Cannon fodder and female supporting role, a match made in heaven

When Shen Zhaozhao woke up, the bed was empty.

When I finished washing up and went downstairs, I saw Jiang Jinyan eating buns while asking Chu Yu about his well-being.

Seeing Shen Zhaozhao, Jiang Jinyan hurriedly called her over: "Fellow Daoist Shen, come and see, does Fellow Daoist Chu look unwell?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Zhaozhao's expression changed. He strode up to Chu Yu and looked him over.

His face was paler than yesterday.

Shen Zhaozhao asked: "Is the wound getting worse again?"

After taking Jiang Jinyan's pills and with the help of the Meteor Bracelet, Chu Yu was able to walk normally. Except that his face looked paler than that of ordinary people, there was nothing unusual about him.

Chu Yu lowered his eyelids, flicked her forehead gently, and said with a smile: "No, I just went to bed a little late last night. You slept soundly. Are you tired?"

It's very tiring after traveling so long.

"Sleeping late? You guys..." Jiang Jinyan's hand holding Baozi trembled twice, and he was speechless for a while. He looked at Shen Zhaozhao as if he was looking at a beast.

Did Fellow Daoist Shen forget all his instructions?

No wonder he thought too much, because the scene in the carriage had a great impact on him, and Chu Yu's words were somewhat ambiguous.

Shen Zhaozhao knew that Jiang Jinyan must have misunderstood, and quickly denied it three times: "I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense!"

What can be done to save her image?

"..." Jiang Jinyan paused, blushing and saying, "That's good, that's good."

A low laugh came from beside him. Shen Zhaozhao turned around and met Chu Yu's smiling eyes.

The boy's thin lips were slightly curled, with shallow dimples on his cheeks, and his expression was obedient and harmless.

"Is it funny?" Shen Zhaozhao grinned.

Chu Yu spread his hands, indicating that he was innocent.

After Jiang Jinyan finished eating five buns, the three of them came to the gate of Anyuan Marquis’ Mansion.

The servant in blue was dozing off on the steps. He was startled when he heard the noise. When he saw the familiar faces of Shen Zhaozhao and Chu Yu, the servant did not bother to inform them and quickly invited them into the house.

The servant looked panicked, and looked around when closing the door, as if he was afraid that others would find out. Thinking of what the people in the inn said, Shen Zhaozhao also became a little nervous.

Could it be that the emperor is secretly sending people to keep an eye on Marquis Anyuan’s Mansion?

She was actually a little confused. After returning from the other world last time, they came to Anyuan Marquis Mansion. Lu Jin did not mention at that time that they had damaged the imperial mausoleum, stolen gems, and angered the emperor.

Moreover, after they entered the city, they had a smooth journey along the way, so they probably were not wanted, so they came to the Anyuan Marquis Mansion without any precautions.

It would be bad if their arrival caused trouble for the Anyuan Marquis Mansion.

The servant led them from the corridor to the small path, around the front hall to the other courtyard of the mansion, removed the bolt on the red lacquered wooden door, and went in to pass the message.

Shen Zhaozhao and others were waiting outside. Not long after, a somewhat hurried sound of footsteps came closer and closer, and Lu Jin walked out of the yard.

This was the first time Shen Zhaozhao had seen him in the past few months since their last hasty farewell.

The young man who used to have a tall and straight figure has lost a lot of weight, his eyes are full of red bloodshot, and he looks haggard, as if he hasn't had a good sleep for several days.

When he saw Shen Zhaozhao and Chu Yu, his eyes lit up slightly. He looked behind them and saw that there was only a strange man. He could not hide his disappointment on his face.

Lu Jin forced himself to cheer up and welcomed them into the hall.

Thinking about what those people said, Shen Zhaozhao asked with concern: "How are the prince and the marquis these days?"

Lu Jin's expression changed, and he said with a bitter face: "To be honest, you came at the right time. I sent people to look for you before, but unfortunately I couldn't find you."

Seeing his worried look, Shen Zhaozhao asked seriously, "Did something happen to the Marquis?"

Lu Jin nodded, looking dejected.

Shen Zhaozhao understood. It seemed that what those people said was true.

A few months ago, it was a clear and crisp autumn day with fallen leaves rustling. It was the time of the annual autumn hunt. The current emperor was hunting in the royal enclosure near Dazhao. While shooting a elk, he accidentally injured a woman.

The woman had a beautiful face, and because of the arrow piercing her chest, her beautiful eyes were filled with tears, revealing her pitiful charm. Not only did she make the emperor, who was already fond of beauty, lose his mind, but even the high-ranking officials present were dazed.

The emperor completely ignored the fact that a weak woman appeared for no reason in the strange place of the heavily guarded royal enclosure, and brought the woman back to the palace, showed her the utmost favor, and even made her the concubine.

Naturally, there were officials in the court who opposed this, believing that the woman's identity was unknown and that it was inappropriate for the emperor to rashly bring her back to the palace. Among these opposing voices was Prince Yongping.

The emperor was furious and threw the teacups everywhere. This was also the fuse for him to start targeting Prince Yongping.

