After the meal, Shen Ning went to see Tao Ji.
Tao Ji cried out in pain, and Yu Zhu grumbled as he loosened the ropes for her. The main problem was that Tao Ji's hands were red all over from the ropes, and Yu Zhu was afraid that he might really hurt her.
Of course, she didn't just loosen the ropes directly. She tied up the new ones first and then loosened the old ones, focusing on strict defense and determined not to give Momohime any chance to escape.
Both of them breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Shen Ning coming over. Tao Ji felt that she might soon be free from torture, while Yu Zhu felt that her mission was accomplished and did not let Tao Ji escape again.
"Miss."
Shen Ning asked Yu Zhu to go eat. Meeting Tao Ji's expectant gaze, she didn't ask any questions first, but instead lifted her skirt and sat down on the chair next to her, lost in thought.
She wasn't in a hurry, but Momohime was.
"My dear young lady, just say what you want to say, and ask what you need to ask right away."
Yu Zhu's tying skills are really terrible. It hurts her to death. If she keeps being tied up, she'll be crippled. We finally got a young lady, but she won't even give her a quick death.
Shen Ning snapped out of her reverie, her knuckles lightly tapping the armrest: "What do you think I want to ask?"
Tao Ji was speechless. These people were just too cunning; they even had to use a trick to get a question out of someone.
“I am now obeying King Zhao’s orders, but he is not my true master.”
“My encounter with you, Miss, was by accident. It wasn’t my initiative to mention you to Prince Zhao. Prince Zhao was investigating you, and I happened to be returning from your place. I thought I would say a good word for you. Prince Zhao was very impressed with you and said he wanted to take you under his wing. So he asked me to bring you with him.”
Tao Ji said with a wronged tone, "King Zhao is of noble status. If you help him manage his business, he will be your support in the future. It's not a bad thing for you."
Shen Ning stared calmly at Tao Ji, trying to see any trace of acting on her face.
She could only believe half of what Momohime said.
Regardless of the truth, she still believes in her own deduction; of course, it's also possible that she feels guilty.
Although Shen Ning did not commit any theft, she immediately sensed danger when King Zhao brought out the Golden Treasure Pavilion.
In his previous life, the Liu family was massacred, and the Liu family was the aggrieved party. Later, the Marquis's Mansion and the Zhang family, the Minister of Revenue, both stood up for justice on behalf of the Liu family.
Looking back now, the reason they were willing to expose themselves and even participate in the struggle for the Liu family's assets in their past life was probably not just for the money, but more likely to prevent the national treasury gold bricks hidden under Jinbaolou from being discovered.
In his previous life, King Zhao relied on this wealth to maintain his power, which ultimately enabled him to defeat the Crown Prince and his allies.
But in this lifetime, Jinbaolou was burned down, a group of people from the Ministry of Revenue were implicated, and all of the Liu family's wealth was confiscated, which was equivalent to the King of Zhao having his purse taken away.
Why would King Zhao approach her? Did he hear she was good at making money and want to find her to be his new moneybags? Obviously, that's not the case.
There are plenty of merchants in the capital who are richer than her; her skills are simply no match for theirs.
Moreover, with Jinbaolou burned down, although the land deed has been leaked from the official sources, it's a hot potato for whoever holds it.
King Zhao forbade her to handle anything else, but instead dumped Jinbaolou on her. This didn't seem like he wanted her to make money; it seemed more like he wanted to harm her.
The two buildings next door are already quite valuable, and they were managed by the shopkeeper before, so there was no need for her to interfere.
But now, packing it up and dumping it on her is more like dumping a problem on her.
Tao Ji said that King Zhao had been investigating her before, was it because of the existence of Mo Lin and his sister, or because of Li Shaobai?
Mo Xue'er was rescued at the perfect time. With Prince Zhao's abilities, it wouldn't be difficult for him to find out that the two of them were in her residence.
And then there's Li Shaobai, he's the key figure in this whole affair, King Zhao couldn't possibly be unaware of him, and then there's that gold brick...
The more Shen Ning thought about it, the more cold sweat she broke out in. She blamed herself for thinking too simply at the time, only thinking about saving Mo Lin and his sister, thinking that the Liu family was under investigation and too busy to take care of themselves, so the two siblings would not be noticed.
She underestimated those people, and thus got herself into the mess.
She couldn't completely trust Momohime's words, but only in this way could the logic be reasonable.
Today's meeting made her realize that King Zhao was a cunning and ruthless man.
If she doesn't do as he wishes, there will definitely be bloodshed today.
But as soon as she agreed, King Zhao released her, which seemed even more suspicious.
Her intuition told her there was a huge potential danger involved, and the only thing she could think of now was a corruption case.
The Ministry of Revenue's case has not been thoroughly investigated yet. Anyone who touches Jinbaolou will be noticed by the officials and implicated in the corruption case. That would mean the extermination of their entire family.
Or rather, nothing needs to be done; whoever owns the land deeds for those buildings now will suffer.
This is clearly a trap.
King Zhao was afraid that the emperor would find out about his relationship with the Ministry of Revenue, so he gave her these shops to use as a target to confuse the investigators.
Otherwise, how can we explain his deliberate appearance, feigning to win over others while actually coercing them?
What he really wanted wasn't for her to make money for him; he wanted a scapegoat.
The idea of taking her as a concubine is just a deceptive tactic. If she had even considered currying favor with the powerful, she probably wouldn't even know how she died.
But it still doesn't feel right...
Shen Ning glanced at Tao Ji for a long time, then got up and left.
Peach Princess panicked: "No, please let me go, I really didn't mean any harm."
Shen Ning paused, then turned around: "You said your master isn't King Zhao, then who is he?"
Tao Ji remained silent, only looking at her with complicated expressions, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't. Shen Ning didn't press her further: "Take your time to think about whether you want to say it or not."
Momohime: "..." Couldn't you just let her go and think about it later? She's not going to run away.
Shen Ning went out the door, and the dark night was not as dark and intense as her mood.
At that moment, it felt as if a knife was hanging over my neck.
She had to get out of there quickly, before anyone found out she was involved.
But she herself clearly did not have the power to oppose King Zhao.
Even if Ye Feiyan and Li Shaobai could be used, they wouldn't be enough to fight against King Zhao. Instead, they would easily be implicated and lose their lives.
Ye Feiyan is Du Yunzhi's future husband; she can't ruin their relationship.
The Qi Prince's Mansion could put up a fight, but she only had a slight relationship with Princess Chang Le and didn't have enough influence to persuade the Qi Prince to come.
Upon closer examination, she realized she had absolutely no chance of winning.
With annihilation looming ahead, Shen Ning broke out in a cold sweat and felt a chill run down his spine.
And all of this stemmed from the fact that she saved Mo Lin and his sister. Would this have been avoided if she hadn't interfered with their fate?
Is this karma? She changed other people's fates, so she has to bear the consequences.
In her past life, she knew nothing, and these conspiracies and schemes had nothing to do with her.
But Mo Lin was loyal to her, and Mo Xue'er was so well-behaved and lovely.
Just think of Mo Lin being cut in half at the waist, and Mo Xue'er being brutally violated to death.
She still chose to save them herself.
They knew gratitude and loyalty; they shouldn't have died such a tragic death.
But now she has reached a dead end.
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