Seeing the First Prince and the Crown Prince clearly clashing in court, everyone fell silent.
Kangxi said nothing, only instructing the Crown Prince to continue investigating the situation. Yinzhi, witnessing this, felt even more resentful. His father always favored the Crown Prince, never scolding him for failing to complete a task properly. Yinzhi's gaze towards the Crown Prince seemed to spit fire. The Crown Prince, standing at the front, gave him a disdainful look, which only fueled Yinzhi's anger.
Unlike before, the crown prince did not leave immediately after court. Recalling the smile of the man in prison, he waited with interest at the palace gate.
"General Alusa, please wait."
Qingyin and Aluna drifted out of the court, only to be stopped by the Crown Prince at the door.
Qingyin stopped in her tracks. "Your Majesty, this humble subject greets you."
The Crown Prince, dressed in a dark yellow court robe, walked over. Looking into those azure eyes filled with doubt, his eyes darkened slightly. He smiled faintly and said, "General, you must know how troublesome those people who captured my fourteenth brother were. I have been quite troubled lately."
Qingyin didn't want to cause trouble, so she said perfunctorily, "Your Highness has worked hard."
Unfortunately, the crown prince in front of her had no intention of letting her go. He pretended to be troubled and said, "Recently, that person has found a breakthrough, but he insists on seeing you, General, before he will confess. I wonder if you, General, can help me with this?"
Yinzhen, who had been watching this area, walked over, his sharp eyes fixed on the Crown Prince, and interjected with a smile: "What favor do you need that requires the Crown Prince's request?"
The Crown Prince smiled calmly and said, "It's also related to my fourteenth brother. That scoundrel wanted to see General Arusa before he would confess. I was just talking to the general about it."
Before Yinzhen could say anything, Qingyin agreed to the Crown Prince's request. Although she didn't like to cause trouble, she wasn't afraid of it either. To prevent Yinzhen from saying anything foolish, Qingyin said first, "It is my honor to be able to help the Crown Prince."
"Since it concerns me, why not add 'I' to the equation? That might speed things up even more," Yinzhen said, smiling as he stared at the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince, who had initially achieved his goal, now had a hint of impatience in his eyes, but outwardly he still smiled and nodded.
Qingyin, who had promised the Crown Prince, came to the dungeon the next day. The three people who had attacked Yinzhen were imprisoned in the North and South prisons of the Ministry of Justice. Qingyin and Yinzhen followed the jailers deeper and deeper into the dungeon. The screams of the prisoners became fainter and fainter, and the environment became increasingly gloomy and the instruments of torture became more and more terrifying.
The innermost room was a relatively spacious one. The prince, dressed in a black robe, sat on a wooden chair. The red jade pendant at his waist shimmered with a terrifying, bloody luster in this special environment, like flowing blood.
Hearing the commotion, the Crown Prince turned his deep-set eyes over, his beautifully shaped eyes immediately locking onto his target—Qingyin. He smiled slightly, “The General and Fourteenth Brother have arrived. The person being held here is in here.”
The prince casually pointed to the iron gate closest to him. The gate was rusty and dotted with red spots, and its dark color was unpleasant to look at.
Qingyin nodded, "Alright, thank you for the reminder, Your Highness."
She made a move to open the iron gate, and Yinzhen followed closely behind her. The Crown Prince watched this scene and chuckled almost imperceptibly.
Pushing open the iron gate, Qingyin finally saw the three bloodied figures before her. The only good flesh left on their pale, bloodless, delicate faces was the result of their beating.
The one with the most feminine appearance lazily raised his slightly upturned peach blossom eyes, and his eyes lit up when he saw the person in front of him.
"Oh dear, I need to speak with this beauty alone, otherwise I'd rather die than say it," the man said with a smile as he looked at Qingyin as she entered.
Upon hearing the man's words, the other two also opened their eyes. Compared to the talkative, handsome man, the other two were much quieter, staring intently and passionately at Qingyin without uttering a word.
Yinzhen frowned deeply, "You!"
The handsome man chuckled and said, "Sir, look at us, we're all tied up so tightly, and with all these injuries, we can't even touch the beauty, can we?"
"Alright, you can go out now. I'll come out later."
Qingyin stopped Yinzhen, and under Qingyin's gaze, Yinzhen obediently withdrew.
Looking at the dejected Yinzhen emerging from the cell, the Crown Prince scoffed. Yinzhen ignored the Crown Prince's mockery; he stood to the side, staring intently at the movement of the cell door.
Now only Qingyin and the three others remained in the cell. Qingyin took the initiative to say, "Alright, you can speak now."
“Beauty, no, General Alsa, let me introduce myself first. My name is Zhu Zhixiang, I am twenty years old and unmarried.” The handsome man stared at Qingyin, his eyes filled with infatuation.
The two men beside him, who had a cold appearance, also broke their silence. With a few short words, "He Wangsheng" and "Jiang Yunfan," the silence returned.
Zhu Zhixiang didn't seem to dislike the two men who had come to introduce him; he just glanced at them briefly before turning his gaze back to Qingyin.
Qingyin could tell the subordinate relationships among the group, and there was a dangerous aura about them. She vaguely guessed their backgrounds, but she didn't say anything.
"Come here, General, I'll tell you a secret." Zhu Zhixiang looked at Qingyin enticingly, waiting for her arrival.
Qingyin frowned slightly: "No need, you can talk to the Crown Prince about it."
But the next second, Qingyin clearly saw the man mouth the shape of a girl's mouth. She was a little surprised. Looking at the same expressions on their faces, Qingyin realized that they knew her true gender.
"Alright, General, come here. If you come, I'll tell you how I know," Zhu Zhixiang said to Qingyin with a smile.
Qingyin was a little curious. She walked up to Zhu Zhixiang and looked down at the white-clad prisoner who was lying on the ground, his clothes soaked in blood.
"Lower your head, General. It's too tiring for me to look up."
Qingyin was startled by Zhu Zhixiang's sudden change to a soft and charming female voice, causing her body to stiffen for a moment. However, she still squatted down as he instructed. A moment later, a light kiss, like a leaf falling to the ground, appeared in her hair and disappeared in an instant, as if she were protecting a fragile treasure, gentle and sacred.
Qingyin was stunned and looked up at him.
Zhu Zhixiang, unashamed of being watched by others, forced a bright smile. The intense smile added color to his pale face, making him appear less sinister and more sunny. He smiled and said, "General, we will meet again."
"And the secret is my eyes."
With Qingyin's departure from the prison now over, it's time for Aluna and Princess Wenxian's wedding to take place.
Qingyin needs to prepare some things for her brother. What is this called, a dowry? Qingyin thought to herself and laughed at the same time, which made Aruna, who was getting more and more nervous as the wedding approached, look puzzled.
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