When they arrived at Wu Chengsi's small palace, the guard outside the door said: "Your Highness Princess Zheng, my prince and princess have gone out."
Princess Zheng sneered and said: "Oh, they were still there when I just came here. Why did they go out in a blink of an eye? Where did they go?"
The guard replied: "My prince and princess have both gone to Mitsui Village."
Princess Zheng was stunned. Although she had never heard of Mitsui Village, she intuitively judged that it should be the village where her son had a conflict with Princess Changping.
If Wu Chengsi and his wife went to Li Ji or Su Dingfang, she must have thought that the other party had a guilty conscience and deliberately avoided her.
But the other party went to that small village, which made her really unsure about the situation.
Most of her initial anger had dissipated in the back and forth, and the remaining half had turned into doubt.
After pondering for a moment, he ordered several guards to go to "Mitsui Village" to inquire about the news, and then returned to his palace.
When he entered Li Mao's house, he found that Li Yuanli was not in the house, and Li Mao still looked half-dead.
"Where is the prince?" Princess Zheng asked a maid.
"The prince has gone to the study."
"Didn't he say anything?"
The maid hesitated for a moment and whispered: "The prince said that the young master's injury is not serious."
Princess Zheng's face turned cold and she asked again: "What about the second young master? His brother is injured like this and he doesn't come to see him?"
"The second young master has not returned home yet," the maid said cautiously.
Princess Zheng rebuked the servants a little irritably, came to the bedside, and said with a straight face: "Prince, tell your mother and concubine honestly what happened today. Don't hide a thing from me."
Li Mao said angrily: "Mother, what the child said is true. That despicable woman slashed the child's face with a sword. When I wanted to catch her for revenge, Li and the stinky women of the Xue family protected her. That woman!"
Princess Zheng asked suspiciously: "There are so many guards around you, how did she hurt you?"
"The bitch was very close to the child at the time, and the child was unprepared for a moment."
"Why is she so close to you?" Princess Zheng asked.
Seeing that he couldn't hide it, Li Mao had to tell the truth: "The child has fallen in love with her and is going to take her to a nearby county."
Princess Zheng suddenly felt angry and did not ask any more questions.
Li Mao shook his mother's arm and said: "Concubine, she followed the child voluntarily, but suddenly she turned against him and disfigured the child. You have to make the decision for the child!"
Princess Zheng glanced at him, and when she saw his pitiful appearance, she couldn't bear it and said, "Then you can just arrest that woman and punish her. Why do you want to trouble Prince Changping's Mansion?"
Li Mao said angrily: "If Mrs. Li and the others hadn't stopped her, I would have arrested that bitch long ago."
Princess Zheng sighed: "Forget it, the mother-in-law will send someone to help you catch that woman. As for the Changping Palace, forget it. Wu Chengsi is not that easy to offend."
"Mother, I sent someone to the village afterwards. That bitch is no longer in the village. She must have been hidden by them!"
Princess Zheng immediately remembered that when she went to see Wu Chengsi just now, the guard said that he had gone to Sanjing Village, and thought: Wu Chengsi must also have gone to find that woman.
She vaguely felt that this incident was a bit strange, especially after hearing from Li Mao that King Yingchuan had also been to that village, so there might be some secret behind it.
Of course, the most important point is that Wu Chengsi holds a high position and has great authority.
The anger in her heart has almost dissipated, so she is not willing to offend the other party for such uncertain things.
…
Mitsui Village.
The setting sun had already sunk below the horizon. When the villagers in the small village saw another horse team coming, they were so frightened that every family closed their doors and the whole village seemed empty.
Xue Yujin, who has always liked horse riding, chose to ride in a carriage with Li Zhiying this time because he was traveling with Wu Chengsi and his wife.
Xue Yujin opened the curtains, glanced at Wu Chengsi outside, and saw that he was looking around the village, and asked: "Zhiying, why do we come here?"
Li Zhiying pondered and said: "Judging from what my husband said before, it should be to avoid Princess Zheng."
"Didn't you teach her a lesson before? How dare she come here?" Xue Yujin snorted.
Li Zhiying smiled and said: "I just frightened her before. When she goes back to find Li Mao to find out, she will definitely come back."
"Then there's no need to avoid her. It's her son's fault."
Li Zhiying said softly: "Yu Jin, Prince Zheng is one of the few royal families who is not involved in party disputes. My husband probably doesn't want to conflict with him over this matter."
