Adoption brings disaster

I didn't expect that the Taoist priest was rescued so easily. This also shows that Li Qinghan is an important person that Prince Gong cannot give up.

This hero Li is Prince Gong's life-saving talisman. He is a very chivalrous man. Prince Gong would never dare to offend him, let alone let him know that he condoned others to commit crimes.

If these things were known by Hero Li, he knew about them in the morning, and they left at noon. In the afternoon, a huge army of assassins entered the capital. At night, Prince Gong's Mansion would be busier than a vegetable market.

These are all my guesses, and I naturally won't show them off to the Taoist priest. Instead, I talked about the sadness I felt in saving him.

Even though I made all these up, no one exposed me. The Taoist priest was deeply moved when he heard it and said he would not do such nonsense again in the future.

Seeing the Taoist priest's promise, I didn't say much. Because I was nervous, my mind had been tense all the time. Now that I relaxed, I felt tired.

The Taoist priest saw that I was tired and knew that it was because of my hard work. Although he wanted to know how I saved him, he didn't want to ask. He just let me have a good rest and thought he would ask again tomorrow.

I naturally said no more, just ate dinner casually and let Ah Si help me to bed.

I really put a lot of effort into it this time. When I woke up the next day, I felt dizzy, nauseous, weak in my limbs, and had no energy.

However, I didn't feel any discomfort at all. Instead, I felt comfortable, as if I had just finished an open class.

My mind relaxed, and I couldn't help but stand up and stretch. I saw the Taoist priest come in, bowed, and asked, "I have fallen into the hands of Prince Gong, and the evidence is irrefutable. How did you convince him to let me go?"

This was the second time I saw the Taoist priest in the house. The first time was when he snatched the file from me. The rest of the time, the Taoist priest stayed on the roof, as if he lived on the roof.

I was a little tired and didn't react for a while. When the Taoist priest saw that I didn't say anything, he thought I had paid some price to save him.

For a moment, he felt sad and asked, "Prince Gong is not a pushover. Qianqiu, what tricks did you use to make Prince Gong let me go?"

I was stunned for a moment before I understood what he was asking. I thought about it and said, "Rather than saying that I asked Prince Gong to release you, it would be better to say that it was the hero Li Qinghan who saved you."

The Taoist priest was puzzled as to how this matter was related to Li Qinghan. He could only look at me in confusion and ask me to give him an explanation.

Seeing his confusion, I explained, "Hero Li is too important to Prince Gong. If it weren't for Hero Li, Prince Gong wouldn't have been able to escape so many assassination attempts over the years. So Prince Gong would rather let you go than lose Hero Li."

After saying this, he stretched again and continued, "Prince Gong understands the principle of choosing the lesser of two evils. Between the two options of killing you to give an explanation to my concubine and letting you go to keep Hero Li, Prince Gong has no reason to choose the former."

The Taoist priest is not stupid, he just doesn't know how important Mr. Li is to Prince Gong. Now after hearing what I said, he immediately understands the connection.

The Taoist priest said, "Although the solution to this matter lies with Hero Li, it is still His Highness Qianqiu who has been planning for me and arguing with Prince Gong on my behalf. If there is anything in the future that does not violate morality, I will let His Highness Qianqiu command me."

Seeing the Taoist priest say this, I naturally responded politely, saying, "This matter originated from me. If I hadn't saved the Zhang family father and son, this matter would have nothing to do with us, and we wouldn't have developed to the point where we killed Xiaohu and faced Prince Gong. Taoist priest, you are too kind."

"I only regret that I haven't killed enough scum like this. It's not your highness' fault at all. Even if it happens again, I will kill this scum as long as I know all these things."

I was very tired and really didn't want to argue with the Taoist priest anymore. I agreed with what he said and let him leave.

"Your Highness, Your Highness." Xiao Tao ran over while shouting, completely ignoring the order not to enter the house.

Now I feel annoyed when I hear them calling him "Your Highness". I always feel that something bad is going to happen.

I looked at Xiao Tao outside the door without any scruples, feeling half annoyed and half happy. I said with a stern face, "Who told you to be so noisy? Where are your rules?"

When Xiaotao saw me scolding her, she hurried in and kowtowed. After that, she got up on her own and smiled at me, regardless of whether I called her to get up or not.

