Chapter 53 Answer 5 "I brought the prince back."...
"Sir, we have a clue."
Zhu Song was sitting in the office worrying about the official silver case when a yamen runner ran over happily. Zhu Song looked up when he heard his words.
The yamen runner handed Zhu Song a small piece of silver. Zhu Song took it and examined it. Although it was cut into small pieces, it still had a stroke on it, a horizontal stroke that could be seen. After the official silver was melted, there would be no trace of it, so it was definitely unmelted official silver.
"Where did it come from?"
The yamen runner replied, "We found out at the clothing store. The owner said that the day before yesterday, a couple dressed in jewels and precious stones wanted to buy plain linen clothes. They bought seven or eight sets at once."
Zhu Song ordered, "Immediately check the background of that couple, and arrest them immediately if you find anything."
"Yes." With the clue, the bailiff became motivated and ran faster than the wind.
The clues were quickly discovered. The couple, the man named Wu Siping and the woman named Huang Lingcui, were originally from Xiliu Village. Their family was extremely poor. They had seven or eight children, but only one survived. Wu Yin, a simpleton, had been scammed away years earlier and his whereabouts remain unknown.
Twenty years ago, Wu Siping and Huang Cuiling suddenly made a fortune. After showing off in the village for a while, they moved to the suburbs. Although they were rich, the capital was not short of rich people. In addition, Huang Cuiling was usually very frugal and only spent money in very small coins, so no one noticed anything wrong.
When Zhu Song and his men rushed to Wu Siping's house, the place was empty. Zhu Song realized that they must have heard the news and ran away.
"Go to the sea to catch the clerk. We must catch him."
"yes."
Soon there was more news that someone had seen Wu Siping and Huang Cuiling near Xiliu Village yesterday. They said that the two were acting suspiciously and there was something fishy about them at first glance.
Zhu Song and his men hurried to Xiliu Village.
It was already dark at this time. Zhu Song asked the villagers to confirm that Wu Siping and Huang Lingcui were indeed in Xiliu Village. After confirming their location, he rushed over.
From a distance, I could hear the sound of weapons clashing in the air. Was someone trying to silence me?
Zhu Song led his men over. The two groups of men in black were engaged in a fierce fight. Zhu Song couldn't distinguish friend from foe, so he shouted, "Stop."
But both sides ignored him and continued to fight fiercely. The yamen runner was confused and asked, "Sir, which side should we help?"
"No one helps, come on."
Zhu Song led his men into the fray. The guards started beating him indiscriminately, and the situation became strange. Suddenly, amidst the chaos, someone shouted, "Master Zhu."
Was this Xie Ningyuan's voice? Zhu Song didn't have time to be happy and ordered the yamen runner, "Help him."
"yes."
With the help of the Dali Temple, the men in black on the opposite side were quickly defeated. Zhu Song wanted to capture them alive, but failed. The other party's lightness skills were very powerful, and they all ran away.
The fighting stopped. Zhu Song ordered the yamen runners to guard the gate, then dragged Xie Ningyuan to a secluded spot and asked in a low voice, "Why are you here?"
Xie Ningyuan hesitated, "This...I can't explain it well, let me explain it to you."
Zhu Song widened his eyes slightly, "Young Master is here too?"
Xie Ningyuan pulled his sleeve and warned him, "Don't tell anyone about this. We came back quietly."
Zhu Song nodded and didn't mention it anymore. Instead, he asked, "Why did you fight with the men in black?"
Xie Ningyuan said, "We originally lived next door, and just now we heard someone shouting for help, so we came over."
Zhu Song looked at him, dressed like a night walker with his face covered, and asked, "Is your outfit okay?"
Xie Ningyuan explained: "I don't want to cause unnecessary trouble when I'm away from home."
Zhu Song nodded and said, "Go and protect the young master. I'm here."
"yes."
Xie Ningyuan jumped to the next room and didn't look away until Zhu Song's back was out of sight.
Wu Siping and Huang Lingcui huddled together in the corner of the room, huddled together in fear. They heard the door being pushed open and kept shouting, "Don't kill me, don't kill me."
The bailiff said coldly, "The Dali Temple is investigating a case. You are suspected of a serious crime. Come with us."
"Dali Temple?" The two men finally looked up at the newcomer. Seeing the official uniform, they breathed a sigh of relief and then tried to argue, "We haven't committed any crime. We are just ordinary people. There must be a mistake."
The yamen runner wanted to explain, but Zhu Song ordered, "Take him away directly."
