At around midnight the next day, Li Zhiying woke up leisurely.
Wu Chengsi beside her had already gone to the office. She slowly sat on the bed, caressing her belly, and was lost in thought.
Suddenly, Yu Mian quickly came to the bedroom and said with a smile: "Your Highness, I knew you should wake up at this time."
Li Zhiying touched her belly and said with a smile: "Since having him, people have become lazy. By the way, is Hongming feeling better?"
Yumian said: "I still don't want to leave the room."
Li Zhiying sighed and said: "That girl has always been timid. It will probably take more than half a month to recover after being frightened like that."
After a pause, he asked again: "What time is it?"
"It's almost noon."
"Is there any news from Grandpa?"
Yumian smiled and said: "Here we are, they said that my husband's health has improved a lot, so you don't have to worry."
After a while, he said again: "The young master also asked someone to send a message, saying that he will still come to see you today."
Li Zhiying smiled slightly and said: "I know, help me up quickly."
Over the past six months, she has been insisting on visiting Li Jingye. Her efforts finally paid off, and the relationship between the brother and sister has been repaired a lot.
At noon, Li Jingye came indeed, and Li Jingwu also came with him.
Li Jingwu is much more confident than he was six months ago. He holds his head high, wears a red robe with sleeves, and has a thick beard under his chin.
Li Jingye shaved off his beard and tied his hair, making him look much younger and energetic.
But he no longer had the same vigor as before. He kept his head lowered and seemed worried.
The two were very close to each other. Li Jingwu often smiled and talked to Li Jingye, but Li Jingye only nodded and shook his head without replying.
When Li Zhiying saw Li Jingye's appearance, she secretly sighed in her heart.
Li Ji has announced to the outside world that Li Jingwu will be the heir to the British Duke's Palace. Even if Li Jingye is forgiven by him and returns to the British Duke's Palace, he will only be able to live under Li Jingwu in the future.
Li Zhiying ordered the kitchen to cook several exquisite side dishes and entertained the two of them in a side hall next to her bedroom.
Li Jingwu seemed to intend to show brotherly harmony in front of Li Zhiying and sat down next to Li Jingye.
Li Zhiying personally poured wine for the two brothers, raised her glass and said: "Little sister, here's a toast to the two brothers."
During the dinner, Li Jingye lowered his head and said nothing, and his eyes were averted, unwilling to make eye contact with his sister.
He didn't answer Li Zhiying's questions. If Li Jingwu hadn't answered on his behalf, the atmosphere would have been very awkward.
Li Zhiying was full of confusion. Li Jingye had obviously reconciled with her, why did it suddenly become like this?
What was originally a joyful family dinner turned out to be without any atmosphere.
During the dinner, only Li Jingwu kept talking about interesting things in Chang'an City, Li Jingye remained silent, and Li Zhiying's words gradually became less and less.
After noon, Li Zhiying sent her two brothers to the door. Seeing them riding away together, she felt quite uncomfortable.
After two days of this, in the morning, Lu Xiong was lying on the bed recovering from his injuries, holding an exquisite plum blossom dart in his hand.
This plum blossom dart was the hidden weapon that shot him in the back, and it was also the hidden weapon that killed two of his men.
Suddenly, a guard entered his room and said urgently: "Commander, it's bad, something happened!"
Lu Xiong frowned and said, "What happened?"
The guard loudly said: "The palace has been stolen. The gold medal given to the prince by Her Royal Highness the Queen Mother has been stolen!"
Lu Xiong was shocked and struggled to get up.
The guard hurriedly came over to help him and said, "Your injury is not healed yet, so you can't move around."
Lu Xiong said angrily: "With such a big thing happening in the house, how can I still lie down? When did you lose the gold medal? Do you know?"
The guard said: "I heard that the princess checks the gold medal every morning. She couldn't find it when she checked it this morning. I think it was stolen yesterday."
As Lu Xiong walked outside, he gritted his teeth and said, "The area around Her Royal Highness's main palace is guarded by our people day and night, and there are also personal guards. How could anyone steal the gold medal?"
The guard said: "I heard from people in the backyard that the suspect has been caught, and he is from our mansion!"
Lu Xiong glared and said, "Who is it?"
"It's one of the new guards!"
Lu Xiong's face changed drastically, and he said in confusion: "How could it be them?"
The guard was extremely disgusted with Feng Ying and others, and said bitterly: "I have long thought that they are not good people, but more like killers in the world. Maybe they are spies planted by others in our house."
Lu Xiong was rescued once by Feng Ying. Although the other party did not mean it, he still accepted his love and asked: "Where are they now?"
"The second lady ordered them all to be arrested. Together with the third lady, they are interrogating them in the back hall."
