My wife has a secret

Chapter 166 Come to the door
After that incident, Empress Dowager Xu, who had already held great power and controlled the entire Da Qi royal family, not only did not punish Li Jin'er, but also tried her best to cover it up for her and kept her by her side.

After reading this, Yuheng Xingjun felt a hint of sympathy in his heart.

……

After returning to Marquis Guangping's Mansion, Xu Qing immediately closed the door and called Shan Yongpei, the assistant of Chengxuanfang.

As soon as Shan Yongpei entered the hall, he saw Xu Qing's serious face, as if he was thinking about something. He bowed and asked, "Master, did something happen at the Paradise Banquet?"

As the assistant of the abbot, he naturally knew Xu Qing's whereabouts.

However, the censorship of the Paradise Banquet was extremely strict, and it had the support of Empress Dowager Xu, so the investigation and protection of Chengxuanfang had to come to an abrupt end outside the Princess's Mansion.

The brothers stationed outside the mansion did not bring any information about the abbot leaving the mansion, but he was summoned to Xu's mansion in advance by the other party. Doesn't this mean that the abbot sneaked out of the Paradise Banquet?
"The Princess's Mansion of Princess Danyang must be investigated."

When Xu Qing saw this burly man, he calmed down a little.

Shan Yongpei came from the south of the Yangtze River with him. He previously served in the Zhennan Zhongwu Army. He was the only person in the entire Chengxuanfang who was not under any suspicion.

After all, the traitors and spies in Chengxuanfang had already committed crimes a long time ago, and no matter how they investigated, they could not put the blame on Shan Yongpei.

"Yesterday's feast of bliss..."

Xu Qing concealed nothing and told Shan Yongpei everything about the Paradise Banquet.

After seeing the other party's surprised expression and some brain-crashing reaction, Xu Qing warned: "The residence of Princess Danyang is closely related to the White Lotus Sect. I checked the records about the princess' residence in the market beforehand, but the information about Princess Danyang was deliberately hidden. Therefore, I infer that the person who concealed Princess Danyang's identity should be a spy planted by the White Lotus Sect in the market."

"If there really is a large amount of mandragora hidden in Princess Danyang's mansion, used to create the grand scene of the Paradise Banquet, it is indeed closely related to the White Lotus Sect... But, Master, Princess Danyang's situation is not that simple."

Shan Yongpei pursed his lips tightly, and the soldier's resolute look on his face disappeared.

As early as when he was transferred to Chengxuanfang to understand the various forces and powerful families in the capital, he had carefully and meticulously investigated various groups of people.

The intelligence level of Princess Danyang within Chengxuanfang is top secret, and only those with special permissions above Level A can read it. But in the entire Da Qi territory... it seems that only Empress Dowager Xu herself has the right to read these treasured files.

"What's the problem? After the unrest in the capital and Xiangshan, the White Lotus Sect caused this kind of thing during the Heavenly Sacrifice Ceremony. It was my aunt who gave me the right to thoroughly investigate the White Lotus Sect and wipe out these thieves."

Xu Qing asked with a cold look in his eyes: "Anyone who is related to the White Lotus Sect is against Da Qi."

"Master, what if the affair between Princess Danyang and the White Lotus Sect was approved by the Queen Mother?"

Shan Yongpei's tentative question made Xu Qing slightly stunned.

Then he realized that this kid must know something, and asked: "What do you mean by that? Do you have any evidence?"

"Master..."

Shan Yongpei saw that he could not hide the truth, so he thought for a moment and took the initiative to say to Xu Qing: "It's not that there are no files on Princess Danyang, but they are all sealed in the warehouse with the letter A."

Chengxuanfang has a strict hierarchy. Even the owner and the four deacons in the building only have the rights of the B-level.

Moreover, due to the special nature of Chengxuanfang, the four deacons are not allowed to step out of the main building for their entire lives.

"Do you still remember that there was a murder case in the capital that year, which was related to Princess Danyang and Emperor Xuan's biological mother?"

After being reminded by Shan Yongpei, Xu Qing remembered this incident that had been glossed over.

He had seen this case in the records of Princess Danyang and Emperor Xuan, but it had already been investigated and closed by the Dali Temple, and was only mentioned briefly in many records, so he did not pay much attention to it.

"Any questions?"

"After the Dongwan County Prince's incident in the capital, the former Dali Temple Minister died in a fire in the Ministry of Justice. Chengxuanfang had specially connected with the Dali Temple's treasury to prevent any registered prisoners from escaping."

Shan Yongpei looked at Xu Qing and continued, "I also took this opportunity to enter the treasury and retrieved the files and records of Princess Danyang. Does the Master know what happened?"

"Hurry up and don't keep me in suspense."

