"Is it because the people don't need it? Or does the court not need it?" Su Zhen turned her back and walked backwards, looking seriously into his eyes, "Master Yu, you also killed corrupt officials and evil officials. You devoted yourself to the people, and were ignored by the people.

You are known as an upright official. But you have adjudicated so many cases, so there must be times when you feel powerless."

"What about you? You probably don't like the court either, so why do you have to rush in?"

"Huh? What do you say, sir?" Su Zhen paused for a moment.

"When the emperor appointed you as the young minister of the Siwei Mansion, why did you agree?"

"Because he promised not to let me kneel to anyone! He even made me a sixth-grade young minister! I'm not a fool, so why don't I agree if I don't take advantage of you?"

Listening to her reasonable tone, Jin Lian laughed out loud, but Yu Changqing chose to remain silent, "Now that I have chosen this path, it will be difficult to look back."

"Returning to this matter... is not within my scope of consideration."

Su Zhen felt a little want to laugh, two stubborn donkeys were actually discussing how to survive in the palace where dragons and snakes were mixed.

...

After leaving the palace, they parted ways.

Su Tingye left a carriage for her when he returned home. Mo Sheng was sitting in front of the carriage waiting with his sword in his arms. The two were speechless.

She lifted the curtain and got into the carriage with a quick movement. Mo Sheng raised the whip rope in her hand and landed it on the horse's back with a 'snap' sound. The carriage moved forward, and the sound of the rolling wheels gradually faded away.

After returning to Taifu's Mansion, Su Zhen went to the study to explain Li Jieyu's affairs to Su Tingye, and then went back to Jinsexuan.

Along the way, she kept thinking about what Yu Changqing said and whether she should be more low-key and restrained.

Su Zhen shook her head distractedly and said to Mo Sheng, "I'm going out for a while, and you can send someone to check on Li Jieyu's background to see if she has any secrets."

"good."

Su Zhen looked around, waited for the patrolling guards in the mansion to leave, and then climbed over the wall directly.

A dark shadow flew past under the moonlight. When Su Zhen arrived at the general's mansion, she found many spies. She thought she was kind-hearted, so she knocked them all unconscious and threw them in the back alley.

The familiar person walked around the general's mansion for a few times, but did not find Xiao Chuhong. Suddenly he remembered something and came to the Xiao family ancestral hall.

Su Zhen hid in a tree, crossed her eyes with her fingers together, and used clairvoyance to look inside the door, seeing everything inside.

The Xiao Family Ancestral Hall is about four or five stories high. Looking around, you can see the densely packed brown and black memorial tablets, which dazzles the viewer.

There are twelve caves directly below. In the first seven caves, there is a stone statue of a general as tall as two people, with strong physiques and different shapes.

The Xiao family has been loyal ministers and good generals for generations, but only those with extraordinary military exploits can have stone statues erected for them.

In the large hall, Xiao Chuhong straightened his waist and knelt on the futon, looking at the statue of the seventh general, with tears glistening in his eyes.

It was quiet in the ancestral hall, and only his slight breathing could be heard.

Xiao Chuhong lowered his head suddenly, and the jade pendant around his waist was slightly hot. He immediately turned around and sat back on the wooden wheelchair behind him.

As soon as we left the ancestral hall, the guard immediately closed the door.

After giving some instructions to his bodyguards, he glanced at the tree where Su Zhen was, and pushed the wheelchair in a certain direction alone.

Su Zhen, who had been discovered, pulled down the branch at her hand and looked at his back through the gaps between the branches and leaves.

In Shuyaxuan, the leaves rustled. Xiao Chuhong smiled and threw the fruit in a certain direction. This time, there was no sound of falling to the ground.

Su Zhen leaned her back against a branch, drooped her legs, and smiled lazily.

I caught the bright red fruit and wiped it with my sleeve, then took a bite. It was crisp and delicious, not bad.

Xiao Chuhong picked up the wine flask, filled the two silver wine glasses to eight percent full, and said straight to the point, "Here we come."

Su Zhen jumped down from the tree and flew to his side, "Yes, here we come."

They obviously didn't have much interaction, and they even met only a handful of times, but when they met face to face, they were very familiar with each other, and there was no sense of strangeness at all.

Su Zhen didn't show any courtesy to him and sat on the stone bench.

Suddenly I sniffed the tip of my nose, and it smelled so familiar of peach blossoms. I picked up the wine glass and smelled it, and it turned out to be peach blossom wine.

"Yo? Peach blossom stuffed wine? Sir General, isn't this what you specially prepared for me?"

Su Zhen asked with a smile, but Xiao Chuhong answered seriously, "Yes."

"Then what if I don't come tonight?"

"I heard from the housekeeper that there has been less fruit in Shuyaxuan recently. Whenever you are in a bad mood, you will come here."

"Huh? How do you know?"

Xiao Chuhong chuckled, "After three years of mourning for my father, I returned to Kyoto. Over there in Tianshan, I was just a substitute."

In other words, he knew everything Su Zhen had done over the years, including the matters related to Jiyuefang and Su Zhen and Yu Ziye.

However, he had selfish motives and did not inform the prince. He even sent people to eliminate a lot of troubles and hidden dangers for Su Zhen.

"So it turns out you were the one who saved me that night?"

"Um."

It became clear to Su Zhen that the person who had been secretly protecting her all these years was Xiao Chuhong. She silently accepted his love, but for some reason she didn't want to make it clear.

"You hide and refuse to show your true colors, but you are actually working for the prince? Have you found any clues about Marshal Xiao's case?"

"Soon."

Xiao Chuhong wanted to raise his glass to drink again, but Su Zhen gently grabbed his sleeve and said, "Stop drinking. You drank a lot at the palace banquet today."

He stared at her, and suddenly stretched out his knuckled hand toward the top of her head.

Su Zhen was stunned and looked back. Those eyes were like clear springs in a cold pool, washing away the dark night. She could clearly hear her own violent heartbeat.

However, she saw him pinching a green leaf from her hair with his fingers. Su Zhen touched the tip of her nose, smiled awkwardly and looked away, and drank the cup of peach blossom wine to avoid embarrassment.

"By the way, although my ability to hide my traces is not top-notch, I am not easily discovered by others. But you were in the ancestral hall just now, how did you know that I was here?"

"Maybe Zhen Zhen and I have a good connection."

Su Zhen made a sound of disgust and rubbed her arms numbly.

Xiao Chuhong took out a black slender wooden box from his sleeve and placed it on the stone table. Su Zhen asked doubtfully, "What is this?"

"Thank you."

"Ah?! What kind of thank you gift?"

"The Prince of the Conspiracy Case has told me the details before. If you hadn't intervened, Yunshu would have been doomed."

"It turns out that the three of you are really a team." Su Zhen showed a sarcastic look, "But you don't have to thank me for Mr. Dongli. His crush is my sister, so it is natural for him to fulfill his wish for his sister."

"Sister? Si Li's hairpin spirit was born with heaven and earth. There seems to be a big gap between your generations?"

Su Zhen paused while eating the fruit and changed the subject, "The prince's mouth is really unreliable."

"Your Majesty was too reckless at the palace banquet today. I thought you would go to the Marquis Mansion to see him first."

Su Zhen's smile disappeared, "He is not in the Hou Mansion."


Chapter completed!