Yes, he was not satisfied!

He immediately bent down and lowered his head, wanting to kiss her again.

But she extended her finger and gently pressed it against his lips.

“Excessive drinking is not good.”

“This prince only craves this one cup of yours.”

“But aged fine wine should only be savored carefully and slowly to be considered truly excellent.”

With those words, she pushed him away and turned aside.

Jingrong hooked his eyes with lingering desire, licked his lips, and brought his mouth close to her ear, “Sooner or later, this prince will have you.”

Then, he picked up the books he had brought and pushed the door open to leave.

Ji Yunshu’s chest loosened, and she quickly put on her outer robe.

Those lips still warm from their touch overflowed with a smile.

Like a flower bud opening, with shyness as well.

…

Over the next several days, Ji Yunshu remained in the courtyard, completely ignoring the case of Aunt Xie.

The more she acted this way, the more anxious Zuo Yao became, and even… began to feel somewhat guilty.

On this day, mustering his courage, he once again carried that case file to find her.

In the courtyard, Ji Yunshu was playing with a cat.

It was a cat with black and white fur, small in size, with round, bright eyes.

She held a string in her hand with a ball of yarn wrapped at the bottom, teasing the little cat by moving it up and down in front of it.

“Meow~”

The scene was quite harmonious.

Zhuang’er and Qiao’er stood to the side, watching with eyes full of admiration.

Having spent these past few days with Ji Yunshu, the two felt that she was not only handsome but also very gentle and treated people well.

Such a “man”—any woman would like him.

Now watching Ji Yunshu playing with the cat, they were utterly enchanted.

But that beautiful scene was still interrupted by Zuo Yao.

He entered the scene carrying the case file and bowed slightly to Ji Yunshu.

“Mister Ji, playing with the cat?”

Like neighbors meeting while taking a walk after dinner.

Ji Yunshu smiled, “Can’t My Lord see that?”

“I can see it.”

“What is it? Does My Lord have business?”

“I wanted to say, about that…”

“Oh my.” She suddenly called out, interrupting his words.

She stared at the little cat on the ground. Seeing its claws hooked on the yarn ball, she quickly squatted down to pick it up, carefully removing the string from its claws.

Extremely careful.

“Little one, you could hurt yourself like this.”

“Meow~”

“Good kitty.”

“Meow~”

Zuo Yao stood to the side feeling quite awkward. “Mister Ji, you…”

“Lord Zuo is still here?”

“I’ve been here the whole time.” He offered a big smile.

Ji Yunshu stroked the docile cat in her arms, then handed it to Zhuang’er, “Take it to eat something.”

“Alright.”

The two girls left!

Ji Yunshu straightened her expression and glanced at the case file tucked under Zuo Yao’s armpit. “Aunt Xie’s case?”

Finally getting to the point, he quickly said, “Mister Ji, several days have already passed. The Court of Judicial Review sent you here to investigate the case. This case… surely can’t just be set aside, can it?”

“There’s no hurry.”

“But…”

Ji Yunshu showed an impatient look. “Then why doesn’t My Lord just leave the case file here?”

“Yes, yes.”

Zuo Yao quickly put down the case file and left.

Outside, Constable Zhou was waiting for him.

Seeing him come out, he quickly asked, “My Lord, did she take it?”

“More or less.”

“I must say, My Lord, why do you insist on making her take it? If she doesn’t investigate, it saves us trouble. Besides, these past few days she’s been leisurely—either sunbathing or playing with cats. I think she’s not here to investigate a case at all, but just to have fun.”

Zuo Yao pondered, “I think this Mister Ji is very calculating.”

“Why do you say that?”

“A Mister Ji famous throughout the capital would definitely not be so simple. She must think that case from three years ago has some suspicious points, so she’s deliberately giving this official a hard time. If this official truly indulged her playful nature and never mentioned that case, it would make this official seem guilty. It’s better to repeatedly send the case file to her—that way she’ll think this official is a good official.”

You’re overthinking it.

