On the east side of the Nanjing palace stood Chunhe Palace, the residence of the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince had given Su Yan a jade token, allowing him to come and go freely except during the palace’s nighttime curfew.
At this moment, Su Yan sat in the main hall of Chunhe Palace, staring at a list in his hands.
The Tang Mountain hot spring trip had been postponed. The missing persons list, provided by Eunuch Yao of the Divine Palace Guard, had quickly arrived in Su Yan’s hands.
Six eunuchs in total, all had served as guides for the Crown Prince during the tomb ritual, setting up deer traps. After the explosion, they had vanished without a trace.
The list contained their names, ages, birthplaces, and family backgrounds, everything appeared normal. There was nothing particularly unusual, and no special connection between them.
Su Yan saw nothing amiss and asked the Crown Prince’s attendant, “Which eunuch went to the Divine Palace Guard to borrow people that day? Who was the contact?”
Cheng Sheng replied, “It was this old servant. He liaised with the junior supervisor of the Divine Palace Guard, surnamed Lin.”
Su Yan asked, “Did this Lin Gonggong select the six on the spot, or did he write down a list once inside?”
Cheng Sheng recalled, “On the spot. He just called them out from the team around him.”
“Seems the Divine Palace Guard…”
At that moment, the Crown Prince entered the hall hurriedly, accompanied by a squad of guards.
“Qinghe is here!” Zhu Helin called out. “What were you two talking about? I think I heard something about the Divine Palace Guard?”
“Young Master has returned.” Su Yan stood, helping remove the rain-dampened cloak. Standing close, Zhu Helin closed his eyes in quiet enjoyment, inhaling the faint scent of soap from his collar. Su Yan continued, unaware, “We were indeed talking about it. I feel the Divine Palace Guard is suspicious from top to bottom, but there’s no evidence. Young Master, have you discovered anything?”
Zhu Helin tossed the removed cloak onto an attendant and gestured for them to leave the hall, then pulled Su Yan to sit on the couch.
“I went to Zhong Mountain again, but rain forced me to turn back before reaching the explosion site. I then went to Linggu Temple at the foot of the mountain, under the pretense of performing multiple rituals for my parents, donating a large sum of money. The abbot treated me like a golden-fat lamb, nearly laughing out his teeth.”
Su Yan smiled and handed him a cup of tea. “So, what did you manage to find out?”
Zhu Helin drank several sips, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. “It’s an old Southern Dynasty temple, not newly built. The herb-gathering path to Zhong Mountain, however, was built eight years ago, funded by a wealthy Nanjing merchant. The monks call him ‘Philanthropist Qian.’”
“I asked the monks how much herbs could be gathered in a year, but they couldn’t say. I then tried to probe, asking if I could open a pharmacy and cooperate with them. One steward became wary and called the monks to chant prayers.”
“Back in the city, I had the guards check if there was a rich merchant surnamed Qian in the herbal business. They checked all the shops, none had a proprietor named Qian.”
Su Yan considered. “Perhaps this Philanthropist Qian isn’t actually in the herbal trade. He funded the temple and the mountain path under the pretense of herb gathering, but was hiding another business.”
“What business?” Zhu Helin recalled the slightly shimmering stones the guards had found at the explosion site. Suddenly, everything clicked. “Ah! Mining, perhaps?”
Under the Great Ming Code, gold, silver, copper, iron, and salt mines were state monopoly; private mining was strictly forbidden, and violators faced severe punishment.
Su Yan also suspected the purpose of the mountain paths and ziplines. If they could analyze the metal content of the stones, it would confirm whether illegal mining had occurred.
“What about the stones? Did the miners test them yet?” he asked.
“Yesterday I had a few guards take them to someone for testing, but the mining villages are far away. No news yet.”
Zhu Helin, growing increasingly angry, slammed the table. “Right outside Nanjing, under the imperial mausoleum’s nose, and someone dares to steal minerals! Are the officials in Nanjing blind?”
Su Yan sighed. “If the illegal mining is true, I find it impossible that none of the officials knew or were involved, complicit, or protecting it.”
Zhu Helin agreed. Snatching the guide list, he said, “Just the Divine Palace Guard is suspicious enough! They were inside Xiaoling at Zhong Mountain, there’s an 80–90% chance the guards themselves were stealing!”
“However, there are two points of suspicion.”
“First, no matter how the Divine Palace Directorate might exploit their positions, they are, after all, only a group of eunuchs guarding the imperial tombs. Even if Eunuch Yao is exceptionally capable, it would still be impossible for the Directorate alone to handle everything, donations, road construction, mining, transport, smelting, all such operations. So, do they have collaborators? Or perhaps someone of even greater power directing them behind the scenes?”
