Chapter 34: Cutting off Greed Dozens of candles in a flash...
Dozens of candles went out in an instant, and a wisp of gray smoke drifted into the nose, which was a bit choking.
Sun Zhenbao was so frightened that he fell off his chair. He propped himself up with his hands behind his back and kicked his legs forward, trying to retreat. He stared wide-eyed at the figure that suddenly appeared at the door. His legs gave way to fear, and he couldn't escape.
Cui Susu…wasn't she already dead? Why, why did she return tonight? Sun Zhenbao couldn't control his rapid breathing. He pinched the front of his shirt with one hand, forcing himself not to make a sound—lest Cui Susu notice that he was hiding in the room.
She was dead, a dead person who had died by the river. Even if Cui Susu came to seek revenge, so what! How could a ghost fight a human?
Thinking of this, Sun Zhenbao's heart, which was about to jump out of his mouth, gradually calmed down. He retracted his legs, curled up into a circle and hid under the table, staring straight at the beautiful figure.
At the door, Liying slowly stretched her hand towards the top of her head, her sleeves fluttering in the wind. The golden hairpin on her head swayed slightly with the movement, making a crisp ringing sound. Sun Zhenbao was so scared that he opened his mouth to breathe unconsciously. He felt like he was drowning, and the air around him was suddenly sucked out, making it impossible to breathe - Cui Susu was here to find him!
"Sun Zhenbao..."
The woman stretched out the last syllable of her voice, her tone gentle and especially clear in the dark night.
"Sun Zhenbao... why don't you dare to see me..."
Cui Susu pushed the wooden door, and the old door frame made a creaking sound. At this time, for some reason, a night wind blew up, making the doors and windows of Sun Zhenbao's room rattle.
There was such a big commotion, why did no one in the Sun Mansion know about it?
Sun Zhenbao held his head in his hands and buried his face in his knees. Tears flowed unconsciously from his eyes. He huddled under the table and trembled constantly, as if he had done something wrong.
"Sun Zhenbao..." Cui Susu's voice seemed to come from hell. The empty room actually had a slight echo. She continued, "I died such a miserable death..."
"It's so miserable—" The female voice suddenly became high-pitched, and she pushed the door shrilly.
"Don't come looking for me!" Sun Zhenbao cried out in despair. His legs were so weak from fear that he could only crawl slowly on the ground. He raised his face and cried loudly, "Cui Susu, you're already dead, why are you still looking for me!"
"Because you killed me."
Cui Susu's voice outside the door sounded a little strange, but Sun Zhenbao was so frightened that he almost peed his pants, and had no time to figure out whether the female voice was Cui Susu, who he spent every day with.
"I didn't hurt you! I wasn't the one who killed you!"
Sun Zhenbao mustered up the courage to get up, knelt on the ground in a twisted posture, and shouted with tears on his face.
The wooden door was suddenly pushed open. Sun Zhenbao fell to the ground in fear, covering his eyes with his hands and not daring to look at the person who came. He just thought he was a dying man, and said a lot of words in a hurry: "I didn't kill you, Cui Susu, someone else killed you, not me——"
The person walked slowly and stopped in front of Sun Zhenbao.
"take away."
The voice is clear and mellow, and he is a young man.
Sun Zhenbao was stunned for a moment, then slowly took away his hand that was blocking his eyes. A piece of clothing embroidered with dragon and phoenix patterns in gold thread caught his eye. He seemed to realize something and suddenly raised his eyes to look at the young man with his back to the door. Although he couldn't see his face clearly, Sun Zhenbao could still make out his picturesque features in the dim night light.
"Rong, Prince Rong'an?" Sun Zhenbao was unable to react for a moment to what had happened until he saw that the girl in the gouache gauze skirt behind Qin Yanheng was the young lady who followed Prince Rong'an and interrogated him a few days ago.
"You just pretended to be Cui Susu and scared me?"
Sun Zhenbao questioned, but was kicked on the shoulder by Qin Yanheng. He rolled on the ground and was captured by the officers and soldiers who came over.
"Who gave you the courage to call yourself my master in front of me?" Qin Yanheng looked down at the ignorant Sun Zhenbao, with a mocking look on his face.
