Even though he felt guilty, Qi Xiao still refused to let Bairen leave.

"You just went through such an incident, and we still don't know who wants your life. How can I let you go back to your manor with peace of mind?" Qi Xiao pulled Bairen to his side and slowly said in a comforting tone, "I'm not trying to scare you, but if they dared to crash a carriage into you on a busy street, what else wouldn't they dare to do? The people in your manor, are you really that confident about them?"

Bairen originally wanted to leave, but hearing this, he hesitated.

Qi Xiao continued, "The people in your manor... just from what I know, many of them were sent by the Emperor to monitor you. The Emperor isn't so foolish to make a move against you, but how do you know there aren't any of Qi Hua's people among them? The Emperor has always let his guard down around Qi Hua, so it wouldn't be difficult for him to plant some of his people in there."

Bairen shook his head, "That's not something to worry about. Although there are many outsiders in the manor, the people serving in my study, bedroom, and kitchen are all those I brought from the south. They are all trustworthy."

"You understand that only these people are your confidants. What if, despite being careful, those with malicious intent find a loophole?" Qi Xiao gently persuaded, "This is why I kept stopping you from returning to your manor while in the palace, because I was worried about this. Although my place isn't as good as your manor, it can at least ensure your complete safety. Wait until the Court of Judicial Review concludes the case and finds out who was behind this incident. I will definitely let you go back immediately then, alright?"

In verbal disputes, Bairen could never win against Qi Xiao. He could only nod, "The Crown Prince has to promise me, once the Court of Judicial Review reaches a conclusion, let me return to my manor immediately."

Qi Xiao inwardly laughed. Of course, by then Cen Chaoge would have already left, so he definitely wouldn't stop him anymore.

"When have I ever lied to you." Qi Xiao lowered his head and kissed Bairen's forehead before getting up, "I'll go find someone to send a message to the palace... They probably already know. You rest for a bit. I'll have them make some of your favorite dishes for lunch."

Bairen made a sound of assent. Qi Xiao turned and left the warm chamber.

In Zhaoyang Palace, Empress Feng led a few of her trusted palace maids all the way into the bedchamber. Seeing Empress Feng's unpleasant expression, the palace servants in Zhaoyang Palace all held their breaths, not daring to make a sound.

The entire palace was deathly silent.

Empress Feng swept her gaze over everyone and said coldly, "All of you, withdraw!"

The palace servants kneeling on the ground felt as if they had received amnesty. They bowed and left.

Qi Hua, who was still lying on the bed recovering from his injuries, was stunned. He forced a laugh and said, "Mother Empress, what's the matter? Are you here to lecture your son again?"

"Don't joke around with me!" Empress Feng tried her best to suppress the anger in her heart, but her words still carried immense fury when she spoke, "What did I tell you before?! You are not allowed to cause any more trouble at this juncture! Not allowed to cause trouble! And how did you promise me?! Well then, Second Prince, you've grown quite bold, not even taking my words to heart anymore. You agreed so readily before my face, but went behind my back to do something else!"

Qi Hua was almost dumbfounded by Empress Feng's scolding. After a long while, he said, "Mother Empress, what are you talking about? What did I do?"

"You still dare to talk back!" Empress Feng had been the empress for nearly twenty years. Although she was not of high birth, after being pampered in the palace for so many years, she had the bearing of the mistress of the imperial harem. She rarely lost her composure in front of others, but today she couldn't hold back anymore.

If Qi Hua wasn't injured, she almost wanted to strike him. Empress Feng took a deep breath, snatched the folded paper from the palace maid behind her, and with a flick of her hand, threw it onto Qi Hua's face. "See for yourself!"

Qi Hua frowned deeply and opened the folded paper to read. The more he read, the worse his complexion became. In the end, he said in a pale voice, "Mother Empress, save me! I... I really didn't do this!"

"If not you, then who else could it be?" Empress Feng almost wanted to strangle Qi Hua. She reprimanded harshly, "You still want to hide it from me?! Hurry up and tell me everything, so I can quickly discuss countermeasures with your uncle!"

Qi Hua cried out injustice and said hoarsely, "Have I gone mad? Even if I wanted that boy's life, I wouldn't use my own manor's people! Am I stupid?"

