"Looking for my son!" The wife of the Marquis of Yongning was horrified. She rushed over to hold her son and asked in panic, "What's wrong with you? Don't scare me!"

Her hair was disheveled on her elegant face, and her voice became sharper.

Sheng Xiyan curled her lips slightly.

This series of twists and turns made Sheng Yan dumbfounded: "Sister. What's wrong with him? He's not trying to scam me." She only kicked him in the stomach, so if it hurts, it should be her stomach. If he holds his waist and cries in pain, isn't he just scamming me? !

Sheng Yan said whatever he thought of, causing Xigui to laugh out loud again.

Liu Junshen also heard it and frowned.

He was originally startled by Zhou Jingxun's sudden cry of pain, but now after hearing what Sheng Yan said, he sneered and said, "Zhou Jingxun, why are you trying to scam me in front of me? Do you think I'm stupid? Tsk, a good young master of a marquisate, why is he rolling around like a street scoundrel? Take him away!"

The two men who held Zhou Jingxun also thought so. They didn't even try hard but he was already crying out in pain!

When he thought about those scoundrels that the North City Military Department usually caught, none of them looked as lifeless as he did after being beaten with sticks.

One of them kicked Zhou Jingxun on the back and said unhappily, "Prince Zhou, can you pretend after the fight is over?"

Still want to fight?! The wife of Marquis Yongning trembled with fear and shouted to stop them from taking the person away.

However, the heaviest thing she had ever held in her life was probably a headdress, so how could she possibly hold it? She was quickly pushed aside. Zhou Jingxun gritted his teeth, and the unbearable pain in his waist and back calmed his mind.

He had a good relationship with the people from the Wucheng Military Department, and he had even played polo with Liu Junshen. Logically, even if he didn't help with this little thing, it would be impossible to take him down! Someone must have taken action, and it was someone that even Liu Junshen, the legitimate son of the Duke's Mansion, didn't dare to disobey.

At this moment, Zhou Jingxun began to panic. He endured the pain and said to Madam Yongning with great effort: "Mother, you, you hurry back and tell Dad..."

The wife of Marquis Yongning wiped her tears and nodded vigorously as she listened.

Sheng Yan had no intention of concealing the volume of his voice, and laughed loudly: "Sister, look, he is not only looking for his mother, but also his father. He is like a little brat who has not grown up."

Sheng Xiyan chuckled, her dark almond eyes shining like stars.

She probably knew who was helping her. When someone whispered something in Liu Junshen's ear, she noticed that Liu Junshen's face suddenly changed. There were probably not many people in the capital who could make the arrogant sons of the Five Cities Army so obedient...

It seems that all my efforts these days have not been in vain!

The corners of Sheng Xiyan's mouth curled up and her almond-shaped eyes curved.

Her guess was correct. The only person in the court who could make the usually arrogant and tyrannical Wucheng Bingmasi so fearful was the eunuch Xiao Shuo, the supervisor of the East Factory and the seal holder of the Silijian.

Now, he is in the tea room of Qingming Tea House, drinking hot tea leisurely.

The aroma of tea wafts around.

A skinny Dongchang guard bowed his head and said, "...Master, the prince of Yongning has been taken away and is temporarily detained in the Wucheng Military Department."

He did not dare to raise his head, and continued respectfully: "However, the prince of Yongning has been complaining of back pain. At first, Liu Junshen thought he was pretending, but when he saw that he was sweating profusely from the pain and even his palms were broken, he called a doctor to take a look, but he could not find anything. But Captain Lin said that someone who is good at medicine must have pierced an acupuncture point on the prince's lumbar spine. This method was also used in the torture of the East Factory. It can make people suffer from pain worse than death for twelve hours."

The Captain Lin he mentioned was the Captain of Criminal Division of Dongchang.

"Master, would you like me to have someone investigate who did this?"

"No need." Xiao Shuo used the tea lid to gently skim off the floating leaves in the tea soup, and said in a gentle voice, neither too light nor too heavy, "Go away."

"Yes, Lord Governor."

The guard slowly backed to the door, bowed once more, and then left the tea room.

As soon as this guy left, the sliding door between the two tea rooms was opened, and Chu Yuanchen, dressed in a green robe, strode over, sat down opposite him carelessly, took a teacup, and stretched out his hand to him naturally.

Xiao Shuo, who had frightened the whole court and didn't even dare to mention his name, elegantly held the pot and poured him tea, smiling and saying in a gentle manner: "Achen, you can rest assured now. This young lady from Shengda doesn't seem to be a little white rabbit, she has sharp claws."

He had heard from Chu Yuanchen that Miss Shengda knew medical skills, so when he heard it just now, he knew what was going on.

The corners of Chu Yuanchen's mouth curled up slightly, and his peach blossom eyes seemed to be smiling too.

This girl sometimes looks as harmless as a cat, but even the best cats will still extend their claws.

Xiao Shuo asked, "Do you agree to this marriage?"

Chu Yuanchen just smiled and nodded without hesitation: "I admit it."

Xiao Shuo was not surprised, otherwise, Chu Yuanchen would not have given his personal jade pendant to Sheng Xiyan and asked her to deliver a letter. This in itself represented trust. At that time, Xiao Shuo guessed that Chu Yuanchen would most likely agree to this marriage.

