Silence. The two people and the bird fell into a strange silence at the same time.
Xiao Shen stood there, seemingly calm on the surface, but in fact he was in a panic inside. His mind was racing, trying to find a reasonable excuse to explain where this damn parrot learned such obscene words from.
“It…” Shen Qingzhuo was dumbfounded, a little bit unable to believe his ears. “What did it just say?”
Even though he had low demands in that aspect, but he was not an innocent man who didn’t know much about the world. The last two sentences that the parrot learned, especially the trembling ending, were very vivid and clearly what a man would say when doing that kind of thing…
Wait!
Shen Qingzhuo frowned. This parrot kept calling him “Master”. It was obvious who it learned this from. So—
“You turtle grandson1This is an insult.!” At this time, the parrot spoke again, aiming at the Seventh Prince, flapping its wings and cursing vigorously, “Turtle grandson! Turtle grandson!”
In the past, if a bird pointed at his nose and cursed at him, Xiao Shen would have plucked its feathers and roasted them to eat. But in today’s situation, he was relieved instead.
“You are the turtle grandson!” He immediately pretended to be angry and childishly scolded the parrot in the cage, “No, you are the bird grandson! You bird grandson!”
The parrot cursed back, “Scoundrel! Scoundrel!”
“Damn bird! Damn bird!” Xiao Shen wanted to reach into the cage to catch the bird, but he was not paying attention and was pecked hard by the parrot.
“Ouch!” Xiao Shen cried out in pain and immediately raised his injured hand to his master, complaining, “Master! This damn parrot learned these curse words from somewhere, and it even dared to peck my hand!”
Shen Qingzhuo’s shock was somewhat dissipated by his little disciple’s childish behavior. He lowered his eyes and saw a small red and swollen spot on the back of his hand. He couldn’t help but laugh and said, “Why are you competing with a bird?”
“It cursed me ah!” Xiao Shen once again raised his hand higher, his tone aggrieved, “No wonder it won’t speak no matter how I teach it. It turns out it only learned bad things and not good ones!”
“Didn’t the Empress Dowager give you this parrot?” Shen Qingzhuo was also puzzled: “Who did it learn it from?”
“Could it be that the Empress Dowager scolds me behind my back everyday and this parrot has learned it?” Xiao Shen said angrily, “I will roast this bird right away and give it to Master as a reward!”
“Hey, don’t, don’t, don’t…” Shen Qingzhuo hurriedly advised, “The Empress Dowager gave you a parrot as a reward, and you even dare to roast it and eat it?”
Xiao Shen pursed his lips: “But look at it, it doesn’t say anything good.”
Shen Qingzhuo smiled and said, “It’s not all bad words. Didn’t it just praise Master for being beautiful and great?”
“I didn’t even teach it that.” Xiao Shen had calmed down and said calmly, “I was in the study and the martial arts field during the day. I gave it to the palace servants at night to avoid noise. I didn’t even have much time to teach it.”
Shen Qingzhuo suddenly realized that perhaps those palace servants had said some nonsense in private, and this dishonest parrot had learned it.
But—
The young eunuch’s thing is gone, so can he make a… humming sound?
“Hiss…” Seeing that his master looked thoughtful again, Xiao Shen quickly spoke up to interrupt his thoughts. “It hurts, my hand hurts…”
Shen Qingzhuo came back to his senses and looked at his hand that had no broken skin, feeling helpless.
But rather than saying that his little disciple has become more and more coquettish in recent years, it is better to say that he just wants to take the opportunity to act coquettishly towards him.
“Alright, Master will just hoosh-hoosh, hoosh-hoosh and it won’t hurt anymore ah.” Shen Qingzhuo’s tone was as gentle as if he were coaxing a child. He solemnly held up the youth’s bony hand, brought it to his lips, and blew gently.
The warm and fragrant breath brushed across the back of his hand like a feather. Xiao Shen’s back stiffened, and he felt an indescribable tingling sensation bursting from the skin on the back of his hand and then transmitted to his brain through the blood and meridians. He felt so comfortable that he couldn’t help but groan: “Wu…”
“What’s wrong?” Shen Qingzhuo raised his eyes. “Does it still hurt?”
