Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Why It Had to Come to This

The two men had already been terrified. The moment they entered the Duke manor and saw a hall full of people, they began shaking all over.

No one even needed to question them. They spilled everything like beans pouring from a bamboo tube.

One man stammered, “Reporting to the Princess, the Heir Apparent, and Lord – this, this was all Young Master Qi’s order. I didn’t know those items were imperial-bestowed. I was confused for a moment and did something foolish.”

The other man hurried to agree. “Yes! I didn’t even want to accept them at first, but Young Master Qi said that if I refused, I wouldn’t be able to survive in the capital city. I’m just a merchant. How could I dare oppose Young Master Qi?”

Both men were terrified. They knew the goods were not clean, but at most they thought Qi Shu Lang had stolen household items to sell. Who could have imagined it was the Princess’s dowry?

“Impossible!” Madam Cui’s breathing turned rapid.

“How dare you!” Qi Shu Xian slammed a palm onto the table. Wood splinters flew, and both men collapsed to the ground in fright.

Qi Shu Xian stared at them like icy blades. “Do you know what happens when you frame the Duke manor? Speak – who taught you to say this?”

“What I said was the truth, every word!” one man cried. “If the Heir Apparent doesn’t believe me, I can confront the servant boy by Young Master Qi’s side!”

“Lies! All lies!” Madam Cui clutched her chest. “Men! Beat these two bastards to death for daring to slander my son!”

Fang Hong Zhi’s face darkened. Fang Hong Zhi’s men immediately stepped forward and shielded the two trembling merchants.

Qi Shu Xian’s gaze grew so gloomy it seemed to drip. At this point, the two men spoke with too many details for Qi Shu Xian to ignore.

Only then did Qi Shu Xian finally understand. Sheng Zhi Wan must have known long ago. That was why Sheng Zhi Wan dared to use private assets to lure Mother into agreeing to let the Da Li Court investigate.

But Shu Lang was still only a child. Even if Shu Lang was wrong, why did Sheng Zhi Wan have to push it this far?

The laws of the Sheng Kingdom treated nobles and commoner the same when it came to crime. If it had stayed hidden, it might have been fine, but now it had been exposed – and exposed in front of the most stubborn, hardest-to-handle Da Li Court Assistant.

Sheng Zhi Wan had become so ruthless. Just to force Qi Shu Xian to yield, Sheng Zhi Wan even planned to drag Shu Lang into it.

Qi Shu Xian shot Sheng Zhi Wan a dark look. Then Qi Shu Xian pulled his gaze back and ordered, “Shun Zi, go bring A’Zhong here.”

Qi Shu Lang was at the academy, and the academy did not allow servants. So Shu Lang’s personal servant boy, A’Zhong, was still in the manor.

“Yes,” Shun Zi answered. Shun Zi’s eyes darted as Shun Zi turned to go.

“Hold it,” Sheng Zhi Wan called out. “To prevent anyone from saying what they shouldn’t, Lord Fang, have your men go with him.”

“Sheng Zhi Wan!” Qi Shu Xian’s temples throbbed with anger.

Sheng Zhi Wan met Qi Shu Xian’s eyes. [That was more like it. Who was Qi Shu Xian trying to fool by acting so affectionate in front of Sheng Zhi Wan?]

Sheng Zhi Wan said, “Heir Apparent is this furious – could it be that this princess hit the truth?”

Qi Shu Xian shut his mouth.

Sheng Zhi Wan smiled faintly and glanced at Madam Cui, who was clutching her chest and panting. Sheng Zhi Wan had not personally brewed medicine or pressed Madam Cui’s acupoints for several days. [By now, it was about time.]

As Sheng Zhi Wan was thinking, A’Zhong was dragged in with his mouth gagged. When A’Zhong saw the two men on the ground, A’Zhong’s face went white, and A’Zhong nearly fell.

Everyone in the room saw that reaction.

Qi Shu Xian closed Qi Shu Xian’s eyes for a moment. Before A’Zhong could speak, Qi Shu Xian barked coldly, “A’Zhong! You’ve followed Shu Lang for four or five years. Your whole family are house-born servants of the Duke manor. Shu Lang has treated you well. So why did you still use Shu Lang’s name to steal Zhi Wan’s dowry and sell it?”

Qi Shu Xian’s tone was like ice.

A’Zhong froze, then quickly understood what Qi Shu Xian meant. A’Zhong’s face turned even whiter, A’Zhong’s lips trembled, and A’Zhong knew today might truly be the end. Still, it was better for A’Zhong to be ruined than to drag A’Zhong’s whole family down.

“Heir Apparent… please spare me,” A’Zhong begged. “I’d never seen such fine things before, so I got greedy. While Miss Huan Zhu wasn’t around, I stole the items behind the young master’s back and carried them out.”

“Heh.” Sheng Zhi Wan chuckled, not angry at all. “Then point to it. Where is my storeroom?”

A’Zhong said nothing.

A’Zhong went stiff. How could A’Zhong know where the storeroom was? A’Zhong really did help the young master sell things, but the items were always brought back by the young master. A servant like A’Zhong could not freely enter and leave the Heir Apparent’s wife’s courtyard.

A’Zhong’s forehead broke into sweat. A’Zhong looked at Qi Shu Xian without thinking.

Qi Shu Xian wanted to hint, but the moment Qi Shu Xian tried to speak, Sheng Zhi Wan’s half-smiling eyes swept over, full of undisguised contempt. Qi Shu Xian instantly felt humiliated and turned away.

Madam Cui and Qi Fei Yan also wanted to tell A’Zhong, but neither of them truly knew which storeroom Sheng Zhi Wan used for the dowry. If they had known earlier, they would have made every courtyard use a single storeroom.

Sheng Zhi Wan smiled. “So you stole so many things, yet you don’t even know which room is the storeroom?”

A’Zhong’s eyes darted around. Finally, A’Zhong clenched his teeth and pointed at one room that looked like a storeroom. “That one!”

“Is that so?” Sheng Zhi Wan’s eyes glimmered with amusement, and Sheng Zhi Wan’s voice carried a faint mockery.

A’Zhong immediately lost confidence and hurriedly pointed somewhere else. “No, no. I was too nervous and forgot which one. Maybe… maybe it was this one.”

“Oh?” Sheng Zhi Wan looked even more disdainful.