Chapter 182 Affair
Mo Xiang bought her favorite style of lanterns early on.
"It would be great if grandma were still here." She turned the lantern, with a hint of sadness in her eyes.
As far as she can remember, her grandmother has been with her every year during the lantern festival. Her grandmother is very skillful and can make many beautiful patterns for her to play with to her heart's content.
Take her to appreciate the lanterns, guess riddles, go shopping in the market, hold her in my arms and sit on her lap to watch the full moon.
But now, she is alone in a foreign land.
She sat in the yard, looking up at the full moon in the sky.
It won't be long before she can uncover the truth hidden by the emperor and give an explanation for her grandmother's death.
Would the old lady who always laughed at and bullied her but loved her also be proud that the granddaughter she raised is no longer a fool who only cares about love?
"Miss, are you missing your uncle?" Mo Xiang said, "Your uncle said before that he would take you to see the lanterns. You must be missing your uncle now."
Shen Anan smiled when he heard this, without further explanation.
"Has he sent any more letters?"
Mo Xiang shook her head, "Not yet."
I don’t know what’s going on, my brother-in-law used to write a letter a day, but he suddenly stopped in recent days.
"The capital is difficult, he must be walking on thin ice."
"Sitting in the yard, you can still see a few fireworks, but the streets outside are so shabby and desolate, there's not even a soul." Li Huaiyan's nonchalant voice sounded.
"Hey, you even bought some lanterns. I walked around the street and didn't see a single brothel open."
Shen Anan glanced at him and reminded him, "When you go out, you'd better behave yourself and avoid those dirty places."
"How can this be called dirty?" Li Huaiyan shook his head and sighed, "You two really don't know how to enjoy life. People should enjoy themselves while they are alive."
He sat lazily in the chair next to Shen Anan. From time to time, a cluster of fireworks exploded in the sky, proving that today was the Lantern Festival.
"If I had known that this small place was so desolate, I wouldn't have come here."
Shen Anan shook his head, "It's not a depression, but because of the chaos, no one dares to do business."
Not to mention at night, even during the day, how many people dare to wander around the streets?
There is no prosperity in troubled times, that's how it is.
Li Huaiyan sighed, "Those bandits are really hateful."
The Shen family was unusually quiet tonight. Most of the maids and servants were gone, including Shen Yunbai, who had not been seen for two days.
Shen Anan glanced outside and narrowed his eyes. Li Huaiyan lowered his voice and said, "Don't worry, there is no one else. There are secret guards guarding."
Shen Anan then spoke boldly, "Did you find any results from the investigation into the Shen family before?"
"Well," Li Huaiyan nodded and said casually, "It's still the same as before, no problem at all, he is a serious businessman."
Shen Anan frowned, "Nothing else?"
Li Huaiyan shook his head and immediately moved closer to Shen Anan, "Do you also think that Shen Yunbai's background is a little too clean?"
Shen Anan, "A businessman who can do such a big business shouldn't be like this. The cleaner he is, the more suspicious people will be."
Li Huaiyan nodded.
"But if it has nothing to do with what we are investigating, we will have to interfere and cause more trouble."
This is what Shen Anan was thinking.
Now that they have important things to do, as long as Shen Yunbai doesn't do anything harmful to them, they probably won't interfere.
At this moment, Qingfeng hurriedly walked into the yard, "Something happened, Shen Yunbai was arrested by the government."
Shen Anan and Li Huaiyan looked at each other.
"What did he do after he was caught by the government?"
Qingfeng's face was serious. "They said they took human life lightly. A villager reported that someone in their family was missing. The government found the body of the bandit we killed that day in the canyon. The villagers said he was a family member."
"What?" Li Huaiyan stood up in disbelief. "Aren't those people bandits? How come they became ordinary villagers?"
Qingfeng looked unhappy. "The villagers said yes, and the government said yes too."
Fighting against bandits is not only innocent, but also meritorious. However, if you kill so many civilians, it would be a capital crime.
"There are witnesses who said they saw the Shen family fighting with the bandits and that they killed all of them."
Shen Anan's almond eyes were cold and frosty, "If that's the case, then those of us who are finishing the job are also among those who take human lives lightly."
Li Huaiyan frowned and quickly found the key. "You still remember what Shen Yunbai said that day. He said that those bandits are very vengeful. Now it seems that his way of revenge is to join forces with the government."
They were on high alert for sudden attacks from the bandits, but they never expected that they would cooperate with the government to do something like this.
"Now it seems that we were right not to go directly to the government office at that time."
For someone to be able to utter such absurd remarks, the government and the bandits must have been in cahoots with each other.
Li Huaiyan smiled, "I have to say, those bandits do have some brains, they are not all reckless."
Shen Anan said, "If Gu Tan is the mastermind behind this, this little trick is really nothing."
Qingfeng asked, "So what should we do now? Should we directly reveal our identities to the government and arrest the person, or..."
"No," Li Huaiyan and Shen Anan said in unison.
