Inside Xingde Palace, the Eighth Prince was writing something. At this moment, Yu Hai walked in.
Yu Hai first paid respects to the Eighth Prince, then immediately handed over the letter he had just taken from the carrier pigeon’s leg to the Eighth Prince.
"Your Highness, a message from the hunting grounds."
The Eighth Prince put down the pen in his hand, took the letter, and opened it to have a look.
Yu Hai saw the Eighth Prince’s expression turn surprised and, with some curiosity and doubt, asked, "Your Highness, what’s wrong? Has something happened at the hunting grounds?" Just as he finished speaking, it suddenly occurred to him that Duke Zhen was planning to make a move during the spring hunt, "Your Highness, could it be that Duke Zhen has already taken action?"
The Eighth Prince said with an inexplicable expression: "He has made a move."
Upon hearing this, Yu Hai became somewhat agitated: "Did Duke Zhen send someone to assassinate Prince Dai? How is Prince Dai, is he dead?" If Prince Dai were dead now, it wouldn’t be a good thing for His Highness.
The Eighth Prince did not answer Yu Hai’s question but instead handed the letter to Yu Hai.
Yu Hai took it and had a look, and then his expression also turned to one of astonishment.
"Your Highness, this... wasn’t Duke Zhen planning to send someone to assassinate Prince Dai? How did it involve a woman?"
The Eighth Prince smiled with great interest: "Duke Zhen is really skillful." He had speculated many of Duke Zhen’s methods, but did not expect that Duke Zhen would arrange for a woman to appear before the emperor.
"Qin Xiulian, the daughter of Doctor Zhong San?" When Yu Hai accompanied the Eighth Prince to the East Palace, he had seen Doctor Zhong San. A plain-looking middle-aged man who spoke unhurriedly and had no remarkable traits, and he had never heard that he had a beautiful daughter. "Your Highness, how come I’ve never heard that Mr. Qin has a daughter?"
"This daughter should not be Mr. Qin’s biological daughter." The Eighth Prince speculated, "She should be Mr. Qin’s foster daughter."
"She should be arranged by Duke Zhen for Mr. Qin to adopt." The Eighth Prince said thoughtfully.
"Your Highness, so Duke Zhen’s plan during the spring hunt is not to assassinate Prince Dai, but to arrange Doctor Zhong San’s foster daughter to appear before the emperor?" Yu Hai asked in astonishment.
The Eighth Prince nodded slightly: "That’s right."
"Your Highness, Doctor Zhong San’s foster daughter resembles Si Youying, who is Si Youying?" Yu Hai asked in confusion, "It’s said she’s an old acquaintance of the emperor, but I’ve never heard of this name."
"I haven’t heard of it either, but this Si Youying should not be merely an old acquaintance of the emperor." The Eighth Prince lightly tapped his right index finger on the table, "This Si Youying should be the emperor’s lover."
"Lover?" Yu Hai said, shocked.
"Probably a lover from the emperor’s youth, and the emperor was deeply in love with her." The Eighth Prince continued to speculate, "For some unknown reason, this Si Youying died, and since then, the emperor has been longing for her."
"Then why did Duke Zhen arrange for this Qin Xiulian to appear before the emperor?"
"To make Qin Xiulian win the emperor’s favor." The Eighth Prince smiled, "And let Qin Xiulian compete for favor with Noble Princess Consort Rong."
"Does Duke Zhen intend for this Qin Xiulian to deal with Noble Princess Consort Rong?" Yu Hai found Duke Zhen’s plan somewhat naive, "Noble Princess Consort Rong has been favored for over twenty years, how could this Qin Xiulian surpass Noble Princess Consort Rong? Besides, Noble Princess Consort Rong is the emperor’s cousin, they grew up together, this bond is not something anyone can surpass."
"Moreover, neither the late Empress nor the Empress could match Noble Princess Consort Rong’s favor, everyone in the previous dynasty’s harem knew that the emperor favored Noble Princess Consort Rong the most, even the common people were aware."
Yu Hai added, "Everyone knows that if it weren’t for the cooperation between the Xie family and the late emperor at that time, Noble Princess Consort Rong would have been the Empress..." The word "Empress" was left unsaid. "Does Duke Zhen think simply because someone looks exactly Si Youying they can be more favored than Noble Princess Consort Rong? Is Duke Zhen underestimating Noble Princess Consort Rong?"
"What do you think of Duke Zhen?"
Hearing this question, Yu Hai was momentarily stunned, and then he said, "Duke Zhen is an astute and scheming person."
The Eighth Prince asked in return: "Then do you think an astute and scheming Duke Zhen would do something without a chance of success?"
"No, he wouldn’t." Duke Zhen was not only astute and scheming but also remarkably skilled. Besides, whenever Duke Zhen acted, he would not do it in vain. "Your Highness, do you think the Qin Xiulian arranged by Duke Zhen could be more favored than Noble Princess Consort Rong?"
"With Duke Zhen’s methods, he would certainly not merely arrange for someone with the same appearance to face the emperor." The Eighth Prince said calmly, "This Qin Xiulian should have long been found by Duke Zhen and secretly trained by people he sent. If I’m not mistaken, Duke Zhen has trained Qin Xiulian into Si Youying."