Yes, he's not satisfied!
He lowered his head and leaned forward, intending to plant another kiss on her lips. However, she reached out to gently press a fingertip on his lips.
"It's not good to overindulge in drinking."
"This prince only wishes to overindulge in you."
"The finest aged wines are best appreciated in small sips." As she spoke, Ji Yunshu pushed Jing Rong and turned away from him.
Jing Rong continued to stare at her, still longing for more. He licked his lips and brought his mouth next to her ears. "Sooner or later, you'll be mine." Then, he grabbed his book and opened the door to exit the room.
Ji Yunshu heaved a sigh of relief as she hurriedly put on her outer robes. That pair of lips, which still held a lingering warmth from the encounter, stretched into a smile. It was a bashful grin that was as beautiful as a flower bud waiting to blossom.
...
For the next few days, Ji Yunshu continued to stay in the courtyard without a single care for Aunt Xie's case. The longer this situation persisted, the more perturbed Zuo Yao grew. In fact, he even began to feel a little guilty.
One day, he finally gathered the courage to visit Ji Yunshu, armed with the case documents.
In the courtyard, Ji Yunshu was playing with a cat. It was a tiny kitten with black and white stripes on its body and a pair of round, sparkling eyes. She held a ball of string, bouncing it up and down as she teased the kitten.
"Meow~" It was a rather pleasant scene.
Zhuang'er and Qiao'er, who were standing at the side, gazed at Ji Yunshu with eyes full of admiration. After spending a few days with Ji Yunshu, they began to admire not only Ji Yunshu's beauty, but also her gentleness and kindness toward others. It was only natural for girls to fall for such a "gentleman". To them, the scene of Ji Yunshu playing with the kitten was simply mesmerising.
Alas, their reveries were interrupted by Zuo Yao. He barged into the scene with the case files in hand, inclining his body in a tiny bow towards Ji Yunshu. "Playing with cats, Teacher Ji?" As if they were merely neighbours who had happened to bump into each other during their evening stroll.
Ji Yunshu smiled. "Isn't that obvious, Your Magistrate?"
"Of course it is."
"Why? Did something happen?"
"I wanted to say that…"
"Hey!" Ji Yunshu let out an abrupt cry, interrupting his speech.
She stared at the kitten lying on the ground. Its claw was stuck in the ball of string. Immediately, Ji Yunshu bent down to lift it up in her arms before she carefully untangled the ball from its claws. "Little one, you'll hurt yourself if you do that."
"Meow~"
"Good boy."
"Meow~"
Zuo Yao stood awkwardly by the side. "Teacher Ji, you…"
"Magistrate Zuo, you're still here?"
"Yes. I've been here the whole time." He replied with a broad grin.
Ji Yunshu stroked the kitten in her arms before she passed it to Zhuang'er. "Feed it."
"Sure." The two maids left the yard.
Ji Yunshu turned serious and threw a glance at the documents tucked under Zuo Yao's arm. She asked, "Are these the documents for Aunt Xie's case?"
He has finally cut to the chase. Zuo Yao immediately replied, "Teacher Ji, a few days have already passed. The Supreme Court sent Teacher here to investigate this case... it couldn't be delayed indefinitely, could it?."
"The case is not urgent."
"But…"
Appearing irked, Ji Yunshu said, "Then in that case, you can leave the documents here."
"Sure." Zuo Yao quickly put the documents down and left the yard.
Outside the yard, Constable Zhou was waiting for him. The moment he saw Zuo Yao, he went forward and asked, "Your Magistrate, did he accept the case?"
"I suppose so."
"But, Your Magistrate, why did you insist that he take charge of the case? If he refused to investigate the case, it would save us a lot of trouble. Moreover, he has been so idle the past few days, spending all his time sunbathing and playing with the cat. I reckon he's here more for a vacation than to investigate the case."
After a brief deliberation, Zuo Yao replied, "I think that Teacher Ji has hidden depths."
"Why do you say so?"
"A man as well-known in the Capital as Teacher Ji definitely cannot be this simple. He must have found clues from the case that happened three years ago. Therefore, he's purposefully making things difficult for me. If I really played along and pretended to pay no attention to the case, I might appear to have a guilty conscience. It's better for me to insist on sending him the documents, so that he would think of me as a good official."
