The next day, Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan got up together. Pei Wenxuan got up first as usual. The two acted as if nothing had happened. Pei Wenxuan helped Li Rong to put on her clothes, and then went to court with her.

After the two of them sat in the carriage, Pei Wenxuan asked meaningfully, "Did your highness sleep well last night?"

Li Rong looked at the memorial without looking up and asked, "Why do you ask that? Didn't the prince consort sleep well?"

Pei Wenxuan saw that Li Rong was calm and composed, and for a moment he was not sure whether she really slept last night or was just pretending to sleep.

Li Rong found him speechless and found it funny. She changed the subject and asked, "Who else is still reporting me recently?"

"Only the Chen family is left."

Pei Wenxuan saw that Li Rong was asking about serious matters, so he did not dare not answer. He could only change the subject and said, "It's the family of Chen Guang from the Ministry of Revenue."

"He's going to die."

Li Rong said lightly: "He handled both the Qin family case and the Junjiang case. He was the one who was involved in the Junjiang case. As for the Qin family case, everyone else could say that it was unintentional, but he was determined to kill the Qin family. Now it seems that he was probably worried that the Junjiang case would be uncovered, so he wanted to take the opportunity to completely silence the Qin family so that there would be no evidence in the future."

"The Chen family actually knew that he couldn't be saved," Pei Wenxuan said calmly, "but Chen Guang's family refused to let him go. Chen Guang's mother came to the Yu Shitai several times and cried and made a fuss in front of Chen Hui and Yu Shi. Chen Hui was afraid that he couldn't stand his aunt's pleading, so even though the memorial was written, it's not a big deal. Just leave it to me to deal with."

Li Rong responded, she thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "After this case is settled, we can celebrate the New Year. The court will have a seven-day holiday. Have you figured out how to celebrate it?"

Pei Wenxuan didn't expect Li Rong to say such a homely thing when he heard this. He felt a little warm in his heart, so he replied: "Your Highness, if you have any ideas, you can tell me and I will arrange it."

"I can't go far away," Li Rong said with some regret. "After handling these two major cases, I'm afraid there will be many people who want me dead, so I won't leave Huajing."

"Your Highness is right."

Li Rong thought for a moment and sighed, "It's been a while since I last saw flowers. This winter has been too long."

"Your Highness, do you want to enjoy plum blossoms?" Pei Wenxuan thought. Li Rong smiled and said, "Where can't you enjoy plum blossoms? There are some in the palace."

"Come to think of it," Pei Wenxuan put his hands on the table and moved closer to Li Rong, "I have known Your Highness for so many years, but I only know that Your Highness loves peonies the most, but I don't know about other flowers and plants. Is there anything Your Highness likes?"

"I like a lot of things, such as peach blossoms, pear blossoms, orchids, all are good. But my favorites are the more vulgar ones, such as peonies, herbal peony, and rose. I like them all."

Li Rong answered casually, and then she remembered, "Why are you asking these questions?"

As she spoke, she became alert: "Please don't give me these. It's a waste of money. Now is the time to spend money."

Pei Wenxuan felt a little guilty, turned his eyes to serve the tea, and said subconsciously: "Your Highness, you think too much. I am reluctant to spend so much money to give you these."

Pei Wenxuan immediately realized that he was being rude and quickly turned around to add, "If the price is right, I will give it to you."

Li Rong said nothing, her eyes full of disdain. Pei Wenxuan was annoyed by the look and wanted to say something to retort her, but he restrained himself and turned his head away.

Li Rong saw his expression changing again and again. She couldn't help laughing and poked him with her fan: "If you want to scold me, don't hold it in."

"Your Highness is joking," Pei Wenxuan raised his head with a smile, "Your Highness is my sweetheart, how could I bear to scold you?"

When Li Rong heard this, she showed an unhappy look: "Look at you, you should just say what you want to say, why are you cursing at me?"

Pei Wenxuan sneered when he saw Li Rong insulting him, and without saying anything more, he went to read the memorial.

After reading the memorial for a while, Pei Wenxuan finally remembered what he wanted to say at first. He wanted to talk about what happened last night and ask Li Rong how she felt. But now that she was interrupted, the atmosphere was diluted and it would be awkward to ask again.