“Second, since illegal mining must be done in secret, why would they deliberately set up a ‘White Deer Trap’ to lure young master nearby? Could it really be only to trigger a landslide and assassinate the Eastern Palace? What if the landslide had damaged the imperial tomb itself? The entire Divine Palace Directorate would not escape punishment, so why commit such a self-destructive act that harms others and benefits none?”
Su Yan’s two doubts left Zhu Helin deep in thought, without a clear answer. But his instincts told him that the “Philanthropist Qian” who donated money for the road construction must be the key figure. If they could dig out that person’s true identity, perhaps all mysteries would be resolved.
After Zhu Helin shared his thoughts, Su Yan agreed, but added a warning: “This ‘Philanthropist Qian’ might be an alias. Even the identity of a wealthy merchant could be fabricated. There are over a million people within and outside Nanjing’s city walls, finding this person won’t be easy. I don’t think a broad search will be effective.”
This was exactly what Zhu Helin had been worrying about. He thought for a moment, then said, “Step by step. First, we confirm what kind of ore it is. Then we start from the most obvious suspect, the Divine Palace Directorate, and the Linggu Temple that covered for them. I don’t believe it. With a scheme this big, we won’t find a single fox’s tail showing?”
In the following days, they stayed put, awaiting the guards’ report, occasionally visiting Zhong Mountain to observe how the Ministry of Works’ repairs to the tomb wood and waterways were progressing.
More than half a month later, several guards returned, dusty and travel-worn, presenting a few refined metal fragments to the Crown Prince.
“Because the refining had to be done carefully, it took quite some time… Reporting to Your Highness, the smelters soaked the rocks, ground them into powder, then used washing techniques to repeatedly separate the stone residue. The remaining sediment was ore powder. Using differences in melting points, they smelted these two grains, the larger one is gold, the smaller copper.”
Su Yan looked at the two metal grains, one large and one small, wrapped in paper, and recalled what he’d once read in a mineral museum: “It’s a gold-copper coexisting ore, primarily gold, with copper as an accompanying mineral.”
After his initial shock and fury, Zhu Helin let out a cold laugh. “The mountain road was built eight years ago, which means they’ve been secretly mining for at least eight years, without the court noticing. Such audacity!”
If it had been any other mountain, such activity might have been discovered long ago. But because Zhong Mountain held the imperial tombs, the area was heavily restricted. Only three grand rites and four minor ones were held each year, presided over by officials from the Ministry of Rites sent from the capital. Once the ceremonies ended, they left immediately. Normally, the Divine Palace Directorate monopolized control of the entire mountain, so the mine hidden behind the northern peak had never been exposed.
Where did all the mined gold and copper go? Likely only the mine’s operators would know.
After thinking it over, Zhu Helin decided to write a secret letter to his father, the Emperor in the capital, reporting the matter and enclosing the two metal fragments as evidence.
But before he could finish the letter, news from the capital arrived first.
The Nanjing Minister of Rites had reported and exposed him. Numerous court officials jointly impeached the Crown Prince for desecrating the imperial tombs and damaging the dragon vein. The Emperor and Empress Dowager were said to be furious and were deliberating over his punishment. The Emperor even sent a cabinet-drafted document of inquiry, demanding that the Crown Prince explain himself and report the facts truthfully.
Zhu Helin felt as though thunder had struck directly overhead.
He blinked in confusion and asked Su Yan, “What does this mean…? Lu Huaren stabbed me in the back? The court officials all believe it? Even Royal Father believes it?”
Su Yan felt dizzy himself, a hum filling his mind as his vision warped and spun. From the fragmented words of history he had once glimpsed, more details resurfaced,
Crown Prince Zhu Helin had indeed been implicated in the case of the imperial tombs, exiled by Emperor Jinglong, and confined to Ying Tian Prefecture for three full years.
During that time, the court fiercely debated the legitimacy of the succession, and Zhu Helin’s crown prince title was nearly stripped. He did not return to the capital until he was eighteen, when he ascended the throne.
But because he had suffered multiple poisonings and assassination attempts while in Nanjing, his health was gravely weakened. After his enthronement, his body deteriorated year by year. He managed to reign for another four or five years. During that time, he achieved several military victories, leading campaigns to subdue the Northern Desert and pacify the Southern and Eastern Seas, yet in the end, old injuries took his life. He died at the age of twenty-three, posthumously honored with the title “Wu”.
Twenty-three, so young…
Su Yan staggered, his limbs and heart going cold all at once.
Seeing this, Zhu Helin hurried to support him, anxiously asking if he felt unwell, whether he needed the imperial physician, his worry for Su Yan pushing aside his own shock and anger.
