The little heroine investigates a mysterious case

The Xian Prince's Mansion is on the same street as the Cheng Prince's Mansion and the Zhen Prince's Mansion. It was the mansion Xiao Aiyue specially selected for her son so that her son could be taken care of by his two brothers after he left the palace and started living alone.

Gu Zhanghua did not follow the regulations to equip the mansion with many servants, but only arranged guards at important posts, each with their own responsibilities.

For example, the housekeeper, the cook, the cleaner... he didn't even have a maid. The whole mansion was filled with men. Although it seemed a bit lonely, it was a relief that there were not so many idle things to do.

Yes, that's right. Because he has such a noisy mother, he really keeps his distance from women. Another reason is that his third brother, the True King, has caused too much psychological trauma to him, which will be discussed below.

That night, Gu Zhanghua and Shishu were staring at each other in the study.

The secretary finally couldn't help asking, "Your Highness, what are you thinking about? Just looking at me is useless!"

"I've made up my mind! I want to run away from my marriage!"

"Running away from marriage? Don't you want to marry the Princess of Yue?"

"Forget about the Princess of Yue, I don't want to marry anyone else!"

"His Majesty has issued an order. Even if you want to escape, where can you go? Besides, this concerns the diplomatic relations between our two countries. Your Highness, please do not act rashly!"

"You're stupid! I'm running away from the marriage, not running away! Besides, I understand everything you said, which is why I'm worried. How can I avoid marrying the princess without causing trouble for my father, without causing gossip among the Yue Kingdom, and without leaving the innocent princess stranded? Ideally, everyone will be happy!"

"Your Highness, I think you should give up on this."

"Do you have any idea?"

The secretary was so sleepy that her eyelids were drooping.

"If you can't figure it out, what can I do? It's because there's no solution at all that I told you to stop thinking about it and get some sleep! Maybe you'll find a solution when you wake up!"

Gu Zhanghua ignored the secretary and continued to think with his chin in his hand.

"Second brother and Ma Zhenzhen are newlyweds and deeply in love. It's too inhumane to bring a princess into the mansion..."

"that is!"

"Is it possible in Third Brother's house?"

The sleepy Shishu immediately became alert, his eyes twinkling with gossip.

"His Royal Highness the True Prince's residence is full of palace intrigues! I heard that last night, the Second and Fifth Madams openly challenged each other over where His Royal Highness the True Prince would spend the night. They had a brazen fight! His Royal Highness the True Prince, out of pity for the women, tried to intervene, and his face was scratched!"

Gu Zhanghua's eyes widened: "Really?!"

"How could it be false? In the end, the Second and Fifth Madams were unable to retain His Royal Highness the True King, and it was the Twelfth Madam who took advantage of the opportunity to capture His Royal Highness the True King! Many people say that this farce was actually secretly instigated by the Twelfth Madam!"

"Wow! This Twelve Madam is so powerful!"

"No, the most powerful one is Madam Eight!"

"What do you mean? What has the Eighth Madam done?"

Shishu lit the candle and then sat opposite Gu Zhanghua again.

"Don't be impatient, let me tell you slowly..."

Until the daybreak, the candlelight in the study was still as bright as usual. From time to time, one could hear Gu Zhanghua's exclamations and the secretary's rambling stories. It can be said that life is incomplete without gossip.

Gu Zhanghua never expected at this time that while he was chatting about his third brother's gossip with the maid in the mansion, thinking about how to escape the marriage from time to time, some people thousands of miles away were ready to make a move and tried every means to force a fake princess on him!

When Hao Xiong learned that he had to personally have a secret talk with the Yue State delegation about the fake princess, from that moment on, his palms began to sweat and his back felt cold. It was not because he was cowardly, but because he felt he was in the wrong.

Although he heard Tian Shiliu calling for her brother in a coma when he was in Qi Mansion, which reminded him of his own sister who died of starvation on the way to escape famine, and he felt pity for her, he did not regret rescuing Tian Shiliu, but it was indeed he who secretly took the Princess of Yue back to Jiaoyang Valley, which was not the act of a gentleman.

But since the boss had spoken, he had no choice but to face the challenge! Hao Xiong repeatedly recited the lines he had prepared in his mind and practiced again and again in front of the mirror, wondering how he could have a righteous face.

