Chapter 153 Stay Overnight

"He is just a puppet. The person behind him is the one I want to take revenge on."

Shen Anan waved his hand and asked Qingfeng to let him go, "Go back and wait for news."

After saying that, he and Xiao Yuan were about to leave. Chen Tian quickly stepped forward to block their way. "I know you are from the capital, and the carriage you are riding in is only used by the royal family. You can definitely seek justice for us."

"Get out of the way." Xiao Yuan raised his eyelids and stared at him coldly.

Chen Tian was frightened by Xiao Yuan's eyes and took a few steps back. He swallowed and said firmly, "I won't leave. I am willing to stay with you and help you. As long as I can redress the injustice of my fellow countrymen, I am willing to do anything."

He was looking at Shen Anan, and Xiao Yuan was immediately displeased. His cold gaze was like a knife, shooting towards Chen Tian inch by inch.

"I have no shortage of servants."

"I'm not following you." Chen Tian said, "I want to follow this lady. She was willing to help me this morning, which shows that she is a good person."

As soon as he finished speaking, he was kicked in the stomach. It was not light nor heavy, but it kicked him to the ground. "My wife doesn't need anything more!!"

"Let's go." When facing Shen Anan, his coldness instantly faded away and was replaced by gentleness. Shen Anan glanced at Chen Tian on the ground and nodded slightly.

He and Xiao Yuan went into the government office hand in hand.

Chen Tian sat on the ground and looked at the backs of several people until they completely disappeared. Then he got up, brushed off the dirt on his body, and ran away.

In the main hall of the government office, the garrison commander was sweating all over his face, standing in front of Shen Changhe in fear and trepidation.

"General Shen is very clear. This matter was not spread by my office. I know that you are investigating Lin Hengsheng's case. How dare you make such a rash decision?"

"It's not you?" Shen Changhe looked at him calmly, "Then how did the common people know that all of Lin Hengsheng's belongings fell into the name of Lord Lin in the capital before his death? Didn't they find it out themselves?"

The garrison commander wanted to cry but had no tears. "I swear on my life that I really don't know."

“General Shen, if this subordinate had that ability, Lin Hengsheng would not have become a hidden danger to our place, harming the people and wealth for so many years, and we are helpless.”

Shen Anan and Xiao Yuan walked in, and she asked, "If that's the case, how did you think of checking the whereabouts of Lin Hengsheng's money? According to what you said, since you are helpless with him, you should stay away from him and be careful to keep it under control. Why do you want to check?"

The garrison commander was stunned for a moment, looked at Shen Anan, then looked at Xiao Yuan, and finally turned back to look at Shen Changhe, "General Shen, who are these people?"

Shen Changhe did not reveal the identities of the Lin brothers and sisters, and said to the man indifferently, "These two are the Fourth Prince and the Fourth Prince's Consort."

"Fourth Prince, the Fourth Prince's wife is fine." His pupils widened in shock, and he knelt down in a hurry to salute, shaking his body.

“You haven’t answered my wife’s question yet.” Xiao Yuan took Shen Anan to sit down, his tone slow but cold.

"Yes, yes," he knelt on the ground and did not dare to stand up, let alone look at the person sitting above. He said in a trembling voice, "If it weren't for General Shen's arrival, I would not have planned to investigate."

"Today I learned that Lin Hengsheng was dead. The reason why I sent someone there was because I thought General Shen might care about this matter. If I could... I could use General Shen's hand to get rid of this disaster, it would be a great thing."

"I didn't think too much about it at the time. Someone suddenly shouted that all the valuables in Lin Hengsheng's house were missing, so I sent someone to the town to check."

"But the news was definitely not released by me."

Shen Changhe frowned and said nothing. Xiao Yuan cast his gaze on Shen Anan. She pursed her lips and asked again, "Do you know who the person who shouted is?"

The garrison commander shook his head. "At that time... I didn't think too much about it. By the time I realized that the man did it on purpose, he had already disappeared and there was no trace of him."

He lowered his head and dared not say another word.

Lin Ye said angrily, "How did you become an official if you are so stupid?"

The garrison commander lowered his head again. A small official in a town must not have been selected through the proper imperial examination. If he was smart, why would he need to donate money to get the position?

"You should ask someone to check where the news was leaked from and who was the first to know about it. There must be someone among the people who instigated it."

The garrison commander was embarrassed. "I want to investigate, but... I only have four people under my command. Even if I send them all down, I'm afraid we won't find anything in three to five days."

What he said was euphemistic. In fact, it was not that three or four people were not enough, but that their brain power was not enough. For a constable in a small town, it was already a great achievement for him to solve a theft case. If he was handed over to a murder case, it would only waste the best time to solve the case.

Shen Anan glanced at him and said nothing. She naturally had no intention of letting him investigate, but she couldn't openly interfere in the Fourth Prince's Mansion.