After a few sips of hot water, Su Yan gradually steadied his breath, clutching Zhu Helin’s arm tightly, and said through gritted teeth, “As long as I’m here…”
“What?” Zhu Helin didn’t catch it.
Su Yan raised his voice: “As long as I’m here, no one will harm you! No matter what the original path was meant to be, now that I’m here, I’ll carve out a new one!”
Zhu Helin froze, then slowly smiled. “Qinghe… Just now, I was truly shocked, furious, and wronged, but somehow, hearing you say that, I suddenly feel neither fear nor anger anymore.”
He pulled Su Yan into his arms, pressing his face into Su Yan’s neck like a large hound, rubbing against him before taking a deep breath. “I know I’ve always been a thorn in some people’s eyes. They’ll stop at nothing to get rid of me. But I won’t panic, and I won’t back down, because this battle isn’t just for myself. It’s for everyone around me. Especially you, I’ll never forget what you once said to me.”
—-“Your servant will do all in his power to assist Your Highness, to help Your Highness fulfill his grand ambitions.”
—“Since I’ve chosen to board the Crown Prince’s ship, I must do my part to cut through the waves for you, and, of course, to seek your ship’s shelter from the storms.”
—-“I swear that I will never betray the Crown Prince, never betray Zhu Helin, for my entire life. We’ll grow old together, side by side, and never part.”
“For you,” Zhu Helin lifted his face, eyes burning with resolve, “I must not allow anything to happen to me! Let’s think of a plan together. I refuse to believe that, with our combined strength, we can’t survive this trial, or pass this test!”
Because of his words, Su Yan also calmed down completely. He returned Zhu Helin’s embrace, patting him on the back. “Your Highness, let go first, let’s sit down and carefully plan our response.”
The two of them discussed back and forth for over half an hour, when suddenly a eunuch outside the hall announced, “Lu Shangshu of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites requests an audience.”
Zhu Helin let out a cold laugh. “That old fox still has the face to come see me? Isn’t he afraid the Eastern Palace guards will beat him out with sticks?”
Su Yan frowned slightly and said to Zhu Helin, “Don’t rush. Let’s hear what Lu Shangshu intends to say first.”
When Lu Shangshu entered the hall, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed to the Crown Prince, tears streaming down his face. “Your servant only just learned that the Nanjing Ministry of Rites reported the ‘White Deer Incident.’ I am utterly shocked and terrified. That is not what I wrote in my memorial… There must be something wrong here. I beg Your Highness to see clearly.”
Zhu Helin raised his sword-like brows, his gaze sharp, but his tone unnervingly calm. “What do you mean by that, Lu Shangshu? The matter of the tomb rites, according to regulation, was reported by the Nanjing Ministry of Rites. You personally came to inquire after me, and I truthfully answered you. As for what exactly was written in your memorial, how could I have seen it, much less altered it?”
Lu Shangshu, cornered by the question, grew even more ashamed and anxious. He hurriedly pulled a few pages from his sleeve and presented them with trembling hands. “This is a copied draft of the memorial I submitted. I beseech Your Highness to take a look.”
Zhu Helin took it but did not read it himself. He passed it to Su Yan. “My eyes ache lately, Su Shilang, take a look for me.”
Su Yan quickly read through it. The memorial was concise and made no mention of any white deer. It merely stated that after the Crown Prince had presided over the tomb rites, a sudden landslide occurred on the northern peak of Zhong Mountain, with a torrent destroying part of the tomb woods, likely due to an earthquake. Fortunately, the mausoleum itself remained intact, and the relevant Nanjing departments would repair the slope in due time. The memorial concluded by assuring the Emperor that all was well.
If the memorial had been received as written, there was no way it could have sparked such a storm of accusations at court, nor implicated the Crown Prince in any crime.
Unless…
After a moment’s thought, Su Yan asked, “Since the Minister says the memorial he wrote differs from the one received at court, then the error must have occurred somewhere along the way, someone must have switched it. May I ask, Minister, how exactly was the memorial sent to the capital?”
Lu Shangshu replied, “It was sent through the courier post, by ‘express horse dispatch’, to the Directorate of Communications in the capital.”
Su Yan asked, “Was the official who delivered the memorial to the post station trustworthy?”
“He is a personal aide who has followed me for many years, he would never secretly swap the memorial. He reported that he personally handed it to the courier.”
“Then the problem likely lies with the post station,” Su Yan concluded. “Either the courier’s pouch was switched without his knowledge, or the courier himself made the swap.”
Lu Shangshu nodded gravely. “Su Shilang speaks reason. I shall immediately bring men to the post station to investigate.”
Su Yan stopped him. “Not so fast. If you go openly, you’ll only alert the snake. Better to have the couriers quietly seized and forced to tell the truth.”