The bailiff escorted Wu Siping and Huang Lingcui away, saying, "Wait for me at the gate. I'm going to see an old acquaintance."
"Yes." The bailiffs were tactful enough not to ask any questions and they escorted the man to wait obediently at the door.
Zhu Song jumped to the next room, and before he landed, he saw Wen Fengxuan standing in the yard looking at him, as if waiting for him.
At that moment, Zhu Song's heart began to beat uncontrollably. He walked over and called out, "Your Highness."
Wen Fengxuan nodded, and before he could say anything, he started coughing rapidly. He coughed so violently that it seemed as if he was going to cough out his lungs. Zhu Song was distressed by this, and without caring about the rules, he started to stroke his back and helped him sit down.
She coughed for a long time before finally stopping. Her pale face turned red because of coughing, which made her look particularly beautiful. But at this moment Zhu Song had no intention of appreciating her and only felt worried.
"Your Highness is not in good health. Why don't you stay in Suzhou to recuperate?"
Wen Fengxuan looked at him and shook his head slightly. "I know my body well. It doesn't matter whether I take care of it or not. My original intention of going to Suzhou was just to see the place where my mother once lived. It's just like returning to one's roots."
Zhu Song became more and more worried, "Your Highness, you..."
Wen Fengxuan interrupted him, "Sir, please listen to me."
Zhu Song paused, and Wen Fengxuan continued, "I spent a few days in Suzhou and saw where my mother lived. Everything had changed, and I realized I had someone I cared about more."
Zhu Song's heart beat like a drum as he listened. Wen Fengxuan sighed slightly and continued, "I won't live much longer anyway, and I don't want to leave any regrets, so I quietly came back."
Zhu Song shook his head and said, "No, Your Highness will definitely live a long life. I will definitely find a way to heal Your Highness. Trust me."
Wen Fengxuan looked at his serious expression and smiled slightly, with a hint of relief, "I will live well for you, my Lord."
Zhu Song knew that it was useless to say more now. The people he sent to look for Su Li had not received any news, which made him a little unsure.
Zhu Song didn't dwell on this topic any further. "When does Your Highness plan to come to the capital?"
Wen Fengxuan lowered his eyes, his face dejected. "I don't know yet. When I left the capital, my father was very angry and told me not to return if I couldn't recover."
Zhu Song mustered up the courage to speak, "If Your Highness doesn't mind, why don't you come back with me first?"
Wen Fengxuan raised his eyes to look at him, "I'm afraid this move will cause trouble for you, sir."
Zhu Song shook his head, "I'm not afraid of trouble."
I'm afraid you won't go.
Zhu Song's eyes were so blazing that they made Wen Fengxuan's eyes flicker. "Then I'll trouble you, sir."
"It's not advisable to stay here for long. Now is the perfect time to go to the capital together."
"good."
Wen Fengxuan and his entourage changed their attire and entered the city with Zhu Song. The gates were already closed, but Zhu Song used his badge to open them. This kind of thing happened all the time, and the guards on duty let them pass without checking, making it very smooth.
After entering the city, Zhu Song ordered the yamen runners to take Wu Siping and Huang Lingcui back to the Dali Temple for safekeeping, while he took Wen Fengxuan and his party back to the Zhu Mansion.
Zhu Song brought Wen Fengxuan back to his Fengyayuan and intended to give him the main room, but Wen Fengxuan refused and wanted to live in the wing room. Zhu Song felt that was inappropriate, so after much discussion, the two of them lived together in the main room, Wen Fengxuan slept on the left side and Zhu Song on the right side.
After Zhu Song arranged everything, he went to find Zhu Jingchen.
"father."
Zhu Jingchen was sleeping soundly when he heard the sound and opened his eyes in a daze. It was already dark and the moonlight was not bright. When he saw a black shadow, he was so scared that he sat up immediately.
"Who are you?"
Zhu Song blinked, "Your eldest son, Zhu Song."
Zhu Jingchen sighed unhappily, "You're not my eldest son, you're my great ancestor. Why are you running here so late at night instead of sleeping?"
Zhu Song said, "I have something to tell you."
Zhu Jingchen said unhappily, "Why do you have to tell me now? Can't we tell me tomorrow morning?"
Zhu Song said: "It's urgent."
"Oh, tell me, tell me."
Zhu Song said: "I have brought the prince back."
"What?" Zhu Jingchen's eyes widened, and then he felt it was impossible. "You must have been confused from sleeping. The prince is recuperating in Suzhou."
