Favoring the concubine and killing the wife? She divorced the concubine and lived with her concubine

Cui Shiye was shrewd and saw that Su Ze was genuinely suspicious of him. Only then did he realize that he had been living too easily and was too arrogant.

"Didn't you ask me when you saved me? I'm just a beggar, living in a dilapidated temple nearby for many years. It's just that when I met you that time, a rock fell from the mountain and hit my leg. Since then, I couldn't beg and almost starved to death. Don't you know everything?"

"You've been a beggar since childhood, yet you can read and write. You make a living by begging, yet you knew at a glance that I was deciphering a letter. Your knowledge and experience don't befit a beggar starving."

Su Ze naturally knew about the past that Master Cui had described. He even used his position to send someone back to investigate. Master Cui had been begging in that dilapidated temple since he was five years old and had been doing so until he met Su Ze. All the older beggars could testify that such a person did exist, and the comparison of the portrait was consistent.

"At that time, the rock not only hit my leg, but also my head. I knew all this when I woke up. If you ask me where I learned this, I don't know."

Master Cui said frankly, "Maybe God suddenly stuffed a book into my brain, and I know everything now."

"What you said is too ridiculous." Su Ze narrowed his eyes slightly. How could he believe such nonsense?

"Gods and monsters have existed since ancient times. You've never seen one, so why do you think it's absurd? What if it was a god who cast a spell on me? As a scholar, I should learn a little about everything. It's better to believe it than not to believe it."

"Ridiculous!" Su Ze was too lazy to argue with him, but he was no longer on guard against him. He began to use those words to compare a certain page or line in the book.

"Sir, if you don't trust me, you don't trust yourself. You've clearly checked me thoroughly." Master Cui leaned forward again. "What's written?"

Su Ze glanced at him and recalled all of Cui's actions during the time he had been following him. Apart from the suspicion that he knew a little bit about everything, there was really nothing suspicious about him.

"I've always been curious why Liu Hu chose to be a bandit instead of a city guard. Besides, his brother has become a garrison commander, so it's definitely better for him to be in the army than to stay in the mountains."

Cui nodded, patiently listening to Su Ze finish his explanation, and waiting for him to continue talking about the consequences. But Su Ze didn't speak for a long time, staring at the letter for a long time.

"Speak! Stop dithering."

Su Ze raised his eyes and said dissatisfiedly, "If you were really a spy, you would have died a thousand times. How dare you, a mere advisor, be so rude to me."

"So, I'm not a spy! Do you want to tell me..."

"Many cases here have been suppressed, and I don't have any records here. However, some merchants traveling to the capital have reported them to the authorities there. There are even cases of officials going missing, but these cases have been hastily closed here. After all, there is no record of these people on the official roads, and there is no trace of them on the side roads either."

When Su Ze said this, Master Cui looked up at the ceiling, then lowered his head and thought for a while.

"Liu Hu is a bandit in the mountains, helping Liu Yu rob money, or is he eliminating dissidents? How could his small city defense garrison have so many dissidents?"

"Many of these dissidents are the third prince's dissidents..." When saying this, Su Ze looked at Master Cui with a tentative look in his eyes.

But Master Cui seemed to have no other thoughts and was really thinking about the problem.

"Liu Yu is the Third Prince's man, so he wants to seize the throne? Is the Emperor going to die?" Master Cui asked sincerely, and Su Ze shouted "How dare you!"

Su Ze stood up, clasped his fists respectfully and bowed to the sky, "The emperor's dragon body, how can you speak nonsense!"

"I'm sorry, I'm talking nonsense! I deserve to die!" Master Cui suddenly realized that he had spoken too much and would make mistakes. He slapped himself lightly a few times to show his repentance.

Su Ze pointed at him and said, "If anyone else hears this, not only will you die, but I will too! This entire county government office will be wiped out!"

Master Cui nodded seriously, patting his lips, sweat actually breaking out on his forehead. "I understand! I understand! I was rude!"

Su Ze looked at him and felt that he had no potential to be a spy.

Sitting down, he whispered, "The Emperor is in good health, but the factional strife between the Third Prince and the Crown Prince continues. This has always been the case with the royal family since ancient times. There must be two princes to check and balance each other, so that the country can be stable."

Cui Shiye didn't dare to speak nonsense anymore, but he had to speak out. He didn't want to get involved in this party dispute. It was too complicated and could be fatal if he didn't handle it well.

"You are so far away from the emperor, you won't take sides too."

"I am not interested in party disputes. I serve the court and will be loyal to whoever is the emperor."

"So...will you investigate this matter or not? If one day you find evidence and report it to the court, and the Third Prince absolves him of the crime with just one word, then you'll be killed! What will you do?" Master Cui looked at Su Ze, who looked like a righteous man. "Of course you can choose not to report it to the court, but if Liu Yu doesn't like you and reports you to the Third Prince, and then he accuses you of something, you won't be able to bear it."

