Chapter 33: Breaking the Greed She just felt a little embarrassed to speak in front of the young prince...
It's really embarrassing...
Luo Qingling sat in her chair, her face half covered, not daring to glance at Qin Yanheng, who was sitting across the table. She must have been out of her mind to say something like that. Qin Yanheng already had a stereotype of her, thinking she was "climbing the social ladder," because of the portrait incident.
He didn't like others approaching him with ulterior motives, and she even said something like "enjoying it"... What if Qin Yanheng thought she liked him?
Thinking of this, Luo Qingling wanted nothing more than to bolt out the door. She turned her head away, not wanting Qin Yanheng to see her embarrassment. Because of this, Luo Qingling naturally didn't notice Qin Yanheng's gaze. He only saw the latter, a hint of a smile on his face, as he raised an eyebrow and looked at the huddled Luo Qingling.
He only felt that Luo Qingling at this moment was like a ball of jade dew soaked in cherry juice, and her formerly fair face was covered with a blush, as if she would be ripe if she stayed with him any longer.
Looking at Luo Qingling's face which was almost rubbed into pieces by herself, Qin Yanheng felt that the rosy white face must feel good... In fact, he quite liked eating jade dew balls.
Startled, Qin Yanheng suddenly felt a little embarrassed. He deliberately covered his mouth with his fist, coughed lightly, and wanted to call out Luo Qingling.
"Jade……"
Qin Yanheng opened his thin lips, and the jade dew ball was about to reach his mouth, but he stopped in time. He changed the subject and was about to say something, but he saw Song Yutai beside him bending his head, pursing his lips in a strange posture to suppress a smile, looking at him with a sly look - to be precise, looking at him and Luo Qingling.
"What are you doing?" Qin Yanheng suddenly stopped smiling and questioned Song Yutai in a cold voice.
Unexpectedly, Song Yutai tutted and squinted at Qin Yanheng, who stared back coldly. Seeing this, Song Yutai hissed and slowly straightened up. Unable to suppress the smile on his lips, he leaned in close to Qin Yanheng and whispered, "What happened between you two just now?"
The two of them had expressions of one shy and the other smiling. If he had known this earlier, he would not have gone downstairs first. He should have waited at the corner and enjoyed the melon - he had never seen his cousin show such an expression, and now he saw it.
Unexpectedly, Qin Yanheng didn't give him the chance to gossip. He just patted Song Yutai on the back of the head and said with a squinting look, "I solved your case. Don't bother me."
Listen, this guy even calls himself "I". In the past, my cousin always called him "this king, this king". When did he change his address? Never mind... Song Yutai saw through it but didn't say anything.
"The corpse demon has been dealt with, but the real culprit remains undiscovered. What should we do now? Does Miss Luo have any good ideas?" Song Yutai took the initiative to start the conversation for the two of them. It was already dark, and if he didn't speak up, the two of them would probably have to sit in silence all night.
Before Luo Qingling could say anything, the wooden door behind him was kicked open, and dust flew in his face.
"The old Taoist is here——"
Bai Rushue appeared outside the door with her hands on her hips, and she and the three people behind her, Heirutie, posed in the shape of a flower. I don't know if it was rehearsed, but the scene looked extremely funny.
The three people in the room turned around at the same time to look at the four Taoist priests who had suddenly appeared, each with a different expression. Just as Qin Yanheng was about to speak, Luo Qingling suddenly had an idea.
She has a plan!
*
In the wing room.
Qin Yanheng was lying on the bed with a red candle on the table. The flickering candlelight reflected on his face, making Qin Yanheng's bone structure look even more delicate.
The bed was a mess, as if someone had just rolled over. In front of the jade pillow, Qin Yanheng propped up his head with one hand, dozing. His expression was calm, as if he had fallen asleep. Only his slightly trembling eyelashes betrayed his thoughts.
What nonsense...Luo Qingling actually dared to arrange for him. If he didn't stop it, he would be the murderer now.
The sound of birds chirping reached her from outside the door. The blanket beside her suddenly stirred, and a furry head poked out. Luo Qingling glanced at Qin Yanheng, who lay on the edge of the bed, and quietly got up. She looked around, then suddenly leaned over to Qin Yanheng, who had his eyes closed, and reached out to poke his face.
Unexpectedly, Qin Yanheng suddenly opened his eyes, and he raised his hand to grab her wrist to prevent her fingers from moving on his face.
"What?" Qin Yanheng raised his eyebrows, his eyes full of warning.
"Your Highness, please be serious. This is just acting. Sun Zhenbao has fallen asleep now. I am just pretending to be Cui Susu testing Sun Zhenbao!" Luo Qingling scolded.
That's all.
Qin Yanheng lay back down, closed his eyes and pretended to be dead. In order to find the murderer, he endured...
"Grandpa Sun...Grandpa Sun?" Luo Qingling called softly in his ear. His breath brushed against Qin Yanheng's earlobe, making him feel itchy. His tightly closed eyelashes trembled for a moment.
Seeing that "Sun Zhenbao" didn't move, Luo Qingling, who was playing Cui Susu, looked around, tiptoed past him, climbed off the bed, and walked straight to the door. The "murderer" Song Yutai had been waiting outside the door. When he saw "Cui Susu" open the door, Song Yutai slipped in sideways.
"Is that idiot asleep?" Song Yutai began to ridicule.
"Song Yutai, who are you calling a fool?" Qin Yanheng opened his eyes and glared at Song Yutai. He felt that Luo Qingling and the other two were taking this opportunity to play with him.
"Your Highness!"