Zhu Song explained, "I'm back. I was out catching criminals and I ran into him, so I brought him back."
Zhu Jingchen frowned and stared at him, still unconvinced, "Are you sure you're not kidding?"
Zhu Song said, "He's in my courtyard. He should be still awake. You can go over and pay your respects now."
"Bow down to you." Zhu Jingchen was so angry that he fell on the bed, gasping for breath.
Zhu Song said, "The Crown Prince's return to the capital must be kept secret. You must help me."
Zhu Jingchen sat up again and asked him in confusion, "The Crown Prince hasn't done anything wrong, so he can just go back to the capital. Why keep it a secret?"
Zhu Song said: "The emperor will not let him return to the capital."
Zhu Jingchen was even more confused. "He tried every possible means to leave the capital before, and now he's back after just a few days?"
Zhu Song said: "Don't worry about this."
Zhu Jingchen was speechless, "Then don't bring him back."
Zhu Song said: "I brought them all back."
Zhu Jingchen was even more speechless. "Is it true that I can't send it away now that I've brought it back?"
Zhu Song nodded, "Yes, I promised him that I will live in the mansion during this period."
Zhu Jingchen frowned, "What is your relationship with him?"
Zhu Song replied seriously, "It's about eighty-one treasures."
"Don't try to put me off with that. Even if he has something on you, you don't have to go to such lengths."
"Yes, my life is important."
"Then my life is unimportant?" Zhu Jingchen stared at Zhu Song. "I really want to crack your head open and see what's inside."
Zhu Song replied, "It's important, so I came here specifically to tell you."
"What kind of magic potion did the prince give you?"
Zhu Song fell silent. The room was silent for a while before Zhu Jingchen compromised. "Alright, alright. Let's keep this a secret from Ling Wang and inform Ling Ye. When your mother comes back tomorrow, I'll tell her to remove the servants from your courtyard and let you serve the prince yourself."
"He has people waiting on him."
Zhu Jingchen looked at him in disbelief, "How many people did you bring back?"
Zhu Song replied, "About ten."
Zhu Jingchen gave him a thumbs up, "Living ancestor!"
"Thanks, Dad." Zhu Song had no psychological burden at all and turned and left.
The next day, Zhu Song had breakfast at home for a rare occasion.
When Zhu Song came back with breakfast, he happened to meet Wen Fengxuan coming out of the house. Perhaps because he had just woken up, his eyes were still sleepy, and he looked less distant and more gentle.
Zhu Song greeted him with a smile, "Good morning, Your Highness."
Wen Fengxuan curved his eyes and said, "Good morning, sir."
"I went to the kitchen and picked out some breakfast. Your Highness, please take a look and see if it suits your taste. If not, I'll have them remake it."
Wen Fengxuan said: "Sure."
Zhu Song's smile deepened. "Do you want to eat now?"
"Um."
The two of them entered the house one after the other and sat down facing each other. While eating, Wen Fengxuan asked, "Sir, aren't you going to the Dali Temple today?"
Zhu Song was a little surprised that he would talk while eating. Wen Fengxuan saw that his expression was different and asked, "What's wrong?"
Zhu Song replied honestly, "This is the first time I've seen His Highness talking while eating. I'm a little surprised."
Wen Fengxuan lowered his eyes and said, "I'm sorry, I don't quite understand these rules."
"No, no." Zhu Song saw that he had misunderstood and quickly explained, "Our family has never had such rules. I just thought Your Highness had them."
Wen Fengxuan said: "No one has ever taught me the rules."
Wen Fengxuan spoke in a light tone, which made Zhu Song's heart ache. He could only comfort him, "Then live as you wish."
Wen Fengxuan tilted his head slightly and responded, "Yeah."
Zhu Song brought up the topic at the right time, "What does Your Highness like to do on a daily basis?"
Wen Fengxuan replied: "Read a book and write a few words."
Zhu Song pointed to the east wing and said, "My study is over there. Your Highness, please feel free to use it."
Wen Fengxuan looked in the direction of his hand and nodded, "Okay."
Zhu Song said, "After breakfast, I will go to the Dali Temple to interrogate the criminals I arrested yesterday."
"My Lord, go and do your work, don't worry about me."
Zhu Song worriedly warned, "Your Highness, just treat it like you're at home and do as you please. I'll be back as soon as I'm done with my shift."
"good."
After breakfast, Zhu Song went to the Dali Temple.
As soon as they arrived at the Dali Temple, a bailiff came over to report, "Sir, two groups of assassins came last night, both targeting Wu Siping and Huang Lingcui."