Shan Yongpei didn't dare to say much, and said bluntly: "The evidence records about the case of Princess Danyang's biological mother are not true, they are completely false."

Xu Qing frowned slightly, sensing something was wrong, but he still subconsciously asked the question.

"The incident in the capital caused by the Prince of Dongwan had a wide impact. Could it be that there were too many chaos in the capital that night, and someone went to the Dali Temple's case file treasury?"

"It's unlikely. Although the Dali Temple is not as well-hidden as Chengxuanfang, it is also one of the few important places for inspection in the world. Moreover... the number of the rebel army of the Prince of Dongwan is very small, and they have never entered the market where the Dali Temple is located."

Xu Qing asked: "So what do you mean?"

"The case of Princess Danyang's biological mother had another cause, and this matter was forcibly suppressed by a powerful person, which prevented the case from spreading."

Shan Yongpei's words had made it very clear, and Xu Qing knew in his heart that the person who could hide the records of Princess Danyang and order the Dali Temple to distort the facts could only be his aunt, Empress Dowager Xu.

But Xu Qing was a little confused as to why his aunt would go to such lengths for Princess Danyang, and what was the truth of the case?
"My subordinates have also had this problem."

Shan Yongpei continued, "But I have secretly investigated a powerful family involved in that case. After tracking them down, I found that these people have been exiled to the mountains in northern Fujian..."

"What was the matter that got this noble involved in?"

"Murder."

Shan Yongpei said according to the records in the case file, "The family's surname is Liu. The original head of the family was Liu Shifeng, who passed the imperial examination in the second year of Hongxi and served as a censor in the Imperial Censorate during two dynasties. He had good qualifications and connections in the court at that time. But the case file noted that this censor Liu coveted the beauty of Princess Danyang and Emperor Xuan's biological mother, and sneaked into the mansion in the middle of the night to commit murder."

Xu Qing did not think there was anything wrong with the case record, and asked, "Why do you think there is something wrong with the Liu family? It is normal to be exiled after such a scandal."

"Master, according to the laws of the Great Qi Dynasty, the Imperial Censor has the privilege of being exempted from death by making remonstrances. Although this law is decided by the saint, in ordinary cases, he still enjoys special treatment."

Shan Yongpei continued, "Moreover, according to the records in the case file, when Princess Danyang and Emperor Xuan's biological mother came to Beijing, she had already given up her status as a beauty in advance so that Emperor Xuan could enter the palace and recognize the Queen Mother as his godmother. She became a commoner. The censor should not have been sentenced to exile and implicated his three clans if he failed to succeed."

After listening to Dan Yongpei's analysis, Xu Qing realized where the problem lay.

He pondered for a moment, then immediately ordered, "Do you remember which warehouse in the Dali Temple the evidence for this case is hidden in?"

"remember."

"Get your carriage ready, we'll set out to investigate now."

"Yes." Shan Yongpei stood up after answering. Just as he opened the door of the hall, he suddenly saw three graceful figures walking towards here under the leadership of Qin Shuying.

The three women were wearing extremely thin clothes. Apart from their undergarments, they were covered with a thin gauze shawl. They had almost no more clothes to cover themselves.

This also results in large areas of their snow-white and smooth skin being exposed for others to see.

The guests of the Paradise Banquet had already woken up in the morning, so Shan Yongpei knew that they were the female slaves from the Jin Kingdom that Xu Qing had photographed last night. He did not dare to look at them directly, but lowered his head and walked quickly past them from the side.

But Qin Shuying was not so easy to deal with. Just from the fact that Cui'er and Yang Liu did not show up, but this lady from Sifang led the way in person, Xu Qing smelled a hint of jealousy.

"This is the man who photographed you yesterday, Xu Qing, Marquis of Guangping from Da Qi."

Qin Shuying brought the three women who looked frightened and dared not say much to the hall, looked at them with a friendly face, and said softly: "Don't worry, my husband has no other shortcomings except being lustful and having many wives and concubines."

"Cough cough."

Xu Qing coughed lightly with an awkward look on his face to remind her, but Qin Shuying turned around and looked at him, raised her eyebrows and asked, "Husband, is what I said wrong?"

"Of course not..."

"But my husband clearly promised me when we were in Wangyue Tower that he would stay with us four sisters for the rest of his life and never go out and mess around with other girls."

Xu Qing blinked, his mind a mess.

He had indeed forgotten about this matter. No... rather than saying that he would guard the four sisters for the rest of his life, it would be more accurate to say that he would guard Lu Wanhe for the rest of his life.

Xu Qing felt at the time that his relationships with the other three women could not be dissolved directly, and he also had physical intimacy with Qin Shuying at the time, so he decided to stick to this status and be a trustworthy and responsible husband.

