usatvline Chapter 323 Giving Gifts
Chapter 323 Giving Gifts
Shen Lan discovered that Xiao Ji was actually angry.
Is he angry that he killed someone, or angry that he went to the Crown Prince's residence?
"Are you afraid I won't be able to come back from the Crown Prince's residence?" Shen Lan asked softly.
She could sense Xiao Ji's anxiety on the street just now, and the relieved expression on his face when he saw her was genuine.
At that time, he did not know that he had killed Zhou Ru.
For a moment, her heart softened, as if gently brushed by a feather.
"The Crown Prince's residence is a den of dragons and tigers for you. Next time something like this happens, just find a reason to refuse, and I will make an excuse for you."
"That's the Crown Prince."
How could His Highness the Crown Prince, who is second only to the Emperor, be treated with mere perfunctory courtesy?
Moreover, she was performing the autopsy as a coroner, so it was unlikely that she was in any danger.
But thinking back to Tong Yiwen's probing of her, if he had been more inclined to seek answers within himself, perhaps she really wouldn't have been able to escape.
She said casually, "Now that the Crown Prince knows my abilities are limited, he won't ask me to perform autopsies again next time."
Xiao Ji tugged at her sleeve and said disdainfully, "If you're going to perform an autopsy, why did you change your clothes? Do you even like the dresses from the Crown Prince's residence?"
Shen Lan twirled in front of him. The shimmering brocade skirt sparkled in the light and felt smooth and soft to the touch, making it the finest fabric.
No girl could resist such a beautiful dress.
"Doesn't it look good?"
She touched her hair and suddenly realized, "I know, it must be because I don't have any jewelry. A beautiful dress should be worn in full regalia to look its best."
Xiao Ji coughed and pointed out, "Not necessarily. It's fine this way, but the dress is a bit too big for you, and the color is also old-fashioned."
The color of this shimmering brocade is a light lotus root pink, which looks very youthful and not at all old-fashioned.
Shen Lan suspected that he was lying through his teeth.
"Go back and rest. I need to write the memorial for tomorrow's court session."
After Shen Lan left, Xiao Ji called someone in and instructed, "Go find two embroiderers, open the storeroom, and take two bolts of the shimmering brocade from my storeroom to Miss Shen to make two new dresses for her."
"Young Master, are you sure you want to use Floating Light Brocade?" Qingfeng asked in surprise.
That shimmering brocade was accumulated piece by piece over the years, originally intended as a betrothal gift for my future wife.
This wasn't something you could buy just with money; most of it was offered as tribute to the palace.
"Of course, go and get it done quickly. I remember there's a light red one and a pale yellow one, both are very nice."
Qingfeng said frankly, "Those two horses you mentioned are indeed beautiful with their vibrant colors, but Miss Shen might not like them, would she?"
Shen Lan usually wears plain colors, so this bright color might not suit her.
“She is only sixteen years old, and this color suits her perfectly. We will also give her a set of red agate jewelry.”
Qingfeng agreed and immediately went out to whisper to Mingyue.
"I suspect that Master likes Miss Shen."
While pruning the flower branches, Mingyue smiled and said, "Isn't this obvious? I just don't know when Master will express his feelings to Miss Shen."
Qingfeng was shocked. "When did you find out? How was it so obvious?"
Mingyue rolled her eyes at him. "You really have a pair of eyes that are wasted. You've served your master for so many years, when have you ever seen him so intimate with a woman?"
"But he didn't have a chance to get close to the other women either."
"Aren't there enough young ladies in our Xiao family? There have always been many who want to marry into the family, but when have you ever seen the master treat them differently?"
Xiao Ji appears to be a gentle person, always amiable to everyone.
But in reality, he was distant from everyone, especially women. His cousins had followed him since they were young, but he always distanced himself from them on the grounds that it was unreasonable.
"But the master said that he has no romantic feelings for Miss Shen."
"That was before."
Qingfeng thought about it carefully, but couldn't seem to see any difference.
Well, his eyesight has always been poor.
After Xiao Ji finished writing the memorial, he took the documents to the Princess's residence.
The funeral for the prince consort was held at the Lu residence, while the princess's residence didn't even have any white lanterns hung up.
The servants wore only white belts around their waists; otherwise, everything in the mansion was as usual.
"Lord Xiao, please come in."
The gatekeeper led Xiao Ji into the princess's study, where a young man with a mustache was sitting. Xiao Ji recognized him.
"Lord Xiao, it's been several months. Congratulations on your promotion."
"Commander He? When did you come to the capital? Is this trip for official business?"
Xiao Ji was genuinely surprised. Back in Tanzhou, this was the same person who had been in charge of receiving them, although the process hadn't been very pleasant.
"It's to deliver some festival gifts to the capital on behalf of Prince Zheng, and also to convey the prince's greetings to the eldest princess."
The fact that such a cushy job fell to He Jingli shows that he was doing very well in the Tanzhou government office.
"I only heard about the matter of the prince consort after I arrived. If Your Highness knew, you would definitely make a trip to the capital in person, so I have come to ask Your Highness for instructions."
It was not an easy task for the King of Zheng to enter the capital.
He could only enter the capital if the eldest princess was willing to plead with the emperor on his behalf and the emperor gave his approval.
The eldest princess ordered someone to take He Jingjing away, as there were some things that couldn't be said in front of outsiders.
This is a royal family affair, and Xiao Ji has no intention of getting involved, much less offering his opinion.
He handed the dossier to the princess and stated, "Huang Jingmin's whereabouts over the past two days have been investigated. He was invited to the innermost room on the third floor of Zuixianglou, but he had been drinking beforehand and went to the wrong floor, which is why he ended up in the prince consort's room."
The eldest princess waved her fan and said nonchalantly, "How can there be so many coincidences in the world? Besides, with one dead and two dead, even if they weren't killed by a third party, they must have been plotted against."
Xiao Ji felt the same way.
But he couldn't find any evidence.
The Criminal Investigation Department judges cases primarily based on evidence, and the deaths of these two individuals cannot be considered innocent.
"The whereabouts of the prince consort should be clear by nightfall. I wonder what the princess's next move is: to continue the investigation or to close the case?"
"You've come to ask for my opinion?"
"Yes."
The eldest princess was unsure of his intentions and tentatively asked, "You weren't like this when you were investigating the Crown Prince's case."
Xiao Ji respectfully replied, "The nature of the matter is different. Your subject is willing to obey the Princess's orders."
"What a joke! I'm not a prince, why would you listen to me? Do you expect me to emulate the Empress?"
"You jest. It's just a case. If Your Highness insists on investigating further, I will obey."
“Every time the King of Zheng writes, he praises you. He also says he misses the heir of the Marquis of Pingyang and has brought you gifts. Please pass on his gift.”
Xiao Ji agreed, "Then this humble subject will take his leave."
"Yes, go ahead. The Ministry of Justice is very busy. There's no need to go to great lengths to investigate such a minor case. Eunuch Huang has already come to apologize in person, so I can't be unreasonable."
Xiao Ji left satisfied.
As I was leaving, I saw a carriage at the gate with three large boxes on it.
The old nanny from the Princess's residence smiled and said, "These three festival gifts, besides those for Young Master Xiao, also include those for Young Master Fu and Miss Shen. They are all a token of Prince Zheng's goodwill. Please accept them."
Xiao Ji did not refuse, but he suddenly realized something.
The eldest princess has always had her own faction in the court, and this group of people is neither given to the emperor nor to any of the princes. Does that mean that the eldest princess wants to support her own younger brother?
This is understandable, after all, if King Zheng hadn't been so young back then, he might have been the one sitting on the dragon throne.