"You were driven out of the family, and you must have hatred in your heart. As long as you can help, this prince can find a way to help you return to the family, or you can give Chengxi some benefits. It can be seen that you still value the people."

The old man wanted to refuse again, but when he heard Sheng Mingyu's words, he was stunned.

His face looked very ugly, and after thinking for a while, he could only agree.

"Your Highness is intelligent. The two things you mentioned are what I have been thinking about. If you can really help, then I will not hide what I know."

The two quickly reached a cooperation.

"The rumor originated from a second-rate guy, but he wasn't the one who started it. I know him, and he's certainly done a lot of wrong things, but he doesn't want to be involved in anything related to the royal family or ghosts."

The old man talked freely and repeated his guess.

"He's a smart man. He wouldn't rush into something this big. He must have heard it from someone else. If you want to know who's behind this, why not bring that idiot here? I can try my best to convince him to confess."

"Okay! Thank you very much for your help, old man." Sheng Mingyu agreed without any hesitation.

The Jingzhao Yin was quite smart. When he saw Sheng Mingyu nod, he immediately went over to call for help.

"His Royal Highness, may you be well! His Royal Highness, may you be well! His Royal Highness, may you be well! His Royal Highness, may you be well! His Royal Highness, may you be well!"

As soon as the idiot was brought to the place, he was terrified and threw himself at Sheng Mingyu's feet, constantly greeting him without even daring to raise his head.

"I heard from this old man that the rumor first came from you. Can you tell me who told you? As long as you tell the truth, I will not only not punish you, but also reward you handsomely!"

Sheng Mingyu had a stiff smile on his face, trying to ease the atmosphere.

Upon hearing this, the man kneeling below became even more nervous and his voice began to tremble.

"Your Highness, I don't understand what you mean. There are no rumors. I know nothing at all. Please let me go back!"

He started crying, his tone sounding extremely aggrieved, which made Sheng Mingyu frown.

"This prince is asking you seriously. You don't have to be so timid in front of me. I don't kill innocent people. If you tell the truth, I guarantee you will be absolutely fine."

He suppressed his temper and continued asking questions.

Gu Yunni also assisted from the side, "Brother, don't worry, tell me who you met outside. It doesn't matter if you don't know their identity, just tell me what they look like. Whether we can find them is our ability, and whether you tell them or not is your business."

The Imperial Master was already waiting anxiously on the side, and when he saw the two of them asking questions one after another, he couldn't help but step forward to persuade them.

"Yes, you know who we are. We are here to reason with you today. If you don't tell the truth, we won't be responsible for any problems that arise later."

The man kneeling below was so frightened that his legs began to tremble.

"Your Highness, please spare me. I really don't know what you mean. I heard the rumor you mentioned in the restaurant that day. I just wanted to joke with the neighbors, but I didn't expect them to take it so seriously. Your Highness, please spare me. I didn't mean it!"

As he spoke, he burst into tears and kowtowed to Sheng Mingyu desperately.

Until now he still couldn't understand how two jokes could cause such a big incident?

"Are you kidding? Don't you know what you can and can't say? Look at the scorched earth the west side of the city is now. If His Majesty hears about this, you'll be dead!"

Before Sheng Mingyu could lash out, Jingzhao Yin couldn't hold back his anger anymore.

Just a few jokes and he got scolded for no reason!

Sheng Mingyu glared at him, waited for him to calm down, and then shifted her gaze to the man again.

"I heard from this old man that you used to live by stealing. How did you still have money to go to the restaurant? But someone invited you to go?"

The man's face flushed instantly. He took a long time to calm down before telling the truth.

"The old man was right. I used to live by stealing. Going to a restaurant was a luxury for me. But that day I happened to meet a rich man on the street. I took his purse and was able to go to the restaurant and have some fun."

Although stealing will lead to jail, it is better than losing your life.

"Your Highness, I really didn't steal on purpose. I don't have any other skills, and this is the only thing that can keep me alive. I swear I will never do it again. Please forgive me this time!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he continued to beg for mercy, quietly looking up at Sheng Mingyu, feeling extremely uneasy.

"Whether you stole or not is not my business. After we've finished questioning, the Jingzhao Yin will tell you. Do you still remember what that rich man looked like? If he were standing in front of you right now, would you be able to recognize him?"

Sheng Mingyu keenly sensed that something was wrong, and Gu Yunni also became nervous. The two of them fixed their eyes on the man's face in front of them, not daring to miss a single detail.

"I remember! That man was incredibly fat, with a mole on the left side of his face. He was dressed in silk and satin, and looked quite arrogant. He seemed to have a servant with him. He happened to be alone at the time, so I was able to take him down."

The man didn't care what Sheng Mingyu meant and confessed the truth immediately, hoping to make amends and receive less punishment.

As soon as the man finished speaking, Gu Yunni was shocked and blurted out, "How can this be called a rich man? Isn't this the butcher from the east city? This is what he looks like!"

Everyone's eyes fell on her face, and their expressions were full of curiosity.

"No matter what, you were a daughter of a marquis, so how could you know a butcher? After leaving the marquis' mansion, you stayed in the prince's residence. When did you get to know him? Even I often wander around Kyoto, and I don't know a butcher."

The Imperial Master's tone was full of confusion. He couldn't understand why Gu Yunni's life was so strange.

Gu Yunni glanced at him and said casually, "I left the Marquis' Mansion and lived with my mother for a while, so naturally I went to buy vegetables. It's not surprising that I know the butcher. However, I only met him once, but he looked so strange that I remember him."

Or maybe they were just lucky. If they hadn't experienced that day, they might have ended up in a dead end today.

"That's good! But where should we start? Should we go find that butcher?"

Everyone looked at Sheng Mingyu, waiting for his orders.

"We must find the butcher. Also, who in the restaurant is spreading the rumors? We have to ask them. We can't just look for one person; we won't be able to piece together the truth."

As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Yunni agreed, "Okay, then let's split up. I don't think this big brother knows who is spreading the rumors in the restaurant, so we can only go and find out for ourselves. If they said it casually, they should still be talking about it, but if they did it on purpose, we probably won't be able to find them."