Shen Qingzhuo turned around and saw a figure in the bright moonlight and fresh breeze through the curtain. He immediately greeted politely, “Junior Preceptor Pei.”
“Lord Shen, why are you standing here?” Pei Yanqi stopped and looked at him in the bright moonlight.
Shen Qingzhuo didn’t want to say that he couldn’t find the way back, so he replied half-truthfully: “I just met with His Majesty, and now I am preparing to go back.”
Pei Yanqi looked around and said in a puzzled tone, “But this is not the direction back to Jiyue Pavilion.”
Shen Qingzhuo: “……”
What’s going on? Why is Junior Preceptor Pei more familiar with the way back to Jiyue Pavilion than he is?
“Maybe I was distracted and accidentally took the wrong road.” He walked towards Pei Yanqi. “It’s so late, Junior Preceptor Pei, are you going to see His Majesty?”
Pei Yanqi smiled and said, “Lord Shen guessed correctly. Pei was summoned by His Majesty to meet him in the palace.”
“Then that’s just right. I suddenly remembered that I left something in Zichen Palace.” Shen Qingzhuo took the opportunity to invite, “Junior Preceptor Pei, please.”
Others eat for free, while he goes for a free direction.
The moonlight was as bright as a silk thread, and two tall and slender people walked side by side.
“I heard that Lord Shen searched all the palaces today. Did you find any new evidence?” After a few steps, Pei Yanqi spoke to break the silence.
“No.” Shen Qingzhuo sighed lightly and said worriedly, “His Majesty is very angry. If this case continues to drag on, I’m afraid…”
It has been five days since the crime occurred. It is impossible for the palace to remain under strict isolation forever. As time goes by, the possibility that the murderer disappears becomes greater and greater.
“It is impossible for an ordinary person to hide the murderer so well.” Pei Yanqi analyzed slowly, “Perhaps Lord Shen missed a place in his search today.”
Shen Qingzhuo’s eyebrows moved slightly. “Could it be that Junior Preceptor is referring to… Changshou Palace?”
Pei Yanqi replied, “In short, it must be a place that neither you nor I could have imagined.”
Shen Qingzhuo seemed to be thinking about something and suddenly asked, “Junior Preceptor Pei, the murder of Pan Chong is indeed not related to the Eastern Palace?”
Pei Yan paused and replied in a low voice, “Pei will guarantee it with his reputation.”
“But Junior Preceptor, have you ever thought that maybe…” Shen Qingzhuo’s voice was light and floating. “Maybe Junior Preceptor Pei was also kept in the dark?”
Pei Yanqi turned to look at him, his gaze speaking for itself.
“His Highness the Crown Prince is a man of deep thoughts. Junior Preceptor Pei may not understand some things clearly.” Shen Qingzhuo seemed to sigh and advised sincerely, “If His Majesty asks about this tonight, Junior Preceptor Pei, please be careful with your words and actions.”
Upon hearing this, Pei Yanqi’s gaze changed slightly.
“Lord Shen, are you…” His voice contained a rare hint of joy: “Are you worried about Pei?”
Shen Qingzhuo was silent for a while, then replied softly, “Just take it as it is.”
Whether it was because Pei Yanqi had extended a helping hand to the original owner, or it was simply a pity that the talented top scholar chose the wrong master and could only leave sadly in the end, in short, he sincerely hoped that Junior Preceptor Pei could be less involved with the Eastern Palace.
If Junior Preceptor Pei could still be a helper to his little disciple, that would be great. After all, he would have to leave eventually, and how could the emperor govern the vast territory of Dayong alone? His little disciple needed the assistance of good and talented officials, the more, the better.
At this time, the Zichen Palace was in sight. Pei Yanqi bowed and said, “No matter what choice Pei makes, Pei will remember Lord Shen’s kindness tonight.”
Shen Qingzhuo bowed in return: “Junior Preceptor Pei is too polite.”
“What I said to Lord Shen a few days ago was also sincere.” Pei Yanqi chuckled and said sincerely, “I hope Lord Shen can also seriously consider Pei’s proposal.”
Shen Qingzhuo lied earnestly, “Junior Preceptor Pei, rest assured, I will definitely consider it seriously.”
Pei Yanqi nodded slightly and stepped onto the jade steps. Seeing him turn around and prepare to leave, he could not help but remind him, “Lord Shen, you haven’t found the things you left behind yet.”
Shen Qingzhuo’s back froze: “……”
It’s just an excuse, why did Junior Preceptor Pei take it seriously?
