Chapter 67 He was so determined to take advantage of the situation that he acted as if the Prince's Mansion owed him something…
Xu Jinyu was very excited after hearing Gao Zheng's analysis, and even a little gloating: "That person can control what he does, but he can't control others. The hole in that handkerchief was originally easy to plug, but because it was sent everywhere, it can't be plugged no matter what."
They investigated for three months without much success, only to be betrayed by their own people, ultimately giving them leverage over each other.
"No wonder that person still wanted to get rid of you even though you never remembered him. It's much easier to get rid of you than to destroy all the handkerchiefs that have been scattered all over the capital, and it will also prevent future troubles."
He patted Qi Jingxuan's shoulder helplessly and sighed, "You're really unlucky. If that handkerchief had been destroyed in time, the other party might not have been so ruthless towards you."
Qi Jingxuan spat out his back teeth: "Which silk shop are you talking about? I'll take some men and seal it up right now, arrest everyone inside and interrogate them one by one. I refuse to believe we can't find out anything."
Gao Zheng scoffed, "It's been so long. That person isn't stupid. He wouldn't just wait for you to investigate. That silk shop has either closed down or the staff has been replaced. Even if you know there's something wrong with it, you won't find anything now."
Qi Jingxuan wanted to refute, but he had nothing to say, and his shoulders slumped down in despair.
"It still needs to be investigated."
At this moment, Shen Yan spoke.
"The more people involved, the less likely it is to leave no trace. Whether the shop closes or the owner changes, there will always be changes."
"Investigate why they closed down and why they changed owners. If all else fails, find out who the shop's original owner was and whether it changed hands before. These things can be helpful."
Just like how Lin Si, though dead, implicated Consort Hui and the He family. Even if this shop closes down, we can still find something. Following these clues further might yield unexpected surprises.
Having received her affirmation, Qi Jingxuan regained some confidence: "I'll have A Yuan go right away..."
Xu Jinyu interrupted, "Let me do it. That shop delivered fabric to my family not long ago, so it definitely hasn't closed down."
“Ah Xuan, most of the things in your household are sent directly from the palace. You don’t deal with these shops much. If you send someone there rashly, they won’t answer. My family are regular customers of theirs, so it’s much easier for us to ask them anything.”
Shen Yan nodded: "Then I'll leave this matter to Prince Xu. Thank you for your trouble."
Xu Jinyu cupped her hands in greeting: "I dare not accept such praise. It is something that concerns my family, so it is only right."
If it weren't for the mishap at his family's spring banquet in March, Shen Yan wouldn't have been implicated. He still hasn't been able to give her an explanation, and he already feels very embarrassed.
Shen Yan smiled and nodded, then said, "About the He family..."
“I’ll go,” Gao Zheng said, taking the initiative. “I come from the Gao family of Jiangzhou and now work at the Dali Temple. I’m new here and don’t know anything, so it’s normal for me to want to find out about the background of the prominent families in the capital. The He family suddenly split up, so it’s not wrong for me to investigate out of curiosity.”
The Gao family is skilled in criminal justice and has produced three Ministers of Justice. It is not surprising that this member of the Gao family is secretly paying attention to the movements of powerful families.
Moreover, Consort Hui and the He family have already been brought into the open, clearly showing that they are not afraid of being investigated, and may even be deliberately trying to attract attention.
The other party was probably very confident, thinking that the matter was over and that Consort Hui or the He family would take the blame, thus ensuring their own safety.
Shen Yan hesitated for a moment before saying, "Brother Gao, this matter has nothing to do with you. It's not too late to back out now."
The matter has already involved the palace banquet in the first month of the lunar calendar, and involves Prince Ning and the Imperial Concubine. It is far more serious than they had imagined.
Gao Zheng only recently arrived in the capital and has no connection with the Prince of Ping's mansion. He's merely an old acquaintance of the Shen family, having met with them a few times since arriving in the capital. They probably haven't yet discovered that he's helping to investigate the Cheng'an Marquis's spring banquet incident, so he can still extricate himself unscathed.
Gao Zheng sneered: "Am I really that kind of cowardly, half-hearted person in Sister Shen's eyes?"
"No, I mean..."
“You don’t need to say anything more,” Gao Zheng interrupted. “I did intervene in the matter in a fit of anger, hoping to extricate you from this marriage. But now that it involves the concubines of the harem or the imperial heir, or even the struggle for the crown prince, I, as an official of the Great Zhou, cannot stand idly by.”
If the person behind this is truly Prince Ning, it means he either had an affair with his stepmother or committed adultery with a court official's wife. If such a morally reprehensible person were to become the crown prince, wouldn't the Great Zhou dynasty crumble? And if he were to ascend the throne in the future, wouldn't the wives and daughters of all the officials be in grave danger?
Whether out of duty as a court official or out of a genuine desire to solve the case, he could not allow this to happen, so he was determined to get to the bottom of it.
Seeing his insistence, Shen Yan said nothing more, but Qi Jingxuan's face turned green: "How can you talk like that? What do you mean by 'getting rid of this marriage'? Aci and I are..."
Looking at Gao Zheng's cold and stern face, and thinking about the origins of his marriage with Shen Yan, he swallowed back the words "mutual affection" that were on the tip of his tongue, and muttered under his breath, "It's not as simple as saying 'liberation,' it sounds so awful..."
