Chapter 49: Ascending the Tower of Ruyi

"Do you truly not know, or do you simply not dare to say?"

Lin Jiangnian glanced at her sideways.

Zhiyuan kept her gaze lowered, asking quietly, "What is Your Highness asking?"

Lin Jiangnian lifted his eyes to gaze at the solitary gravestone before him, his expression blank. "This Prince wants the truth!"

Zhiyuan remained silent, a flicker of hesitation crossing her cold, serene face.

Silence, unbroken by words.

Her reaction answered Lin Jiangnian's unspoken questions.

The woman in red had mentioned to him last night that the passing of the Princess of Lin was shrouded in suspicion.

When the Heir of Lin was born, the Princess had indeed fallen gravely ill, leaving her constitution frail. Even so, the Prince's Manor was brimming with formidable experts, traveling physicians of renowned skill were numerous, and rare medicinal herbs and elixirs were endless. How could a dignified Princess of Lin succumb merely to a sudden illness?

It seemed normal, yet entirely abnormal!

The woman in red had harbored suspicions, believing there might be hidden circumstances behind the Princess's death.

From Zhiyuan's silent reaction just now, that suspicion was confirmed.

Zhiyuan slowly raised her eyes, gazing at Lin Jiangnian's profile.

Her usual detached composure vanished entirely, replaced by a gradually chilling gaze. It was like the unyielding snow of deep winter, carrying a piercing, bitter cold.

"The Princess... did indeed pass away from illness."

Zhiyuan spoke calmly, yet her tone held a subtle, strange nuance.

"Fifteen years ago, the Prince conquered and subjugated the various realms of Miaojiang, achieving boundless merit. The Emperor bestowed upon him the title of a Prince of a Different Surname. It was also in that year that the Princess fell severely ill, ultimately departing from this world..."

"In those years, the Prince could not remain by the Princess's side. Because the Princess was physically delicate, it was always Your Highness's maternal aunt who stayed by her side to care for her..."

Maternal aunt?

Lin Jiangnian had a vague impression. The Princess of Lin indeed had a sister, though she had left Linjiang City some years ago. Come to think of it, Zhiyuan herself seemed to have been raised by that maternal aunt?

"So..."

Lin Jiangnian remained expressionless. "What really happened to my mother's death?"

This time, Zhiyuan remained silent for a long time before speaking. "The Prince is investigating!"

"Investigating?"

Zhiyuan's eyes grew slightly cold, her slender hands interlocked beneath her sleeves gripping each other with unconscious force.

"The Princess indeed died of illness, except..."

"The Prince has always suspected that the Princess's illness was deliberately engineered by someone... Over the years, the Prince has secretly dispatched people to investigate this matter."

"And the result?"

"Nothing."

Zhiyuan lowered her gaze, her tone ice-cold and heavy.

She herself refused to believe the Princess would simply die of illness. Though the Princess's constitution was frail, it was far from fatal. Her death had been far too sudden, making it difficult not to suspect foul play.

Back then, the Prince had thoroughly investigated every single servant in the manor from top to bottom, yet found nothing. At least on the surface, the Princess had indeed passed away from illness...

Lin Jiangnian narrowed his eyes. Fifteen years ago?

Lin Hengzhong had been granted the title of a Prince of a Different Surname with sweeping, terrifying authority, and yet the Princess had died at that exact juncture... If someone had indeed orchestrated it, the implications were deeply intriguing.

No wonder there were such suspicions!

"For over a decade, and not a single clue has turned up?"

Lin Jiangnian turned his head to look at Zhiyuan behind him.

Zhiyuan fell silent and shook her head. "This servant does not know; the Prince has never mentioned this matter to me."

She had been only three years old the year the Princess passed away, and she had no way of knowing what had truly transpired. The only ones who knew the details were the Prince himself, and... Your Highness's maternal aunt!

Lin Jiangnian nodded, pressing no further.

"Let's go, time to return."

He turned and descended the mountain.

Zhiyuan followed closely behind Lin Jiangnian, raising her gaze to stare at his retreating back before suddenly speaking, "Your Highness, why did you suddenly ask about this?"

Lin Jiangnian's footsteps paused slightly, and he replied indifferently, "Just thought of it on a whim!"

With his hands clasped behind his back, he looked ahead. The sunlight pierced through the thick fog, and from this vantage point, a large portion of the sprawling Prince of Lin's Manor nestled at the foot of the mountain came into full view!

Magnificent and vast!

"Tell me..."

"If Mother were still alive, would she be disappointed to see me living like this?"

Lin Jiangnian suddenly turned his head to look at Zhiyuan behind him.

Zhiyuan started, lowering her gaze in silence. "The Princess's greatest wish was for Your Highness to grow up and become a towering figure who could stand tall between heaven and earth!"

