Chapter 72 Sleeping in Each Other's Arms, Avoiding Them Before Kissing
Clearly, Zhang Xiaoju understood her implication and bowed to Yuan Yan.
“Your Highness, now that I have come to your side, I will not leave empty-handed.”
"I have a great gift for Your Highness as a welcoming present." She emphasized the words "great gift," her eyes brimming with confidence, as if she knew Yuan Yan would be pleased with it.
...
Zhang Xiaoju and Yuan Yan talked for a long time inside the hall.
After she came out, Yuan Yan had a guest room prepared in the Prince's Mansion for Zhang Xiaoju to stay in temporarily.
[Host, is what she said true?] The system listened to the whole thing and felt a little uneasy.
"Whether it's true or false, we'll find out by having someone check."
After Yuan Yan finished speaking, he called Xue Lang over.
She wrote a name on a piece of paper and gave it to Xue Lang.
“Go and investigate this person,” Yuan Yan said.
Xue Lang unfolded the paper, and after seeing the names on it, a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.
"Yes, I will take care of it immediately." She accepted the order and left.
Yuan Yan then returned to the main courtyard.
"Sister Yan, did anything happen just now?" Yang Lingyi stepped forward to greet her and asked with concern.
"It's nothing."
Yuan Yan didn't want Yi'er to worry, so he simply said that he had recently hired a new advisor and had someone arrange for him to stay temporarily in the guest courtyard.
"It's all that person's fault for delaying us, making it a little late. Sister, come and eat quickly, don't go hungry."
Yang Lingyi felt sorry for Yuan Yan, who had to deal with outside affairs even at a time like this. Seeing that Yuan Yan had finally finished his work, she immediately ordered someone to serve him a meal.
"Yi'er is so thoughtful." Yuan Yan smiled and kissed Yang Lingyi on the cheek.
Yang Lingyi's face flushed red instantly, her long eyelashes fluttered shyly, and she gently pushed against Yuan Yan's chest.
"Sister Yan, the servants are still here."
"I understand, Yi'er. Next time, I'll avoid them when I kiss you," Yuan Yan joked.
"Sister!" Yang Lingyi blushed upon hearing this, and dared not look at the surrounding male servants.
Shortly after the two finished their meal, Xue Lang returned.
"Your Highness, the information has been obtained," she reported from outside the courtyard.
Hearing the noise outside, Yang Lingyi couldn't help but sigh. They had only just finished dinner, and someone was already looking for Sister Yan again.
He had originally wanted to talk to his sister a little longer, but that plan fell through now.
Seeing Yang Lingyi's reluctant expression, Yuan Yan squeezed his hand and stood up.
"It's nothing, just a small matter. I'll be back soon."
Yang Lingyi felt a warmth in her heart after being comforted by her words. She quickly composed herself and nodded, "Okay, sister, go ahead and get busy."
Given his elder sister's status, she has many affairs of state to handle. He needs to be sensible and be a good helpmate to his sister.
"Yi'er is such a good boy." Yuan Yan smiled and patted his head before turning and walking out of the courtyard.
Xue Lang had found out the truth within the time it takes to eat a meal, which was incredibly fast.
"We've already heard news so quickly." Yuan Yan summoned the man to his study.
Xue Lang: "Your Highness, it's not that I found out quickly. It's just that this person is on the execution list, all his crimes are recorded in the dossier, and he will be executed soon."
"Tell me, what crime did she commit?" Yuan Yan seemed unsurprised, nodding slightly to let Xue Lang continue.
"Pang Guoan was once the governor of Jizhou. During his tenure, he was extremely corrupt and plundered the subordinate prefectures and counties, resulting in the depletion of treasuries in many parts of Jizhou."
"According to the newly revised laws of Your Highness, officials who embezzle public funds and property by abusing their positions, and whose embezzlement reaches eighty strings of cash, shall be executed."
"This man embezzled tens of thousands of taels of silver, which is a serious crime. After his home was searched and the stolen goods recovered, he was escorted to the capital, where he was convicted and awaited execution."
Xue Lang presented the dossier to Yuan Yan for review.
Shortly after Yuan Yan submitted the new laws, they were gradually implemented in the court.