***
According to the original plan, the next day the Beizhen Fushi released news that the Jinyiwei had found an unidentified female corpse in a cave in the back mountain of Yu Garden.
Due to the hot weather, most of the female corpse had been eaten by snakes, insects, rats, and ants. The facial damage was particularly serious. It was difficult to identify whether it was the palace maid who killed Pan Changgong or not.
The investigation into the case once again hit a dead end.
Therefore, Lord Zhenfu had no choice but to find a way to preserve the female corpse temporarily and announced that anyone who could prove the true identity of the female corpse would be rewarded greatly.
However, it is said that after seeing the corpse, the people felt so disgusted that they vomited bitter bile.
On this day, Shen Qingzhuo was checking another case file when the Jinyiwei came to report that another palace maid was coming to identify the corpse.
“Oh?” Shen Qingzhuo put down the file and showed a hint of interest, “Bring her in.”
“My Lord.” A slightly older maid came in and respectfully bowed and greeted Lord Zhenfu.
Shen Qingzhuo stood up and asked, “You said you could identify the body. What is your relationship with Lu Mei?”
The palace maid replied, “Answer, My Lord, when Lu Mei first entered the palace, she and the servant lived in the same lower room.”
“You must have heard that the female corpse was badly damaged.” Shen Qingzhuo paced with his hands behind his back. “What is your basis for recognizing her?”
“My Lord may not know that the servant once accidentally saw Lu Mei’s body. There is a special pattern on the inside of her thigh.” The maid raised her head bravely. “As long as that place has not been damaged, the servant can recognize it.”
Shen Qingzhuo frowned slightly. “What kind of pattern is it? Can you draw it?”
The palace maid hesitated and said, “I should be able to… do a little bit.”
Shen Qingzhuo immediately ordered someone to bring paper and brush and asked the palace maid to draw the pattern.
After a while, the palace maid finished drawing with great effort. The Jinyiwei immediately took the paper and handed it to Lord Zhenfu with both hands.
Shen Qingzhuo raised his hand and carefully looked at the pattern on the paper in the sunlight. It looked like an extremely abstract sun totem.
But he couldn’t figure out anything more, so he could only put the paper away and said, “The skin on the female corpse has long been eaten away, so you don’t need to identify it.”
The palace maid immediately looked disappointed.
“However, you still provided a valuable clue.” Shen Qingzhuo waved his hand and signaled Jinyiwei, “Reward.”
“Thanks, My Lord, for the reward!” Suddenly there was light at the end of the tunnel. The palace maid kowtowed repeatedly in excitement to express her gratitude.
After sending the person away, Shen Qingzhuo took out the pattern and studied it for a while. He really had no clue, so he called Kong Shang.
“Kong Qianhu is knowledgeable and experienced. Have you ever seen a similar pattern?” He handed the paper to Kong Shang.
Kong Shang opened his eyes wide, looked back and forth for a long time, and said in confusion, “What is this…”
“It seems you don’t know.” Shen Qingzhuo was a little disappointed. “This should be the sun totem, and also Lu Mei’s identity symbol.”
He was very sure that this tattoo totem was definitely closely related to Lu Mei’s true identity.
“My Lord, the minister can ask Lord Xue.” Kong Shang proposed a new idea: “Lord Xue is knowledgeable and often comes up with some strange little accessories. Maybe he has seen this pattern.”
Shen Qingzhuo thought for a moment and agreed, “Alright, then you can take the pattern to ask Lord Xue.”
Kong Shang agreed immediately and was about to leave when he was stopped by Lord Shen again.
“This is a serious matter and needs to be kept strictly confidential. When you go to ask Lord Xue, you don’t have to tell him the whole story.” Shen Qingzhuo said calmly, “The fewer people who know the key, the safer it will be.”
Kong Shang: “Yes, My Lord!”
***
The case finally made new progress, but Shen Qingzhuo was not in a hurry to get an answer immediately. After finishing his work for the day, he planned to return to Jiuyue Pavilion to rest.
He walked and thought all the way and unknowingly returned to a familiar place. Unexpectedly, the door of Jiuyue Pavilion was wide open, and a series of fierce “crackling” sounds were heard from a distance.
Lord Shen was caught off guard and was frightened. He thought, Could it be that a thief broke into Jiuyue Pavilion?
He quickened his pace, and as soon as he stepped into the hall, he saw two dark shadows entangled with each other. They moved at an extremely fast speed, and the fight was inseparable.
