Recognition

The old eunuch shuddered and dared not think any further.

Silence settled over the carriage once more.

Just as Jiang Yuechu thought the baffling questions were finally over,

the emperor suddenly looked up again.

This time,

his expression had grown far more serious, with a trace of tension barely visible in his eyes.

"Jiang Yuechu."

"I heard that when Jiang Xun was imprisoned, Dali Temple found a jade pendant in his study."

Jiang Yuechu's gaze sharpened.

Here it comes.

This is what he really wants to ask, isn't it?

All those questions before were just a prelude to this?

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.

Even his voice trembled faintly.

"Where that jade pendant... came from?"

Jiang Yuechu looked at him, a flicker of mockery passing through her eyes.

"Your Majesty knows of it, so why ask when you already know the answer? It belonged to Consort Ming. It was the only one of its kind in the world."

"And it was precisely because of that pendant that my father was accused of colluding with demons and throwing the inner palace into chaos."

The emperor shook his head. "Since you know it belonged to Consort Ming, you must also know that secretly keeping a treasure from the palace is a grave crime."

"Jiang Xun may be a stubborn man, but he is neither a fool nor a madman."

"If he only wanted money, he could have sold that hot potato. Why risk hiding it in a secret compartment in his study for sixteen whole years?!"

Jiang Yuechu fell silent.

That truly made no sense.

She had wondered about it before