The other officials laughed. “That’s right. The fourth prince seems like a good candidate. He’s polite and friendly to others. While the second prince and the third prince were at each other’s throat, he stayed loyally at the emperor’s side, attending to his needs as he recovered. Never has the young prince done anything untoward. Besides, no one knows exactly what happened during the second prince’s coup. Whatever we say does nothing but to challenge the authority.”

Another man who believed that Qi Yun had been pulling the strings spoke up, “The rule of thumb is to ask who’s the one who benefits. Think about it. The fourth prince must be the one behind everything. He just managed to hide from us until now. It’s chilling to think of the possibility, doesn’t it?”

The room fell silent. No one could come to an agreement, but the points brought up were worthy of consideration. As the man...