Su Xiaoning and Su Qingcai reconciled and bought new river lanterns. The two solemnly wrote down the same wish, "One life, one love, one couple," placed the lanterns in the water, held hands, and then returned to the palace.
Back at the palace, Su Xiaoning originally thought the beggar should be treated by Bai Hua, so she went to Bai Hua's room, only to find scattered bloodstains at the door.
The bloodstains were bright red, as if they had just dripped from his body.
Su Xiaoning's heart tightened, and without bothering to knock, she kicked the door open with a "bang".
"Baihua! Are you alright?!"
"I'm fine, you don't need to shout so loudly..." A hoarse voice came from the dimly lit room.
At first glance, Bai Hua was sitting on the couch, panting heavily, one hand clutching his shoulder, looking extremely pained.
"You call this nothing?!" Su Xiaoning's pupils shrank slightly as she rushed in. Upon seeing the large patch of blood on Bai Hua's shoulder, she gasped in shock.
"What happened? Who did this?!"
"Don't even mention it..." Bai Hua rubbed her shoulder and gave a bitter laugh, glancing at Su Qingcai, who was standing next to Su Xiaoning with a furrowed brow.
"Weren't you investigating a case? I suspected that the Seventh Prince was involved, so I had Feng Jiuming disguise me and sneak into the Seventh Prince's residence to gather information. And believe it or not, I actually saw something incredible... Guess what? The person who took that night watchman away before actually appeared in the Seventh Prince's residence!"
"What? Aren't they General Jiang's men? How come they have dealings with the Seventh Prince!" Su Xiaoning's breathing quickened, and she vaguely felt that she had touched a corner of the truth.
Bai Hua shook his head and said in a deep voice, "Their official identities are indeed those of General Jiang, but who knows if they've been bribed by the Seventh Prince? I wanted to come back and report to you after I found out about this, but who knew that the Seventh Prince would discover me... He chased me all the way, but luckily I escaped, but this bloodstain is probably..."
He glanced heavily at his shoulder, which was soaked with blood, and felt a vague sense of worry, wondering if he had left clues for Su Qinghe to track him down here.
"Don't worry, maybe the Seventh Prince hasn't even noticed. You should focus on recovering first..." Su Xiaoning comforted Bai Hua in a low voice, trying to put Bai Hua at ease for the time being. However, before she could finish her sentence, Ding Yi and Bing Er walked in with tense expressions.
"Report! Your Highness, the Seventh Prince is right outside the gate, demanding that we hand over the person!"
"Why did you arrive so quickly?!" Su Xiaoning's face turned pale instantly, and she looked anxiously at Su Qingcai.
Su Qingcai waved her hand, signaling her to calm down, and then asked Ding Yi and Bing Er, "Hand over the person? Did he say specifically who he was handing over?"
Ding Yi shook his head and replied, "No, the Seventh Prince only said that a thief broke into his house and that the Ninth Prince's Mansion was protecting the thief. He asked the prince to hand over the thief."
"Ridiculous, does he think he can just hand over people like that?" Su Qingcai sneered, striding towards the door, intending to personally confront Su Qinghe. Worried about trouble, Su Xiaoning, after reminding Bai Hua not to act rashly, quickly followed.
—At the entrance of the Prince's Mansion.
Su Qinghe stood in front of the door, with a group of guards behind him, all of them looking fierce and menacing.
"What brings the Seventh Prince here?"
Su Qingcai spoke loudly and walked out of the Prince's mansion with composure.
The guards behind him instantly drew their weapons, but Su Qinghe made no attempt to stop them. He gave Su Qingcai a perfunctory bow and said, "I presume that the Ninth Prince already knows that a thief has entered my residence. Now that the thief has escaped to the Ninth Prince, I beg the Seventh Prince not to harbor the thief and to hand him over to me."
"Oh? A thief? Where is there a thief?" Su Qingcai looked around in confusion, then helplessly spread his hands towards Su Qinghe. "Seventh Prince, are you mistaken? My Ninth Prince's mansion is completely peaceful and there are no thieves here! Why don't we go back and rest and make further plans? What do you say?"
"The Ninth Prince is truly adept at blatantly lying." Su Qinghe sneered, not buying it at all.
He pointed to the ground in front of the Prince's mansion and said in a cold voice, "The evidence is right in front of us. The thief is in the Ninth Prince's mansion!"
Su Qingcai frowned slightly and looked in the direction Su Qinghe was pointing, and immediately saw the scattered bloodstains on the ground.
The bloodstains seeped into the soil, looking similar to those in front of the white birch tree, which must have been the traces he accidentally left when he escaped back.
This is troublesome. The evidence is right in front of them. Even if they deny it to the death, given Su Qinghe's personality, she might still barge in and search them.
Su Qingcai was at a loss and immediately fell silent.
Su Qinghe laughed heartily, and with the guards behind him, he moved even closer: "Well? Ninth Prince, can you hand over the person now?"
"Wait a minute."
Before Su Qingcai could answer, Su Xiaoning, who had been standing silently to the side, suddenly spoke up.
She looked up at the sky and saw a large dark cloud in the distance, and couldn't help but smile.
"What evidence are you talking about? I can't see it at all. It's probably going to rain soon, and then there won't be anything left."
"What do you mean by this?" Su Qinghe frowned slightly, unable to figure out what trick Su Xiaoning was up to. "You think it'll rain just because you say so? You don't have the lucky charm mark with you anymore, how can everything go your way? Nonsense!"
"Who can say for sure? Does the absence of the koi fish mark mean I don't have koi fish luck?"
A strange smile suddenly appeared on Su Xiaoning's face. She glanced furtively at the approaching dark clouds, then suddenly pointed to the sky and shouted:
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