It was easy to find a place with few people as long as they went toward the suburban areas.
Thus, after feeling that they were being stalked, Shi led Xu there.
As expected, the stalkers mounted an attack the moment they were out of the North Gate before reaching the suburban areas.
Xu used to be alone before and only got good Lightness Skills, so Xu ended up being forced to run.
But now, with the help of Shi and Shadow Guardians, the six people of Sky Hermit Fort were apprehended at this time.
“Head for the palace.” Shi directed an order after Shadow Guardians made successful arrests.
Xu looked at Shi with admiration. “Elder Brother Shi, You’re awesome and cool!”
Shi glanced at Xu with a smile. “Really?”
“Yes.” Xu was generous with compliments and started to extol Shi.
Shi helplessly sighed and indeed found Xu somewhat noisy.
But, it was impossible for such a kind of person definitely to have anything with Long.
Back in the imperial palace, Xu wanted to wait for the interrogation results to come out, but…Shi said, “Those people are quite tough and won’t disclose the secrets of Sky Hermit Fort so quickly. You can come tomorrow.”
Xu felt a little disappointed, but there was nothing he could do.
Afterward, Xu returned to his palace in disappointment.
At night, lying on the bed with Shi, Long said, “The people in charge of monitoring First Wangyeh said someone sneaked into the mansion late last night. They failed to track him due to his powerful martial arts. But, the man hadn’t come out yet.”
“En.” Shi narrowed his eyes and asked, “So he is still inside?”
“Yes, it looks like so.”
“Do you suspect he has anything to do with the murderer?”
“It’s very likely,” said Long in a muffled voice. “Now, they are investigating where he went before entering the mansion of First Wangyeh.”
Shi said with a nod, “However, he’s accomplished in martial arts, so it may be hard to find out something.”
“Eh,” Long replied and held Shi into his arms. Shi glanced at the big hands around his waist and did nothing.
Long held Shi even tighter. “Qingzhou, can you fall asleep?”
Shi rolled his eyes. “Just say what you wanna do.”
Long stroked his noise and said innocently, “Qingzhou…why do I think you detest me judging from your voice?”
Shi rolled his eyes again. “Long Xiaoyuan.”
“Eh?” Long replied instantly.
Shi forced a smile and said, “You said you’d control yourself this morning.”
Long winked and winked again and then said with grievances, “Oh.”
Shi was literally going to laugh with anger.
Long attached his neck to Shi’s, rubbed it, and giggled.
Shi, “…”
“Qingzhou, your body is so tender.” Long added with compliments, “Besides, you taste good and comfortable.”
Shi, “…”
Long continued, “Qingzhou, in your eyes, don’t these people get tired with so many little tricks?”
Shi said with a faint smile, “I don’t know.”
Long sighed. “Did you send the news to your father?”
“Eh,” Shi replied. “I asked the message to be delivered at top speed. No worries, my father will know what to do.”
“I rest assured of your father,” said Long immediately. “Qingzhou, oh, by the way…you haven’t told me about the border, have you?”
“What?” Shi tilted his head to look at Long.
Long blew his kiss on Shi’s eyelids. “Tell me about your life at the border.”
Shi sneered and asked, “Why are you so alike Xu You?”
“En? He asked you about this?” Long narrowed his eyes. “Did you tell him?”
“He was interested in the local customs of the border, so I randomly told him a little,” said Shi.
“Well…” Long felt extremely jealous of Xu. “You haven’t even told me about that.”
Shi said lightly, “There is nothing to talk about. Joining the army is quite boring, isn’t it?”
Long was silent for a moment and held Shi’s head before putting it on his shoulder. “Qingzhou, you weren’t happy at that period, were you?”
Happy? Shi fell into silence completely.
Shi should have felt happy, but something was wrong with the relationship between Long and him…he was unhappy, which was for sure.
Shi’s silence broke Long’s heart. “Qingzhou, all fault is mine. I lost my mind…”
Shi smiled gently. “It’s a good thing. Everything turned okay after we talked to each other.”
Without this war, he might not have said “if you want me, you can only have me” in his entire life…
Long could only choose one between the Imperial Harem and Shi!
Long said with a nod, “Eh, you made your point, Qingzhou…it’s a good thing that we talked to each other. Besides, I feel contented after knowing your true feelings!”
Shi smiled gently.
Long kissed Shi’s eyelids again. “Let’s sleep.”
Subsequently, Long closed his eyes with Shi in his arms.
However, Long was doomed not to have a sound sleep.
Liu Xiangyang showed up at the door shortly after Long closed his eyes.
Liu called Long in a low voice. Then, Long opened his eyes with his brows furrowed.
“Why am I so hard to have a sound sleep?”
Shi slightly frowned. “What’s up?”
If only Long knew it.
Long asked Liu to get inside. Liu instantly said, “Fire broke out in the mansion of First Wangyeh. The security troops have gone there to help, but the fire is so big, so I’m afraid…”
“Eh? The mansion of First Wangyeh?” Long felt surprised.