Zhu Song frowned. So many assassins wanted to kill just the two of them?
Zhu Song did not delay and immediately interrogated Wu Siping and Huang Cuiling.
Wu Siping and Huang Cuiling knelt on the ground, crying out for justice. "Sir, we are truly good citizens. We wouldn't even step on an ant, so how could we be the criminals of such a serious crime?"
Zhu Song slammed the table and said, "Silence."
Wu Siping and Huang Cuiling were frightened and fell silent.
Zhu Song took out the official silver worth ten silver ingots, two hundred taels, which he had found in their luggage, and asked, "Where did you get this money?"
Wu Siping said, "I earned it from my work, sir. It's not illegal to make money, right?"
Huang Cuiling also agreed: "Yes, sir, this is what we earned honestly."
Zhu Song said coldly, "Ridiculous! This is government silver, the silver handed over to the national treasury by various localities."
Wu Siping argued, "I do my work and people pay me, I don't care whether it's official silver or not. Besides, I don't know what official silver is, so it's none of my business no matter what."
Huang Cuiling kept repeating, "That's right, this is the money we earned ourselves."
Listening to their words full of loopholes, Zhu Song slammed the table in anger, "They are stubborn and won't tell you a word of truth. Come on, take them out and beat them up."
When Wu Siping and Huang Cuiling heard they were going to fight, they were very dissatisfied and said, "Sir, what we said is true. If you don't believe it, you can check it out."
Zhu Song said coldly, "Alright, since what you said is true, then I'll ask you, where do you work? What kind of work do you do?"
Wu Siping said, "It's just some handicrafts for the Lin family."
Huang Cuiling agreed, "Yes, it's the Lin family. They do some tailoring and mending work. Their family is rich and they pay well."
Zhu Song asked, "Which Lin family?"
Wu Siping said, "It's the Lin family that had a fire thirteen years ago."
Zhu Song stared at him coldly, "There's no evidence against me now, so you can just accuse me, right?"
Wu Siping insisted, "Everything I said is true. Even a little bit of money that slips through the fingers of the rich is enough for us to live on for two lifetimes."
Zhu Song didn't bother arguing with them anymore. "Drag him down and beat him!"
The yamen runners came forward and dragged Wu Siping to the torture bench in the yard and started beating him immediately. The sound of "pa pa" was very loud.
Wu Siping had lived a life of luxury for years and could not withstand such a beating. He cried and screamed but refused to say anything.
After being beaten with twenty sticks, Wu Siping was covered in blood and fainted.
Huang Cuiling was terrified, "Sir, if you beat him, you don't have to beat me."
Zhu Song glanced at her and said, "Hit her."
"No, no, no." Huang Cuiling hurried to Zhu Song and said, "Sir, actually, twenty years ago, someone came to us and bought something."
Zhu Song raised his hand to stop the yamen runner from pulling the man away, "What is that?"
Huang Cuiling rolled her eyes and started to speak, "I don't know what that is either. It's a big, bright yellow piece. We picked it up from the mountain."
Zhu Song ordered the yamen runners, "Call painter Zhang over."
"yes."
According to Huang Cuiling's description, Painter Zhang finished the painting quickly. Zhu Song looked at it from left to right but couldn't figure out what it was, so he handed it to the yamen runner and said, "Show it to Lord Gu."
The bailiff left.
Zhu Song asked again: "What does the person who bought things from you look like?"
Huang Cuiling stammered, "It's just... very normal."
Seeing that she was not telling the truth again, Zhu Song said, "You can refuse to tell the truth, but embezzling government funds is a capital crime. If you refuse the chance to redeem yourself from your crimes, then I can't help you."
Upon hearing that it was a capital crime, Wu Siping, who had fainted, woke up. He stretched out his hand and said tremblingly, "Sir...we didn't steal it. We were also harmed by someone."
Zhu Song said, "So I'm asking you, who harmed you? If you can't tell me, or if you say there's no such person, then you'll have to bear the death penalty yourself."
Wu Siping looked at Huang Lingcui and said, "Go on, go on."
Huang Lingcui shuddered a little, "But it's been twenty years. Even if I draw it, it will definitely look different."
Zhu Song said: "This is not something you should worry about."
Huang Lingcui said, "How can someone sentenced to death not be worried?"
Zhu Song stared at her and said in a bad tone, "Don't delay."
Huang Lingcui defended herself: "I didn't delay."
Zhu Song looked at her and fell silent. Huang Lingcui became even more frightened. "I'll tell you. I'll tell you right away."