Xue Yujin was silent for a while and said: "Even so, we just need to avoid that old woman. There is no need to come here."
Li Zhiying's eyebrows flickered slightly but she didn't answer.
"Zhiying?"
Li Zhiying suddenly said: "Yu Jin, do you think the woman named Ziniang is strange?"
Xue Yujin thought for a while, nodded and said: "That woman is indeed very strange. At first, I thought she disliked poverty and loved wealth, but I didn't expect that she suddenly struck Li Mao with a sword."
Li Zhiying said helplessly: "Have you ever seen a village girl with such good martial arts?"
Xue Yujin shook his head.
"And her appearance. Have you ever seen such a beautiful village girl?"
Xue Yujin shook his head again.
"You should understand now, right?"
Xue Yujin clapped her hands and said: "I understand, that woman must be an anonymous Jianghu person!"
"..." Li Zhiying was silent for a while and said: "Yu Jin, come to the hospital another day and I will check your head."
"Hey! That's too much!"
Li Zhiying chuckled and said, "Think about it carefully, where is this place?"
Xue Yujin snorted and said, "Sanjing Village."
"No, this is a village very close to the palace. Think about it again, what time is it now?"
"Autumn, autumn?" Xue Yujin said a little uncertainly.
"No, it's the eighth day of October, and there are only three days left before the Zen Ceremony. Don't you think it's suspicious that such a woman appears in such a place at such a time?"
Xue Yujin coughed twice and said: "Well, it is indeed suspicious."
"So, my husband is here to investigate the origin of that woman, in case there is any problem with the Zen Ceremony."
Xue Yujin suddenly felt a little hot inside the carriage, so she pushed the curtain and got out.
At this moment, she saw Wu Chengsi's personal guard captain rushing to his side, and Wu Chengsi followed him quickly towards the end of the village.
"Zhiying, Brother Wu seems to have discovered something!" Xue Yujin shouted, patting the carriage door.
Li Zhiying poked her head out of the carriage window, and sure enough she couldn't see Wu Chengsi anymore, and asked, "Where has he gone?"
"Went to the end of the village."
"Then let's follow over and have a look."
The two women went all the way to the end of the village and learned from the guards that Wu Chengsi had gone to the back mountain.
When they reached the mountainside, they saw Wu Chengsi standing under a locust tree, with dozens of guards beside him searching the ground for something.
"Husband, what are you looking for?" Li Zhiying asked as she quickly approached.
"Don't move!" Wu Chengsi said suddenly.
Both women were startled and immediately dared not move. Xue Yujin even had one foot hanging in the air.
Wu Chengsi took a few steps closer, squatted down and said, "Look, there is blood here."
Xue Yujin then stood down and squatted down next to Wu Chengsi. He looked up at the ground and saw a small pool of blood.
Li Zhiying even wiped it with her fingers, then rubbed it and said: "The blood has dried, it should have been more than two hours."
Xue Yujin's expression suddenly changed and she said, "Could this blood be that of Ziniang and the villager named Dashan?"
Li Zhiying was startled, nodded and said: "If they run away, they will probably choose to escape to the back mountain."
Xue Yujin stood up violently and said angrily: "It must be Li Mao who did it, I'll go find him right now!"
Li Zhiying hurriedly grabbed her: "If it were really Li Mao, Princess Zheng would not have come to investigate."
"Who did that?" Xue Yujin said angrily.
Wu Chengsi stood up slowly and said in a deep voice: "I'm afraid this matter is not simple. The woman named Ziniang must have some secret, and it may be related to King Han."
Xue Yujin was surprised and said: "King Han?"
Li Zhiying clapped her hands and said: "I understand. Li Xun, the king of Yingchuan County, also brought people here at that time, and he brought so many people, so he obviously came well prepared."
Xue Yujin murmured: "You mean, he is also here for Ziniang?"
Standing on a tree more than thirty feet away from the three of them, Yang Xuan, dressed in black and wearing a wolf mask, quietly came behind a tree.
Seeing Wu Chengsi suddenly appearing here and standing on the spot where Ziniang died, Yang Xuan's pupils shrank sharply and he retreated quietly.
When he came to a small forest near the village, four men in black came to him silently. One of them asked: "Deputy Commander, when will we take action?"
Yang Xuan shook his head and said: "The mission is cancelled."