I don’t know how this matter will develop next, so I have to be cautious so as not to cause trouble for Xiao Yuan again.

Xiao Yuan naturally understood what Shen Anan meant, and his heart immediately felt warm. He gave Qingfeng a look, and after receiving the order, he left the main hall silently.

Shen Anan asked the garrison commander again, "You are also an official, why can't you do anything to Lin Hengsheng, a commoner? Is it because you have no other options, or are you just trying to help others get rid of their misfortunes? That's why you turned a blind eye."

"I didn't. I absolutely wouldn't dare to do that." He waved his hands and shook his head quickly. "Princess, please understand."

"Then why don't you dare to check?"

He pursed his lips and fell into a brief silence. After a while, he spoke in a low voice, "I really don't dare to investigate. I donated money to get this position. If I lose my life because of it, it would be too unworthy."

"At first, I wanted to serve the people wholeheartedly, so I wanted to bring Lin Hengsheng to justice. But... the man behind him was too powerful. As long as Lin Hengsheng was arrested, my children and mother would definitely be in trouble. After all this, I... didn't dare to touch him again."

He did like money, but people might have despised his low official position and looked down on him, let alone bribes. The only reason he could sit here safely was because he was able to protect himself and not cause any trouble.

"The fact that he was able to capture your family so easily shows that he knows this place very well." It is very likely that the man is hiding in a corner of East City.

When we left the government office, the sky was gradually getting dark. The journey back to Beijing would take at least an hour, and by the time we got back, it would probably be completely dark.

It was fine for a few grown men, but Xiao Yuan was worried about the slippery road at night and the bumpy ride on the carriage, so he asked Qingfeng to find an inn in the town for them to stay for the night.

Lin Ye also sent a servant back to the Lin family to inform Lord Lin of the situation here, and he stayed there with Lin Yurou.

The town is not as good as the capital, but there are many small gadgets that are not available in the capital. Xiao Yuan did not let Shen Anan take a carriage, but took her by the hand and walked on the street.

It was dark, and only a few shops facing the street were illuminated by lanterns hanging under the corridors, which added a bit of visual liveliness to the long street.

The two of them shuttled through it side by side.

Perhaps because it is close to the New Year, the vendors have not left yet at this time. Some are carrying shoulder poles, while others are standing in front of their stalls, shouting out their wares to people who pass by.

Shen Anan enjoyed this kind of peace and quiet. She could temporarily put aside all the messy things and eat a few bites of the snacks bought by Qingan. It was quite comfortable.

Xiao Yuan bought a bracelet made of dried flowers at some point and put it on her wrist.

"Give flowers to beautiful women." Xiao Yuan stroked her delicate wrist and said softly.

Shen Anan looked at the fair wrist held in his hand, the broad joints and small, slender fingers intertwined together. She stared at it for a long time without saying anything.

"Master." The charming atmosphere was broken by the sudden appearance of Qing'an, "I have found out...

The last three words were uttered slowly and lowly under Xiao Yuan's intimidating cold eyes, like a chicken that was crowing but suddenly had its neck strangled.

Shen Anan came back to her senses and slowly pulled her hand out, but she couldn't help but look at the wreath on her hand, "What's the result?"

Qing'an's scalp was tingling, and he said as he stared at his master with a look that seemed like he wanted to skin him alive.

"What Chen Tian said was indeed the truth. His family had a few acres of thin land, and Lin Hengsheng contracted all of it at the time. Other families agreed to it because of his bad reputation."

"Only the Chen family refused to agree no matter what we said. In the end, Chen's parents fell into a ditch and drowned on their way to work in the fields. Everyone said it was Lin Hengsheng's doing, but no one saw it, so there is no evidence."

Shen Anan nodded, looked up at the completely dark sky, and said to Xiao Yuan with a cold face, "It's getting late, let's go back to the inn."

Xiao Yuan nodded reluctantly, and when he led Shen An'an away, he did not forget to give Qing'an a cold look.

“…”

"You really don't have any sense at all. Can we disturb the atmosphere just now?" Qingfeng also glared at Qingan.

Qing An touched his nose and said, "It's about the Lin family. She's the future sister-in-law of the prince's wife. I thought the prince's wife would be anxious, so I hurried to report it."

"No matter how big a matter is, it can be compared to the relationship between the master and the princess. There is no time when things cannot be discussed."

"I know." Qing'an said dejectedly.

Qingfeng booked the entire second floor of the inn, and dinner was brought up to the second floor by the waiter. Qingfeng had specifically instructed that, apart from the waiter, no one else go upstairs to disturb them.

Shen Anan suddenly thought of something extremely important. She glanced at Xiao Yuan and said, "Tomorrow is the three days that Liangpin mentioned."

He didn't deal with it and didn't have any attitude. He even slept outside tonight. So should he marry this concubine tomorrow or not?

