Chapter 30: The Method to Break the Deadlock

Ji Hua considered that she had clearly established the dynamic between herself and Ling Yuzhao.

As a prince, it was only natural for Ling Yuzhao to question the source of information provided by a strategist he did not fully trust. Ji Hua, however, was confident in the truth of her claims and the certainty of the events she described. After all, these were things she had experienced firsthand in her previous life, making her unwavering in her conviction.

"Your Highness, please rest assured. Everything I have said is the truth. If I am wrong, I am willing to accept any punishment you see fit. I am of sound mind and would not seek trouble for myself; I am prepared to take full responsibility for every word that leaves my lips."

"Once I marry into your household, I will serve you with all my heart and do everything in my power to help you ascend the throne. As long as it is not King Xuan who sits upon it, I shall be satisfied."

Sensing that Ling Yuzhao might continue his endless questioning, Ji Hua quickly steered the conversation back to the matter at hand. "Your Highness, let us return to the pressing issue. If we wish to seize the initiative, we must capture Feng Yueyang. The only thing we need to do is make him recant his testimony. If we succeed, King Xuan will find that he has lifted a rock only to drop it on his own feet."

"It seems you have great confidence in your ability to persuade Feng Yueyang. How do you intend to make him change his story?" Ling Yuzhao did not interrupt further; he was genuinely curious to hear her strategy.

Ji Hua had no grand strategy, only the memories of her past life and the calculations of her current one. She replied earnestly, "Your Highness, Feng Yueyang is not a death-sworn loyalist specifically trained by King Xuan. For a man like him, as long as there is a glimmer of hope for survival, he will not choose to die."

"Furthermore, the reason Feng Yueyang is willing to remain in the Ministry of Justice prison to serve as the final false witness against Gu Zirui—a mere scapegoat—is not by his own volition. He has been coerced." Her voice turned cold as she pressed her lips together. "His elderly mother, wife, and daughter have been taken hostage by Dong Yufeng. This was a decision Dong Yufeng made in secret. Originally, King Xuan’s promise was that if Feng Yueyang willingly met his death, he would ensure his family was well-cared for and enjoyed a life of luxury."

"However, there is a long-standing grudge between Dong Yufeng and Feng Yueyang. Before the Feng family fell into decline, Feng Yueyang always held the upper hand over Dong Yufeng. Now that the tides have turned, Dong Yufeng has seized the opportunity to use underhanded tactics, keeping King Xuan in the dark while manipulating Feng Yueyang."

Ling Yuzhao listened in silence, observing Ji Hua’s expression, and sensed that she felt a genuine pity for Feng Yueyang’s family. Indeed, Ji Hua did feel compassion for them. They were all fellow travelers in misfortune, mere pawns in a larger game, unable to dictate their own fates or protect their loved ones. Of course they were pitiful.

"By holding the women of the Feng family hostage, he holds Feng Yueyang’s life in his hands. He promised Feng Yueyang that if he obeyed and died in prison as planned, his family would be provided for. In reality, Dong Yufeng has not treated them well at all; he has been tormenting them, intending to have them all killed once Feng Yueyang is dead, so as to tie up all loose ends."

Recalling the rumors she had heard in her past life, Ji Hua kept her description relatively conservative. After all, this was King Xuan’s grand scheme; if she claimed to know exactly how many people would die and how, it would be far too unsettling.

Based on the rumors from her past life and her current deductions, she could piece together Dong Yufeng’s actions. The man was utterly shameless. After Feng Yueyang was imprisoned, Dong Yufeng had already begun torturing the women. Once Feng Yueyang breathed his last, the women would be tortured to death as well. Then, Dong Yufeng would have their bodies wrapped in straw mats and tossed into a mass grave, pinning the crime on the Gu family.

At that time, rumors had circulated throughout the capital. It was said that because the Feng family had foolishly come to the capital to "thank" the Crown Prince for his patronage, they had inadvertently exposed Gu Zirui’s involvement in bribery and factionalism in Qingzhou, ultimately ruining the promising young talent. The rumor claimed that the Gu family had slaughtered the women of the Feng family in revenge.

Of course, none of this was true. It was a lie planted by King Xuan to cement the Gu family’s guilt. The innocent Gu family knew their own plight, but the public did not. In her previous life, everyone from the nobility down to the commoners had believed in the Gu family’s guilt. Even without ironclad evidence, they subjectively assumed that the Gu family, and specifically Gu Zirui, were guilty. Therefore, the key to breaking this impasse was to shift public opinion in the capital and avoid falling into the same trap.

Ignoring the look of surprise on Ling Yuzhao’s face, Ji Hua looked toward Dong Yufeng and his men in the distance. "Your Highness, let us find a way to apprehend Dong Yufeng and his men before they have a chance to spread their lies, and then we shall locate the Feng family’s women. With them in our custody, I am certain I can persuade Feng Yueyang to recant. I know they are being held somewhere in the capital, though I do not yet know the exact location."

"But the capital is only so large. I believe that with your capabilities, Your Highness, you will surely be able to find them!"

Ji Hua was certain they were in the capital because she remembered her father mentioning the details of how their bodies were discovered in the mass grave. They had been found in a dilapidated house that the Gu family had abandoned. People living nearby had reported seeing the women leaving the house shortly before the date of the banquet on the lake, after which they were never seen again until their corpses were discovered.

She still remembered her father’s commentary at the time: "The Gu family is too ruthless and has committed grave sins. It was one thing to kill Feng Yueyang to silence him, but to exterminate his entire family and cast them into a mass grave to rot—that is truly inhumane!" Consequently, when the Crown Prince was later reprimanded by the Emperor for the scandal, her father had remarked that he deserved it. She had felt the same way back then.

Now, living through it a second time, she felt a chill run down her spine. Ling Moxuan’s scheme was so intricately layered that it had deceived everyone in the capital. Had he not boasted of his past deeds to her before her death—including his orchestration of this very banquet—she never would have suspected that it was all a trap. She would have continued to believe that the Gu family had been guilty of factionalism and murder.

*Heh, it certainly hasn't been easy,* she thought with a self-deprecating smile.

While Ji Hua was lost in reflection over the ruthlessness of Ling Moxuan’s plot, she failed to notice that Ling Yuzhao had been silent for a long time. The weight of her words had deeply shaken him. He had known the banquet was a trap, but before coming here—and before hearing her expose the true depth of Ling Moxuan’s plan—he had never imagined that his rival had begun laying the groundwork for his downfall six months in advance.