Zuan was taken aback. Why was this woman asking about me?

However, he still replied, "Nowadays, there are probably very few people in the palace who don't know him."

Princess Qi snorted: "It's really hard for someone who did such a shameful thing with the Crown Princess not to be found out."

Zu An said solemnly, "This matter has already been investigated and found to be a baseless fabrication by someone. Please, Your Highness, do not speak recklessly."

He was an embroidered-robe envoy, representing the emperor's will, and naturally needed to uphold royal dignity at such a time.

"If you don't want people to know, then don't do it in the first place," Princess Qi sneered. "Zu An is audacious and reckless; he even dared to hit my son. What wouldn't he dare to do?"

Anger points from Bi Fanghua: +358 +358 +358...

Jiang Luofu smiled, clearly thinking of some past events in Mingyue City. That guy really didn't play by the rules.

Zu An coughed, thinking to himself that it was no wonder this woman harbored such resentment. But he wondered how she would react if she knew that the person who beat her son was right in front of her.

Princess Qi asked a few more questions, which Zu An answered casually. Finally, seeing that she hadn't gotten anything out of him, she impatiently picked up her teacup, signaling that the guest should leave.

Having just finished his interactions with Zuan and obtained the information he wanted, he got up to take his leave.

"Don't investigate those irrelevant things. Trust me, there's no mastermind behind it all. It's just that Zu'an and the Crown Princess had an affair," Princess Qi added.

"This woman's intuition is truly terrifying," Mi Li said with a grin as she left the palace.

Zuan defended himself, saying, "The Crown Princess and I are truly innocent."

"Hehe!" Mi Li naturally knew what was going on between him and the Crown Princess. Although the two of them had only taken off their clothes and hugged each other, nothing else had happened. But based on her understanding of Zu An, she figured something would happen soon.

Zuan ignored her and walked straight out.

Seeing that he didn't respond, Mi Li lost interest in gossip and couldn't help but ask, "By the way, the leads from the Prince Qi's residence have also gone cold. What should we do next? The deadline the Emperor gave you is fast approaching."

In her opinion, this trip to the Prince Qi's residence was completely meaningless, since no matter how you look at it, she couldn't investigate the Prince Qi.

“Even if the clues are broken, there are ways to investigate them.” Zu An smiled slightly.

Mi Li raised her eyebrows: "Speak like a human!"

Zu An had no choice but to explain, "Actually, I've always had a suspicion in my mind. This trip to the Qi Prince's residence was just to verify it. After just having contact with the Qi Princess, I've indeed confirmed some of my suspicions."

Mi Li frowned. She realized she still didn't understand, but in order to maintain her superior image and avoid appearing unintelligent, she was too embarrassed to ask.

Fortunately, Zu'an considerately said, "Actually, the key to this case lies with Xinrui. From the beginning, I was thinking about a question: why did the mastermind go to so much trouble to send Xinrui out of the palace? They bribed Sima Ouwu of Xuanwu Gate and moved her family."

Mi Li was also a clever woman, and she immediately realized: "That's right. Actually, all we need to do afterward is kill her and throw her into the pond. Countless maids and eunuchs in the palace have died mysteriously, and we can't find out anything. It's not worth sacrificing such a key position as the Xuanwu Gate Sima for a mere maid."

Zuan nodded: "That's right, so I've been thinking that the mastermind behind this must have had a compelling reason to do this. So far, all the investigations have shown that Xinrui's whereabouts have not been found. Although her fate is unknown on the surface, I know that she is definitely still alive. If she were really dead, there would be no need to deliberately take her out of the palace and then silence her."

“Even if you know all this, what’s the use? You can’t find her anyway,” Mi Li couldn’t help but say.

Zu An smiled slightly: "Of course it's useful. Since Xin Rui isn't dead, then her family members are probably not dead either. If you can't find her, you might be able to find her family members."

Mi Li frowned: "Where did you learn this confusing way of speaking? Believe me or not, I'll slap you across the face."

Although she didn't want to appear unintelligent, she couldn't suppress her curiosity and decided to be direct.

Zuan: "..."

This woman is so fierce, no wonder even the First Emperor wanted to seal her away.

He had no choice but to explain, "Do you remember what I told you about her family before?"

Mi Li frowned slightly: "Her mother was just an ordinary woman, and her younger brother..."

At this point, her eyes lit up: "Extremely addicted to gambling!"

“That’s right. People addicted to gambling can’t resist the urge to gamble for long. Believing they’ll reform is like believing the sun will rise in the west,” Zu’an said. “We sent people to their hometown to investigate before, but they didn’t go back. People subconsciously stay in familiar places. Since they didn’t go back, I guess they’re probably still in the capital or one of the counties near the capital. If we go to the gambling dens in various places to investigate, we should have some results soon.”

Mi Li couldn't help but say, "This is just your guess. What if they ran off to somewhere else and aren't in the capital anymore?"

Zu An sighed: "When doing things, you're always aiming for the highest probability. There's no such thing as a sure thing. If I really end up somewhere else, then I'll just be unlucky. But I have two things that are the strongest in me: one is that I'm incredibly resilient. I've survived countless desperate situations, so how could I possibly fail over something so trivial?"

Mi Li nodded secretly, agreeing that the other person's judgment was very likely true: "What else is the hardest thing?"

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