Xie Lin had just been chatting with the oldest princess, Sheng An, when he heard that Lady Su Qi had arrived. ’Zhou Gu is such a fool,’ Xie Lin thought to himself. ’I set up an opportunity for him, and he couldn’t even keep her here for a while.’
Quickly, Princess Sheng An ordered her servants, "Let her in."
Su Rong was brought into the room, showed respect to Princess Sheng An, and used the title she had changed to earlier in the day, "Great Aunt, greetings. I came to question Wang Su, and I thought it would be nice to visit you too."
Princess Sheng An took her hand. "You seem to have lost weight from all your hard work," she complained. "What was His Majesty thinking? Why did he let you bear this burden? Now that Rui’an King is sick, you need to take care of yourself in this cold, snowy weather. Why are you not wearing a bit more?"
Su Rong laughed. "I took on the stress willingly, hoping to help the Crown Prince break the deadlock sooner and get to Nanchu earlier." She spoke plainly, ignoring Xie Lin, who was sitting there. "It’s really time for the king to be sick. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to act as freely. Today’s investigation was fruitful, and perhaps it won’t be long before the case is completely solved. Then the Crown Prince can thank the king a lot."
Xie Lin: "..."
He thought to himself, ’Are you daring to say that? Do you think I’m dead and can’t hear you?’
However, Princess Sheng An heard another meaning in Su Rong’s words. She was eager to finish the case earlier, leave the capital city sooner, and go to Nanchu. Maybe once she was further away from Zhou Gu, he could let go.
Princess Sheng An sighed with emotion and patted Su Rong’s hand. "Don’t rush too much, take care of your health."
Su Rong smiled and agreed.
She stayed and talked with Princess Sheng An for a while, then left with Xie Lin.
After they left, Princess Sheng An said to her close wet nurse: "What a nice girl, is it any wonder Zhou Gu can’t let go?"
She asked her wet nurse, "Where is Zhou Gu? Has he gone back to his own yard?"
The wet nurse nodded. "Lady Su Qi took his pulse for Young Master Zhou and prescribed some medicine. Finally, from today onwards, he is willing to drink the medicine again."
Princess Sheng An was very gratified, but also helpless, muttering to herself: "This kid, he doesn’t listen to me or his mother, but he would listen to everything this girl says."
He really was a rebellious grandchild!
On the way back from the Duke Residence, Xie Lin asked Su Rong, "Miss Su Qi, did you get any information out of Wang Su?"
"Yes, I did."
"What is it?" Xie Lin thought, apart from the Crown Prince’s wife, would Wang Su admit to anything else? Would he reveal his relationship with someone from the palace? She doesn’t have anything specific on Wang Su, does she?
Su Rong extended her hand from her sleeve, took out a paper, and handed it to Xie Lin. "If little prince is so curious, look for yourself."
Xie Lin extended his hand to receive it, and after a look, he was left with his eyes wide open in surprise. He looked at Su Rong in shock, "How did you get Wang Su to confess?"
How could Wang Su take the initiative to reveal his relationship with the person from the palace?
Su Rong looked at him, "Want to know?"
Xie Lin nodded vigorously.
Su Rong took back the confession, slipped it back into her sleeve, and told him with an indifferent look: "I’m not telling."
Xie Lin: "..."
He regretted not following her into the dungeon.
Su Rong, having been tired all day, leaned against the carriage and closed her eyes after she finished talking.
Xie Lin opened his mouth several times, but closed it each time. Seeing that she didn’t look like she wanted to talk to him anymore, he didn’t dare to bother her. All he could think was that his father was right: this woman was too capable.
The carriage arrived at the residence of the Rui’an King. The coachman announced their arrival, Su Rong opened her eyes and said to Xie Lin: "Little prince, time to get off the carriage. This is your home."
Xie Lin nodded and got out of the carriage. Turning to say something to Su Rong, he saw her dismiss him with a wave and say, "See you tomorrow," before the carriage turned around and left the residence of the Rui’an King.
Only then did Xie Lin realize that she had gone out of her way to take him home.
As a man, he had been escorted home by a lady; Xie Lin’s face turned red. His face changing several times, he watched the carriage disappear into the distance. Stomping his foot, he rubbed his hands and turned to go back into the house, muttering under his breath, "Looking all delicate and ladylike, but doing the work of men. Could she have been reincarnated wrongly? She should have been a man!"
Xie Lin went to see the Rui’an King, the room was filled with the scent of medicine. The Rui’an King was lying in bed, looking through the case files. When Xie Lin entered, he directly told him: "Father, there’s no need to pretend to be sick anymore. Su Rong isn’t falling for it. She has no intention of coming to see you. It’s tough on you for having to lie in bed all day."
The Rui’an King suddenly sat up. "What did you say?"
