The Heavens of Film and Television: From Serving as a Soldier

Chapter 201 The incident
Zhang Yang returned to the palace and sought out the chief secretary Liu Renhui.

"Send a message to Shen Zhui."

Liu Renhui said: "Your Majesty, Shen Zhui is currently investigating the accounts in the Ministry of Revenue."

Zhang Yang waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about that for now."

After that, he whispered in Liu Renhui's ear and said, "Let him get ready."

"promise."

Taiwong.

The prince was plotting something with Xie Yu when the eunuch reported: "The Minister of Revenue, Lou Zhijing, has arrived."

The prince said in confusion; "What is he doing here, Xuan."

Lou Zhijing stumbled in and said, "I beg Your Highness the Crown Prince to protect this old minister."

……

Perhaps because the identities of the discoverers were not simple, this case of "corpse hidden in a dry well" accidentally uncovered by a few noblemen immediately caused a greater shock inside and outside the capital than ordinary criminal cases. In addition, the Jingzhao government office, which received the report and rushed to the scene to investigate, actually dug up nearly ten corpses in the well, all of which were completely rotten. The initial examination by the coroner showed that they were all female. This horrifying case spread, and the whole city was in an uproar. Jingzhao Yin Gaosheng was ordered by his superiors to solve the case within a time limit, and he was dizzy from the investigation.

As the current owner of the deserted garden, Mei Changsu was asked to be interrogated several times, but he really knew nothing and no clues could be found by further questioning. In addition, Gao Sheng did not dare to make things difficult for him due to his current popularity. He put all his power on the owner of the business firm who acted as an intermediary and sent his subordinates to investigate everywhere to find out what the garden was like before it was abandoned.

About seven or eight days later, the results of the investigation came out. This garden had changed hands twice this year. It was originally owned by a man named Zhang Xi. This man's identity and background were unknown. He once owned many secret prostitution places in the capital. He was a low-key person, but he had a lot of financial resources and connections. He died of illness four years ago. His sons and nephews were not good, and the property gradually declined. Therefore, this garden was put up for sale.

Gao Sheng immediately sent people to Zhang's house to arrest all the adult men who were in charge of the matter and tortured them one by one. At this time, another official who claimed to be Zhang Xiu's confidant came to the Jingzhao government office to surrender, saying that someone wanted to assassinate him and silence him, and asked for protection from the government. Gao Sheng was overjoyed when he heard the news and interrogated him overnight, but before he could ask a few questions, a servant outside the door suddenly reported that the prince had issued an oral order.

Gao Sheng changed his clothes with uncertainty and came to the main hall. A young eunuch in blue stood there. After he finished his greetings, he spoke clearly, "The prince has given his order. I heard that there was a case of a corpse hidden in a dry well in the royal city. People are talking about it. As the prince in charge, I have to ask about it. Therefore, I have ordered Jingzhao Yin Gao Sheng to go to the East Palace tomorrow to report the case in person. Receive the order."

"Your Highness Gaosheng obeys the Crown Prince's order." Gaosheng bowed his head hurriedly.

After the eunuch left, Gao Sheng was uneasy. Being able to be a parent official in Jinling City where princes and nobles roamed the streets, Gao Sheng had his own set of smooth skills and a delicate mind. The prince suddenly intervened in this case, which did not seem to be just for the duty of being the prince. There must be unknown hidden secrets. So after thinking it over, Gao Sheng ordered someone to bring the censor from the interrogation room and bring him to the secret room in his backyard. When questioning him, he also deliberately dismissed all the people around him.

Even as Gao Sheng was secretly interrogating Shi Duguan overnight, the lights in Prince Yu's study remained brightly lit until late at night.

"Does that Shi Duguan really have a list of names?" Prince Yu Xiao Jinghuan walked around the room. "Is this news true?"

"I can guarantee it." A middle-aged man in gray stood in front of him and said, "The garden is called Lanyuan, and it's called Zhang Xiu's private residence, but it's actually a secret place he runs. Some court officials dared not go in and out of prostitution places openly due to national laws, so Zhang Xiu arranged everything privately. No matter what the guests asked for, he could satisfy them. Over time, some people who like to use sadomasochistic tricks to add to the fun would inevitably make mistakes occasionally and kill the girls used for fun. Those corpses were part of it. Zhang Xiu died five years ago, and these transactions were forced to stop, but no one thought that he would be so careless in dealing with the corpses, and no one thought that he would actually record everything in a book."

