In the eyes of the other two people present, the Seventh Prince’s words were full of resentment, as if he were speaking specifically to cause trouble for Young Master Shen.
“Your Highness the Seventh Prince is very kind. The minister was deeply humbled.” But Shen Qingzhuo’s expression remained calm, as if he could not hear the hidden meaning of His Highness the Seventh Prince’s words. He bows and replies humbly.
“Alright.” Emperor Guangxi was clear-headed and said slowly, “One of you is Zhen’s son, and the other is Zhen’s capable general. No matter what small favors or grudges you had in the past, from now on, they will all be written off.”
Xiao Shen’s expression changed slightly, he lowered his head respectfully and replied, “Erchen understands.”
Shen Qingzhuo also said, “The minister will follow Your Majesty’s instructions.”
“En.” Emperor Guangxi nodded with satisfaction and then asked, “Why did Shen Qing ask to see Zhen?”
Shen Qingzhuo glanced at Emperor Guangxi, then side-glanced at the Crown Prince, implying that the report was related to His Highness the Crown Prince.
Emperor Guangxi understood and glanced at his second son, who was kneeling respectfully in the palace, “Crown Prince.”
“Erchen is here.” Xiao Yichen responded immediately, “What does Emperor Father need?”
“You should leave first.” Emperor Guangxi seemed to sigh, “Think about it carefully after returning to the Eastern Palace.”
“Yes, Emperor Father.” Xiao Yichen lowered his head and obediently left the inner hall. Before leaving, his eyes fell on Lord Shen with a hidden warning.
Shen Qingzhuo looked calm and smiled at His Highness the Crown Prince without any guilt.
Emperor Guangxi summoned the Crown Prince today, and he must have warned him with some words, as the Crown Prince was feeling angry.
However, what he was going to report next would probably make Emperor Guangxi even more furious.
“Lao Qi, you should also go back first.” Emperor Guangxi turned his eyes to Xiao Shen, and his tone was rarely gentle. “It’s hard for you to be so thoughtful and concerned about Emperor Father’s health. You are Emperor Father’s youngest son. In the future, you should spend more time with your brothers and be closer to each other.”
Things in the world were so unpredictable. His sons were doing all kinds of troublesome things one by one, but the youngest son, who was the least favored by him since childhood, was now the most considerate and obedient and even knows how to care about his Emperor Father’s health.
“Alright, Emperor Father.” Xiao Shen stood up obediently and said, “Then Emperor Father, take a good rest, Erchen will come to pay his respects to Emperor Father later.”
“Go.” Emperor Guangxi waved his hand.
Xiao Shen turned and walked towards the palace gate. When he passed by Lord Shen, he deliberately bumped him lightly with his shoulder.
The force of the collision was extremely light. Rather than being a provocation, it was more like… a greeting?
Shen Qingzhuo thought that his little disciple was naughty, but he didn’t dare to do anything in front of Emperor Guangxi. He could only move aside slightly to make way as if nothing had happened.
Fortunately, after the collision, the Seventh Prince left the Zichen Palace without even looking back and had no further communication with him throughout the whole process.
At this time, only Lord Shen and Emperor Guangxi were left in the hall.
Emperor Guangxi closed his eyes slightly and held his forehead with one hand. “Say, what did you find out?”
Shen Qingzhuo replied: “The minister has found out that the palace maid, Lu Mei, who murdered Pan Chong was originally named Ling Long and was from Zuixiang Fang.”
“Zuixiang Fang?” Emperor Guangxi suddenly opened his eyes and said in a serious tone, “Who brought a woman from that land of fireworks into the palace?”
Shen Qingzhuo couldn’t help but complain in his heart, It seems that Your Majesty has also been to Zuixiang Fang ah. Why do you discriminate against the girls there?
He continued, “According to what the minister has heard, Miss Ling Long was redeemed by a Young Master surnamed Xiao some time ago.”
“A Young Master surnamed Xiao?” Emperor Guangxi frowned. “Is he the Crown Prince?”