Xiao Shuo flicked his sleeves. This simple action made him look casual yet elegant and noble.

He said gently, "That day in the garden outside the capital, the prince of Yongning and the king of Zhao competed for a girl named Zhao, which caused a lot of commotion. The queen mother originally wanted to let the girl named Zhao and Miss Shengda be the heir, but Miss Shengda insisted on breaking off the engagement and even threatened the queen mother, which greatly humiliated her. The queen mother was angry and perhaps wanted to see her suffer, so she gave the girl to you..."

For Xiao Shuo, it was very easy to find out the reason for the arranged marriage. He told Chu Yuanchen the whole story in a few words.

Then he added, "The Queen Mother knew about Princess Jing'an's request for Zen Master Kongming to interpret her fortune the day before."

Chu Yuanchen put away the indifference in his eyes, sat up straight and asked, "How did the Queen Mother know about this?" He believed that his mother would not be so reckless as to ask for a fortune and then publicize it everywhere.

Xiao Shuo only said: "Before this, the Queen Mother had only met her sister-in-law from her natal family."

In other words, it has not been found yet.

Chu Yuanchen was not in a hurry since Xiao Shuo was investigating.

He leaned lazily on the tea table and said, "So I'm going back to Northern Xinjiang tonight?"

His sloppy look, as if he had no bones, formed a sharp contrast with the young man sitting opposite him, who was sitting upright and even drinking tea in a graceful manner.

"Let's go a few days later." Xiao Shuo said thoughtfully, "The matter of the Jian'an Marquis's mansion can be settled in the next two days. When I get the secret decree that the Jian'an Marquis has hidden, you can take it back to the Northern Frontier."

Chu Yuanchen raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise, agreed, and asked casually: "Brother, what do you think of Sheng Xingan?" He had not been in the capital for many years and did not know much about the officials in the capital.

Xiao Shuo tapped the table rhythmically with his bamboo-like slender fingers, knowing that Chu Yuanchen meant whether Sheng Xingan could be used by them.

He shook his head and said, "Sheng Xing'an claims to be a scholar of integrity, but he is actually a pedantic and smelly person. He loves power but prefers to show that he is noble and not greedy for power, just waiting for someone to bring power to him."

Xiao Shuo poured himself some tea, looked up at him, and said with a half-smile: "Then, you were 'held' in front of him."

Chu Yuanchen was stunned for a moment, then he pounded the tea table and laughed wildly: "I'm afraid that in a few days, he will regret it so much that his intestines will turn green."

This smile of his pulled at the unhealed wound on his chest, and he fell on the tea table, holding his chest in sorrow.

Xiao Shuo frowned, with worry evident in his eyes: "Is your injury really okay?"

"No problem." Chu Yuanchen leaned over the tea table and said weakly, "But it can't really be no problem."

Xiao Shuo's eyes were slightly raised, and his gaze was as deep as the night, and reflected in the clear tea soup, it seemed even more profound.

It was already past noon, and the sun was high in the sky. Both Qingming Tea House and Sheng Mansion were shrouded in the scorching sun.

The bright sunlight also cast a halo on the boy.

Sheng Yan was full of vigor and vitality, with a heroic look in his brows. He was lively and took two steps at a time, with the ponytail flying behind his head. The rabbit lantern in his hand made him look a bit childish.

After Sheng Xiyan bought the rabbit lanterns and moon cakes, the siblings returned from Huashang Street.

Sheng Yan felt that he was a boy and only girls would ride in a carriage, so he refused to get on the carriage no matter what. It wasn't far anyway, so Sheng Xiyan walked back with him and they just got home.

Along the way, Sheng Yan kept talking about how boring the academy was: "...Every day, they just study, and everyone reads like a fool. They hold books wherever they go, and they all talk like Zhihu people. Sister, I really can't stay here any longer."

Sheng Xiyan joked, "So he was fired?"

"Sister! Can you expect me to order something good? You are not my real sister!" Sheng Yan had a straight face, looking very angry, but he broke down the next second and said with a smile, "I escaped back by myself. Sister, do you think I can take the martial arts test?"

Sheng Yan shook the rabbit lamp in his hand and looked at her ingratiatingly.

Sheng Xiyan's eyes and eyebrows were gentle and she was smiling.

She still remembered that in her previous life, Yan Ge'er never came back from the academy. After she married into the Yongning Marquis's mansion, she was cut off from news and never saw him again. It was not until after her death that she learned from the novel that her Yan Ge'er left home secretly to join the army in the northern border in order to support her. He fought desperately for three years and was promoted to captain. He was later transferred back to Beijing, but she was already dead by then. After that, Yan Ge'er abused his power and repeatedly attacked and oppressed Zhou Jingxun, until finally, he was framed by Zhou Jingxun and his wife and died without a complete body.

Sheng Xiyan: “…”

Sheng Xiyan really hasn't seen Sheng Yan this young and frivolous for a long time.

Sheng Yan accidentally walked too fast, and stopped to wait for her. He saw that she was looking at him strangely, with some nostalgia and reluctance.

Sheng Yanying raised his eyebrows and figured it out: his sister was thinking about him!