Not waiting for the investigation results to come out, Zhao Song pled his guilt in front of the Emperor and the whole court.
Saying that he was poisoned with untruthful words by one of his aides, he believed that his brother was trying to court Gu Yuxie who he had deeply loved for years. He said that his jealousy made him try to scare Yifeng and he didn't have any thoughts on his life. He also said that if he knew that Yifeng was his brother he would never dare to touch a single hair in his body.
He cried with a regretful face and introduced evidences and witnesses. Although neither the Emperor or the ministers believed his performance, they still had to pinch their nose and swallow his 'apology'.
In the end the aid was sentenced to beheading and Zhao Song was put under house arrest for six months. Consort Huang was also punished since her son not only had tried to harm his brother but also did for such a petty reason.
Although Zhao Song was punished the result was hardly a defeat for him.
"That was one unexpected move"
Ming Peng commented making the men around him nod.
"It seems he found out the little traitor in his team. Does Your Highness wish to save him?"
A young man with a golden tan and high stature asked Yifeng.
Yifeng snorted coldly.
"He betrays Zhao Song now, what stops him of doing the same with me later?"
"Your Highness is right but rather than some insignificant rat what I am more concerned is with the Emperor's attitude towards Zhao Song"
A young man with clean temperament and a scholarly aura spoke quietly.
"The Emperor dismissed the investigations when clearly we would find Prince Song's tail if the investigation went on"
An older man said displeased.
Seeing the crumple face of his aides, Zhao Yifeng waved his hand.
"Imperial Father still strong and healthy in his throne, what good does it make for him pushing his son so far? This is still not the time for them to torn their faces. The power on my brother's hands may be enough to lead a rebellion. Plus, Father still appreciates my brother and his mother very much. This time was just a warning for him"
The men in front of Zhao Yifeng were astonished.
"Are you saying that Zhao Song has enough power in his hand already that he can rebel and be successful?!"
Ming Peng asked almost screaming. Luckily they were isolated in the third floor of the Red Lotus or else this words could lead the nation to chaos.
Zhao Yifeng shrugged.
"I didn't say that. Neither us or Imperial Father could properly measure the resources in Zhao Song's hands as far as I know. We either find clues that lead us to ridiculous places or we find nothing at all. For managing to hide so deep Songsong is truly commendable"
The men present almost choked hearing the nickname their master gave to his enemy. Looking at the pride in Yifeng's eyes when talking about how successful Zhao Song was in covering up his tracks they rolled their eyes internally for Yifeng. My Lord, can you be serious please? You will loose them this way.
Seeing his Lord embarrassment Ming Peng coughed and continued the discussion.
"Anyway, we have men trying to pry my Prince Song's hidden forces, maybe soon enough we will be able to know. Because Prince Song and Minister Gu are now together in the open, the prince has two choices: he either chooses another minister to engage in the same scheme he was before or he reveals part of his faction"
The scholar shook his head to Ming Peng.
"Prince Song could also do none of these two options"
"Oh? How so?"
Yifeng asked in interest.
"He can simply stay low for a while and withdrawn momentarily from the political scene"
"But won't he loose too much support this way?"
Ming Peng asked, making the scholar shook his head.
"No. If he withdraws the Emperor and our Prince will be less wary of him right? And is not just because he withdraw from the front that he can't do things from behind the scenes"
All of the men present became silent. Zhao Yifeng became immersed in his own thoughts. Without a doubt his brother wouldn't follow the most common path, but will he really withdraw from the frontlines and fade? Even if he does that there is no way he or their Imperial Father wouldn't pay attention to him. Hell, it was most likely they would become even more alert to him.
And just like Yifeng thought, Zhao Song did neither of the three options proposed by his brother's aides. He continued to act like he normally did, no one supported him more compared to before the incident or did he had someone to always hit heads like he did with Minister Gu before.
If anything change was that he would sometimes agree or disagree with Minister Gu, whereas before they would always disagree. And because of the incident and the fact that the Crown Prince seat was already occupied many opposed him or scorned him more, but Zhao Song did not look affected.
He seemed like he was genuinely looking forward to his wedding and didn't give any importance for the throne. The more he is so, the more the minister started to believe his apology and the evaluation they had on him slowly started to get better again.
Just as both the princes started to move and prepare themselves for their upcoming confrontation, a letter arrived at Ming Shu's hands.
The words on the letter were simple and concise but made Ming Shu's hands and heart tremble.
[ The connection between Lady Ye and the Poison Sect was found. She was the first disciple of the 'purple freedom', but was expelled from his mentorship an year before she married your father. Her former master has been seen in the city closest to the Capital and is suspected to have entered the Capital yesterday. Be careful for now]
She read the massage from her grandpa over and over having the hope that somehow she read wrong and her first hunch was wrong.
How could the woman in the background be someone so powerful?
Thinking of the gruesome means that her mentor first apprentice had, Ming Shu shivered. Should she thank Lady Ye for her mercy in her last life?
But it didn't make sense.
Why would a woman with a faster and more precise means use such a roundabout way to destroy her harmless enemies?
Although Lady Ye was not in a master-apprentice relationship with her first master, it doesn't mean she couldn't have another master or that she wasn't a member of the Poison Sect anymore.
Also, why would such a woman marry Ming Peizi who was neither extremely powerful or rich and already had a wife and a son?
So many things didn't make sense with a new layer of Lady Ye's identity uncover, that for a moment Ming Shu didn't know what to do.
She blankly stared at the letter, engraving each word in her heart and suddenly smiled.
She lived through so much schemes and battles. She uncovered many plots and enemies and pride herself in accurately judge another's intentions and nature but this letter proved that she couldn't be more wrong.
The woman she always thought Lady Ye could be disposed easily even after she suspected the woman's identity. There is no way. The feeble and crazy jealous woman she knew absolutely didn't match the ruthless and bloodthirsty image she had of her senior sister.
Who could imagine that the person who killed a whole village because she thought they were ugly would come to be a concubine of a middle minister?
Ming Shu threw the letter in the water basin and massaged her head, slowly taking deep breaths.
She is fortunate that she is well prepared otherwise her complacency would only lead her and her beloved ones to doom.
Ming Shu opened her eyes again already calm again and decided to meet her old mentor.
She had a feeling that he would be a breakthrough to finally solve the hidden danger in her backyard.