Chapter 22 The Heartless and Unfeeling Top Scholar

After that, Ji Huaizhi became busy.

When Shen Zhiyi woke up in the morning, the spot next to her was already cold. She didn't know when Ji Huaizhi had returned during the night.

The two were clearly under the same roof, yet they barely saw each other.

The emperor suddenly fell seriously ill, and many people in the court sensed the impending danger.

The Prime Minister couldn't sit still when he heard that only the Empress was attending to him during his illness.

After all, the Empress had an eldest son born of the Empress.

If the emperor were to have any problems, it wouldn't be the third prince's turn.

After the prime minister's faction discussed the matter, the atmosphere in the palace became even more tense.

Prince Rong stayed directly in the palace, while Ji Huaizhi returned home later and later each day, and Shen Zhiyi looked at the dark night outside with worry in her heart.

Shuyang cried incessantly throughout the night.

Ji Huaizhi returned while Shen Zhiyi was comforting the child.

After washing up, Ji Huaizhi coaxed his daughter, never mentioning anything about the palace.

When the daughter was in Ji Huaizhi's arms, she finally stopped crying and looked at Ji Huaizhi with a wronged expression.

"It's been too long since I've seen my father, and I miss him." Shen Zhiyi looked at the father and daughter tenderly.

Ji Huaizhi was coaxing his daughter in his arms when suddenly his ears twitched and his gaze turned toward the door.

Shen Zhiyi asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

He handed the child to Shen Zhiyi: "Someone from the manor has come. You should stay in the room and behave yourself."

Shen Zhiyi was puzzled: "Ji Lang, who is coming so late? And no one informed us."

Ji Huaizhi did not answer, but instead closed the doors and windows.

Watching his disappearing figure, Shen Zhiyi suddenly panicked: "Ji Lang!"

Then she couldn't open the doors and windows no matter what she tried, and the child cried even louder.

The doors and windows were tightly shut, and there was no one around.

Ji Huaizhi stood in the courtyard.

Her long hair was blown by the wind, and she exuded a sharp aura.

The assassin hiding in the shadows wondered, "This guy doesn't seem like someone who can't even kill a chicken."

"Never mind, can't we even beat one of them? Let's go!"

A group of masked men in black jumped out and shouted, "Ji Huaizhi, someone has bought your life!"

"Yeah?"

Ji Huaizhi looked at them coldly, then suddenly pulled out a silenced gun and pointed it at them.

They looked at the gun in his hand with suspicion.

[Host, something's not right.] The system suddenly spoke up.

Ji Huaizhi blocked the system and decided to eliminate it first.

Only after everyone had fallen did Ji Huaizhi put away his gun, and the system was also released.

Everyone else died with their eyes wide open in disbelief, and Ji Huaizhi, who hadn't died from the first shot, fired a finishing blow.

No, this is wrong.

"No, that's not right. You should be able to handle these people, right? Otherwise, if outsiders find out, it will be hard to explain."

[Host, what you're doing...]

"We need to get rid of the person properly; if the emperor sees this, things will get uneasy."

The system buzzed a few times in Ji Huaizhi's mind: [These people will disappear.]

"Yes, thank you for your hard work."

Ji Huaizhi looked at the people on the ground, recalled that he hadn't missed anyone, and then returned to his room.

Seeing him return, Shen Zhiyi finally felt relieved: "I heard some noise outside..."

"It's alright, go and rest, it's all taken care of."

Ji Huaizhi changed his clothes again.

The child stopped crying, but Shen Zhiyi still felt very unfamiliar with him.

"The person outside just now?"

Ji Huaizhi: "It's already resolved. We have people protecting us in secret. With so many enemies in the court, how could I not have any trump cards up my sleeve?"

Yeah?

Shen Zhiyi felt a little scared.

I always felt that what he said wasn't true, but when I looked into his eyes, I didn't know what to say.

The look in his eyes when he came in was so cold it chilled her to the bone.

"Go to sleep."

The child was held by Ji Huaizhi. Shen Zhiyi didn't sleep well that night and had a terrible nightmare.

She dreamt that Ji Huaizhi wasn't Ji Huaizhi, but that a stranger lived inside her body.

That's terrifying.

He committed murder, robbery, and plunder in the capital, doing all sorts of evil deeds, and many government soldiers could not subdue him.

Not only that, he also killed his father, himself, and Shu Yang. He didn't even spare the servants in the mansion. There was so much blood. In her dream, she was terrified and desperate, and kept trying to wake him up.

But for some reason, Ji Huaizhi acted as if he didn't recognize anyone.

"Ah! No!"

When Shen Zhiyi woke up, she felt terrified when she thought of the scene in her dream. Her forehead was covered in sweat, and her inner clothes were soaked with sweat.

"Madam, you're awake?"

Hongyin suddenly appeared in Shen Zhiyi's line of sight.

It startled her.

"Did I sleep for so long today?" Shen Zhiyi looked at the light outside the window.

Hongyin helped her up: "Yes, the master told us not to disturb you, saying you didn't sleep well yesterday."

"Is Ji Lang busy again?"

"Um."

Shen Zhiyi got up, and the servants who were helping her wash up filed in. Through the gap, Shen Zhiyi saw that there seemed to be nothing special in the courtyard.

"Yesterday...did you hear anything else?" Shen Zhiyi asked Hongyin.

Hongyin shook her head: "No, it's just that the wind was a bit strong last night."

"And what about this morning?" Shen Zhiyi found it strange: "Was there anything else in the yard this morning?"

Hongyin: "No, there are just a lot of fallen leaves."

Is that so?

After washing up with doubts, Shen Zhiyi felt as if yesterday was a dream: "Where is Miss?"

"At the wet nurse's."

Just then, Shu Yang's voice came from behind him. It turned out that he hadn't seen his mother making a fuss all morning.

Shen Zhiyi stood in the yard holding her child. The clean yard was occasionally littered with a few withered leaves, but it was really no different from other places.

"What?"

The Prime Minister slammed his fist on the table: "So many experts didn't come out last night?"

"Yes, Prime Minister, those people seem to have vanished into thin air. I even had someone watch the Ji residence today, but they found nothing there, and no bodies were taken out."

"I inquired and found out there was no news or movement at all last night."

The prime minister's face was dark, and his eyes held a strange expression.

The person kneeling on the ground continued, "Our people saw Lord Ji leave this morning, and he wasn't injured."

"Go and investigate whether there is a powerful figure behind Ji Huaizhi."

"yes."

The prime minister's expression was somewhat solemn.

The atmosphere in the capital was tense. As the emperor showed no signs of improvement after so long, the ministers in the court began to have differing opinions.

That night, the prime minister entered the palace with a Taoist priest.

They were stopped as they were about to enter the emperor's bedchamber.

"Prime Minister, what are you doing?" Prince Rong frowned.