Sun Zhenbao was forced by officers and soldiers to kneel on the ground, with his head down, not daring to look at the arrogant Prince Rong An.
He can't afford to offend him, and not only him, but no one in the capital can afford to offend this gentleman.
His legs were trembling. Sun Zhenbao swallowed hard and forced himself to suppress his pounding heart. He stammered and apologized, "Master Qin... No, no, Your Highness Qin, I was wrong..."
Hearing this, Qin Yanheng nodded with great satisfaction. He bent down slightly and moved closer to Sun Zhenbao. He squinted his eyes and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "Be polite to her, or I will never let you go."
After saying that, Qin Yanheng turned around and left first, with brisk steps and a dashing back.
He just felt refreshed. It turned out that calling himself "young master" was such a cool thing. Previously, he disliked the title of prince as too old-fashioned, and ordered everyone to call him by a younger-sounding name. That's how the term "young prince" came about. But now, he suddenly felt that calling him "young master Qin" was also nice.
The main hall of the Sun Mansion.
Sun Zhenbao stood timidly in the hall, looking at the young man in front of him leisurely drinking tea, and asked in a trembling voice: "Young Prince, what do you mean by this? Why are you issuing a warrant for my wet nurse?"
"Who was the woman that the wet nurse sent to your bed two nights ago?" Qin Yanheng took a sip of tea and said slowly.
"I...didn't I tell you before? It was the dancer the wet nurse found from Hua Man Lou. She left the next day. I don't know who she was."
As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Yanheng slammed the table and asked coldly, "Sun Zhenbao, you still haven't confessed the truth?"
Seeing this, the officers and soldiers standing on either side of Sun Zhenbao immediately drew their long swords and forced him to kneel down. Looking at the sharp silver sword under his neck, Sun Zhenbao trembled with fear and stammered.
"I'll tell you, I'll tell you!" Sun Zhenbao knelt on the ground, head bowed, and told the whole story. "That wasn't some dancer from Hua Man Lou, but our wet nurse's daughter, Cui Lihua."
Also surnamed Cui?
Luo Qingling turned his head to look at Qin Yanheng, who also had the same shock in his eyes. Qin Yanheng waved his hand, and Xuanying, who was standing beside him, took small steps forward, lowered his head and waited for Qin Yanheng to speak.
"Cui Susu's son Xiang'er asked before, where is Cui Susu from?" Qin Yanheng stared at Sun Zhenbao who was kneeling on the ground, turned his head slightly and asked in a low voice.
"Everyone in Cuijia Village, a suburb of Beijing, has the surname Cui. Furthermore, I just discovered that the chef from Hua Manlou who disappeared... also has the surname Cui."
Hearing this, Qin Yanheng slammed the table and stood up, pointing at Sun Zhenbao and sternly said, "You really don't even know you've been sold."
A moment later.
Song Yutai walked in, a stack of books in his hands, and looked at Qin Yanheng, who was still in high spirits, with a puzzled look on his face. They had both been up all night, so why was he so sleepy that he couldn't open his eyes, while his cousin still looked so energetic? Could he have secretly drunk some refreshing talisman?
He silently glanced at Luo Qingling, who sat beside Qin Yanheng, also squinting sleepily. A plan came to mind. Song Yutai gave Qin Yanheng a cautious smile and whispered, "Cousin, it's getting late..."
The chirping of birds and the buzzing of insects are the smell of the early morning.
Song Yutai coughed and changed the subject: "Uh... It's too early. Cousin, why don't you take Madam Luo back to the inn to have some rest? I'll have someone check the accounts of the Sun Mansion right away." He quickly ordered them to go back to their rooms and sleep. He really couldn't hold on any longer. His eyes were blurry just looking at the words in the account book.
Hearing this, Luo Qingling nodded repeatedly, feeling sleepy. She couldn't help but yawn. Seeing this, Qin Yanheng gave Xuanying a look, indicating that the latter should prepare the carriage first, and then turned to Luo Qingling and said softly, "Madam Luo, if you are sleepy..."
