The stable.
Inside, a small hut had been specially built—ordered by Song Yu specifically for Uncle Zhang.
Yet now, standing outside the hut, Song Yu hesitated to enter.
"Has... His Highness arrived?" Uncle Zhang's voice came weakly from inside. The steward inside, tears streaming down his face, gripped Uncle Zhang's hand tightly. "Old friend, Erxi has gone to fetch His Highness."
Uncle Zhang nodded weakly upon hearing this, his labored breathing so loud that even Song Yu outside could hear it clearly.
Taking a deep breath, Song Yu stepped inside.
"Your Highness..."
Uncle Zhang's face had already taken on a sickly pallor, his voice barely more than a whisper.
"Why did you poison yourself? It was you who tampered with Ah Huan's carriage when she went to the palace banquet, wasn't it?" Song Yu roared in helpless fury. "After all these years of treating you as my savior, this is how you repay me?"
"I... I am a sinner."
Blood trickled from Uncle Zhang's lips, a clear sign that he had little time left.
"It was me... I tampered with the carriage, made the horses unruly, hoping to delay the young mistress." Uncle Zhang smiled bitterly. "So she would be punished."
"Treacherous servant!" Song Yu slammed his fist onto the nearby table in rage.
"Why betray me?"
"Your Highness, you lack ambition and refuse to learn. To put it bluntly... you will not meet a good end." Uncle Zhang stared straight into Song Yu's eyes. "When Crown Prince Song Ling ascends the throne, you won’t be able to protect the young mistress or the Qin Prince's Mansion. How could I... continue to serve you?"
The others in the room dared not even breathe, especially the steward, whose teeth chattered in fear.
How could Uncle Zhang be so bold?
Song Yu clenched his fists, as if ready to strike Uncle Zhang at any moment.
"Even if Your Highness is angry... I must speak." Uncle Zhang swallowed blood. "You spend your days drinking and indulging in pleasure—your reputation as a wastrel is known throughout the land. With just one charge of defaming the imperial family, the entire Qin Prince's Mansion would be doomed."
"Impossible!" Song Yu's eyes burned with fury, like a cornered beast.
"The more outstanding the young mistress becomes, the less you can protect her. Since she will suffer sooner or later... what’s wrong with me doing someone a favor and taking some benefits?"
Having spoken so much, Uncle Zhang was now barely clinging to life.
"In your eyes, am I truly so worthless?" Song Yu's vision blurred; Uncle Zhang's words felt like ice chiseling into his bones.
A bone-deep chill.
"Of the four princes... you alone hold no official position and have no faction behind you." Uncle Zhang actually laughed. "A lone wolf. Your Highness, you’ve wasted over thirty years of your life."
"So the life-saving grace back then... was also a lie?"
"Yes... I was just... a hidden pawn." Uncle Zhang gave Song Yu one last look. "The mission failed... I must atone with my death."
With that, Uncle Zhang breathed his last.
Song Yu turned away, his voice cold. "Take him to the mass graves."
......
At almost the same time, a letter was delivered to Song Shihuan.
"Uncle Zhang could write?" Song Shihuan's eyes narrowed. The handwriting was neat, and as she read, she suddenly stood up.
It took her a full incense stick’s worth of time before she finally set the letter down, her eyes dark with stormy emotions.
"Young Mistress, Uncle Zhang has passed. Before he died, he admitted to tampering with the carriage," Baoxia said softly, noticing Song Shihuan's troubled expression.
"How is Father?"
"His Highness only ordered the body taken to the mass graves, then left the mansion alone."
Song Shihuan stared at the letter before burning it over a candle. "Good. This matter is settled."
The letter revealed that Uncle Zhang had been a spy planted in the Qin Prince's Mansion by the Successor Empress. Yet, all these years, he had never done anything to harm the mansion.
But now, with all other spies in the mansion eliminated, the Successor Empress had no choice but to use him to relay messages and serve the Eastern Palace.
Left with no alternative, he chose the least harmful way to expose himself—using his death to awaken Song Yu.
Song Shihuan's heart trembled.
With him gone, the truth could never be verified. All grievances dissolved into nothingness.
"Young Mistress, are you all right?" Baoxia asked worriedly.
"It’s nothing. I just recalled how the horses went wild but never threw me off." Song Shihuan forced a smile. "I must have been lucky."
"What?" Baoxia didn’t quite catch her words.
"Never mind. I’m tired and wish to rest."
......
The tavern.
"My dear prince, first you kick me out of the mansion, and now you drag me here in the middle of the night?"
Shen Qingping rubbed his bleary eyes. He had been sound asleep, wrapped in his quilt, when Song Yu barged in and hauled him out.
"Come, drink with me."
Song Yu ordered two large jars of wine from the waiter. "Tonight, we drink until we drop."
Without hesitation, Song Yu lifted a jar and gulped straight from it. Shen Qingping, now wide awake, hurriedly tried to stop him.
"Your Highness, you can’t drink like this—it’s dangerous!"
"Don’t stop me. Tonight, I drink as I please." After several swigs, Song Yu’s eyes grew hazy.
Seeing his state, Shen Qingping didn’t dare drink much himself.
"Tell me... am I truly so useless?" Song Yu reeked of alcohol. "All I do is drink and fight crickets—nothing worthwhile."
"Is drinking and cricket-fighting not worthwhile?" Shen Qingping asked, puzzled.
"Ha."
Song Yu scoffed.
He pointed vaguely into the air. "The whole world knows me as a wastrel. That’s why I can’t even protect Ah Huan."
Listening, Shen Qingping sensed something amiss.
Since when did the proud and arrogant Prince of Qin speak so self-deprecatingly?
"Your Highness, you’re drunk."
"I’m not drunk." Song Yu suddenly set the jar down and grabbed Shen Qingping’s wrist. "You’re clever. Tell me—will I meet a bad end?"
Shen Qingping stiffened.
"When Song Ling takes the throne, he’ll kill me and Ah Huan without breaking a sweat, won’t he?"
Shen Qingping wanted to deny it, but the words wouldn’t come.
A wastrel didn’t mean a fool.
"Your Highness seems different tonight."
Song Yu shook his head. "Tell me, what should I do? Should I seek office? Study hard? What must I do to ensure Ah Huan and I survive?"
Before, he cared only for today’s pleasures, indifferent to whether he lived or died tomorrow.
But now, he couldn’t let Ah Huan share his fate.
Shen Qingping swallowed hard. "Your Highness... are you asking me to be your strategist?"
"Strategist?" Song Yu laughed, as if the word amused him.
"Yes, a strategist. I, Song Yu, appoint Shen Qingping as my strategist."
