Chapter 43: Volume 1, Chapter 43: Han Yifeng's True Face

Rong Luoge could not fathom Consort Ming's thoughts for the moment; she never expected that after transmigrating, she would have to change careers to become a detective—her head was about to go bald.

Thinking of this, she thought again of Han Yifeng's attitude toward Liu Yuniang; this side of Han Yifeng was somewhat unfamiliar to Rong Luoge, for the Han Yifeng she had known before was a lovestruck fool whose every action seemed to revolve around Rong Dai.

But... combined with Han Yifeng's earlier questioning of Liu Yuniang, a hair-raising feeling suddenly rose up.

Han Yifeng valued this seal so highly; it must have a significant origin and purpose. Consort Ming had Liu Yuniang become the Great General's kept mistress, and now she had a simple conjecture—roughly that Liu Yuniang was to use the identity of a kept mistress to get close to Di Yue Nu.

After all, both women were kept mistresses; in that case, would Liu Yuniang then have the chance to get close to Di Yue Nu and probe for the seal's whereabouts?

Rong Luoge's thoughts turned again: perhaps Di Yue Nu's vigilance was too high and Liu Yuniang's progress too slow, so after Han Yifeng grew up, he began approaching Rong Dai, wanting to take another route to obtain the seal.

If that were the case, then the things she had never been able to understand before could now be explained.

Why did Consort Ming and her son insist on a marriage alliance with the Zhen Guo Gong Fu, why must the original owner marry Han Yifeng? Because Rong Dai's identity was questionable—not only because she was a kept mistress's daughter, but likely Di Yue Nu's identity also harbored hidden circumstances, so Rong Dai could not become the Princess Consort Qi.

But for the sake of that seal, they had to keep Rong Dai dangling, so they could only have the original owner marry over, euphemistically coaxing Rong Dai by first making her a side consort, and when she bore a child and the time was ripe, she could take the seat of Princess Consort Qi.

As for the original owner... this tool of a person naturally had to be obediently well-behaved and make room, but to keep the news from leaking, the final outcome was probably death by illness.

She suddenly recalled why Prince Qi had not helped Rong Dai be acknowledged by her clan and return to her roots—now there seemed to be an answer: if Rong Dai were acknowledged by her clan, she could obtain the position of Princess Consort Qi, which was naturally not what Consort Ming and her son wished to see.

Thinking of this, Rong Luoge's face was already as ugly as the bottom of a pot; remembering how on the day of the wedding, to vent Rong Dai's anger and make her happy, Prince Qi had the original owner taken to Yuexiang Pavilion to do those things—before, she only felt disgusted, but now she wished she could grab a blade and cleave the two of them apart.

Rong Luoge had obtained the information she wanted; not wanting to alert Han Yifeng, she quietly left the same way she came.

Even after returning to her own mansion, she still could not swallow this anger; she forced herself to calm down—fortunately, the seal was in her hands.

For this she still had to thank Rong Ling Shan; that girl probably had no idea of the seal's importance at all.

She even suspected that the reason Liu Yuniang could not glean any news of the seal from Di Yue Nu was because Di Yue Nu had already lost the seal, and naturally there would be no information at all.

Recalling the seal she had stored away, Rong Luoge entered the inner chamber, opened the hidden compartment, and took it out; holding it up to the sunlight, she examined it carefully—apart from the characters on it that she could not read, judging purely by appearance, it was a celadon jade seal of extremely fine quality, its surface not carved with any pattern at all, so plain it did not resemble a precious object in the least.

Putting the item away again, Rong Luoge now grew all the more suspicious of Di Yue Nu's identity—did the Protector Duke know that the kept mistress he had taken in had an unusual background?

If he did not know, then so be it; if he did, this matter would likely be difficult to handle.

Rong Luoge once again firmly resolved to sever ties with the Zhen Guo Gong Fu; otherwise, if the Protector Duke committed a crime, when the matter came to light, she would not be able to escape—extermination of nine kinships, and she would be among the closest three.