“First Wangyeh…” Shi muttered to himself. “It’s really odd.”
It was eccentric. Having heard the report out, Long asked Liu to withdraw.
“Qingzhou, let’s go and have a look.”
Shi picked his brows. “Go to the mansion of First Wangyeh situated out of the imperial palace?”
“That’s right.” Long smiled. “To show our care about First Wangyeh.”
With gleams flickering in his eyes, Shi got to know Long’s meanings.
Long already sat up.
Shi followed suit upon seeing this. They quickly put on clothes and directly took an imperial palanquin to directly head for the outside of the imperial palace.
The Imperial Guards protected them on the way.
Sitting on the spacious palanquin, Long held Shi into his arms. “Are you sleepy?”
Shi shook his head. “No, I’m not.”
It was rather normal to stay up for three days and nights when at wars.
Shi looked at the outside. “It’s almost there.”
Long said with a nod, “Eh.”
Arrival at the mansion of First Wangyeh, Long and Shi got off the palanquin together.
All the people present dropped their knees and kowtowed, acclaiming, “ May Your Majesty and Your Grace live long and prosper.”
Long waved his hand. “Stand up. The priority is to put out the fire. Where is First Uncle? Has anyone seen him?”
“Your Majesty,” said the leader of the Imperial Guards. “We haven’t spotted First Wangyeh yet. A small of menservants and maids are trapped inside.”
Long said with a darkened face, “Why is it so serious? Extinguish the fire as soon as possible!”
Long acted like he was so worried about First Wangyeh.
Shi also showed his concerns appropriately. “Your Majesty, the fire is too big…I’m afraid it’s rather difficult in putting it out.”
Long stared at the fire with his brows wrinkled.
Although Liu had informed him of this, Long still got startled by the scene.
Such a big fire wasn’t like an act at all…
The Shadow Guardian shouted inside at this very moment, “First Wangyeh! Find First Wangyeh!”
Long and Shi looked at each other and rushed there.
It was indeed First Wangyeh, but he was dying!
Long felt stunned. “First Uncle?”
With blood surging out of the hole cut on his chest, First Wangyeh struggled to open his slack eyes and said after appearing to hear Long’s voice, “Your Majesty, I…was wounded…watch…out…”
First Wangyeh seemed to remind Long of warning of someone, but with his eyes suddenly wide opened, he twisted and was unable to speak something already…
Long almost died of anger because of this.
How could such a drama happen before him? He always found it exaggerating each time when he saw such a plot in a book or on TV- the dying person wanted to say something important but died before finishing his words.
Now, it looked like…Shit!
Long got a livid face and cried sorrowfully, “First Uncle!”
Shi followed suit.
Long weakly shook his body like there was too much for him to take in.
Seeing this, Shi helped Long stand and asked, “Your Majesty, are you okay?”
The others started to get worried for fear that there was something wrong with His Majesty.
Long waved his hand in frustration. “I’m fine…”
“Your Majesty, let’s get back. Your Majesty, you should take care of yourself. First Uncle died with injustice, and we must avenge him.”
Having been silence for a while, Long sadly nodded. “Sure, let’s go back.”
Afterward, Long was helped into the palanquin and went toward the imperial palace.
Back in the Qiankun Palace, Long was done the acting.
“Qingzhou, this is not right. First Wangyeh was silenced.”
“En, there is a mark of the sharp blade piercing through his chest. He was indeed murdered.”
Long took a deep breath and said, “I don’t think the officials of the Ministry of Punishments will handle this matter to my satisfaction. Shadow Guardians are needed to look into it.”
Shi said with a nod, “I think so, but…the Ministry of Punishment has to investigate it by following the procedure in the surface.”
Long sighed. “The ministry is short of capable people. Qingzhou, can you recommend some to me?”
Shi smiled gently. “Your Majesty, I’m also in the palace.”
“As awesome as you’re, you can control the world even without going out,” said Long instantly.
Shi narrowed his eyes. “Huh?”
Long smiled with his eyes fixed on Shi. “Qingzhou, take it as a compliment.”
Shi rolled his eyes and said slowly, “Your Majesty, you’ve hidden yourself too deeply. You actually know a lot of things, don’t you?”
“Er?” Long winked. “Qingzhou, what are you referring to?”
Shi said with a cold sneer, “Your Majesty, why do you ask with knowledge of the answer?”
“Alright then.” Long flattened his mouth with grievances. “Well, I do know you secretly foster your force. I haven’t said this to you because I want to know how far you’ll go. But when I love you afterward, I don’t care about this at all. After all, I’ll be beneficial if you can turn powerful, won’t I?”
Shi kept silent.
For fear that Shi thought too much, Long said in a hurry, “Qingzhou, I’ve been honest with you.”
Shi squinted at Long up and down and finally sighed confronted with Long’s serious eyes.
“Since you’ve said so, I don’t need to hide this anymore. In fact, I do foster my force on the sly.”
Long smiled and kissed Shi’s face.
