Chapter 65 Easy to Catch
"Wait a moment!"
Just as the young man was about to start the second half of his work, Zhong Min suddenly spoke up, quickly stepped forward and rudely grabbed the young man's hand that was holding the scroll.
Her action was so sudden that everyone's attention was instantly focused on her, including the young man. The atmosphere became very subtle for a moment, but if the prince did not say anything at this time, no one dared to say anything first.
"Your Highness, it's forbidden for men and women to touch each other. Please ask this girl to release her hand first." The young man quickly reacted. Before Zhong Min could say anything else, he immediately said to Xiao Mingzheng, "I am a scholar. It is really disrespectful to do this in public."
"Young Master, what are you afraid of? I'm a woman and I'm not worried, so don't overthink it." Zhong Min interrupted the young man. Seeing that he seemed to be angry and wanted to argue again, she didn't give him the chance. She turned to Xiao Mingzheng and said, "Your Highness, I have been immersed in calligraphy and painting recently. Seeing this young master's talent, I came forward without thinking. Although I was rude to you, I was also seeking your advice. I hope Your Highness will forgive me."
Zhong Min was not the kind of person who acted recklessly and without sense of propriety, especially in a situation like this. Xiao Mingzheng saw Zhong Min's sudden action and heard what she said, and immediately realized that she must have noticed something unusual.
"Since you are willing to learn from me, I will not blame you." He did not say much, and even took the initiative to help Zhong Min avoid the questioning of the young man just now. He looked calm and as if he didn't see anything.
Seeing the prince's attitude, the others not only did not blame the woman who suddenly rushed up without any manners, but even seemed to protect her in their words. For a moment, they did not dare to say anything, but just waited and watched to see what would happen next.
"Your Highness, she has been holding on to my hand, which is very unethical..." Seeing this, the young man struggled hard to break free from Zhong Min's restraints, but he didn't expect that a woman could be so strong. Unless he let go of the scroll, there was no way to get rid of it.
Zhong Min smiled slightly mockingly and interrupted the young man, saying, "There is nothing in my heart, so how can I be bothered by worldly matters? You are too caught up in worldly matters."
As she spoke, she winked at Xie Feng beside her, and then continued to say to the young man, "Sir, I'm sorry for the trouble. Let me show you your masterpiece."
As she spoke, she increased the strength of her hand again, trying to make the young man loosen his grip on the end of the scroll, while her other hand had already grasped the other side of the end of the scroll.
"I'm not tired. It's my honor to demonstrate for the prince personally. Please let go!" The young man was naturally reluctant. With an unhappy and contemptuous look on his face, he said to Zhong Min, "You seem to be well-educated and well-mannered. How can you be so shameless?"
As he spoke, he gripped the scroll tightly, showing no intention of letting go. His expression was full of impatience, and he was obviously quite dissatisfied with Zhong Min's sudden appearance to cause trouble. Even though the prince had said such a biased word, he obviously had no intention of obeying this woman.
When Zhong Min heard this, he smiled wickedly, and then suddenly and unexpectedly released the hand that was restraining the young man. However, before the young man could react, the hand that had been stretched out again rudely chopped at the young man's wrist.
"Ah!" The young man felt pain and subconsciously stretched out his hand and retracted it. But at the moment he let go, Zhong Min had already snatched the calligraphy and painting away and held it in his own hands.
"Give it back to me!" Seeing this, the young man ignored the pain and immediately wanted to rush forward to snatch the painting back.
However, just as he was about to take a step, he was stopped by Xie Feng who suddenly came forward, instantly separating him from Zhong Min and others.
"Young man, calm down. Why are you, a grown man, competing with a girl?" Xie Feng said as he calmly pushed the young man back a few steps, further widening the distance between him and Xiao Mingzheng and others.
Seeing this, Zhong Min nodded to Xie Feng with satisfaction, then picked up the calligraphy and painting in his hand and said to Xiao Mingzheng beside him, "Your Highness, let me continue to show it to you on behalf of that young master."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Feng drew his sword and restrained the young man, saying, "Sir, where are you going? The prince hasn't even finished his review yet, why are you leaving?"
When the young man saw this, his face changed completely and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
After seeing this, Zhong Min didn't waste time saying anything more, but directly opened up all the calligraphy and paintings in his hand. When the calligraphy and paintings were fully unfolded, everyone couldn't help but be shocked. They stared at the sharp dagger hidden at the very end of the scroll and gasped.
"It's indeed an assassin!" Xie Feng roared, and the knife in his hand was already on the young man's neck. Before the young man could make a final counterattack, he completely subdued him and didn't give him any chance to take advantage of him.
"What a trick!" Xiao Mingzheng snorted coldly: "Come here, take the assassin away first, and we will interrogate him later!"
