Chapter 104 His Highness treats Lord Shen in a way that is truly extraordinary.

Their eyes met, and Shen Chu lowered her head slightly when she saw his ambiguous smile.

“The incident occurred at the Marquis’s residence. I am a victim, but also a witness. I should cooperate with Your Highness’s investigation.”

Pei Yuan looked down at Shen Chu, and inexplicably felt a slight itch in his palms.

"I really want to rub your head open and see how your brain is structured, how you can be so smart."

Marquis Changning and Madam Shen have both been taken away by the Flying Eagle Guards. If he were to leave Shen Chu behind, it would only make people more suspicious of her.

It would be better to bring them all back to the Flying Eagle Guard.

He didn't explain, but unexpectedly, Shen Chu was able to understand what he meant.

He leaned down slightly and chuckled softly, "What should I do? This prince is becoming more and more interested in you."

The two were standing quite close. Pei Yuan's voice was as mellow as wine, with a slight smile, which made her feel a tingling sensation in her ears for no reason.

"May I take Your Highness's words as a compliment?"

Pei Yuan gave her a deep look, chuckled, and turned to leave.

Jinbao caught up, panting, and whispered, "Your Highness, rest assured, this servant has instructed the two Flying Eagle Guards to be careful and not to hurt Lord Shen."

Pei Yuan glanced at him. "Which eye of yours saw that I, the prince, was worried? Mind your own business."

Jinbao said with a grin, "It's rare for Your Highness to meet someone who appreciates you so much. This servant is worried that they might not know their place and hurt Lord Shen, since Lord Shen has such delicate skin."

Pei Yuan suddenly remembered Shen Chu's arms, which were even more slender and white than a woman's. Last time, he had only tugged at them lightly, and they had left a ring of bruises.

If the Flying Eagle Guards were to grab him, wouldn't their arms be broken?

And Shen Chu's back wound hasn't healed yet, has it?

Thinking about it that way, he suddenly realized that Jinbao wasn't really meddling.

Jinbao had been with him for many years, and he could tell from the look in his eyes that he wasn't really angry.

"Your Highness, isn't this servant the most considerate? This servant is just afraid they might hurt Lord Shen, and it's Your Highness who feels the most sorry for him."

Pei Yuan hummed in agreement, then suddenly realized what he meant, "Nonsense, why would this prince feel sorry for you?"

"Hey, Your Highness, don't try to hide anything from me. Last time, when Lord Shen only had a bruise on his wrist, Your Highness gave him a bottle of the best skin-regenerating ointment from the palace."

"This time, Lord Shen was flogged, and you sent Imperial Censor He to deliver medicine; I saw it all."

Pei Yuan frowned. "That's not because I feel sorry for Shen Chu. It's not like I have ulterior motives towards Shen Chu."

Jinbao smiled and agreed, but secretly he was cursing in his heart.

He had already seen through it all; His Highness treated Lord Shen differently.

Over the years, he had never seen anyone who had offended His Highness repeatedly and still managed to live a good life.

To take a recent example, the Third Prince is a case in point.

Even the sons of noble families, and even the court officials, all trembled with fear when they saw His Highness.

Yet, despite Lord Shen's repeated offenses to His Highness, causing His Highness to suffer losses both openly and secretly, His Highness not only did not punish Lord Shen, but also protected him both openly and secretly.

Isn't that what makes you stand out?

Pei Yuan glanced at Jin Bao and knew exactly what he was thinking.

She tapped him on the head with her jade-bone fan and said, "Stop having all this nonsense in your head. If you keep talking such rubbish, go and get your punishment."

"Oh dear, Your Highness, please don't be angry. This servant will say nothing more."

"Hmph, hurry back to the Flying Eagle Guard and tell them to lock Shen Chu up alone. I want to interrogate him privately."

"yes."

See? They still get special treatment.

Jinbao pouted and ran off in a flash. Well then, let's arrange a private room for Master Shen.

Lord Shen was confined by the Flying Eagle Guards, who had been instructed by them, to a clean and tidy house, where there was even a pot of brewed tea.

She sat inside for a while, and then Pei Yuan came in.

Recalling the last time he was interrogated by the Flying Eagle Guard, Shen Chu asked with a smile, "What does Your Highness want me to read this time? Travelogues again?"

Pei Yuan raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you afraid that if I get angry, I'll really lock you up in the Flying Eagle Guard's prison and interrogate you severely?"

Shen Chu's smile faded slightly. "Since childhood, I was predicted to be a cursed lone star, so I was sent to a Taoist temple to be raised."

