"Oh? Where is the key? He probably never found it in the end, right? I remember you said the treasure vault would be discovered this year by Prince Rong's son."
"One can only say fate plays tricks. He traced the key to its final purchase by a woman from the Feng family at an antique shop and followed the trail all the way to his own wife and her elder sister.
The shopkeeper couldn't tell the two sisters apart either, so Xie Qi had to patiently search himself.
He started with his own wife. Under the pretext of taking inventory of her assets, he combed through all her storerooms, large and small, but couldn't find the key described by Xie Wei and the antique shopkeeper.
Xie Qi then turned his attention to his sister-in-law, repeatedly sending people to infiltrate the Chai residence to search, but to no avail."
Chai Yanping and Chai Jin were horrified. Could the key to the late Emperor's treasure vault really be in the hands of their daughter-in-law/wife?
"So, when Prince Qi previously pretended to fancy Feng Linlang and went to great lengths to marry her, it was actually to obtain that vault key she held?"
Emperor Mingxi and Dong Qianli felt a surge of joy, each privately pondering if their private and national treasuries were perhaps a bit too small, nearly full already—any more and they'd overflow!
"It's true he wanted to marry Feng Linlang for the key, but the vault key wasn't in her possession; it was with her younger sister, Feng Suiyu.
Back when the sisters reconciled, they went to the antique shop together and each bought some trinkets. Later, they had their respective purchases crafted and embellished by artisans before gifting them to each other.
What Feng Linlang gave to Feng Suiyu was the gold hairpin she always wore in her hair.
Feng Linlang had the artisan add gemstones and jade fragments to the key-shaped pin, so the appearance of the treasure vault key was completely altered.
Perhaps because his feelings for Feng Suiyu were shallow, he never truly looked at his wife. Thus, even though Feng Suiyu wore the key-shaped hairpin on her head every day, Prince Qi never recognized it."
"And he ended up causing Feng Suiyu's death because he wanted to marry Feng Linlang, who he thought had the key? So, the blind and foolish Prince Qi was destined never to get the key?"
"Exactly. After Feng Suiyu's death, all her dowry, including that hairpin, came into Xie Zhiyao's possession. Finding it inauspicious, she sold the pin.
That jewelry shop happened to be a secret business of a former concubine of Prince Rong. Soon, the item fell into the hands of Prince Rong's illegitimate son, who, using the map inside, successfully located the treasure vault.
Master, would you like to know the vault's location? Little Pearl can open it easily even without the key."
"Not really, I'm not short of money to spend. Didn't the Emperor just gift me several chests of gold? Plus, the dividends from cement and glass, and tens of thousands of taels of silver every month—I have nowhere to spend it all."
"True, this place is too backward; even with money, there's nowhere to spend it."
The various ministers, whose finances were tight after handing out a pile of red envelopes during the New Year, were deeply envious. They wished they were as wealthy as the Junior Mentor!
It's said the Junior Mentor's original treasury was no longer sufficient, so a larger one was built right next to it!
"Little Pearl, do you know where Xie Qi is hiding now? He keeps trying to assassinate me; we must find him.
I won't rest easy until he's dealt with."
"Master, would you like me to eliminate him directly?"
"No need. Killing him now would make it troublesome to find the assassins he's nurtured and the spies he's planted. It's better to let Wei Ping and his men capture him, then follow the trail to uproot Prince Qi's entire network."
"Indeed, extracting information directly from Xie Qi's mouth would be faster. Wei Ping and the others would never guess that Xie Qi is hiding on Peach Blossom Lane."
Wei Ping: Truly didn't expect that. Prince Qi is playing the game of hiding in plain sight with them!
"He's hiding in Xie Zhiyao's villa? Playing the 'most dangerous place is the safest' game?"
"Master, he's hiding next door to that villa. When the properties were purchased, one was under Xie Zhiyao's name, and the other was under the name of a distant relative of one of Prince Qi's trusted aides.
Shen Kang and the others must have investigated the neighbors, but that person's background was clean—just a moderately wealthy merchant. Since it was such a distant, convoluted connection, they naturally wouldn't discover the homeowner's link to Prince Qi."
Shen Kang, who had also started attending court after the New Year and stood at the very back, nodded inwardly. Wasn't that the truth? His subordinates had thoroughly checked the backgrounds of all nearby residents.
The family next door was indeed just a merchant, and the owner was often away from the capital. The property was only looked after by three servants.
It appeared utterly ordinary on the surface, so they hadn't paid it much attention.
"What's special about that residence? Why would he choose to live there?"
Emperor Mingxi was also curious. Peach Blossom Lane, Pear Blossom Lane, and Apricot Blossom Lane were all areas with villas of varying sizes, mostly belonging to wealthy or noble families as secondary residences.
The comings and goings were relatively simple, not ideal for hiding. He had thought Prince Qi would choose a place with a more complex population to conceal himself.
"Because there's a secret passage there. Xie Zhiyao's villa also has one underneath, but it's not as well-hidden as the one next door.
Most importantly, that secret passage leads to the commoners' mixed-residence area in the northern part of the city, where he has another small courtyard, not far from the city gate.
It's convenient for him to flee north to find Xie Zhiyao."
Wei Ping and Cai Xian exchanged a glance. Prince Qi had turned into a rat. Knowing his nest's location was one thing, but catching him wouldn't be easy; they'd need to block his escape routes too.
"Then mark the location and notify Wei Ping to arrest him."
"How will you explain it to him, Master?"
"I can't be bothered to fabricate a reason. How about you just drop an anonymous tip-off letter at the Court of Judicial Review?"
"No problem. Little Pearl will mark the tunnel route map for him. No fear of not catching the man then."
Everyone fell into a moment of silent contemplation. Was the young immortal now unwilling to even bother fabricating a lie for them?
Had the repeated assassination attempts finally angered him? Was he disappointed in them and thus couldn't be bothered to expend the effort?
After this round of overthinking, they felt somewhat panicked and instinctively turned their pleading gazes towards their Emperor.
Emperor Mingxi: What good is looking at me? Shouldn't winning back the young immortal's favor require the joint efforts of the entire court?
The only consolation was that, although the young immortal seemed disappointed in them, as the Junior Mentor, he hadn't missed court or his studies. If they performed well, there was surely still a chance.
Yue Fuguang: Is it possible I'm just lazy and don't want to make up a reason?
System: Overthinking is also a sickness, but it's a sickness they seem to enjoy!
The ministers left the morning court session full of trepidation. Yue Fuguang was led by Eunuch Qian to the Emperor's Hall of Mental Cultivation for the second time.
This time, inside the hall, besides the Emperor, were the same group of officials as last time. Upon closer look, there were even a few more people.
Yue Fuguang hadn't expected both his visits here to be due to assassination attempts.
Emperor Mingxi had also thought of this, so his expression was unavoidably somewhat sheepish. Wei Ping and the others also wore looks of slight embarrassment and shame.
"Fuguang, you're here. Please, sit." Emperor Mingxi's demeanor was even more accommodating, his tone gentler.
Yue Fuguang didn't decline and sat down, asking knowingly, "Your Majesty summoned me. Is there a matter?"
Emperor Mingxi gave a light cough before speaking. "We called you here this time, again, regarding yesterday's assassination attempt."
