Qi Junmu's lips curved slightly. He said, "Shen Nian, this is not a matter of whether I trust someone. The situation in the capital is too chaotic right now. I am busy every day, and I have to expend a great deal of thought on who the mastermind is. Why did that female assassin try to kill Wen Yao? And who exactly is implicated in all this?"
At that, Qi Junmu tapped the table and asked, "Do you think Western Di's sudden dispatch of envoys has anything to do with Prince Rui?"
Shen Nian frowned. "This matter concerns the throne—this humble subject dares not make reckless conjectures."
"Precisely," Qi Junmu said with a smile. "That's why it's difficult. If it didn't involve the succession, we could discuss things more freely. But since it does, everyone caught in the game has to weigh their words carefully. You see—even you have to hesitate."
"This humble subject understands," Shen Nian said.
At this point, it was no longer about whether Qi Junmu trusted Qi Junzhuo. The waters in the capital were simply too deep; no one knew who—or which groups—were stirring them up.
There were certainly those fishing in troubled waters, and some, even without lifting a finger, were waiting to see the Emperor make a fool of himself.
Qi Junmu let out a soft laugh and shook his head, lowering his voice. "Shen Nian, now that I've put everyone out in the open, don't you think things will turn out especially interesting in the end?"
Shen Nian did not understand.
Qi Junmu took his hand and wrote on his palm: Prince Jin, Prince Rui, Prince Ping, Western Di, Northern Rong, the Wen family, and Prince Ying. At the very end, the Emperor paused, then stopped.
When Qi Junmu let go of his hand, Shen Nian blinked, then blinked again—and his face filled with shock.
Qi Junmu said, "I don't really care who's stirring the winds in the capital. Once everyone returns to the capital, including me, we'll all be standing on the stage. Then we'll see who's the real deal and who's the fraud."
Shen Nian clenched his left palm. He had not expected that the Emperor would even suspect Prince Ying and the Wen family.
He did not know why the Wen family was suspected, but he could understand it—because the Emperor's attitude toward the Wen family was one of utter disgust. The Wen family was also allied by marriage with the Lin family, and the Lin family was an old aristocratic clan whose actions often served to protect their own interests.
Otherwise, they would not have continued to send Lin En to the palace frequently, knowing full well the rift between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager.
The Lin family wanted both the Empress Dowager's favor and the Emperor's regard.
With marriage ties to both the Yue and Wen families, the Lin family advanced and retreated in step with them to some degree. With such sprawling branches and dense foliage, it was hardly surprising that the Wen family drew the Emperor's suspicion and disfavor.
But that the Emperor suspected Prince Ying—that truly caught him off guard.
Prince Ying was simply an honest, unassuming prince from the previous generation, from Emperor Jing's time. The current Prince Ying held no power whatsoever. Shen Nian had no idea how the Emperor had come to suspect him.
If their relationship were not so close, Shen Nian might have said that the Emperor truly suffered from a suspicious nature.
Of course, he would never say that now. The fact that the Emperor had shared all this with him already showed immense trust.
He was more than content with that.
Seeing the look on Shen Nian's face, Qi Junmu knew exactly what he was thinking. He smiled and said, "I don't actually suspect every single one of these people. I'm just putting out everyone who could possibly be linked to the throne. In this world, all things change but never stray far from their roots. No matter what secrets lie behind this, if you just consider—if I were no longer Emperor, who would benefit?—then things become much easier to handle."
Thanks to Emperor Jing, Qi Junmu now had only one imperial uncle still alive (Prince Ying), which made many matters far simpler.
Shen Nian clenched his palm, feeling that what lay there was not a set of illegible words, but trust carved into his very bones.
"You trust me, and I naturally trust you too," Qi Junmu said in a low voice. "Besides, you and I share an extraordinary bond. You are the one behind me. If I cannot entrust my very life to you, then to whom can I entrust it?"
Shen Nian had not expected that his one remark would prompt the Emperor to lay out all his inner considerations. He thought it over carefully—it was a somewhat rough approach, but many things could not be judged by appearances alone.
In any case, he was following the Emperor's lead. Whatever the Emperor told him to do, he would do.
Qi Junmu watched Shen Nian in silence, lost in thought. He parted his lips like he wanted to say something, then thought better of it and said nothing.
No matter what Qi Junmu was thinking, his expression revealed nothing. On ordinary days, he attended the morning court as usual and summoned his ministers for discussions as usual.
Qi Junmu replied as quickly as possible to the letter sent by the king of Western Di, telling them to send their envoys without delay. In his reply, Qi Junmu also said with great sincerity that although Western Di was a land of barbarians without proper civilization, their desire to learn was truly commendable and rare.
Since they had made this request, the gates of Da Qi would naturally be opened for them. However, even so, they ought to pick some of their sharper people; otherwise, they would not be able to learn much.
Imagining the look on the Western Di king's face when he read that letter, Qi Junmu was in high spirits and sent a messenger off with the reply at top speed. In this life, Western Di and Da Qi had not gone to war, so he would start by irritating the other side a little.
Perhaps it was the calm before the storm—no trouble had arisen inside or outside the court.
Shen Nian also rarely went to the North Mountain, which set many people at ease. But as Prince Rui and Prince Jin drew closer to the capital, everyone's hearts began to tighten again.
Only when they returned would the truth finally come to light.
No one knew what the emperor had heard from the female assassin, but judging from his grim expression, things did not look good—and that was extremely unfavorable for Prince Jin.
Thinking of the deep brotherly bond the emperor had once shared with Prince Jin, some ministers could not help but sigh. Lately, the emperor had stopped sending gifts to Prince Jin's mansion. The renovations there had already been halted, and there were few palace servants left inside.
It had only been a few short months, yet the emperor and Prince Jin had already become strangers—enough to make anyone sigh.
The days passed one by one. As Prince Rui and Prince Jin drew nearer to the capital, an unusual calm settled over the palace and the court. Memorials were even fewer than usual.
With the emperor in a bad mood, no one dared to submit trivial matters that might anger him.
Qi Junmu was quite pleased by this. Normally, when he read memorials, many people wrote nothing but nonsense—especially those sent from the provinces. Countless officials expressed their longing for the emperor and begged to return to the capital to see him.
Now the memorials were concise and to the point. The court officials kept things as simple as possible and avoided any unnecessary complexity. Qi Junmu spent much less time reviewing them, and his mood naturally improved.
One night, while talking about this, Qi Junmu complained slightly to Shen Nian in his arms: "If they could always be like this, I wouldn't have to put so much effort into reading these memorials every day."
Shen Nian rested his head on Qi Junmu's arm. Hearing this, he chuckled and said, "Officials have the sharpest eyes. They know Your Majesty is in a bad mood, so of course they won't rush in to court trouble. Once this period passes, Your Majesty will likely be overworked again."
Local officials who wanted to become capital officials had to make the emperor remember them.
To make the emperor remember them, aside from the Ministry of Personnel's evaluations, they also needed to leave an impression. It had become a habit to chat casually in their memorials, describe local customs, and express their longing for the emperor.
Thinking of the frown that would unconsciously crease the emperor's brow when reading those memorials, Shen Nian could hardly suppress the smile at the corner of his mouth.
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