercing the Tiger Armored Cavalry one by one!

Immediately, warhorses neighed, and the orderly formation of cavalry dissolved into chaos.

Chen Ji whispered fiercely, “Quick, go.”

Zhang Zhuo acknowledged, turned his horse, and ducked into a narrow alley.

Chen Ji sat on his horse, looking towards the dark, gaping windows in the distance. He suddenly recalled many things: when he encountered Mr. Feng at Dragon King’s Knoll, the latter had said, “It’s a pity that all the experts around Prince Jing have been eliminated by the Directorate of Ceremonial over the years.”

The other party had said “Directorate of Ceremonial,” not “eunuch faction.”

At that moment, Chen Ji had also noticed something off about the wording in that sentence but hadn’t thought deeply about what exactly was wrong. Now, with all the clues converging, he finally had a sudden realization.

No wonder, after Mr. Feng’s struggle with Tian Ma, both parties emerged unscathed.

It was simply because Mr. Feng had always been a member of the Directorate of Ceremonial.