She lowered her beautiful brows and eyes to look at him, somewhat confused.

“From now on, I should also covet this pillow of yours, so that I can sleep peacefully every night.”

“I… am a pillow?”

Pfft!

Jingrong slightly curved his lips, opening those deep eyes to look at her. “You woman, when solving cases you’re exceedingly clever, yet when this prince speaks of deep affection to you, you become a blockhead.”

“…”

She didn’t know what to say.

“Yunshu, I truly hope that in every day to come, as long as I open my eyes, you’ll be by my side.”

Her lips parted in response. “I will always be by your side.”

An affectionate gaze!

Those pale white fingers were gripped even tighter in Jingrong’s hand.

He also settled down to sleep peacefully once more.

In the mountains, the wheels sounded lightly on the official road, the carriage convoy slowly advancing…

The Capital!

A shocking piece of news came from the Court of Judicial Review—the assassin who had attacked Prince Rong had just been sent to the Court of Judicial Review’s prison when he inexplicably died, and moreover, not a trace of his corpse remained.

Bone-dissolving powder had been used, leaving nothing behind.

Although many people had died in the Court of Judicial Review’s prison, nothing like this had ever happened before.

It was said that when the jailer guarding the prison went in, he happened to see the criminal’s body like burning foam, disappearing bit by bit until it was completely gone, not even ashes remaining.

He was scared into pissing himself on the spot!

The next day, Minister Yu of the Court of Judicial Review immediately prepared a memorial, ready to rush into the palace to see the Emperor.

But just as he left the gates of the Court of Judicial Review, he was stopped by the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

“Where is Minister Yu going?”

Minister Yu hid the memorial in his hand deeper into his sleeve, bowed his head slightly, and reported, “The assassin who attacked Prince Rong died in prison. I was just about to enter the palace.”

“You don’t need to go.”

Hmm?

Minister Yu looked at him, seeming to realize something.

That Minister of the Court of Judicial Review was Prince Yi’s man, and the assassin had also been sent by Prince Yi. If Minister Yu truly entered the palace to report this matter to Emperor Qizhen, and if something slipped out, causing a mistake, ultimately implicating Prince Yi, then he too would be unable to escape responsibility.

Therefore—

He said, “I will personally enter the palace to report this matter to His Majesty. You need not go.”

“But this matter has always been handled by this subordinate official, and moreover, doesn’t Your Excellency dislike entering the palace?”

“I don’t like it, but today I happen to be free. Moreover, those pending trial cases from the Court of Judicial Review from a few days ago also need to be reported up. I’ll take them into the palace together, which will save you from making an extra trip later.”

How considerate!

And Minister Yu didn’t persist further.

The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review then prepared a new memorial, boarded a carriage, and entered the palace.

Minister Yu watched that carriage leave, his expression calm.

Until Deputy Minister Yu walked over to his side and asked, “Father, are you really just letting the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review go like this?”

This Deputy Minister Yu was Minister Yu’s son. He was quite young and had entered through the back door using his position two months ago.

Minister Yu looked in the direction where that carriage had disappeared, coldly snorting with laughter. “That depends on who enters the palace first.”

“Your meaning is?”

“Hurry and prepare a horse.”

Deputy Minister Yu didn’t understand, but still immediately had someone prepare a carriage. His father pulled him onto the carriage together, hurrying urgently toward the direction of the palace.

On the main road to the palace, two carriages traveled one after the other, not too far apart, not too close either.

And at this moment, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review sat peacefully in his carriage, not detecting the slightest sense of crisis.

The carriage was just passing through the marketplace when suddenly—

“Whoa!”

The carriage violently shook, and with a “thud” sound, came to an abrupt stop!

Half of the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review’s body violently crashed into the side panel of the carriage. The pain twisted his entire face. Fortunately the carriage stopped steadily and the horse wasn’t startled, otherwise he would have probably rolled out of the carriage by now.

He rubbed his aching shoulder and asked through the curtain in front of him, “What happened?”

Displeased!

“My lord, the wheel is broken.”

“The wheel is broken?”

The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review pulled open the curtain before him, leaning his body out. He saw his attendant get off the carriage to check the wheel.

He turned his head to look, and saw that a thick rope had rolled into the left wheel, tightly wrapped around the wheel and the axle, making the wheel unable to move, stuck in place.

The attendant was working hard to pull that rope out.

But it was wound too tightly!

Too tangled!

“What on earth happened?” The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review frowned.

“My lord, this rope probably rolled in from the road surface.”

“How long until it’s fixed?”

“This subordinate will be as quick as possible.”

The attendant exerted all his strength to pull.

The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review looked at the sky, his expression becoming somewhat anxious.

And he didn’t notice that a carriage was passing by from the side, overtaking his carriage and continuing onward.

Minister Yu slightly lifted the curtain to look outside, and saw the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review’s carriage stuck in place unable to move.

He smiled slightly, then lowered the curtain.

Deputy Minister Yu had also just glanced outside and was curious. “Father, what exactly is going on? How did the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review’s carriage have problems? Could it be…”

“That’s right, I arranged it in advance.”

“Ah?”

Minister Yu said, “All of this was within Prince Rong’s calculations. His Highness knew that if the assassin died in prison, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review would definitely personally enter the palace to see the Emperor, saying the criminal died by suicide, then finding ways to suppress this matter. So he ordered me to prepare early, to definitely block the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review from entering the palace, having me report this matter to His Majesty, then tell His Majesty the whole story in detail—moreover, however serious it can be made to sound, it must be made that serious.”

But Deputy Minister Yu, though enlightened, was still worried. “Prince Rong has gone far to the Imperial Prefecture. Although it’s said he’s investigating the relief silver matter, all the officials in the court know clearly that His Majesty used the worst strategy, deliberately exiling Prince Rong, not letting him get involved in the factional struggles, lest he end up with the same fate as the Crown Prince in the end. But now the capital has already been secretly controlled by Prince Yi. At this time, Father is choosing to stand on Prince Rong’s side. If something goes wrong in the middle, Prince Rong falls, never returns to the capital, and Prince Yi rises, ascending to the throne, then wouldn’t Father…”

He didn’t dare continue.

Since choosing to side with Jingrong, Minister Yu hadn’t failed to consider these possibilities. But since ancient times, the court has always been this way—once you extend your foot, you can’t pull it back. The result is nothing more than two situations: death or life.

Seeing his father remain silent, Deputy Minister Yu worriedly reminded him in a low voice, “Father, it’s still not too late to turn back now. After all, Prince Yi…”

Before he could finish, he was interrupted!

Minister Yu narrowed his eyes and said, “Wei’er, when has your father ever judged wrongly? Don’t look at how Prince Rong is now exiled from the capital, his influence waning, and Prince Yi has become the great tree in the court. But since ancient times, dragons beget dragon sons, tigers beget leopard cubs. Prince Rong’s wind has not yet fallen.”

When Prince Rong kills his way back to the capital, that will be the time for Minister Yu’s promotion.