When Zheng Duobao came back with the food box, Yin Chengyu was already fast asleep. He sighed and muttered that he had to eat something, but he couldn't wake her up after she fell asleep. He had to tiptoe out again and order someone to bring the food to the stove to warm it up.
"I asked the kitchen to prepare ginger soup. When Your Highness wakes up later, Eunuch Zheng will serve Your Highness a bowl of it. He should feel better." As Xue Shu spoke, he replaced the cold soup with a warm one and stuffed it back into the quilt, then tucked the corners of the quilt carefully.
Hearing him say this, Zheng Duobao subconsciously said "eh".
After the others left, he felt something was wrong. Why did Xue Shu do all his work?
He looked at Xue Shu's back in confusion, thought about it for a while but couldn't figure it out, so he stopped thinking about it.
Anyway, it's all for the good of His Highness.
After leaving the house, Xue Shu was about to go downstairs to the kitchen when he suddenly heard the sound of fabric rubbing in the corridor on the right. He paused, and the rubbing sound stopped immediately. However, Xue Shu did not see any figure in his peripheral vision, only a faint flickering of light and shadow - the third floor of the cabin was where His Highness lived, and ordinary people could not go up there. He dared not be so sneaky.
Xue Shu's eyes suddenly turned fierce, he drew the sword from his waist and threw it out.
The long knife, shining with a cold light, pierced into the abdomen of the peeping person at a sharp angle with power. At the same time, a "splash" sound of someone falling into the water was heard from the river.
Xue Shu hurried over and saw a man lying on the ground with a knife in his abdomen at the corner of the corridor. He looked into the river and saw a dark shadow going away. He narrowed his eyes and whistled to notify the guards to stay away from the enemy. He jumped into the river without hesitation and chased after it like a fish.
Although it is spring now and the ice on the river has melted long ago, the water in the river is still bone-chillingly cold. If you are not a person who makes a living on the water all year round, you will not be able to withstand the cold water.
The middle-aged man who was diving thought that as long as he entered the water, his life would be safe. But before he could celebrate, he heard the sound of splashing water behind him.
When Emperor Cang looked back, he saw a young man chasing after him.
The cold river water absorbed his warmth, soaking his eyebrows and eyes, but it made the black darker and the white whiter. Looking through the mist on the river, his white face and black eyes looked like a demon in the water.
In just a moment, he had caught up to me.
The two men immediately started to struggle in the water, but the middle-aged man's strength was obviously not as good as Xue Shu's. After only two rounds of fighting, Xue Shu clamped his hands firmly, pressed his head, and sank him into the water.
No matter how good a swimmer you are, you can't hold your breath anymore.
After a few times, the middle-aged man coughed and rolled his eyes, and his limbs became weak from struggling. Xue Shu then dragged him back to the boat.
The soldiers from the fourth battalion who were supporting him on the deck saw him climb out of the water and throw the man in his hands onto the deck like a dead dog. They all shuddered in surprise.
This Xue Jianguan had only been in charge of the Four Guards for a short time, and he had not had much dealings with them. Although they were quite polite to each other when escorting the prince on this trip, they were not respectful.
After all, such a young boy, and a eunuch at that, was actually suppressing them. Any soldier with a bit of blood in his veins would not accept it. It was only because he was trusted by the emperor that they were a little more polite.
But now it seems... this is not just a flower stand.
The soldiers of the Fourth Guard Battalion began to murmur in their hearts, and their expressions became more respectful than before.
Xue Shu took the cloth handed to him by his subordinate, wiped his face casually, and walked towards the cabin: "Take the man to the cargo hold to await trial."
After saying that, he strode into the room.
——He went into the water and his clothes were wet and stuck to his body. If he hadn't worn thick clothes, he would have been exposed.
Xue Shu hurried back to change into dry clothes before going to the cargo hold.
This canal ship was temporarily requisitioned, so naturally there was no cargo on board. Both the upper and lower cargo holds were empty. The two captured people were imprisoned in the bottom cargo hold.
The middle-aged man who had jumped into the water had woken up and was hanging from a pillar with his hands tied. The other man was stabbed in the abdomen by Xue Shu's knife and was half dead. He was not hung, but tied up and thrown aside.
Four soldiers were guarding the cargo hold. When they saw Xue Shu coming, they all saluted.
The leading soldier brought a chair and wiped off the nonexistent dust, then said courteously, "Supervisor Xue can watch us interrogate him from here."
If conditions allowed, he would probably have served a pot of good tea and some fruits as snacks.
Xue Shu ignored the other party's flattery, waved his hands, and said coldly: "I will come to judge it myself."
The chillness on his body had not yet dissipated, and he deliberately imitated the behavior of the eunuch in charge, Gao Xian, and pinched his throat a little, perfectly portraying a sinister eunuch, causing several people in the cabin to shiver.
The four soldiers dared not say anything more and retreated to the side obediently.
Xue Shu stepped forward and looked at the middle-aged man who was hung up: "Name."
"Sun, Sun Erlei." The middle-aged man had witnessed the opponent's ruthlessness once in the water, and he was not a tough guy, so he confessed immediately.
Xue Shu asked again: "Can you write?"
Although he didn't understand why he asked if he could write, Sun Erlei nodded repeatedly and said flatteringly, "Yes, yes."
