The old eunuch shuddered violently and dared not think any further.
Silence settled over the carriage again.
Just as Jiang Yuechu thought the baffling questions were finally over,
the emperor suddenly raised his head again.
This time,
his expression was far more serious, with a trace of tension barely visible in his eyes.
"Jiang Yuechu."
"I heard that when Jiang Xun was imprisoned, the Court of Judicial Review found a jade pendant in his study."
Jiang Yuechu's gaze sharpened.
So here it was.
This was what he really wanted to ask, wasn't it?
Everything before this had only been leading up to this question?
She sat straighter, drawing in her aura slightly.
"Yes."
Jiang Yuechu admitted it without hesitation.
"Then do you know..."
The emperor stared into her eyes, as though unwilling to miss the slightest change in her expression.
His voice even trembled a little.
"Where this jade pendant... came from?"
Jiang Yuechu looked at him, a flicker of mockery passing through her eyes.
"Since Your Majesty knows of it, why ask a question you already know the answer to? It was Consort Ming's personal possession. There was no other like it in the world."
"And it was precisely because of that pendant that my father was accused of colluding with demons and bringing chaos to the imperial palace."
The emperor shook his head. "Since you know the pendant belonged to Consort Ming, you should also know that secretly keeping a precious object from the palace is a grave crime."
"Jiang Xun may be stubborn, but he is neither a fool nor a madman."
"If greed were his only motive, he could have sold that hot potato. Why take the risk of hiding it in a secret compartment in his study—and keep it there for a full sixteen years?!"