Lu Xiong asked: "Where is the eldest lady?"
"After hearing that the gold medal was stolen, Her Royal Highness locked herself in the house and refused to see anyone."
Lu Xiong secretly marveled, didn't ask any more questions, and hurried towards the back hall.
Stepping into the back hall, I saw Liu Lanshuang and Xu Wenqing sitting on the first two chairs respectively.
Wen Rong stood aside, and the nine new guards were kneeling on the ground, with different expressions on their faces.
A maid pointed at one of the guards and said loudly: "Don't make any excuses. I saw it clearly yesterday that you sneaked into His Royal Highness's bedroom while His Highness was out!"
The person she was pointing at was Dahuang. Dahuang lowered his head and said nothing.
Feng Ying was very anxious: "Rhubarb, is it real?"
Dahuang nodded.
Long Yang was surprised and said: "Are you crazy? Why did you steal His Highness's things when you are so good?"
Da Huang muttered: "I didn't steal anything."
Wen Rong said in a deep voice: "Brother Dahuang, since you are not here to steal anything, why do you go to Her Royal Highness the Princess's bedroom?"
Dahuang glanced at him and hummed: "I'm going on a patrol!"
The maid screamed: "How dare you tell such a lie! How could the inspection patrol go to Her Royal Highness the Princess's bedroom? You don't even believe what you say!"
After she discovered Dahuang yesterday, she immediately stepped forward to question him. Dahuang said at that time that he was on patrol. How could she believe it and continued to question him, but Dahuang ignored her and walked away.
Liu Lanshuang suddenly said: "Ye Zhu, you said you saw him going to Sister Li's dormitory yesterday, why didn't you report it?"
The maid glanced at Xu Wenqing and said: "You and Your Highness the Princess were not in the house at that time, so I reported it to the third lady."
Xu Wenqing blushed and said hurriedly: "I...I wanted to tell Sister Li when she came back, but then...I forgot about it."
Liu Lanshuang glanced sideways at Xu Wenqing. When she saw her lowering her head and wringing her fingers, she couldn't blame her anymore. She turned to look at Dahuang: "You said you went to the dormitory for inspection?"
Dahuang made no reply.
Fengying said anxiously: "Dahuang, answer quickly!"
Dahuang hummed: "I have already answered it."
Liu Lanshuang looked cold and said: "Search him, and then send someone to search where he lives."
Feng Ying and Long Yang were very worried. They all believed that Da Huang was not lying, but it was really hard to explain.
Ping Qi hurriedly said: "Second Madam, Dahuang is really patrolling. We have just arrived at the palace and cannot protect His Highness, so we can only patrol the palace."
Liu Lanshuang said coldly: "So you went to visit Sister Li's dormitory?"
Ping Qi glanced at Dahuang and thought: "I'm sorry, I'm here to save you." He said: "Second Madam, Dahuang was hit hard on the head when he was a child, so his brain is a bit stupid and sometimes he can't turn corners.
Come!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt Dahuang's cold gaze coming towards him.
Wen Rong suddenly said: "You can tell what happened to him when he was a child. Could it be that you have known each other since childhood?"
Ping Qi said: "Yes, the ten of us grew up together."
Wen Rong frowned and said, "Ten? Aren't there only nine of you?"
"And the phoenix dance."
Wen Rong felt a chill in his heart and did not ask any more questions. He turned to look at Liu Lanshuang.
Liu Lanshuang was silent for a long time, and then said slowly: "Search on each of them, and search on every place where they live."
The faces of the nine people all changed, but knowing that Liu Lanshuang was Wu Chengsi's wife, they did not dare to resist and allowed the servants and guards to search their bodies.
Suddenly, several plum blossom darts were found in Ping Qi's bag.
Lu Xiong's face changed drastically when he saw it, and he said angrily: "Well, it was you who killed Lu Song and the others!"
Feng Ying said angrily: "Why are you here to cause trouble again? Aren't you afraid of retribution again?"
Lu Xiong took out a dart from his arms and gritted his teeth: "Do you still remember this plum blossom dart?"
Feng Ying took a closer look and her face suddenly turned pale. When she was fighting with the sword-wielding man that day, he had used this hidden weapon.
Turning to look at Ping Qi's plum blossom dart, it turned out to be exactly the same.
She grabbed Ping Qi's collar and said angrily: "Tell me, where did your escort come from?"
Ping Qi hurriedly said: "Yes... I picked it up!"
"Where did you pick it up?"
"A few days ago... a woman in our house was tricked out of the house... and she was almost killed! I rescued her... that's when I picked up the escort!"
Yumian on the side suddenly said: "Hey, is the person you rescued Hong Ming?"
Ping Qi thought for a moment and said, "It seems to be called Hongming."