I looked at Xiao Tao and smiled playfully, and my anger immediately subsided. I said, "I told you before that you can't come into the house to serve. You still dare to rush in, aren't you afraid of being punished?"

"With His Highness protecting me, who in Qianqiu Pavilion dares to punish me?"

Xiaotao knew that I wanted to protect her, so she became a little lawless.

I also knew what she was thinking, and I was afraid that she would get into trouble and fail to protect him, so I said coldly, "I'm telling you, His Highness the Seventh Prince won't be back until tonight at the earliest. I can't control someone sent by the Imperial Concubine."

Sure enough, before I could finish my words, the manager came in with his men and took Xiao Tao away in front of me. I also wanted to teach the thief a lesson, so I didn't stop him.

He just said in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "The Seventh Prince will be back in the evening, don't be too excited."

The steward also knows that the Seventh Prince is protecting me, so he will naturally not punish Xiao Tao severely. Moreover, I also know that there must be rules in the pavilion, so it is not a bad thing to let him punish Xiao Tao to establish his authority.

The steward had Xiao Tao pushed down, but he did not leave. He just stood aside respectfully and said, "Your Highness, Prince Gong's Mansion just sent a lot of things into the palace. Your Highness must go and see them in person."

After being in the palace for a long time and seeing many rewards, I am not so interested in them anymore. However, there is one thing here that is very important and needs to be taken out and handled properly.

I thought about it and said, "Among these things, there should be a calligraphy piece that says 'divine calculation'. Find it, find a good framer to frame it, and hang it in the most conspicuous place in the pavilion. As for the other things, let Chunyu count and store them."

During lunch yesterday, the steward was serving beside us, so he naturally knew that Prince Gong had promised to give me the four characters "divine strategy and ingenious calculations".

Although he didn't know why Prince Gong gave me these four words, he still saw the evenly matched game between Prince Gong and me.

This servant, in his heart, is on the side of the Seventh Prince and respects him in everything, but after what happened yesterday, he now respects me much more.

Let's not talk about it anymore. The manager took his orders and left. My head was still hurting so much that I said to the outside, "Let Ah Si give me a head massage."

It is said that Ah Si's ancestor was also a famous doctor. Although his medical skills were not passed down, his massage was extremely professional.

The massage from Ah Si was particularly comfortable. It was hard to imagine that such a burly man could control the strength of his hands so precisely.

"Your Highness, Ah Si left the palace yesterday and hasn't returned yet." Ah Da muttered with a worried look on his face, "Ah Si has never stayed out all night before. Could he have run into some trouble?"

"Relax, not to mention the influence of the Zhenbei Palace in the capital, even with Ah Si's own skills, seven or eight ordinary people can't do anything to him."

Even so, Ah Da was still worried and said, "Your Highness, I am really worried about Ah Si and would like to ask for leave. Please grant me your permission."

Ada was really anxious. After I agreed, he didn't even say hello and ran straight to the palace gate.

The yard was filled with rewards from Prince Gong, but that did not slow down Ada. He jumped up and flew out by stepping on a pillar.

Just when Ada was about to leave Qianqiu Pavilion, he heard Chunyu scream as she was packing up her things, and looked at the box in her hand with horror.

The sudden exclamation startled Ah Da, who subconsciously turned around, then showed an incredible expression, and ran to Chunyu's side at a faster speed to snatch the box.

Ada took out a jade pendant and a piece of something that had already dried up from the box. At a glance, it should be a man's thing.

Ah Da looked at the contents of the box and was already panicking. He kept saying, "Impossible, impossible."

Ah Da came quickly to my side with the box and said painfully, "Your Highness."

I feel annoyed when I hear these two words now, just like the kids calling for their teacher at the end of the semester. But I can't be annoyed, because Ah Da is looking at me miserably, as desperate as a little beast.

I took the box and there was a piece of paper inside. When I opened it, I saw that it was about an old story in Zhujia Village.

A widow with an only child had an argument with her neighbors and was beaten to death. The widow's child took advantage of the night to kill the neighbors and escaped at night.

I looked at the document, somewhat confused. Prince Gong was a very special person, so it was definitely not placed in the wrong place. There must be some deeper meaning behind it.

I still don't have enough information to speculate. Looking at Ah Da, whose face was wrinkled in pain, I asked, "What's wrong?"

