Chapter 289: Accomplice (Part 1)

Liu Kai said excitedly, "Wang Pushe, you can't do this! The eldest son wanted me to send fifty people, which I thought was too many, but the eldest son insisted, so I had to agree. How can I shut up fifty mouths? I will do my best, but if anyone accidentally lets the cat out of the bag, Wang Pushe can't just ignore it!"

"When that happens, how do you expect Wang Pushe to handle it?"

"You are helping me to escape punishment!" Liu Kai was quite excited. "Wang Pushe is in a high position. This is just a piece of cake. Wouldn't Wang Pushe be unwilling?"

Jiang Yuan couldn't help but wonder, was Wang Han's favor meant to protect him? It was meant to protect Wang Zhi.

"I understand what you mean. I will go back and report to Wang Pushe."

Liu Kai asked anxiously, "Can we go back and ask right now, Chief Secretary? I don't have to go on duty today. I'll just wait here for news from the Chief Secretary."

Jiang Yuan looked at Liu Kai's frightened expression and had a bad feeling.

"I wonder if Yu Zuojian has asked General Liu to go to the Supreme Court for questioning?" Jiang Yuan asked.

"I have asked," Liu Kai said, "but when I was questioned, I wasn't terribly frightened. I simply insisted that I was at home that day and hadn't left the house. I saw that Yu Zuojian looked normal, so he probably didn't notice anything unusual."

Jiang Yuan even doubted what Liu Kai said.

For a person like Yu Yi, who can see what is going on in his mind?

The most urgent thing is to inform Wang Han about Liu Kai's situation.

"That's good," Jiang Yuan said soothingly, "General Liu, please wait here. I'll be back soon."

After hearing this, Liu Kai hurriedly stood up and sent Yu Yi out.

As soon as they stepped out of the courtyard where the private room was, they saw many soldiers gathered outside.

The leader was leisurely admiring a tea tree nearby.

"You two have finally finished your conversation," Yu Yi said with a faint smile. "Come here, please invite Chief Secretary Jiang and General Liu back to the office for a chat."

——

The news that Yu Yi had captured Jiang Yuan and Liu Kai soon reached the Prince of Yuzhang's Palace.

Wu Shan, who came to report the news, told Sun Wei, "Left Supervisor stayed up all night last night, reviewing the files at the Imperial Court. When he saw Yang Qi's file, he remembered that Tian mentioned Jiang Changshi when she left the capital. As far as Left Supervisor knew, Jiang Changshi was in charge of the staff of the Shangshu Mansion, so Yang Qi had close contacts with him. Left Supervisor had initially given up hope on this lead and was only planning to find Jiang Changshi for a brief chat, but he unexpectedly discovered that Jiang Changshi had an appointment with Right Lieutenant General Liu Kai. Left Supervisor had a premonition that this meeting between the two was not simple, so he detained both of them."

Sun Wei was sitting in the outer room and couldn't help but look at the inner room where Sima Jun was lying.

The curtains were drawn low, and there was no movement from within.

She whispered, "Chief Secretary Jiang is the head of the Shangshu Mansion's staff. He certainly knows a lot, but it's probably not easy to get anything out of him."

"What the princess said was correct. Therefore, the Left Supervisor sent someone to investigate Jiang Changshi's background. They unexpectedly discovered that Jiang Changshi had accepted a disciple named Li Mo. He said that he had heard the princess mention this person."

"Li Mo?" Sun Wei was stunned.

"Exactly."

Sun Wei frowned and thought about it, and also felt that this matter was interesting.

"Li Mo is a man of many tricks and should not be underestimated. However, he is obsessed with worshipping Buddha and seems to be practicing in Ruoye Mountain on weekdays. He is not often seen in Jiankang."

"That's not the case," Wu Shan said. "Left Supervisor received an anonymous letter this morning saying that the second son of the Wang family will be leaving for Jingzhou to take up his new post today, and Li Mo is prominently listed among the accompanying personnel."

"anonymous letter?"

