The Eastern Palace.
"Is everything cleaned up?"
Crown Prince Gu Junze slowly put down the wolf-hair brush in his hand. The midday sun slanted through the carved window lattice and shone on the table, gilding his slender fingers with a golden halo.
He slightly raised his eyes, and his eyes, as sharp as cold stars, appeared even more piercing in the sunlight, as if they could see right through people's hearts.
Wang Jian, the Minister of Revenue, was once a pawn that he had to temporarily use.
This is a parasite who is greedy for life and afraid of death. He has been in the court for more than ten years by flattering others, like a blood-sucking leech, without any real ability.
Back then, he had no one to rely on, so he could only swallow his anger and let Wang Jian embezzle funds from the Ministry of Revenue for more than a decade, allowing him to act recklessly.
Now that he has already obtained everything he was entitled to, Wang Jian, as a pawn, has naturally lost his value.
How could he allow such parasites to continue to gnaw at his empire?
It's time to remove these unsightly stumbling blocks.
"Reporting to Master, the person... has escaped."
The sound of ink writing was particularly jarring in the quiet hall, like a knife slicing through calm water.
Before he could finish speaking, a celadon teacup came flying with a strong gust of wind and smashed into his forehead with a "bang".
Porcelain shards flew everywhere, and scalding tea mixed with blood slid down his taut jawline, blooming like red plum blossoms on the bluestone floor, a shocking sight.
"Your subordinate deserves to die!"
Mo Shu immediately knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed against the cold gold brick, his body trembling slightly.
The sound of dripping blood was particularly clear in the empty hall.
The midday sun cast a long shadow of him, and his undershirt was already soaked with sweat, sticking to his back and making him feel like he was sitting on pins and needles.
Time passed slowly, but the Crown Prince remained silent.
Mo Shu's heart was pounding like a drum, and all he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat.
Sudden--
“My cousin…” the Crown Prince suddenly spoke, his voice unhurried, yet it sent a chill down Mo Shu’s spine, as if a cold air had rushed from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, “has he just been transferred to the Dali Temple?”
"Your Highness, Lord Gu was just promoted to Left Judge yesterday."
Mo Shu's voice trembled slightly, each word sounding as if it were being squeezed out of his throat.
The prince lightly tapped the rosewood table with his fingertips, producing a crisp, rhythmic sound, and sunlight danced on his gilded robes.
"The disappearance of an official should be investigated by the Court of Judicial Review." He raised the corners of his lips slightly, revealing a meaningful smile, a smile that carried a hint of coldness and calculation. "Issue my imperial decree, ordering him to arrest the person within three days."
Before he could finish speaking, he crushed the remaining half of the porcelain cup in his hand into pieces.
Crimson blood seeped through his fingers, gleaming eerily in the sunlight.
"If you fail to do so..." The Crown Prince's voice suddenly turned cold, "you will be punished for dereliction of duty."
Since the Emperor reclaimed the power of the Eldest Princess, the Court of Judicial Review has been entirely under the jurisdiction of the Crown Prince.
Mo Shu kowtowed heavily, his forehead striking the gold brick with a dull thud.
"I will take care of it immediately."
As the palace doors opened and closed, the sweltering heat of midsummer, accompanied by the chirping of cicadas, rushed in, and the blinding sunlight made it impossible to open one's eyes.
Mo Shu's figure staggered slightly in the sunlight and quickly disappeared at the end of the palace road.
The crown prince sat alone in the Mingtang Hall, gazing at the bloodstains on the ground that were gradually congealing, a dark and ambiguous light flashing in his eyes.
The memorials on the desk rustled in the draft, and the still-wet red ink of the annotations shone like blood in the sunlight.
Meanwhile, inside the Dali Temple.
The midday sun streamed through the window, casting dappled patterns of light on the floor, like broken pieces of golden glass.
The cicadas chirped incessantly outside the window, their noise seemingly threatening to engulf the entire world. The summer heat had not yet dissipated, and even the breeze through the window carried a hint of heat, feeling like fire on the face.
Shen Jintang leaned against the desk, her body slightly forward, her knuckles tapping the tabletop intermittently, producing a crisp but monotonous sound.
The teacup had long since gone cold, and a thin layer of mist rose from the tea, but she showed no interest in changing the tea. Her gaze kept glancing towards the door, her eyes filled with anxiety, clearly waiting for someone.
"Don't rush," Gu Zhixing turned to look at Shen Jintang, his tone gentle, his voice unusually steady in the sweltering air, "Xinghui is always reliable in its work; we'll have news soon."
"Hmm." Although Shen Jintang responded, her mind was clearly not on the matter.
She stood up and sat on a chair by the window, leaning slightly forward, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the embroidery on her cuffs, as if trying to soothe her inner unease.
She pursed her lips, her brows furrowed, and even the sunlight falling on her couldn't dispel the tension in her expression.
The fact that Wang Jian suddenly disappeared at this stage of the investigation was no accident.
If he were truly silenced, then all her plans over the past few days would likely have been in vain.
Just then, hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the courtyard, breaking the silence as they approached.
The two of them looked up at the same time—
"Boss! We've arrived just in time, haven't we?" Ye Qingzhou's voice preceded his arrival as he strode in, followed by Gu Yanqing.
He still had a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, clearly from a hurried walk.
Gu Zhixing straightened up, his gaze sweeping over the two of them, and asked, "What are you doing here at this hour?"
“We’re here at this hour because it’s important. We’re carrying the Crown Prince’s decree,” Gu Yanqing said, his tone serious.
“That’s right,” Ye Qingzhou grabbed the iced tea on the table, tilted his head back and took a swig, wiped his mouth, and said in a tone that was both flippant and helpless, “The Crown Prince wants you to find Wang Jian within three days, alive or dead, or else…” He shrugged and deliberately dragged out his words, “and be punished for dereliction of duty.”
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