Yuan Hao ordered his men to severely punish corrupt officials according to the new laws. The court was shaken, corrupt officials lived in fear, and the atmosphere in officialdom was rectified.
Pang Guoan was a local corrupt official who was exposed during this investigation.
“Interesting.” Yuan Yan chuckled lightly, his meaning ambiguous.
"Xue Lang, take some men and bring me Pang Guoan's body... Remember, do it quietly, don't let anyone see it."
Although Xue Lang didn't understand what Her Highness wanted the corpse for, she was extremely loyal and immediately agreed, "Yes, Your Highness."
On the day of his execution, Pang Guoan was beheaded in public. Upon hearing that this notorious corrupt official had been executed, the people gathered around, cheering and throwing rotten vegetable leaves at Pang Guoan in the prison cart.
"Your Highness didn't go, so you don't know, but the people are all praising this new law, saying that all these corrupt officials should be arrested."
Yu Liu and Rong Youyan said, "If you ask me, all of this is thanks to His Highness's revision of the law. Not only has the atmosphere in the court changed dramatically, but even the common people praise it."
"You sly fox, stop flattering me. I'm already being kind by not cursing me behind my back."
Yuan Yan knew perfectly well what was going on and ordered his men to bring up Pang Guoan's body.
Four guards carried the cloth-wrapped corpse inside. As soon as it entered the hall, a stench of rotten vegetables and eggs wafted from afar.
It seems Yu Liu was right. Before the execution, the people really did throw a lot of things at Pang Guoan to vent their anger.
The system noticed that a certain guard was secretly holding his breath and complained to Yuan Yan.
Yuan Yan also smelled the scent, but he didn't show any surprise. Instead, he stepped down from his seat and watched as the guards lifted the cloth covering the body.
"Your Highness, this body has not been properly prepared, and it may be an eyesore," Xue Lang said as Yuan Yan personally came forward to examine it.
"It's nothing. It's just a dead body. I've seen all kinds of dead bodies. It's not worth making such a fuss about." Yuan Yan didn't care and ordered his men to examine the body.
The guards carefully examined the area.
“Your Highness, it’s a bit strange. Pang Guoan is clearly the governor of a prefecture. He has been living a life of luxury for many years and does not need to do any work. Why is his face dark, his hands and feet large, and his palms rough?”
"It's like, it's like..." Yu Liu was at a loss for words, unable to put it into words.
“It’s as if he’s not a prefect, but a commoner from the countryside,” Yuan Yan finished her sentence for her.
"Yes, yes, that's exactly what I think." Yu Liu nodded repeatedly. After hearing His Highness's point, she felt even more uneasy about the corpse.
The next moment, after realizing what Yuan Yan had said, everyone present showed a strange expression.
"Does Your Highness suspect that this person is not Pang Guoan?" Yu Liu asked in astonishment.
The captain was dumbfounded and muttered, "Then who is the person lying here?"
"Regardless of who it was, the fact remains that someone switched the death row inmates," Yuan Yan said calmly.
Xue Lang was speechless. "This is a serious crime of switching death row inmates. I don't believe that the officials of the Ministry of Justice could not see through such an obvious switch. There must be someone colluding behind it... I wonder how Your Highness discovered such a secret."
"It wasn't me who discovered it, but someone who informed me beforehand. Now it's just a matter of verification, and I've found that it was indeed the case."
Yuan Yan snorted coldly and sent someone to invite Zhang Xiaoju over.
"So, Your Highness knows who switched the death row inmates?" Xue Lang asked.
"Colluding with officials of the Ministry of Justice to deceive the Emperor... Apart from Sun Shijun, how many people in the court have the guts and ability to do this?"
Yuan Yan indeed already knew the answer from Zhang Xiaoju.
These words startled everyone present.
It was actually done by the maternal grandfather of the King of Qi?
Given Sun Shijun's shrewdness, why would he do something so extremely risky and detrimental to himself...?
There must be something fishy about this. Xue Lang and the others were puzzled.
【Host, then you should hurry to the palace to meet the Emperor. Use the corpse as evidence to report this matter to him.】
The system's thinking was simplistic; it assumed this would solve the problem. It reasoned that when the emperor severely punished Sun Shijun, the Prince of Qi would lose his smugness.