Pei Wenxuan couldn't help feeling a little regretful. He glanced at Li Rong sitting opposite him and saw her drinking tea and reading a memorial with a smile on her lips. He thought about the conversation just now and was sure that Li Rong must have been awake last night.

It's because I woke up that I didn't want to talk anymore and I changed the subject on purpose.

Thinking of how Li Rong turned away shyly last night and how she deliberately changed the subject today, Pei Wenxuan sensed something.

He suddenly realized that Li Rong was not good at using strong tactics, but reminding her in a gentle way seemed to have some effect.

In fact, Li Rong seemed to have always had this kind of personality, but it was more obvious when she was young. At that time, if he dared to force a kiss on her, she dared to hold his face and kiss him ten times. She held her dignity and was never stage-frightened. She acted as if she could keep ten lovers at any time, which was very adorable.

Now that he's older, he seems to have become more restrained and he won't do things like kiss her once and then kiss her ten times back, but deep down he hasn't changed at all.

If he dared to forcefully kiss her, she would treat him as a lover. What really made her feel embarrassed was the intimacy that was more about love than desire.

When he kissed her, she could still hold his hand to refuse.

He kissed her forehead quietly, and she blushed and dared not look at him, not even to mention it.

Pei Wenxuan couldn't help laughing when he realized this. He stopped asking questions and just lowered his head, looking at the memorial in his hand leisurely, but his smile couldn't be wiped off.

Li Rong secretly glanced at Pei Wenxuan and saw that he was smiling with his head down and not saying anything. Under the candlelight, the young man had a fair face and a gentle expression. His thin and slender hand turned the pages of the book, silently drawing an indescribable handsomeness.

Li Rong's heart skipped a beat and she quickly shifted her gaze.

I didn't even dare to ask him why he was laughing.

The two of them attended court together. After the court session, Li Rong separated from Pei Wenxuan and went straight to the Inspection Office.

The Inspection Department was established on the outskirts of the city. It now has two deputy directors, one is Su Ronghua who was sent from the court, and the other is Shangguan Ya appointed by Li Rong.

Li Rong came down from the court and just entered the courtyard of the Inspection Office when she heard Shangguan Ya's voice coming from inside: "I said, I didn't hit him, the wounds were inflicted by himself, and this confession was also confessed by himself."

"Miss Shangguan, you are joking. Who would give themselves a whiplash injury for no reason?"

Su Ronghua's voice sounded, and Li Rong stepped into the main hall. Shangguan Ya saw Li Rong coming, and a bit of joy appeared on his face. He said happily, "Your Highness."

"I heard you guys were arguing," Li Rong smiled as she walked to the table and looked down at the paper on the table. Li Rong picked up the paper and glanced at it. "Lord Su seemed to say that this confession cannot be used?"

"Your Highness," Su Ronghua bowed and said with a smile, "According to the Daxia Law, the nobles cannot be punished. Today I went to visit Mr. Chen and he had whip marks on his body. This confession was probably obtained through torture."

"A whipping for torture?" Shangguan Ya sneered, "Master Su, are you trying to coax a child?"

"A whip wound is still a whip wound," Li Rong said gently, "Since Lord Su feels that this confession is inappropriate, then just review it again. I will do it myself."

As he spoke, Li Rong put down his confession, led Shangguan Ya and turned to walk towards the prison, saying calmly, "Let's go."

Shangguan Ya glanced at Su Ronghua coldly after hearing what was said: "Master Su, please come with us, otherwise we will be accused of beating Master Chen and forcing him to confess by torture, and the confession will be unusable."

Su Ronghua smiled and saluted, raising his hand and saying, "Please."

The three of them went to prison together, and Li Rong had this "Mr. Chen" dragged out.

Li Rong smiled as soon as she saw him. It was Chen Guang whom she had talked to Pei Wenxuan about in the morning.

This man came from a prominent family in Jiangnan and was the head of the Warehouse Department of the Ministry of Revenue.

The head of the warehouse department is in charge of warehouse storage. He has been in this sensitive position for ten years and is considered an old hand.

Li Rong looked at his confession and asked Shangguan Ya to invite him to sit down.

