The Cold King Demands Love and Pleasure

Cang Jue, seeing that the prefect was still stubbornly insisting on his innocence, squatted down in front of him and advised him, "Stop denying it. Without evidence, the prince won't falsely accuse you. This is the rice you sold, and these sandbags, I don't need to explain, right? How did you come up with the idea of ​​using soil to weigh down sand? At first glance, it does look quite similar, but soil will be washed away by water! But sand won't!"

The county magistrate knelt on the ground, thinking that the prefect was now inescapably guilty, and that the prince must also know what he had done. Thinking of this, his heart sank to the bottom.

His eyes kept glancing at the ancient king. The county magistrate's main crime was that he concealed the plague, but he did not embezzle the disaster relief funds.

However, it's clear that these are all people from the Ancient King.

Min Youan watched Taigu Wang's reaction out of the corner of his eye. He saw that Taigu Wang was almost completely calm and remained seated.

He picked up the gavel and slammed it down again. "Your crimes are punishable by death, but if you reveal the mastermind behind it all, I will spare your family."

As all the witnesses and evidence were laid out before him, the prefect was speechless. He was about to speak and point out the mastermind when he was struck dead by one of the King of Taigu's men. Even the magistrate beside him was not spared!

Cang Jue immediately pointed at the subordinates of the Ancient King. The situation instantly became tense.

Xia Tongsheng was startled and quickly covered her mouth, afraid that she would scream.

Min Youan was not surprised. "Why is Your Highness so angry? Your rudeness makes people think you are trying to silence someone."

"I have reigned for 40 years, and I am truly not afraid of any mudslinging against me!" The implication was a warning to Min Youan: boy, don't meddle in other people's business, or I will not let it go!

"Thank you for your guidance, Your Highness!" Min You'an subtly suppressed his inner turmoil and gestured for Cang Jue to sheathe his sword.

Cang Jue clenched his fist and angrily sheathed his longsword. He hadn't expected the Ancient King to be so bold as to commit murder in court. He was even angrier at his own lack of vigilance, which allowed such a serious criminal to be silenced by him.

Cang Jue crouched down and checked the carotid arteries of the prefect and the vice-prefect. They were not breathing. "The prefect and vice-prefect are dead, and the disaster relief funds have disappeared. What should we do, Your Highness?"

Min Youan lowered his eyes, "Report the truth to the court!"

"Since the prefect and vice-prefect are dead, the trail must have gone cold. Let's adjourn the court!"

After the court session ended, Xia Tongsheng rushed in from the back room and said admiringly, "Your Highness! You were amazing today!"

Upon seeing Xia Tongsheng, the Taigu King spoke, "This is the famous Princess An?"

"I dare not accept such a prestigious title!" Xia Tongsheng immediately replied demurely.

The ancient king smiled, "Your Majesty, the news of your selfless entry into the plague village has spread throughout the court and the country, and people say that you are both brave and resourceful!"

Xia Tongsheng was surprised to have become someone's name, and felt a little embarrassed, as if she had become famous out of nowhere.

"That's an exaggeration. I'm just a woman. The reason I dared to venture into the plague village was simply because I care about the prince and want to be a good wife to him!"

Hearing Xia Tongsheng say that, Min Youan's lips curled up into a barely perceptible, handsome smile, thinking to himself, "This woman is quite sensible!"

The Ancient King smiled without revealing his emotions, "The Prince and Princess are truly a loving couple, envied by all!"

You're so envious, you big dummy!

"It's just that Your Highness doesn't mind!" Xia Tongsheng really didn't want to say any more polite words to this old man, so she reached out and grabbed Min Youan's hand, giving it a firm squeeze.

Min Youan was still surprised that Xia Tongsheng took his hand first, and naturally did not receive any message from her.

Feeling that the man behind her hadn't spoken for a long time, Xia Tongsheng was a little surprised and turned to him with a wink, "Your Highness!"

Min Youan, seeing her gaze, knew what she was thinking and began to subtly dismiss her, "It's almost lunchtime, would you like to stay for a meal, Prince Taigu?"

When a stranger invites you to dinner, most people would refuse, right?

Unfortunately, this Ancient King truly lived up to his name; he was indeed too ancient and lacked understanding of human relationships and social customs. He actually agreed!

Xia Tongsheng was facing Min Youan with her back to the King of Taigu. She gave Min Youan a ferocious smile, as if to say, "I told you to kick people out, but you stayed instead!"

Min Youan pulled her into his arms and, while holding Xia Tongsheng, said to the Prince of Taigu, "Then please come with me to the side hall, Your Highness!"

The Ancient King glanced at the two of them with a shifty look in his eyes, then nodded and said, "Alright!"

Seeing that it was already a fait accompli that the King of Taigu would stay for lunch, Xia Tongsheng didn't linger. "In that case, I'll go to the kitchen to prepare lunch!"

Min Youan nodded and watched Xia Tongsheng leave!

Although the Ancient King did nothing to her, Xia Tongsheng was unwilling to have any contact with him from the bottom of her heart. A woman's sixth sense is naturally more sensitive!

"This way, Your Highness!"

He followed Min You'an into the side hall. The King of Taigu instructed the gray-clad man behind him, "Ge Jin, go and tell Cang You that I have an inkstone in my study at Baiyue Villa. Have him bring it over as a token of my gratitude for the King of An's hospitality!"

Upon hearing Cang You's name, Min You'an's eyes flickered slightly. He said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, there's no need. It's just a meal!"

"It's alright, it's only fair!" He waved to Ge Jin, signaling him to hurry up.

What talk of reciprocity? It's clearly a case of ulterior motives. Under the guise of retrieving the inkstone, they just want Cang You to come and annoy Min You'an.

Cang You is really fast; he arrived just as I finished eating.

When Min You'an saw Cang You, his expression was somewhat unpleasant. After all, Cang You had followed him for many years, and this was the final outcome. He felt quite sad.

Taigu Wang put down his chopsticks, took the box from Cang Jue's hand, and handed it to Min You'an!

Min Youan took it but didn't open it immediately; instead, he placed it aside. Cang You's sudden appearance made him even more agitated, and he lost his appetite completely during the meal.

On the other hand, Taigu Wang kept praising how delicious the food was.

Xia Tongsheng sat in the courtyard and couldn't help but wonder what this Ancient King meant. With his current status and position, he could completely ignore the struggle for the throne between Min Youan and Min Zhifu. Since he wanted to get involved, what was his purpose?

If he wasn't one of the Crown Prince's men, then his staying for dinner would make sense; he wanted to align himself with the Prince. But how could the Crown Prince have known about the plague beforehand? And why would the Prince of Taigu kill the Prefect to silence the Crown Prince?

If he was the Crown Prince's man, then the death of the prefect and the plague would make sense, but why did he stay and dine with Min You'an?

No matter how smart Xia Tongsheng is, she wouldn't know that the real reason the Ancient King stayed for dinner was because of her!