Prince Yu's eyes flickered with a faint light: "So the list on that list..."

"They are all well-known figures, and even some important officials in the court..."

"What about our side?"

"I think there are people from both sides, but..." The man in gray smiled sinisterly, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is more anxious..."

"why?"

"When I found Steward Shi, he refused to hand over the list, but in order to gain my trust, he still mentioned the names of several guests who had lost their lives that year. One of them was Lou Zhijing."

Prince Yu's eyes lit up and he couldn't help but laugh three times: "Is there really a Lou Zhijing? Haha, the prince will definitely be so anxious that he will jump up and down."

"Lou Zhijing must know that he has something to hide. I think he will take the initiative to confess to the prince and ask for help. Why didn't Your Highness let the official Shi come into the palace, but instead let him go to the Jingzhao government? What if the prince..."

"Don't worry," Prince Yu said coldly, "In this capital, the Crown Prince can't cover the sky with one hand. Gao Sheng looks mediocre, but in fact, he is not. No matter how the Crown Prince threatens him, he can at least hold on for two or three days."

"Your Highness means..."

"The traces of our involvement cannot be too obvious, lest the emperor suspects anything." Prince Yu stared at the lights in front of the window, raised the corner of his lip, motioned the gray-clothed man to come closer, whispered a few names in his ear, and then said, "You have to work harder tonight, and secretly interrogate them one by one on my behalf, asking them to confess whether they had ever traded with Zhang Xiu in the past, and whether they had killed anyone. If they tell the truth, I will find a way to protect them. If they don't tell the truth, they deserve it if I find out."

"Yes."

"As long as these people are not on the list, it won't matter if the others are found out. How can we catch the big wolf if we don't sacrifice a few of our own people?"

The man in gray was used to seeing pawns being abandoned at will for the sake of those in power, so he didn't care. He answered "yes" again and left.

Prince Yu continued to pace back and forth in the room, frowning and thinking deeply, his mind seemed to be uneasy. After a long while, he finally spoke to the silver lamp on the table: "Mei Changsu bought the Lan Garden and turned up this case. I'm afraid it's not a coincidence? Does he do this to show that he has turned to me?"

The room was empty at this time, and he seemed to be talking to himself. But not long after he finished speaking, the thick velvet curtains on the east side of the room trembled slightly, and a soft and charming female voice said softly: "That may not be the case. He may just be settling a personal grudge, which has nothing to do with Your Highness."

Along with this extremely beautiful voice, a graceful figure appeared. Judging from her appearance alone, she might not be considered stunningly beautiful, but with her delicate temperament, she was particularly captivating.

Prince Yu turned to face her. Although there was some hesitation in his eyes, he quickly regained control: "Prajna, have you found out anything?"

Qin Prajna pursed her lips lightly, paused for a moment, and then said, "Your Highness, do you know that Lou Zhijing was the governor of Yizhou?"

"I know this," Prince Yu's mind worked quickly, "Yizhou is within the Jiangzuo area, have they had any feuds in the past?"

"Lou Zhijing is a rare talent, so he is regarded as a confidant by the prince, but his lustful nature is hard to change. I have found out that when he was in Yizhou, he robbed a pair of twin sisters into his mansion. The cousin of the two sisters was an ordinary gang member of the Jiangzuo League. He asked his hall master to come forward and beg Lou Zhijing to return the two sisters. Lou Zhijing verbally agreed, and when he returned to the mansion, he raped and ravaged the two sisters, and then let them out of the mansion. The two girls then committed suicide out of shame and anger, and Lou Zhijing flatly denied his crime. The Jiangzuo League did not find any evidence, so they could only watch him get away with it, and thus a feud was formed. However, this matter has never been made public, and few people know about it..."

Prince Yu waited for a moment, and when he found that the woman had no intention of continuing, he asked in surprise, "Is that all the grudge?"

"Your Highness, do you think it's not enough?"

"Of course it's not enough," Prince Yu felt very unbelievable, "Lou Zhijing is the Minister of Revenue and the Crown Prince's confidant. Would Mei Changsu become his enemy just because of a cousin who is just a member of his gang?"

Qin Prajna was silent for a while, then asked, "Your Highness, do you really want to recruit Mei Changsu?"

"Of course it is, of course."

"Then Your Highness should learn more about Mei Changsu's style of doing things." "You mean..."