In fact, when Empress Feng first heard the news, she also had doubts. Although Qi Hua was impulsive, he wasn't foolish to this extent.

But now, with all the evidence pointing at Qi Hua, even if Empress Feng wanted to defend him, she had no way. Seeing Empress Feng not saying anything, Qi Hua cursed and swore again, gritting his teeth, "With Bairen's temperament, who knows how many people he has offended in the one month he has been in the imperial city. How do you know it wasn't someone else who wanted to kill him? Just because I fought with him once, in the future if Bairen loses an arm or a leg, it will all be blamed on me?! If he lives to ninety-nine and passes away, others will still blame me? Also, also... with the huge trouble he caused this time, how do you know it wasn't Uncle and Maternal Grandfather getting angry and..."

"Shut up!" Empress Feng lowered her voice and scolded fiercely, "You already can't clear yourself of this matter, and you still want to drag your uncle and the others down with you?! The news was passed in by your uncle, otherwise would I be blind and deaf?! You... You actually suspect your uncle and the others. If it really was them who made a move, how would they use a servant from your manor!"

Qi Hua pounded the bed and wailed, "Mother Empress! Uncle wouldn't use a servant from my manor, but I would? Do I have one less brain than Uncle?!"

Empress Feng sighed deeply and shook her head, "Don't be anxious... I was also furious just now and deliberately used words to provoke you. Since it wasn't done by you... then we can't cover it up. I will have your uncle make some moves and demand the Court of Judicial Review to thoroughly investigate. If they can find out, that's best. If they can't... we must still push the blame onto someone else! Hua'er... at this juncture, you can't get into trouble again..."

Qi Hua naturally understood in his heart. The Emperor was already disappointed in him because of the previous matter. If he got involved in this kind of thing again and lost the people's hearts, then in the future... no matter if it was Qi Xiao or any other prince who ascended the throne, he would have no good ending!

Qi Hua had always felt that the position of Crown Prince would sooner or later be his, so he lived recklessly and offended quite a few people. Now that he had fallen out of favor, he finally sobered up a lot and became fearful.

Qi Hua was still young after all. Afraid, he grabbed Empress Feng's hand and started wailing.

Empress Feng wearily rubbed her brow and gently patted Qi Hua's back while slowly saying, "Someone saw that our position is unstable right now and wants to kick us while we're down. Don't worry... Fortunately, that carriage driver hasn't died yet. If he doesn't confess, then have the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review interrogate him again and again. The torture instruments of the Court of Judicial Review aren't just for show... After a few rounds of interrogation, even if his mouth was cast from iron, it can still be pried open."

Although Empress Feng comforted Qi Hua in this way, she was very clear in her own heart that even if it was found out that someone else had instigated it, they were destined to wade through these muddy waters. Together with the previous matters, how could they wash themselves clean?

Thinking of that carriage driver, Empress Feng felt even more of a headache. After Qi Hua established his manor, out of fear that he would be led astray by those unsavory people outside and also to guard against others planting spies, the people sent when building the manor were all personally selected by Empress Feng, either palace servants who had served Empress Feng for many years or picked from Empress Feng's maternal family.

That carriage driver, along with his parents, were all stewards from the Feng family's village, not outsiders who were hired, but a homegrown child of their own manor, yet he was actually bought off by others...

After comforting Qi Hua a few more words, Empress Feng left. The most urgent matter now was to send a message to her maternal family, and also... to ascertain the Emperor's attitude.

In Taihe Hall, the Emperor looked at the memorial sent by the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review and laughed angrily, "Great, in broad daylight, at the foot of the Imperial City, in the bustling streets! Someone actually dared to plot to harm the heir of the Prince of Lingnan! Bairen was just injured in the palace! I spent so much effort! I spent so much thought to suppress this matter, and now it's fine, haha... directly wanting Bairen's life! Fortunately nothing happened... if there was any mishap, what would I use to give an explanation to the King of Lingnan?!"

The several ministers in the hall hurriedly knelt down to persuade the Emperor to quell his anger. The Emperor took a sip of tea to suppress his rage and said in a deep voice, "Zhen Bonan, tell me again about the criminal's words and the words of those few attendants, in full detail."

