The low-key prince summons trainees from the Imperial Household Department at the start of the game.

The moment the imperial edict was issued, the entire capital city felt as if it had been given a sudden shove.

News of a joint trial by the three judicial departments of the Jiangning Textile Bureau for embezzlement came from the Ministry of Justice.

The news spread throughout the six ministries in less than half an hour.

The censors of the Censorate spread the news, the students of the Imperial Academy gathered in the corridors, and even the teahouses on Qipan Street were discussing it.

The Runzhou official ship case unexpectedly implicated the Jiangning Textile Bureau, which in turn was vaguely connected to the Fourth Prince's residence.

This case is no longer just a case of embezzlement; it's the first bang in the struggle for succession.

The May wind should have been warm, but the Fourth Prince Zhou Bin only felt cold at this moment.

He sat in his study, with a copy of the impeachment memorial he had copied from the Office of Transmission spread out in front of him.

Wang Anshi's own handwriting, each stroke powerful and penetrating the paper.

Every word was like a knife, precisely stabbing into his heart.

After reading it, he didn't say anything, but slowly placed the copy of the memorial on the table, picked up his teacup and took a sip.

The tea is top-quality pre-rain Longjing, but at this moment it tastes even more bitter than Coptis chinensis.

"Your Highness." Standing before him was his principal wife, Lady Zhao, the eldest daughter of Marquis Zhao Xi of Wu'an. Her face was ashen, yet she suppressed her anger. "The Assistant Prefect of Jiangning Prefecture is your concubine's cousin. He knows everything Liu Heng has done for you over the years."

"He's already on his way to the capital. What if he speaks up during the joint trial by the three judicial authorities..."

"He can't bring himself to say it." Zhou Bin put down her teacup, her voice as calm as if she were talking about the weather.

Zhao was slightly taken aback, then understood his meaning, and her face turned from ashen to deathly pale.

Zhou Bin stood up from the chair, walked to the window, and pushed open the carved wooden window.

Several crabapple trees in the courtyard outside the window were in full bloom, their petals fluttering down in the night breeze, carpeting the ground with pink and white petals.

He stared at the petals for a moment in silence, then said in a low, calm voice, "Burn all the accounts of the Jiangning Textile Bureau that can be burned."

"Liu Heng is dead, and the Director of the Textile Bureau is in the Jiangning prison. I will send someone to deliver a message to him."

"If he knows what's good for him, he should insist that his subordinates did it behind his back, and I will take care of his family."

"If he doesn't know what's good for him, his family will go with him. As for the Assistant Magistrate of Jiangning Prefecture, he won't make it to the capital alive."

Zhao stepped forward and lowered her voice: "What about Wang Anshi? He wrote this memorial; there must be someone behind him instructing him."

"And then there's Su Shi, who stirred things up in the Hanlin Academy and got all those bookworms in the Imperial Academy in turmoil."

"Your Highness, we cannot sit idly by and wait for our doom. I will return to the Marquis's residence immediately and have my father in the Ministry of War..."

"No rush," Zhou Bin interrupted her, raising her hand.

"But the most important thing right now is not to fight back, but to stop the losses."

"We've already lost the initiative in this game; any rash counterattack will only expose more weaknesses."

"Wang Anshi was only a seventh-rank official, and Su Shi was only a sixth-rank compiler. The fact that they were able to cause such a big stir means that the people behind them were their real adversaries."

"Take a close look at this memorial. The chain of evidence is tightly linked, the timeline is accurate to every day, and every account has witness testimony and physical evidence."

"This cannot be found out in a few days, nor can it be mobilized by a mere Censorate official. Someone has been secretly investigating me for at least six months."

Zhao's pupils contracted slightly: "You mean... Second Brother?"

"Second brother? If he had that kind of brain, things wouldn't be like this now."

Zhou Bin sneered and turned around. "It might not be the second brother, nor the eldest brother."

"The most remarkable thing about this impeachment memorial is that it doesn't mention a single word about me from beginning to end."

"The Jiangning Textile Bureau's supervisor embezzled funds, and the Jiangning Prefectural Assistant Magistrate abused his power for personal gain. These are all local matters, what do they have to do with me? Yet every single charge seems to hit my weak spot."

