I traveled back to the Southern Song Dynasty and was actually outmaneuvered by Yue Fei.

On the third day of the second month of the twelfth year of Shaoxing, this was the first time Zhao Bocong, after his time travel, attended court as the Prince of Puan.

The purple official robes of Prince Puan were made overnight, using the finest Shu brocade from Lin'an.

The Chuigong Hall was very deep. Zhao Bocong stood at the end of the imperial clan's procession.

Counting forward, there were seven members of the royal family older than him standing in front of him; counting backward, there was no one behind him.

He was the youngest prince and the most recently promoted prince.

Zhao Gou sat on the imperial couch, wearing a crimson Taoist robe with the collar slightly open. His fingers tapped on the armrest, the rhythm very slow, with each tap spaced about three breaths apart.

Zhao Bocong can now understand this rhythm: a moderate pace indicates thinking, a fast pace indicates restlessness, and stopping indicates making a decision.

Qin Hui stood at the head of the civil officials. His gold belt was part of the purple official robes befitting a Grand Tutor, which were an inch wider than his own.

Today's topic is Hu Quan.

He was a compiler in the Privy Council. In the eighth year of the Shaoxing era, he submitted a memorial requesting the execution of Qin Hui and was exiled to Zhaozhou.

Qin Hui's henchman, Censor-in-Chief Li Wenhui, stepped forward, raised his tablet high, and his voice echoed in the palace.

"Your subject Li Wenhui reports: During his exile in Zhaozhou, Hu Quan continued to make irresponsible remarks about the court and slander ministers."

His poem "Thoughts on Zhaozhou" contains the line "Heaven has not repented of its calamities, but man-made disasters still rage," which alludes to the government and slanders the emperor.

Your subject requests that the punishment be more severe, with the exile to Qiongzhou and permanent disqualification from official service.

Zhao Bocong listened from below. Qiongzhou is Hainan Island. Of those exiled there, nine out of ten died on the way, and the remaining one died in the miasma. Qin Hui wanted Hu Quan dead.

Zhao Gou's fingers stopped on the armrest. It was as if a layer of air had been sucked away from the hall.

Zhao Bozong lowered his eyes, and he could feel the gazes of the surrounding members of the imperial clan shifting away from the hall.

Everyone knew what was going to happen next.

Li Wenhui was Qin Hui's mouthpiece; every word he uttered was at Qin Hui's behest.

When Zhao Gou's finger stopped, it meant he was about to make a decision.

"Prince Pu'an." Zhao Gou's voice fell from the imperial couch.

Zhao Bozong was caught off guard and startled, but his face remained expressionless. He stepped forward from the ranks and bowed. "Your subject is here."

What's your opinion on Hu Quan's matter?

All eyes in the court were on him.

He could feel the gazes behind him; some were sympathetic, some were gloating, and some were simply curious.

Qin Hui did not turn his head, but Zhao Bozong saw the purple official robes on his sleeves rise slightly and then fall still.

Her right hand, which was tucked into her sleeve, clenched tightly just the moment she heard Zhao Gou's question.

Zhao Gou was testing him.

The test was to see if he was Qin Hui's man and whether he dared to say anything different from Qin Hui in court.

Is he qualified enough to be the Prince of Puan, who is not yet qualified enough?

The four words the original owner had annotated in "Tang Jian" flashed through Zhao Bozong's mind: "Utterly foolish."

The original owner was talking about Emperor Xianzong welcoming the Buddha's relics. He's talking about Hu Quan now, but he can't use the original owner's method.

"In my opinion," Zhao Bocong's voice was not loud, but unfortunately the palace was too quiet, and every word was heard clearly, "Hu Quan's crime lies in his excessive words. However, his true intentions may not be otherwise."

The case of Yue Fei has already been settled. Hu Quan's memorial to the throne was submitted before the case was brought to light. To judge those who acted before the fact based on hindsight is probably beyond the capacity of our dynasty.

He finished speaking in one breath, and every word he said was carefully considered.

"Excessive words" – admitting his guilt, giving Qin Hui face. "His true intentions may not have been malicious" – implying he had no ill will, leaving room for the pro-war faction.

"The case of Yue Fei has been settled"—no overturning of the verdict, so as not to arouse Zhao Gou's suspicion. "Use hindsight to judge those who acted beforehand"—this statement was meant for everyone, and also for himself.

No one knew that Yue Fei would be executed in the eighth year of the Shaoxing era. Hu Quan did not know when he submitted his memorial, and Zhao Gou himself did not know at the time.

It's unfair to punish people from yesterday based on today's results.

The hall remained silent for a long time, so long that Zhao Bozong began to doubt his own ears.

Zhao Gou began tapping his fingers on the armrest again.

The pace was neither too fast nor too slow. Zhao Bozong's mind returned to its original place—a moderate pace was for reflection, not for rejection.