Xiao Shen: “No—”
“So comfortable! Ah! So comfortable!” The hateful parrot jumped and cried out again.
Xiao Shen turned his face and glared fiercely at the parrot like a knife.
After his master leaves, let’s see how he’s gonna pluck the feathers off this damn bird’s body one by one!
“This little parrot has really been taught astray.” Shen Qingzhuo was both amused and helpless. He let go of his hand, walked to the cage, and stretched out his hand to tease the bird.
Xiao Shen’s eyes tightened: “Master, be careful!”
However, before he could pull his master away, he saw the parrot tilting its head and rubbing the back of his master’s hand, continuing to shout, “Master! Master!”
Xiao Shen: “……”
This damn bird actually has two faces!
“However, parrots are very smart birds. If you teach them patiently, they will be able to bend back easily.” The fluffy little head rubbed against his hand, and the touch was wonderful. Shen Qingzhuo smiled and gently stroked the parrot’s colorful feathers.
He couldn’t help but think of his little disciple, who had grown from a crooked sapling into a handsome and brave youth. Patient guidance was indispensable.
Xiao Shen stared at the bird gloomily but responded obediently, “Alright, Master.”
Shen Qingzhuo turned around and said, “By the way, have you given it a name?”
“Not yet.” The youth’s expression suddenly changed from gloomy to bright, and he said with a smile, “Just call it Silly Bird.”
This parrot seemed to have become a spirit and immediately cursed again: “Turtle grandson! Turtle grandson!”
Xiao Shen pointed at it and threatened, “Try curse at me again?”
Shen Qingzhuo had to mediate the quarrel between the man and the bird: “Alright, stop arguing, Master will give it a name.”
Xiao Shen: “This damn bird also matches!”
“Why not call it… Xiao Ba2Number 8, XS is 7 and the parrot is 8?” Shen Qingzhuo thought for a moment and said with a smile, “It’s simple and easy to remember, and it sounds like Fa3To send, to issue, and the meaning is good too.”
Xiao Shen’s face darkened instantly, and he protested, “Master!”
“What’s wrong?” Shen Qingzhuo pretended not to understand and turned to tease the parrot again, “Xiao Ba, you must get along well with Xiao Qi Gege in the future.”
The parrot learned it immediately: “Xiao Qi! Xiao Qi!”
“Master!” Xiao Shen yelled in anger, threw himself back, and hugged his master tightly. “How can you… how can you compare me to a bird?”
“Look how aggrieved you are.” Shen Qingzhuo turned his head slightly, raised his hand to pinch his cheek, which was puffed up with anger, and said with a smile, “Since you raised it, you must be responsible for it. It’s just a nickname, don’t be so stingy.”
In fact, the moment he hugged his master, Xiao Shen’s unhappiness already disappeared without a trace.
He rested his lower jaw on his master’s neck, secretly sniffing his master’s good smell, and asked in a low voice, “Since Master raised me, will you be responsible for me till the end?”
Shen Qingzhuo was stunned, as if he had not expected his little disciple to ask such a question.
“Hmm?” Xiao Shen tightened his arms and asked anxiously, “Will Master be responsible for me?”
“How do you want me to be responsible for you?” Shen Qingzhuo retracted his gaze. “Isn’t Master good enough to you ah?”
Enough, but also not enough.
Relying on the fact that his master couldn’t see, the youth’s obsidian eyes were dark, but he deliberately asked in a naive and coquettish tone, “What I mean is that Master will be responsible to the end. Master will accompany me for the rest of my life, right?”
This time Shen Qingzhuo remained silent.
As time passed, Xiao Shen’s heart sank deeper and deeper until it fell into the bottomless abyss.
“Life is long, why think so far ahead?” Shen Qingzhuo spoke again, his tone a little vague, “Isn’t Master with you now? What’s more, Master wants to see you ascend the throne with his own eyes.”