Luo Qingling turned and glared at the man who was always acting out on the bed, not caring about the difference in status between herself and Qin Yanheng. She pouted and cursed, "I already said I was just simulating the night Cui Susu got into trouble. Why won't you cooperate at all, Your Highness?"
"Yes, yes, I was only talking about Sun Zhenbao, not you..." Song Yutai finally found an opportunity to make fun of Qin Yanheng, and naturally he would not let it go.
OK.
Qin Yanheng curled the corners of his mouth and lay back down.
For Luo Qingling's sake, he will let Song Yutai go tonight. Next time when the two of them play polo, he will teach this disrespectful cousin a lesson!
No one spoke in the room, and Luo Qingling and Song Yutai continued to act.
Song Yutai half-closed his eyes, pretending to be a playboy who had come to have a secret meeting with a beautiful woman. He described it vividly, "Such a beautiful day, Su Niang and I are sitting under the flowers and moon..."
“Stop, stop, stop—”
At the other end of the room, four Taoists sitting in a row watching suddenly called for a halt. Qin Yanheng opened his eyes coldly, his brow furrowed. Bai Ruxue finished speaking before Qin Yanheng could lose his temper: "Without any evidence, why did Lord Song so easily conclude that Cui Susu had met with the murderer while Sun Zhenbao was asleep?"
"In this world, if it's not about love, money or friendship, there's no reason to kill," Luo Qingling seemed to agree with what Bai Rushue said, standing aside and nodding his head as he analyzed.
Qin Yanheng also sat up at this time. He said slowly: "Although Sun Zhenbao doesn't like Li Qingqing, he treats her well. Sun Zhenbao also dotes on Cui Susu very much. I think he will give Cui Susu even more treasures."
"Furthermore, when I was interrogating everyone in the building just now, Mother Zhao and the others claimed that after Cui Susu came to Hua Manlou, the cook showed unnatural wealth. Perhaps Cui Susu gave this money?"
"Your Highness means that Cui Susu used the money given by Sun Zhenbao to subsidize the cook?" Luo Qingling immediately understood what Qin Yanheng meant.
Everyone thought what they said made sense and decided to re-enact the scene. Song Yutai left the wing room and walked back in. His expression was no longer as dazed as before, but rather filled with a hint of malice.
"Where's the silver?" Song Yutai asked Luo Qingling for money as soon as he came up.
"Why are you in such a hurry? It's not like I won't share it with you." Luo Qingling got into the role quickly.
"How much?"
"30/70, no negotiation."
"So much money, and you only give me 30%?"
The two of them became increasingly serious, nearly coming to blows. Song Yutai accidentally pushed Luo Qingling. The next moment, Qin Yanheng, who had been sitting lazily on the bed, rushed over, protected Luo Qingling's shoulders with one hand, and pulled her into his arms.
"Song Yutai."
Qin Yanheng stared at Song Yutai with a cold face, and the latter looked apologetic for his carelessness.
"Alright, alright," Luo Qingling poked her head out from Qin Yanheng's arms. She patted her arms, which were restrained at her waist, and said softly, "I'm fine, don't panic, little prince."
Hearing this, Qin Yanheng released his hand from Luo Qingling's waist, turned around and sat down at the table, and said, "So, Cui Susu's death was most likely caused by a dispute with the murderer over the division of property, and the murderer deliberately killed her?"
"This possibility cannot be ruled out." Luo Qingling reached out to pick up the teapot and pour herself a cup of tea. She was thirsty from the performance just now.
Seeing this, Qin Yanheng immediately put the back of his hand on the teapot. It felt slightly warm, indicating that the tea was not cold.
He glanced up at Luo Qingling, then silently took the teacup from her hand and poured her tea. His movements were so natural that even Qin Yanheng hadn't expected that he would one day take the initiative to pour tea for someone. But now wasn't the time to dwell on this...
"We were so focused on finding the corpse and the murderer that we forgot there were two other people - Sun Zhenbao's wet nurse and the dancer." Qin Yanheng supported his chin with one hand.
"When did this happen?" Four Taoist priests came over and asked.
"While you were sleeping in," Qin Yanheng squinted at the four Taoists, "the day after Cui Susu's death, Sun Zhenbao's wet nurse brought a dancer from Hua Man Lou, claiming there was no one to warm her bed. The next day, the two of them suddenly disappeared from the Sun Mansion, just like Cui Susu had done before."
"Just now, I interrogated Mother Zhao, who is in charge of the dancers in the building..."
Everyone pricked up their ears and listened carefully.
"The dancers in Huamanlou never go out overnight. Besides, there are quite a few dancers in the building recently." Qin Yanheng said in a heavy tone, and it was obvious that he was worried about this matter.
"Who did the wet nurse call here?" Luo Qingling asked.
Qin Yanheng turned his head to look at Luo Qingling who was sitting beside him. His eyes were calm and his tone was firm. He opened and closed his thin lips and expressed his inner speculation: "I have to ask Sun Zhenbao about this."
Sun Mansion.
The candlelight in the room was bright. Sun Zhenbao sat at the table, rubbing his hands, his features wrinkled and a slightly uneasy expression on his face. He kept glancing outside, afraid that someone would suddenly appear from the archway behind the bushes.
For some reason, Sun Zhenbao felt extremely uneasy tonight. After dinner, he asked someone to light dozens of candles in the room, and then he hid in the room all night.
It is now the second watch of the night. If we can hold on for a few more hours, we will see the dawn.
“Rustle, rustle—”
Outside the tightly closed wooden door, someone was walking in the yard, heading straight towards the room where Sun Zhenbao was. He stared at the figure with wide eyes, and the hairpin on his head was shaking - that was the gold hairpin he gave her.
Sun Zhenbao couldn't stop shaking.
She...she is here.
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