The Mastermind

Xiao Ge chuckled, "Hmph, they're quite adept at playing these kinds of diversionary tactics and framing."

The Imperial Guards held their breath, not daring to speak.

The princes were all very adept at this tactic.

Someone like Zhang Li, who had only recently been transferred to the capital, seemed to have no connection with anyone and was purely neutral. However, after arriving in the capital, he frequently visited the Crown Prince's retainers. Whenever something happened, people would link him to the Crown Prince.

Their Imperial Guards had suffered losses several times. At first, they would stop investigating once they found these obvious connections. But later, when things got complicated and other princes were implicated, they realized it was all a smokescreen, deliberately designed to mislead them.

After going back and forth a few times, they became quite adept at checking these things.

Don't assume that just because they've discovered Zhang Li's secret connection to the Third Prince, the Third Prince is behind it all, trying to frame the Crown Prince. Who knows if this is the real truth?

Or perhaps this is the truth; or perhaps this is still the so-called "truth" that others want them to see and find, with someone else instigating it.

Even the Imperial Guards had only been assigned a few missions and investigated a few similar incidents understood this principle, Xiao Ge understood it even better.

As a father, and one who had the empire to entrust to his sons, Xiao Ge was actually quite pleased that his sons possessed such shrewdness and skill. Otherwise, whoever ascended the throne would be manipulated by the court officials. The throne could not tolerate naive and innocent individuals.

But this matter crossed his bottom line.

He instructed, "Investigate further and see if there are any other people involved. Zhang Li has only had contact with these two princes since arriving in the capital; they might have already done so during his previous post. Investigate thoroughly along this line of thought, and make sure to find the real mastermind. Also..."

He paused, then continued, "All of Zhang Li's past official duties, whether good or bad, must be investigated and reported; none can be overlooked."

"Yes," the Imperial Guards replied and withdrew.

Zhang Li's matter is being investigated not only by Xiao Ge, but also by Xiao Lingyan.

Xiao Ge was still mindful that Zhang Li was his subject and the mastermind behind it was his son, so he investigated discreetly and might even pretend not to know afterward. Xiao Lingyan, however, didn't care about any of that.

If you mess with Xu Xi, he'd dare to deal with even the mighty Xiao Ge Zhang Li.

Isn't the person behind Zhang Li well-hidden and difficult to investigate? We can just alert them.

Ever since he suppressed Zhao Ruxi in the county examination, Zhang Li hasn't slept well for the past two nights.

In the middle of the night, he was half asleep when he heard a noise outside the window, as if someone's foot had slipped. He immediately woke up.

After thinking for a moment, he got up, put on his coat, and walked outside.

"Where are you going in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?" Madam Zhang asked, annoyed, after being woken up. "Could it be that you're worried about that little vixen and want to go see her in the middle of the night?"

Zhang Li's eyes were full of impatience.

He turned and frowned at his wife. "I say, you women, can't you think of anything else besides jealousy and rivalry?"

After saying that, he ignored his wife and went out.

Zhang Li came from a humble background. Although he had served as an official for ten years, his family was not particularly wealthy. Even his concubine Lady Wu, was a recent addition to the household, and they had few servants. The kind of night watchmen that were common in aristocratic families did not exist in his family.

At this moment, all was quiet outside the door, with only a faint, hazy moonlight in the courtyard.

Zhang Li looked around at the door but saw no movement. He thought for a moment, then went back inside, turned on the light, and went out with the lamp.

Madam Zhang jumped up, put on a coat, and followed behind him, as if to see where he was going.

Zhang Li ignored her, carrying a lantern and looking around the courtyard, but couldn't figure it out. He looked up at the sky and saw a waning moon hanging in the sky, clearly it was only midnight.

He carried the lantern and walked back, saying, "Let's go back to sleep."

Madam Zhang was somewhat bewildered by his action, then became anxious and asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, it's probably a stray cat," Zhang Li said.

The couple went back inside and went back to sleep.

After lying down, Madam Zhang quickly fell asleep, but Zhang Li was wide awake, listening intently to the sounds outside. However, until dawn, the courtyard remained completely quiet.

He got up to wash up, and seeing that it was already broad daylight, he quickly looked around the yard again and finally noticed that the moss on the yard wall seemed to have been stepped on by something, leaving a slippery mark.

The scratches were very shallow; they were not visible not only last night, but also during the day, unless you looked very closely.

He lived in a government-owned residence. The officials who built the residence were probably worried about security, so they built a very high wall, about seven or eight feet high, which was difficult for ordinary people to climb up without the help of a ladder or other tools.

To be able to move freely atop such a high wall, leaving only traces when unintentional, is clearly the work of a master.

Zhang Li's heart skipped a beat. He was finally certain that the voice he heard last night was not a hallucination, and he felt extremely uneasy.

After breakfast, Zhang Li led his servants to the yamen (government office).

His residence was some distance from the government office; it took him about a hundred steps to reach the main gate.

After walking for a while, he suddenly noticed that the guards following him were looking around suspiciously.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

The guard nervously swallowed, leaned closer to Zhang Li, and whispered, "Master, I have a feeling someone is watching us."

For several days in a row, Zhang Li felt like he was being watched; even his Madam Zhang sensed something was wrong and felt that someone was watching her.

Madam Zhang asked her husband, "What exactly is going on? Who is watching us?"

Before Zhang Li could speak, a servant outside called out, "Master, a messenger from Xianquan County has arrived by express horse."

Zhang Li's expression hardened, and he stood up, saying, "Send it quickly."

Immediately, a travel-worn man entered and handed Zhang Li a letter.

After reading the letter, Zhang Li slumped into his seat.

"Sir, what's wrong?" Madam Zhang asked worriedly.

"Someone went to the county to investigate some things," Zhang Li said, his face pale.

He had a clean reputation, but in private he did some shady things, accepted money, fabricated false cases, and left himself vulnerable.

Because of these vulnerabilities, he had no choice but to take sides, even if he wanted to remain neutral.

But now, can his master protect him?

His legs went weak, so he went to his study, wrote a letter, and, thinking he could discreetly send it to a certain place.

He couldn't care less if someone was watching him. It was obvious someone was targeting him, and if he didn't ask for help, he'd be finished once the affair in Xianquan County was exposed.

The next day, a message arrived from the guards on Xiao Ge and Xiao Lingyan's desk, bearing the three words: "Fourth Prince."