His adam apple moved, and Xiao Shen said half-truthfully, “I don’t care. Since Master raised me, I belong to Master. If Master wants to get rid of me, you can’t do that!”
Shen Qingzhuo did not answer directly. He pulled his arms away and changed the subject. “By the way, Master has always said that I would find time to test your homework. It’s better to do it today than later.”
The puppy’s face immediately fell. “Can’t we do it another day?”
His master finally came to see him, and he just wanted to hug him….
“Why? Master even has to choose a day to test you?” Shen Qingzhuo raised his eyebrows slightly. “Or is it that you haven’t studied hard recently?”
Xiao Shen replied confidently, “How is that possible? Feel free to test me, Master!”
The parrot yelled, “Stupid! Stupid!”
Xiao Shen: “……”
This damn bird should have been plucked and roasted by him long ago!
***
The next day, Shen Qingzhuo led his brothers from the Jinyiwei and began to search the palaces, catching them off guard.
Like Junior Preceptor Pei’s guess, Shen Qingzhuo also believed that the murderer was still hiding in the palace. But in the past few days, the Jinyiwei almost turned the palace upside down, but they didn’t find even a single person.
Then, the only things left to search were the residences of the consorts and princes.
Shen Qingzhuo was wearing a bright red Feiyu uniform, with his slender jade fingers resting on the scabbard of the Xiuchun sword. He stood in front of the gate of Fengyi Palace with a graceful posture.
Kong Shang shouted in a stern voice, “The Jinyiwei were ordered to search for the criminal. Why don’t you make way?”
“You said you wanted to search, and you can search? Do you have any documents?” The leading eunuch said, “There are no prisoners in Fengyi Palace. If the Jinyiwei rammed Niangniang’s carriage, can you bear the responsibility?”
“You—” Kong Shang pulled out the Xiuchun sword by half and was about to force his way in, but was stopped by a gesture from Lord Shen.
Shen Qingzhuo smiled slightly and said gently, “This Eunuch, the Jinyiwei, is also carrying out tasks under His Majesty’s order. Please inform Consort Xian.”
The eunuch glanced at the gold tablet hanging on his waist, and his arrogant expression subsided. “Please wait a moment, My Lord.”
“Bah! We’re already giving them faces!” Kong Shang spat. “They are so arrogant. Better don’t let us find anything on them.”
Shen Qingzhuo just smiled and said nothing.
After a while, the Third Prince, Xiao Hongyao, came out, his eyebrows slightly wrinkled. “Lord Shen, what does this mean?”
“Your Highness the Third Prince.” Shen Qingzhuo bowed and saluted. “The Jinyiwei were ordered by His Majesty to search for Pan Changgong’s murderer.”
Xiao Hongyao’s expression remained unchanged: “Then Lord Shen has come to the wrong place. The murderer cannot be hiding in Fengyi Palace.”
“It’s just a routine search. Your Highness, don’t be nervous.” Shen Qingzhuo straightened up and smiled faintly, “Please, Your Highness, do the humble minister a favor.”
Xiao Hongyao’s eyes darkened slightly. He looked at him for a few times and finally stepped aside to give in. “Please—”
Shen Qingzhuo made a gesture, and Kong Shang led the Jinyiwei to rush into the palace gate and search in all directions in a well-trained manner.
Xiao Hongyao stood beside Lord Zhenfu and asked casually, “Lord Shen, is there any new progress in Pan Chong’s case?”
“This is Beizhen Fushi’s secret. I’m sorry, can’t be told.” Shen Qingzhuo looked at him apologetically.
“No problem.” Xiao Hongyao smiled generously and asked, “So today, the first place Lord Shen searched was Fengyi Palace? You can tell this, right?”
Shen Qingzhuo shook his head. “That’s not the case.”
Xiao Hongyao guided calmly: “Is Lord Shen conducting a random search?”
“Of course not.” Shen Qingzhuo shook his head subconsciously. “Fengyi Palace is next to the Eastern Palace, so it is convenient for the Jinyiwei to search them together.”