Chunlan secretly bribed the maid of Qi's house and took the opportunity of cleaning to secretly put a note with the time and place written on it, indicating that it would be returned to the princess, on the desk in the envoy's room.

Soon, the maid replied to Chunlan that the envoy had read the note and looked surprised and happy, and would most likely show up on time. Chunlan then breathed a sigh of relief, and now it all depended on Hao Xiong.

Hao Xiong did not bring anyone with him and went alone to the dense forest called "Songshuling" in the north of the border town. It would be best if they could reach an agreement. If not, he would do it alone and let the Yue State envoys take him back to report.

But how could Zhao Xuan let Hao Xiong take the risk alone? As soon as Hao Xiong left, Zhao Xuan followed him.

Just after midnight, Hao Xiong, who was hiding in the dense forest, saw five people walking towards him from afar. All of them were wrapped tightly in cloaks, with only a pair of eyes showing. They walked stealthily at the edge of the dense forest, stopping and starting, and seemed a little hesitant.

Hao Xiong sneered, walked over quickly, and said with a fist clasp, "Are you all the envoys from the Kingdom of Yue who have come to attend the appointment?"

The leading man looked Hao Xiong up and down carefully, and then looked around Hao Xiong.

"Are you the one who invited us here? Where's the princess?"

Hao Xiong said bluntly: "The princess is dead!"

"what?!"

The five people exclaimed in unison, their eyes wide open as they stared at Hao Xiong!

The leading man drew the sword from his waist and put it on Hao Xiong's neck.

"Even if the princess dies, you can't live!"

Hao Xiong sneered, showing no sign of cowardice, but rather confidently:

"Only if I'm alive can you see the princess!"

One person angrily asked, "What do you mean? Didn't you say the princess was dead? Did you just lie to us?"

Hao Xiong gently pinched the tip of the sword with two fingers, slowly moving it away from his neck, and then said calmly:

"My Lords, can we find a safe place to talk? I invited you here because I have something important to discuss. You have all taken on a heavy responsibility in escorting the princess to my country of Xia for her marriage. Whether the princess is kidnapped, captured alive, or dead, if you fail to complete your mission, you will have a hard time reporting back to your master, right?"

The five of them exchanged silent glances before the leading man put away his sword and said in a deep voice, "Lead the way."

After a while, Hao Xiong led the five people to a slightly open area in the dense forest. Hao Xiong sat down on a slightly flat large rock and pointed to several large rocks next to him.

"I scouted ahead and found this natural place. It seems the heavens have been kind to us! Please take a seat, everyone! It's a shame there's no wine, otherwise it would be a wonderful thing for you all to enjoy a drink under the moonlight!"

Another thin member of the delegation shouted, "What a good thing! If you have anything to say, just say it now! We have to leave for Chuyang early tomorrow morning!"

Hao Xiong smiled, and the cold sweat on his body was blown by the cold wind, and he shivered. He was actually a little scared. As the saying goes, a dark and windy night is a good time to kill. If the five opponents really wanted to kill him, he really couldn't deal with them alone. But thinking about the safety of everyone in Jiaoyang Valley, he gritted his teeth and looked at the five people.

"A man of honor takes responsibility for his actions! Since I stole your princess, I will return her to you now!"

The leading man immediately pulled off his cloak, revealing his true face. He was the chief envoy of the Yue State delegation.

"What do you mean?"

Hao Xiong said, "Don't worry, listen to my explanation! I just want to ask you one question. Has anyone in our Xia Kingdom seen the princess you are escorting to her wedding?"

The five people shook their heads in unison.

The envoy said, "Not to mention your Xia Kingdom, even in our Yue Kingdom, few people have ever seen this princess. For those of us accompanying the bride, including the entire escort team, this is the first time we've seen the princess's true appearance!"

Hao Xiong slapped his thigh.

"That's it! Anyway, no one in our Xia Kingdom has ever seen your princess. All you have to do is to send the princess to Liyang smoothly as planned, witness the princess's wedding with the virtuous king, and then return to Yue Kingdom to report to your master. If you do this job well, you might even get promoted and make a fortune! Whether the princess is real or fake, or if any trouble happens in our Xia Kingdom, it will have nothing to do with you, the gentlemen of the wedding envoys. All you have to do is to insist that it is Tian Shiliu who is being escorted!"

After hearing this, the five people looked at each other in silence.