Birds on the edge of the abyss 21
He was crying, sweating, and bleeding. He looked up with wide eyes and whispered, "Shen Luli... Ha"
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Chu Xin walked into the study and looked at the two portraits that Bu Nan had asked someone to hang up early. They were hung neatly on the left and right. Chu Xin stood with his hands behind his back and admired them for a long time before turning around and sitting back in his seat.
"Your Highness, you have just met both of them, why are you still looking at the portraits of the two young masters?" Le Luo walked in quietly with lotus seed soup, and smiled softly. She took out the lotus seed soup and placed it next to Chu Xin.
"Lotus seed soup, just sent over by Yaohua Palace. The Imperial Concubine instructed me to make sure Your Highness finishes it. She also said that with the changing seasons, Your Highness should drink more throat-soothing soup. Please, Your Highness!"
"How can you ever get tired of looking at a beauty? Le Luo, you just don't know how to appreciate it." Chu Xin looked at her with amusement, his eyes shifting back and forth between the two portraits. He took the lotus seed soup with his big hand and drank it all, then turned to look at Le Luo and frowned.
"Don't accept the tonic soup sent from Yaohua Palace from now on. Mother always makes the same excuse. I'm afraid some kind of aphrodisiac has been added to this tonic soup, too."
"Of course not. I checked it and sent it in because it's fine this time." Le Luo took the bowl, put it away with a smile, and handed Chu Xin a cup of water to rinse his mouth. Then he poured the brewed tea into the cup, pushed it to his hand, and sighed.
"Your Highness really does like beauties. I remember when I was a child, I always liked to hang around Xu Qingjiu, the eldest son of General Zhenyuan's mansion. Time flies so fast. In the blink of an eye, Your Highness has become so mature and handsome."
Chu Xin's face darkened, and he almost spit out the tea in his mouth. He said angrily, "Don't bring up the embarrassing childhood memories anymore. It's okay for Jian Can to do this, but you are also like this..."
"Okay, okay, I won't say anything more. Your Highness should review the documents first. The palace maid just reported that the person in the tea room has woken up." Le Luo agreed and reminded
"Summon him to come and see me." Chu Xin felt a little itchy in his heart, as if there were a few ants scratching him. He looked at the portrait hanging next to him and moved slightly. He was eager to see the beauty's face to relieve his depressed mood.
"I obey your command, but Your Highness, do you need to put this painting away first?" Le Luo looked at Chu Xin and turned to look at the portrait, suppressing a smile.
"No need, I am looking at it openly and honestly, why should I hide it?" Chu Xinyang said casually while lying on the chair. He was used to being lazy in front of Le Luo.
To him, Jian Can was his senior brother, like a brother, and Le Luo had followed him into the mountains since childhood. Later, the master saw that she was talented and intelligent, so he accepted her as a disciple to learn martial arts. Because the master liked her very much, she became his disciple earlier than Chu Xin, and was like a senior sister to him.
"Haha, I will go and ask Master Shen to come over." Le Luo glanced at Chu Xin and withdrew with a smile.
Less than an incense stick later, Shen Luli walked in, led by Le Luo. He silently stroked the hair next to him that was curled up due to sleep, walked in a little nervously, and knelt down to salute.
"Shen Luli, I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
Chu Xin sat upright in his chair, and said coldly, "Sit down" without raising his head.
Le Luo stood aside and helped Shen Luli to sit down. He smiled at him gently, poured tea and retreated wisely.
Shen Luli lowered his head and held the cup of hot tea. The warm temperature penetrated his cold hands and went straight to his heart. Just now, he had walked all the way, and the bone-chilling cold wind penetrated his bones, and even the little heat in the tea room was dissipated. Now it was a little warmer.
He glanced at His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who was still annotating documents under the bright candlelight, and could not help but admire him.
After a while, he saw the other party stop writing, and he quickly organized his words and said coldly:
"The Shen family will swear to follow you, Your Highness, until death. Please rest assured."
Chu Xin paused, rubbing her brows and looking up, she said, "I saved you because, firstly, I didn't want the reputation of the Duke of Zhenguo to be ruined by this frame-up for no reason. Secondly, I wanted to destroy the cancer that was biting the lifeblood of the court. I hope Master Shen can understand that I don't need your support."
Shen Luli clenched his fist, a little stunned
Seeing that he was speechless and looked extremely fragile with his long eyelashes lowered, Chu Xin softened her tone a little and said softly, "I hope that the lineage of the Duke of Zhenguo will not be extinct because of this. From now on, you two brothers just need to take good care of yourselves and don't worry about other things."
Shen Luli's throat was a little dry, and he said hoarsely, "Your Highness, please tell me what it means to take care of yourself."
Chu Xin was puzzled. Shen Luli continued, "Now, out of the 135 people in my family, only two are left. I myself probably won't live for more than a year or two. By then, the Shen family will be extinct. I feel guilty for the deceased ancestors of my family, and I have no face to mourn my grandfather and others... I only hope that Your Highness can use your hands to personally kill the murderer who framed our family."
He raised his eyes, which were as bright as blazing flames. His usually dark and gloomy face revealed a gorgeous side under the candlelight. Chu Xin was stunned by what he saw and forgot to respond to him for a moment.
[Ding, Chu Xin's favorability +3, current favorability 35]
"It's good that you have this intention," Chu Xin said slowly. Suddenly, he felt that his expression was a little bit off. He immediately lowered his head and pretended to review the documents.
"I know your determination, but if you want to serve me, you still need to show your ability. Now I ask you a question. If you can tell me the truth, you will have passed the first hurdle I set."
"Your Highness, please speak." Shen Luli coughed softly, took out a bright yellow handkerchief and covered his mouth with it, and suddenly spit out a mouthful of blood. His heart was clear and he said
Seeing him so skillfully take out the handkerchief to catch the blood and then put it away, Chu Xin suddenly felt a little distressed. He glanced at the very familiar handkerchief and then said with a flash of his golden eyes:
"Who is Prince Jing Chu Xiao connected with?"
[Ding, Chu Xin's favorability +2, current favorability 37]
"Lord Kong, the Tongpan of Quzhou, Lord Liu, the Governor of Meizhou, and Lord Zhang, the Imperial Censor of Yanzhou, are all known to the local officials. Within the capital, they have connections with the Zhenyuan General's Mansion, the Minister of Revenue, the Minister of Works, the Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple... Besides that, they also collaborate with several other princes who have been granted titles of nobility."
Shen Luli searched the memory of the original body when he listened to the conversation between the Duke of Zhenguo and Prince Jing, and said it without thinking.
Chu Xin compared what he said with his own guesses and found that they were basically the same. He couldn't help but sneer.
"Chu Xiao is making such a big fuss, I'm afraid he's afraid others won't know he's rebelling. How foolish!"
Shen Luli looked at his strategizing posture and probably knew that he had passed the first hurdle. He lowered his head and tried to ignore the words related to treason that Chu Xin said. In this situation, he could only pretend to be deaf and dumb and get away with it. If he said something wrong, he would be beheaded today.
"Chen Luli, I remember that you have to go to the palace to meet the emperor tomorrow?" Chu Xin suddenly asked
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