I remembered that Nanrui had secret agents, and Anjin thrived in the imperial court, establishing contact with these covert operatives. The secret service that once served the Qi royal family had become an independent entity, now only answering to Anjin—something I never expected would prove useful again.
“If I wasn’t confident about the situation in Nanrui, how could I have sent you here?” Anjin smiled. “I had to ensure your and your family’s safety. That was my bottom line.”
“So you knew the Emperor wanted to pass the throne to me, and that Jiang Yunqiao would not harm me,” I realized. Anjin had made all the arrangements in advance.
Anjin shook his head. “At the time, I couldn’t be completely certain that the Emperor intended to favor you. I made sure to protect you and your family. It was risky, but we ultimately won.”
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” I felt regretful. If I had known about these people sooner, perhaps I could have helped him instead of feeling anxious and cautious.
He seemed to see through my thoughts. “Because I didn’t want you to do anything. Just learning to protect yourself was enough. I’ll take care of the rest.”
Anjin’s investigation quickly yielded results. When Jiang Yunqiao returned from her travels, she brought a male companion to the Princess’s residence. Although we couldn’t discern the man’s appearance, he was likely the snow-clad youth she had long thought about. Whether their reunion was accidental or deliberate, Jiang Yunqiao decided to compete for the heir’s position for his sake.
Infiltrating the Princess’s residence would not be difficult, but Jiang Yunqiao had declared that we would compete for the heir’s position by our own means. While this seemed fair, secretly investigating her could jeopardize our already delicate relationship.
I asked Anjin to halt his actions and invited Jiang Yunqiao to meet again. She agreed, suggesting we go to her brother’s tavern to listen to music, just like last time.
We returned to the same private room with musician Bai Chen. Once again, the song “Chang Xiangsi” was played.