Soon, several guards took away the young man with a hateful look on his face. In the last moment before leaving, the young man looked at Zhong Min with indifference. The look in his eyes made Zhong Min feel extremely strange.
Well, kid, you're just unlucky this time. You ran into me, your sister. Zhong Min shook her head secretly. It wasn't her fault. She hadn't intentionally ruined his plans. They were just serving different masters for the time being. It was a pity for the assassin. If he hadn't run into her gun, with his strong mental strength and perfect plan, he would have easily succeeded.
Although this scene was quite dramatic, Xiao Mingzheng did not intend to let a small assassin delay the entire business. This time it was indeed a bit scary. If Zhong Min had not noticed it in time, given the distance between him and the assassin, and the fact that he was unprepared, he would have been seriously injured if not killed.
When Magistrate Zhu saw this, he was stunned. He fell to his knees with a thud and said to Xiao Mingzheng in fear, "I failed to protect you and frightened you. Please forgive me, Your Highness!"
Seeing this, other officials also followed suit and confessed their crimes. Xiao Mingzheng waved his hand, indicating that there was no need to filter them. However, he did not even look at County Magistrate Zhu.
Yesterday, County Magistrate Zhu's actions had already made him fully aware of this man's character, and today, from the people's implicit words, it was even clearer. He naturally would not keep such a fatherly official any longer, but now was not the best time to resolve the matter.
"How do you know this man is an assassin?" Xiao Mingzheng turned to ask Zhong Min. To be honest, the young man acted too realistically, and it was impossible for people to associate him with an assassin. He was also very smart. He even thought of hiding the dagger used for assassination at the end of the calligraphy and painting scroll.
Xiao Mingzheng's confusion reflected everyone else's. Xie Feng, Luo Jiaxing, and the others were fine; they knew Zhong Min's background, but they couldn't understand how she'd noticed something strange and instantly pinpointed the dagger's location. The others were even more astonished, instantly viewing this seemingly unremarkable woman with a new eye.
"In reply to your Highness, there's actually no particular reason." Zhong Min smiled faintly and said casually, "It's just my intuition. My intuition is always very accurate."
"Intuition?" Xiao Mingzheng repeated meaningfully, and then did not ask any more questions. Instead, he signaled everyone to finish the final tasks of the People's Conference one by one.
After hearing Zhong Min's explanation, everyone couldn't help but laugh it off. They had previously thought that this woman had some amazing abilities, but they didn't expect that it was just luck. Therefore, they didn't pay too much attention to it and didn't take it to heart.
However, Luo Jiaxing had similar thoughts to Xiao Mingzheng at this time. Zhong Min's seemingly ordinary and even somewhat unreliable intuition was not as simple as it seemed.
This intuition is not only a natural sensitivity to danger, but also a seemingly accidental, yet in fact inevitable, outburst of experience accumulated over a long period of time. The fact that such a young woman could possess such an ability is truly puzzling.
After the meeting to pacify the people ended, Xiao Mingzheng, on the one hand, ordered the interrogation of the captured assassins, and on the other hand, adjusted several of the most important officials in Lin County. Not only did he dismiss County Magistrate Zhu and two other corrupt officials, but he also personally appointed several honest and upright officials to take over, asking them to reorganize the atmosphere in Lin County and do more practical things for the people.
Neither of these events had much to do with Zhong Min personally, but it did make him more receptive to Xiao Mingzheng's character and approach. Regardless of his usual temperament, he was still a good king.
The next morning, the group left Lin County and returned to the palace. The journey was smooth, and nothing happened until they entered Prince Mu's palace. In Xie Feng's words, this outing was naturally a complete success.
After returning home, Xiao Mingzheng still had some conscience and did not let Zhong Min, who was dizzy from riding in the carriage all day, work any more. After Zhong Min returned to her room, she packed her clothes and was about to wash off the dust on her body. Unexpectedly, a maid and several people came with hot water and other bathing supplies.
After asking, I learned that the little girl was called Huaer, and was sent by the housekeeper to work for Zhong Min. Now, with Zhong Min's status, she is at least a first-class maid, so it is not surprising that there are other little girls helping her.
"Sister Min'er, you have worked hard on the journey. I have specially prepared hot water and bathing supplies for you." Hua'er is not very old and looks a little smaller than Zhong Min's current body, but she gives people the impression of being quite smart.
Seeing this, Zhong Min nodded and had the things carried into the house and placed behind the screen in the inner room. Hua'er, seeing that Zhong Min had no intention of asking her to stay to help with the back scrubbing and bathing, handed Zhong Min the things the housekeeper had asked her to bring and then turned to leave.
"Wait!" Zhong Min looked at the small bottle in his hand, stopped Hua'er and asked, "What is this?"
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