"To His Highness, the matter of the two sisters is nothing, but to Mei Changsu, it is an unbearable insult and offense. The Jiangzuo League was able to quickly rise to become the world's largest gang, relying not only on fighting in the martial arts world, but also on benevolence and morality, and winning the hearts of the people. More importantly, it has been almost paranoid in maintaining its authority for many years. If the Jiangzuo League had not come forward to plead for mercy beforehand, it might not care so much even if Lou Zhijing's behavior was vicious. But Lou Zhijing underestimated this martial arts gang and did such a trick of pretending to obey but actually disobeying, which just violated the Jiangzuo League's taboo and was naturally regarded as a provocation."

Prince Yu was slightly stunned when he heard this: "So, Mei Changsu is just seeking revenge and has no intention of showing me any kindness?"

"I dare not say for sure. His recent actions are like a mystery, and I am still not able to sort it out." Qin Prajna sighed, "Your Highness first sent the message of recruiting him in July, right?"

"Yes."

"The prince's invitation could not have been much earlier than Your Highness. From the information I have investigated, before receiving the invitation from Kyoto, Mei Changsu was a pure Jianghu person. I can't find any contact or relationship between him and anyone in the court. But after that, Mei Changsu rejected the prince and the prince, and immediately left the core of the Jiangzuo League, and finally went to the capital. What exactly does he want to do?"

"He probably knows that the talents favored by the crown prince and the king have only two paths to take. As the top of the Langya list, Jiang Zuo Meilang lives such a comfortable life, how could he end up in a dead end?"

"But Your Highness, is the path he is taking now a way to survive in the general sense?"

Prince Yu was stunned by the question and stammered.

"Your Highness, the heaviest burden on your heart right now is Duke Qing, right?"

Xiao Jinghuan frowned: "Prajna, you ask even though you know the answer."

"There are too many neutral people in the military. The only few military officials who support Your Highness are all from the Duke of Qing's faction. If he falls, you will only have a pen in your hand, but no sword..."

"I know this," Prince Yu said angrily, "You don't need to say more."

"From Mei Changsu's current behavior, he is very familiar with the situation in the court. It is impossible for him not to know how important the Duke of Qing is to you, Your Highness. Even if they really met the plaintiff by chance on the way as Xie Bi said, as long as Mei Changsu has the slightest preference for Your Highness, he should not add fuel to the fire and allow those two people to enter the capital."

As she spoke slowly, a dark cloud rose over Prince Yu's forehead, but he just clenched his fists secretly and said nothing.

Qin Banruo raised her hand and lightly brushed the cloud ring on her temples, and sighed again from her cherry lips: "In the situation of choosing between the two, offending Your Highness means pleasing the Crown Prince. So at that time I confidently told Your Highness that when Mei Changsu came to the capital, he would most likely choose the Crown Prince..."

“But…” Prince Yu uttered these two words, then bit his tongue and stopped talking.

"But his current behavior is beyond my expectation." Prajna lowered her head and straightened the creases on her sleeves. A white jade bracelet on her fair wrist swayed slightly. The snowy luster was as charming as her skin. But what this beautiful woman talked about was all about the cold human heart and power. "If the matter of Duke Qing was only a minor offense to His Highness, then in the case of the princess, he has greatly offended the Crown Prince..."

Prince Yu's eyes suddenly flashed coldly: "Why, Prajna thinks that the princess's incident was the work of Mei Changsu?"

"Does Your Highness think that it was really an accidental encounter when you saw him walking slowly alone on the street that day?"

Prince Yu took a step back and sat on the rosewood armchair. He rubbed his fists on his legs twice, with an uncertain look on his face: "You are just speculating. There are too many people involved in the princess's matter, Prince Jing, Jing Yu, the Empress Dowager, Meng Zhi, and me... Which one of them can be manipulated by Mei Changsu?"

"Then your highness's judgment is..."

"Maybe some things are coincidences," Prince Yu said slowly with a grim look in his eyes, "Maybe he didn't arrange anything, he just happened to get the news, maybe he wasn't targeting the crown prince, but just wanted to save Nihuang..."

It is undeniable that although Prince Yu tended to underestimate some of his control over Mei Changsu, his speculation about the course of events was not far from the facts.

Qin Banruo thought about it and probably agreed that it was unlikely that Mei Changsu single-handedly controlled the entire process of the princess' incident, so she nodded.

"But speaking of this, I suddenly realized that I had overlooked something." Prince Yu had a cold smile on his face. "Contact Duanjin tomorrow and pass on some news to the Crown Princess. Ask her to act as naturally as possible."

