~ Qi Ming Pledges Himself to Jin Wang ~
Qi Ming knelt on the ground, his face full of panic and unease.
“Your Highness… I’ve always been in trade. I managed Yi Bao Xuan for the Li family and His Royal Highness Ling Wang. But some time ago, I failed my duties and offended His Royal Highness. After that, His Royal Highness even began to suspect I had ulterior motives. He detained my family… and he even killed my wife.”
“For the sake of my only remaining child, I had no choice but to resist.”
“Failed your duties?” Jin Wang studied him, weighing every word for truth. “What exactly do you mean?”
Qi Ming’s throat tightened.
“Before… in Linjiang City, His Royal Highness ordered me to intercept the boats transporting tax silver. I failed to stop them.”
“After that, he ordered me to recover the tax silver that sank to the riverbed. But because of His Royal Highness Yu Wang and Yue Wang, I still couldn’t find it. That’s why His Royal Highness was completely disappointed in me.”
Jin Wang fumbled for his teacup, raised it, and took a light sip. A gentle smile touched his lips—warm on the surface, chilling underneath.
“You may go. I’m already a crippled man. I’m not worth my Eldest Imperial Brother spending effort to scheme against.”
Qi Ming’s face turned even whiter. He slammed his head to the floor.
“Third Prince—if I step out of your gates, I’ll be beheaded in the street before I’ve taken ten steps. Please don’t drive me away. Please save this servant.”
“I truly have nowhere left to go. I’m not someone Ling Wang deliberately planted here. Please see clearly, Your Royal Highness.”
“Words are cheap.” Jin Wang’s voice remained calm. “What proof do you have?”
Qi Ming’s voice shook, but his eyes were desperate and sharp.
“Your Royal Highness… I am only a servant. The things I can touch are limited. Secrets of the highest level would never reach me.”
“But I know a secret big enough to shake heaven.”
“If Your Royal Highness is willing to take me in and save my child… this servant will tell you.”
“Sheltering a servant isn’t difficult,” Jin Wang said slowly. “But how do I know whether your ‘secret’ is real?”
Even as he spoke, his gaze never left Qi Ming’s face.
Qi Ming looked terrified—too terrified. He’d watched and listened carefully, and it didn’t look like acting.
If this were the past, Jin Wang might not have been so suspicious.
But now?
He had no power, no faction, no leverage. Even the officials who once supported him had long since cut ties.
And yet Qi Ming came running to him anyway.
How could he not suspect a trap?
Qi Ming’s forehead streamed with sweat despite the winter chill.
“Third Prices, I can’t prove it. I can only say it, and let Your Highness judge for yourself.”
Then he forced the words out, each one like a nail hammered into the room.
“The Li family has been secretly exchanging with Beijiang. Their ties are extremely close.”
The moment he finished, Qi Ming lowered his head and fell silent, waiting for judgment.
The teacup in Jin Wang’s hand jerked violently. Tea spilled onto his robe.
He didn’t even notice.
“The Li family… and Beijiang?” His voice turned tight. “You’re certain?”
“Yes.”
Behind the white gauze over his eyes, Jin Wang’s gaze trembled violently. After a long moment, he spoke again, voice low and strange.
“I have no power and no influence. I’m even confined to this residence and can’t move freely.”
“If you truly had this information, wouldn’t it be better to tell Yu Wang?”
Qi Ming’s shoulders shook.
“This servant… I tried.”
“I secretly went to Yu Wang’s residence, but before I even reached the gates, I saw Ling Wang’s people.”
“Right now, the two royal residences are locked in open conflict—needle to wheat, blade to throat. They’d probably count how many bites the other ate at dinner.”
“This servant is useless. I can’t get close to Yu Wang at all.”
That answer shaved away some of Jin Wang’s suspicion.
He fell quiet, thinking. After a moment, he finally said, “Go. I’ll arrange a place for you to stay—for now.”
Qi Ming’s face lit up with frantic relief… only to twist again with worry.
“Your Highness… my child…”
“Don’t worry.” Jin Wang’s voice was calm. “I’ll have someone extract him as soon as possible, then place him somewhere else for the time being.”