Shen Qing pondered for a moment and replied truthfully: “The minister has compared the testimony of the Miss in Zuixiang Fang with many sources and confirmed that the Young Master surnamed Xiao is indeed His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”
As soon as the words fell, the inner hall fell into silence.
Without looking up, Shen Qingzhuo also knew that Emperor Guangxi must be looking very ugly at the moment.
He calmly lowered his eyes, waiting for Emperor Guangxi to ask further questions.
As expected, a moment later, a weak voice rang out in the palace: “The Crown Prince bought a prostitute from Zuixiang Fang into the palace. What is his intention?”
“The minister doesn’t know.” Shen Qingzhuo shook his head. “The minister is afraid that… Your Majesty will have to ask His Highness the Crown Prince himself.”
Emperor Guangxi: “What else? What else did you find out?”
Shen Qingzhuo: “Today, Yichun Palace was hit by a fire, and the Jinyiwei found a charred female corpse inside.”
“Yichun Palace? Which concubine lives there?” Emperor Guangxi did not even remember such a palace. “How could a fire break out out of nowhere?”
“It’s an abandoned cold palace.” Shen Qingzhuo spoke at a moderate speed, enough for everyone to hear every word. “After an autopsy by the Beizhen coroner, it was confirmed that the female corpse was a woman of about 18 or 19 years old, and all of her characteristics matched those of Lu Mei’s.”
Hearing this, Emperor Guangxi leaned forward and said unhappily, “You mean, that b*tch died just like that?”
Shen Qingzhuo raised his eyes and continued to report: “Afterwards, a young eunuch in Consort Ning’s palace came to report that he saw the Eastern Palace’s maid, Lu Zhu, near the Cold Palace yesterday. The minister immediately ordered the Jinyiwei to go to the Eastern Palace to capture Lu Zhu and bring her back for questioning, but they were still a step too late. Lu Zhu had already committed su*cide out of fear of punishment.”
As soon as the words came out, Emperor Guangxi brushed the teacup on the bedside table, “Ridiculous!”
With a “bang” sound, the teacup shattered into pieces. Eunuch Su, who was waiting at the door, ran in quickly, “Your Majesty?”
“Commit su*cide out of fear of punishment, it’s commit su*cide out of fear of punishment again!” His dragon’s face was furious, and Emperor Guangxi was panting heavily, his face red with anger. “Zhen is not yet old, nor is Zhen deaf and blind, how dare they do such absurd things under Zhen’s nose again and again!”
“Your Majesty, please calm down. Your Majesty, please calm down… Take care of your body ah!” Eunuch Su hurried forward and turned to ask Shen Qingzhuo, “Lord Shen, what exactly happened?”
“There is new progress in Pan Changgong’s case.” Shen Qingzhuo looked worried and followed Eunuch Su to persuade, “Your Majesty, please take care of your health.”
“Cough, cough, cough…” Emperor Guangxi leaned against the head of the bed, coughing so hard that the earth shook. “Shen Qingzhuo… you, you cough, cough, cough…”
“Your Majesty, the minister is here.” Shen Qingzhuo frowned, trying to comfort the emperor. “This case was still missing an important part, and we cannot make a final conclusion yet.”
Emperor Guangxi leaned against the head of the bed, swallowed the pills handed to him by Eunuch Su, and drank several sips of tea. Only then did he gradually regain his composure.
“Dead men cannot prove anything…” Emperor Guangxi slowed down, his eyes darkened. “When they arrived at Beizhen Fushi, couldn’t Shen Qing make the dead man speak?”
Shen Qingzhuo kneeled down and apologized: “The minister is incompetent. Every time he acted, he was always a step behind, allowing the real culprit behind the scene to escape. Please punish the minister for his incompetence in handling the case, Your Majesty.”
“Zhen ask you…” Emperor Guangxi looked at him and said in an unpredictable tone, “The key witness is dead. What are you going to do next?”