“Qingzhou, don’t dread of anything. We’re a couple and we can tell each other about everything. Do you hear me?”
Shi slightly smiled and said after a long time, “Since so, I really get someone to recommend. Your Majesty, you may not dare use him.”
“Huh?” Hearing this, Long brightened his eyes. “Who are you talking about?”
Shi replied with a faint smile, “Hu Qingyuan, the Magistrate of Huanshan County.”
“Huh, the Magistrate of Huanshan County?” Long got dumbfounded. “Who is he?”
Shi helplessly glanced at Long. “He was number three in the final imperial examination ten years ago. As an honest and frank man, he’s been demoted all the time and been the Magistrate of Huanshan County for a couple of years.”
Long said with his eyes brightened, “He sounds competent according to you. Uh…though the Minister of Punishments is loyal to us, he’s not so competent. Qingzhou, what do you think of Hu’s abilities?”
“Not bad. He’s as capable as the incumbent Minister of Punishments, which is for sure. Besides, he has a way to handle cases. He’s only a magistrate now. We don’t need to give him a high post in the beginning. Since he’s good at handling cases, we can make him investigate cases.”
Hearing this, Long brightened his eyes again. “Good idea. Okay, I’ll issue the transfer order tomorrow. Qingzhou, what post do you think I should give him?”
“Assistant Minister of Punishment…it’s enough for him to be the Vice-assistant Minister of Punishments, three ranks higher than the Magistrate of Huanshan County.”
Assistant Minister of Punishments was just one rank higher than this, so it was enough for Hu.
The noblest quality of Hu was that he never altered his principles no matter how poor he was these years.
Even if he got rejected by his colleagues, he never changed his original heart to seek truth from facts.
Thus, Shi admired Hu very much.
Also, since three years ago, he had sent someone to contact Hu secretly. Hu had taken the side of him and sworn allegiance to him by now.
Over the three years, Hu had told him much intelligence.
Long and Shi went to bed after the matter involved Hu was settled.
The incident of First Wangyeh wouldn’t be handled until tomorrow morning.
Muzar was murdered first, followed by the mansion of First Wangyeh burned down. What a coincidence.
It must be very boisterous in the morning session of tomorrow.
Long was even unpleasant in his sleep. As soon as he thought of so many disturbing things, he turned upset!
The good thing was that Qingzhou was there with him.
Hence, he could live with these!
As expected, it was quite “bustling” in the next morning session.
There were some officials loyal to First Wangyeh. Usually, they didn’t expose themselves, but First Wangyeh was killed this time and his mansion was burned down, so they found it unacceptable.
They all felt that their status and interests were under threat. Spurred by the terror and worries in their hearts, they attended the morning session and suspected this one and that one, almost considering each one the real murderer!
Hearing those, Long felt like his head was going to explode. However, both Left-Prime Minister and Right-Prime Minister kept silent at the moment.
Long swept across them with his eyes and sighed in his heart that they were sophisticated foxes.
When the quarrels reigned the Throne Room, Shi was talking to Xu at the Qiankun Palace.
Xu came over as early as in the morning and naturally asked about Sky Hermit Fort.
Shi then asked the Shadow Guardian in charge of the interrogation over.
The Shadow Guardian said, “Your Grace, four of the six people bit their tongues to kill themselves. The rest of the two haven’t said anything yet.”
Xu changed his expression after hearing this. “What? Kill themselves?”
The Shadow Guardian continued, “One of the dead spoke something. He seemed unfamiliar with the situation of the fort, which is very doubtful.”
Xu was in a daze. “He didn’t know what happened to the fort?”
“No,” Shi replied to Xu. “It means the people weren’t familiar with the fort.”
“How is that possible?” Xu felt surprised.
Shi squinted his eyes. “Do you know them?”
Xu got stunned again and shook his head. “I don’t know them, but they said they took their master’s order to apprehend me…the master must be the Master of Sky Hermit Fort. How could it not be he?”
Shi slightly shook his head. “Your thoughts are too simple.”
Xu twisted the corners of his lips and felt somewhat helpless. “Elder Brother Shi…”
Shi explained slowly, “The Master of Sky Hermit Fort knows his son is into you. I heard from you that those people tried to kill you many times, but the Master might not direct an execution order. After all, killing you will make his son hate him very much. The loss outweighs the gain.”
Xu got astonished in situ.
“Fang Shuoyang is the only child. As the owners of Sky Hermit Fort, Fang Qiuhua and Zhou Huan would leave adequate leeway for themselves. They could send someone to catch you but shouldn’t kill you. You’ve said the people directly wanted to kill you several times, so I doubt there are two groups of people chasing after you. Those we caught wanted to eradicate you.”
After some thoughts, Xu suddenly changed his expression. “I remember it. Two groups of people showed up once. When I just got rid of a group, I was then chased by another group, but those didn’t want to kill me…Were there really two groups of people? One group wanted to kill me; the other only wanted to catch me!”
Shi nodded. “You said those yourself… so my guess may be correct!”