He remarried after his mother's death, seized power over the world, and slept on the emperor�

Ji Chengyun closed the file in disappointment.

"What's the difference between this and not investigating at all?"

Jiang Bingning did not give up.

She put Hanzhi's file aside and pulled out several extremely heavy account books from another shelf.

Those were the monthly allowance receipts from the Prince's Mansion and the purchase expense reports from each of the various departments.

If the personnel file cannot be found, then check other files.

As she spoke, she began to turn the pages one by one.

Ji Chengyun also perked up and helped her search.

There were numerous account books, and the tiny characters on them were dazzling to the eye.

After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Bingning suddenly stopped moving.

Her finger stopped on a page of an account book.

"Look here."

Ji Chengyun immediately went over.

"This is Hanzhi's monthly allowance payment slip."

Jiang Bingning pointed to one of the lines.

"Starting six months before she disappeared, every month, in addition to receiving her regular allowance, she would submit an extra expense report."

"The amount is small, so it's not noticeable."

Ji Chengyun frowned.

"Why do you need to submit an expense report?"

Jiang Bingning did not answer, but instead turned to the purchasing ledger from the three months before the princess's death.

Her slender fingers flew quickly through the dense list of entries, finally settling on a name.

Cold branches.

Ji Chengyun stared intently at the entries following Han Zhi's name.

It was written very clearly on it.

During those three months, Hanzhi had to go to the accounting office every month to submit her accounts and request payment.

And the items she bought were all medicinal herbs!

Ji Chengyun's fingertip landed on the words "medicinal herbs".

"The Prince's residence has its own pharmacy, dedicated procurement channels, and even imperial physicians on duty on a rotating basis!"

"Even if the master of a courtyard needs special medicinal herbs, the steward should report it and the expense should be handled through the public funds!"

"Why should a lowly maidservant with no power or position be expected to buy medicine herself for three consecutive months?"

Jiang Bingning looked at his excited appearance, but her eyes remained calm.

Her gaze followed the name "Hanzhi" and carefully looked down.

The accounts only recorded the money transactions, but did not specify what kind of medicinal materials were purchased.

But at the end of each expense report, the same shop's name was always listed.

"South of the city, Hu's Pharmacy."

She raised her head and looked at Ji Chengyun.

"Is this Hu's Pharmacy a frequently used business by the Prince's residence?"

Ji Chengyun paused slightly, then frowned and slowly shook his head.

"no."

"I've never heard of this name before."

"When the Prince's Palace makes purchases, especially for things like medicinal herbs that are a matter of life and death, they only cooperate with well-known century-old brands in the capital. They would never choose such an unknown pharmacy."

Jiang Bingning nodded; this coincided with her guess.

"It seems the problem lies with this Hu's Pharmacy."

"The ledger only records the purchase of medicinal herbs, but we have no idea what kind of herbs they are."

Her fingertips lightly traced the four characters "Hu's Pharmacy".

"We must start with this pharmacy."

"I see."

Ji Chengyun immediately responded.

"I'll send someone to investigate! No, I'll go myself!"

Jiang Bingning grabbed his sleeve.

"Don't rush."

She shook her head, her gaze returning to the stacks of personnel files.

"There's another line."

As she spoke, she pulled out Hanzhi's thin file again and pointed to the recommender section.

"Look here."

"Han Zhi's information is pitifully scarce, her family background is completely blank, but there are records of the people who recommended her to the mansion."

Ji Chengyun leaned closer to take a look.

"Rong... the gardener?"

Jiang Bingning asked, "Is this person still in the manor?"

Ji Chengyun pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

He got up and walked to another bookshelf, taking down a stack of heavy books from it.

Those are the archives of the Prince's mansion over the years, showing those who have retired to their hometowns or left their posts.

He flipped through the pages quickly, his fingers darting across a row of rankings.

He stopped very quickly.

"Found it."

He spread the booklet out in front of Jiang Bingning.

"Rongshun, known as Old Rong."

"He's an old man from the Prince's mansion. He was tending to the flowers and plants there before I was born, and he retired to his hometown when he got old."

The file records Rong Shun's final destination.

"Cuiping Mountain is located in the suburbs of Shangjing."

Upon seeing the words "Cuiping Mountain," Jiang Bingning's breath caught in her throat for a moment.