Xie Lin said, "She’s brilliant, a real old hand. You couldn’t fool her by pretending to be sick, so it’s fortunate timing that you fell ill. She said that you’ve given her carte blanche to investigate, and she’s already made significant progress today. In a few days, she might have everything figured out, and then she’ll thank the Crown Prince on your behalf."
Rui’an King: "..."
What a thing to say!
Seeing the king fall silent, Xie Lin let out a sigh. "Father, I’ve spent the day with her and it’s clear that some people are naturally suspicious. Su Rong is just such a person. If you really leave the entire case to her, she might just wrap it up neatly, just like she said. But when everything turns upside down, what will you do?"
Rui’an King massaged his temple. "What can I do? It’s out of my hands. You think if I didn’t pretend to be sick she wouldn’t have free rein? Don’t forget, she has the Token, which is equivalent to my personal presence."
He also sighed, "If you gave her the Token that is equivalent to your personal presence, then you must be prepared for the worst. When the time comes, you will have to bear it all by yourself."
He waved towards Xie Lin, "Alright, go back and rest!"
Xie Lin nodded. Since his father had expressed it so, he had nothing to worry about and promptly left.
After seeing Xie Lin back to the Duke Residence, Su Rong did not return to the Shen Residence but instead went to the Eastern Palace.
Now that her relationship with the Eastern Palace was no secret, she didn’t need to sneak in through the back door. When the gatekeeper saw her, he immediately let her into the Palace without any question.
Yan Huisheng was about to have dinner, but when he heard that Su Rong had arrived, he instructed his servants to add another bowl and pair of chopsticks.
Since Su Rong had come over during meal time, she made no pretenses. She entered the room, put down her umbrella, took off her cloak, and sat opposite Yan Huisheng.
Yan Huisheng handed her a cup of tea first, "Warm your hands."
Su Rong took it and held it in her hands.
Yan Huisheng noticed that her fingertips were frostbitten. "Why didn’t you carry a hand warmer?"
"Too much of a hassle." Su Rong had never bothered with such things. Back at home, during the years past, each winter Lady Shen would chide her for her rough manners. But no matter what, she just didn’t like the fuss. Unlike her sisters who behaved like proper ladies, understanding the cold and heat, and carrying hand warmers at slight cold, and also keeping a hot water bottle when sleeping.
Yan Huisheng could not help but sigh, "Then you should get more clothes. I have ordered a white fur cloak for you. I will get it for you later."
Su Rong put down the tea cup, she didn’t refuse the gift, "Okay."
The cloak she was wearing was made by Lady Shen. Though it was also elegant and warm, it was not as comforting as a white fur cloak.
Yan Huisheng smiled, "Let’s eat first."
Su Rong nodded.
Though Su Rong had been busy all day, she had little appetite. After eating a bit, she put down her chopsticks and waited for Yan Huisheng to finish while sipping tea.
If any ordinary person were having a meal with the Crown Prince, they would wait for the Crown Prince to finish before they could. But in her case, she didn’t have that burden. From the first time when Yan Huisheng told her to be at her ease, she had truly done so.
Yan Huisheng looked at her, "Why did you eat so little?"
"I didn’t have much appetite today." It was rare for Su Rong to have a poor appetite.
Yan Huisheng asked, "Are you feeling unwell?"
"No."
Yan Huisheng asked again, "Is it because Fen Ling went to the palace to protect your mother, and no one’s competing with you for food, so you lost your appetite?"
Su Rong laughed, "No, Fen Ling started following me openly only after we arrived in the capital. In the past, I only knew that someone was secretly protecting me, but I could never figure out who. By your logic, I would’ve stopped eating years ago, wouldn’t I?"
Yan Huisheng nodded, "So you’re just tired?"
"Yes, somewhat."
Yan Huisheng said, "There’s no rush with the case. Don’t push yourself too hard. Take things one step at a time."
Su Rong wasn’t in a hurry. She found herself quite efficient. She pulled out more than a dozen testimonies from her sleeve, placed them on the table and said with a smile, "Don’t worry too much. Here’s the progress I made today. You can have a look after your meal. I think Rui’an King is a sly old fox. He probably expected me to take over the case from the beginning."
Yan Huisheng took a glance at them and commented "This is all you discovered in just one day? It’s quite a lot", then asked, "Rui’an King? What do you mean?"
Su Rong leaned back in her chair, "He knew all along that certain people and things could not be probed too deeply, yet he pretended to investigate. He’s been drawing me, or perhaps you, step by step, ready to take on this earth-shattering responsibility. This crafty Rui’an King really comes to no surprise to outdo the Duke Residence’s tact."
Yan Huisheng took the hint and did not say anything more, he continued eating, "Alright, let me finish my meal first, then I’ll take a look."
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