Prince Shu's Residence
"What?" Almost at the same moment, Prince Shu sprang to his feet in his study and stared at the servant before him.
"What did you say? Say it again!"
"Your Highness, I heard Eunuch Zhang say five words to Boss Li: Blood Osmanthus, Great Restoration Elixir. I heard those five words perfectly clearly. There was no mistake."
The man reporting to Prince Shu was a shop assistant planted in Li's Silk Shop. Ordinarily, he looked perfectly unremarkable, just a young assistant who knew how to handle people. In truth, however, he possessed an exceptional talent: his hearing. He could hear sounds from far away without having to draw close.
A palace eunuch had come to the silk shop that evening, and the assistant had been paying attention ever since Boss Li returned. Though he was some distance away and the two men spoke quietly, he had heard those five words perfectly clearly.
After all, it was only a silk shop, not the palace, much less a prince's residence. Who would bother checking whether a shop assistant was nearby?
Thus, as soon as the shop owner hurried away, the assistant brought the news to Prince Shu's Residence.
Prince Shu paced the room with a grave expression, his hands clasped behind his back, his fingers repeatedly clenching and loosening.
In fact, Prince Shu knew about the Lesser Restoration Elixir. Had the Daoists not refined it, his imperial father on the dragon throne would probably have been bedridden long ago, unable to rise.
The Lesser Restoration Elixir was a court secret, known to very few. But Prince Qi certainly knew about it too, and perhaps even Prince Lu. After all, none of the brothers would believe that a grown prince had no agents planted in the palace.
Yet knowing about