Chapter 17: Five Stones Scattered "I will kill all your clans right now!"...
Princess Hejing returned to Beijing and was granted residence in the Princess Chang Mansion. Emperor Tianchong ordered a general amnesty.
Min Shile came to harass her every few days as usual, seemingly to accuse her but actually to show off. Every time, she was dragged away by the ears by the aggressive little princess.
After breakfast, Min Shian played with the cat in the courtyard. The pure white cat had a pair of heterochromatic eyes and long, curled eyelashes, which made it look very beautiful.
A sudden scream came, the cat's fur stood up, and it kicked off Min Shian's legs and jumped away. It was so fast that only a white afterimage was seen before it disappeared in the courtyard.
Min Shian frowned, but couldn't help but give the person a slap on the face.
"Royal sister!" Min Shile covered his forehead with his hands, grinning a little aggrievedly, "I originally wanted to show my rare item to you, Royal sister. In that case, I'd better leave now!"
Min Shian didn't even raise his head when he heard this. He picked up a book from the desk and started reading, ignoring Min Shile who was jumping up and down wildly beside him.
"Imperial sister, I say!"
"I! Want! To! Go! Away!"
Min Shian made an impatient "tsk" sound, and the book was thrown on the table with a "bang". Min Shile instantly became like a quail, standing there with his neck shrunk, not daring to move.
"Get out of here quicker, what are you doing crazy about?!"
Min Shile's eyes were filled with tears. With a wronged look, he took out a dark green sachet with gold patterns from his bosom and handed it to her tremblingly, saying, "Imperial...Imperial Sister."
"Leave your things here and get out." Min Shian glanced at him sideways, raised his chin slightly, and said mercilessly.
Min Shile ran out of the princess's mansion crying again.
The people around were already used to it, but the little princess came forward to ask about her well-being, which made Min Shile cry even harder.
Min Shian didn't take the sachet seriously and was about to throw it away when he smelled a strange and pungent smell.
Somewhat familiar.
She tensed up instantly, carefully opened the sachet, pinched a pinch of powder with her fingertips, and sniffed it carefully.
Min Shian stared gloomily at the scarlet on his fingertips, then put away the sachet and said to Chun Tao beside him, "Please bring His Royal Highness the Third Prince over here."
"yes."
Chuntao moved very quickly, and Min Shile appeared in the princess's mansion in less than half a minute. There were tears hanging on his eyelashes and his face was mottled with tears, making him look like a calico cat.
"Where did you get the thing?" Min Shian's fox eyes were full of anger as she stared at Min Shile. She suppressed her temper and asked in a deep voice.
Min Shile's legs suddenly went limp with fear, and he slumped against the wooden pillar, saying in a trembling voice, "I bought it on the street... on the street."
He was afraid of being beaten again, so he took a deep breath and quickly explained how he bought the sachet.
There is a rouge shop in Shangjing City that specializes in selling women's items. It is three stories large, with rouge occupying one floor, and the rest of the store selling pearl hairpins, jewelry, sachets, pendants, etc. scattered around the rest of the floor.
He thought the sachet was beautiful, so he bought two, giving one to Yu Linglong and the other to Min Shian.
"Give me that sachet."
Seeing that she looked unhappy, Min Shile didn't dare to say anything nonsense. He immediately went to find Yu Linglong to get another sachet.
Fortunately, Yu Linglong was not far from the princess's mansion. Min Shile was afraid that there was something wrong with the sachet, so he simply brought Yu Linglong to Min Shian.
Yu Linglong obediently untied the sachet and handed it over with both hands. Her big grape-like eyes didn't blink, and she asked softly, "Your Highness, is there something wrong?"
When Min Shian heard Yu Linglong's voice, the haze in her heart dissipated a little. She opened it, sniffed it carefully, and found that it was ordinary spices, so she returned it to Yu Linglong.
"It's okay. You and Shi Le should not wander around these days. Linglong, be good." Min Shian slowed down his tone and touched Yu Linglong's head.
"Okay, goodbye, sister~" Yu Linglong said goodbye with a playful smile, then grabbed Min Shile, who was standing beside her like a fool, and ran out of the princess's mansion.
"Five-Stone Powder." Min Shi'an murmured softly, a little confused, but this was a serious matter, so she quickly changed her clothes and went to Song's house. Before leaving, she told Chuntao to go to the rouge shop to buy some sachets to investigate.
Min Shi'an happened to meet Song Sheng, who had just returned home after finishing his official duties. He took out the sachet and said directly, "The Five Stones Powder has not appeared in the world for ten years. How could it suddenly appear now?"
The late emperor worked diligently throughout his life to govern the country. With his outstanding courage and strategy, he suppressed the aristocratic families for several years. However, he finally died because of the Five Stones Powder.
Since then, the government was in complete chaos, and the aristocratic families fought for power. In the end, the Song family won effortlessly and held great power. It was also from then on that Song Sheng launched the "Five Bans".
All existing Wu Shi San must be destroyed, all production processes must be stopped, and the residue must be burned. If the imperial court finds Wu Shi San in any place or by anyone, all nine generations of the family will be executed within a radius of ten miles.
If someone reports a person, his entire clan will be exterminated, but the surrounding people will not be implicated, and the reporter may be promoted.
For a time, people were in a panic. In order to protect themselves, they had to hand over the existing Wu Shi San and dared not keep it for themselves.