Because Huang Lingcui spoke incoherently, the portrait was revised again and again, and it was not finalized until the evening.
Zhu Song recognized the person in the painting as Yi Kangning at a glance.
In fact, Zhu Song recognized it when the painting was halfway through, but he still waited patiently until the painting was completed.
Zhu Song did not say much, but asked the yamen runners to take Huang Lingcui back to the prison. Because Wu Siping was seriously injured, Zhu Song did not let him go back to the prison, but found a room for him to recuperate.
Zhu Song repeatedly urged the yamen runners, "Keep your spirits up during this period. Call back all those on leave. Work in two shifts. Make sure to protect the safety of Wu Siping and Huang Lingcui."
The yamen runners could tell from the tone of the blessing how important this matter was, and they all responded in unison, "Yes."
Zhu Song returned home with two portraits.
It was already dark at this time, and the light in the study was still on. Zhu Song knocked on the door. Wen Fengxuan raised his head from the desk and looked at him. The orange light reflected on his face, which was gentle and beautiful.
"grown ups."
Zhu Song walked in, and Wen Fengxuan stood up to greet him. "Your Excellency doesn't look well?"
Zhu Song closed the door and said to him, "It's not bad, it's very good."
Wen Fengxuan followed up on his words and said, "Sir, have you found any clues in the investigation?"
Zhu Song nodded and placed the two portraits on the table. Wen Fengxuan looked over and recognized the person in the portrait, "Yi Kangning?"
"Twenty years ago, Yi Kangning went to Xiliu Village and bought this thing from a couple." Zhu Song said, pointing to another portrait.
Wen Fengxuan looked in the direction his finger was pointing, but he couldn't figure out anything.
"What is this? Topaz?"
"I don't think so." Zhu Song shook his head. "Gu Er didn't see anything today either."
Wen Fengxuan repeated, "Gu Er?"
Zhu Song blurted out, "Gu Huaiyu, nicknamed Gu Er."
Wen Fengxuan asked, "Isn't he the only son of Marquis Ping'an?"
Zhu Song explained: "Oh, just follow my instructions and call me Gu Er."
Wen Fengxuan praised, "You two have such a good relationship."
Zhu Song replied, "We grew up together."
Wen Fengxuan lowered his eyes and asked, "Has he seen all these things?"
"Yes, we studied it together this afternoon," Zhu Song nodded honestly, and then continued to talk about the case, "This thing was not found in Yi Kangning's mansion during the previous house search."
Wen Fengxuan asked, "Didn't Yi Kangning leave a riddle before? Could it be related to this?"
"Oh. I actually forgot such an important thing." Zhu Song slapped his head in annoyance. He has been really confused recently.
Zhu Song quickly took out the riddle he had obtained from the cryptex.
The answers to the first few riddles were already known, and the rest were these. Zhu Song read them out along the lines of the riddle.
"The tiger opened its bloody mouth, and on its forehead were words: one, two.
Three hundred miles east of Jishan,
There were a lot of cabbages growing in the garden. I picked out the best ones, tied them with gold thread, and sold them for a good price.
A tiger has lost its treasure and is crying all the time. Give it some cabbage and it will give you a gift in return.
With the tiger's baby, they finally arrived at the forest.
So many beautiful pleurotus ostreatus mushrooms, so beautiful!
Pick one, pick two, pick three...
Don’t worry about picking it, it doesn’t matter if you get caught.”
Zhu Song and Wen Fengxuan studied the riddle, but they both felt it was wrong. "Cabbage, that means this yellow thing isn't valuable, it's only valuable because it's tied with gold thread. There's a lot of cabbage, which means there's actually a lot of this yellow thing. Huang Cuiling said she picked it up from the mountain, which means there's a lot of it on the mountain?"
"Can this kind of thing grow on the mountain?" Zhu Song frowned more and more. Anyway, he went to his ancestral grave to burn incense every year and had never seen this kind of thing.
Wen Fengxuan shook his head, "I haven't seen it either."
Zhu Song analyzed, "And this sentence, Jishan is three hundred miles east. This thing can only be found three hundred miles east of Jishan? I need to ask Huang Cuiling where she picked it up."
However, before Zhu Song had time to leave, Gu Huaiyu came and brought bad news.
"Huang Lingcui is dead." Gu Huaiyu hurriedly said to Zhu Song who came to open the door. Then he noticed that Zhu Song's face looked a little strange. He looked into the room, frowned instantly, and exclaimed, "Your Highness the Crown Prince?"
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