Constable Zhou nodded. “My Lord is still wise.”

“By the way, you need to keep a close watch and monitor them carefully.”

“Yes.”

Right on the roof tiles beside them, Shi Ziran was sitting there. Having just returned from the capital, he had happened to hear everything the two said.

His body leaped down from the roof tiles to go find Jingrong.

These past few days, Jingrong had been reviewing the case files related to disaster relief silver from recent years.

There wasn’t much discrepancy from what he had learned!

The silver was transported from the capital. Along the way, it was never opened. Yet when it was transported to Yufu County’s yamen and opened for inspection, the silver inside had all turned to stones. Over the years, officials investigating this case had all questioned the people transporting the silver and those at the postal stations. All said the silver never left their line of sight, and aside from official personnel, no one else had come near it.

In short, it had vanished without reason!

What was even stranger was that those officials investigating the disaster relief silver had all disappeared for a period during their return journey to the capital. When they were found, they were all dead.

Bizarre!

He closed the case file and poured himself a cup of tea.

Shi Ziran entered and clasped his hands. “Your Highness.”

“Mm.”

“The capital is in complete chaos now.”

Jingrong took a sip of tea, his eyes deepening. “Speak.”

“The Junior Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Yu, followed Your Highness’s instructions and entered the palace to submit the memorial to His Majesty, truthfully reporting the matter of the assassin. Additionally, the recently appointed Minister of Personnel, Peng Yuanhai, has repeatedly submitted memorials accusing Your Highness of interfering in their Ministry of Personnel affairs. What’s even stranger is that the Office of Transmission actually passed these memorials to His Majesty without screening any of them, which instead made His Majesty suspicious. The assassin was killed without reason at the Court of Judicial Review, and both the former Minister of Personnel and Lord Qu of the Office of Transmission have connections with Prince Yi’s manor. All these signs point to Prince Yi. His Majesty seems to have thought of this as well, suspecting that Prince Yi orchestrated the assassination attempt on Your Highness, then deliberately colluded with the Ministry of Personnel and Office of Transmission to impeach Your Highness. Therefore, His Majesty has ordered Junior Minister Yu that the assassination matter must not be investigated further.”

“Ministry of Personnel? Office of Transmission?” Jingrong’s brow furrowed as he shook his head. “Impossible. Right now is the critical period for establishing the heir. Jing Yi couldn’t possibly make such a mistake at this crucial juncture. Father Emperor has always been suspicious—he knows this too. If he acted this way, it would clearly indicate he has connections with the Six Ministries and Three Offices.”

“Could it be that the Ministry of Personnel is acting on its own?”

“Also impossible.” He negated it. “Even if the Ministry of Personnel truly submitted those memorials, Lord Qu of the Office of Transmission is no fool. He has no reason to draw that fire onto himself. Clearly, the Ministry of Personnel and Office of Transmission must be connected in secret. Even if they have no direct connection, behind this ministry and office there must be someone pulling the strings—someone significant enough that the Ministry of Personnel and Office of Transmission would risk being suspected by His Majesty to help him do this.”

Shi Ziran was somewhat confused. “Then if it’s not Prince Yi, who could it be? That person is clearly helping Your Highness.”

Helping?

Jingrong sneered coldly. “Since ancient times in court politics, there has never been such a thing as ‘helping’—only common enemies.”

Uh!

So that means that person pulling the strings behind the scenes also wants to push Jing Yi out?

Who could it be?

Jingrong pondered.

Shi Ziran continued, “Your Highness, there’s one more matter.”

“What is it?”

“It concerns the princess. His Majesty issued an order some time ago to send the princess to Huyi in a marriage alliance with the Third Prince.”

“A marriage alliance to Huyi?”

“Yes.”

Jingrong was silent for a while, then sighed. “That girl will have to marry eventually. Actually, marrying to Huyi isn’t a bad thing. At least, when the factional struggles come in the future, she can escape unscathed.”

If Consort Xiao and Jing Yi truly fell from power, at least she wouldn’t be implicated.