In the days that followed, the capital was like a throat gripped by an invisible hand. Curfews were moved earlier, the city gates were placed under martial law, the number of patrolling soldiers multiplied several times over, and the atmosphere was so grim it was suffocating.
News was confirmed that the Eldest Imperial Princess, Xiao Lintian, was gravely injured and unconscious. The Imperial Medical Academy was at a loss, able only to barely keep her alive.
The Eighth Imperial Princess, Xiao Linyue, was effectively placed under house arrest in her residence "to cooperate with the investigation." Many of the generals under her command were summoned for questioning, and unrest quietly stirred within the Northern Frontier forces.
As for Xiao Yuhuang, she became like a silent shadow, frequently entering and leaving the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the palace. Her authority to "assist" was intentionally or unintentionally expanded by the Empress; many key clues and interrogation records of important personnel were "copied" and sent to her desk.
She showed no urgency or overt aggression, only calmly organizing and analyzing the information, then reporting to the Empress certain seemingly insignificant details that might link together into a much larger network.
Aunt Qin resumed her rhythm of one report per day. The information on the secret slips was brief yet alarming.
"The Northern Frontier draft traces back to a certain bureau of the Ministry of Revenue. The bureau director is the son of the Eldest Princess's wet nurse."
"The ink used for the private seal rubbing is the Jiangnan tribute 'Vermilion Snow,' granted last year only to Eldest Sister, Eighth Sister, and several senior princes."
"The poison taken by the assassin is of the same origin as the poison that killed a censor half a year ago."
"An old eunuch in charge of palace procurement 'fell' into a well last night. His nephew owns substantial property in the capital outskirts; the source of the funds is unknown."
The clues were tangled and complex, seeming to point toward the Eldest Princess, implicating the Eighth Imperial Princess as well, while faintly suggesting a third party erasing traces in the shadows. The waters grew ever murkier.
Then, ten days later, an even more shocking piece of news exploded—chronic poison was discovered in the food of the Eldest Princess, whom the Second Imperial Princess was responsible for guarding! If not for Xiao Yuhuang's insistence on daily silver-needle poison testing, the consequences would have been unthinkable!
The poisoner turned out to be an old palace attendant who had served at the Second Imperial Princess's side for over ten years. After the incident, the attendant bit through a poison capsule hidden in his mouth and committed suicide on the spot, shouting before death, "For the true lord!"
The true lord? Who was the "true lord"? The Eldest Princess? The Eighth Imperial Princess? Or… that hidden black hand lurking behind the scenes?
The Empress was furious and issued an edict placing the Second Imperial Princess under confinement as well. For a time, everyone in the imperial clan lived in fear.
Amid this fog of suspicion and widespread panic, the Eldest Imperial Princess, Xiao Lintian, who had remained unconscious, suddenly "awoke" late one night.
She only managed to say a few broken words to the imperial physician and trusted female official at her side: "It was… the third… she… so… ruthless…" Then she vomited blood again, fell back into a coma, and her breath grew faint.
"The third"?! The Third Imperial Princess, Xiao Yuhuang?!
A direct accusation from the Eldest Princess herself!
The news spread like wildfire, instantly igniting all the suppressed suspicions. The spearhead seemed to turn at once, pointing toward the one who had watched coldly from the sidelines yet now was deeply involved in the investigation—the "fisherman" reaping the benefits: Xiao Yuhuang.
Upon hearing the news in her residence, the Eighth Imperial Princess, Xiao Linyue, flew into a rage. Ignoring the house-arrest order, she forcibly entered the palace to demand an audience, calling for severe punishment of Xiao Yuhuang.
The court and the public were in uproar, opinion raging like a storm. It seemed as though all evidence and accusations were pushing Xiao Yuhuang toward an abyss of utter ruin.
Yet inside the imperial study, the Empress looked at Xiao Yuhuang kneeling below, her expression as calm as ever, and asked only one question: "Lintian has accused you. What do you have to say?"
Xiao Yuhuang kowtowed, her voice clear. "This daughter has nothing to say. The innocent will remain innocent; the guilty will remain guilty. This daughter believes Mother Emperor is wise and will surely uncover the truth, restore the innocent's name, and… severely punish the true culprit."