Xiao Hongyao immediately grasped the key words and asked, “The Eastern Palace? Why was the Eastern Palace searched first?”
Shen Qingzhuo: “The murderous palace maid came from—”
The last line of the voice suddenly stopped. Lord Shen realized that he had said something wrong and quickly changed the subject, saying, “By the way, the humble minister would like to congratulate Your Highness the Third Prince in advance.”
Xiao Hongyao narrowed his eyes: “Why is Lord Shen saying that?”
Shen Qingzhuo: “The humble minister heard that His Majesty intends to confer the title of king and grant land to Your Highness the Third Prince yesterday.”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Hongyao’s expression froze slightly.
According to the custom of the Dayong royal family, the princes lived with their mothers in the palace since childhood. Except for the Crown Prince, the princes who were eighteen years old or above would be sent to fiefdoms. Only a very small number of princes could stay in Shengjing.
For example, the Eldest Prince, Emperor Guangxi, took pity on him because of his frail health, so he opened a palace in Shengjing for him to live in, and the Second Prince was the Crown Prince, so he naturally lived in the Eastern Palace. Later, it was the Third Prince, Xiao Hongyao.
Xiao Hongyao turned 18 two years ago, but Emperor Guangxi had not proposed dividing the land and conferring him a title of king, so the remaining sons were raised in the palace.
Once the princes were enfeoffed and built their palaces, they could not leave their fiefdoms easily without the emperor’s summons. This also meant that after the Third Prince was crowned king, he had to give up the connections he had cultivated in the court for a long time and lose the qualification to compete for the throne.
Unless he developed his own power in his fiefdom and fought all the way back to Shengjing, but he would inevitably be charged with regicide and usurpation of the throne.
As expected, Xiao Hongyao showed no joy on his face and asked in a deep voice, “Lord Shen, are you serious? Did Emperor Father really say so in person?”
“This…” Shen Qingzhuo hesitated.
Xiao Hongyao: “Lord Shen, please feel free to speak. This highness will just ignore it.”
Shen Qingzhuo lowered his voice and replied, “Yesterday, the Deputy Minister of the Cabinet, Lord Cao, mentioned to His Majesty. He said that His Highness the Third Prince has reached the age but has been living in the palace instead of going to his fiefdom, which is not in accordance with etiquette.”
Xiao Hongyao forced a twitch of his lips: “So that’s how it is.”
“The humble minister accidentally heard it and let it slip. Your Highness, please forget it.” Shen Qingzhuo bowed and said, “If His Majesty has an idea, he will inform Your Highness as soon as possible.”
In just two sentences, Xiao Hongyao put on his elegant smile again, “Don’t worry, Lord Shen. This highness will pretend that he didn’t hear it today.”
Shen Qingzhuo nodded slightly.
At this time, Kong Shang came out from the hall and replied, “My Lord, no criminal was found.”
“That’s natural. How could Fengyi Palace hide criminals?” Shen Qingzhuo ordered calmly, “Let the brothers withdraw.”
“Yes, My Lord.” Kong Shang turned around and shouted, “Retreat!”
The Jinyiwei, armed with swords, immediately lined up and evacuated Fengyi Palace.
Shen Qingzhuo bowed again and said politely, “The humble minister disturbed Niangniang and Your Highness today. The humble minister will come again another day and apologize to Your Highness in person.”
Xiao Hongyao smiled and said, “Lord Shen, you are too polite. Slow down and take care.”
As he watched the dignified and graceful figure leave, Xiao Hongyao’s expression suddenly turned gloomy.
He quickly walked toward the central hall and called out as he entered the hall, “Mother Consort.”
“Has the person left?” Consort Xian was half lying on the noble concubine’s couch, dozing off, with maids kneeling on both sides, fanning her.
“Gone.” Xiao Hongyao sat down at the table and took a sip of cold tea, his face still looking ugly.