There were a few brave people who secretly hid some of the treasures, but they were reported. Song Sheng immediately ordered the extermination of that person's entire clan in the downtown area.
That day, blood flowed like a river on the long street, and the bricks were stained scarlet. After more than ten years, the bricks on the street still retained a faint pink color.
Min Shian also went to watch secretly that day. She developed a high fever and fell into a coma that night. It took her half a month to recover. She shivered involuntarily and still has some trauma in her mind.
Song Sheng glanced at her, chuckled, and jokingly said, "Your Highness, why are you shaking?"
"I dare not execute your entire clan."
Min Shian gritted his teeth and said sinisterly, "I will kill your entire clan right now!"
Song Sheng tapped his knuckles lightly on the table, lowered his eyes and said, "Your Highness can punish my entire clan later. For now, why don't you tell me where this Five Stone Powder came from?"
Min Shian hummed softly and finished explaining the whole story of today's events in an orderly manner.
Song Sheng listened but didn't say anything. Instead, he asked, "What do you think, Your Highness?"
She was stunned, not quite understanding what Song Sheng meant, but now the business was urgent. She pondered for a moment and said, "The Five Stones Powder in the sachet in my hand must have been put in by mistake."
"I've already sent someone to buy some sachets. If there was anything unusual, she would have reported it long ago. The problem shouldn't be in the rouge shop."
A cold light flashed in Min Shian's eyes, and cracks appeared on the teacup in her hand. Her tone dropped to freezing point, and she said in a cold voice: "If the person behind this did it on purpose, he must be killed!"
She didn't dare to imagine what kind of chaos Shangjing City would have fallen into if the Five Stones Powder had not happened to fall into her hands.
Song Sheng stretched out his hand, and placed his slender fingers on the white porcelain jade table, without appearing at all out of place. Min Shian lowered his eyes and looked, only then did he realize that the teacup in his hand had broken into pieces. He felt a stinging pain in his hand, and there was blood all over it.
Min Shi'an immediately let go of his hand, and the debris fell on the jade table with a crunching sound. Song Sheng called the court doctor to give a simple bandage, and then the two sat opposite each other again.
"I won't ask Your Highness for money this time. I will be more careful next time." Song Sheng smiled and poured a cup of tea into the newly placed teacup.
Min Shian resisted the urge to roll his eyes and cursed the fox inwardly for being so rude. Good words tasted different in his mouth.
"Then, according to Your Highness, where should we begin investigating this matter?"
Min Shian responded to his sudden question subconsciously: "I think..."
She started to talk, then suddenly shut her mouth, staring at Song Sheng with an uneasy look on her face. After a moment, she said, "I came to report this matter to the Minister of Justice. Why did the Minister of Justice remain silent and only ask what I meant?"
Song Sheng took a sip of tea slowly and said with a hint of meaning, "I want to see how capable Your Highness is."
"Song Yanxuan!"
Min Shian could no longer endure it. Her self-control was vulnerable in front of Song Sheng. She didn't know if it was fate, but she gritted her teeth and said, "I'm discussing serious matters with you!!"
"You'd better straighten your attitude towards me!!"
The smile in Song Sheng's eyes deepened, and he said softly, "Yes, Your Highness, I know I was wrong."
"I believe this matter should be investigated from the source first." Song Sheng's smile faded for a moment, and he said seriously, "The production process of sachets is simple, but the preparation of spices is quite complicated, and the same sachets are often not produced by the same family."
"If we find out the subsequent exchanges of interests, we will be close to the truth."
Min Shian's expression improved, and she quickly recalled that there was no famous family in the capital that was good at making spices, or had someone in charge of the spice business.
As for sachets, Jiangnan women have superb embroidery skills and there are many related workshops, but most of them are controlled by the Jiang family. The rest of the scattered small workshops can only open small shops to make a living and definitely cannot reach the capital city.
Min Shian looked at Song Sheng suspiciously, not because he doubted him personally, but because only his mother's family, the Jiang family, was involved in this.
"Let me guess what Your Highness is thinking about?" Song Sheng spoke slowly, and the ending tone was as light as a feather falling into people's hearts, making people feel extremely numb.
"Although my mother's family has numerous businesses, the profits from the Five Stone Powder were so huge that one of them could easily offset their entire business. Even so, the Jiang family has never ventured into this business."
"So, Your Highness, are you relieved?"
Min Shian snorted lightly, but without losing face, he said, "Are you feeling guilty?"
Song Sheng poured her another cup of tea and said slowly with the sound of running water, "No, it's just that I don't want to leave a stain in His Highness' heart."
Min Shian took the teacup, and in an instant, a dramatic scene unfolded in his mind through the storybook. He said stiffly, "You are joking, Minister."
"In that case, the problem must be with the spices?"
Song Sheng responded, "About that."
Min Shian couldn't figure out what was going on, so he pushed the sachet toward Song Sheng and said in a deep voice, "I don't know much about the Five Stones Powder. You know more about the intricacies of it. Keep the sachet for me and return it to me later."
Song Sheng picked up the sachet and examined it inside and out. Just when Min Shian thought he had discovered some new clue, he heard him say, "This sachet isn't inlaid with gold bricks. How can Your Highness be so stingy?"
Min Shian choked on her breath, almost unable to breathe. She gritted her teeth and said word by word, "The Minister of Justice also knows that this was a gift from that idiot Shi Le. Please keep it properly."
After saying that, she turned away angrily.
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