She did not defend herself at all, merely throwing the problem back to the Empress and emphasizing "severely punish the true culprit."
The Empress fell silent for a long time, then waved her hand to dismiss her.
Just as the accusation storm reached its peak and countless people demanded that Xiao Yuhuang be thrown into prison for harsh interrogation, the task force suddenly made a breakthrough—they followed the clues of the "Vermilion Snow" seal ink and the Northern Frontier draft, combined them with the sources of the old eunuch's nephew's wealth and the circulation channels of the assassin's poison, and painstakingly unraveled the threads, eventually uncovering an extremely well-hidden gray network that spanned both inside and outside the palace, connected the court and frontier garrisons, provided "services" to both the Eldest Imperial Princess and the Eighth Imperial Princess, while secretly sowing discord and deliberately creating incidents!
Several core nodes of this network were all "promptly" "suicided" or "silenced" just before capture. The remaining fragmented chain of evidence, however, faintly pointed toward the residual forces of a deposed imperial consort's family—long fallen from power, confined for years, yet harboring deep resentment.
They had lain low for years, cultivating influence, with the goal of throwing the court into chaos, turning the Empress's own blood against itself, and seizing a chance to restore their power!
Although this conclusion still had questionable points, it explained many contradictions far better than "the Third Imperial Princess murdering her elder sister," preserved the dignity of the imperial family, and, most importantly, gave the Empress a perfect excuse to thoroughly purge the court and strike both major princess factions at once.
The Empress immediately issued an edict, charging the deposed consort's family with "treason" and eradicating them completely, implicating many others. Several close aides from the Eldest Princess's palace and several officials from the Eighth Imperial Princess's residence suspected of ties to the "gray network" were also purged. The court was swept clean.
After this case, although the Eldest Imperial Princess, Xiao Lintian, was not directly convicted, the truth behind her "assassination attempt" remained a mystery. The official conclusion blamed the remnants of the deposed consort's faction. With her injuries severe and recovery unlikely, the position of Crown Princess existed in name only.
The Eighth Imperial Princess, Xiao Linyue, though cleared of suspicion in the "assassination of the Crown Princess," suffered a devastating blow to her power base. The Northern Frontier military authority was gradually reclaimed and split up by the Empress under the pretext of "reorganization."
As for the Third Imperial Princess, Xiao Yuhuang, she was praised in this case for being "calm and composed," "meritorious in assisting the investigation," and "loyal beyond doubt."
Though she had briefly suffered injustice due to the Eldest Princess's accusation, she ultimately had her "wrongful charges cleared," which further highlighted her "consideration of the greater good" and "endurance under humiliation."
The Empress, "as compensation and reward," gradually transferred to her certain key affairs of the Ministry of Revenue and Ministry of Works that had previously been co-managed by the Eldest Princess, and permitted her to participate in deliberations of the Privy Council.
A shocking blood-soaked case, with several dramatic reversals—its final winner seemed to be the person who had been the most inconspicuous at the start.
One evening after the surface dust had settled, Aunt Qin delivered the latest—and final—secret note. It was no longer written in medicinal ink, but in Xiao Yuhuang's own hand, the strokes pressing hard into the paper, clearly betraying her unsettled emotions:
"The storm is perilous; fortunately it did not reach you. The arranged marriage matter has been temporarily halted, and Eighth Sister's intentions have also been cut off. Yet the tree wishes for stillness, but the wind does not cease. The road ahead is darker than before. Take utmost care. Wait for the day I cleanse heaven and earth."
Just a few short lines, yet they confirmed my earlier suspicions. The shelving of the Eldest Princess's arranged marriage, the failure of the Eighth Imperial Princess's proposal—both were indeed orchestrated by her in secret, carving out a brief space of peace for me amid these towering waves.
She even stated plainly that "Eighth Sister's intentions have also been cut off," the decisiveness of her methods making my heart tremble slightly.
I brought the paper close to the candle flame and watched the ink curl, blacken, and turn to ash in the fire.
"Wait for the day I cleanse heaven and earth."
This was no longer a hazy promise beneath the plum garden, but a clear and unequivocal oath. She had completely bound my fate together with her grand design to seize the throne and ascend to power.