You're worrying for nothing.
Constable Zhou nodded. "Your Magistrate is so wise."
"Anyway, you need to keep a close eye on them."
"Yes."
At this moment, Shi Ziran was sitting on the roof of the next building. He had just returned from the Capital and happened to overhear their conversation. Immediately, he hopped off the roof and went to look for Jing Rong.
For the past few days, Jing Rong had been reading the documents regarding the missing relief funds. The information on the documents was consistent with his understanding toward the case.
The funds were sent out from the Capital in a chest that was never opened during the journey. However, when it arrived at Yufu County, the silver in the chest had all turned into stones. Over the years, the officials who were previously in charge of the case had interrogated the men who were in charge of the transportation and the relay station multiple times. According to them, the chest of silver had never left their line of sight. Nobody aside from the relevant officials, had gone near to the chest of silvers either. In short, the silver had vanished without rhyme or reason!
Even stranger, the officials who were assigned to investigate the missing funds, went missing on their way back to the Capital. When they were finally found, they were no longer breathing.
He rolled up the documents and poured himself a cup of tea. Shi Ziran arrived and cupped his hand in greeting, "Your Highness."
"Mm."
"The Capital is in turmoil right now."
Jing Rong took a sip out of his teacup and his eyes darkened. "Elaborate."
"According to your orders, Vice Chancellor Yu of the Supreme Court visited the palace and submitted the documents to the Emperor, truthfully reporting the assassination. Additionally, the newly appointed Minister of Personnel, Peng Yuanhai, has repeatedly submitted complaints about how Your Highness had interfered with the affairs of his ministry. For some strange reason, the Office of Transmission permitted every one of these complaints to be presented to the Emperor. Conversely, it triggered the Emperor's suspicions.
"While the murder of the assassin at the Supreme Court remains unexplained, the retired Minister of Personnel and Lord Qu from the Office of Transmission have had dealings with Prince Yi's Estate. Therefore, these clues all point towards Prince Yi. The Emperor seems to have realised this and inferred that Prince Yi was the mastermind behind Your Highness's assassination and Ministry of Personnel and Office of Transmission's censure. Therefore, the Emperor ordered Vice Chancellor Yu to halt his investigation on the assassination."
"The Ministry of Personnel? Office of Transmission?" Jing Rong furrowed his brows before he shook his head. "Impossible. It's now the crucial time before a new Crown Prince is installed. Jing Yi wouldn't make such careless mistakes at this point. Jing Yi is clear that my Imperial Father has always been suspicious of others. Doing so would only highlight his links to the Six Ministries and Three Offices."
"Then, did the Ministry of Personnel act on their own?"
"It isn't logical as well," Jing Rong disagreed with Shi Ziran. "Even if the Ministry of Personnel handed in the report, Lord Qu of the Office of Transmissions is not a fool. It makes no sense for him to throw himself into fire. It's obvious that the Ministry of Personnel and the Office of Transmissions have colluded with each other. Even if they didn't, there's certainly a mastermind behind it who is powerful enough to order the two departments to carry out the task, despite the risk of being suspected by the Emperor."
Shi Ziran was puzzled. "If that man isn't Prince Yi, who could it be? It's obvious that that person is helping Your Highness!"
Help?
Jing Rong scoffed, "In the battlefield of the Imperial Court, there has never been such a thing as 'helping' someone. Instead, it is more accurate to say that we share the same enemy."
Hmm! If that's the case, does the mastermind want Jing Yi out of the game too? Who is he? Jing Rong submerged himself in his thoughts.
At this moment, Shi Ziran added, "Your Highness, there's another matter."
"What is it?"
"It's regarding the Princess. Not long ago, the Emperor issued an edict ordering the Princess to leave for Huyi and to marry the Third Prince."
"She's going to Huyi?"
"Yes."
After a brief pause, Jing Rong replied in a melancholic tone, "That lass is bound to get married sooner or later. It might not be all bad to wed a Huyi man. At the very least, she will be safe if a war breaks out in the future."
At least she would not be involved if Concubine Xiao and Jing Yi fall from grace.