Suspect

The next day, when attending court, Lin Huai'en clutched the inexplicable badge in the carriage, his dark eyes trembling slightly with confusion. He couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he tried - why did His Majesty order people to create chaos at the temple fair and let Xue Dingchu provoke the daughter of the Luo family?

Lin Huai'en walked all the way to the Meridian Gate and saw Xue Dingchu waiting in the queue, next to General Luo. Ever since the temple fair last night, General Luo's attitude had changed dramatically, from being sarcastic to being easygoing and kind. He acted like a humble elder and took the initiative to talk to Xue Dingchu.

"My daughter is quiet and gentle. She loves to do needlework. She's about the same age as you..."

All the elderly parents in the world are so deceitful for their unlucky children who can't get married. Luo Qingman is such a tough and unruly girl, but her father's false packaging makes her look like a lady from a wealthy family.

Unfortunately, Xue Dingchu was not one to fall for this. No matter how much Luo Taiwei praised him, his expression didn't change at all. Only when Lin Huai'en walked by did his face show some expression and he took the initiative to greet him, "Huai'en."

Lin Huai'en nodded back at him, and at the same time, he couldn't help but feel secretly sorry. After all, this situation was caused by Di Shaoze. If possible, he really wanted to apologize to Di Shaoze and Xue Dingchu.

Apart from anything else, once General Luo abandons his dignity and starts to cling to people, he's like a buzzing fly that can't be driven away no matter what. He's simply an annoying old goblin.

"Heh...as I expected..." Cai Nei Shi's familiar, sarcastic voice came from behind.

Under normal circumstances, Lin Huai'en would ignore him.

But at this moment, Lin Huai'en remembered the waist badge, so he put aside his past grudges and walked closer to him, "Master Cai, is there anything else you haven't said about the emperor?"

"Are you willing to listen?"

"Um."

When Lin Huai'en said this, Cai Neishi's lips trembled violently, but he still gritted his teeth. "In your heart, Lin Huai'en, His Majesty holds a certain weight, and I hold a certain weight. What's the point of trying to hit a rock with an egg?"

Cai Nei Shi had suffered such a terrible fall that he had long ago learned to be cautious. Over the years, he had observed from the perspective of an outsider for a long time and had come to understand the relationship between Di Shaoze and Lin Huai'en.

Di Shaoze is just a wolf cub in pure white rabbit skin. He retracted his fangs and claws, rubbed his head in Lin Huai'en's palm to soften Lin Huai'en's heart, and occupied the closest position to Lin Huai'en.

He has been pretending for as many years as he has liked Lin Huai'en.

To this day, Di Shaoze is absolutely one of the purest and most innocent people in Lin Huai'en's heart, and no man can easily shake this.

Hearing what Nei Shi Cai said, Lin Huai'en felt a momentary embarrassment as if his inner thoughts had been exposed. He said, "Since I want to listen, it means I'm prepared. Nei Shi Cai, just go ahead and talk."

Nei Shi Cai endured it for a long time, but finally couldn't hold it back and spoke out the grievances he had been holding back for years - "Sir Lin, you have been an official for many years. I believe you have heard of the term "fishing enforcement". People who are originally innocent are hooked by the bait of desire and pulled out of danger."

Back when Cai Nei Shi was still the Minister of the Imperial Household, he had become infatuated with the elegant Lin Huai'en. His pursuit and flattery of Lin Huai'en were known to almost everyone in the city. Soon after, Emperor Shaoze began to use and appreciate him, even assigning him the most lucrative jobs.

At that time, both his career and his romantic life were at their peak. Under such circumstances, Cai Shaofu couldn't help but feel a little proud and began to resist the temptation. He did things like playing both sides and evading taxes...

Within a month, the changed Cai Shaofu was deeply disliked by Lin Huai'en, who refused to even glance at him. It was only then that the dormant Di Shaoze finally made his move, slowly emerging from his shadowy position and convicting Cai Shaofu of his crimes with a stack of yin and yang ledgers.

Cai Shaofu flipped through the pile of account books, his heart filled with despair. "Your Majesty, you've known since last year that I've been tampering with the tax money, yet you've remained indifferent. You've watched it grow bigger and bigger, until it's about to swallow me up!"

The pile of account books, with all its dates and details, from the very beginning to the huge pile at the end, had no omissions. Cai Shaofu's heart completely collapsed, and even his whole body was shaking with cold.

He suddenly understood everything - from the very beginning, Di Shaoze never thought of making use of him, but only put him in the highest and most vulnerable position in order to make Lin Huai'en hate him.

