Chapter 266 Qi Ming

Cheng Maoming perked up when he heard this: "Who?"

"If I tell you, could you please promise me one thing?"

Cheng Maoming frowned: "What's the matter?"

"You can no longer torture me."

Cheng Maoming smiled and said, "If the information provided by Mr. Fox is of great value, then of course it is possible. Mr. Fox, please speak."

Mr. Fox was silent for a moment. The pain in his body left him no courage to persist. He slowly uttered two words: "Yang Zhe."

"Number one scholar Yang Zhe?" Cheng Maoming was stunned and subconsciously glanced at the hidden hole in the wall.

"right……"

"What is going on? Yang Zhe is the top scholar, valued by the emperor and trusted by the prince. Why would he work with you?" Cheng Maoming was not only stunned but also puzzled.

A top scholar who has won three first-place honors in a row, if he keeps moving forward step by step, he might become a prime minister in more than ten years. What good would it be for him to join the side of Emperor Pingle?

Not to mention that Cheng Maoming couldn't figure it out, it was also because of this that Emperor Tai'an gave Yang Zhe a chance to prove his innocence after the thief who poisoned the prince accused him.

Mr. Fox looked dejected. After a long silence, he sighed, "Because he originally belonged to the Old Emperor's side. He is Prince Ming."

These words were like a thunderbolt, which stunned Cheng Maoming.

The former crown prince Qi Ming?

Yang Zhe is actually Qi Ming, the son of Emperor Pingle!

Cheng Maoming jumped up, his heart pounding so hard that it almost jumped out of his throat.

He never expected that he would hear such questions from Mr. Fox.

This is the former crown prince!

If he could catch this big fish, all the recent failures would be nothing. He seemed to see the emperor's face filled with joy, and wealth and honor pouring down on him.

Wait a minute!

Cheng Maoming was, after all, a Jinlin Guard commander who had seen many ups and downs. After his heart surged, he calmed down a bit and realized something was amiss. "The old prince was already about ten years old when he disappeared. I still have some impression of what he looked like. Although there are significant changes from childhood to adulthood, it's not likely that he's completely different, right?"

The impression I have of Crown Prince Qi Ming is that he has nothing in common with the top scholar Yang Zhe.

After hearing this, Mr. Fox raised his eyebrows and looked at me with a half-smile.

Cheng Maoming suddenly had an idea and blurted out, "Disguise?"

"That's right." Mr. Fox nodded slightly, momentarily forgetting his prisoner status. A hint of self-satisfaction crossed his face. "That was when the old emperor invited me there. Their target was the son of a farmer who had inherited his family tradition of farming and studying. The boy was about the same age as Crown Prince Ming, and had been educated since childhood, known for his intelligence. When the boy was out playing with his friends, they tricked him into falling off a cliff. When his family found him two days later, it was Crown Prince Ming who had been substituted for his crime..."

The boy who fell off the cliff lost his memory and began to get familiar with everything again. Prince Mingyuan had a brand new identity, an identity that allowed him to embark on a legitimate official career.

In order to regain the throne, Emperor Pingle endured and planned to this extent!

"So, Yang Zhe has been wearing a mask all these years?"

Mr. Fox's face was even more proud: "His mask is not like this, it is carved out with a knife as a brush."

Speaking of which, Taizi Ming is his most proud work.

A chill ran down Cheng Maoming's spine. "That's unreasonable."

This is so disgusting and so cruel!

After instructing his men to keep an eye on Mr. Fox, Cheng Maoming walked to the next room.

"Sir, I will personally lead people to capture Yang Zhe. We will meet again later."

"The Grand Commander will go and get busy first."

Cheng Maoming didn't bother to be polite and hurried away with a team of Jinlin Guards.

The Hanlin Academy was already quite quiet, and at noon many people went to the restaurant outside the yamen to enjoy their meal, and then walked back slowly. It was obvious that these people were some distance away from two people, one was Yang Zhe and the other was Li Lan.

After Yang Zhe won the first place in the imperial examination, he was awarded the position of editor and entered the Hanlin Academy. He was then selected as a scholar-official. Among his close friends, Li Lan was the only one who passed the exam and also entered the Hanlin Academy. The two worked in the same government office and would get together whenever they had free time.

At this time, the two of them did not care about the alienation of their colleagues, and talked in low voices as they walked.

"Young Master——"

The two stopped and turned around to see Yang Zhe's servant running towards them, panting.

"What's the matter?" Yang Zhe asked.

"Your letter." The servant handed over a letter with both hands.

Yang Zhe took the letter and opened it, his expression unchanged. "Brother Li, you go first. I have something to do and will be back to the government office later."

Li Lan didn't ask any more questions: "Brother Yang, go and get busy."

"Brother Li, see you later." Yang Zhe bowed to Li Lan.

Seeing this, Li Lan also bowed and said "see you later". When he turned around and walked forward, he felt something strange in his heart, but he couldn't tell what was wrong.

He looked back for some reason, only to see his friend standing tall and straight like a pine tree, hurriedly walked to the corner of the street and disappeared.

The streets were lined with shops. Yang Zhe strolled into a tailor shop. A quarter of an hour later, a young man in a royal blue robe emerged from the shop. The young man boarded a carriage parked on the side of the road. The driver cracked his whip and drove the carriage towards the city gate.

Cheng Maoming was on his way to the Hanlin Academy when he met a spy who came to report. After hearing the spy's whispered report, he immediately changed direction.

At the city gate, the soldiers on duty checked people entering and leaving much more strictly than usual, especially those who were leaving by car. They would take a look inside the car to make sure there was nothing suspicious before letting them pass.

The reason for the strengthened inspections was naturally related to the robbery of Lin Hao and the other two. Now the news has spread throughout the city that the thieves specifically hid in the carriages to kidnap girls from wealthy families.

The team leaving the city gate was neither long nor short, moving slowly forward, and finally it was the turn of the green-curtained carriage.

The soldier lifted the door curtain and looked inside. The young man sitting inside bowed slightly.

"Thank you for your hard work, sir." The driver stuffed a piece of silver into the soldier's hand with a smile on his face.

The carriage was clearly visible and there was no one else except the young man. The soldiers naturally did not make things difficult after receiving the money and stood aside to let him pass.

"Wait a moment."

The soldier looked over when he heard the sound and his expression changed.

It turned out to be a team of Jinlin Guards.

"Stop that car!"

The soldier was stunned for a moment before he reacted, but the carriage had already left the city gate and was galloping forward.

"Chase!"

The carriage was obviously not as fast as the horse, and soon two Jinlin Guards on horseback blocked the carriage.

The horse driving the carriage braked suddenly, neighed and raised its front hooves.

After the carriage stopped, the young man lifted the door curtain with an angry look on his face. When he saw who was stopping the carriage, he became polite and asked, "I wonder why you stopped my carriage?"

The two Jinlin Guards did not answer and looked behind them.

Cheng Maoming rode his horse closer and smiled condescendingly at the young man sitting in the carriage: "Yang Xiuzhuan disguised himself and left the city. What is his intention?"

After Yang Zhe was cleared of suspicion, thanks to the reminder of Prince Jing, he sent secret agents to keep a close eye on the man, which prevented the other party from escaping successfully today.