Reborn as Powerful Minister's Beloved
Chapter 56: Grasping at Shadows

Chapter 56: Chapter 56: Grasping at Shadows

Lord Ju Nanyi, serving as an Academician at Hanlin Academy, had just arrived at the Imperial Palace from the Traveling Palace and dealt with the relevant matters before heading straight to the Crown Prince’s Mansion without stopping.

Although he had not personally participated in the events at the Traveling Palace, it was not difficult to deduce what had happened.

"Lord Ju, right this way," Qi Yu led him to a reception room in the outer courtyard. From the row upon row of wooden windows of the reception room, one could see the expansive Sunken Water Lake. In spring, thick and luxuriant, the corridors were built alongside the lake, leading directly to the Crown Prince’s study. The courtyard was small, yet it captured the ingenuity of divine craftsmanship perfectly. Behind the study was an artificial hill, and through another side along the lake, vaguely visible was the inner courtyard of the Crown Prince.

However, although the Crown Prince was now sixteen, his marriage had been delayed. The Emperor was severely ill, and Master Huo Yi had divined that from the celestial signs, inheriting from a distant place was ill-timed for early marriage. The Empress, deeply devoted to praying for the Emperor, had neglected the Crown Prince’s marriage as well. Thus, the Crown Prince’s inner courtyard, other than some cleaning old women, was left empty year-round, and even the doors from the study to the inner courtyard were perennially locked.

Ju Nanyi withdrew his gaze and refocused on the study, dismissing these rumors as unreliable.

The Crown Prince usually met his subjects in this reception room of the outer courtyard, and only core ministers and trusted aides of the Crown Prince could enter the study to discuss affairs. Lord Ju Nanyi calmly withdrew his gaze and emotionlessly stood by the window, still looking out over the lush green waters of the lake.

"Has Nanyi arrived?" Ju Nanyi immediately turned around respectfully upon hearing the voice, only to be promptly assisted by Zheng Congyuan before he could bow.

"No need for excessive formalities."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Ju Nanyi frowned slightly, noticing bite marks. How could there be a row of bite marks on the back of His Highness’s hand, and each mark was small and rounded, not seeming like those of a... man...

"The matter you were looking into, any progress?" Zheng Congyuan got straight to the point, the letter in his hand not yet put down, casually sitting at the table and gesturing for Ju Nanyi to also take a seat.

Ju Nanyi shook off the thoughts of those bite marks in his head.

"Your Highness, the sudden incident with the Second Prince was not an accident but caused by the failure of the Mystical Arts, leading to Master Yin He being severely wounded and unresponsive after being devoured," he replied.

Zheng Congyuan looked up at Ju Nanyi, aware to some extent of what Zheng Muyuan was doing, although he disagreed, Noble Consort Wen insisted, and he couldn’t directly interfere.

"So, those young men and women essentially sacrificed their lives for nothing?" Zheng Congyuan lowered his head, knowing discussing irreversible matters was pointless, "Settle this matter smoothly, think of a secure way to pacify the public."

"Of course," Ju Nanyi confirmed.

Zheng Congyuan looked up again, noticing that Ju Nanyi hadn’t left yet.

"Anything else?"

"Your Highness, indeed, there is another matter." Ju Nanyi knew that His Highness had supported Prince Duan twice, probably intending to win him over. Thus, depending on how one saw it, this might not just be due to his personal bias.

"Speak."

"Noble Consort Wen has already started targeting those aware of this matter, not distinguishing between friend and foe. About half of the guards who knew have already died. Among them is a somewhat special person—a Commandery Princess of Prince Duan, Princess Chao Ren, who also seems to be involved."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Congyuan suddenly looked up at Ju Nanyi, noting the man’s calm demeanor, especially when mentioning this name, as if he were discussing just anyone, emotionless.

Zheng Congyuan was momentarily stunned; how deeply was she involved? He had assumed her involvement was due to Zheng Haoyuan, but it appeared the situation was more severe than he thought.