"I understand what the Prince of Pu'an said," Zhao Gou said, his voice devoid of emotion. "Hu Quan will remain in Zhaozhou; there is no need to punish him further."

Zhao Bocong returned to the ranks of the imperial clan.

Qin Hui's sleeve remained completely still. He didn't look at Zhao Bocong, nor did he need to.

A sixteen-year-old member of the imperial family saved the life of an exiled civil official in the imperial court—this in itself is nothing special.

But when he said those words, several people in the court nodded in agreement. They would remember the name of the newly appointed Prince of Puan after the court session and write about it in the official gazette so that it would spread throughout the country.

The court session ended. Zhao Bocong followed the crowd out of the hall.

As he reached the palace gate, Feng Yi passed by him. The imperial eunuch, with his whisk draped over his left arm, walked at a steady pace, just as he always had.

No one noticed that his whisk swept across Zhao Bozong's sleeve with extreme lightness and speed.

Zhao Bozong's fingertips touched something in his sleeve—a tiny piece of paper, which he stuffed into his cuff.

He didn't look down, he just kept walking forward.

By the time they returned to the Prince of Puan's residence, it was nearly noon. Zhao Bozong closed the door and unfolded the crumpled paper. On the tiny piece of bamboo paper, no bigger than a fingernail, were written only four tiny characters: "Hu Quan is not dead."

It was Feng Yi's handwriting. He had been lying low in the palace for many years, standing by Zhao Gou's side every day, watching Qin Hui come and go in the hall, and all the civil and military officials bowing their heads in submission.

He hid his face behind the tassels of his whisk, using scraps to jot down messages, waiting for someone to appear who would be willing to risk passing on the first piece of intelligence.

Feng Yi was a spy planted by Yue Fei in the palace, and he was the tenth person on the list.

Zhao Bocong had seen Zhou Sanwei's name on the edge of his drawings. The handwriting was very faint, and Zhou Sanwei had rubbed it with his fingertip, making it so blurry that it was almost impossible to recognize.

Zhou Sanwei died in the deepest cell of the Dali Temple before he could tell Feng Yi how to make contact.

Now Feng Yi has come to us on his own.

Zhao Bocong held the note close to the candle flame and burned it. He picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote a line on a blank page of the *Tang Jian*: "On the day of Guiwei in the second month, the court discussed Hu Quan. Your subject felt that his words were too extreme, and that he may not have been right in his heart. Feng Yi revived."

After he finished writing, he put down his pen, and Feng Yi was activated.

The first question he needed to figure out was how Feng Yi had managed to do what he did for him in court.

That evening, in Qin Hui's study.

Qin Hui sat behind his desk, with a copy of Zhao Bozong's speech in court spread out in front of him.

At the end of the transcript is a line of small print: "Feng Yi was present."

Li Wenhui stood in front of the desk, fine beads of sweat glistening on his forehead.

He had just arrived from the Censorate and hadn't even had time to change out of his court robes. To his surprise, Qin Hui didn't seem to mind blaming him.

Qin Hui simply turned the copy over; the other side contained another report.

The copy of "Tang Jian" sent to the palace this morning is Zhao Bocong's copy.

On the page where Emperor Xianzong welcomed the Buddha's relics, in addition to the original owner's annotation of "utterly foolish," a new marginal note has recently been added.

The marginal notes had nothing to do with the Hu Quan case; instead, they resembled a reading note, written in a casual tone with unclear references, like fragments of thoughts jotted down at random.

However, just before Zhao Bocong spoke in court, this book, "Tang Jian," was presented to the emperor through Feng Yi.

Feng Yi's reason to Zhao Gou was: "Prince Pu'an has recently been studying the Tang Jian diligently, and I have found his annotations to be quite insightful, so I am presenting them to Your Majesty for your perusal."

Qin Hui turned the page and said nothing more. Li Wenhui couldn't understand what he was thinking, but she didn't dare to ask.

Meanwhile, in the study of the Prince of Puan's mansion, Zhao Bozong was looking at the copy by candlelight.

It was delivered by Feng Yi through Manager Wang of Shunhe Tea Shop.

Feng Yi copied the court proceedings and added a brief note: "Prime Minister Qin did not reprimand Li. His Highness's words have been entered into the official gazette."

Official gazette. Zhao Bocong's fingers paused on the desk.

The official gazette was a brief report on the government affairs sent by the Song Dynasty's official postal system to various prefectures and counties. Major events that happened in Lin'an City every day would spread to all prefectures and counties within a few days to half a month.

His words would be copied by the official gazette and sent to Xiangyang, Ezhou, Zhenjiang, Niu Gao's military camp, Dong Xian's administrative office, and Li Bao's water fortress.

Those people will see it.

"Prince Pu'an may not be as right as he thought"—they will know that in the court of Lin'an, someone stood up and spoke up for the pro-war faction.