Looking at Tai'an from the full moon

The next day, Xiao Zuochen and others left the palace before the morning court session. They were going to investigate the case of missing villagers.

Concubine Yun was unwilling to do this. After all, Xiao Zuochen was not stupid. She was afraid that Xiao Zuochen would find out something. But Xiao Zuochen said that he came back with the imperial edict, and he would definitely investigate this matter. He would either say that Concubine Yun agreed or that Concubine Yun disagreed but Emperor Mingren ordered it. He let Concubine Yun choose between the two statements. Concubine Yun could only do as he wished and let Xiao Zuochen go to investigate. But Concubine Yun agreed, and as for whether she could let Xiao Zuochen find out anything, it depended on how covert she was.

In order to show her "support" for Xiao Zuochen's investigation of the matter, Concubine Yun had to give him a waist badge that allowed him to enter and leave the palace, but there were conditions for getting this waist badge. Concubine Yun's requirement for Xiao Zuochen was that he could not attend the morning court. After all, the news that he "fell from the sky" yesterday had spread throughout Tai'an City. The reason why these old stubborn people in the court allowed her to be the regent was half because she had indeed managed the affairs of Tai'an City properly in the past six months, and the other half was that Prince Qing had always attended the morning court, which was considered a descendant of the Xiao family in the court. Prince Qing had a good relationship with Concubine Yun, and Prince Yun had lived in another city for a long time and did not return to Tai'an City. Everyone felt that Concubine Yun would hand over the regent position to Prince Qing sooner or later.

But now that Prince Yun suddenly came back, most of the officials in the court must be on Prince Yun's side. In addition, he came back this time because of the recent uproar in the city about the missing people. Even if he did not find out that Concubine Yun was the mastermind, as long as he could handle the matter reasonably and give everyone an explanation, then the hearts of these old officials would definitely be on Xiao Zuochen's side.

Therefore, when Xiao Zuochen was investigating the missing persons case, Concubine Yun was bound to create obstacles for him.

But what Concubine Yun didn't know was that what she was worried about was exactly what Xiao Zuochen already knew. When Emperor Mingren demolished the wall of Yunyuan, he had already revealed Concubine Yun's true face to Xiao Zuochen. At that time, Concubine Yun always thought that Xiao Zuochen didn't know. And Xiao Zuochen came back this time just to find out why Concubine Yun still needed the lives of these innocent people.

"Here are the details of the missing persons."

At this time, Xiao Zuochen and others gathered in a small restaurant near the city gate. He handed a thick stack of rice paper to everyone, and Teng Sen was full of confusion when he saw it.

"The name, gender, age, and address are all recorded. How could it be recorded in such detail? Didn't Concubine Yun avoid talking about this matter? How could it be recorded in such detail?"

"This was given to me by Yun Feng."

"Yunfeng?"

Others were somewhat puzzled.

"Before, my mother asked Yun Feng to arrest people according to the order. The papers recorded the people that Concubine Yun asked them to arrest. However, they didn't know that these people would disappear inexplicably at the time. They just thought that Concubine Yun asked them to arrest people who had committed crimes. Most of the information recorded above was recalled by them from memory, and then they checked the information with the families. But some of the victims have no relatives here, so it is not completely accurate."

Xiao Zuochen explained bit by bit, and everyone nodded after listening. The slight discrepancy in the information did not affect their investigation.

"What about the Yunfeng people?"

Zuo Xin asked, in fact, she and the twelve guards could be considered fellow brothers and sisters.

Xiao Zuochen winked and looked outside, and everyone understood something. They looked outside the door and saw a sneaky figure seemingly imprinted on the closed door.

"He feels ashamed to face you all. After all, he chose to follow Mother at that time."

"Cough, cough~"

No one spoke. They had no say in this matter. The only one who had a say was Xiao Zuochen.

Xiao Zuochen also knew that everyone was waiting for him to speak, so he shrugged casually.

"Yun Feng, come in."

When Yun Feng heard Xiao Zuochen speak, he immediately flashed in with a somewhat aggrieved expression on his face.

"Okay, stop looking so pitiful, I don't feel wronged at all~"

Xiao Zuochen told everyone about the previous experiences of Yun Feng and other guards, and explained that Concubine Yun had saved their lives, so a normal person would definitely repay the favor first, which he could understand. But repaying a favor is not endless, if Concubine Yun really did too many evil things, then they should also help her to do right.

Seeing that everyone understood the choice of the twelve guards, Yun Feng suddenly knelt on one knee and faced Xiao Zuochen.

"Master, the twelve guards and Yan Luo have already recognized you as their master and are now waiting for your instructions."

Xiao Zuochen nodded and asked about their duties in the palace. But Yun Feng sighed when he mentioned this.

"Even when I went out on a mission alone before, I never felt lonely. Now that I'm in the palace, Concubine Yun has transferred us to different places. It seems that everyone has become a small official, but there are always people in charge of us. Moreover, we hardly see each other. At most, we pass by each other on the street and can only communicate with each other through eye contact. It's not as free and easy as before."

Xiao Zuochen thought for a moment and spoke.

"If you are not comfortable, let everyone withdraw and I will take you back to Shura Road."

"Okay! I'll let you know right away..."

"Wait a moment!"

Liuli interrupted Yun Feng before he could finish.

"You can go back with Xiao Zuochen if you want, but it's obvious that Concubine Yun has dispersed you to various positions in the palace and doesn't use you. The purpose is to disperse your strength. If one day you are suddenly not on duty, Concubine Yun will definitely know it immediately."

"What should I do?"

Yun Feng felt a little flustered after hearing Liuli's words. What if Concubine Yun stopped them?

"Do you have any good ideas?"

Xiao Zuochen looked at Liuli. Since Liuli asked this question, she must have had a general idea.

"Anyway, we also need to investigate Concubine Yun's conspiracy in the palace. Since the guards and Yan Luo are also in the palace, they can lend us a hand. When the matter is completely resolved, it will be safest for everyone to evacuate together! However, we still need to discuss the specific plan carefully. If possible, it would be best if you could give us a detailed list of everyone's duty hours and approximate scope of work."

"No problem, leave it to me!"

Yun Feng said, patting his chest.

Liuli glanced at Zuo Xin, then at Xiao Zuochen.

"Why not take this opportunity to let Zuo Xin deal with her own grievances."

Zuo Xin looked at Liuli with gratitude. She had always been worried that her reckless actions would affect the prince, but seeing that everyone was chatting enthusiastically, she didn't know what to say.

Xiao Zuochen also looked at Liuli, then nodded.

"Okay, have you thought about the ending of the Zuo family?"

"Ok?"

Zuo Xin was stunned for a moment. Liuli explained.

"Xiao Zuochen is asking you what kind of punishment you hope they will receive, and based on the severity of the punishment, at what pace you want to handle this matter."

“I don’t quite understand…”

Zuo Xin spoke very honestly. The third prince of Qiaozhuang also spoke.

"For example, if you want to kill Lord Zuo, you have to do it on the last day, because you have to run away after killing him. If you want the people to curse him, you have to do it at the beginning, because you have to stay for a while to see how the people bully him."

When Liuli heard the third prince's example, she looked at him with a hint of surprise.

"Sure, you have a brain!"

The third prince raised his eyebrows proudly, but did not notice that there was something wrong with Xiao Zuochen's expression when he looked at him.

However, Zuo Xin understood after hearing what he said.

"This...I need to think about it..."

No one asked her to give an answer right away. After all, the affairs of the palace had not been arranged yet, and Zuo Xin's affairs were naturally not in a hurry to be arranged. Everything would have to wait until tomorrow.