Chapter 312: Familiar

Emperor Chong’an’s eyes flickered. The people he had sent to Anyang County had returned a few days ago, but they found that Song Jingchen was still in Xiagou Village.

The shadow guards beside him were handed over to him by the late emperor. They were all nurtured from a young age. They would only be loyal to the emperor their entire lives, so they would never lie.

There were only two possibilities. The first was that the person the shadow guards saw wasn’t Song Jingchen at all, but a subst.i.tute.

The second was that Lord Zhou had seen it wrongly.

However, he subconsciously sided with Lord Zhou.

After all, he had already been suspicious when he found out that Young Master Shenzhi had saved the entire Xunyang City alone. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have sent the Shadow Guards over.

Emperor Chong’an glanced at the jade pendant in Lord Zhou’s hand. Lord Zhou understood and bowed to send the jade pendant to Emperor Chong’an’s desk.

Emperor Chong’an picked up the jade pendant and looked at it for a long time. He sneered. “Which good son of mine do you think did it?”

No matter how much Lord Zhou obtained the Emperor’s favor, he did not dare to answer. It was not as if he did not know about Emperor Chong’an’s paranoia. What if Emperor Chong’an suspected that he had been bribed by another person?

He asked tentatively, “Your Majesty, why don’t we call the princes over to see whose jade pendant was lost?”

Emperor Chong’an waved his hand and sneered. “If you were the one who lost the pendant, how would you make up for it?”

“Well… find a way to get another one like this.”

“This jade pendant is carved from an entire piece of jade. A large piece of jade is rare.

“I have a total of six sons, and each of them has a jade pendant. That person is so cautious, he definitely won’t leave behind this weakness. Just in case, he will definitely replace the jade pendant with someone else’s.”

“If I let them come now, I guarantee that everyone will have it, but the person holding the fake jade might not be the mastermind.” Towards the end, Emperor Chong’an’s gaze became gloomy.

He was once a prince, so he knew the tricks that his sons could pull. However, the feeling of having power in his hands over the past few years had almost made him forget the scheming between him and his brothers when he was still a prince. Most of his energy was spent on being suspicious of others.

Moreover, what he did not say was that if those women were really placed in the backyards of the ministers, he did not dare to imagine how many ministers had already been secretly won over by his son. If he alerted the culprit, they might directly rebel against him.

“Your Majesty, then…” Lord Zhou naturally knew about this.

Emperor Chong’an took a deep breath and suddenly asked, “Did Song Jingchen really say that?”

Lord Zhou was stunned for a moment and quickly replied, “Yes, Imperial Bodyguard Lin was almost discovered.”

Emperor Chong’an sneered. “I’m afraid he deliberately said that for you to hear.”

Otherwise, why would it be such a coincidence? He did not believe that that person would be so stupid.

Lord Zhou was shocked. “Your Majesty, then…”

Emperor Chong’an took a deep breath. “You can leave. I don’t want anyone else to know about this.”

“I’ll take my leave.”

Emperor Chong’an stared at the door of the hall for a long time and knocked on the table a few times. Suddenly, a masked man in black appeared in the hall.

“Your men are incompetent. I’ll let him off the hook this time. Send a few people to investigate if there are places other than Xunyang City in which there have been frequent disappearances of young girls in the past few years.” Emperor Chong’an’s eyes were dark. He paused and said, “From tomorrow onwards, I don’t want to see that old doctor again.”

If that incompetent doctor hadn’t sworn to Emperor Chong’an that Song Jingchen’s legs would never recover, he wouldn’t have let him go so easily.

The man in black cupped his hands and retreated.

Emperor Chong’an naturally wanted to send someone to kill Song Jingchen immediately, but he couldn’t do it now. If all of this was true, he had to get his hands on that list.

Since Emperor Chong’an couldn’t kill him, it would be more rea.s.suring to keep such a dangerous person under supervision.

In the future, he wouldn’t go easy on Song Jingchen anymore.

A murderous look flashed across Emperor Chong’an’s eyes.

At this moment, Eunuch Deng walked in. “Your Majesty, Concubine Rou has brought you hangover soup.”

Concubine Rou was a concubine who had just been selected. She looked gentle and weak, and Emperor Chong’an liked her. Recently, she had been in the limelight in the harem.

Emperor Chong’an was about to let her in when he thought of something and his face instantly darkened. “I won’t see her. Tell her to stay in her palace if she has nothing to do. Don’t keep hanging around in front of me.”

Eunuch Deng was shocked. Concubine Rou fell out of favor so quickly. He had even received a lot of benefits from her.

“Concubine Rou, His Majesty is tired and doesn’t want to see anyone. Why don’t you go back to your palace and rest?”

Eunuch Deng spoke politely, but everyone was smart. How could they not understand what he meant? Concubine Rou’s thin body swayed, and her palm-sized face turned pale.

In less than two hours, the news that Concubine Rou had been chased back to the palace by Emperor Chong’an spread to the various palaces in the harem.

Every concubine had a different reaction. Some gloated, but most of them felt bitterly disappointed. Indeed, no one could be popular for a hundred days. His Majesty’s favor was like fireworks that disappeared in a flash. Someday, they would also end up like Concubine Rou.

It was rare for Song Jingchen to not go out on the first day of the new year. Shen Yijia had nowhere to explore in this place. After breakfast, she asked him to teach her boxing.

Well, she could also take advantage of him.

At this moment, Mo Yuan walked in. “Miss, the women who were saved from Jing’an Temple are here. They want to see you.”

Under Song Jingchen’s gaze, Shen Yijia awkwardly retracted her hand from his waist. She turned around and asked in surprise, “No way. Why are they looking for me?”

Mo Yuan said, “I don’t know.”

At this moment, Song Jingchen suddenly said, “Perhaps they want you to take them in.”

When these women first returned, everyone might have sympathized with them. However, as time pa.s.sed, the sympathy was replaced by gossip. That was the most hurtful thing.

Most people would ignore the fact that those women were victims and only consider if their innocence was still intact. These words would not only hurt those women, but also affected their families.

“Me, taking them in?” Shen Yijia frowned.

She started to calculate in her heart. How much would it cost her to raise so many people?

Mo Yuan cost one tael of silver a month. Even if they weren’t as expensive as Mo Yuan, it would still cost a few hundred copper coins, right?

Moreover, apart from their monthly allowance, they had to eat, drink, excrete, and sleep. They also had to treat their illnesses. It was possible that she had to give them a dowry when they got married in the future. After they got married…

Shen Yijia did not know how much money it would cost in the end. Anyway, it was very expensive.

She shook her head decisively. “No, I won’t see them. Let them go.”

Not long after Mo Yuan left, she returned with anger on her face. “They said that if Miss doesn’t see them, they’ll kneel for a long time until Miss is willing to see them.”

“You didn’t throw them out?” Shen Yijia rolled her eyes. What did their decisions have to do with her? There was no reason for her to be responsible for them for the rest of her life after saving them.

“I did, but they crawled back.” This was why Mo Yuan was angry.

Shen Yijia was speechless.

Why was this scene so familiar? She glanced at Mo Yuan silently. Did people like to kneel?