Xiao Yuan glanced at her with his deep black eyes, "Marry me a concubine, but you think about her every day and never forget her. If you don't know, you would think I married her for you."

"..." A few words made Shen Anan silent, and she didn't want to pay attention to him anymore.

"Are you angry?" He hooked his fingers around hers from under the table, "You're so stingy. I wasn't angry when you said that to me yesterday."

Shen Anan waved his hand away with a cold face, "I'm talking about serious matters, you're just making trouble out of nothing, and I don't know who is being stingy."

She didn't understand why he was so brooding over Zhang Yeyang.

What he said just now was clearly a deliberate revenge.

Xiao Yuan grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards his legs, but Shen Anan held onto the corner of the table and refused, and the two of them were in a stalemate.

Shen Changhe, Lin Yurou and Lin Ye stopped in their tracks when they saw this scene.

"Well, I've been walking all day and I'm a little tired. I'll go back to my room to wash up and change clothes." Lin Ye said and turned to leave.

Shen Changhe tilted his head and looked at Lin Yurou, "Didn't you just say that you haven't been to the town yet? I'll take you to have a look."

"Okay." Lin Yurou immediately turned around and walked out, for fear of getting stye.

Shen Changhe hesitated for a moment, but still closed the door.

Xiao Yuan let out a low laugh, "Tsk, your own big brother doesn't care about you, yet you're still so stubborn."

Shen Anan looked unhappy, didn't speak, and didn't let go of the hand holding the corner of the table.

"Madam, if you don't want to be coaxed here, then your husband will carry you to the couch to coax you." He was about to get up. Shen Anan had absolutely no doubt that he could do something like that in the inn, so she immediately let go of his hand.

Then she staggered and fell forward. He took the opportunity to hold her on his lap and said, "Don't be angry. I was wrong. I'm petty."

"..." Shen Anan looked at Xiao Yuan in shock, and once again had a new understanding of his shamelessness.

Is it possible that the person is still the same, but the core has been possessed by another ghost?

Xiao Yuan admitted his mistake very quickly, without any psychological pressure at all. "So Madam, please remember this," he raised his hand to pinch her jaw, his eyes heavy, "Don't let your stingy husband get jealous, otherwise the consequences will be serious."

This bastard's traps were really one after another. Shen Anan slapped his hand away and struggled to get up, but Xiao Yuan wouldn't let her. He held her wrist and prevented her from moving. "You speak first. Remember?"

Shen Anan drooped his face and stared at him unhappily.

Seeing that she was really angry, Xiao Yuan let go of her hand slightly. Shen Anan immediately sat opposite him, gritting her teeth with dissatisfaction as she picked up the chopsticks.

Xiao Yuan chuckled and called Qingfeng in, "Go back to Beijing..."

Shen Anan listened to his explanation of Qingfeng's words, and forgot about her anger due to shock, "You... want to carry the sedan chair to the palace?"

Xiao Yuan glanced at her with a faint smile, "Are you not angry anymore?"

"...Aren't you afraid of the talk among the civil and military officials and the embarrassment you will suffer?" How dare he bring his concubine into the palace to be my concubine?

"Don't worry, tell this to the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War. He knows what he is doing. I have always been a reckless person, and they will never doubt my words."

He dares to do what he says. No matter whether it is the Minister of War or the Emperor, they all have to think twice after hearing his words and wonder if they can afford to lose face with this man.

Once this incident gets out, who among those who have feelings for him would dare to mention it again? Especially those who are loyal to him, will they have any opinion of him?

"Xiao Yuan, this trip is inappropriate. If you... need a marriage to balance the situation in the future, your actions today will undoubtedly cut off your own retreat."

Xiao Yuan glanced at her coldly, "Your husband is not so cowardly as to rely on a woman to lay the foundation for his advancement."

In her eyes, is he the same kind of person as Xiao Ze?

Shen Anan was speechless and could only choose to remain silent.

If the emperor knew what he said, he would probably be furious in the imperial study.

Xiao Yuan didn't take it to heart at all. Tomorrow the door of the Fourth Prince's mansion would be locked, and no one would dare to open the door without his nod. If the Emperor dared to force her in, he would force her into his harem tomorrow night.

"Instead of being constantly remembered by others and causing us unhappiness, it would be better to put an end to it once and for all. He won't keep an eye on my backyard anymore."

After all, it was not him who married the concubine, so Shen Anan could not be the master of Xiao Yuan, but for some reason, her heartstrings seemed to tremble slightly, not easily noticeable, but itchy.

"Tomorrow is also the day when the Second Prince takes Miss Duan as his concubine." Shen Anan said suddenly.

"Interested?" Xiao Yuan raised his eyebrows, and Shen Anan nodded. She really wanted to go, because Duan Yingying could play a key role in some things.

"Then we'll go back tomorrow."