The cruel little princess

"Your Highness, I do have some clues, and I have sufficient evidence to prove that this matter is related to Doctor Wang."

Shen Youyou no longer hid it and just put it out in the open.

"If Your Highness can help, I will accept your favor. If Your Highness has other matters to attend to, I will continue the investigation on my own. I suspect that this was not done by Doctor Wang alone; there must be other accomplices. And they are within the military camp. When two armies are at war, leaking military secrets is a serious taboo. If this traitor is not eliminated, our Golden Dragon Nation will be in danger!"

Shen Youyou hadn't expected much help from Prince Jin, as there were still so many military matters to attend to. She just hoped that while she was investigating this matter, Prince Jin wouldn't let personal reasons get in the way of her tracking down the real culprit.

As for other things, Shen Youyou said she had never thought about it. After all, why should she rely on others for things that she can do by herself?

However, Shen Youyou still had to explain the interests involved in this matter to King Jin.

As long as the real murderer is not caught, his father's life is in danger every day. It's just that because there are so many eyes watching in the military camp, he can't attack his father openly.

This also means that the military camp's affairs are constantly leaking out every day. Prince Jin had better cooperate and catch the traitor, otherwise...

"Okay. I promise!"

Hmm? What do you mean? What did you promise? Shen Youyou looked bewildered.

"I promise you, we will work together to investigate this matter. Also, Miss Shen, you don't have to be so distant. You can just call me Huai Jin and I'll call you You You."

God knows how long he thought about this sentence. He didn't want to hear her calling him "Prince" all the time. It was too strange and awkward.

He also liked to call her Youyou, just like the countless nights when he missed her, with the corners of his lips slightly raised, he gently called out her maiden name Youyou.

"Your Highness, there is no need to do this. I dare not offend you. Let's get back to the point. What does Your Highness mean?"

"After all, murdering a leading general is a grave crime. To resist foreign aggression, we must first stabilize the country. If this matter is not investigated, the real culprit will go unpunished, and everyone will be in danger."

Prince Jin sighed, "Besides, perhaps the news of our decision to attack Qinglong Nation has not yet reached the soldiers, but the Qinglong Nation commander has already learned about it through this spy."

"Your Highness is wise!" Shen Youyou knew her own abilities. Even if Prince Jin didn't intervene, she would still be able to find out the truth. But since he was willing to help, she had to accept the favor. So she quickly flattered him.

"My secret guards have found that Zheng Xianfeng is a suspect. Zheng Xianfeng is a slick and worldly-wise man who loves beautiful women and money. A year ago, his hamstring was injured by an enemy and he became disabled. General Shen originally took pity on him and planned to give him 500 taels of silver so that he could return to his hometown to retire."

"Zheng Xianfeng said he was all alone at home, so it would be better to save his life and fight the enemy to the death on the battlefield. So General Shen went with him and treated him very well in the barracks. When he was resting in the barracks, he often went to the city... Chunfeng Tower."

Having said that, Prince Jin paused, and then embarrassedly said the three words "Chunfeng Tower".

When Shen Youyou heard this, she understood that Chunfeng Tower should be an ancient brothel, a paradise for men, and a good place for Zheng Xianfeng to entertain and relax.

But this Prince Jin is a bit innocent. It's just a, well, entertainment venue, and he's too embarrassed to say it. He's made himself a little embarrassed to listen...

"What happened next?" Shen Youyou asked hurriedly when she saw that Prince Jin was hesitant to continue.

"Then, ahem, a month ago, Zheng Xianfeng suddenly started spending money lavishly at Chunfeng Tower. He even used his money to keep... the courtesan Mudan for a month before she was out."

"According to Mudan, Zheng Xianfeng suddenly became rich. Before, when he went to Chunfenglou, he never kept girls, but always..."

Prince Jin paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "It's all cash and goods. Not to mention keeping a girl for a month straight and then getting her out."

"Zheng Xianfeng also said that after this period of time, he would leave the border and return home. He also said that he would redeem Mudan and take her back with him."