In the chaos, Shen Qingzhuo recognized one of the figures, it was his little disciple. His heart sank immediately, and he called out loudly, “Secret Guard!”
Who would have thought that the other shadow that was entangled in the fight stopped, and it turned out to be the secret guard himself, “Master.”
It happened in a flash. Xiao Shen slashed at the sword in the secret guard’s hand without hesitation.
With a crisp “clang” sound, the sword broke into two pieces.
“You lost.” Xiao Shen put away his sword, his tone extremely provocative.
The secret guard replied coldly, “Taking advantage of someone’s misfortune.”
“What did you say?” Xiao Shen was instantly enraged again, and the sharp blade chopping over again with murderous intent, as if it were wrapped in a thousand pounds of strength.
The secret guard dodged to the side and took his two moves with his bare hands.
Shen Qingzhuo had no choice but to shout, “Stop!”
But the two men fought more and more fiercely, with no intention of stopping the fight. He could only raise his voice and shout, “Xiao Shen!”
Xiao Shen’s body shook, and he immediately and silently withdrew his attack, but at the same time, the secret guard did not have time to retract his fist.
With a “bang”, the fist collided with the bone, making a solid sound.
“Ouch!” Xiao Shen howled and complained, “Master! He hit me!”
The secret guard was stunned and retreated quickly.
Shen Qingzhuo’s heart was beating wildly. He ran over quickly and saw that the cheekbones under his little disciple’s eye sockets were swelling at a speed visible to the naked eye.
“Hiss…” Xiao Shen raised his hand and touched his cheekbone and immediately gasped in pain, “Master, it hurts so much ah…”
“Don’t touch it with your hands!” Shen Qingzhuo felt distressed and speechless. “You still know pain? Why do you bully the secret guard without a reason?”
“It was obviously him who bullied me!” The youth was so agitated that he almost jumped up. “If Master doesn’t believe me, ask him. I just wanted to spar with him. Did I hurt him?”
The secret guard lowered his head and said in a solemn voice, “Master…”
“What are you sparring about? He is my secret guard. Does he dare to fight you for real?” Shen Qingzhuo raised his hand and pinched the youth’s white earlobe. “If you’re not punished for three days, will you tear off the roof of the house, ah?”
“Master, you are biased!” Xiao Shen tilted his head, and it was unclear whether he was intentionally putting his ear into his master’s hand or trying to break free, and he yelled, “It hurts, it hurts, it hurts…”
Shen Qingzhuo carried the disobedient little ear towards the inner hall and said, “Stop talking nonsense and come in.”
After kicking his little disciple into the hall, he turned around and looked at the secret guard who was standing stupidly in the yard and asked in a neither-too-loud nor-soft voice, “The Seventh Prince likes to make trouble, and you follow him to make trouble too?”
The secret guard knelt on one knee and said, “Master, please punish me.”
“What am I punishing you for?” Shen Qingzhuo walked down the stairs. “I just saw that the Seventh Prince is quite good at using the sword. Did you teach him?”
The guard shook his head: “No.”
Shen Qingzhuo: “It’s alright then, get up.”
The secret guard stood up as he was told.
Shen Qingzhuo narrowed his eyes and instructed: “If the Seventh Prince comes to you to spar again in the future, you don’t have to give in to him like you did today. If he gets hurt once, he won’t bother you to fight again.”
Hearing this, the secret guard frowned slightly.
Today he did not intentionally give in to the Seventh Prince. Although, due to their master-servant status, he did not dare to kill him as if he were carrying out a mission. But when dealing with His Highness’s killing move, he did not dare to take it lightly either.
If his master had not come back to interrupt them, the outcome would have been difficult to determine.
Shen Qingzhuo urged, “Do you understand what I mean?”
The secret guard no longer hesitated: “Yes, Master.”
Regardless of the truth, he only needs to obey his master’s orders.
“Go and rest.” Shen Qingzhuo achieved his goal and waved his hand. “I don’t need your protection tonight. With His Highness the Seventh Prince here, there won’t be any danger.”
The secret guard opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but quickly closed it again and quietly disappeared into the darkness.
Shen Qingzhuo let out an exhale, turned around, and went back to the inner hall.
When he entered, his little disciple was lying on the bed with his butt facing him. Just from the hair standing up at the back of his head, one could tell that the youth’s cheeks were definitely puffed up like a pufferfish.
“Xiao Qi?” He called tentatively.
As expected, there was no response.
“Xiao Qi, are you asleep?” Shen Qingzhuo walked towards the bed quietly and called again.