"That's right," Wu Shan said. "The letter said that the second young master had left the city on the night the Crown Prince was in trouble. It seemed to imply that the Crown Prince's injury was caused by the second young master."

Sun Wei pondered for a moment. "If it's true that the Second Young Master went to Jingzhou, and the list of his entourage is true, then the person who wrote the letter must be someone from the Shangshu Mansion. But if you say it was done by the Second Young Master, I'd rather believe it was done by the Eldest Young Master."

"That's what the Left Supervisor said," Wu Shan said. "But even so, it's strange. How could there be a traitor in the Shangshu Mansion at this time? Doesn't this give us evidence that the Shangshu Mansion is indeed related to the Crown Prince's injury?"

Sun Wei nodded slowly: "In any case, since it is evidence, we should keep it well. I wonder what the Left Supervisor is planning next?"

"Of course, we're detaining the Second Young Master. Since the First Young Master has been imprisoned, there's no reason to let the Second Young Master go alone."

This move is imperative, but Sun Wei can't help but worry about Yu Yi.

"The Left Supervisor arrested so many people from the Shangshu Mansion in one go. I'm afraid Wang Pushe will make trouble when the court convenes tomorrow."

Wu Shan was also helpless. He said, "I've been a judge for eight years, and I've never seen anyone as courageous as Zuo Jian. Anyone who showed any courage in the past didn't end up well..."

He suddenly realized he had spoken out of turn and said hastily, "I wasn't talking about the Left Supervisor. The Left Supervisor is very wise and will surely turn misfortune into good fortune."

Sun Wei said, "I am a woman after all, and it is not convenient for me to go to many places. But if there is anyone who really has bad intentions towards Zuo Jian, please ask the chief clerk to spread the news, and I will definitely help."

Wu Shan quickly agreed.

"Does Chief Secretary Wu know where Li Mo lives?" Sun Wei suddenly asked.

Wu Shan said, "The Left Supervisor has also ordered me to investigate this."

After that, he wrote down Li Mo's address.

Sun Wei took a look and asked, "Does the man named Liu Kai have any explanation?"

Wu Shan said, "The two young masters and Chief Secretary Jiang are quite tough, but Liu Kai is trembling with fear. The Left Supervisor thinks he is up to something and is trying to force a confession from him. However, the Left Supervisor has little time left, and he may have to deal with Wang Pushe tomorrow, so..."

Sun Wei nodded slowly: "Go back and tell Yu Zuojian, I will think of a solution for him."

Wu Shan agreed and bowed to say goodbye.

After he left, Sun Wei walked into the inner room.

A servant was bringing in freshly brewed medicine and was about to feed it to Sima Jun.

Sun Wei took it, blew on it gently, then picked up the spoon and wanted to taste it.

Aju quickly stopped him.

"What is the princess doing?"

"Just trying it." Sun Wei asked, "This medicine smells even worse than the ones prescribed by the palace physician. I want to see if it's bitter."

A'ru was a little helpless. "Can you just taste the medicine casually? But can you really trust that miracle doctor? He even scolded the imperial physicians, saying that they were still giving the prince heavy drugs and were simply taking human life lightly. He even said that. Could it be that the imperial physicians in the palace are really not as good as him?"

"I don't know whether I am really inferior to him. The prince has been in a coma for many days, and I don't want him to be delayed any longer." After Sun Wei said this, he took a sip of the medicine in the spoon.

It turned out to be extremely unpalatable, so Aju quickly handed over some malt sugar.

"Come to think of it," A'ru said, "this was the prince's order. He said the princess can't stand hardship, so I need to prepare some malt sugar."

Sun Wei chewed the candy and recalled how she had fallen ill in Shixing when she had come to Guangzhou last year. At that time, Aju had gone to Panyu, and it was Sima Jun who had taken care of her day and night.

At the time, the journey seemed arduous, but looking back now, Sima Jun was at least safe. She only had a minor illness, which was much less of a worry than it is now.

Thinking of this, her heart sank again.