Inside the room, Shen Wan sat on a small couch, touching her belly and feeling the baby's tiny hands and fists.
Shen Wan was extremely eager to see her child, knowing she would be able to do so in just over a month.
She played with the child, glancing at the water clock every now and then; Xie Jingyan should be back soon after finishing his wedding banquet.
Haitang brought the teacup into the room and saw Shen Wan checking the water clock. She said, "Your Highness, the Prince has already returned to the manor. He went to his study."
Shen Wan's beautiful brows furrowed.
Whenever Xie Jingyan leaves the manor, the first thing he does upon returning is to look for her. Why did he go straight to the study after returning from the wedding banquet today?
I'm worried that the smell of too much alcohol might bother her.
Shen Wan asked, "Is Your Highness drunk?"
Haitang shook her head, "The prince doesn't seem drunk."
Shen Wan then got up and went to the study to find Xie Jingyan.
The door wasn't closed, and Shen Wan went straight in, but Xie Jingyan wasn't at the desk; he was changing clothes behind the screen.
Shen Wan walked over and went around the screen to see Xie Jingyan changing into a night outfit and putting on a mask.
A purple-gold mask covered his devilishly handsome face, revealing only a pair of deep eyes.
Shen Wan asked, "What are you going to do?"
Xie Jingyan said, "I'll go to the Ministry of Justice's residence."
Shen Wan, “…???”
Shen Wan was a little confused.
Didn't he just come back from a wedding banquet at the Ministry of Justice's residence?
Moreover, there's no need to dress like this when going to the Ministry of Justice Minister's residence.
Shen Wan said, "You look like you're going to be a thief..."
Xie Jingyan pinched Shen Wan's nose and said, "The Minister of Justice is waiting for me to go thief and ransack his study. I'm afraid he'll be waiting a long time."
Shen Wan, “…???”
That sounds so outrageous.
The Minister of Justice was hoping Xie Jingyan would come to his residence to steal.
Are you kidding me?
Why don't they steal from the enemy's residence, but instead go to their own people's residence?
Shen Wan was a little worried, "Are you sure you haven't misunderstood the Minister of Justice's intentions?"
The study is a sensitive area, not a place you can just barge into.
If this is misunderstood and the Minister of Justice misunderstands, it would be very bad.
But Xie Jingyan is not without this confidence.
Xie Jingyan was afraid that Xu Ji would guess that the Prince of Yanping and his group would switch his drinks, so he served undiluted wine directly, while the wine served to others was diluted or simply water.
After all, it was outrageous for a son to incite outsiders to search his own father's study, and even told him about the hidden compartment. He wasn't sure if Xu Ji was faking being drunk, and he wouldn't do such a thing.
He had Chen Feng investigate and found that the wine Xu Ji offered at the wedding banquet was all genuine and not diluted with water.
Xu Ji's alcohol tolerance is probably no worse than his.
With such a high alcohol tolerance, it's impossible for him to get that drunk from just a little wine at the Ling Prince's residence.
Xu Ji was faking being drunk that day!
Xu Ji was the son of the Minister of Justice, and the Minister of Justice couldn't possibly be unaware of his son's drinking capacity.
Xu Ji's words to him while feigning drunkenness must have been tacitly approved or even agreed to by the Minister of Justice.
To get him to search the study, Xu Ji even pretended to be drunk. Xie Jingyan really wanted to know what was in the Minister of Justice's study that he couldn't just give to him directly, but also wanted him to see.
He has to go on this trip.
If Xie Jingyan hadn't been tied up at the banquet, he would have gone to the Minister of Justice's study.
Once Xie Jingyan made up his mind, no one could dissuade him, so Shen Wan stopped trying to stop him. Xie Jingyan jumped out of the window and left.
Under the cover of night, two nimble figures leaped across rooftops and walls, heading towards the residence of the Minister of Justice.
They easily scaled the courtyard wall and found the study of the Minister of Justice.
Xie Jingyan was skilled in martial arts and had even better hearing. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he knew that the guards in the shadows had discovered him, but instead of showing themselves to stop him, he chose to remain silent.
It was indeed at the behest of the Minister of Justice.
Without any hesitation, Xie Jingyan jumped through the window into the Minister of Justice's study.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Justice, after seeing off all the guests, was finally able to sit down and rest for a while after a busy day. Just as he picked up his teacup and was about to take a sip, a bodyguard appeared beside him and whispered, "Prince Ling has entered your study."
The Minister of Justice breathed a long sigh of relief and said, "Pretend we don't know anything and let him come and go as he pleases."
However, the Minister of Justice relaxed too soon. He had only taken two sips of tea when a bodyguard appeared and nearly choked him to death on his third sip.
The guard relayed a message: "Prince Ling wishes to see you."
Minister of Justice, "..."
Xie Jingyan wanted to see the Minister of Justice, so he had the guards stationed outside the study deliver the message to the Minister of Justice. No matter how tired he was, he had to go.
Pushing open the door to the study, the Minister of Justice was momentarily dazed to see Xie Jingyan sitting on a small couch. Was this his study or the Prince of Ling's study?
Xie Jingyan sat there, looking at the orange-red silk in his hand, the phoenix pattern faintly visible on it.
The Minister of Justice walked in, and Xie Jingyan looked up at him, holding up the silk in his hand, and said, "The one who asked you to preserve a single bloodline of the Yan family was the Empress Dowager?"
His voice trembled slightly, almost imperceptibly.
God knows how shocked he was when he found the secret compartment and saw the imperial edict inside the brocade box.
The Empress Dowager disliked him, and disliked his mother even more.
He never dreamed that when the Yan family was ordered to be executed, the Empress Dowager would actually allow the Minister of Justice to use his position to protect a single bloodline of the Yan family.
How could the Empress Dowager do such a thing?
But this imperial edict was not fake.
The Minister of Justice wanted Xie Jingyan to see the imperial edict, but he didn't want Xie Jingyan to question him in person.
The Empress Dowager gave him a secret decree, forbidding him from revealing even a single word.
He didn't understand Prince Ling at all. Prince Ling wasn't the type to be led by the nose, which put him in a difficult position.
The Minister of Justice said, "It was indeed the Empress Dowager who ordered me to save her."
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