Gifted Bride of the Sinned Prince

“I was hungry, so I thought to eat first,” Lóng Wei replied. “Did you bring the milkman?” he asked.

“Yes. The milkman is inside,” Bai Juchen replied.

Lóng Wei Wei went ahead and walked into the tenthouse while Bai Juchen followed him. The Prince slightly bowed his head, seeing the Crown Prince. He looked at the milkman, behind whom two soldiers were standing.

“The Sixth brother took a lot of time to arrive,” Tianjie said, putting one leg above the other. Lóng Wei did not answer him and asked them if they began the interrogation.

“He has no information except that he was the first one who saw Wu Zihao’s dead body,” Tianjie replied. “You can ask him if you do not believe us,” he added.

Lóng Wei looked at the milkman, whose head was down. “Did you find anyone around at that time? Whoever brought the dead body to the market must have returned the way that you had followed,” he stated.

“I did not find anyone around, Your Highness. As soon as I found out about it, I informed the royal inspector,” the milkman answered.

“Hmm. Since you have to deliver the milk around the city in the fastest time, you must be aware of the shortest routes that can reduce the distance,” Lóng Wei asserted. “Tell us about those routes,” he added.

.....

“We can also tell about those routes to the Prince,” Bai Juchen intervened.

“Then, tell!” Lóng Wei demanded a reply from him. Bai Juchen got stuck and told him that he had to see the maps. He apologized when Lóng Wei glared at him. He returned his gaze to the milkman and asked him to tell them about those routes.

“Why are you asking about those routes? Do you think the soldiers did not search the area?” Tianjie asked him.

“Yes. That is why we are unable to find, who brought Wu Zihao to the centre of the market,” Lóng Wei stated.

“Your Highness, I have sent some of the great tropes to search the entire market and nearby places. But there was nothing,” Bai Juchen stated.

“No. You missed an important thing. Those people needed the shortest time to travel between the borders, and it all had to be done at a time when the security was limited,” Lóng Wei stated, and told the milkman to begin.

The milkman told Lóng Wei all the shortest routes that he knew in the market that could connect the people to different locations in the shortest possible time. Lóng Wei asked Bai Juchen to send soldiers on all those routes.

“Search the houses too,” Xiaoming ordered, “which fall on those routes.”

Bai Juchen left with the milkman while the three princes stayed behind.

“Bai Juchen will go to the border tomorrow. I will go with him and return by the evening,” Xiaoming told them.

“What do we have to do, Crown Prince?” Tianjie asked him.

“We will investigate. I am still wondering how those people entered the market. How come no one noticed them? Which route did they follow that made them unnoticed? There is something missing,” Lóng Wei muttered and furrowed his brows together.

“There is a possibility that they would have used a forest route. But it would have tired them and they might have rested somewhere,” Tianjie opined.

“Someone might have helped them or they are too clever to fool us,” Lóng Wei said.

~~~~~~~

Jin Yu lay on the bed and spread her hands out. She was tired from studying since the morning, right after taking her breakfast. After yesterday’s incident, the Queen was harsher on her.

She sat up on the bed when her personal attendant informed her that Mingquan wanted to see her.

“You can bring him in,” Jin Yu ordered.

She brushed her hair with her fingers, adjusted her dress and then walked out of the bedchamber.

Mingquan stood up to see her and bowed to her. Jin Yu asked the servants to leave. Once the chamber emptied, Jin Yu took a seat and asked Mingquan why he appeared at that hour.

“Your Royal Highness, I am here to tell you that Kang Xi isn’t the one,” Mingquan stated.

Jin Yu asked her how he found out about it.

“I checked the records. Every record is made about officials, ministers in the Kingdom. I interrogated the oldest servant who served the Kang family for more than sixty years,” Mingquan explained to her.

Jin Yu hummed and thanked Mingquan for his hard work.

“It would have been easier if your mother had told us about your father,” Mingquan stated.

“I agree with Prince Mingquan. However, my mother was scared, I felt. She never wanted me to look for my father,” Jin Yu stated. “I heard the Minister, who works in treasury and looks after the Kingdom’s finances, is close to the King,” she added.

“Minister Li Zixuan?” Mingquan arched his brow.

“Yes. I want Prince Mingquan to look into him,” Jin Yu stated. Mingquan nodded his head and asked her if she had a particular thought about why she told him to look into Li Zixuan.

“My father is someone who is powerful. He threw my mother out when she had me, and no one found out about that incident. People surely talk about such things. However, all these years, I never heard about it from anyone,” she asserted.

Mingquan, after keenly listening to her, said, “The Crown Princess has a great observation. Definitely, someone powerful was involved so that the incident never came out. I will surely find out about this.”

“Thank you. Please inform me if my help is needed,” Jin Yu urged him.

“I will.” Mingquan stood up and bowed to her. “I shall take my leave, Your Royal Highness.” He turned and walked out of the chamber.