Chapter 30 Candied Yam

Princess Jiayi pouted. She could hear that the little girl was scolding her.

Prince Consort Xiao was so distressed that he quickly held the princess's small hand with his big hand, and everything was said without words.

Zhao Shiqing watched coldly, and she actually saw a thousand connections between the couple's eyes. She wanted to eat the candied yam made by her master.

Zhao Shiqing quickly turned her face away and secretly swallowed the saliva that was about to choke her. When she turned around, she was faced with Xiao Zhen's miserable face. The sweet potato tasted as bitter as coptis chinensis.

It turns out that bitter melons can also be grown on melon trees. What the master said is indeed right. I should go down the mountain for a walk often. The world is really wonderful. Goddess Nuwa really put a lot of thought into creating humans.

Xiao Zhen didn't know that just a quick glance at the little girl in front of him had already caused him to have a lot of imagination.

Zhao Shiqing said righteously, "How's the investigation going, Master Zhen?"

Xiao Zhen came back early in the morning, but did not come to see his parents. Instead, he sat in the open hall outside and watched the morning glow in the sky. Now, hearing Zhao Shiqing ask this, Princess Jiayi and Prince Consort Xiao also pricked up their ears curiously. They also wanted to know, but since their son didn't tell them, they didn't dare to ask.

As soon as Xiao Zhen opened his mouth, half of Zhao Shiqing's body went numb.

She quickly looked towards the half-open window so that she couldn't see Xiao Zhen's face. It wasn't that she judged people by their appearance, but Xiao Zhen's expression, as if a thousand mountains and birds had flown away, really didn't match the voice.

In fact, after experiencing a life-and-death situation, Xiao Zhen's voice no longer had the clarity of an eighteen-year-old boy. His voice carried a hint of indifference and casualness that was inconsistent with his age. However, for Zhao Shiqing, whose ears were often poisoned by Xiao Su's hoarse voice, this was the sound of nature.

Xiao Zhen said, "The damage to the painting was caused by human error. The person who tampered with it was Li Wenlan."

The gentle smile on Prince Consort Xiao's face, like a spring breeze, froze at this moment. His lips moved for a while before he spoke: "Li Wenlan, Brother Li? How, how is this possible?"

Princess Jiayi's eyes sparkled: "I told you, that Li something has a pair of triangular eyes. Appearance reflects the heart. You can tell at first glance that he's not a good person."

The reason why Princess Jiayi disliked Li Wenlan was not only because he had a pair of triangular eyes, but also because of his flattering face.

A royal noble like her has seen too many such flattering faces and actually dislikes them.

Therefore, when Prince Xiao's former classmate came to visit her that day, she just nodded coldly and turned away. Instead, Prince Xiao chatted with the man enthusiastically. They talked about poetry and songs, praised the sages of ancient and modern times, and talked about the lotus in Daming Lake and the drizzle outside the Misty Rain Tower. When the conversation got excited, Prince Xiao took out the original painting of the saint.

This painting depicts a lotus pond in the rain.

At that time, Prince Consort Xiao was still secretly happy. Fortunately, Prince Liang was not in the mansion that day, otherwise he would not have the opportunity to appreciate the excellent works with Brother Li today.

Thinking of this, Prince Consort Xiao regretted deeply. No wonder Li Wenlan brought up the topic of lotus flowers and drizzle even though it was spring.

"Ah Zhen, you must believe in your father, Brother Li. No, Li Wenlan was not like this when he was young. Moreover, he was a master painter."

Xiao Zhen ignored him and continued, "Li Wenlan was lustful and had an affair with a woman who lived alone. Unexpectedly, he was set up by a swindler. The swindler told him that you had an authentic painting with you and asked him to find a way to destroy it without anyone noticing. This would be impossible for others, but it was easy for him. He simply took advantage of your unpreparedness and placed a few insects into the painting box. When you returned to Liangdu and took out the painting again, you found several wormholes in it."

Princess Jiayi quickly corrected: "It's not several wormholes, it's one, only one wormhole."

Xiao Zhen: "It's all the same."

Princess Jiayi hurriedly looked at Prince Consort Xiao, and Prince Consort Xiao comforted her with his eyes, saying, "Don't worry, it was me who made my son angry. No matter how wrong I am, it's all my fault."

Xiao Zhen continued, "Xiao Su had a servant named Jinbao by his side, and my mother had a servant named Xiubao by her side. He was also a traitor. Prince Liang was not at the palace, so he was the one who spread the news that the painting had not been delivered."

Princess Jiayi was stunned: "Xiubao? Who is Xiubao?"

Xiao Zhen: "He's a eunuch, an apprentice of Eunuch Li, twelve years old this year. He's been living in Wisteria Villa these days. I had someone find him this morning, and he's confessed everything. No one forced him. He's just doing it for the money. Ten taels of silver for one piece of information. Oh, mother, you've recently become fascinated by an opera singer named Huang Fengxian, right? He sold this information for fifty taels."

Princess Jiayi......

She quickly defended herself: "That Huang Fengxian is Kundan, she is a woman."

Xiao Zhen: "It's all the same."

Xiao Zhen continued, "Dad, don't look at my mother. You should change your habit of leaving poems everywhere. Why do you think those two scholars who wanted to give gifts appeared in that restaurant?"

Prince Consort Xiao was a third-place winner in the imperial examination. Although he had indulged in romantic affairs over the years, his wisdom had not been dulled. He immediately thought of something. Meeting his son's sharp gaze, Prince Consort Xiao had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "There are two poems I left behind in that restaurant a few years ago."

He had been to that restaurant in his early years and on a whim, he wrote a poem in the restaurant.

Later, he won the third place in the imperial examination and married a beautiful girl. On his way back to his hometown to worship his ancestors, he passed by Liangdu and went to the restaurant again. He was shocked to find that the poem he had written casually in the past had been re-inked, and there was a sign next to it that read "The place where the third place poem was written."

So Prince Consort Xiao wrote another poem for the restaurant.

This time when he came to Liangdu, even if he didn't pass by the restaurant that day, he would still revisit the old place.

So people had guessed that he would go and had sent people to follow him. When they saw him go in, the two scholars followed him in and sat down next to him. With a few seemingly unintentional words, they led him into the pit.

Princess Jiayi and Prince Consort Xiao lowered their heads at the same time, like two children who had done something wrong.

Xiao Zhen looked at Zhao Shiqing. "Li Wenlan and that woman have been silenced, but I have captured that woman's husband. He and Xiubao are both at the villa now. The second young lady can go see them anytime. As for the two scholars and the mastermind behind the scenes, I'm sorry, I didn't catch them. However, that woman's husband said he saw a man who acted like a woman."

Zhao Shiqing's eyes lit up at first, then he sighed.

"There are effeminate men not only in the palace, but also in our Prince Liang's Mansion and your Princess Chang's Mansion. Unless we can draw a portrait of that man, but what good will it do? Who knows if he is still alive? Even if he is still alive, we can't enter the place where he is hiding."

Yes, they can dig three feet deep in Liangdi, but what about the capital and the imperial palace?

There was a chill in Xiao Zhen's voice: "That being said, I still painted the portrait."

He took out a portrait and handed it to Zhao Shiqing: "I copied a few more, and this one is for the Second Miss. Whether she wants to use it to practice flying knives or stab villains, it's just a keepsake."

Zhao Shiqing: Bullshit idea, that’s the murderer of my father!