Seeing Liu Lanshuang looking over, Yu Mian hurriedly explained: "Second Madam, what he said must be true. Hong Ming was almost killed a few days ago, but it was a personal guard in the mansion who rescued her."
Liu Lanshuang said: "Go and call Hong Ming over."
Yumian nodded and left.
Liu Lanshuang has always been serious about words. Except for the personal maids around her, others in the house fear her more than Li Zhiying.
The same was true for Hong Ming. She dared not to listen to Li Zhiying, but she never dared not to listen to Liu Lanshuang. When she learned that the second lady had summoned her, she had no choice but to come over.
"Hong Ming, was he the one who saved you that day?" Liu Lanshuang pointed at Ping Qi and asked.
Hong Ming glanced at Ping Qi and said happily: "Yes, he was the one who saved me." She walked to Ping Qi and said, "Why didn't you come back that day? I was waiting at the side door and wanted to say thank you."
Ping Qi said: "I climbed over the wall and came in."
Hong Ming said "Oh", saw them all kneeling on the ground, and asked: "Second Madam, have they committed something?"
Liu Lanshuang glanced at An Bao, who immediately stepped forward and told her the situation.
After hearing this, Hong Ming hurriedly said: "Someone did throw a hidden weapon at this guard brother that day, it was this kind of dart!"
Liu Lanshuang said: "Have you looked carefully?"
Hong Ming actually didn't see it clearly, but thinking of repaying Ping Qi, she bit the bullet and said: "I saw it clearly, it's not wrong at all!"
At this time, those who went to Dongkuaoyuan to search for him also came back, saying that no gold medal was found in the residence of Fengying and others.
Wen Rong said: "Two madams, in my humble opinion, if it was true that the personal guards stole the gold medal, they would have been dead long ago and would not have stayed in the mansion."
Xu Wenqing followed: "Yes, Sister Liu, this guard looks quite honest and shouldn't do such a thing."
Lu Xiong didn't insist anymore.
If you think about it carefully, the man who used the Plum Blossom Dart was brutally killed by Feng Ying, and it should have nothing to do with the guards.
Liu Lanshuang saw everyone's expressions one by one and thought: "The theft of the gold medal is likely to cause serious consequences and even endanger the palace."
Then he did not draw a conclusion and said to Qiu Chan: "Go to Sister Li's door again and take a look at the situation."
Qiu Chan took the order and went.
Liu Lanshuang added: "Sister, Manager Wen, aside from the gold medal matter, it should be the same group of people who killed the two guards in the mansion and attacked Commander Lu and Qiu Chan. This matter should not be that simple."
Wen Rong's expression condensed and he said in a deep voice: "Yes, the prince is also very concerned about this matter and ordered me to investigate it personally. I didn't expect that the same group of people were behind it. The person who instigated them may be the prince's enemy."
Liu Lanshuang nodded and said: "Then let the prince rule on this matter when he comes back."
Soon, Qiu Chan came back and said: "Second Madam, although Her Royal Highness the Princess did not come out, she asked the slave about the situation here."
"Sister, do you have any instructions?" Liu Lanshuang asked.
"Her Royal Highness the Princess said that this matter has nothing to do with the guards and cannot be blamed on them."
Liu Lanshuang was silent for a long time, thinking to herself: "Sister has always been measured in dealing with things. Since she said this, she must know something."
He said to Fengying and others: "You all get up. I have wrongly blamed you for today's incident. I hope you don't take it to heart. Manager Wen will deduct nine coins from my monthly salary and give it to them."
Fengying suddenly turned from resentment to joy: "Thank you so much, Madam Second."
Several other people were also smiling. Long Yang even touched Dahuang's head and whispered: "Brother, this time it's a blessing in disguise. It's all thanks to you."
Dahuang said in a dull voice: "Then give me some of your money."
"screw you."
When others saw that they had been wronged, not only did they not feel resentment, but they were content with just the money, and they all had a favorable impression of their simplicity.
Of course they didn't know that this was the first money the nine people had ever earned in their lives.
Although they had come into contact with money before, they were given out when they went on a mission and recycled after the mission was over. They did not have the right to use it freely.
It is the first time for a young girl to have money at her own disposal.
Xu Wenqing smiled and said: "Manager Wen, please deduct nine guan from my monthly salary and give it to them."
Fengying and others cheered in unison: "Thank you, Third Madam!"
…
In the palace accountant, Dahuang was the last to receive the money and carefully stuffed it into his boots.
When I came out of the wing, I saw other people gathered around, asking Long Yang for advice on how to use money.
Long Yang stood on a big rock and said proudly: "As the saying goes, using money is also a science. Those who know how to use it can use their money for two purposes, and those who don't know how to use it will just waste the copper coins in their hands!"
