Clarity

When Li Juntang woke up again, it was already evening.

Zhang He and Wu Yong stood outside the door with a team of elite guards, fully armed and alert.

Inside the room, Li Juntang's mother, Consort Spanner, along with several imperial physicians, waited anxiously.

As soon as she heard the news that her son had fainted, Consort Spanner rushed over with the royal doctors.

Li Juntang was her only son. She had raised him with meticulous care, pouring all her love and effort into him.

Fortunately, her son had also lived up to her expectations. Among all the princes, he had distinguished himself and now had the qualifications to compete for the title of Crown Prince.

Lately, she had been making various plans for her son's future. Just as they were nearing a critical moment, this sudden incident occurred --- no wonder she was so anxious.

Luckily, there was no serious harm; he had simply fainted from a fit of rage.

“Juntang, how do you feel? Are you alright?”

The moment she saw Li Juntang open his eyes, Consort Spanner hurried to his side, asking with deep concern.

“Mother, why are you here?”

Li Juntang rubbed his aching head and slowly sat up.

“I heard something happened here --- how could I not come?”

Consort Spanner took the medicinal soup handed over by a maid and carefully brought it to Li Juntang’s lips. "Here, this is a restorative soup. Quickly, drink it.”

Li Juntang nodded without saying much, taking the bowl and drinking it in one gulp.

“My child, no matter how precious something is, in the end, it's just an external possession. As long as you want it, I’ll have people find something even better for you. What's important is your health.” Consort Spanner earnestly advised.

“I understand. It’s just that this happened so suddenly, and I was overwhelmed with anger..."

As he spoke, Li Juntang subconsciously clenched his fists, his expression turning dark.

Years of painstaking effort --- lost overnight. It was truly unbearable.

“I already have a good grasp of the situation. Leave the rest to me; you don't need to worry about it anymore,” Consort Spanner said.

“What? You caught the thief?” Li Juntang straightened up, his face serious.

“No, we haven't caught them. And we can't catch them.” Consort Spanner shook her head.

“Mother, what do you mean?” Li Juntang frowned.

“My child, you were set up.”

Consort Spanner sighed lightly. “You were too eager for quick success and fell into someone else's trap. This current disaster can be seen as a harsh lesson for you.”

“A setup?” Li Juntang’s brows furrowed deeper. “You mean Logan Rhys?”

He wasn't stupid. Logan Rhys had just presented him with a treasure, and immediately afterward, his secret vault was raided. No matter how he looked at it, it was hard to believe there was no connection.

After all, his vault was heavily guarded and protected by numerous mechanisms. Only a top-level expert like Logan Rhys could have broken in and escaped even after triggering the alarms.

But suspicions were one thing; he had no solid evidence, so he couldn’t act rashly.

“Logan Rhys is just a knife --- behind him, there is someone holding the knife.” Consort Spanner’s tone became grave.

“Who? Who is targeting me?!” Li Juntang gritted his teeth, hatred blazing in his eyes.

His main competitors were none other than Li Guanglong and Li Wenxing. If it was them plotting against him, he would not show mercy either.

Seeing his expression, Consort Spanner shook her head. “It’s not Li Guanglong or Li Wenxing. If I’m not mistaken, this incident was likely orchestrated by your royal father.”

“The Emperor?” Li Juntang was stunned, almost unable to believe it. “How could that be? The Emperor has always favored me. Why would he send someone against me?”

“My child, your father is a man who always puts the greater good first. The Dragon Source Spiritual Qi concerns the fate of the nation --- it's not something you can possess at your current stage.”

Consort Spanner sighed deeply. "If you had handed it over earlier, it would have earned you goodwill with your father. But you intended to keep it for yourself, and that crossed a major taboo. You are not yet the Crown Prince; you are not in a position to wield the power tied to the nation's fortune. The Emperor had no choice but to retrieve it."

“Even so, couldn’t he have just told me? Why resort to these underhanded methods?” Li Juntang frowned deeply.

He simply couldn’t understand. If the Emperor wanted the Dragon Source Spiritual Qi back, a single word would have sufficed --- why use such roundabout and cruel tactics?

"The mind of an emperor is the hardest thing to fathom. Maybe your father had other considerations. In any case, you must not pursue this matter any further --- pretend it never happened, understand?” Consort Spanner urged.

“Mother... is it possible you’re overthinking this? Maybe the Emperor doesn't even know about it?” Li Juntang tried to suggest.

He still couldn’t accept the truth.

“My son, in Stonia, nothing escapes your father’s notice. Without his authorization, who would dare to steal something from your estate?” Consort Spanner said softly.

In truth, during the time Li Juntang was unconscious, she had already sent people to investigate thoroughly.

There were very few who even knew Li Juntang had obtained the Dragon Source Spiritual Qi.

Following the clues, it should have been easy to find the culprit --- and yet, her agents found nothing.

Even when she mobilized the full strength of the royal Spanner family’s intelligence network, they barely uncovered a single piece of information: the force behind the operation had an intelligence network far superior to the Spanner family’s.

Looking across the entire Dragonmarsh, the only one who could so easily suppress the Spanner family's network was the royal family itself.

And the current royal intelligence network was in the hands of An Yang’s Shadow Commander, Margaret --- who answered solely to the Emperor.

In other words, everything Margaret did had the Emperor’s silent approval.

Thus, she advised her son not to dig deeper and to treat the matter as if it had never happened.

If they pushed further and tore open the rift, it would only bring endless trouble and no benefit. - Ton