Beware of the Elder Princess?

"Oh?"

As Jiang Xiaobai studied Jiang Jingcheng's expression, a trace of puzzlement crept onto his face.

Indeed, the blind Jiang Jingcheng lacked his usual impatience and forcefulness. Instead, an indescribable heaviness hung over him.

Jiang Jingcheng glanced at Jiang Xiaobai but did not speak immediately. He turned and walked behind the bookshelves.

A moment later, Jiang Jingcheng bent down and took an unremarkable wooden box out of a hidden compartment.

The wooden box looked quite old, its corners worn and its lacquer slightly darkened.

That only made it seem all the more deeply hidden away.

Jiang Jingcheng set the wooden box on the desk and slowly opened it, revealing an envelope inside.

"Take a look."

Jiang Jingcheng took out the envelope and handed it to Jiang Xiaobai.

Jiang Xiaobai asked no further questions, but as the envelope landed in his hand, his gaze sharpened slightly.

A bloodstain, long since darkened, still marked the envelope.

Blood?

Jiang Xiaobai's heart gave a sudden jolt.

Without another moment's hesitation, Jiang Xiaobai swiftly opened the envelope and drew out the slightly yellowed sheet of paper inside.

Yet when he actually saw what was written on it, his eyes narrowed slightly.

There was very little written on the paper.

In fact, it was exceedingly simple.

Just a few short words... Beware of the Elder Princess!

For a moment, the study grew so quiet that even their breathing seemed to soften.

Jiang Xiaobai stared at those words for a while, and memories surged through his mind.

The Elder Princess, Xiao Yunshu, was the reigning emperor's younger sister.

What was more, Xiao Yunshu also held the title of "the greatest beauty in the Capital City"!

The greatest?

Just how beautiful was this greatest beauty?

But his predecessor had only heard of her and had never seen her.

After a moment of surprise, Jiang Xiaobai slowly raised his head. "Father, this letter... was it written by my eldest brother?"

At that moment, Jiang Xiaobai noticed a hidden mark on it.

From his memories, he knew that this mark belonged to his eldest brother.

"Yes."

Jiang Jingcheng nodded, his gaze falling on the envelope as well, his expression complicated. "Not long after this letter arrived, news came back that something had happened to your eldest brother."

"Perhaps... your eldest brother discovered something."

"Well..."

After hearing that, Jiang Xiaobai looked at the envelope, his expression growing graver.

Had it merely named some ordinary person, that would have been one thing.

But it just had to be the Elder Princess...

That meant the things entangled behind this letter were probably far deeper than he had imagined.

"You told me earlier that someone set a trap so you would buy your Top Graduate title! Could the person behind that trap... also be the Elder Princess?" Jiang Jingcheng asked.

"Hard to say!"

Jiang Xiaobai shook his head.

Though they were all targeting the Jiang Family, they were not necessarily the same group.

Then Jiang Xiaobai looked at Jiang Jingcheng and asked, "Father, you must have investigated, right? Did you find any concrete leads?"

If there were any, he could make some deductions.

"No."

Jiang Jingcheng slowly shook his head. "This Elder Princess rarely appears in public!"

"Everything we could uncover was insignificant!"

"Nothing?"

Jiang Xiaobai sighed, but then his expression turned serious again. "Still, if everything was insignificant, then either... this Elder Princess keeps herself extremely well hidden!"

"Or someone deliberately framed her!"

"You mean this letter is fake?"

Jiang Jingcheng froze.

"No!"

Jiang Xiaobai shook his head. "I mean that certain things might have been deliberately shown to my eldest brother by certain people. With his eyes and ears deceived, he then sent this letter back!"

Jiang Jingcheng immediately understood what Jiang Xiaobai meant, and his expression shifted slightly.

If that were truly the case, investigating would be even harder!

"Ah, regardless, since my eldest brother specifically sent someone to deliver this letter, we still need to keep an eye on the Elder Princess!"

As he spoke, Jiang Xiaobai lowered his head again and looked once more at the letter in his hand.

The bloodstain remained. Though the handwriting was not exactly messy, faint signs of haste were apparent.

Clearly, when his eldest brother wrote those words, his situation must already have been extremely dire.

After pondering for a moment, Jiang Xiaobai looked at Jiang Jingcheng. "Father, leave this matter to me. I'll find a way to keep investigating what happened to my eldest and second brothers!"

"I believe that since my eldest brother gave his life to send this letter back, this Elder Princess must be hiding secrets we know nothing about."

"Yes, you may investigate!"

Jiang Jingcheng spoke solemnly. "But remember this: never act impulsively, and don't be too quick to trust anyone, especially..."

His voice noticeably paused. "Especially people from the Imperial Palace!"

Indeed, Jiang Xiaobai was now the Jiang Family's only remaining son. Jiang Jingcheng could not bear to see anything happen to him.

"I understand."

Jiang Xiaobai nodded.

"Also, your mother knows nothing about this letter."

Jiang Jingcheng sighed softly. "So don't tell her!"

"Rest assured, Father!"

Jiang Xiaobai answered again. After carefully placing the letter on the desk, he stood and cupped his hands toward Jiang Jingcheng.

Just as he was about to leave, Jiang Jingcheng called out, "Wait. The results will be posted the day after tomorrow, and you'll be entering the palace for an audience with His Majesty!"

"Is there anything... you need your father to do for you?"

He could no longer fathom Jiang Xiaobai's thoughts at all, but he was still his father, and he hoped to offer him more support.

"Oh..."

Jiang Xiaobai paused, then looked earnestly at Jiang Jingcheng. "On the day of the imperial audience, don't go. Just stay home and pretend to be ill!"

Huh?

Jiang Jingcheng was visibly taken aback, then frowned. Before he could speak, however, Jiang Xiaobai smiled. "Just trust me, Father!"

With that, Jiang Xiaobai lingered no longer. He turned and left.

"That little brat..."

Watching Jiang Xiaobai's retreating figure, Jiang Jingcheng cursed with a smile, but his expression softened somewhat.

After returning to his own quarters, Jiang Xiaobai's brows remained deeply furrowed.

Indeed, had he never seen that letter, that would have been one thing.

Now that he had... he increasingly felt that matters were probably not as simple as he had imagined.

There were the people who had trapped him into buying the Top Graduate title, as well as those who had plotted the deaths of his eldest and second brothers.

If both sides belonged to the same group, that would actually be manageable.

Yes, he would just root them out, find a way to set a trap in return, and finish them off.

But if they were not the same group, this would become rather thorny.

Most importantly, he dared not readily conclude whether there was anyone else behind those already pulling the strings!

Jiang Xiaobai rubbed his forehead, his expression helpless.

"Ah, just how many people want a bite of this juicy piece of meat called the Jiang Family..."

"And this greatest beauty in the Capital City-huh, how beautiful could she possibly be!"