Marquis Anyuan had been an official for decades and knew that serving the emperor was like serving a tiger. He did not act as rigidly as Prince Yongping, a military general. He turned a blind eye to the emperor's stupidity and chose to protect himself.

Except for the tasks assigned by the emperor, he seldom interfered in the affairs of the court. Instead, he was always on the move outside, and no one knew what he was looking for. Until one day, the Concubine Chen came to the Marquis's mansion and talked with Marquis Anyuan for a long time.

After Concubine Chen left, Marquis Anyuan looked dazed and a little excited.

He called Lu Jin over and gave him a few instructions, telling him not to let anyone disturb him in the next few days, then he went back to his room without even having dinner.

For two or three days in a row, Marquis Anyuan did not leave his room.

Lu Jin was worried, but he remembered that his father had told him not to disturb anyone, so he waited patiently outside the door for a few more days.

Even when Prince Xuan and the General of the Cavalry returned from a victorious battle, the Emperor held a palace banquet to celebrate and sent people to invite them, but Marquis Anyuan still stayed indoors.

The eunuchs from the palace broke in despite being stopped, and the room was filled with an unknown rich fragrance.

Marquis Anyuan was lying on a large carved agarwood bed, unconscious, while the incense burner at the bedside was filled with burnt spices.

Only then did everyone realize the seriousness of the matter.

The eunuch hurried back to the palace to report. The emperor invited the imperial physician to check, but still could not find the reason why Marquis Anyuan was unconscious.

Thinking of his father's abnormal behavior after the Concubine Chen came to the mansion that day, Lu Jin suspected that it was the Concubine Chen's doing, so he found an opportunity to meet with her.

In response to his questioning, Concubine Chen smiled coquettishly and said that it was Marquis Anyuan who took the initiative to ask her for help.

As Marquis Anyuan grew older, he could hardly remember the beauty's voice, appearance and smile. If it weren't for her portrait, he would have almost forgotten what she looked like.

But she hated him, and for so many years she didn't even want to enter his dreams. Occasionally, when he heard others mention that they dreamed of their relatives, he felt envious and sad.

He had heard that there was a magical instrument in the world that could help him meet his deceased relatives, but he searched for it for many years without success until the Concubine Chen appeared, gave him a piece of spice, and said that it could help him meet the princess in his dream.

Marquis Anyuan was unwilling to give up this opportunity and regardless of the consequences, he lit incense and entered the illusion.

The emperor had not asked about the affairs of the imperial mausoleum for a long time. He claimed to be the true ruler of heaven and did not believe in evil spirits. When Marquis Anyuan reported the matter, he said that those who had repaired the imperial mausoleum had been killed by monsters.

He was holding a beautiful woman at the time, so he did not agree with this statement, nor did he care.

Later, when his close ministers occasionally reminded him, the emperor remembered to put the matter of repairing the imperial mausoleum on hold.

However, Marquis Anyuan had been in a coma for more than half a month, and he could not be summoned, so he sent the General of Cavalry to the imperial mausoleum to check.

Upon closer inspection, they discovered that all the gems on the top of the imperial tomb were gone.

The emperor took his anger out on Marquis Anyuan, but Marquis Anyuan was in a coma, so he could only vent his anger on Lu Jin, summoning him to the palace to meet him from time to time.

Lu Jin's good relationship with the emperor was seen as a blessing by outsiders.

Only Lu Jin knew that he had not been able to sit for a long time after entering the palace, and every time he returned home he had to ask someone to massage his legs, which was extremely painful.

That would have been fine, but the emperor also insisted that he paint portraits of Xie Yanshu and others.

Lu Jin informed all the servants in the mansion and asked someone to draw a few portraits that did not look like them and presented them to them.

In fact, he was quite frightened when he thought about doing such a deceiving thing.

But if he really had to present the portraits of Xie Yanshu and others, he would feel guilty.

Xie Yanshu and Gu Qianmeng returned from the imperial mausoleum and lived in the marquis' mansion.

As for whether they stole the gems, Lu Jin knew it clearly. They would never do such a thing.

Fortunately, the Emperor couldn't find the person in the portrait, and with the persuasion of the eloquent Concubine Chen, the arrest warrant for Xie Yanshu and others was dropped.

He already had some clues about the case of stolen jewels from the imperial tomb.

The gemstones used to decorate the imperial mausoleum were all marked. The people he sent out a few days ago reported back that gemstones similar to those in the imperial mausoleum were circulating in the Jiangnan area.

The General of Cavalry also mentioned that a secret passage had been dug in the imperial mausoleum at some point in time.

He guessed that there must be a bold madman who stole the gems that were shaken to the ground and stole them.

Shen Zhaozhao covered her face and said, to be honest, the theft of the gems was somewhat related to them. If the gems on the top had not fallen to the ground, the thieves would not have been able to steal them.

Hearing their intention, Lu Jin showed an embarrassment on his face: "I have heard my father say that there is indeed a tranquilizing flower in the house, but I don't know where it is."

Jiang Jinyan touched his chin and suggested, "Then wake up An Yuanhou first, what do you think?"

This is the only way. Shen Zhaozhao's eyebrows slightly curved and he nodded in agreement: "You are right!"