Ada handed me the jade pendant. I took a look at it and it was just a cheap jade pendant. One or two taels of silver could buy a lot of Xibei goods at a roadside stall.

Ah Da knew that I didn't know this thing, and said painfully: "Your Highness, this is Ah Si's jade pendant."

This jade pendant is really too inferior. Not to mention Ah Si who serves the Seventh Prince, even the servants who have just entered the palace would not wear such a jade pendant.

I was a little unconvinced and asked, "Are you sure it's Ah Si's jade token?"

"This is a relic left to Ah Si by his mother. Ah Si treasures it very much and keeps it close to his body. If I hadn't been with him through thick and thin for so many years, I wouldn't have known about this."

Thinking about the contents of the document, I thought to myself that this matter might be bad.

At this moment, Chun Yu also ran in. Without even a greeting, she handed something to me and said with a sob, "Your Highness, this is Xiaochuan's indenture."

"Body contract?"

"Your Highness has been so kind in changing my status from slave to civilian. After I received the civilian indenture, Xiaochuan spent a fortune crafting a water- and fire-proof box to hold the indenture. Xiaochuan never leaves this box without me. How could it be among the gifts from Prince Gong?"

I had a bad idea in my mind, and hurriedly said, "Call Xiaotian and Xiaodi."

I looked at Xiaotian and Xiaodi kneeling on the ground and asked, "Has Xiaochuan done anything bad recently?"

The two looked at each other and said in unison: "Xiaochuan has been behaving well recently and has not done anything bad."

I threw Xiaochuan's indenture on the ground and said, "Look at this. Xiaochuan is probably in great danger. Why are you still covering up for him?"

The two were shocked, and Xiaotian didn't dare to hide it, so he said, "Your Highness, recently Xiaochuan has been playing cards with a young eunuch who came from somewhere, and there's nothing else he does besides this."

"Go look for it. Xiaotian's body should be not far from the pavilion." Then he handed the document to Ah Da and said, "Go to the Dali Temple and bring Ah Si's body back."

Everyone was stunned when they heard what I said. Chun Yu was the only one who said in disbelief, "What are you talking about, Your Highness?"

Everyone was very sad, and I also hoped that I was wrong in my judgment, but they were just the lives of two servants, which in the eyes of Prince Gong might not be as interesting as the wild flowers on the roadside.

"It's just a demonstration by Prince Gong. It's just a pity for Xiaochuan and Ah Si."

Chunyu Ada was not stupid. When he heard the three words "Prince Gong", he had already figured out the key points. Both of them bowed with sad faces and retreated.

Soon, Xiaochuan was found drowned in the water tank in the backyard, and news came from outside the palace that Ada had taken leave.

The Taoist priest was a little confused, like a child who had lost his favorite toy, and murmured: "Qianqiu, did they die because of me?"

"Not really. Killing them was just Prince Gong's way of showing off to me."

The Taoist priest didn't listen to what I was saying. He just muttered to himself, "Could it be that they died in vain like this?"

I thought of the clerk and the eunuch who suddenly appeared and dragged Xiaochuan to play cards. I felt a little upset. I sighed and said, "They died in vain. If you go and investigate, you will find that they all deserved it."

"You deserve it?" The Taoist priest didn't understand why I said that.

"You deserve it." I didn't want to explain to the Taoist priest why I used this word to describe Ah Si and the others.

"Master, this matter is also caused by you. Please do something to comfort their souls in heaven."

The Taoist priest lowered his head, not knowing what he was thinking, but I knew he agreed. He said, "Go and perform a ritual for them for a day, then find a good Taoist temple to enshrine their ashes. I hope they will have a better life in the next life, and don't come to this cannibalistic capital again."

The Taoist priest was puzzled and said, "A Taoist temple? Aren't they buried in peace?"

I looked at the Taoist priest, as if chatting casually, and said with a smile: "I must give them some justice, a belated justice."

This time, the Taoist priest did not argue with me about whether belated justice is still justice. He just walked out of the palace dejectedly, staggering like an old man in his twilight years.

The Taoist priest walked away. I called Ah Er over to me and wrote him a note, saying, "On the day the Taoist priest performs the ritual, hold this beside him and read it constantly."

Ah Er was a little frightened when he saw the contents of the note, but he still obeyed the order.

The note read, you are noble, you are great, you are a chivalrous man but you want us to die.

To find out what happens next, please stay tuned for the next episode.