Returning to the palace of King Han, Yang Xuan immediately reported the situation to Li Yuanjia, and Li Yuanjia hurriedly sent someone to invite King Yue and King Pei over.
In the study, after hearing King Han explain the situation, the wrinkles on King Yue's face gathered together again, and he smiled bitterly: "Why are you involved with Wu Chengsi again?"
King Han said angrily: "I think Wu Chengsi is a scourge who is specifically against us. We should get rid of him as soon as possible!"
The King of Yue said angrily: "What's the use of saying these angry words? If we can get rid of him, why wait until now?"
King Pei said calmly: "Actually, we don't need to make a fuss. Wu Chengsi must have heard about this from Li Zhiying and learned that we sent someone there, so he went over to investigate."
The King of Yue nodded and said: "It makes sense, but since Wu Chengsi has noticed that small village, we can no longer silence those villagers."
King Han hummed: "I'm afraid of a bird, maybe he won't go again after going there once."
King Pei stood up, walked back and forth a few steps, and said, "It's better to be cautious. Send people to keep an eye on the villagers first. When Feng Chan's matter is over, it won't be too late for us to take action."
…
When Wu Chengsi returned to his small palace, it was already past Xu hour.
In the dormitory, he sat alone at the table, fiddling with a nine-link ring given by Xu Wenqing in his hand.
While playing with this small object, his brain was running rapidly, thinking about Ziniang.
He had already sent people to inquire near King Han's palace and learned that a few days ago, a thief was encountered in the small palace where King Han lived.
Logically speaking, it would be such a big deal that a thief happened in the palace of the majestic emperor, but somehow, the news was suppressed.
Don't think too much, it must have been done by King Han himself.
Then contact King Yingchuan to take so many people to such an ordinary small village, and there is such an extraordinary woman in the small village.
All the clues were connected. The thief in King Han's palace that night was Ziniang. She must have heard some secret, so she was hunted down by King Han.
The question now is whether Ziniang’s disappearance is related to King Han, and who does Ziniang belong to?
While thinking, Wu Chengsi suddenly smelled the fragrance of orchids, turned around and saw Xue Yujin wearing a half-arm short skirt, with her hands spread out in a virtual embrace.
She had just taken a bath with Li Zhiying, and then she changed into such clothes.
Judging from the movements of her hands, it was obvious that she wanted to cover Wu Chengsi's eyes from behind and then play a trick like "guess who I am."
After being hit by Wu Chengsi, Xue Yujin's cheeks were slightly red, and she hurriedly put her hands behind her back, sat on the bed as if nothing had happened, and said with a smile: "Brother Wu, can your wife let me sleep with you tonight?"
"Why don't you go back to sleep?" Wu Chengsi said bluntly.
As he spoke, he couldn't help but look at Xue Yujin twice.
She seemed to have no defense against herself. Not only did the sleeves of the clothes she changed into half-cut, but half of her legs were also exposed.
Compared with Li Zhiying's snow-white and slender legs, Xue Yujin's legs, although not so white, are stronger and stronger, and you can tell that they are full of elasticity at a glance.
After Xue Yujin noticed Wu Chengsi's gaze, she couldn't help but shrink her legs and said: "I have sent someone back to inform my elder brother. I will sleep with Zhiying tonight."
Although Xue Yujin has five brothers, only her eldest brother Xue Na has been with her in Beijing all year round. This time, only Xue Na accompanied her when she was granted Zen status.
At this moment, Li Zhiying came in with a tray. She was wearing a purple gauze dress with her hair tied up high. There were two side dishes and a pot of wine in the tray.
"Madam, are you planning to have late-night snacks and drinks with Yu Jin, and then let your husband sleep outside alone?"
Li Zhiying lowered her head and said softly: "This is my apology to Yu Jin."
Xue Yujin, who was swinging his legs leisurely, was stunned and said: "Why are you apologizing to me?"
Li Zhiying clasped her hands together, showing an apologetic expression, and glanced at Wu Chengsi again.
Xue Yujin suddenly understood that his friend valued sex over friends and planned to let him sleep alone, and his face became angry.
Just when she was about to have an attack, Li Zhiying came to her side and whispered a few words.
Xue Yujin's bulging cheeks immediately disappeared like a balloon with a hole in it.
"Then it's agreed, you can't lie to me!" Xue Yujin snorted.
Li Zhiying said helplessly: "When have I ever lied to you?"