Lu Shangshu was startled. “Su Shilang mustn’t resort to torture! Even if you force a confession, it may not be the truth.”
Su Yan smiled faintly. “The Minister worries too much. I have my ways, they’ll tell the truth, and no one will be harmed.”
At this point, Zhu Helin finally stepped forward, helping the old minister up himself. “There’s no need for fear, Old Shangshu. Whatever this matter truly hides, I will find it out. But first, answer me honestly, do you know of a wealthy man called ‘Philanthropist Qian,’ one who deals in medicine or mineral trade?”
Lu Shangshu froze, thinking hard, then shook his head. “I have not heard of such a person. The Nanjing Ministry of Revenue handles tax registration; if he’s a merchant, his name should appear in their ledgers. I can go fetch the records from the Tax Bureau and search for him.”
“Much obliged, Lu Shangshu.” Zhu Helin said a few polite words and had a eunuch escort the minister out of Chunhe Palace.
Then he turned to Su Yan. “Qinghe, do you think he’s telling the truth?”
Su Yan replied, “Judging from his words and manner, it doesn’t seem false. Since arriving in Nanjing, I’ve worked with him often. The old man’s fussy and rigid, yes, but he’s not malicious.”
Zhu Helin mused, “Then the courier must be the suspicious one. I’ll have my guards infiltrate the post station tonight, seize both the courier and the postmaster, and interrogate them thoroughly.”
Su Yan nodded, then suddenly asked, “That palace maid named Taoling, she escaped from the palace and vanished without a trace?”
“I’ve had the palace guards searching. They suspect she hid in a water-cart and slipped out that way.”
“Then arrest every eunuch who handled the water carts that night and question them one by one. Also, dig into that maid’s background, since she’s local, find out every relative she has, distant or close, don’t spare a single one!” Su Yan said firmly. “The more complex a scheme, and the more people involved, the easier it is to leave a flaw. There’s no such thing as a flawless plot, the only question is whether we can find the crack.”
Zhu Helin nodded. “Qinghe is right. We’ll do exactly as you say.”
Su Yan asked, “And what about the private letter you planned to write to His Majesty, will you still write it? What will you say?”
Zhu Helin thought for a moment. “I’ll write it. But I won’t mention the illegal mining for now. I’ll write as a wronged and misunderstood son, confiding and complaining to his father, let’s see how Royal Father responds.”
Hearing the subtle edge in his tone, Su Yan couldn’t help but ask, “Hey… You’re not actually harboring resentment toward His Majesty because of this, are you?”
Zhu Helin shot him a sideways look. “What, you don’t like that? Then tell me, in this matter, are you standing on my father’s side or mine? Whose feelings are you more concerned for, his or mine?”
Su Yan: “…”
This bad habit of asking impossible, trap questions, like father, like son?
Seeing that Su Yan didn’t immediately declare his allegiance, Zhu Helin grew displeased. “Well, well! You talk big about never betraying me, saying you’ll be with me all your life, but in truth, your backside’s planted firmly on my royal father’s side! Hey, ” He imitated Su Yan’s tone mockingly, his expression dark as he squeezed out an exaggeratedly sour jealousy. “Don’t tell me your backside really sat on him? What posture did you use, hmm?”
Su Yan hadn’t expected the Crown Prince to suddenly launch such a “soul-question,” laced with such blatant innuendo. He froze, both flustered and ashamed, thinking that once upon a time, he could still declare with righteous certainty, ‘His Majesty and I are perfectly innocent!’
But now… innocence was gone. How could he possibly still say that with a straight face?
Then he retorted, full of righteous indignation: “Nonsense! You’ve just seen too many dirty pictures, your head’s filled with filth. Is this really the time to mock me?”
Zhu Helin raised an eyebrow. “Plans should be made, actions taken, and arrangements handled as needed. Outside of that, this young master still has to live his life. What, just because someone slanders me, I’m supposed to sit around brooding all day, unable to eat or sleep? A bunch of petty, underhanded rats, how laughable!”
He suddenly yanked Su Yan’s wrist. “We can’t go to Tang Mountain for now, but there’s a man-made hot spring in the palace too. After dinner, bathe with this young master!”
Su Yan struggled hard but couldn’t break free. “I’m not bathing with you! You’re not a child anymore, can you have some sense of propriety? Do you even know what avoiding suspicion means?”
Zhu Helin only grew more certain that Su Yan had something going on with his royal father. So that was it, acting like a senior, following the emperor’s words to “avoid suspicion”? Zhu Helin was so furious he almost spat blood, snarling, “Disobey me again and tonight I’ll make you the Crown Princess! Then the one you’ll have to avoid will be your father-in-law!”
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