“Lu Mei and Lu Zhu are dead, and there is no evidence to prove the crime, but judging from the current evidence, all the evidence points to the Eastern Palace, except for the lack of a motive for committing the crime.” Shen Qingzhuo replied in a deep voice, “Next, it depends on whether the Dongchang can find out the missing mysterious case file and whether it will be detrimental to the Eastern Palace or not.”
Emperor Guangxi breathed heavily, and after a long while he spoke, “Zhen understands. You can retreat first.”
Shen Qingzhuo raised his eyes with an expression as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Emperor Guangxi was sensitive to this and asked, “Does Shen Qing have anything else to report?”
“No.” Shen Qingzhuo lowered his eyes, bowed, and said, “Your Majesty, please take care of yourself. The humble minister will take his leaves first.”
***
After leaving the Zichen Palace, Kong Shang immediately stepped forward and asked with concern, “My Lord, how is the situation?”
“Let’s keep quiet for now and wait for the next key evidence.” Shen Qingzhuo said in a flat tone, planning to return to Beizhen Fushi first.
Kong Shang scratched his head in confusion but still chose to shut up and obey orders, following Lord Shen obediently.
After walking for a while, a figure suddenly blocked their way: “Lord Shen.”
Shen Qingzhuo opened his eyelashes and frowned when he saw the person coming, but he still greeted politely, “Junior Preceptor Pei.”
Pei Yanqi had a serious face, but his tone remained as graceful as ever. “Lord Shen, may I have a word with you?”
Shen Qingzhuo could roughly guess his intention, so he politely declined, “I have official business to attend to, and I’m in a hurry to get back to Beizhen Fushi.”
“It will only take a quarter of an hour.” Pei Yanqi did not give up and took two steps forward. “Third Young Master, Pei will not keep you too long.”
“I’m sorry, Junior Preceptor Pei, I’m really not able to come right now.” Shen Qingzhuo smiled apologetically and pushed Kong Qianhu behind him. “How about this, Junior Preceptor Pei? If you have anything to say, say it to Kong Qianhu, and he can tell me later. It’s the same thing.”
“Ah?” Kong Shang looked puzzled. “What’s the matter?”
Pei Yanqi stared at that beautiful face and called out softly, “Third Young Master.”
But Shen Qingzhuo pretended not to hear and tried to walk around him and continued walking forward, but his arm was grabbed by a hand.
“For the sake of our past friendship.” Junior Preceptor Pei’s voice became increasingly gentle, even with a hint of imperceptible pleading, “Qingzhuo, I have never asked you for anything.”
Just now, the Jinyiwei broke into the Eastern Palace to take Lu Zhu away, but found Lu Zhu dead in the room. At that moment, he realized that someone was determined to kill His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
But he was in the closed Eastern Palace and did not understand the situation, so he naturally could not respond in time as well.
Shen Qingzhuo didn’t know what kind of relationship there was between Junior Preceptor Pei and the original owner, so he said in a slightly cold tone, “Junior Preceptor Pei, please respect yourself.”
Pei Yanqi still held his arm tightly, but the look in his eyes became complicated, as if he just realized that the person in front of him was so strange.
The two people stood together like a dragon and phoenix, their heights and builds surprisingly matched. A breeze blew by, and the scene was as beautiful as an ink painting.
Even Kong Shang, a rough man, couldn’t help but admire this pleasing painting-like scene.
But before he could appreciate it for a few seconds, he heard an angry roar like thunder from the clear sky coming from not far away.
“Let go of Master!”
Shen Qingzhuo’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly shook off Junior Preceptor Pei’s hand and took two steps back as if to mark a clear boundary.
When he turned around, he saw his little disciple staring at Junior Preceptor Pei with his eyes wide open. His teeth bared, and his hair were just like a puppy with its fur standing on end.
Shen Qingzhuo felt like laughing at an inappropriate time.
What’s going on? Why does he suddenly think his little disciple was also very cute when he is angry?
The author has something to say:
The Wolf Cub: Dare to touch Master? I will chop off your hand!
The Master: Why do I think that my little disciple is so cute even when he is angry?
Kong Shang: Really, only you, My Lord, that think that…
