There was a knock on the windowsill, but Xie Tingzhou didn't wait for Ye Zhen to open the window. Instead, he heard the sound of the window bolt being inserted backwards from inside.

I immediately had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, Yin Jiuniang's cold voice came, "Young Master Xie, you can't just allow officials to set fires while forbidding ordinary people to light lamps."

"You warned my son Zhen'er to be modest, so why did Young Master Xie act like such a lecherous man today?"

Helpless, Xie Tingzhou could only apologize, "Please let me in to explain, Master."

Yin Jiuniang didn't argue. She opened the window and said coldly, "Explain."

Clearly, they did not intend to let Xie Tingzhou in.

Xie Tingzhou glanced inside the room and, seeing that Ye Zhen wasn't behind Yin Jiuniang, guessed that Yin Jiuniang must have used some tricks on her.

Understanding that Yin Jiuniang's actions today were for Ye Zhen, Xie Tingzhou pondered for a moment before removing his mask.

Because he was going to interrogate the old princess, he didn't wear the human skin mask today; underneath the mask was the prince's face.

Yin Jiuniang didn't recognize the Crown Prince, but she knew that Xie Shizi had a scar on his face. Her eyes widened slightly. "You're not Xie Tingzhou? Who are you?"

Xie Tingzhou knew about the close relationship between Yin Jiuniang and Ye Zhen, so he didn't hide it and bowed to Yin Jiuniang, saying, "Donggong Zhaolin greets Master."

This means that Yin Jiuniang is being told that the one who has been in love with Ye Zhen is none other than Crown Prince Zhaolin.

Therefore, he followed Ye Zhen in calling Yin Jiuniang "Master".

Yin Jiuniang was horrified.

People from the martial arts world don't deal with the imperial court, but they still pay attention to its movements. Especially since she has been an investigator in Dongwu for many years, she would naturally be even more attentive to news from her motherland.

Crown Prince Zhaolin had been missing for many years, and it turned out that he was hiding under the mask of the Marquis of Zhongyong's heir.

No wonder Zhen'er asked her to help come up with a way to make someone hide their true identity without being exposed.

It turns out it was all for the person in front of her, which means her foolish disciple already knew this person's identity.

Yin Jiuniang didn't care who Ye Zhen liked, as long as it was someone she liked and who treated her sincerely.

But concerned for Ye Zhen's safety, she immediately asked, "Why haven't you returned to the palace all these years?"

If Crown Prince Zhaolin is not tolerated by the Emperor, Empress, or even the entire court, she will have to consider whether to allow her disciple to continue to have any dealings with this person.

Since this person's identity could not be revealed for the time being, Yin Jiuniang took a few steps back to let Xie Tingzhou come into the room to talk.

After Xie Tingzhou climbed in through the window, he first looked around the room and saw that Ye Zhen was asleep, breathing evenly, which meant that Yin Jiuniang had put him to sleep.

Only then did he quietly tell Yin Jiuniang about his affairs, including his upcoming interrogation of the Grand Princess that night.

"Master, rest assured, I have investigated the matter thoroughly. Once I obtain the evidence that Qiu Lie was falsely accused of regicide, I will return to the East Palace and will protect Zhen'er from now on."

Yin Jiuniang actually learned about the scene at the mansion gate and saw that Ye Zhen was not very sad, so she vaguely guessed that there was a reason.

She felt sorry for Ye Zhen's past experiences and believed that the Marquis of Zhongyong was inexcusable for his foolishness, so she took the opportunity to beat him up.

People from the martial arts world can settle old scores with a good beating and then happily become in-laws.

The reason she's making things difficult for Xie Tingzhou right now is because she noticed his unusual behavior and wanted to check on Ye Zhen's character, but she never expected him to be a prince.

He didn't hide any of this from Ye Zhen. As soon as he entered the room, he paid attention to Ye Zhen first, which made Yin Jiu Niang feel much better.

"Since Zhen'er knows all this and is still willing to walk with you, I will not be the one who is ungrateful."

But you must promise me that you will never bring Zhen'er into danger under any circumstances.

If anything happens to her, no matter who you are, I, Yin Jiuniang, will fight you to the death.

Xie Tingzhou solemnly guarantees this.

Yin Jiuniang then went to Ye Zhen's side and released her pressure points.

Ye Zhen slowly woke up and said helplessly, "Master..."

How could we take advantage of her being off guard and put her to sleep by striking her pressure point?

When Yin Jiuniang met Ye Zhen's gaze, her smile was kind and gentle. "This is what your master wants to teach you today: never be careless towards anyone, even if it's your master..."

She looked at Xie Tingzhou, "Whether it's him or someone else, you should always be on your guard, understand?"

Ye Zhen roughly understood his master's intention and nodded, "Disciple understands."

Yin Jiuniang waved her hand, "Alright, you can go now."

The two didn't linger any longer and headed straight for the general store.

On the way, Ye Zhen suddenly asked Xie Tingzhou, "Are you skilled in gynecology?"

Xie Tingzhou paused slightly. "Not good at it, but are you feeling unwell somewhere?"

He studied medicine to save his life; he didn't specifically seek out women.

Ye Zhen shook his head.

It wasn't her.

She smelled the blood on her master when he pretended to hold her while they slept, just as he was about to ambush her.

Since Master has no injuries, it can only be his period.

She remembered that her master had menstruated not long ago, and judging by the timing, it should have ended smoothly by now.

It wasn't even time for her second period yet, and considering that her master had refused to go back to the Marquis's mansion with her before, and that he had never used incense before, he had suddenly started using it this time.

Ye Zhen felt that something was wrong with his master's health. The incense was to cover up the smell of blood on her body, and going to the general's mansion was also to avoid her finding out.

That's why I asked this question.

Since Xie Tingzhou wasn't good at it, and it concerned his master's secrets, Ye Zhen changed the subject to avoid the issue.

Seeing this, Xie Tingzhou vaguely guessed that it was related to Yin Jiuniang, and reminded her, "The female physician Su who treated you earlier works in the palace and should be skilled in this art."

Ye Zhen kept this in mind and planned to find an opportunity to meet Physician Su.

After the two left, Yin Jiuniang returned to her room, changed her menstrual pad, and then went to the courtyard of the Marquis of Zhongyong.

Having beaten up the Marquis of Zhongyong during the day, and now visiting again in the middle of the night, Chen Qing, Wu Dong, and even Cui Yihuan, who had been kept there by the Marquis of Zhongyong under various pretexts, were all very wary.

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