He realized he'd gone off-topic after he finished speaking. No one here cared about this except him, not even Shen Yan. So he could only roll his eyes at Gao Zheng, then turn to Shen Yan with pleading eyes: "They all have things to do, so what can I do?"
“Your Highness should continue to monitor the situation in the palace,” Shen Yan said. “Although Lin Si is dead, Consort Hui, who killed him, is still alive. Consort Hui must know something. Even if we haven’t been able to get anything out of her yet, it doesn’t mean we won’t be able to later.”
"It's not very convenient for us to enter and leave the palace, only Your Highness can do it, so this matter will be entrusted to you."
Qi Jingxuan nodded vigorously: "Starting tomorrow, I will enter the palace every day to personally keep an eye on news from Consort Hui's side."
After saying that, he remembered something and added, "And there's that sixth brother too."
The Emperor has already sent people to find Qi Jinghong. He should return to the capital in the next couple of days. Once he returns, Consort Hui will definitely make a move.
In this way, everyone had something to do. Shen Yan thought about it carefully for a long time, but found that she was the one who had nothing to do in the end. She couldn't help but smile bitterly: "On the contrary, I can't help at all."
"How could that be?" Xu Jinyu said, "These clues were all compiled by Miss Shen. Without you, we would still be completely lost. If we find anything next, we will tell you and ask you to help us sort it out."
Shen Yan knew in her heart that the reason she was the one who pieced together these clues was because she was the one who knew about the handkerchief first. If Gao Zheng had known before her, he would definitely have thought of these things as well, and even more thoroughly than she had.
The few methods of solving cases she knew were all learned from Uncle Gao and his elder brother; they were just the basics. How could she possibly do better than those who had studied for decades?
She has always been a self-aware person, and she knew that now that Gao Zheng had arrived, she really didn't have much use in sorting out clues.
But she couldn't just sit idly by, so after Gao Zheng and Xu Jinyu left, she had someone call He Yuan in and asked him if A Qing was still near the Prince's Mansion.
“Yes,” He Yuan replied, “I can’t get rid of them. They come and squat here every day. Now they don’t even hide anymore.”
Previously, fearing he would cause trouble for Shen Yan, he had always kept a low profile. But after being caught by He Yuan and his group, he realized it was difficult to hide anymore; he always got found. So, he started openly loitering near the Prince's residence. Sometimes he would even freeload off the Prince's mansion, acting as if the mansion owed him something. Just today, he'd gotten a piece of braised meat and a jar of wine from them.
Shen Yan smiled and said, "Then I'll trouble you to find him. I have something I'd like to ask him."
He Yuan agreed and immediately went to find him. Qi Jingxuan, who was listening nearby, was completely confused: "Aci, why are you looking for him?"
He was a mute, a fierce-looking mute who only knew how to shoot arrows.
Shen Yan smiled and raised her hand, mimicking drawing a bow: "Please ask him to teach me archery."
Qi Jingxuan felt a headache coming on just hearing the word "archery." He instinctively clenched his legs and asked in a trembling voice, "You... why are you learning this? Do you want to kill the people who harmed us?"
"I just wanted to learn it since I had some free time, in case I need it someday."
She said it casually.
She hadn't actually considered whether to kill that person herself, but she did want to get rid of him.
Shen Yan initially only wanted to find the mastermind behind everything so that she and her family could avoid disaster and not repeat the same mistakes. But as she learned more and more, and learned that she had died so many times, and that her parents had died so many times, she not only wanted to avoid disaster, but also had the idea of revenge. But it was just a thought; she didn't intend to carry it out. Avoiding disaster was still her top priority.
But now that the clues have been focused on Prince Ning and the Imperial Concubine, her thoughts have not diminished but have intensified.
It wasn't that she hated those two people so much, but she knew that if the person behind the scenes was of such high status and acted so ruthlessly, then if she couldn't eliminate them, she would be the one in danger in the future.
They've already investigated this far, so it's impossible for them not to continue investigating that handkerchief. And the silk shop still being open is likely intentional on their part.
The man replaced all the people who needed to be replaced in the shop, leaving them with a shell that couldn't be traced back to him, in order to determine whether Qi Jingxuan had remembered something.
It's likely that the area around that shop is now teeming with spies. No matter how careful Xu Jinyu is, she'll be discovered sooner or later. And any slight movement there will immediately reach that person's ears. Then he'll know instantly that Qi Jingxuan remembered the New Year's banquet, the handkerchief, and the person hiding behind the artificial hill.
Although Shen Yan is not directly related to this matter, she is now Qi Jingxuan's princess. Who can guarantee that Qi Jingxuan won't say something to her? Given that person's style, he will definitely not let her go, and it will inevitably implicate her family as well.
It's somewhat ironic, but she was initially framed and forced to marry Qi Jingxuan to break the deadlock. Now, because of their marriage, the two are completely bound together.
It seems that from the day of the spring banquet at the Cheng'an Marquis's mansion, from the moment she was chosen by the mastermind behind the scenes as a pawn to frame Qi Jingxuan, she was destined to be unable to extricate herself from this matter.
Now, there is only one way to break this deadlock—find that person and eliminate him completely.
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Author's Note: Aqing: Protecting Miss Shen and also serving as a guard for your Prince's mansion, what's wrong with getting some food and drink for free? I haven't even asked you for a salary yet. (Pointing and whispering.jpg)
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