But who would have thought that such a ridiculous thing would happen during the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven.

……

Xu Qing was not stupid enough to tell others about the Heavenly Sacrifice Ceremony, but looking at Qin Shuying's current appearance, it was obvious that she took his words seriously and was jealous of the three female slaves from the Jin Kingdom.

"Shuying, you misunderstood me."

Xu Qing hurried forward, pushed the gorgeous and beautiful Qin Shuying to the main chair in the living room, and helped her sit down.

Although he was able to use the poisonous insect in his body to force Qin Shuying to submit, the events of the Heavenly Sacrifice Ceremony made Xu Qing feel guilty towards Lu Wanhe, whom he admired, and Qin Shuying, with whom he had an intimate relationship.

Moreover, one cannot force one's own wives and concubines to submit by force.

As soon as Qin Shuying sat down, an indescribable skin fragrance came out. Moreover, the fragrance on her body was not caused by body temperature or sweat, but a mixture of floral scents over the years, which was cool and sweet. When inhaled into the nose, people could not help but tremble in their souls and feel numb in their brains.

"Shuying, you see, the Guangping Marquis's Mansion is so big, it's not a good idea to let Cui'er and Xiaohuan work from morning till night, so last night I had an idea and bought three female slaves to work at home."

"Oh? An idea?"

Qin Shuying had a slender and straight nose. She tilted her nose to look at Xu Qing, smiled softly and asked, "My husband, if you feel that there are not enough people in your house, I can just go out and buy some servants and maids. Why do you have to buy these beautiful people?"

Qin Shuying is not someone who is so easily fooled, but Xu Qing didn’t think too much about it at the time, and never expected that he would be able to take pictures of them.

"If I say that Princess Danyang secretly sent these slave girls to me, would you believe me?"

"Oh, you've learned to shirk responsibility, haven't you?"

Qin Shuying gave Xu Qing a displeased look and continued to look at the three female slaves from the Jin Kingdom.

She had to admit that the three female slaves of the Jin Dynasty were very beautiful in appearance and figure, especially the descendant of Wanyan in the middle. Her hair color was different from the black hair of the people in the Central Plains, and her skin was the whitest, as rich as squeezed milky white.

Moreover, Wanyan's skin is well maintained, thin and translucent, and you can see the pink inside through the white skin. She is really a girl who is not inferior to Lu Wanhe's delicate image.

But unlike Lu Wanhe's sickly beauty, this woman's facial features and oval face are very beautiful. She is an impeccable beauty who leaves a deep impression on people at first sight.

Just these few glances made Qin Shuying look at him for a while longer.

"Forget it, Shuying is the fourth room's concubine. No matter how these things are passed around, it is not our fourth room's turn to take care of them."

Qin Shuying sighed lightly, changed her look and tone and spoke again: "Wait until the first and third wives move in, and you can explain it to them yourself, my husband."

"it is good……"

"Don't you have something else to do? Why are you still staying at home?"

Seeing Xu Qing's hesitation, Qin Shuying reminded him.

The former then remembered that Shan Yongpei was still waiting for him outside the mansion, so he handed all three women to Qin Shuying and hurried out of the courtyard.

Qin Shuying saw Xu Qing walking away, and glared at a curtain in the hall with a bad temper, and said angrily: "You two little girls, instead of learning good things, you have learned to hide here and watch your own lady make a fool of herself."

The curtain of the back door connecting to the backyard was lifted, and Cui'er, Yangliu and Xiaohuan, dressed in maids' dresses, stood out dejectedly and stood in a row.

Because it was the first time that Xiaohuan did something bad, she was scolded by the Fourth Young Lady. She stood there, staring at the ground at a loss, her little face flushed red.

"Xiao Huan, why are you here too?"

Because of her martial arts training, Qin Shuying's facial senses are more acute than those of ordinary people. She knew from the beginning that someone was hiding behind the curtain and eavesdropping on her conversation with Xu Qing.

There were not many people in the mansion, so Qin Shuying knew who was eavesdropping even with her eyes closed.

But what she didn't expect was that Xiaohuan, the maid who was usually well-behaved, cute, sensible and polite to others, was also among the eavesdroppers.

In her impression, Xiaohuan was not that kind of person, so she subconsciously thought that Xiaohuan was led astray by the maid in her own courtyard and was dragged here to eavesdrop.

Xiaohuan clenched her hands and forced herself to stay awake.

Among the young ladies in the Xu family, she was most afraid of the Fourth Young Lady, because when she was in Suzhou, the other servants had spread rumors that the Fourth Young Lady's style of doing things was miraculous.

After being caught this time, Xiaohuan thought to herself that she was doomed.

(End of this chapter)