“What’s wrong?” Consort Xian glanced at her son and said, “This Shen Qingzhuo is a wonderful person. Now he is in the limelight in front of His Majesty and is in charge of the Jinyiwei and Beizhen Fushi at the same time. However, there is not even a trace of arrogance in him.”
Xiao Hongyao: “Because of this, doesn’t Mother Consort think he is scary?”
“If he is our enemy, we should be on our guard.” Consort Xian smiled and said meaningfully, “But right now, we can use him to deal with the Eastern Palace.”
“The Eastern Palace?” Xiao Hongyao clenched the teacup in his hand, motioned the two maids to leave, and then said, “Shen Qingzhuo just let it slip that Cao Ren made a suggestion in front of Emperor Father, urging Emperor Father to send Erchen to a fiefdom as soon as possible.”
“What?” Consort Xian couldn’t lie still any longer and cursed, “That old bastard Cao Ren!”
“It seems that the Eastern Palace can no longer hold back and is ready to attack us.” Xiao Hongyao heavily put the teacup on the table. “Mother Consort, I have endured humiliation for so many years, is it just for a small fiefdom?”
Consort Xian snorted coldly: “They want to drive you out of the palace like this? Dream on!”
Xiao Hongyao sneered: “Second Brother, you didn’t even wipe your butt first before you attacked me.”
Consort Xian was surprised and asked, “Could it be that my son has already caught a handle on the Crown Prince?”
“It doesn’t matter whether we have evidence against the Eastern Palace or not.” Xiao Hongyao said expressionlessly, “Since the Jinyiwei can’t catch the criminal, Erchen will try to fabricate evidence to prove that the Eastern Palace is guilty of murder and silencing people.”
***
While Fengyi Palace was plotting, Shen Qingzhuo led the Jinyiwei to Changle Palace.
As soon as he appeared at the palace gate, the eunuch guarding the gate shouted, “Young Master Shen! You are here!”
“Bold!” Kong Shang said in a low voice, “You lowly eunuch, why are you trying to get close to Lord Shen?”
The young eunuch had never seen such a fight before. He was so frightened that he stammered, “The, the servant dares not…”
“Alright, Kong Qianhu, stop scaring people wherever you go ah.” Shen Qingzhuo scolded with a smile, trying to rescue the young eunuch.
Kong Shang took a step back and replied in a low voice, “Yes, My Lord.”
Shen Qingzhuo raised his chin slightly and signaled him, “Take your people in to search. Follow the rules and don’t worry about anything.”
However, the next moment, Xiao Shen, who had received the news, strode out of the palace.
“Mas…” He called out subconsciously, but when he saw his master’s half-smile, he immediately changed his words, “Lord Shen.”
As if he found this title very new, Xiao Shen called out again: “I wonder why Lord Shen has come to visit?”
“By order of His Majesty, search for the criminal.” Shen Qingzhuo lazily picked up the gold tablet from his waist and showed it to him. “Your Highness the Seventh Prince, can you do me a favor?”
He was wearing a Feiyu robe and a Xiuchun sword on his waist. Behind him stood two rows of majestic Jinyiwei with swords. Although Lord Shen was weak and had a smiling face, no one in the entire palace dared to look down on him.
This was the first time Xiao Shen saw his master as the head of the Jinyiwei, performing official duties. Although he still looked familiar to him, his temperament was completely different from that in private.
How should he put it? It made him want to…
Offend him in public?
He secretly gritted his teeth, deliberately slowed down his speech, and asked provocatively, “If this highness won’t make it convinence?”
Lord Shen’s smile remained unchanged, but that smile did not reach his slightly upturned peach blossom eyes. His voice was gentle and indifferent, but it was inexplicably filled with a sharp murderous aura: “Then, Your Highness the Seventh Prince, don’t blame the Jinyiwei for being rude.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the two rows of Jinyiwei standing behind him drew out the Xiuchun swords hanging from their waists.
The author has something to say: to
The Little Wolf Cub: Publicly “Offending” Master’s play…
Shen Qingzhuo: My little disciple’s acting skills are getting better and better, I need to cooperate with him.