Shen Anan continued, "We don't know Gu Tan's strength and the forces behind him. We are weak and alone, so we can't take risks. If the official is desperate, he can do anything."
"Let's wait until tomorrow and try to figure out if we can meet Shin Yun Baek first."
Qingfeng was worried, "Princess, will Shen Yunbai put all the blame on us?"
After all, most of those bandits died in their hands.
"Not for now." Shen Anan said, "We are helping him after all. Besides, he is in prison now. If there is no one to help him, he will most likely rely on us to help him turn things around."
Li Huaiyan frowned and said, "Didn't that guy say he had connections and power? Why did he keep getting into trouble? He doesn't seem like someone with a good status."
Having been doing business in Tianshui City for many years, he must be familiar with the government, and he must have been able to get money. He was arrested without any hesitation, which is really...
It doesn't fit in with what he said.
Shen Anan didn't care. Wasn't it the same when they were in the canyon?
They originally wanted to take advantage of the situation, not wanting to end up being nothing.
However, the Lantern Festival in the capital was exceptionally lively, especially in the imperial palace.
Every year during the Lantern Festival, the emperor would entertain his ministers and relatives, enjoy singing and dancing, and watch fireworks. This year was no exception, but the atmosphere was quite subtle.
Xiao Ze's power was declining, and many ministers began to consider moving closer to Xiao Yuan. But at this time, the emperor returned! !
The ministers began to hesitate and speculate again.
I wonder if the emperor likes the second prince, so he came back to support him.
Ling Chenyi snorted coldly, staring at the officials surrounding Xiao Ze, "You old fellows, you are a bunch of fence-sitters. You were very respectful to me a few days ago, but now that the emperor is back, you are trying to curry favor with Xiao Ze again."
Xiao Yuan glanced at him indifferently, his face expressionless.
It is human nature to curry favor with the powerful. No matter how powerful he is, it is difficult for him to ascend the throne without the emperor's support. Naturally, he will side with whoever the emperor favors.
Ling Chenyi sneered, "You don't even consider that person's ability. If the emperor hadn't come back, he would have been kicked out within half a month. With such ability, is he qualified for such a big task?"
He was particularly annoyed today and complained more.
Over the years, we have experienced countless times the disappointment of being on the verge of victory but ending up with nothing, and it was all caused by the emperor.
Every time when Xiao Ze was at a disadvantage and about to lose, he would take action to turn the tide, and this time he used the same trick.
Xiao Yuan had a cold expression from beginning to end. When the emperor spoke to him, he would only respond with a sentence or two. If the emperor didn't speak, he would just drink in silence.
Halfway through the banquet, Xiao Ze was almost drunk.
From being terrified at the beginning to feeling elated because the emperor had returned to support him, he had long forgotten his initial caution.
A palace maid supported him and walked out.
Ling Chenyi glanced at him, a sarcastic smile on his lips.
There was singing and dancing, and all the civil and military officials were getting drunk. They stared in ecstasy at the enchanting dancer dancing in the center of the hall.
At this moment, a young eunuch suddenly ran in, "Your Majesty, no...something bad has happened."
His anxious voice broke the peaceful atmosphere. The emperor pushed away Liangpin's arm that was feeding him wine, and the chief eunuch beside him immediately shouted, "What nonsense are you talking about? Come, take him away."
"It was my fault. It was my fault. It was the Second Prince. Something happened to the Second Prince."
The emperor narrowed his eyes and subconsciously glanced at Xiao Yuan, "Speak."
The young eunuch swallowed and stammered, "The Second Prince... The Second Prince is drunk, in... the Emperor's side hall... in... "
Everyone understood before the young eunuch finished speaking.
All the civil and military officials knew exactly what kind of person Xiao Ze was, but he was too bold to act like a prostitute in the emperor's side palace at a palace banquet.
This is ridiculous. All the people in the palace are the emperor's women! ! ! !
The emperor did not speak, and the others also kept silent. The emperor was very angry at Xiao Ze, who was a hopeless case, and asked in a cold voice, "Where are the others?"
"It is still in the side hall. I dare not go in, so I hurried to report to Your Majesty."
"Go, bring that rebellious son to me." The emperor felt so embarrassed that the young eunuch hesitated and did not move.
"Your Majesty, I dare not. That woman..."
The more the young eunuch hesitated, the more people suspected that the woman was not ordinary.
Liangpin suddenly chuckled and said, "Why are you hesitating so much? What's wrong with that woman? She can't be a concubine in the emperor's harem."
Or maybe she has no brains. As soon as these words came out, the emperor's face suddenly became extremely gloomy, as if it was tempered by ice.
"Liangpin, shouldn't you think about your words before you speak?" The emperor's voice was very cold. Liangpin finally reacted and glanced at the officials in the hall, her face turning pale.
"Lead the way." The emperor flicked his sleeves, overturned the dishes on the dragon table, and strode out of the hall. Many ministers followed him consciously.
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