Ju Nanyi was indeed a reliable man, having bought off the guard who tortured the Loyal Warriors of Wen Family. He learned that the princess had saved the Fourth Prince at a critical moment, which might have indirectly led to the failure of the Mystical Arts, but that remained uncertain.

Zheng Congyuan felt somewhat incredulous after listening. Indeed, Master Yin He got drastically injured from backlashing, and indeed, Prince Duan strictly ordered Zheng Nianru to behave—It seemed that Prince Duan also knew what she had done.

Going to meet her death so naively and recklessly, why didn’t she consider how many heads she had on her neck?

Master Yin He, a man even Mage Huo Yi feared, and she managed to disrupt his Mystical Arts. Zheng Congyuan would rather believe that Zheng Nianru just happened to save the stubborn Zheng Haoyuan.

"Understood, you may leave," Zheng Congyuan said, turning his attention back to the document in his hand.

"Qi Yu—" Zheng Congyuan snapped the document shut with a slap, Qi Yu, puzzled, looked at Lord Ju who had just left and then entered the room.

"Assign two reliable people to guard the Qishun Building," Zheng Congyuan ordered.

Qi Yu was stunned; weren’t there enough people already? There was already a top expert, and now sending two more, three top experts to watch Qishun Building, what about the Crown Prince?

"Yes," Qi Yu reluctantly agreed. Seeing that Zheng Congyuan had no further instructions, he prepared to leave.

"Wait—" Zheng Congyuan suddenly spoke up, deciding not to go after all. Today had already been unpleasant; they indeed needed to cool down. With her impulsive nature, sooner or later, trouble would arise.

Qi Yu slowly exited, not daring to say more. However, the Crown Prince’s Mansion already had few guards. Qi Ling had been sent to assist Prince Duan with the funeral arrangements of the Second Prince, and Qi Zhu had been instructed on another matter. Now, only Qi Jin and he were left by the Crown Prince’s side. Sending out two more reliable men would leave even fewer guards around the Crown Prince.

But since the last incident, Qi Yu was still very cautious about speaking out on matters involving Princess Chao Ren. Thinking it over, he gritted his teeth and pulled out two more from the Crown Prince’s eleven Hidden Guards, immediately arranging them to head to Qishun Building.

After the allocation of two Hidden Guards, and considering those already deployed, a total of three were now assigned to protect the Commandery Princess, which took away six guards from the Crown Prince—which was nearly a third of his forces. Not to mention the rations for these guards, all their arrangements, and accompanying tasks.

...

Nanmen Yu was the first to learn of Zheng Nianru’s return to Qishun Building but had always lacked the courage to go. Unexpectedly, when he traversed the dirtiest back alley of the Imperial Palace to reach his rundown place of confinement, Zheng Nianru was there waiting for him.

The first thing Nanmen Yu noticed was his still relatively clean attire; though made of common fabric and style, the clear-faced youth seemed as if he could claim a place under the heavens. However, this youth was unaware of it and seemed a bit nervous, his anxiety momentarily washed away by joy.

She must have happened upon this place by chance; it was not too far from the courtyard where they had first met, somewhat tucked in a corner.

It couldn’t possibly be that she had come specifically to wait for him.

"You finally came," Zheng Nianru breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Nanmen Yu. They used to designate this as their meeting spot when she needed to pass a message to Nanmen Yu, she didn’t know if it was still valid in this lifetime.

"You were waiting for me?" Nanmen Yu paused slightly, a hint of disbelief in his tone.

"Yes, I have a task for you, consider it a debt you owe me," Zheng Nianru stated forthrightly, stepping forward.

Nanmen Yu’s eyes dimmed for a moment, but he was unwilling to refuse.

"I don’t know if I can help you."

"No matter, just try your best," Zheng Nianru said, already digging something out from her sleeve and placing it into Nanmen Yu’s hand.

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