Chapter 217: Jealousy
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“You know, the eunuch Zhang Youkang who handled the distribution of spices before committed suicide after the incident. I believe Your Highness also investigated. He was a lonely person with no family and no close relationships in the palace, except for a few interactions with the merchant who supplied the spices before the incident. But yesterday, I suddenly received news that he had a nephew living in Yanzi Lane. This nephew was brought here from his hometown to be raised. I thought this person might know something.
So last night, I went to intercept him, but unexpectedly, he wasn’t there. As soon as I entered, there were sword lights and shadows. The attacker was skilled. I had sleeve arrows, missed two shots, and hit five shots. I brought many men with me, and I thought he couldn’t escape, but strangely, after he rushed into the backyard, he disappeared in no time. Finally, we found a secret passage leading to a dry well near Guifang Lane next to Yanzi Lane. There was blood on the edge of the well, but no one was there.” Fu Mingzheng paused here and, seeing Yuwen Chu staring at the sleeve arrows on his arm intently, took them off and handed them over.
Yuwen Chu took them and examined them for a while, then aimed at the wall and shot. The remaining seven short arrows embedded deeply into the wall with a few crisp sounds. He walked over, pulled them out one by one, and praised, “Indeed a good thing. Very powerful. Even with these, he still managed to escape. He must be very skilled, and his accomplices are capable too.”
Fu Mingzheng saw the admiration in his eyes, and he couldn’t help but feel pleased. “Your Highness, if you don’t mind, I’ll have another set prepared and sent to you later. I can’t give you this one because I’ve used it, and it was a gift from someone else.” It wouldn’t have mattered if he gave it to him, but if Mingzhu saw it, she would definitely not let him off the hook, and this thing was really useful. Who knows when it might come in handy again?
Yuwen Chu smiled faintly. “Is it made by Ban Jian?” The person who sent it must be Mingzhu. She was really good to her brother, always thinking about him and forgetting about himself. So he felt a bit uneasy because of that. He was especially afraid that Fu Mingzheng would notice, so he changed the subject. “The place Mingzhu and I went to before also had a secret passage leading to other places. The key person there also disappeared without a trace. Even after informing the Five City Guard Office, there was no result.” He didn’t say whether he wanted the sleeve arrows or not.
Fu Mingzheng saw that he didn’t express his stance and thought he might be embarrassed to ask for things, so he thoughtfully decided to have them sent over later. He put the sleeve arrows back on and returned to the main topic. “It seems that there are similarities between the two incidents. The place Your Highness went to specializes in hidden gourmet food, while the place I went to is Yanzi Lane, where there are many secret brothels. Unfortunately, the woman I visited there is a famous beauty, rumored to be proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, as well as martial arts. She has captivated many prominent figures in the capital. Your Highness, who do you think has such great skills and such a big appetite that they can manipulate people’s hearts like this and build secret passages everywhere without anyone knowing?”
Actually, both of them had thought of one person, but neither was willing to say it first. After a moment of eye contact between Yuwen Chu and Fu Mingzheng, they suddenly smiled and whispered, “In any case, it’s not me.”
Fu Mingzheng also smiled and said, “In any case, it’s not the Fu clan.”
“Then, is it the Min clan?” Yuwen Chu half-jokingly, half-seriously said, “Even though the Fu clan is powerful, it doesn’t seem to have reached the point where the Min clan has to resort to such meticulous planning. If the emperor does such mysterious things, it looks like rebellion no matter how you see it.”
“The Min clan couldn’t produce such talents no matter how you look at it,” Fu Mingzheng disdainfully concluded about the Min clan, then provocatively added, “Could it be that brilliant Second Miss Jiang? Is there anything she can’t do?”
Yuwen Chu casually said, “Surname Jiang? Ambitious and full of ideas, but lacking the connections and power. The Changxing Marquis is at best a conservative figure. How could a girl in her teens have such ability to establish spy networks and excavate secret passages in the capital? Although these places have only started operating in recent years, the construction of those secret passages cannot be completed overnight. It would take at least ten years of effort.”
“Then, only the Wusun is left, but can the Wusun people have such ability?” Fu Mingzheng deliberately bypassed the royal family and directly pointed to the Wusun clan. He wanted to see if Yuwen Chu could still avoid mentioning that person.
Yuwen Chu glanced at him, somewhat displeased, and said, “Do you know what aspect of Mingzhu I like the most?”
Fu Mingzheng respectfully bowed, “Please enlighten me.”
“What I like most about her is that she doesn’t play these games like you do. She speaks her mind. Dealing with outsiders is already exhausting enough for me. Coming home and playing mind games with my own people, guessing and scheming, isn’t it tiresome?” Yuwen Chu leaned back, his expression calm but his tone unfriendly.
Fu Mingzheng smiled understandingly, “I understand Your Highness’s meaning. Your Highness regards me as one of your own, yet I’m still playing guessing games with you. That’s my mistake. Alright, let’s dip our fingers in the alcohol and write on the table, and see if we’re guessing the same person.”
“Okay,” Yuwen Chu agreed. Both Yuwen Chu and Fu Mingzheng dipped their fingers in the alcohol and wrote on the table. Then they leaned in to take a look and both laughed. They had both written the words “Zhongshan”.
Once this elusive name was written out, the thin veil between them was almost pierced, and the inexplicable sense of camaraderie between the two people who had previously looked at each other with some disdain was added.
With one more ally, Yuwen Chu was in a good mood. “I thought of him only after Mingzhu was poisoned, but there’s no evidence, so it’s not appropriate to say it casually. How did Fourth Brother-in-law think of it?”
“Well…” Fu Mingzheng smiled proudly, “If I tell Your Highness, it was Mingzhu who reminded me, would you believe it?”
It was Mingzhu who reminded him again! Why was everything good attributed to him? Even though he had taken Mingzhu to watch the excitement together, wanting to help her grow, she didn’t tell me even if she had thought of it! Yuwen Chu looked at Fu Mingzheng’s proud expression and couldn’t help but have the urge to splash all the alcohol in his hand on his face, but he clenched his fist and suppressed it, pretending to be pleasantly surprised, “Really? That’s really surprising! I knew she was actually very clever, just not focused. When did this happen?”
Fu Mingzheng agreed, “This girl often makes people very angry, but sometimes her intuition is surprisingly accurate. The first time she mentioned Zhongshan Wang was before she was about to marry Your Highness. After that, when she was poisoned and returned home, she thought of it again.” He kindly advised Yuwen Chu, “This girl is just lazy. Your Highness, if you push her a little harder and give her more opportunities, she will surely surprise you.”
Yuwen Chu didn’t want to talk to him anymore and said languidly, “It’s late, let’s sleep early. We’ll discuss how to deal with this tomorrow when we have time.”
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