065

The snow continued to fall, and the footprints on the road were covered again.

As if nothing had happened.

Zhao Wuan's arm was scratched by the arrow, and blood seeped out from the gaps between his fingers and dripped down.

"Who are you?"

The man pulled off the veil from his face.

Zhao Wuan narrowed his eyes slightly: "Shen Changqi——"

"Pfft!"

Go out first and tear off the corner of his clothes to bandage him, "If you don't want to attract them here, don't make a sound!"

Zhao Wuan pursed his lips and hesitated for a few breaths, "Why are you here?"

Shen Changqi didn't even raise his eyelids. "Of course I'm here for you, idiot! I really don't know what His Highness sees in you..."

The "His Highness" he was referring to was Crown Prince Xu Guanlin.

Soon, Shen Changqi treated the wound, grabbed his arm with his big hand, and pretended to take him away.

"Where are you taking me?!"

"Go see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

As if he had guessed that he would refuse, Shen Changqi simply pressed his dumb hole to prevent him from listening.

The biting cold wind hit my cheeks, causing a burning pain.

Zhao Wuan was so overwhelmed by the hype, but Shen Changqi was only concerned with bringing the person back and didn't notice his discomfort at all.

In the East Palace, Xu Guanlin had been waiting for a long time.

"Master Zhao, long time no see."

Shen Changqi untied his dumb hole and obediently retreated behind Xu Guanlin.

“Ahem!”

Zhao Wuan rubbed his stiff face, feeling that his face was almost stiffened by the cold wind.

A cup of hot tea appeared in front of me at the right time.

It was delivered by Xu Guanlin.

Zhao Wuan looked up at him, without showing any emotion, and swallowed it in one gulp.

"Master Zhao, are you in the mood to chat with me now?"

"What do you want to talk about, Your Highness?"

There was a hint of warmth between Xu Guanlin's brows. Even though the snow was falling onto the coffee table, the cold wind that blew in could not erase the gentleness on his face.

Xu Guanlin leaned over and poured him another cup of hot tea. "Let me think about... talking about Lord Zhao's career as an official? Or the closed-down Zhaiyue Tower? Or... the owner of Zhaiyue Tower who was imprisoned?"

Bang!

The snow was coming down hard, and the howling wind and snow smashed the tightly closed door panels, and the small stool was mercilessly overturned.

Zhao Wuan's eyelashes trembled slightly and his hands on his knees slowly clenched.

"Your Highness, are you trying to threaten me with this?"

"No." Xu Guanlin looked at him calmly, "I said these to remind Lord Zhao that your weakness is too obvious. Even Xu Luo can threaten you. I thought that he should not be a threat to Lord Zhao, but after seeing it today, I underestimated your weakness."

Shen Changqi suddenly stepped forward and handed him a document.

"What is this?"

Xu Guanlin: "Master Zhao, why don't you open it and take a look."

Zhao Wuan was silent. He opened it a little and saw the contents on it. His pupils immediately shrank and his heart began to beat unsteadily.

Xu Guanlin was satisfied with his response: "This document will surely help Lord Zhao to redress the injustice done to Grand Tutor Zhao."

The content of the document was incomplete, and he would only hand over the other half if Zhao Wuan agreed to work for him.

Whether it was the verbal threat just now or the threat of this document, Zhao Wuan felt that he could no longer sit idly by.

Qin Wan has already been exposed to these people's eyes.

Blame him, he should have advised Qin Wan to keep a distance from him.

Zhao Wuan closed his eyes and asked, "When can I get the other half?"

Xu Guanlin smiled faintly: "I am honored to be in the grand ceremony."

That was the time when Grand Tutor Zhao redressed the injustice.

Zhao Wuan exhaled, "...I have one more condition, don't hurt Qin Wan and Miss Song."

Hearing the unexpected name, Xu Guanlin raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"If I remember correctly, Song Jin is just a benefactor to you. Even if she recommended you, it is not worth your protection, right?"

Zhao Wuan: "Your Highness, just make sure they are both safe."

"Okay." Xu Guanlin laughed, "I agree. From now on, you and Chang Qi will both be my staff members."

Shen Changqi grinned at him.

Zhao Wuan glanced at him lightly and lowered his eyes silently.

A few months ago, this man almost took his life, but now he has become his fellow aide.

It's true... enemies often meet on a narrow road.

Shen Changqi followed Xu Guanlin's instructions and took him downstairs to re-treat his wound.

He certainly couldn't let an injured person hold an umbrella.

Shen Changqi showed mercy and offered him an umbrella, "Zhao Wuan, we are really destined to meet!"

"Yes," Zhao Wuan squinted at him, "I almost died in your hands."

Shen Changqi: ...

This person is really bad at chatting!

Shen Changqi turned his head angrily and deliberately tilted the umbrella so that the snow fell on his shoulders.

It would be best to freeze him to death!

The atmosphere was silent for a short while before Shen Changqi could no longer hold back.

"You have a good relationship with Miss Song?"

The other party didn't say anything. Shen Changqi said, "Tsk," and then said, "The maid next to her is quite interesting. How is she now?"

maid?

All Zhao Wuan could think of was Qing Wu.

But why should he tell a stranger about the young lady's situation?

Zhao Wuan remained silent.

The two walked side by side in the snow, leaving a long trail of footprints behind them.

Some are deep, some are shallow.

Shen Changqi was a little impatient, but helpless, so he raised the umbrella back.

"Hey, what can you do if you tell me? I'm not going to eat her!"

"Zhao Wuan, did you hear me?"

*

Song Jin is very busy here.

It was snowing and windy tonight, and every household stayed indoors. Sheng An had consulted all the doctors he could find. Fortunately, the poison in Ah Wu was not so severe that no one could cure it, otherwise it would have been a real problem.

