Zhu Yu realized that the conspiracy and scheming they were now facing seemed to have started much earlier than initially thought.

In her mind, Lu Ze was the most suspicious person.

This Prince Shu, who appeared like an innocent and naive youth, had hidden his true intentions very well, seamless from the outside. If he hadn’t been in such a hurry to dig traps for others in front of Lu Qing, he wouldn’t have exposed his flaws, leading others to connect his past actions.

As the only offspring of Princess Consort Duan, who was most favored in the palace, Lu Ze enjoyed many privileges that other princes did not. In such circumstances, if he developed ambitions to overthrow the threatening Duke Yan in front of him to clear obstacles for his future succession, it made sense that Emperor Jin would tacitly approve, as he also intended to deal with Duke Yan’s faction.

Yet, now it seems clearly incorrect.

According to Mu Hong’s account, it was estimated that the man suspected to be an original domestic servant of the Lu Family started working things out in Lan Country as a trusted aide of Prince Lan shortly after the incident with Lu Qing’s family.

Items like Chang’e Drunk were rare commodities, not easily arranged or obtained at any time. Approaching Prince Lan and gaining his trust to start arranging everything also required considerable time for negotiations and infiltration.

So boldly speculating, it is quite reasonable to assert that planning commenced not long after the tragic demise of Lu Qing’s family.

At that time, neither Lu Ze nor Lu Chao nor Lu Zhang had been born yet.

No one could predict that shortly after, Consort Zhao would unexpectedly die.

No one could foresee Zhao Bi’s ambitious actions in offering a beautiful woman of foreign blood to the palace after Consort Zhao’s death.

No one could have predicted that the beauty would not only receive much favor and be titled Princess Consort Duan but also give birth to a prince and be favored by Emperor Jin.

None of these were predetermined; they were unintelligible prophecies.

So claiming all of this paved the way for Lu Ze seems rather improbable.

If Duke Yan hadn’t already lost power, Zhu Yu might have speculated these were still his maneuvers.

However, with Duke Yan completely toppled, even Lu Zhang suffered due to his external familial ties, making such speculation untenable.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yu suddenly felt puzzled.

Clearly, Duke Yan was the ideal choice, as she just contemplated—if he hadn’t collapsed, all focus would have naturally pointed to him, making him the largest target within everyone’s sight.

Yet somehow, he was overthrown...

Zhu Yu’s thoughts wandered back to that eventful night when she and Lu Qing were wed, forcing her hand.

At first, she suspected Duke Yan of orchestrating the poisoning of a guard, intending to frame Lu Qing during his wedding banquet.

But Lu Qing evidently didn’t agree, leaning more toward someone wanting to hit two birds with one stone, causing trouble for Prince Xiao Yao Mansion and similarly drawing Zhao Bi under their scrutiny.

Reflecting on it, though Zhao Bi was ruthless, his approach wasn’t like that; he aimed to quietly build up strength, waiting for the moment to seize power, preferring peace over reckless action which might lead nowhere.

So as Lu Qing suspected, perhaps the guard by Lu Zhang was a planted spy, purposely framing Lu Zhang during the banquet to stir chaos between Prince Yi Mansion, Duke Yan Mansion, and Prince Xiao Yao Mansion.

Had that ploy succeeded, either Prince Xiao Yao Mansion or Prince Yi Mansion would surely have fallen into trouble, thus drawing external attention and resulting in significant strife or damage for at least one of them.

Unfortunately, the incident happened under Zhu Yu’s watch, and she rescued the dying guard. Moreover, being an old fox, Duke Yan quickly deduced that if it wasn’t Prince Xiao Yao Mansion’s doing, then someone else was staging it, promptly removing the guard.

The plan covertly executed had ultimately failed.

Apparently, at that time, the hidden web had already begun its slow retraction.

If not for King Fan’s death, putting them in a dire situation, then after Duke Yan was overthrown, the next major target would have been Lu Qing.

The suspicion that Duke Yan was involved in the old Lu Family affair seemed plausible, so all these years, he and even the early deceased Consort Zhao plotted to eliminate Lu Qing—that seemed explainable.

The hidden forces wanting to remove Lu Qing possibly only had one reason: his status as the "Golden-faced Imperial Censor." With Lu Qing wearing the golden mask, acting as Emperor Jin’s eyes, ears, and fists, he would thwart many of their plans.

For instance, due to the Ghost Temple Case in Qingshui County leading to the extensive farmland abandonment in Congzhou, where farmers moved to the borders to cultivate flowers and herbs.

If that matter hadn’t drawn Emperor Jin’s attention, it wouldn’t take long—should there be a disastrous year—to escalate into turmoil.

Yet Lu Qing’s intervention eliminated this potential threat, even if the visible accolades fell to Lu Zhang. But those in the shadows monitoring this knew the real hero.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yu suddenly understood why those in hiding might choose Lu Ze instead of Duke Yan.

Duke Yan was no easy puppet—he may serve as a prominent scapegoat, but certainly not a "usable" pawn.

More importantly, the animosity between him and Lu Qing was widely acknowledged both inside and outside the court.

Thus, for many behind-the-scenes matters, Lu Qing never had the chance to uncover anything from him.

Conversely, the young Lu Ze became a better choice.

On one hand, Princess Consort Duan served as an insider within the palace, and with Lu Ze’s special privilege to freely enter and exit the palace without extra credentials, he and Princess Consort Duan could more easily gather information unknown to Duke Yan and others.

Moreover, Lu Ze leveraged his youth, making others less guarded.

On the other hand, most critically, neither Lu Ze nor Princess Consort Duan had greater forces to rely upon, so upon reaching some mutual agreement, they would naturally become more reliant on each other.