The queen is spoiling the king and madly criticizing him for spoiling her

Normally, the master can drink two bowls of vermicelli soup, but tonight he only drank half a bowl.

Zhu Xia couldn't help but ask worriedly, "Is your Majesty feeling unwell?"

"It's okay, I just have no appetite. Let's clear away the food." Gu Jianchu waved his hand and leaned tiredly on the chaise longue.

The cold wind howled all night.

Gu Jianchu did not sleep well.

In the early morning, the faint sunlight shone through the window into the room. Gu Jianchu had just stood up when a new system prompt sounded in his mind.

[It seems the Emperor is more than just a tyrant. I only gave him a few clues, and he already tracked the case down to Li Shicheng.]

The servants working for Li Shicheng had no idea that the matter would be brought before the Emperor, who would personally oversee the investigation. The city was now filled with soldiers from the Five Cities Military Division, and they dared not transport the child. However, fearing exposure, they had already transported the abducted child to a safe place to avoid detection.

Seeing Gu Jianchu get up, Zhuxi brought the palace maids in to help her dress and wash up, "Your Majesty, the small kitchen made mushrooms stuffed with meat and beef pot stickers this morning."

Since entering the palace, Gu Jianchu has been too lazy to compete for favor with other concubines. All she does every day is study eating.

"Zhuxi asked them to put it in the food box, and I will send it to the emperor to taste it." Gu Jianchu sat in front of the dressing mirror and picked up a hairpin at random and handed it to the maid who was serving her.

Zhuxi thought she had misheard and looked at her master strangely, "Your Majesty, you are finally willing to compete for the emperor's favor. With your beauty, if you were willing to take this step earlier, you would have won the emperor's heart."

Is she trying to win favor?

She just wanted to eat the melon up close.

"Don't talk nonsense." Gu Jianchu gave Zhuxi a speechless look.

After finishing her makeup, Gu Jianchu took Yunhe to Chuigong Hall.

Cheng Song, who was guarding outside the palace, saw her coming and hurried forward to greet her. "Why are you here, Your Majesty? If you have anything to say, just send someone to tell you."

Now the emperor has only favored the queen, so servants like them naturally have to be discerning.

Gu Jianchu glanced at Yunhe holding the food box and explained, "Your Majesty works hard for state affairs day and night, and now he is busy with the case of the missing child. I specially ordered the kitchen to prepare some breakfast and send it to Your Majesty."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for remembering these things." Cheng Song said politely, without any intention of inviting her in.

Gu Jianchu glanced at the closed palace door through Cheng Song who was blocking her way, "Eunuch Cheng, it's inconvenient for me to come here."

Cheng Song didn't expect that the Queen Mother was more insightful than others. In the past, every time the Virtuous Concubine and the Imperial Concubine came, there would be a commotion.

Cheng Song couldn't help but speak more respectfully to Gu Jianchu. "It's indeed inconvenient for your Majesty to come. The Emperor is currently meeting with the Minister of Justice and the people from the Five Cities Military Commission. If your Majesty is at ease, you can give the food box to me. I will help pass it on when the Emperor is done. Alternatively, you can go to the tea room and wait for a while."

Cheng Song specifically gave two solutions.

How can I meet the Emperor if I leave it to you?

"I will go to the tea room and wait for a while." The moment Gu Jianchu finished speaking, the door of Chuigong Palace suddenly opened.

Wen Zhu appeared in front of them in black. "Your Majesty, the Queen, invites you in."

The emperor hates others disturbing him when he is talking about business, so now he invites the queen to come in on her own initiative.

The Emperor treats the Empress differently.

Gu Jianchu took the food box from Yunhe's hand and followed Wen Zhu into the hall.

The floor heating in the hall was burning warmly. Wen Zhu arranged Gu Jianchu behind the screen in the inner hall and whispered, "His Majesty is still discussing important matters. Please wait here for a moment, Your Majesty."

This position ensures that Gu Jianchu can hear his conversation with the court officials, so that he can get some information from Gu Jianchu.

Xie Ci'an glanced towards the screen, his fingers pinching the tea lid to skim off the foam, "Go on."

The Minister of Justice was a middle-aged man in his thirties with a small mustache. "We launched a search centered on the Princess's Mansion and did apprehend two suspicious individuals. After an overnight interrogation, they confessed that the abducted child was hidden in the west of the city. I immediately led my men there, but there was no one there.

I have immediately searched everywhere, but I don't know if they have already transported the abducted child out of the city."

Xie Ci'an lowered his grip on the teacup and said, "The Five Cities Military Command has taken over the city gates. It won't be easy to get them out. They should still be inside the city. Send more people to continue the search."

"You've only arrested a few small fry, so you won't get anything useful from interrogation. The real mastermind behind this is the Prince Consort's steward. They've already taken the children to a dilapidated temple in the south of the city for temporary shelter."

Gu Jianchu was so anxious that he wanted to reveal the truth directly.

But she was afraid of being exposed, so she could only keep pulling at her handkerchief.

"Is there any place that hasn't been searched?" Xie Ci'an suddenly asked.

The Minister of Justice and the Junior General of the Five Cities Military Command exchanged a glance. "The north of the city has not been thoroughly searched. I have already deployed troops and am preparing to focus on searching the north of the city."

As he spoke, Wen Zhu had already placed the topographic map of the capital on Xie Ci'an's desk.

Xie Ci'an stared at the topographic map for a few seconds, then pointed his finger in the direction of the south of the city. "Focus on searching the south of the city."

The Minister of Justice looked in the direction of Xie Ci'an's finger and hesitated, "We searched the south of the city twice yesterday and found nothing suspicious."

"For the murderer, the most dangerous place is the safest place. Besides, the south of the city had already been thoroughly investigated yesterday." Xie Ci'an turned the jade ring on his hand.

Then I heard Gu Jianchu’s voice.

[The Emperor is truly too clever.]

"I will take people to investigate now." The Vice Minister of Justice and the young general of the Five Cities Army left Chuigong Hall together.

"Wen Zhu, you can take people to the princess's mansion now to arrest Li Shicheng and his housekeeper for interrogation." After Xie Ci'an finished speaking, he waved his hand and let Wen Zhu leave.

After hearing the emperor's words, Gu Jianchu felt that he was at the scene of eating melons and seemed to have missed the melons, so he hurried to find the system to catch up.

[How could you not tell me such an important piece of gossip? Xie Ci'an actually noticed something was wrong with the princess's illness and discovered that she had been poisoned by a chronic drug. Through this clue, he discovered that Li Shicheng was running a wine forest and a meat pond in Jiangnan. Isn't that going to put the prince consort in danger?]

Xie Ci’an:…

All this was thanks to the Queen.

[If Xie Ci'an conducts a thorough interrogation, he will be able to find out that the missing child's case is related to Li Shicheng's wine forest and meat pool, which at least half of the officials in the capital have enjoyed.]

The eldest princess is completely devoted to Li Shicheng and only cares about him. She doesn't even know about the wine forest and meat pool. If the emperor suddenly goes to the princess's mansion to take someone away, the eldest princess will definitely make a big fuss for Li Shicheng. Isn't that another exciting thing to watch?