The youth lying on the bed remained motionless.
Shen Qingzhuo said to himself, “It seems that you have fallen asleep, so your face must not hurt anymore. I should go and see if the secret guard is injured or not then.”
“Master!” The next moment, the youth jumped up from the bed and poked his cheek with his slender fingers. “Look at me! I’m the one who’s injured!”
The puppy had a droopy face, with the corners of his narrow eyes drooping, and his expression was both aggrieved and angry. In just a moment, the redness under his eye sockets had turned purple, and his appearance was both pitiful and funny.
Shen Qingzhuo pursed his red lips, trying hard not to laugh out loud, which would add fuel to the fire.
The master and the disciple looked at each other for a moment, and Master Shen cleared his throat: “Alright, I’ll help you with it now.”
Xiao Shen sat on the edge of the bed with a pursed mouth, muttering, “Since that secret guard appeared, Master has stopped loving me. You’ve been fierce at me several times for a person of unknown origin…”
“When was Master being fierce to you?” Shen Qingzhuo opened the medical box and retorted when he heard the words.
“Hmph!” Xiao Shen crossed his arms over his chest, snorted heavily, and began to count on his fingers how many times it had happened.
Shen Qingzhuo felt embarrassed after listening to this. “Stingy guy, how can you remember such a small matter so clearly?”
“Is it a small matter?” Xiao Shen raised his head and spoke word by word, “Everything related to Master is a top priority for me.”
Shen Qingzhuo felt warm in his heart and said with emotion, “It would be better if you could just remember Master’s kindness to you as the top priority.”
He finally knew why the original owner died so miserably. His little disciple must have a little grudge notebook in his heart, clearly recording everything the original owner did to him, and when the time comes, he will return it one by one. The dark eyes were glued to him, and the youth asked back, “Has Master ever done anything bad to me?”
“No.” Shen Qingzhuo walked over with the ointment and said jokingly, “Master treats you like he holds you in his palm for fear of dropping you and holds you in his mouth for fear of melting you.”
Xiao Shen was aroused and asked, “Master really want to hold me in your mouth?”
Shen Qingzhuo: “……”
Xiao Shen asked actively, “How does Master want to hold it?”
“This is just an exaggeration, don’t take it seriously.” Shen Qingzhuo tapped his forehead helplessly.
The light in the youth’s eyes dimmed rapidly. “Oh…”
Shen Qingzhuo lifted up his disciple’s jaw with his fingertips and carefully observed the injuries on his face. “It’s not bad, it’s not disfigured, just apply some ointment and it will be fine.”
The youth obediently let his master do what he wanted. His warm fingertips pushed the ointment apart and rubbed it into his skin with a burning sensation. Pain and numbness surged up at the same time, and he couldn’t help but shiver from the stimulation.
“Does it hurt a lot?” Shen Qingzhuo paused his fingers slightly, a hint of pity unconsciously revealed in his eyes.
It would be a pity if such a handsome face were disfigured.
But he didn’t know that those peach blossom eyes, which seemed to be drunk but not drunk and seemed to be affectionate even without smiling, directly made the youth lose his soul, as if he was willing to drown himself in them.
“Master…” Xiao Shenqing couldn’t help but call out, his raised face seemed to be attracted by something, moving upwards little by little, slowly approaching the face that appeared in his dreams every night.
“Ah, right.” Shen Qingzhuo suddenly seemed to remember something and straightened up quickly, “I forgot to ask you—eh?”
The youth’s neck stretched longer and longer, but he couldn’t control it anymore. He fell headfirst and kneeled in front of his master with a plop.
He consciously grabbed the hem of his clothes with both hands.
Then, with a “swish” sound, the thin Feiyu uniform specially made for summer was torn from the waist down.
Shen Qingzhuo: “……”
“Xiao! Xiao! Qi!” A loud voice came from the bedroom, startling the little bird perched on the branch outside the window and making it flap its wings and fly up.
The black-clad secret guard jumped off the roof at lightning speed and pushed open the window skillfully, only to see his master standing in front of the bed in tattered clothes, and the Seventh Prince was kneeling in front of his master, holding two pieces of fluttering cloth in his hands, at a loss.
The secret guard was stunned on the spot.
The situation before him was obviously beyond his understanding.
The author has something to say:
Secret Guard: As expected, when there is no danger, the Seventh Prince is the biggest danger.
The Little Wolf Cub: A simplified version of “Wild Clothes Tearing.mp4”.
Lord Shen: Compensate me for my work clothes!
