Xiao Yanli looked at her quietly, his face calm and his eyes deep.
He did not answer, but asked: "What happened in the past few days?"
Banzhuang thought for a moment and replied, "At first, she was just like usual, listening to music and watching dances, drinking to liven up the atmosphere. Then, a few days ago, she suddenly said she wanted to redeem a woman. I thought she had a good impression of the woman and wanted to take her home to serve her, so I agreed."
"Later, she said she didn't bring any money, so I wrote it down first and paid it back later. I figured she came every day and... definitely wouldn't default on her debt, so I wrote it down. Unexpectedly..."
Banzhuang spoke more and more quietly, her tone full of regret.
If she had known this, she shouldn't have set this precedent!
I have never heard of a brothel redeeming someone and paying on credit!
I regret it so much!
Xiao Yanli listened to her quietly. After she stopped talking, he spoke again, "Just now I saw that you clearly rejected her. Why did you let her take her away in the end?"
Banzhuang was stunned for a moment. She didn't expect that her master had also seen what happened just now.
She thought Xiao Yanli came in through the secret passage as before.
Taking in her stunned expression, Xiao Yanli's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes became a little darker.
"My Lord, the reason I asked her to take him away is because she said she knew you were the one behind Zuiyuelong."
How is that possible?!
Xiao Yanli couldn't hide his surprise and opened his eyes wide.
Uncle Zhang was also extremely shocked. "How is it possible? Not to mention that the master was only a few years old when the Drunken Moon Cage was built. In the following years, he appeared to be an idiot. After returning to normal, he never stepped into the Drunken Moon Cage with his true identity. How could Jiang Zhiyu know?"
Xiao Yanli calmed himself down and spoke in a voice that seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth: "What else did she say?"
"She also said," Banzhuang said cautiously, "If I don't let her take the person away, she will report it to His Majesty. Then, His Majesty will have to choose whether to believe her or you..."
With a "click".
He broke off the armrest of the chair Xiao Yanli was sitting on.
Her makeup was half gone and she didn't dare to speak anymore.
"What a Jiang Zhiyu! What a Censor appointed personally by the Emperor!"
There was rage in Xiao Yanli's eyes, and without looking closely, one could see that his hands were shaking slightly with anger.
Uncle Zhang waved his hand slightly, and Banzhuang retreated cautiously.
After a long while, Xiao Yanli seemed to regain his composure, his voice tinged with doubt: "Besides Zuiyuelong, what else does she know?"
Without waiting for Uncle Zhang to answer, he continued, "Drunk Moon Cage is my deepest hidden secret. If she even knows this, doesn't it mean that all my actions are under her nose?"
"Your Highness, I do not think so."
When there were people around, he would call Xiao Yanli "Master", and when there was no one around, he would call Xiao Yanli "Your Highness".
"The incident with Zuiyue Long happened a long time ago, and as I just said, no one should be able to connect you with Zuiyue Long, no matter your age, trajectory, or status."
"In my opinion, if she really knows your identity, there is only one possibility: someone has betrayed Your Highness."
Xiao Yanli looked up at him upon hearing this. Uncle Zhang spoke slowly, "Not many people know of your highness's status. They have all been with you for a long time."
"Even if we want to investigate, we can't make a big move, lest we discourage others."
Xiao Yanli himself knew this.
He couldn't help but sigh. There was Lan Yan in front, Liu Jie behind, and now it was half makeup...
Since when, things have become completely different from what he had imagined.
He rubbed his temples and said irritably, "Let's leave it at that for now. Let's all keep an eye on this place, Banzhuang, and investigate secretly. Don't let her find out... By the way, what's that guy's name, oh, Ling Zizhong, what's going on? Has Xiao Lingyu become suspicious?"
"How could he not be suspicious after being resurrected from the dead?" Uncle Zhang said calmly, "But don't worry, Your Highness. The Crown Prince's men are nothing to be afraid of. I have already sent people to forge clues. The Crown Prince's men will not be able to find out anything."
Xiao Yanli nodded slightly when he heard this.
"I'm confident in leaving it to you. But don't let anything go wrong again. There have been enough mishaps in recent days."
Uncle Zhang nodded in agreement. Watching Xiao Yanli sipping his tea, he hesitated for a moment before cautiously asking, "What about Jiang Zhiyu, Your Highness? What are your plans?"
Xiao Yanli thought for a moment and said, "This person acts too impulsively and is unpredictable. Although she told Banzhuang that she would not tell the emperor after redeeming the person, who knows if she was telling the truth or not."
Uncle Zhang carefully observed Xiao Yanli's expression and said, "Actually... I just thought of another possibility. Your Highness, would you like to hear it?"
"But it's okay."
"I'm wondering, is there a possibility that Jiang Zhiyu didn't actually say that at all, and that everything was just a lie told by Banzhuang to cover up the truth?"
Xiao Yanli paused holding the teacup.
"Your Highness saw Banzhuang's hesitation when she spoke just now. If Jiang Zhiyu really said that, why did Banzhuang hesitate? Moreover, even He Yanting couldn't find out Your Highness's identity after all these years, but this Jiang Zhiyu knows it. I just can't figure it out."
Uncle Zhang frowned.
Xiao Yanli was also a suspicious person. After hearing what he said and thinking about his expression before he put on half-makeup, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was possible.
"You have a point," Xiao Yanli said, his eyes turning slightly. "Well, I'll go to the Xu residence in person tomorrow to test this Jiang Zhiyu."
…
On the other side, in the East Palace study.
The secret guards half-knelt on the ground, carefully stating the facts they had investigated.
"Ling Zizhong bribed the imperial physician beforehand. When he was only breathing his last breath, the physician gave him a life-saving drug and lied to His Majesty, saying he had died suddenly."
"The emperor then ordered his body to be hung on the city wall, but he didn't assign guards to strictly guard it. So the imperial physician bribed a few guards to send people to give him medicine and food every night. After he was thrown into the mass grave, people who had been waiting there took him away and took him by water to the Jiangnan area."
Jiangnan is too far away, and if they want to investigate, they can only find this far.
"The imperial physician has passed away. My subordinates discovered these letters in his home. They clearly listed who he had received money from throughout his life, including Ling Zizhong."
"I also went to the homes of the people he mentioned in the letter and found that they matched."
The more Xiao Lingyu listened, the deeper his frown grew.
This plan is too perfect and too meticulous.
It really doesn't fit his uncle's character.
It really doesn't match the work standards of his secret guards.
It’s not that Xiao Lingyu looked down on them. In the past, for a simple assassination case, they only gave him a report of the Jinyiwei’s investigation and interrogation within more than ten days.
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