I saw a streak of white clouds appearing on the horizon.

Qing Wu advised her: "Madam, go and have a rest. I'll keep an eye on you here."

Song Jin really couldn't bear it anymore, so he nodded and went back to his room to sleep.

An hour later, the maid woke her up and said that Awu had woken up.

Song Jin quickly washed up and rushed over.

Ah Wu's body had just been cleared of toxins and was still weak, so Qing Wu helped him sit up.

"Madam Ye An!"

Qing Wu gently corrected her: "You are wrong. This is the Lord of Junning County appointed by His Majesty himself."

Ah Wu was stunned. "County Lord... County Lord! I have found the evidence. The slaves' release document, is it..."

A fishy and sweet taste rises in the throat.

Ah Wu lowered his head and started coughing.

Qing Wu patted her back in amusement, "Slow down, don't be impatient. Madam Wenshu has asked me to go get it from Minister Zhan."

"real?!"

Ah Wu was delighted and couldn't wait to take out the gold box from his arms and give it to her.

"County Lord, this is the poison that was planted by Manager Tian. I also saw him meeting a man in a hooded cape. Call that man, His Highness!"

There was poison on the golden box, and Ah Wu was poisoned because he touched the golden box. Now that there was no poison on the golden box, she dared to hand the golden box to Song Jin with confidence.

Song Jin opened it and took a look, then handed the thing to Qing Wu.

Qing Wu took the things and went out.

"This is..." Ah Wu started coughing again, "Cough cough cough! County Lord, there is one more thing. I saw an eye on the wall of Manager Tian's study. That eye was so scary. It didn't look like someone from the pearl farm."

There are a lot of people walking around the pearl farm every day. Ah Wu has been there for more than ten years and remembers everyone's appearance clearly.

That eye definitely did not belong to anyone in the pearl farm.

Song Jin pondered: "Let's end this matter here. Now that you are free, have you thought about what you are going to do next?"

Ah Wu suddenly felt confused.

The freedom she had been waiting for for many years finally came true. When she was asked what to do next, she had no idea what to say.

"I... I don't know..."

Song Jin smiled, took her hand, and asked softly, "My shop is still short of a manager, are you willing to help me?"

"Me? Me?"

Ah Wu couldn't believe it, she was good for nothing except collecting pearls.

He had never been to school, and he knew nothing about music, chess, calligraphy, or painting, not even arithmetic.

What can she do to help the county lord?

The county lord in front of her seemed to know what she was thinking and smiled gently.

"But I'm in some trouble now, you can make a decision after I solve it. I've thought about all your worries, someone will teach you. I can see that you are very smart, and with some instruction, you will surely become a great person!"

This was the first time in Ah Wu's life that he was praised.

In the past, I was beaten and scolded by them at the pearl farm.

Ah Wu was so moved that tears streamed down his face and he kowtowed to her on the bed.

"Wuwuwu County Lord, this is the first time you don't despise me. I am willing! I am willing to do whatever you ask me to do!"

Song Jin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He quickly let her lie down and told the maid to take good care of her and not to neglect her.

Then he left the room and went to see Zhan Lin.

Zhan Lin saw her and was the first to speak: "How is it?"

He still held the same brocade box in his hand.

"The man in the hood that Ah Wu saw was from the royal family. I saw the fifth prince on the day when the incident happened in Zhaiyue Tower."

Zhan Lin frowned: "You suspect it's the fifth prince?"

Song Jin asked him back, "Among the princes, the Third Prince has been in seclusion for a month to take care of the First Prince's wife; the Crown Prince is busy with the court officials with the Marquis and is too busy to spare time; and the Seventh Prince, I heard, has just been released from house arrest; as for the Ninth Prince and the Eleventh Prince, you just met the one yesterday, he has been with me the whole time, and the Eleventh Prince is not yet able to leave the palace on his own."

"It seems that the fifth prince is the most suspicious, and he is targeting the Zhaiyue Tower. The only people that Zhaiyue Tower can attract are those princes."

A few months ago, several princes went to meet the owner of Zhaiyue Tower privately, intending to bribe him. This matter can be found out as long as one is interested.

Zhan Lin did not reject her inference.

"Whether it is true or not, let's go see the Fifth Prince first."

He turned around and was about to leave with the gift box in his hand, but out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a figure following him.

Stop.

"What is this, Lord?"

Song Jin: "I am also a partner of Zhaiyue Tower. It is not too much for me to go with Minister Zhan to take a look and be a witness, right?"

Zhan Lin's lips moved, but he said nothing, tacitly agreeing to her following.

Zhan Lin, along with his guards, rushed to the Fifth Prince's residence with great momentum.

The butler had no time to pass on the message.

I watched them rush in.

"Minister Zhan is so arrogant that he even dares to intrude into my palace without permission."

In the snow, Xu Luo stood barefoot in the yard, as if waiting for their arrival.

"What does Minister Zhan want to search for? The matter of Zhaiyue Tower has nothing to do with this palace."

Zhan Lin strode into the snow, "I didn't say it was related to Zhaiyue Tower. Your Highness, are you going to admit it yourself?"

Xu Luo said nothing.

Zhan Lin ordered a thorough search to begin, and all the eunuchs and palace maids in the mansion were brought in for questioning.

When I asked a certain eunuch, he looked so flustered that his legs felt like a sieve.

Seeing Zhan Lin’s sharp eyes, he knelt down immediately.

"I confess! I confess everything! It was His Highness who ordered someone to mix poison into the pearls in the Moon-Picking Tower!"

"I was forced to do this. The poison is still in my room. I beg you, Lord Minister, to spare my life!"

The shock on Xu Luo's face did not seem fake.

"What nonsense are you talking about!"