From Yinzhi bringing Hongsheng to see him in a panic, to his questioning of the real reason for Yinzhi's coma, to his testing of Yinzhi's opinion on the rumor, every little detail was magnified and carefully pondered by Kangxi.

He soon discovered that Yinzhi was not completely indifferent to the rumors.

He seemed to be carefully verifying the authenticity of the rumors.

Kangxi's hand on the table couldn't help but tighten for a moment, then quickly released it.

If Yinzhi had not carefully tested the matter, it would mean that he had already accepted the rumor as true. If that were the case, he should be disheartened.

It would be a lie for Kangxi to say that he did not regret Yinzhi's current frail state, but even if he did, he would not allow others to interfere with his decision.

Not even his son.

The "rumor" did not spread in the capital, so the secret guards sent by Kangxi to investigate the source made no progress at all.

Instead, he kept an eye on Longkodo's secret guards and discovered some remarkable things.

That day, after reading the secret memorial brought to him by the secret guard, Kangxi rubbed his brows with some disgust.

A few days ago, Longkodo accompanied Hesheli home to attend a wedding banquet. He took advantage of his drunkenness to seize a concubine in the backyard of his wife's family. After being discovered by his wife's family, he did not feel ashamed, but instead asked his father-in-law Guo Qixun to give the concubine to him.

Guo Qixun was also a spineless softie. After suffering such a great humiliation, the first thing he did was not to ask for an explanation, but to issue a gag order. Then, according to Longkodo's request, he handed his concubine to Longkodo.

Kangxi despised Guo Qixun.

Then he suddenly remembered that he seemed to have heard this incident from Yinreng's mind.

At that time he seemed to be indifferent, but now, he only felt that Longkodo was morally corrupt and of low character.

Since Guo Qixun did not make the matter worse, Kangxi was not in a position to issue an imperial decree to reprimand Longkodo.

Thinking about what Longkodo did by taking advantage of the Tong family's power, a hint of coldness flashed across Kangxi's eyes.

If the source of the "rumor" was Longkodo, even if Guo Qixun did not make the matter public, he could use this as a reason to deal with Longkodo.

Several days passed, and apart from what happened in Longkodo's backyard, the secret guards did not find any useful information. Kangxi began to get anxious.

If Yinzhi hadn't really heard something, he would never have had such a big reaction.

But the secret guards investigated for such a long time but couldn't find the source. It seemed like the "rumor" was deliberately made up by Yinzhi to test him. Could it be that he knew about this from the beginning?

Kangxi thought about this possibility, but quickly eliminated the idea.

In recent years, Yinzhi's admiration for him did not seem to be fake. If Yinzhi had known about this matter earlier, with his cunningness, it would have been impossible for him to hide any flaws.

Therefore, the rumors told by Yinzhi should be true. Kangxi frowned and thought for a long time, then passed the message to the secret guards, asking them to focus on investigating who Longkodo and Yinzhi had met before Yinzhi fell into a coma.

The secret guards followed Kangxi's instructions and no longer focused on the rumors themselves, but instead turned their attention to Longkodo and Yinzhi.

During the few days that Yinzhi was in the capital, he did not meet anyone else except the crown prince and the third prince. However, Longkodo had close contacts with the children of nobles and his colleagues and subordinates.

The secret guards quickly found the Little Sheep BBQ Restaurant.

Coincidentally, that day Yinzhen was checking the accounts and taking a look at the business situation of the shop. When he walked from upstairs to downstairs, he happened to see someone paying money to ask questions to the waiter.

Yinzhen just took a glance and then looked away.

Most of the shops he owned had good business. From the beginning, there were people who kept spending money to poach his people. Yinzhen had seen this several times and was no longer surprised by it.

However, the shop's novel business model has long been an open secret, and it seems a little late for this person to poach people now.

Yinzhen muttered something, left the barbecue restaurant, and went straight to the next shop.

After he visited all the shops, he just returned to the shop where he usually handled business, and heard that the owner of Xiao Fei Yang BBQ Restaurant had been waiting there for a long time.

Yinzhen was a little confused.

He had just come out of the shop. If there was something wrong, why didn't the shopkeeper tell him just now?

Despite his doubts, Yinzhen still called the person in.

As soon as he saw Yinzhen, the shopkeeper got straight to the point.

"Master, someone asked about Mr. Tong San today, and a few days ago someone asked about Prince Zhi."

When Yinzhen heard this, he immediately sat up straight.

"What are you asking?"

"A few days ago, that person was asking about the Prince of Zhi coming to the inn to meet the Second and Third Masters."

The shopkeeper thought back to that day carefully, and his expression was rather strange.

"This person came today to inquire about the people who came to the restaurant to drink with Master Tong San."

Yinzhen frowned slightly, not hearing any connection between the two things.

"Is it the same person who came to inquire about the news?"

"no."

The shopkeeper shook his head.

Yinzhen suddenly lost interest.

The appearance of the three old gang members, the eldest, the second and the third, in the same space probably attracted the attention of some snobs in the court.

The eldest and the third brother are okay, but the second brother has a lot of enemies.

As for Longkodo, many people had enmity with him, so it was not surprising that someone was asking about him.

The shopkeeper noticed his indifference and was a little disappointed, but he still explained the situation of that day to Yinzhen.

"You mean when the Prince of Zhi went to the shop to look for the Second and Third Masters, Longkodo happened to be there too?"

"yes."

Yinzhen pinched his chin. If the people who came to inquire about the whereabouts of the two were the same group, then there must be some tricks that he didn't know about.

After thinking for a moment, Yinzhen said,

"Call the waiters who served in the two private rooms that day."

When the shopkeeper heard this, a look of embarrassment appeared on his face.

Yinzhen looked up and saw that he was motionless, and asked curiously,

"Why are you still standing here?"

"Master, the distinguished guests who booked the private rooms on the third floor don't like to have people waiting on their side..."

Yinzhen was stunned when he heard this, and then he also thought of the location of the shop.

The shop mainly relies on taste and novel cooking methods to attract customers. The business hours are from 9:00 am to before curfew.

The main customers in the store were young people from the families of merchants and gentry. The information they could provide was of limited use to him, so he did not ask the shopkeeper to expand the business of collecting intelligence.

Yinzhen patted his forehead and said,

"Draw up a list of those who drank with Longkodo that day and give it to me."

When the shopkeeper heard this, he immediately took out a list from his pocket and handed it to Yinzhen respectfully.

Yinzhen: “…”