As soon as Zu An stepped out of the Imperial Study, Eunuch Wen greeted him with a smile: "Lord Zu, I have prepared the relevant personnel and they are waiting at the palace gate. When would you like to investigate the case of Prince Qi's concubine?"
"Of course we're going now." Zu An cursed inwardly, "Damn it, you're all ready and waiting, and you're still pretending to ask me when we're going to investigate?"
"Then I wish Lord Ancestor a safe journey." Eunuch Wen's plump face was full of kind smiles.
Zu An cupped his hands in greeting, then went to the East Palace to report his new mission to Bi Linglong, who was currently very worried that something might have happened to him.
After listening, Bi Linglong was also puzzled: "Investigate the case of the drowning of Prince Qi's concubine?"
She disregarded propriety and sent her personal maids outside. Then she said worriedly, "King Qi's years of planning have been ruined by you. He must be eager to kill you now. If you go to investigate the case at this time, aren't you just courting death?"
“Sigh, if I don’t go now, that emperor will probably kill me immediately.” Zu An smiled. “Don’t worry, I am now the minister personally appointed by the emperor to investigate the case. If Prince Qi doesn’t want to openly break ties, he can’t openly deal with me. Although this investigation is fraught with danger, it is also an opportunity. If we use it well, we may even be able to get in touch with Prince Qi.”
"Get in touch with Prince Qi?" Bi Linglong's expression immediately became wary. As a key figure in the Crown Prince's faction and having fought against Prince Qi's faction for so many years, her first reaction upon hearing this was resistance.
Zu An chuckled: "Don't worry, it's just a way to keep the Emperor in check. I can't possibly side with Prince Qi. Given our relationship, who else would I help if not you?"
Hearing him say that, Bi Linglong's expression softened slightly, but she still denied it, saying, "Hmph, what does it have to do with you?"
Seeing her arrogant attitude, Zu An wished he could pin her down and spank her, but unfortunately, he could only dream about it in the palace.
After leaving the palace, several guards and eunuchs were already waiting there. Upon seeing Zu An, they immediately came forward and said, "Greetings, Lord Zu. Eunuch Wen instructed us to follow your orders."
Zu'an is now a celebrity in the entire capital, so it's hard for these ordinary guards not to recognize him.
Seeing these people trying so hard to get close to him, Zu An politely responded while secretly sighing. He thought to himself that these people were too low-level to access deeper information. They all thought he was a rising star, but they didn't know that he was already in deep trouble.
The group arrived at the Qi Prince's Mansion and looked at the imposing gate. Zu An seemed to be deep in thought. He wondered why the Qi Prince's Mansion looked much more dilapidated than when he last came here—even though there were no major changes on the surface. He wondered if it was just his imagination.
When they saw that someone had come to visit, the gatekeeper of the Qi Prince's mansion was quite polite at first. However, when he heard that they had come to investigate the case of the drowning of the Qi Prince's concubine, the gatekeeper's face changed instantly: "Wait here for a moment, I will go in and report first."
Without waiting for a response, he slammed the door shut, leaving the crowd staring at each other in bewilderment.
"The people from Prince Qi's residence are so rude. They should at least let us in to wait," the guards complained.
Zuan smiled and said, "Just wait a bit." He then sat down in a nearby pavilion, leisurely closing his eyes to rest, as if he were out for a picnic.
Seeing that he said this, the others naturally didn't say anything more and quietly waited.
However, after waiting for more than half an hour, no one from the Prince Qi's residence came out, clearly intending to give them the cold shoulder.
"These lackeys of the Prince Qi's mansion have gone too far!" The guards could no longer contain themselves and were filled with righteous indignation.
Because they were direct descendants of the emperor, they harbored a natural animosity towards the Qi Prince's residence.
Zu An frowned. This time, ostensibly to investigate a case, it was actually to cause trouble. It was normal for the people of the Qi Prince's Mansion to be unfriendly, but they still hadn't opened the door after so long. They couldn't just wait outside like idiots.
So he sent his men to knock on the door again, but the man quickly returned, fuming: "Lord Zu, the people inside say that Prince Qi is currently very busy with official business, and their messengers haven't been called yet, so they're telling us to wait a little longer. Humph, they're obviously just playing us for fools!"
Zu An laughed. Actually, this was all expected. However, he had already done what he was supposed to do by being polite before resorting to force. So he called over a few people and gave them instructions.
Upon hearing his words, the guards were startled, their expressions changing slightly: "This...this isn't quite right."
Zu An rolled his eyes. Just a moment ago, they were all so arrogant, acting like they were going to tear down the Qi Prince's Mansion, but now that he's a little tougher, they've chickened out.
"Don't worry, I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong."
Hearing him say that, and feeling genuinely angry about being left out in the cold, the guards finally snapped out of their daze and quickly brought over the props.
They rushed to the gate of the Qi Prince's Mansion and pasted two long strips of yellow paper, crossed over each other, onto the two doors. The large "seal" character circled in red ink on the paper was particularly eye-catching.
The commotion quickly attracted the attention of people in the surrounding area. Naturally, the people around the Prince Qi's residence were not ordinary citizens; they were mostly officials from the imperial court.
The servants of those people, and even the officials themselves, came out to watch, whispering among themselves:
"What's going on?"
"Why was the Prince Qi's residence sealed off?"
"Heavens! Does the Emperor intend to take complete action against Prince Qi?"
...
The more these people discussed it, the more alarmed they became, since many of them were aware of the power struggle between the Emperor and Prince Qi.
The people inside the Prince Qi's mansion could no longer sit still. The inner gate slammed open, and a group of guards filed out. The leader tore off the seal on the door and, upon seeing the words on it, flew into a rage: "You audacious servant, how dare you cause trouble in the Prince Qi's mansion!"
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