Ma Qingyun said, "Your Highness, this is no small matter. Yan Dongsheng has always known exactly what goes on at the Treasure-Gathering Studio. For him to act without the slightest warning this time suggests he has been plotting it for a long while. I'm worried he'll soon trace it back to Yanxi Hall."
"So what if he traces it to Yanxi Hall? Who can prove that Yanxi Hall has anything to do with me?"
Ma Qingyun lowered his voice. "This is aimed directly at you, Your Highness. Could an outside enemy be behind it?"
Xue Shengjing narrowed his small eyes, a cunning gleam flickering within them. "Outside threats are easy to eliminate; thieves within are hard to guard against!"
"You mean there's a spy inside our residence?"
"Hard to say," Xue Shengjing replied. "But there aren't many people who could embolden Yan Dongsheng to turn against me." He had already fixed his suspicions on one person: his own nephew, Xue Daohong, the current emperor of Great Yong. An innocent man committed no crime, yet possessing a precious jade made him guilty. Great Yong's throne had changed hands. When his imperial elder brother, Xue Shengjing, had reigned, he had been exceptionally tolerant toward him. Knowing that he had little desire for power, his brother had felt at ease letting him collect rare treasures and build his fortune. Xue Shengjing, too, had assured his imperial brother more than once that he was merely a custodian of wealth-whenever Great Kang needed it, he would donate his entire fortune. But now his nephew Xue Daohong was in charge. Although Xue Shengjing had supported Xue Daohong's rise to the throne, and everything he had done since his nephew's accession could be considered a faithful fulfillment of his duties as an imperial uncle, affairs within the