Since returning to the capital, I have been secretly searching for the master who predicted my fate back then. By chance, I discovered that my stepmother owned a house in the south of the city.

That is, the house she donated to store disaster relief supplies. I found this suspicious, so I had someone secretly keep an eye on the house. Unexpectedly, they caught Zhang Wang and learned the truth about the fortune-telling from back then.

Pei Yuan sneered, "What about the matter with Mei Mi? Were you involved? Was it the steward who was greedy, Shen Yan who was young and inexperienced, or did you secretly send someone to lure Shen Yan and replace him with Mei Mi?"

Shen Chu: "Does Your Highness think that I am the kind of person who would joke about the lives of disaster victims for my own selfish reasons?"

Pei Yuan stared at her intently for a moment, then scoffed, "I doubt you'd dare."

Shen Chu smiled slightly and breathed a sigh of relief.

She did have such thoughts, so she had Hongxiu keep a close eye on the Chen family's residence in the south of the city, but unexpectedly discovered that Shen Yan had bought moldy rice.

"First, they framed themselves, luring the Flying Eagle Guards to the Marquis's residence. With the Flying Eagle Guards there, everyone was afraid and would be more careful about what they said."

Then, publicly expose the truth about the fake fortune teller's predictions, reveal Chen's crimes, and then undermine the Empress's trust in Chen.

If I'm not mistaken, the carriage suddenly overturning at the city gate and the spilling moldy rice was also something you planned beforehand, wasn't it?

Shen Chu gave a thumbs up. "I knew that the Crown Prince would be setting off for disaster relief today, and that the Emperor and Empress would be seeing him off. So I had Hongxiu slip out of the Marquis's residence in the chaos, startling the carriage carrying the moldy rice."

Your Highness is wise; indeed, nothing escapes your discerning eye.

"Stop flattering me. Your plans are all interconnected, and even I, the prince, have been forced into your hands."

"Heh, Shen Chu, you've got some nerve. Do you know what happened to the last person who dared to use me?"

Pei Yuan stroked the jade-bone fan and smiled coolly.

Shen Chu bowed solemnly and said, "Your Highness, I dare not use you. The reason I deceived you is because I only trust you."

"Whether it's the various dirty deeds committed by the Chen family or the case of the moldy rice, as long as it's handed over to Your Highness, the truth will surely come to light quickly."

She paused, then looked at Pei Yuan with a smile, "Moreover, given Your Highness's character, you will certainly not let any guilty person go unpunished, but you will also never implicate the innocent."

Pei Yuan's body trembled.

That's a strange way of saying it... strangely nice.

Shen Chu is always either as cunning as a fox or a sly, evasive person.

This was the first time he had been so frank and serious, which made him feel uncomfortable.

"Don't try to fool me with pretty words. I wasn't raised on pretty talk." He glared at Chen Chu with disgust, but couldn't help but smirk.

Cough cough.

Pei Yuan's smile faded. "Hungry?"

Chen Chu covered her stomach somewhat awkwardly, "It's almost noon, of course I'm hungry."

"Since you've been so honest, I'll allow you to have a good meal at the Flying Eagle Guard today. What would you like to eat?"

Shen Chu blinked and blurted out, "Steamed fish head with chopped chili peppers."

Pei Yuan looked disgusted. "What's so good about fish heads? There's hardly any meat. Besides, don't you say you can't eat spicy food?"

He still remembered the last time Shen Chu treated him to a meal in order to get his purse back, and how he ate half a plate of spicy food in a dish that left him in a sorry state.

"Could it be that you deliberately lied to this prince last time?" He asked, his face full of suspicion.

Shen Chu shook her head; she really couldn't eat spicy food.

But for some reason, I suddenly had a craving for steamed fish head with chopped chili peppers.

She smiled and said, "Your Highness, I am not lying. I really can't eat spicy food. But I saw Your Highness eating it with great relish last time, so I wanted to try to learn how to eat spicy food."

I've heard that the chopped chili fish head is incredibly delicious, with tender and translucent fish meat. After eating the fish, you can mix the cooked noodles into the broth, allowing the flavors of the fish and the spiciness of the chili to infuse the noodles, leaving a lingering and delightful aftertaste.

The more she talked, the hungrier she felt, and her mouth was practically watering. She looked at Pei Yuan expectantly and asked, "Your Highness, may I order the chopped chili fish head?"

Pei Yuan felt a strange sensation. Was Shen Chu going to learn to eat spicy food because of him?