After Chen Guang sat down, Li Rong put down the confession, smiled and said, "Master Chen."

"Your Highness."

Chen Guang bowed his hands and said with a smile: "Your Highness, you have come at the right time. I have something to report to Your Highness."

"Mr. Chen wants to sue Mr. Shangguan for lynching you." Li Rong said directly, "Is that so?"

"Ah," Chen Guang showed a surprised expression, "Your Highness already knows?"

Li Rong nodded: "I heard that Mr. Chen was whipped in prison."

"Yes," Chen Guang opened his shirt and said hurriedly, "Your Highness, look, the wound is very deep."

"I wonder when and where Lord Chen was whipped?"

"It was last night," Chen Guang said immediately, "when she interrogated me, look at the scars, they were still fresh."

"Call a doctor to check on Mr. Chen's injuries."

Li Rong raised her hand to greet the people around her, then turned her head and said in a very good temper: "Then Mr. Chen, I'm afraid your confession can't be used. Let's record another one."

Chen Guang smiled and raised his hand: "Your Highness, please. With Your Highness here, I will definitely tell the truth."

"Master Chen," Li Rong nodded, touched the confession, and said slowly, "Since you are also a veteran of the Ministry of Revenue, you should know a few things."

"What did your highness say?"

"The first thing is that according to Ming Dynasty law, officials who confess will have their sentences reduced, while officials who conceal their crimes will have their crimes increased."

"I know." Chen Guang nodded. "Then what?"

"The second thing is that your current crimes, if added together, will only result in you losing your job, but if you commit more serious crimes, you will lose your life."

"Your Highness, you are too kind," Chen Guang said with a smile, "Not to mention that I am innocent, even if I am guilty, I don't know it, right? In the past, many ministers committed more serious crimes than me, but..."

"But they are trying the case in the Ministry of Justice," Li Rong raised her eyes, slammed the table and shouted, "This is the Inspection Department! Do you still think I am just having fun with you?! I tell you, if you confess your crime today, I can let you go back and enjoy your old age. If you don't, I guarantee that you won't even be able to get out of the market!"

Chen Guang's face changed drastically. Li Rong raised her hand and grabbed a pile of confessions: "Why do you think I want you to confess? I just want to save your life for the sake of your family. Otherwise," Li Rong raised her head and sneered, "Master Chen, think about Master Wang who was killed by the wronged soul."

Chen Guang stopped talking. Su Ronghua coughed lightly and said, "Your Highness, Lord Chen is old after all. He..."

"Is it your turn to speak here?"

Li Rong raised her eyes and said coldly, "I am not dead yet. I won't let you speak. What are you saying?"

"If you offend Your Highness again," Shangguan Ya laughed, "you will be slapped in the face."

Su Ronghua glanced at Shangguan Ya coldly, and Shangguan Ya sneered and looked away.

Li Rong waited for a while, quickly read through the confession, and then casually asked: "When you were in charge of the warehouse, how much food was distributed to Huangping County?"

Without waiting for Chen Guang to speak, Li Rong answered the number herself, "Three thousand."

Chen Guang looked unhappy. Li Rong frowned, flipped through a few pages, threw the confession aside, stood up and said, "Didn't everyone else confess? Su Lin has already been confessed, why do we still need Mr. Chen's confession? This is simply nonsense!"

Hearing this, Chen Guang hurriedly looked at Su Ronghua. Just as Su Ronghua was about to say something, Shangguan Ya blocked Chen Guang's line of sight and said with a smile, "Master Su, you talk a lot today?"

Su Ronghua looked a little unhappy. Li Rong led the group out. Halfway through, Chen Guang suddenly called her, "Wait, Your Highness."

Li Rong paused and turned around. Chen Guangming's face turned pale and he asked anxiously, "Your Highness, if I confess, can you leave me a way out?"

"That depends on what you recruit. If what you recruit is nothing new..."

Li Rong smiled and said, "I don't like people who waste my time."

"I have ironclad evidence." Chen Guang said anxiously, "Your Highness, what you have now are just confessions, right? I have evidence!"

Li Rong turned back, sat down and said, "Go ahead."