Xue Shu then nodded, as if satisfied, and said to the soldier beside him: "Pull out the tongue first, so as not to disturb His Highness when questioning."
Sun Erlei's expression froze, and he was about to ask for mercy, but he was frightened by his cold eyes, and he started to shiver in fear.
The rest of the interrogation went very smoothly.
Sun Erlei, whose tongue was pulled out, was almost frightened to death and confessed everything in detail.
Xue Shu got the signed confession and left the cargo hold with satisfaction.
Zhao Lin, who arrived a step later, was waiting outside. When he saw him come out, he came forward and asked, "Supervisor Xue, have you come up with the result of the trial?"
Xue Shu nodded and asked him, "Your Highness, have you woken up?"
"woke up."
Xue Shu was about to go upstairs when he heard this, but he stopped when he remembered something and said casually, "I will present the signed confession to Your Highness. There is no use for those two people. If they tried to spy on Your Highness and have bad intentions, throw them into the river to feed the fish."
After saying this, he carefully brushed off the dust on his clothes and went to report to Yin Chengyu.
Zhao Lin, who was left behind, took a look at the cargo hold and frowned.
The two prisoners lay on the ground, dying, their limbs twisted into strange positions, their mouths open without tongues. One of them was in a particularly miserable state, not only had his left eye gouged out, but the fingers of both hands were also cut off, leaving only a thumb on his right hand to sign.
Zhao Lin drew his sword and ended the lives of the two men before ordering his men to throw the bodies into the river.
When Xue Shu went to see Yin Chengyu, he was holding a bowl of ginger soup and sipping it with a frown on his face.
Seeing someone coming, he first gave him a displeased look before asking, "What did you find out?"
He was unaware that he was awakened when the guards below rushed upstairs, and then he realized that there was a spy on the ship.
"Your Highness, please take a look." Xue Shu handed him the confession and observed his face: "Your Highness looks better."
Yin Chengyu read the confession carefully and ignored his words.
This ginger soup is indeed useful. Although it is spicy and tastes bad, after drinking half a bowl, the churning feeling in his stomach was soothed. Otherwise, he would not have continued to drink it despite the discomfort.
"From the Cao Gang?" After reading it, Yin Chengyu threw the confession on the table and said, "It seems that Wan Youliang is anxious."
Although the two spies only revealed the Cao Gang and did not identify Wan Youliang, after a little thought, he realized that the person who cared most about his whereabouts and wanted to take his life at this time was none other than Wan Youliang.
He even couldn't wait to arrange for someone who was good at swimming to follow him on the boat at Tongzhou Wharf. It seems that the Changlu Salt Field not only enriched Wan Youliang's pockets, but also made him bolder.
"Where are those two?" Yin Chengyu tapped the table gently, thinking about how to give Wan Youliang a big gift, when he heard Xue Shu say, "Kill them."
Yin Chengyu looked at him suddenly and said unhappily, "Why did you kill him? Maybe he could be of some use if you kept him."
"You attempted to assassinate Your Highness, and it is not a pity to be cut into pieces." Xue Shu knew nothing about his fault. His tone was gloomy, and there was hostility between his eyebrows and eyes. He also had some shadows of his previous life.
Yin Chengyu stopped talking immediately, knowing that it was useless to talk to him any more.
Xue Shu is such a person, he looks like a decent person on the surface, but in fact he is full of wolf blood, stubborn and cruel. He guards his things very tightly and never allows anyone to covet them.
In his previous life, Xue Shu would search all the capitals and thirteen provinces to find out the assassins who had tried to assassinate him, and then skin them and stuff them with straw to serve as a warning to others.
Although the relationship between the two has changed now, Xue Shu's personality has not changed at all.
He has had such a bad temper since he was a child.
Yin Chengyu cursed in his heart, but did not bother with him about it any further.
On the contrary, Xue Shu frowned and said, "Wan Youliang is so rampant. I'm afraid the trip to Tianjin Wei will not be peaceful."
"No matter how hard the iron plate is, I can still break a crack in it." Yin Chengyu snorted and laughed, leaning back in his chair, looking unconcerned.
In his previous life, he had also thoroughly investigated the salt administration, but that was when he returned to the palace after being imprisoned for five years.
At that time, he returned to the court and was in urgent need of merit. At the same time, there was a war at the border and the treasury was empty. He then set his sights on the salt administration. The five salt commissioners had raised countless rats. When the treasury was short of money, wouldn't they have to deal with these rats?
He had gotten through it before, so why should he be afraid of it now?
Thinking that they would arrive in Tianjin Wei tomorrow, Yin Chengyu temporarily put aside these annoying matters, got up and lay down on the imperial concubine's couch, and waved to Xue Shu: "Come here, massage my legs."
——Xue Shu had pressed his temple points for a while before, and his technique was quite good.
The first time is new, the second time is familiar. Xue Shu took off his boots and got on the couch as he was told. He lifted his legs and placed them on his knees, kneading them gently with controlled force.
Yin Chengyu sighed comfortably and squinted at him: "I asked you to massage my legs, are you unhappy in your heart?"
Feeling the soft and delicate touch in his hand, Xue Shu lowered his eyes, hiding the ripples in his eyes, and shook his head: "It is my honor to serve Your Highness."
Yin Chengyu was pleased by his submissive look and said "flattering" with a smile.
The author has something to say:
Dog Gou: It is very difficult to play the sterile Dog Gou.