"Why do you have to argue with a little girl?"
After getting on the carriage, there was no one else around, so Xu Ziling asked directly.
Fu Baiheng frowned and said, "I just can't stand her pretending to be noble despite being of low status. She's so pretentious and annoying."
“If given a choice, no one would want to be humble.”
"But she is already a lowly whore, yet she cannot recognize her own identity."
Hearing this, Xu Ziling's eyes flashed with surprise, and then turned into understanding, "Actually, you saw yourself through her, right?"
Fu Baiheng looked at her in disbelief, then scolded, "Nonsense!"
"Don't be impatient," Xu Ziling explained slowly, unafraid of his anger. "It all started when Fu Baiheng regained his sight. Before that, you were a popular candidate for the crown prince. After that, logically speaking, you no longer had the qualifications to compete with Fu Yueli. Because he is the eldest son, and you, in layman's terms, are a bastard. So you can't stand the fact that Zanxing is a prostitute but pretends to be noble, because she is not content with her fate, just like you are not content to be just a prince. You see yourself through her, and you are angry at her struggle because you think she should be content with being lowly. So you are conflicted. Are you now wavering in what you want to accomplish?"
Fu Baiheng pursed his lips, his face livid. Xu Ziling's words were quite true. After a long pause, he smiled with a relaxed air, "It seems you also have some understanding of human psychology."
"Human psychology is also a branch of medicine, and I have some understanding of it." Xu Ziling smiled. "In my opinion, Your Highness is capable and resourceful, no less capable than Fu Yueli. Besides, the hierarchy between legitimate and illegitimate children is merely a fallacy established by the ancients to maintain social order. Your Highness has no need to worry about it, no need to doubt yourself, and can simply act as you please."
Fu Baiheng's dark pupils trembled slightly. No one had ever spoken to him like this before. He couldn't help but stare at Xu Ziling and said firmly, "You are truly my confidant. I won't waver this time."
In the martial arts training ground, flags fluttered. Fu Yueli was practicing boxing with Shi Qian. According to the normal teaching schedule, he shouldn't be progressing so quickly, but Shi Qian had already seen his martial arts foundation and, although he didn't say it explicitly, he sped up the teaching pace.
After finishing a set of Tongbeiquan, Shi Qian paused, his forehead covered with sweat, and said, "Your Highness, let's stop here today. You can't bite off more than you can chew. Go back and practice more."
Fu Yueli said, "Thank you, Commander Shi. I will practice hard when I get back." Shi Qian would give him a lesson every three days, so the next time they met would be in three days.
After parting with Shi Qian, Fu Yueli returned home. When he passed by the famous Yipintang in Beijing, he specifically asked his servant to buy some osmanthus cake and chestnut cake. He brought them back home and asked the servants to distribute them to his father-in-law, mother-in-law, and Shi Mingji.
Shi Mingyue was watering the flowers in the yard, but her mind was elsewhere. She needed to find a solution to the incident with Fu Baiheng at noon. Suddenly, someone blindfolded her. She was startled, and then she heard a clear and sweet laugh: "Guess who I am?"
"...Yueli," Shi Mingyue answered helplessly. Why did he suddenly play such a childish game with her?
Fu Yueli's hands were large, with long, well-defined fingers. They covered almost half of her face. His hands were warm, and Shi Mingyue suddenly felt that this game wasn't so childish anymore.
In the blink of an eye, her eyelashes, like a small fan, brushed across Fu Yueli's palm, making it itchy. He slowly withdrew his hand. "What are you thinking about? You didn't even notice me coming over."
Shi Mingyue told him everything that happened at noon. After listening, Fu Yueli just assured her: "Don't worry, he won't dare to do anything to your brother with me here."
Shi Mingyue thought so too, but the next day, there was a knock on the door of the Shi residence. It was someone from the Jin residence. They told them the sad news: Jin Xiaowan had been abducted from the residence the previous night and thrown into the moat. Fortunately, she could swim, and she clung to a rock protrusion on the riverbank, holding on until dawn, where she was rescued by a passerby.
The Shi family immediately went to the Jin residence to visit. Jin Xiaowan had been frozen in the water all night and was still sleeping with a pale face. Shi Mingji was about to go find Fu Baiheng, and he had offended him, and he had immediately resorted to despicable means. How could he not be angry?
Shi Mingyue immediately stopped him and tried to persuade him together with Fu Yueli: "You went to Fu Baiheng without any evidence? People will just think you are framing him. Calm down!"
Shi Mingji finally calmed down and curled up in a corner, distraught, and was taken good care of by his wife.
As the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, Shi Yuanshan immediately returned to Jingzhao Prefecture and ordered a strict investigation into the case.
Somehow the matter reached the ears of the emperor. The emperor admired Shi Mingji's talent very much. When he heard that his fiancée had suffered such a misfortune, he appointed Fu Yueli and Fu Baiheng to assist in investigating the case.
So, Fu Yueli, Fu Baiheng and Qin Zheng appeared in Jin's house together.
After searching Jin Xiaowan's doors, windows, courtyard, and walls, they finally discovered a shallow half-shoe print on the wall. The artist immediately drew the pattern of the print and deduced that the shoe was 1.3 meters long. The next task was to find the shop that produced the sole with this pattern.
After a day of investigation, they found the shop at the back of South Street, specializing in sewn soles and finished shoes. Through the shopkeeper's confession, the authorities eventually narrowed down the three most suspected individuals, who also had no alibis for that night.
Huang Qi from the west of the city, Gou De and Hu Si from the south. All three of them had feet that were 1.3 meters long, lived alone, and had no alibis for that night.
Finally, Fu Yueli interrogated Huang Qi, Fu Baiheng interrogated Gou De, and Qin Zheng interrogated Hu Si.
In private room number one, Huang Qi said to Fu Yueli with an innocent look on his face, "I'm innocent!"
Fu Yueli said calmly, "We haven't convicted you yet. We just want your assistance in the investigation. First, tell me where you were and what you were doing last night."
Huang Qi noticed that Fu Yueli's attitude was relatively mild, so he replied, "I was sleeping at home, living alone, and no one could prove it."
Fu Yueli walked over to Huang Qi. Huang Qi was so nervous that he almost stopped breathing. Unexpectedly, Fu Yueli just pinched his upper arm and said with some disappointment: "You can leave now."
Huang Qi was cleared of suspicion, and he was overjoyed and thanked Fu Yueli profusely, then went home happily.
In single room number two, Gou De felt his back go numb when he faced Fu Baiheng's sharp eyes like a knife.
"Where were you last night and what were you doing?"
A hint of hesitation flashed across Gou De's eyes, and he said, "I'm sleeping at home."
"In that case, why are you hesitating?"
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