"That's true, hee hee, I'll go out first." Xue Yujin actually held the tray and jumped out.
Wu Chengsi couldn't help but admire his wife's methods and asked: "What did you just say to her? Why did she agree so quickly?"
Li Zhiying smiled and said: "I promise to go to her house to sleep with her for three days after I return to Chang'an."
"That's it?" Wu Chengsi asked in surprise.
Li Zhiying came to sit on Wu Chengsi's lap and said softly: "Mr. Lang, you don't know that Yu Jin's family was poor when she was young. Her mother died of overwork when she was fifteen years old, and her father has been away with the army for many years, so
She is most afraid of being alone."
Wu Chengsi thought about it and realized that he was right. Before Xue Rengui became famous, he seemed to be in a miserable state, but he didn't expect that his wife died of overwork.
"Then she has no other friends besides you?"
Li Zhiying put her cheek against Wu Chengsi's chest and said softly: "Yu Jin has a strong temper, so it's hard to make friends."
Wu Chengsi nodded.
With his beloved wife who had just finished taking a bath in his arms, he no longer had the mind to think about Xue Yujin.
After picking up Li Zhiying, Wu Chengsi walked towards the bed. Li Zhiying naturally knew what he was going to do and let out a low gasp.
After a period of ups and downs, the two finally separated. After Wu Chengsi spent his time as a sage, he began to think about Ziniang again in his mind.
Li Zhiying leaned over again at this time, hugged one of his arms, and said: "Lang Jun, what are you thinking about?"
Naturally, Wu Chengsi would not be stupid enough to say, "I am thinking of a woman." He put his hands on his wife's willow-like waist and said slowly, "I am wondering why King Han sent his son to Mitsui Village."
Li Zhiying's eyes immediately became clearer, she thought for a while and said, "You just sent someone to the Han Palace to inquire about the situation. Did you find out anything?"
"Something has been gained. I heard that Prince Han's palace was robbed."
Li Zhiying's eyes lit up and she said, "Could it be that the thief is Ziniang?"
"That's what I guessed too."
Li Zhiying rolled her eyes and said, "Zi Niang must have overheard something in King Han's palace, or perhaps stolen something important."
"This is the palace. That palace is just temporary. There should be nothing to steal. I think Zi Niang must have heard something." Wu Chengsi put his other hand behind his head and analyzed slowly.
Li Zhiying pondered and asked: "Husband, do you want to know what information Ziniang heard?"
Wu Chengsi sighed: "Yes."
Li Zhiying didn't say anything anymore. Wu Chengsi had just exhausted a lot of energy and had a busy day during the day, so he fell into a deep sleep soon.
The next day, as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Li Zhiying's big eyes staring at him, and he could even see his own reflection in the dark eyes.
"Husband, you're awake."
"Madam, you haven't slept all night, have you?" Wu Chengsi said in surprise.
Li Zhiying smiled and said: "Husband, I have thought of a way. Maybe I can find out who is instigating Ziniang behind the scenes!"
Wu Chengsi asked hurriedly: "What can we do?"
Li Zhiying put her mouth close to Wu Chengsi's ear and whispered a few words. Wu Chengsi's eyes became brighter and brighter.
"Madam, this move of yours is really bad." Wu Chengsi couldn't help but say.
Li Zhiying pushed him gently and said softly: "I've been thinking about it all night, but you said this to me."
Wu Chengsi laughed and said, "I made a mistake. In order to apologize to the lady, I helped her dress."
Li Zhiying yawned and said, "I'm so sleepy, I'll get up in a while." After saying that, she closed her eyes, and after a while, she breathed evenly.
Wu Chengsi stood up alone, helped his wife press the quilt, and then left the bedroom.
After eating breakfast in the side hall, Wu Chengsi came to Xue Yujin's house and slammed the door hard. He didn't stop until there was movement inside.
After a while, the door of the room was opened. Xue Yujin, who was disheveled, rubbed his sleepy eyes and asked, "What time is it?"
"There's still a quarter to go." Wu Chengsi answered truthfully.
Xue Yujin complained: "It's still early, what do you want me to do?"
After saying that, she turned around and returned to the house, got into the bed, she seemed to have arched her feet, and the quilt was stretched out by her.
Wu Chengsi patted the quilt and said, "Hey, get up quickly and accompany me to do something."
"Don't go!"
Xue Yujin turned over in the quilt, with his head facing inside, looking like a gourd.