Cai Shaofu understood, but it was too late. He could only kneel on the ground, kowtow again and again, putting aside his face, self-esteem, and personality, and begging Di Shaoze like a dog wagging its tail for mercy.

But Di Shaoze sat leisurely on the dragon throne, just looking at him indifferently, his phoenix eyes full of contempt, sarcasm, and cat-and-mouse teasing.

"Your Majesty, please have mercy... Your Majesty, please have mercy..."

At that moment, the psychological shadow of having his self-esteem crushed by Di Shaoze shrouded Cai Shaofu for a long time. For a long time, every night when he closed his eyes, he would see Di Shaoze's phoenix eyes and the pleas for mercy that annihilated his dignity... He was so trapped that he wanted to neither live nor die...

This silent way of killing is called "praising to death" - first praise a person to the highest position, allow him to swell, become arrogant, and become frivolous. After he is consumed by desire, he will make big mistakes on his own without anyone else's help.

In this way, Di Shaoze handed the sharp knife to Cai Shaofu, and then watched coldly as the blade pierced his heart inch by inch. But Di Shaoze's hands were not stained with blood.

In the eyes of everyone, especially Lin Huai'en, he still maintains the most innocent and pure image.

Lin Huai'en's lips trembled, "No, he won't..."

Cai Neishi's eyes darkened. "This is just my one-sided statement. There's no real evidence to support it. It really sounds absurd."

After the court session.

Lin Huai'en has been thinking about Cai Nei Shi's defense and the badge from the imperial guards.

The faint suspicion on Di Shaoze was like a thorn that was difficult to remove, causing Lin Huai'en's heart to ache.

After a while, Lin Huai'en ordered the coachman to stop the carriage, entered the inner palace, found a familiar eunuch, secretly asked for a set of eunuch clothes, and quietly sneaked into the imperial study.

Click...

The two golden doors of the study were opened. Emperor Shaoze, dressed in a black and gold dragon robe, entered, sat on a bench, and flipped open a memorial, his phoenix eyes cast downward, reading quietly.

Not long after, the burly commander of the imperial guards walked in from outside, then stood upright and waited beside him.

Lin Huai'en carefully lifted the brim of his hat and looked at the commander's waist. There was no waist badge...

"Your Majesty, are you going to punish me for my poor performance?"

"No problem."

The commander of the imperial guards looked unhappy. He obviously hadn't expected to make such a low-level mistake as "losing his badge".

"Just get it back as soon as possible."

"promise."

After receiving the order, the commander of the imperial guards retreated to the door and stopped suddenly when he was one meter away from Lin Huai'en.

Then, the commander turned his head and stared at Lin Huai'en's entire attire with a pair of extremely vigilant eyes, and said, "Your Majesty, it seems like a wild cat has entered here."

Lin Huai'en's pupils suddenly shrank, and he lowered his head, not daring to raise it at all.

Hearing the commander's words, Di Shaoze stood up from the bench and walked step by step to Lin Huai'en. The commander of the imperial guards drew his sword and "lifted" the brim of Lin Huai'en's hat, revealing Lin Huai'en's small face.

Di Shaoze's eyes were tinged with suspicion. "Why are you hiding here, my dear?"

At the side, the commander of the Imperial Guards' eyes flashed darkly, and he began to exaggerate, "Given Lord Lin's relationship with His Majesty, why would he have to hide to enter the study? I guess Lord Lin is here to spy on His Majesty for some reason... Lord Lin, please explain..."

The commander of the imperial guards stepped closer, his tone as if he was interrogating a prisoner in a cell.

It was obvious that if Lin Huai'en dared to answer a word wrong, he would definitely take advantage of the situation and make a big fuss about it.

Lin Huai'en gritted his teeth and decided to take the initiative. He took a step forward and tucked himself into Di Shaoze's arms. He looked at Di Shaoze with a pair of aggrieved and pitiful eyes and said softly, "I missed you...that's why I came here secretly..."

As he spoke, Lin Huai'en's eyes turned slightly red, and he put on a look as if he was about to cry, as if he was aggrieved by Di Shaoze's blame, as if he was afraid of the commander's aggressive questioning.

Although Lin Huai'en rarely acts like a spoiled child, he is very good at it. Every time he does so, he can win the heart of Di Shaoze.

As soon as these words came out, all the majesty, questioning and doubts in Di Shaoze's phoenix eyes disappeared. He held Lin Huai'en tightly with one hand, as if holding a fragile pearl, and coaxed him gently with gentle words, fearing that he would be frightened or hurt in the slightest.

The imperial guard took a look at the emperor's expression and carefully kept his mouth shut. With his keen instinct, he knew that no matter how Lord Lin came, the emperor had no intention of pursuing the matter now.