Ping Qi said anxiously: "Brother Yang, please teach me how to use one money as two money."
Long Yang did not answer, but looked at Dahuang, wanting to wait for him to come over and teach together.
Dahuang did not go over, but walked towards the corridor.
Long Yang asked urgently: "Dahuang, where are you going?"
Dahuang muttered: "I'm going to investigate who stole the gold medal, then kill him and get the gold medal back. When the two ladies are happy, they might reward me with money again."
After saying that, he left without looking back.
Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then they all chased Dahuang: "Dahuang, I'll go with you!" In a blink of an eye, Long Yang was left alone.
Long Yang thought: "This kid Dahuang actually has some enlightenment." He did not chase after him, but smiled secretly in his heart:
"This gold medal was lost in the princess's bedroom, how could it be so easy to find out." He turned around and walked towards the door, deciding to buy a few copies of the Four Books and Five Classics first.
Beside the corridor pillars, Lu Xiong watched the nine people leave and sighed.
After several interactions, he actually wanted to make friends with Feng Ying and others, but when he looked at them from a distance, he felt a strange feeling in his heart, which made him timid.
At this moment, Wen Rong came out of the back hall and walked straight towards him, his face looking very heavy.
"Commander Lu, Her Royal Highness the Princess just sent someone over to send a message, asking you and me to come over."
Lu Xiong's heart trembled, and he nodded: "I understand." The two of them came to Li Zhiying's bed together.
It was clearly daytime, but the lamp was lit in the room. Li Zhiying was sitting on the couch, with no expression on her face, and a maid stood beside her.
Lu Xiong rarely saw such a look on the princess's face, and his heart became more solemn, and he bowed and saluted together with Wen Rong.
Li Zhiying said: "You two don't have to be polite. I asked you to come here because I hope you can do something for me." Her voice was low and hoarse.
"Your Highness, please give me your instructions." The two said in unison.
Li Zhiying was silent for a while and then said slowly: "Immediately use all the power of the palace to bring Li Jingye to me as quickly as possible."
Lu Xiong was shocked. Li Zhiying had always been courteous and had never addressed "Li Jingye" by his first name. Could it be that he was the one who stole the gold medal?
He didn't dare to hesitate and said, "Yes."
Wen Rong asked: "Your Highness, do you want to send someone to notify the prince of his return?"
Li Zhiying: "No need. I will explain to my husband when he comes back." There was a bit of coldness in her tone.
Wen Rong didn't dare to say anything anymore, so he handed him over.
The two of them resigned from the main hall together. Lu Xiong looked back at the room and whispered: "Manager Wen, do you think it was Li Jingye who stole the gold medal?"
Wen Rong put his hands in his sleeves and narrowed his eyes:
"It should be him. Yesterday, I heard from the servants in the mansion that Li Jingye came to visit the princess. After learning that Her Highness was not here, he still insisted on waiting in the backyard. He left before the princess came back."
Lu Xiong was startled, shook his head and sighed: "I really don't understand this person. Her Royal Highness the Princess is so kind to him and doesn't care that he was kicked out of the house by the British government, but he doesn't know how to cherish him at all!"
Wen Rong said: "Now is not the time to lament. Let's get down to business quickly. With a gold medal in the hands of someone like him, he might do something."
Immediately, the two soldiers divided into two groups. Lu Xiong led the guards out of the mansion to capture Li Jingye, while Wen Rong went to Jinwu Guard to mobilize troops and seal the nine gates of Chang'an to prevent Li Jingye from escaping.
However, the two of them were still a step too slow.
An hour later, the two returned to the palace together to report to Li Zhiying.
Wen Rong cupped his hands and said: "Your Highness, Li Jingye left the city at 2:00 a.m. last night. I have sent a team of Jinwu Guards out of the city to pursue him."
Li Zhiying asked the maid next to her: "When will Li Jingye leave my bedroom?"
The maid thought about it for a while and said: "It seems...it seems to be the middle of the year."
Lu Xiong said: "I confirmed with the gatekeeper of the palace that Li Jingye left the palace at about four o'clock in the afternoon. Judging from the time, he left the city directly after leaving the palace."
Li Zhiying's face showed a look of sadness.
Wen Rong said hurriedly: "Your Royal Highness, you must not be too sad about this person, so as not to affect the fetus."
Li Zhiying took a deep breath and said softly: "You all can go down."
Lu Xiong and Wen Rong had no choice but to excuse themselves and left the dormitory.
Outside the hall, Lu Xiong snorted coldly: "This thief, if I hadn't been injured, I would have caught him myself!"
Wen Rong frowned and thought secretly: "Why did Li Jingye leave the city immediately after stealing the gold medal? What did he want to do with the gold medal?"