Zhang Xuanzhi's hermitage was located in Cuiping Mountain.

"I……"

She looked up and blurted it out almost out of her mouth.

"I can go to Cuiping Mountain. I can use the excuse of gathering inspiration for dance scores in the mountains, and no one will suspect anything."

"I'll go ask this gardener Rong myself; perhaps I can find out something."

Ji Chengyun was slightly taken aback when he saw the urgency in her eyes.

"There's no need for that."

Ji Chengyun explained, "Changfu, when he first entered the manor, he was very fortunate to have received guidance from Elder Rong."

"Although the two are quite different in age, they are close friends despite the age gap and have been corresponding with each other for many years."

He closed the file.

"I only need to have Changfu write a letter saying that I, as the heir, have long admired the name of Elder Rong and would like to invite him to the capital for a cup of tea to chat about the past."

"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he should be able to appear before us tomorrow."

Jiang Bingning's eyelashes trembled slightly.

She knew this was the safest way.

She lowered her eyes, concealing the emotions within them.

"it is good."

-----------------

Another day passed.

In Consort Lin's courtyard.

Aunt Zhao carried a bowl of ginseng soup and hurried into the inner room, her expression as if she had seen a ghost.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

She hadn't even arrived yet, but her shouts came in first.

Consort Lin was drawing her eyebrows in front of the mirror when she was startled, and her eyebrow pencil drew a long black mark at the corner of her eye.

"What's the panic!"

Consort Lin put down her eyebrow pencil in displeasure and rebuked him angrily.

"Is the sky falling down?!"

Aunt Zhao knelt down on the ground with a "plop".

"Your Majesty, the sky hasn't fallen, but... but my eyes are almost blind!"

"This servant just saw with her own eyes the young master leaving the manor with that woman from the Jiang family!"

Consort Lin froze.

"Leave the residence?"

"Why did he take her out of the manor?"

Zhao Da Niang's face was a mixture of shock and jealousy, her features almost contorted.

"We can't trust any of the servants in the manor. We need to...we need to personally take that Miss Jiang to the slave trader and select a new batch of maids and servants for her!"

"My God!"

Aunt Zhao slapped her thigh.

"This is the young master!"

"Which noble lady in the capital isn't craning her neck, hoping to exchange a single word with the young master?"

"When in his entire life have we ever seen him so intimate with any woman? This is the first time he's brought a woman out of the manor!"

Her fat face jiggled, and her tone was so sour it could wring water out of it.

"This servant understands now!"

"Rumors outside say that the young master is aloof and reserved, and doesn't get close to women. I think that's all bullshit!"

"He's just a lecherous scoundrel blinded by a vixen!"

"For a woman, he's even abandoned the rules and dignity of the royal palace!"

Consort Lin's face darkened with anger as she listened to Aunt Zhao's rant.

She picked up a handkerchief and vigorously wiped away the unsightly ink stain from the corner of her eye.

"snort."

A cold snort escaped from her nose.

"Let him be."

"Once the palace banquet is over, let's see how he'll still be able to fawn over a corpse!"

-----------------

In the capital city, there was an inconspicuous and secluded courtyard.

Ji Chengyun pushed open the courtyard gate and stepped aside to let Jiang Bingning go in first.

This is the house he purchased with his own private property, unknown to anyone in the Prince Xin's Mansion.

Chang Fu was already waiting in the courtyard.

Beside him stood a sprightly old man.

Upon seeing Ji Chengyun, Chang Fu and the old man immediately stepped forward to pay their respects.

"Greetings, Your Highness."

"Mr. Rong, please rise quickly!"

Ji Chengyun quickly stepped forward and personally helped the old man up.

The gardener, known as Old Rong, straightened up and carefully examined the boy before him.

"It's so similar, it's uncanny."

He muttered to himself, his voice old and hoarse.

"The young master's features and demeanor are exactly like those of the prince when he was young."

"The same imposing and heroic presence."

Ji Chengyun smiled but did not reply.

Rong Shun's gaze shifted from his face to something behind him.

When he saw Jiang Bingning standing half a step behind Ji Chengyun, the smile on his face suddenly froze.

He stood frozen in place, as if he had seen someone who could never possibly appear.

He raised his hand shakily and pointed at Jiang Bingning.

"you……"

"Who are you……"

"willow……"

"You're here too?"