Su Ze was speechless. Ever since the secret letter was deciphered, he had a lot to think about. This letter was sent by a good friend of his. This friend came from a prominent family in the capital, with generations of officials, and was born into a position of status. Su Ze knew that his family was conservative and only supported the prince.

But Su Ze didn't really want to get involved. He investigated Liu Yu because he always targeted Xiao Lan.

"Sir, we have always held a grudge against them, isn't it because they targeted Xiao Lan? Now we just need to protect Xiao Lan and the Xiao family, and you can feel at ease. We won't get involved if the matter gets any deeper."

Cui's words were naturally the most feasible, but Su Ze still had a small flame of justice burning in his heart. He felt that as a fatherly official, how could he succumb to such tyranny? Couldn't Liu Yu, who was colluding with the bandits, be arrested? But considering this, he really couldn't be arrested.

First, there is no evidence, and second, there is no strength!

As Master Cui said, the Third Prince was high and mighty, and losing Liu Yu was just a chess piece. If Su Ze sued, the Third Prince would definitely target the Su family. The Su family was just a merchant family in the capital, and even if they were extremely wealthy, they could not compare to the imperial power!

"Xiao Zongwen and Xiao Xuan have Liu Yu as their helper. I'm afraid Xiao Lan's life will become more and more difficult in the future." Master Cui shook his head. For the first time, he felt that Xiao Lan was really unlucky.

However, Su Ze felt that Xiao Lan could only protect herself if she stayed away from the Xiao family.

"Liu Hu hasn't woken up yet, and we don't know where the wounds on his body came from." Su Ze picked up the cold tea next to him and drank it all, only to feel a cold and uncomfortable feeling in his stomach.

"Xu Yi must be mistaken. That kid is quite capable and can even save people."

Su Ze glanced at him and said, "Are they all the same as you? They're all just talking nonsense?"

"That's not true!" Master Cui was dissatisfied. "Then Liu Hu must have really liked Xiao Lan. He wanted to confront Liu Yu for Xiao Lan, so he was seriously injured by Liu Yu! After all, Liu Hu is very agile and has great kung fu. If they wanted to hurt him, they had to use a trick by someone close to them. Xu Yi also said that he had no defensive wounds on his body, so it must have been done by someone he trusted who could get close to him! This person must have taken advantage of Liu Hu's trust in Liu Yu, attacked him unexpectedly, and stabbed him in the vitals!"

"Aren't you talking about what I said last time when Xu Yi was here?" When Su Ze heard Master Cui say that Liu Hu really liked Xiao Lan, he couldn't help but freeze his expression.

"You didn't say that Liu Hu really likes Xiao Lan." Master Cui was dissatisfied. Looking at Su Ze's stiff expression, he felt a little relieved.

He continued, "There's another point. Liu Yu might just want to scare Liu Hu into giving up, and he doesn't want his brother to die! After all, they've been working together since they were teenagers! If Liu Yu knew that this outsider had injured Liu Hu so badly and he's still unconscious, do you think they would still cooperate with him?"

"How do you know Liu Yue won't tell Liu Yu?"

"She didn't even talk to Liu Yu about such an important matter as saving Liu Hu. Do you think she will go and tell him now? She is with Xiao Lan. Do you think Xiao Lan will let her go and tell him?" Master Cui's eyes were full of certainty, which made Su Ze feel depressed again.

"Why are you so sure that you guessed Xiao Lan's thoughts?"

"Because I know her! She always believes that it is better to rely on herself than on others."

"I don't think so. She has asked Liu Hu and Xue Wu for help."

"And you. Don't confuse begging you with taking advantage of you. The starting points are different!" Master Cui smiled.

Su Ze felt even more depressed.

"Who should I ask for help? Cousin, Master Cui!"

At some point, Pan Yingqiu appeared at the door with a tray of food. He walked so silently that neither of them noticed him.

Master Cui laughed and said, "Oh, where's the boy at the door? How come he didn't even tell me Miss Pan was coming?"

"I didn't let him make the announcement because I was afraid of disturbing the two of you..." Pan Yingqiu always spoke softly, and everything she said was as gentle as flowing water.

"The study is a very important place. It's better that you didn't hear what Master Cui and I said. Your coming here disturbed our meeting." Su Ze was very unhappy with Pan Yingqiu's appearance, especially because the servant at the door did not inform him because of Pan Yingqiu's words, which made Su Ze even more dissatisfied.

Su Ze spoke bluntly, but Pan Yingqiu showed no sign of anger or embarrassment. "Yingqiu was abrupt. I won't do it again next time."

After saying that, she took a few steps forward with her delicate body, and her swaying posture made Master Cui wonder what kind of Kung Fu she had learned.

"Since my cousin has some work to do tomorrow, and Master Cui will be busy too, I prepared a bowl of pear soup for you. It's good for nourishing the lungs, so it's perfect for drinking now."

The saying "don't hit someone who smiles at you" is very well reflected in this situation. Su Ze was angry but couldn't vent his anger. He could only nod to let him go and politely thank him.

Master Cui jokingly said, "He hasn't even entered the house yet, and you're already taking such good care of him. You'll be blessed in the future!"