The Emperor cast a sideways glance at him.
"Are you the Emperor, or am I the Emperor?"
Ji Youzhi shut his mouth and said nothing.
"You came to see me early in the morningāhas there been progress in the Princeās Mansion case?"
Ji Youzhi raised an eyebrow, "You truly have spies planted in my home!"
The Emperor walked to the chessboard and said, "Iāve already told you, Iām worried about Suisui and her habit of flying off like Feifei, afraid that one day sheāll take off again, and we wonāt know where sheās gone, leaving us to search for her like headless flies.
Thatās why Iāve arranged for several secret agents to protect her!"
After saying this, he pointed at the chessboard, "Play a game with me, we can talk while playing."
Ji Youzhi waved his hand, "I didnāt sleep a wink all night, surely you know, yet you want to play chess with me now, are you serious?"
The Emperor ignored him and picked a black piece, placing it on the board.
With no choice, Ji Youzhi took a white piece and placed it without regard for rank.
"The case from thirteen years ago is far more complicated than we imagined; it might even be connected to the Imperial Consortās case in some way!"
The Emperorās eyes opened wide, his breath slightly unstable, but only for a moment, then he continued playing, "Is there a wide-ranging entanglement?"
"The Governor of Shuntian Prefecture back then certainly had some issues, but he is now the Southwest Garrison Minister, in charge of regional affairs. I only have suspicions about him, without evidence, not to mention lacking the authority to investigate him!"
The Emperor gave him a sly look, "You donāt have authority?
The power of the Divine Hunter Hall, I directly endowed it, you can even investigate a murder case in the harem, yet you canāt investigate a Garrison Minister?"
This man is obviously here to request the Imperial Edict!
"Hehe! Actually, I feel that Liu Yuheng is out of town, and running back and forth tires me out!"
"Understood, later Iāll have lunch with my mother, and have her find someone to stop by the Southwest, mention my March selection of imperial consorts, and have the Zhongshu Province issue a transfer order for the Garrison Minister of the South Road to return to the capital to report to duty. Use that opportunity to act quickly!"
"Many thanks, Your Majesty!"
Ji Youzhi bowed quickly in thanks.
"Enough, youāre usually respectful to me but itās all an act, I see right through it!
Canāt you learn from the old Eighth Brother to chide me when necessary, and speak directly when needed?
Arenāt you tired of all this pretense?
Iām already weary from watching others pretend every day!
Watching you pretend is even more exhausting!"
Ji Youzhi smirked, said nothing, and simply took his leave.
"I havenāt slept for two days and nights, I must leave the palace and get some sleep first!"
"Hey! Are you leaving just like that?
No, canāt you at least tell me some of the details about this case?
The most important thing is whether Lu Yunsheng is truly my cousin?"
Ji Youzhi gave him a sympathetic look, turned, and left, with an air of arrogance!
As he watched him leave, the Emperor fell into contemplation, knocking on the table, when a man in black silently appeared.
"Your Majesty!"
"Do you know what heās discovered?"
"Your servant dares not speculate!"
Donāt dare to speculate?
That means there is a direction of suspicion.
"Go ahead and speak, I wonāt blame you if youāre wrong!"
With the Emperorās words, the secret agent immediately spoke: "Divine Hunter Ji has recently investigated all the archives from back then, and also re-investigated everyone involved in firefighting and all officials within three ranks upward and downward from that time, most of whom have intricacies linked with Minister Lu!"
The Emperorās face darkened.
The temperature in the room dropped sharply.
"Your Majesty, there is one more thing Iām unsure whether to say."
The Emperor gave him a cold look.
"Itās like this, last year, during the plum blossom banquet hosted by Lady Ji, Divine Hunter Ji invited several young talents to attend. In the middle of the event, Lady Ji took the County Master of Qingping to toast the male guests, and Divine Hunter Ji specifically introduced Lu Yunsheng to Lady Ji."
"Purposefully introduced Lu Yunsheng to meet Lady Ji?"
The Emperor inhaled some unusual air from within.
"Yes."
"What did Lady Ji say to him?"
"She didnāt say much, just stared at Lu Yunsheng for quite a while, finally uttering that Minister Lu knows how to raise sons!"
With a "snap," the Emperorās chess piece fell to the ground.
It rolled and rolled.
He roughly guessed something; perhaps the truth of the great fire at the Princeās Mansion may soon come to light.
But when it does, will it bring a royal scandal into the light as well?
"Your Majesty! There is another matter I need to report, regarding the Long Princess!"
"?"
"Cough, cough!"