After the Imperial Guards of the Prince's Palace were replaced, Xue Shen seemed to have truly grown tired of playing around with them. He stopped ordering the Imperial Guards around and resumed his usual pleasures.
Most of the time, he was in the Red Mansion.
First, he spent a fortune to make a Jiangnan courtesan his leading lady. After enjoying the novelty for two days, he abandoned her and gambled away fortunes in the newly opened gambling den in the Red Mansion, his eyes bloodshot with greed.
It was only because the Dream of the Red Chamber knew his identity that they dared not act too recklessly, thus preventing him from losing everything.
Apart from that, no other unusual signs were found.
As Emperor Cheng'an listened to the reports from Zhou Qing and the Hidden Dragon Guard, a deeper frown appeared between his brows: "Nothing unusual? And it's confirmed that he hasn't contacted any suspicious or unknown individuals?"
"Yes." The guard knelt on one knee, his head bowed low. "We have been keeping watch in secret for half a month and have not found anything suspicious."
Emperor Cheng'an sighed, "Could it really not be him?" He murmured to himself, "But if it's not him, then who could it be?"
He was naturally suspicious, and the more he thought about the arson, the more suspicious it seemed. The missing mechanism box couldn't possibly have been destroyed by the fire; it was most likely stolen by someone taking advantage of the situation.
Emperor Cheng'an originally thought that the person was Xue Shen, but now it seems that it doesn't quite look like him.
Setting fire to the Funing Palace and escaping unscathed was something Xue Shen couldn't have accomplished alone. Just preparing the oil in advance would have required collusion from within the palace.
In the past two weeks, the Palace Guard, which was ordered to investigate the case, has uncovered three spies within the palace. However, after severe interrogation, the spies claimed to know nothing.
It's not that they're particularly loyal to the people behind the scenes, but rather that they genuinely don't know anything about it.
Even if you skin a person alive, you still won't get anything useful out of them.
Emperor Cheng'an had no choice but to order Zhou Qing to deliberately spread false information, saying that the spy had confessed, in order to lure the traitor out.
But in the end, all the elaborate traps they had painstakingly laid came to naught.
So far, no thieves have come to walk into the trap.
Either the thief was truly only after money, or was even one of those江湖人士 (jianghu figures) who liked to provoke the government, and had already left the city overnight after succeeding, which is why there was no news of him; or the person behind the scenes was extremely calm and trusted his arrangements.
Emperor Cheng'an hoped for the former.
If it's the second scenario, and the person behind it is Xue Shen, then his character is truly terrifying.
Emperor Cheng'an rose and paced anxiously. After pondering for a long time, he said to the head of the secret guards, "Keep watching, don't miss a single move."
Afterwards, Zhou Qing was summoned over and severely reprimanded before he said, somewhat wearily, "The thief really can't be found anywhere?"
Zhou Qing shook his head: "It is my incompetence, Your Majesty, that I am punished."
"If the punishment is to catch the thief, do you think I will let you off easily?" Emperor Cheng'an said coldly. "My palace was deliberately set on fire, but more than half a month has passed, and the Imperial Guards have not even found a trace of the thief. If this gets out, it will damage the reputation of the royal family and the government. Let's leave this matter here and close the case as soon as possible."
Zhou Qing was taken aback, then understood what he meant: "Yes."
Emperor Cheng'an said, "After the case is closed, you will receive thirty strokes of the military rod."
*
In early August, the thieves who set fire to the palace were finally caught.
The thief was an old eunuch from the Funing Palace. Because he was so audacious as to steal imperial items and realized that he could not cover it up, he was afraid that the emperor would blame him. So, he had a wicked idea and decided to burn down the Funing Palace, thinking that if the palace burned down, the missing items would not be found.
However, after half a month of investigation, the Imperial Guards finally managed to expose the traitor.
However, the emperor was kind and benevolent and did not fly into a rage. He even rewarded the old eunuch with a complete corpse.
Since the arson case has been solved, the imperial guards who were specially sent to protect the princes have all withdrawn.
When Zhou Qing came to the Prince of Qin's residence to summon people, Xue Shen heard the whole story and said, "Your Majesty is still too soft-hearted. If you ask me, such a traitor should be executed by being torn apart by five horses. Otherwise, how can we deter future generations?"
Zhou Qing's face twitched. The punishment of being torn apart by five horses was too cruel and had long been abolished in this dynasty.
If someone has truly committed a heinous and unforgivable crime, they will be punished with the excruciating punishment of slow slicing. However, the Emperor has always been merciful, and since his ascension to the throne, no one has ever been subjected to such an extreme punishment.
He glanced at Xue Shen's sinister face and shook his head inwardly. He thought to himself how fortunate it was that Xue Shen had broken his leg in a fall from his horse; otherwise, if he had ascended the throne as emperor, the underworld would have been filled with countless innocent ghosts.
Zhou Qing didn't linger and quickly led his men away to say goodbye.
After Xue Shen and the others left, he had a guard push him to Tingmei Pavilion.
He hadn't been to Tingmei Pavilion for some time, and the servants who were attending to him were quite surprised to see him suddenly arrive.
Shen Youying didn't expect him to come. She was wearing a light dress and leaning against the bamboo couch to cool off and read a storybook. She didn't expect him to come without saying hello. She didn't have time to dress up or change her clothes. She hurriedly slipped on her soft-soled shoes to come out and greet him.
As the weather grew increasingly hot, she wore a light green gauze jacket over a light pink bodice and a two-piece pleated skirt that reached her waist. Her long, black hair was loosely tied back with a single jade hairpin. Because she had rushed out, she hadn't had time to style it, and a few strands of hair playfully fell down, adding to her charm.
Especially that thin gauze jacket was so thin that you could even see her snow-white skin and exquisite waist underneath.
Xue Shen's gaze fell on Shen Youying, slowly scanning her over, taking longer than ever before.
Shen Youying blushed under his gaze. She secretly glanced down at her clothes and realized that the jacket was too thin. Not only did it not cover anything, but in Xue Shen's eyes, it probably even seemed like an enticement that it was better not to wear anything at all.
But she was actually just too hot. If she had known Xue Shen would come, she wouldn't have dressed like that even if she got heat rash from the heat.
After the night they shared a bed on the Ghost Festival, Xue Shen stayed overnight a few more times, but never came back. According to Bai Luo's inquiries, he stayed at the Red Mansion day and night and didn't even return to his residence.
Shen Youying simply assumed that the previous times they shared a bed were just Xue Shen's whims, thinking that now that the Imperial Guards had withdrawn, Xue Shen had found new amusement and would probably no longer pay attention to her.
Who knew that after only a few days of peace, they would come again.
Shen Youying bit her lip in annoyance, unable to help but secretly curse him in her heart.
Xue Shen, however, seemed oblivious to her distress, appearing as at ease as if he were in his own courtyard: "I've been frequenting brothels these past few days, neglecting my princess. I just happened to win two thousand taels of gold last night, so how about I take her out to see a play today to make up for it?"
Shen Youying thought to herself, "It's not a good idea."
But she couldn't refuse, so she could only force a smile and say thank you: "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness."
Xue Shen nodded and said, "Then Your Highness, please go and change your clothes. I'll wait for you in the front yard." His gaze swept over Shen Youying again, and he raised an eyebrow, saying, "This outfit looks good at home, but if you're going out, you should change."
Shen Youying: "..."
She bit her lip in anger, "I didn't need you to remind me!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