Prajna was only slightly startled, and then she understood immediately. Prince Yu knew that Mei Changsu was related to the princess's incident, but it was because he lied to Jingning and learned from her that it was Mei Changsu who ordered her to ask the Empress Dowager. But other related people did not mention Mr. Su at all. I am afraid that the Crown Prince and Concubine Yue now hate Prince Yu, hate, hate Prince Jing, and even hate the princess, but they will never think of hating Mei Changsu, because they don't know that Mei Changsu is related to the exposure of this matter. So it is of course beneficial to find some way to let them know what Mei Changsu did.

As soon as Prince Yu saw Qin Prajna's expression, he knew that she had understood what he meant, and he couldn't help but smile and said, "People say that Bi Gan has a heart with seven holes, but I think you, Prajna, have more than seven holes."

Qin Banruo smiled sweetly, without any modesty or complacency. She was as beautiful as jade under the lamplight, which touched Prince Yu's heart. He couldn't help but hold her hand, but was gently pulled away.

"Are you still unwilling?" Xiao Jinghuan frowned slightly.

Qin Prajna said calmly: "Although Prajna has traveled a lot, she has also sworn to her master that she will never be a concubine in this life. Please forgive me, Your Highness."

Although Prince Yu had long coveted her, he still had some class and did not want to force himself on a woman. He also greatly admired Qin Prajna's intelligence and her ability to collect and analyze intelligence for him, so he could only suppress his emotions and take a deep breath.

Princess Yu was born into a prominent family. Her father and brother were both ministers in the court. They already had children, and she herself was deeply loved by the king. Therefore, even if he was obsessed with Qin Prajna's beauty, he would never intend to depose her for her sake. Besides, there was still a long time to come, so there was no need to rush. He immediately picked up the purple clay teapot, poured a cup of fragrant tea for the beauty, and said with a smile, "I am sorry for being rude."

Qin Prajna knew the principle of knowing when to stop, so she just laughed it off and continued the previous topic, "The reason why Prajna felt that she couldn't understand Mei Changsu was because he acted without any rules. He chose to offend His Highness in the matter of Duke Qing, and he chose to offend the Crown Prince in the case of the Princess. Now he has come forward to buy the Orchid Garden and uncovered a corpse hiding case, involving people from both sides. Didn't His Highness ask Gray Harrier to check overnight because he was worried about whether there would be someone important to him on the list?"

Prince Yu frowned and was lost in thought for a long time. He unknowingly picked up the cup of tea he had poured for Prajna and drank it. He said blankly, "Could it be...he is actually..."

"What?" Qin Banruo raised her eyebrows.

"Is he testing the ability of me and the prince?"

Qin Prajna was shocked and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

"I'm afraid he wants to show off his ability..." The more Prince Yu thought about it, the more he felt it was possible. He slapped his desk and said, "Any great talent will have strange thoughts and actions. They hate to meet a petty-minded lord. It's not surprising that he wants to give it a try. If the prince knows that it was Mei Changsu who ruined the princess's plan, he still doesn't change his attitude of respecting Mei Changsu. What's more, if he uses the building as a gift to show that he is impartial, then I'm afraid that no matter how strong Mei Changsu's determination is, he will be moved by him... And once Mei Changsu is used by the prince, he will definitely make up for his past debts to the prince and win his final trust. Then we will naturally bear the brunt of it."

As he spoke, Prince Yu felt something was wrong and stood up irritably, "This man is extremely scheming. I must not let the Crown Prince get the upper hand."

Qin Prajna sat down slowly and said thoughtfully, "If Your Highness gets Mei Changsu as a subordinate before the Crown Prince, would you be willing to trust him wholeheartedly without any suspicion?"

During this period of time, Prince Yu was only thinking about how to recruit Jiangzuo Meilang into his service, but he really hadn't thought about how to use him after recruiting him, and he was unable to answer for a while.

"What good is a talent if you snatch it away but don't dare to use it?" Qin Prajna was very smart. She stopped talking here and did not go into details. She turned around and looked at the moon, letting Prince Yu think for himself.

After a long time, the silver gauze lamp on the desk made a crackling sound, and a faint smell of candle oil wafted out. Qin Prajna stood up, moved the lampshade away, took the silver scissors to cut off the candle flame, and glanced at Prince Yu.

"If you can't even subdue Mei Changsu... what ambitions can you have?" Prince Yu seemed not to see her gaze, but his voice rang out at this moment, "Brahma, keep an eye on the prince's movements for me. I... must get Mei Changsu."

(End of this chapter)