"Sister~, please don't ignore me, okay?"
"Sister~, what kind of pastry do you want to eat? Tell me, and I'll bring you your favorite next time, okay?"
"Sister~, I... Waaah... Can you please stop ignoring me?"
When Xiao Xi saw Qin Jingke crying, she quickly turned around and comforted him.
"Don't cry, don't cry."
"Keke, don't cry~, I'm not ignoring you."
"I think the cakes Keke gave me were delicious too!"
Qin Jingke's eyes lit up immediately when he heard Xiao Xi'er say that the snacks she gave him were delicious.
"Sister, is it true?"
"Of course it's true, and I haven't ignored Keke either."
"Uh-huh"
Qin Jingke was overjoyed to see Xiao Xi'er wiping away his tears.
She looked at Fang Zixu with that smug little gaze, which made Fang Zixu very angry.
After Xiao Xi'er finished wiping Qin Jingke's tears, Qin Jingke immediately turned around and gave Xiao Xi'er the pastries from his seat.
“Keke, I…I’m full…”
"Sister~ Sister~, I..."
Little Xi put her two index fingers together and twirled them in circles, looking conflicted.
Seeing Xiao Xi'er like this, Qin Jingke started to feel aggrieved again.
"Then forget it... The ones I gave weren't as good as the ones my eldest brother and Fang Zixu gave..."
"My sister ultimately didn't like the pastries I gave her..."
"I don't know... I don't know if my sister doesn't like me... or if she doesn't like my food..."
Hearing Qin Jingke's self-reproach and seeing his aggrieved expression, Xiao Xi'er immediately reached out, took the pastry from Qin Jingke's hand, and stuffed it into her own mouth.
"Cough—cough—"
Qin Jingke panicked when he saw Xiao Xi'er choke on the pastry, while Fang Zixu immediately took the kettle from Wei Yuanxuan's table.
He then took out a cup from his own table, poured himself a glass of water, and handed it to Xiaoxi.
Xiao Xi'er took it and started gulping it down.
Qin Jingke also reached out and gently patted Xiao Xi'er's back.
Xiao Xi'er recovered after a while.
"Sister~, I'm sorry~, I didn't mean to~"
"Keke, it's okay, I just ate too fast..."
Qin Jingke was relieved to see that Xiao Xi'er didn't really blame him.
——————
Imperial Study
"Master, the matter has been investigated and clarified."
Zou Heng came to the Imperial Study to report to Qin Jue.
"Specifically?"
"After being interrogated, the arsonist confessed that it wasn't Lord Tang who ordered him to do it; rather, someone from the Marquis of Dingkang's residence approached him and asked him to set the fire to frame Lord Tang."
Marquis Dingkang, Wei Kun
As Qin Jue spoke, he wrote on the Xuan paper.
"There's no evidence!"
"Your Majesty is wise; the man in the middle is already dead."
Qin Jue didn't speak, but looked at the words on the paper.
"Yu Ying"
"What's wrong, Derivatives?"
"How is the investigation going on the Empress's poisoning three years ago and the poison in Xiao Xi'er's first birthday food?"
Yu Ying remained silent after hearing Qin Jue's words, instead looking towards the door.
Qin Jue knew that Yu Ying hadn't made any progress in the past few years.
"What's still missing?"
"middleman"
"Wei Kun has someone helping him, but we don't know who it is."
"Continue the investigation"
"Know"
After Yu Ying finished speaking, she left. Qin Jue saw Zou Heng on the ground, waved his hand, and told Zou Heng to stand up.
"Zhang Ji was irresponsible in this matter, his investigation was not rigorous, and he was seriously derelict in his duties. He is suspended from his duties for three months and his salary is reduced by six months."
"Yes, I'll go right away."
Zou Heng left.
Seeing that the palace was empty, Qin Jue used a brush to write the character "妍" on a piece of paper.
Once you've come to your senses and clearly seen the words on the paper, crumple it into a ball and then prepare to throw it away.
He had just raised his hand when he threw it away, then continued reading the memorials on the table.
He read a few lines of a memorial, then froze, and after regaining his senses, he immediately stood up.
I walked over to the crumpled paper, picked it up, then went back to the table, placed the paper on it, and carefully unfolded it.
"I shouldn't have crumpled it up like that, I shouldn't have."
After unfolding the paper ball, Qin Jue stretched out her hand and slowly traced the character "妍" from beginning to end with her fingers.
My whole hand was trembling, "Ayan... Yuanyuan..."
“Round…Round…I…”
Qin Jue unconsciously shed two tears, which fell onto the character "妍" on the paper.
The words were partially blurred by Qin Jue's tears.
——————
After Zou Heng left the palace and relayed Qin Jue's decree to Zhang Ji, he returned to the palace.
On the way back to the palace, he didn't forget to buy two strings of candied hawthorns.
"Spring Lotus, here."
"Commander Zou?"
"Here, I just bought two skewers of candied hawthorn for the little princess. Please keep them for her until she gets out of school."
"Let's give the candied hawthorn to the little princess."
"Yes, Commander Zou."
After Chunhe accepted the two strings of candied hawthorns, Zou Heng left the Hall of Mental Cultivation and headed towards his own courtyard.
Zou Heng kept sighing along the way.
"It's so good that I haven't seen the Second Prince and the Third Prince all day."
"The world feels much quieter now."
"I wish I could never see His Highnesses again."
Zou Heng rubbed his stomach and muttered to himself, "I'm a little hungry. I'll go to the imperial kitchen and see if they have anything to eat."
A moment later, Zou Heng was holding a tray of cornbread buns in one hand and feeding himself with the other.
After entering his courtyard, Zou Heng sat on a stone bench, placed a steamer of cornbread on the stone table, and began eating the cornbread while drinking tea.
After a while, Zou Heng felt unwell in his stomach, so he went to the outhouse (meaning the toilet) in his yard.
After trying to open the door for a while, I still couldn't get it open.
"Who is it? This prince is above me!!!"
Standing outside the door, Zou Heng heard Qin Jingtai's voice coming from the outhouse in his yard. He realized that the reason he hadn't seen Qin Jingtai and Qin Jingmu was because someone was in the outhouse.
"It's alright, Third Prince, please go first."
"Since the Third Prince is in the outhouse, the Second Prince's underhanded tricks can't be used."
"I never expected that I would see through the two princes' conspiracy."
"Gurgle—"
Zou Heng's stomach rumbled.
"Third Prince, how much longer will it take?"
"Master, it's not that I don't want to let you have your way, but my stomach hurts so much, I need to wait a while longer."
"Master, please wait a moment."
"OK………"
"Gurgle—gurgle—"
Zou Heng's stomach rumbled again.
"Your Highness, please proceed. I shall take my leave now..."
After finishing his sentence, Zou Heng disregarded etiquette, clutched his stomach, and hurried away.
"Gurgle—gurgle gurgle—"
Zou Heng felt increasingly severe abdominal pain, so he stopped walking quickly and, clutching his stomach, used his light-footed skill to reach the nearest palace toilet to his residence.
After arriving at the palace restroom, Zou Heng opened the first door and exclaimed, "Ahhh, who is it?!"
"Sorry, sorry"
Zou Heng then clutched his stomach and went to the second gate.
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