The original owner's fate was truly too wretched.

If she wanted to sever the father-daughter relationship with the Zhen Guo Gong Fu, perhaps Chu Ke could help.

But what could she offer Chu Ke in exchange?

Rong Luoge, thinking of this, called out to Chun Yu.

Chun Yu came in quickly, "Eldest Miss, what are your orders?"

"Go to the front courtyard and call He Huai over," Rong Luoge said.

Chun Yu acknowledged and went; soon He Huai arrived.

"Eldest Miss, you were looking for me?" He Huai entered, bowed, and asked.

"Sit," Rong Luoge said, pointing at the rosewood chair.

He Huai sat down and looked up at the Eldest Miss.

Rong Luoge met his gaze and asked in a serious tone: "Regarding the matter of Rong Yan's accident last time, can you obtain evidence?"

He Huai thought for a moment and said, "It's not easy. The person who tampered with the horse is not someone I can freely investigate or touch."

Rong Luoge knew he was speaking of Lin Gao Xuan; Lin Gao Xuan's father was the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and a servant of the Minister's household was indeed not easy for He Huai to act against.

"Besides seizing someone for interrogation, is there any other method?"

"There is, but we would need to work through the horse farm; it may take some time."

"As long as it can be done, go handle this matter," Rong Luoge said immediately. "Whatever silver you need, withdraw it directly from the accounts."

Smoothing the connections at the horse farm might cost a fair amount of silver; fortunately, she had done a large deal with Luo Xian before, so her funds on hand were currently quite ample.

He Huai nodded in agreement; seeing that the Eldest Miss had no further orders, he then rose and took his leave.

Rong Luoge recalled the matter she had previously entrusted to Ling Yuying, and did not know when there would be news from her side; remembering the remaining few characters she had tucked into her purse, she could not just sit at home waiting—she still needed to find someone to ask whether they could recognize them.

Ordinary people certainly would not do, but she also could not get a conversation with someone who held official rank, so she could only go find some learned old scholars, which would take quite some time.

Rong Luoge took a bath, changed into simple men's clothing, dressed herself as a scholar, and carrying a folding fan, walked out amid the astonished gazes of a group of maids.

In Xi Cheng she certainly would not run into learned old scholars; old scholars all loved to live near the official academies, for men of letters also liked to gather together.

She took a carriage directly to the vicinity of the National Academy; speaking of which, this was not far from her old residence.

Rong Luoge thought it over and first went to the old residence; when she arrived, she happened to run into Cang Yun, who was about to go out. Seeing her, Cang Yun was greatly surprised and hurriedly pulled her inside, "Eldest Miss, why are you dressed like this? If someone sees you, there will be gossip again."

"I have a little matter." Rong Luoge took out her fan and lightly tapped Cang Yun on the shoulder.

Cang Yun:...

Fine, as long as you're happy.

"This servant was just about to go look for you. The old serving-woman beside the Princess Consort Liang came and delivered a letter, saying she was to have this servant pass it to you."

Rong Luoge's eyes lit up, "Where is the letter?"

Cang Yun hurriedly pulled it from her chest and handed it over.

Rong Luoge walked briskly into the courtyard and went straight to the study before opening it.

The letter contained only a few brief lines; at the end, Rong Luoge stared at one character, Ning, and one character, Bao.

The two characters she had given to Ling Yuying were precisely these two—Ning, Bao—with no clue at all.

Judging by the usual format of a seal, it should be X Ning Bao X; now only the first character and the last character were missing. She could guess that the last character should be Yin, so the first character was of crucial importance.

Rong Luoge burned the letter, let out a long breath of relief in her heart, then took out the last character from the purse and burned it as well, leaving only the first character; she decided to go try her luck in the long alley near the National Academy.

Where men of letters gathered, there ought to be someone of broad learning.