The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Zhen Bonan, sorted out his thoughts and recounted the previous events, "The testimonies of the attendants, with witness statements and physical evidence, can be believed. That criminal... when that criminal was brought in, he reeked of alcohol. I ordered someone to splash him with cold water and also used needle torture, but... he had drunk too much and was never able to fully sober up. We barely managed to question him. He only said that it was the steward who told him to deliver this cartload of inkstones to the Academy's alley. Afterwards... no matter how much more torture, he couldn't say anything else."

"There is one more matter to report to Your Majesty. I only found out after checking this person's criminal record that the carriage driver Li Yuanbao had also crashed into someone while driving recklessly last year. It is said that at that time, the horse was startled by mischievous children on the street and Li Yuanbao lost control... killing a seven-year-old child. Because it happened unintentionally, he was not heavily sentenced."

Zhen Bonan gauged the Emperor's thoughts and paused before saying, "After that, this Li Yuanbao never drove to send his master again, only occasionally delivering goods when the residence was short on people. From this incident, it is possible that Li Yuanbao himself is an impetuous person to begin with, and this time it was purely an accident.

"Moreover... although he is a servant of the Second Prince's residence, it is too unreasonable in terms of human relations to convict the Second Prince based on this. Who would openly instruct their own people to do such a thing in broad daylight?"

The Emperor sneered in his heart. Unreasonable? It was obvious that Qi Hua did not do this, but how could he say it? The spearheads were all pointing at Qi Hua, could he say it wasn't him?

Actually, the first person the Emperor suspected was Bairen.

The Emperor had a vivid memory of what happened in the side hall last time. Bairen was also someone who would not suffer any losses. That incident was more like him luring Qi Hua to jump into a pit rather than Qi Hua hurting him. It was true that Qi Hua spoke carelessly that time, but Bairen was no easy prey either.

The Emperor had punished Qi Hua, but who knew if Bairen had completely let go of his anger? Could it be that he had been plotting all along, just waiting for the day he left the palace to make this move?

Moreover, according to the attendants, it was Bairen who said that he had long heard there were a few good painting and calligraphy shops in the Academy's alley and wanted to take a look... how could it be such a coincidence?

It just so happened to be the time he wanted to go take a look, it just so happened to be the time he wasn't in the carriage, and it just so happened to be the time Qi Hua's servant drove the carriage to crash over...

But such a meticulous plan didn't seem like something Bairen could come up with. Even if he could think of it, having only been in the Imperial City for a few days, could his reach extend into Qi Hua's residence?

But besides him, who else could it be? Qi Xiao? The Emperor shook his head, that wasn't right either... this wasn't Qi Xiao's style.

On this day, while the palace was in chaos, the Crown Prince's residence was very peaceful. Qi Xiao had been busy outside all day and only returned to his bedchamber in the evening. Seeing Bairen sitting alone under the lamp, Qi Xiao smiled, "If you really want to read, then light a few more lamps. It's too straining on the eyes like this."

Bairen put down the miscellaneous notes in his hand and looked up at Qi Xiao, "Crown Prince, I've been thinking all day. This morning's incident... was actually single-handedly orchestrated by the Crown Prince, right?"

Bairen's soft words stirred up towering waves in Qi Xiao's heart. Qi Xiao's smile froze on his face for a moment.

Just as he was about to say something, Bairen calmly said, "But there is one thing I don't understand. The Crown Prince wanted to take advantage of this great opportunity to completely crush the Second Prince's faction, never allowing them to turn over again. Then you shouldn't have stopped me halfway... as long as I died, in order to appease my father, the Emperor would certainly give Lingnan an explanation by heavily punishing the Second Prince. Wouldn't that be even better?"

Bairen furrowed his brows slightly, "This slap on the wrist doesn't seem like the Crown Prince's style..."

Qi Xiao closed his eyes. He knew that while he could deceive others, he probably couldn't deceive Bairen.

With things having reached this point, Qi Xiao didn't want to conceal anything anymore, "Yes, at the beginning, I indeed wanted that carriage to directly crash you to death."

Qi Xiao's gaze was like a torch, staring straight into Bairen's eyes as he enunciated each word, "Stopping you at the last critical moment... Bairen, for what reason do you say I did that?"