"Right now, all we can prove is that someone switched the death row inmates to take Pang Guoan's place. But we have no evidence as to whether the real Pang Guoan is still alive, or how Sun Shijun helped her escape execution."
“If you report this rashly under these circumstances, what do you think the result will be?” Yuan Yan asked it.
【Uh… Should we stir up trouble?】The system was unsure.
“Given Sun Shijun’s cautious nature, the most likely scenario is that he will clear up the evidence and stop there, making it difficult for us to catch him again,” Yuan Yan said.
When Zhang Xiaoju was led into the hall, he was surrounded by guards, and there was a corpse lying in the hall. The atmosphere was tense.
Despite the bizarre scene, she remained calm and walked in without looking to the side, then bowed to Yuan Yan.
“Your Highness, Prince Qin,” Zhang Xiaoju said, “I wonder if Your Highness summoned me here today to verify what I said the day before yesterday.”
"What the lady says is true; I have confirmed the prisoner exchange."
"However, if we want to find out who is behind this, this corpse alone is probably not enough; we are also missing some necessary evidence."
Yuan Yan asked her, "Does the lady know the whereabouts of Pang Guoan?"
"Your Highness has asked the right person. I do know the answer. Pang Guoan is from Zou Town. She escaped death during the prisoner exchange and has taken her family back to her hometown to hide. Your Highness only needs to send troops to capture her. Then you will have both witnesses and evidence."
Zhang Xiaoju smiled slightly, confident that he had everything under control.
"In that case, I would like to trouble you, Lady, to accompany the people from the Prince's residence to Zou Town."
Yuan Yan appointed Yu Liu and Che Ju, leading three hundred soldiers to Zou Town to capture Pang Guoan.
"Your Highness, rest assured, we will definitely capture this person and bring him back to your residence."
Yu Liu knew the importance of this matter and was deeply grateful to His Highness for entrusting it to her.
Yuan Yan nodded and privately ordered his bodyguard Zhui Lan to follow. He instructed that if Zhang Xiaoju did anything suspicious along the way, he should be executed on the spot without reporting it.
...
After Yuan Yan had made all the decisions, he returned to the courtyard.
It was already late, and she guessed that Yang Lingyi should have already gone to bed, so she tiptoed into the house.
"Your Highness." Qinglan saw Yuan Yan outside and was about to greet him when Yuan Yan raised his hand to stop her.
"Keep your voice down, your master should be asleep by now."
Qinglan shook her head. "No, Master said that he doesn't want to rest until His Highness returns. He's still waiting for His Highness."
Yuan Yan pushed open the door and, sure enough, saw a figure burning the midnight oil under the candlelight.
Yang Lingyi had a book open in front of her, seemingly reading it while waiting for her.
However, his head drooped slightly, clearly indicating that he was extremely sleepy, and his eyes were somewhat glazed.
"You're so sleepy, why don't you go back to bed and rest earlier?" Yuan Yan walked to Yang Lingyi's side, looked at his extremely sleepy appearance, and couldn't help but gently pinch his cheek.
"Sister Yan...you're back." Yang Lingyi's sleepiness vanished instantly when she was touched like that. Her eyes cleared again, and she saw Yuan Yan standing close by, and couldn't help but smile.
"I was thinking of reading while waiting for my sister, but I almost fell asleep," he said embarrassedly, looking up at Yuan Yan.
Yuan Yan held Yang Lingyi's hand: "Yi'er has waited for so long, it's natural that you're tired."
"If I come back late in the future, Yi'er, don't wait for me anymore. Just rest first."
Yang Lingyi shook her head and stood up following Yuan Yan's hand. "It's alright, I only waited for a little while, don't worry, sister."
He was about to continue speaking when Yuan Yan swept him up in his arms.
"Ah." Yang Lingyi felt her body lighten and whispered softly as she fell into Yuan Yan's arms.
My sister's embrace was still as firm and warm as ever.
Yang Lingyi blushed and rested her head on Yuan Yan's shoulder, her almond-shaped eyes calm and serene, full of affection.
Yuan Yan gently placed Yang Lingyi on the bed.
"Go to sleep, Yi'er."
She lay down beside him. She hugged Yang Lingyi's soft body from behind, gently stroking his long black hair and patting his back lightly.
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