As he spoke, Li Rong turned his head and looked at Su Ronghua: "Master Su, you are dragging the noble family's children, why don't you step aside for a while?"

Su Ronghua said nothing. He stared at Chen Guang. Chen Guang did not dare to look at him. Shangguan Ya raised his hand and said, "Master Su, please."

Chen Guang did have solid evidence. Su Lin of the Su family was a distant relative of the Su family, so they were not closely related. However, the Su family was a noble family, so any one of them was no small figure.

Su Lin was in the Ministry of War, and actually all he did was help to issue a pass, but if things were investigated, he would inevitably be demoted.

Li Rong listened quietly as he confessed everything and signed his name. Then she stood up. Chen Guang said anxiously, "Your Highness, my sin..."

"Wait for the verdict." Li Rong said calmly, "No matter what the law says, I will not be partial."

Chen Guang's face was not looking good, but he lowered his voice and continued to plead: "Your Highness, you are young and have just entered the court. You don't know how difficult this is. If we investigate, we are all relatives, and you can't really execute me..."

"Why not?" Li Rong looked up at him and chuckled, "Master Chen, do you think I can do it?"

"Your Highness," Chen Guang frowned, "If you really kill me, how will you explain it to the noble family?"

"When you were doing things," Li Rong said coldly, "did you ever think about giving an explanation to the soldiers who died in the border battles?"

"That's because they are too greedy!" Chen Guang shouted angrily, seeming to be extremely dissatisfied. Li Rong glanced at him coldly and said, "You all say this to me again, are you tired?"

Li Rong walked out. After a few steps, Chen Guang couldn't control his emotions: "Your Highness, you are courting death!"

Li Rong paused, turned around, and sneered, "I'm afraid you're looking for death!"

She walked out the door, and Shangguan Ya came to meet her at the door. Li Rong took a look and wondered if she saw Su Ronghua. She couldn't help but ask, "Where is she?"

"I went to report the news."

Shangguan Ya said, taking the confession from Li Rong and praising him, "Your Highness, I really admire you. You said you knew that the grain distributed from his warehouse was only 3,000 dan, but you even knew that he was involved with Su Lin? How did you know that?"

"Three thousand stones is the result Pei Wenxuan calculated after counting the money along the way. As for Su Lin..."

Li Rong didn't say anything else.

That was what Su Rongqing had told her in her previous life.

Su Lin was once involved in a case involving military pay in the northwest, and the Su family later dealt with him internally.

With Su Ronghua around, Chen Guang would never believe that he was betrayed by others, unless he was given more details than normal. If Su Lin and the three thousand stones were exposed, Chen Guang would guess that he was betrayed, and Su Ronghua had been lying to him just because he hoped that he would not betray Su Lin.

As long as Chen Guang had doubts about Su Ronghua, he would easily collapse.

Li Rong thought of what Su Rongqing had told her in her previous life. She felt a little tired for a moment and didn't say much. After a pause, she ordered, "Go check who was on duty last night. He couldn't have whipped himself. Find the person and tell him to either whip him more or whip himself. Then kick him out."

Shangguan Ya responded, and Li Rong looked at the confession in her hand and asked, "Who is left now?"

Shangguan Ya reported a few names, Li Rong nodded, and said directly: "Let's go together."

Li Rong and Shangguan Ya were busy dealing with the remaining prisoners who had not yet confessed. In the afternoon, the guards suddenly came in from outside and said anxiously, "Your Highness, there is something."

Li Rong sat on a chair, holding a cup of tea, and moved her eyes to the guard's hand.

The guard was holding a kite in his hand, with the word "Stop" written in blood red on it.

When Shangguan Ya saw the kite, her expression changed and she asked coldly, "Who did it?"

"I don't know," the guard said while kneeling, "Just now the kite suddenly fell into the yard. I have already sent people to catch the person, but they couldn't catch him."

Shangguan Ya kept silent with a cold face, as if she wanted to curse, but she knew that this kind of thing was indeed difficult to investigate. She turned her head and looked at Li Rong, who was holding a cup of tea. After thinking for a moment, she laughed and said, "They are desperate, so they pretend to be ghosts. Bring a few more people with you when you go back. Let them do whatever they want."