"Mudan asked him why he was willing to return to his hometown to retire, since he had always wanted to serve his country. He said that time has changed and happiness is only for a short while."

Shen Youyou was speechless. He was obviously a rough man, but he was greedy for money and sold out his country for personal gain, yet he made himself look sophisticated.

"It's just..." Prince Jin thought for a moment, as if he had something else to say.

"Just what? Your Highness, please feel free to tell me." Shen Youyou looked up. He had just heard the key point and thought that Zheng Xianfeng could be arrested. However, he added another "but". This was still a cat teaching a tiger, so he kept something back when speaking.

"However, Zheng Xianfeng is a crude and rude man with little scheming. I suspect there must be another person in the military camp who is conspiring with him and giving him advice."

"You said General Shen was poisoned, which caused the bleeding to continue and the wound wouldn't clot. So I thought the other person must be well-versed in pharmacology. But I had someone check the residue and the inside of the medicine pot used to make the medicine for General Shen, and found nothing unusual. So I can't think of anything else." Prince Jin finished speaking in one breath and looked at Shen Youyou. "I wonder what Miss Shen has to say?"

"Your Highness's investigation coincides with my own." Shen Youyou quickly gathered her thoughts. She walked behind the screen, picked up the medicine jar from the low table, and stood before Prince Jin. "Your Highness, please look!" Shen Youyou placed the jar on the table.

"This is the medicine pot used in the military camp to make medicine for my father. I even asked the medicine boy to confirm that no one else can touch this medicine pot except the military doctors."

"In other words, only those military doctors are suspects. At first, I also suspected that there was something wrong with the medicine. But I checked the residue and there was nothing wrong."

Shen Youyou sighed and continued, "This proves that the brewed medicine hasn't been tampered with. But when I tried to take the medicine jar, Doctor Wang tried to stop me. He was probably worried that I'd find out."

"So I pretended to know nothing about medicinal food and specifically asked for angelica before I got the medicine jar back. After careful inspection, I found that the trick was on the lid of the jar!"

"My father was seriously injured, so the herbs he used should focus on stopping bleeding and replenishing the blood. But the lid of this medicine jar has a strong smell of angelica root!"

"Many people know that the Chinese herb angelica is used to nourish the blood, but the tail of the angelica root is used to break up the blood and activate blood circulation. He must have boiled water with the tail of the angelica root and soaked the lid of the medicine pot in it. When the medicine was boiled, the boiling liquid rolled onto the lid, and it would have been contaminated by the water from the boiled angelica root."

"Medicines can counteract each other, so even though my father takes medicine every day, he still bleeds. Doctor Wang happens to be the one who records the withdrawal of medicinal materials. If someone else used Angelica root tail, he would know about it."

"When I went to get the herbs today, I secretly looked through his records while he wasn't paying attention. No one had withdrawn Angelica root tails in the past half month."

"So there's only one reason: He must have done this! They really went to great lengths to kill my father!"

At this point, Shen Youyou's eyes were tinged with hatred. "Zheng Xianfeng's side is easy to understand; he was bribed out of greed and lust. But I'm not sure why Doctor Wang would betray my father." (A side note: The author doesn't understand medicinal herbs either. These were only included based on plot development needs. Don't mislead everyone!)

"The reason is not important. I will send people to arrest these two people now. After a thorough interrogation, they will confess everything!" Prince Jin called out softly, "An Yi."

"Your Highness!" As a strong wind blew, a man kneeling on one knee with his hands clasped together suddenly appeared in the tent that was originally empty.

Shen Youyou secretly looked at the man. He had an average appearance, the kind that after taking one look at him, you would never remember who he was when he walked into the crowd.

The more ordinary a person looks like, the more extraordinary their abilities are. Furthermore, when Shen Youyou was talking to Prince Jin just now, she had carefully sensed that there was no one else in the tent besides them. The sudden appearance of this man could only mean that he was indeed a master of martial arts.