"A towering figure who stands tall between heaven and earth?"

Lin Jiangnian fell silent, studying her eyes. Zhiyuan met his gaze with equal calm.

A moment later, Lin Jiangnian suddenly chuckled.

"Indeed, this Prince should truly become a towering figure who stands tall between heaven and earth!"

After chuckling twice, Lin Jiangnian waved his hand and walked away with unrestrained ease.

Zhiyuan remained standing in place, quietly watching him leave. Seemingly lost in thought, she turned back and raised her eyes toward the distant scenery behind her.

Silent and speechless.

...

Sun Moon Lake, Ruyi Tower.

Having paid her respects to the Princess of Lin, Lin Jiangnian came here alone.

The distant surface of the lake was calm, and at the end of the bridge sat a pavilion suspended gracefully over the water.

Ruyi Tower!

The surroundings were completely quiet, save for the occasional gust of wind that rippled the lake's surface into endless circles of waves. The sunlight spilled across the water, casting a golden glow, while various colorful fish darted to and fro in the depths below.

Lin Jiangnian crossed the bridge. The area was utterly deserted, the bridge entirely lonesome. Even as he slowly approached the front of the pavilion, not a single figure was in sight, not even a guard stationed at the entrance.

Yet, Lin Jiangnian knew very well that numerous formidable experts were concealed in the shadows around him; ordinary people stood no chance of ever getting close.

Countless treasures that could drive the people of the world mad were housed within Ruyi Tower, naturally attracting no shortage of individuals with malicious intentions.

However, over the years, not a single person had ever managed to break inside; without exception, every single intruder had perished outside the tower. Who knows how many legendary pugilistic heroes and martial arts masters lay buried beneath the calm waters of Sun Moon Lake!

Lin Jiangnian reached the entrance, paused for a moment, then stepped forward to gently push open the heavy doors of the pavilion and walked inside.

As the Heir of Lin, entering and leaving Ruyi Tower was entirely at his discretion.

The first floor.

Inside the quiet, dim pavilion, a faint scent of old books lingered in the air. To Lin Jiangnian's surprise, the interior of Ruyi Tower was not nearly as grand as its exterior suggested.

In fact... it was remarkably ordinary.

The first floor was wide open, with several rows of bookshelves placed not far away. When Lin Jiangnian walked over to inspect them, his eyes narrowed.

The bookshelves were stacked with intelligence dossiers and reports from various martial arts sects across the rivers and lakes, alongside classified summaries of the world's greatest martial artists, all placed casually on the first floor.

Many of those sect masters, who enjoyed great renown and exceptionally high status in the outside world and whose origins appeared mysterious and unfathomable to ordinary folk, had their backgrounds neatly cataloged right here.

Their origins, family histories, blood relations, the martial arts they practiced, and even their weaknesses were recorded with absolute clarity...

Seeing this, a sudden chill crept into Lin Jiangnian's heart.

Could the intelligence-gathering network of the Prince's Manor truly be this terrifying?

The dossiers and intelligence reports placed here had practically stripped away the undergarments of more than half the sects in the martial world, exposing everything down to the bone!

No wonder the martial sects within Linzhou were so utterly respectful to the Prince of Lin, and why those unruly martial arts experts grew fiercely obedient the moment they crossed into Linzhou territory.

When one's very underwear has been laid bare for all to see, who wouldn't be terrified?

Lin Jiangnian casually flipped through some of the intelligence reports, growing more alarmed with every page. After all, he had still underestimated the Prince of Lin's Manor, and he had underestimated that Prince of a Different Surname.

Within the entire territory of Linzhou, everything likely operated under the watchful eye of that Prince.

This realization sparked a fresh wave of uneasy crisis regarding his counterfeit identity!

Taking a deep breath, Lin Jiangnian continued searching through the texts, yet he failed to find any information concerning the identity or origins of the woman in red. Since even the Prince of Lin's Manor had failed to unearth any clues, her identity was evidently far more mysterious than he had imagined.

Setting the books aside, Lin Jiangnian stopped dwelling on it. Not forgetting his original purpose for coming to Ruyi Tower today, he scanned his surroundings and turned to head upstairs.

When he stepped onto the second floor of the pavilion, Lin Jiangnian instantly began to regret his decision.

What greeted his eyes were rows upon rows of bookshelves, packed densely with countless volumes. From the second floor upward to the third and fourth floors, it was all the exact same—nothing but books. Lin Jiangnian even wondered if nearly half the world's entire literary collection had been stashed away here.

There had to be tens of thousands of volumes at the very least, ranging from statecraft and political strategy to military tactics, from classical poetry and prose to supreme martial arts manuals... everything imaginable was present in inexhaustible abundance.

With so many books, if Lin Jiangnian intended to find what he was looking for here... heaven knows how many years and months that would take!