After Li Rong finished speaking, she took a sip of tea, placed the cup on the table, turned to look at the official being interrogated, and continued with her work.

She has never been afraid of assassination. She has lived this way for her entire life and has become accustomed to it.

After all, Shangguan Yabi had just encountered such a thing. She paused for a moment, calmed down, and finally felt relieved.

The two of them were busy until midnight. Pei Wenxuan finally finished his work, walked out of the palace, got on a carriage, and went to the princess's mansion.

Pei Wenxuan felt a little tired. He leaned against the wall of the carriage and closed his eyes to rest. He had little time to rest, so he had to seize every opportunity to rest.

The carriage stopped halfway, Pei Wenxuan rolled up his sleeves and slowly opened his eyes. Tong Ye rolled up the curtain and whispered, "Sir, they are blocking the street to file a complaint."

Pei Wenxuan frowned. As a military historian, it was common for him to receive military complaints. He nodded and said tiredly, "Bring the complaint up."

Tong Ye responded, jumped off the carriage, and walked up to the child who was standing in the street to complain.

However, at that moment, an arrow flew out from the crowd and fell directly into Pei Wenxuan's carriage through the window. Pei Wenxuan was faster and closed the window as soon as he raised his hand.

At the same time, the silver sword opened the curtain and rushed in. Pei Wenxuan looked at the long sword in front of him coldly. He raised his hand and grabbed the sword hidden under the seat. When the opponent's sword tip was in front of him, he bent forward and pierced the opponent's abdomen with the sword. The man desperately chopped him, and Pei Wenxuan tried his best to push him out, but the sword tip still cut through his arm, and blood spread out instantly.

Although Pei Wenxuan seemed to have only one Tong Ye with him, he actually had his men secretly everywhere. As soon as the other party made a move, Pei Wenxuan's men rushed up. Except for this one who escaped, all the others were stopped outside. In a short while, the murderers were subdued one after another.

Tong Ye hurriedly lifted the curtain and came in, holding a sword, and asked, "Sir, are you okay?"

Pei Wenxuan covered the wound on his hand and got off the carriage without saying much. Everyone else was dead, leaving only the child who had complained at the beginning. He walked directly to the child, but when the child saw Pei Wenxuan coming, he gritted his teeth and struggled, and actually broke free from the guards' control and rushed towards Pei Wenxuan. Fortunately, the guard reacted very quickly and caught up with him and pierced him with a sword.

Pei Wenxuan was shocked and said, "Slow down..."

Before he could finish his words, the child was already dead. The guard squatted down, quickly looked through his mouth, then looked up and said, "Sir, it's a dwarf."

The killers in the underworld like to use trained dwarfs as killers. These people look like children and it is easy for people to let down their guard, but in terms of strength and movements, they are like authentic adults.

Pei Wenxuan looked a little unhappy. After staring at the killer for a while, he could only say, "Go check it out. Send more people to protect His Highness."

"yes."

The guard responded and immediately went to inform Li Rong.

However, Li Rong's informant had already gone to the Inspection Office. Li Rong had just walked out of the Inspection Office and was wiping his hands with a hot towel while talking to Shangguan Ya about the follow-up matters.

As soon as the two of them walked out of the hall, they heard Jinglan walk in and said anxiously, "Your Highness, something bad has happened."

Li Rong raised her eyes, and Jinglan said hurriedly: "The prince consort was assassinated."

Hearing this, Li Rong's eyes suddenly widened.

Shangguan Ya was also surprised, but she immediately reacted and said, "Your Highness, don't panic. Go back to the mansion to see the Prince Consort first. I'll go check it out."

Li Rong recovered and rushed out, pulled the horse over and jumped on it, shouting, "Dig those people out for me, I'm going to kill them!"

The author has something to say: [Small Theater]

Pei family: "Pei Wenxuan, we are going to bully you."

Pei Wenxuan: "I have a wife."

Boss: "Pei Wenxuan, it's not easy to be an official. Please sigh."

Pei Wenxuan: "I have a wife."

Killer: "Pei Wenxuan, we are going to kill you."

Pei Wenxuan: "I have a wife."

People: "Apart from this, can you say anything else?"

Pei Wenxuan: "Run! My wife is here."