"I'm not sleepy, not at all." Luo Qingling subconsciously rejected Qin Yanheng.
"Okay, I'm sleepy," Qin Yanheng stood up and left. As he stepped out of the door, he turned to look at the girl who was still drowsy in the hall and said with a smile, "The carriage is ready. Let's go back to the inn and get some sleep first."
*
Noon, inn.
After a good sleep, Luo Qingling felt refreshed. She hurried downstairs to find Qin Yanheng to discuss the next steps, only to see the latter sitting in the hall with his head down, flipping through the account book in his hand.
Why did this scene seem so familiar? Luo Qingling tapped her head, remembering that when she went downstairs a few days ago, Qin Yanheng had also lowered his head to read a book, showing no interest in her presence at all. And now...
"Madam Luo is awake?"
Qin Yanheng had looked up at her without her knowing when, with a smile on his lips. He placed the account book in his hand on the table and signaled his attendants to bring tea and snacks.
After being stunned for a while, Luo Qingling hurried downstairs, ate something casually, and then followed Qin Yanheng to the Sun Mansion.
Before the two of them entered, Xu Sheng, the Grand Court Judge, came trotting out to greet them. He saluted Qin Yanheng with a broad smile, then nodded to Luo Qingling. He said, "Your Highness, I have reviewed the Sun Mansion's accounts, and just as you expected, a large amount of money is indeed missing from the Mansion."
At this point, Sun Zhenbao, who had been kneeling for half a day, finally told the truth honestly.
Sun Zhenbao himself was very addicted to sex, but Lord Sun did not allow him to take too many concubines before getting married. So the wet nurse suggested finding young girls from outside to serve in the mansion, and then sending them away after a night of passion, as long as they were paid.
Sun Zhenbao didn't think much about it and did as the wet nurse said.
Therefore, for the past six months, the wet nurse sent a young girl to Sun Zhenbao every two days to warm his bed. The night the Sun Mansion was sealed off happened to be the night the girl was supposed to be in. Unable to leave the house to find her, the wet nurse sent her daughter Cui Lihua instead. To protect Cui Lihua's reputation, the wet nurse and Sun Zhenbao agreed to publicly announce that she was a dancer brought from Hua Man Lou.
Sun Zhenbao also agreed to give the wet nurse three times the money as a means of compensating her daughter Cui Lihua, which led to what happened later.
Unexpectedly, when he woke up the next day, the wet nurse and Cui Lihua were nowhere to be seen. Sun Zhenbao vaguely guessed that the wet nurse had left with the money of the Sun Mansion, but he was afraid of being scolded by Lord Sun, so he kept it a secret - even when Qin Yanheng interrogated him, he insisted that he knew nothing about it.
"Then why are you so sure that the wet nurse and Cui Lihua took away the treasures of the Sun Mansion?" Qin Yanheng interrupted coldly.
"Because the wet nurse has been diligently managing the Sun Mansion for many years and has never taken more money than she deserves, I...I felt comfortable handing the key to the treasury to her."
"But I don't know whether the wet nurse and Cui Susu are from the same village!" Sun Zhenbao confessed honestly.
Now everyone understood that the wet nurse, the cook and Cui Susu came for the money of the Sun Mansion. It seemed that Cui Susu's death was also related to them - Luo Qingling's previous guess in Hua Manlou was correct.
"Your Highness, what should we do next?"
"Wherever the treasure of the Sun Mansion is, there lies the real culprit."
Sun Zhenbao knelt on the ground, his face full of regret, as if he regretted handing the key to the Sun Mansion's treasury to the servants. It was all his fault that he had trusted the wet nurse too much, which led to a series of subsequent problems.
"Prince Rong'an," the Dali Temple attendant came over with the account book, "the accounts have been counted. It is true that a considerable amount of silver is missing. In addition, I have also found that some large treasures are missing from the treasury."
Qin Yanheng took the account book and flipped through it. If small items that can be carried around, such as white jade earrings, were lost, it would be understandable. But how did the wet nurse and the others secretly move this half-human-high golden box with mandarin duck, dragon and phoenix patterns out of the house, and why did it not attract anyone's attention?
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