“Yes! Thank you, Your Highness!”
Qi Ming withdrew.
Once he was gone, Jin Wang’s personal guard stepped forward. “Your Highness… do you believe what Qi Ming said?”
Jin Wang reached up and tore away the gauze from his face, then lowered his eyes to the tea stains on his robe.
“Li family and Beijiang…” His tone was dark. “That’s not something one blurts out casually. The stakes are too high.”
“And Qi Ming’s expression didn’t seem fake. Many details he gave were coherent, grounded.”
“More importantly, those account books he handed over.” Jin Wang’s gaze sharpened. “So many transactions don’t add up. The Li family seems to be using Yi Bao Xuan to plot something in the dark.”
“If what he said is true…” Jin Wang’s mouth curved coldly. “Then Eldest Imperial Brother is digging his own grave.”
The guard shuddered and said, “Beijiang has been watching like a tiger for years. Dealing with them is courting disaster.”
Jin Wang set the teacup down and lightly pounded his legs, frustration flashing across his face.
“How are the herbs Doctor Gu ordered?”
“We’ve found most of them. Two remain.”
“Mn.” Jin Wang’s voice tightened. His eyes were already restored—what he wanted now was for his legs to stand again.
“And the things I told you to arrange?”
“All prepared, Your Highness.”
“Good.” Jin Wang’s lips curled faintly. “If tomorrow goes smoothly, Father should lift my confinement… and perhaps even restore my royal title.”
“But that still won’t be enough.”
“If we can truly confirm a connection between Beijiang and the Li family, then with that merit… I’ll have my chance to rise again.”
To be honest, he hoped Qi Ming was telling the truth.
Because he needed a merit vast enough to overwrite his earlier mistakes.
A servant brought in a fresh teacup. “Your Highness, should this subordinate help you change your clothes?”
“No need.”
Another guard asked, “Your Highness, His Royal Highness Yue Wang and Wen Xian Junzhu’s wedding date is approaching. This subordinate has prepared some congratulatory gifts—does Your Highness have any additional instructions?”
Jin Wang’s brow jerked. A strange, unreadable light flashed through his eyes.
“No. Leave.”
“Yes.”
Once the guard withdrew, Jin Wang suddenly grabbed the teacup on the table and smashed it to the ground.
His teeth clenched. His expression was terrifyingly dark.
Early the next morning, an official reported during court:
Overnight, the plum grove within Jin Wang’s residence had burst into bloom.
The frozen lake had begun to melt.
And even more shockingly, lotus leaves and lotus blossoms had emerged.
The Emperor and the court officials scoffed at first and ordered guards to verify.
But when the guards returned, they reported that everything was as they had said.
The court erupted.
Some officials said plum blossoms blooming early had precedent, but ice melting in midwinter, lotus leaves rising, lotus flowers blooming—this was too unnatural. It might be heaven’s warning.
Others argued it was a great omen. Lotus flowers, after all, were famed for purity: rising from mud unstained, washed by clear ripples without becoming seductive—symbols of noble virtue. Blooming early must mean a heavenly summons, urging His Majesty to summon the Third Prince and question him.
After pondering it, the Emperor decided to see it personally.
The ministers could not dissuade him and could only accompany him.
News also reached Eldest Princess Yide.
“Yao’er,” she said, amused, “His Majesty is having us go together to view the spectacle of lotus flowers blooming in winter. Will you come take a look, too?”
Mu Yunyao’s eyes curved with a smile. “Of course. Such a rare sight is worth seeing.”
“Too bad Mother caught a cold. She can’t go out these days.”
“Let her rest, rest,” Eldest Princess Yide said lightly, a calm understanding flickering in her eyes. “Besides, lotus flowers are meant for summer. Winter lotuses are too artificial—too much craftsmanship, too little spirit. Not seeing them is fine.”
Too much craftsmanship?
Mu Yunyao’s smile deepened, faintly cold.
That was no miracle at all.
It was artificial.
The Third Prince truly had methods—he even thought of using a ‘heaven-sent omen.’
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