"Such methods could be the work of either the old fox in the Grand Tutor's mansion, or the iron-faced Yama in the Censorate, or someone secretly coordinating various forces to set up this scheme."

"But whoever they are, since they dare to touch me, they shouldn't blame me for retaliating."

"Go and do a few things. First, tell the people in Jiangning to hurry up and burn everything that needs to be burned, and shut up forever if they need to."

"Second, send people to keep an eye on Wang Anshi and Su Shi, and find out who they have met and where they have been recently."

"Third, when you return to the Marquis's residence tomorrow, have your father-in-law submit a memorial to the Ministry of War, stating that the southwestern border is unstable and suggesting that the court send more troops to stir up trouble. When the water is muddy, the fish can't see clearly."

Almost at the same moment, the lights in the Grand Tutor's study were also on.

Kong Yan sat behind his desk, twirling a string of black jade prayer beads in his hand, with the eldest prince Zhou Cong sitting in front of him.

On the tea table between the two men was a copy of an impeachment memorial taken from the Office of Transmission.

Zhou Cong had read the memorial three times, and his expression was extremely complicated. He said that this game of chess was too beautiful.

From the capture of bandits in Runzhou to the accounts of the textile bureau, and then to the abuse of power by the magistrate of Jiangning Prefecture, the evidence was linked together, with not a single unnecessary step.

It could never have been accomplished by Wang Anshi alone; there must have been a powerful force operating behind the scenes.

Kong Yan paused for a moment, then continued turning his prayer beads, asking Zhou Cong, "If the mastermind behind this game isn't their enemy, at least not now, then what should they do next?"

Zhou Cong remained silent for a while, his fingers tapping lightly on the tea table. Suddenly, he raised his eyes and said, "Standing idly by is pointless. Fourth Brother brought this upon himself; let him bear the consequences."

"But at the same time, we need to muddy the waters. Fourth Brother won't sit idly by and wait to die; he will definitely retaliate. What we need to do is not to help him or stop him, but to muddy the waters even more."

"When the water is murky, the fish can't see clearly; when the fish can't see clearly, the strategist can continue playing chess."

"And we can use this muddy water to see clearly who is really in charge."

Kong Yan nodded slightly, a hint of approval flashing in his eyes.

On the training ground of the Grand Commandant's mansion, the Second Prince Zhou Xun was practicing swordsmanship with his upper body bare.

Upon hearing the news, he was first stunned, then threw his head back and laughed heartily, slamming his heavy sword heavily on the ground: "Fourth Brother has finally met his end!"

"This memorial is too harsh. Every stroke hits the fourth prince's sore spot, and every stroke doesn't mention the fourth prince's name."

"I'd like to invite the person who wrote this memorial to a drink!"

Zhou Jing stood by the martial arts arena, leaning on his bamboo cane. He didn't laugh, but remained silent for a while before slowly saying, "The person who wrote the memorial isn't the key. The ability to mobilize the martial arts forces of Runzhou to capture Liu Heng, to obtain procurement files from within the Weaving Bureau, and to get Liu Wenzhao to cooperate—these resources couldn't be built up overnight."

"This person is hiding in the shadows and has not shown himself yet, but whoever he is, the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"What we need to do now is to add fuel to the fire, let the Ministry of War suppress the military reports from the southwestern border, and see how the fourth prince plays his cards."

Zhou Xun gradually stopped smiling and looked thoughtful.

In the courtyard of Guihua Lane, the Third Prince Zhou Ying was sitting at his desk, reviewing the copy of the case files from the Weaving Bureau that Liu Wenzhao had sent.

His gaze slowly swept over the numbers and names, then suddenly stopped on a line of small print.

When he looked up, a faint smile appeared on his lips: "Fourth brother, you've finally met your match."

He picked up a pen and wrote a few lines on a piece of paper.

"Continue to cooperate with the Censorate to transfer the relevant clues about the connection between the Weaving Bureau and the military supplies procurement in the southwestern border."

Then he folded the paper and handed it to the old servant beside him, who silently retreated into the hidden door.