Tonight he asked Chi Feng to raid the underground gambling house and plunder all the financial resources inside. The thugs and dealers in the gambling house were clamoring that their boss behind the scenes was a well-known figure in the court and would definitely teach him a lesson.
He will send all the gambling house account books and gambling money to the court tomorrow to find out who owns this underground gambling house.
There was no conversation that night. When Ji Lingxue woke up, Xiao Yichen had already gone to the morning court. Ji Lingxue touched the cold quilt beside her and murmured, "I seemed to have dreamed of Xiao Yichen last night?"
Was that a dream?!
"Princess, what are you mumbling about to yourself?" Mo Xiang opened the door and came in and said with a smile, bringing the hot water to Ji Lingxue, wrung out the towel and handed it to her.
Ji Lingxue took it and wiped her face, then asked, "Did you see the prince this morning?" Did he go out of my room
Mo Xiang nodded and said, "The prince is in a good mood today and asked the butler to reward each of us with one tael of silver. Princess, it's great that you and the prince have reconciled."
Ji Lingxue: “…”
It was dawn, and we were at the Prince's Mansion.
Shisan Niang, with her red dress stained with blood and covered in wounds, knelt in front of a man and said weakly, "Master, our gambling house was raided by the Prince of Chen..."
The man in fancy clothes sat on a black sandalwood chair, holding a walnut or two in his hand. His back was facing the light, so his face could not be seen. Only his outline was visible, and he looked more and more vicissitudes. He snorted coldly, "What's going on?"
Shisan Niang then told him everything she had seen and heard. At the end, she said, "Master, did the Prince of Chen do this because he knew that you were the boss behind the gambling house and deliberately closed it down?"
Without the gambling house, the fastest way to make money, the man in fancy clothes had a distorted face and gritted his teeth and said, "Xiao Yichen is idle in the capital... It seems that I have to find something for him to do... Do you know who the woman who went to the gambling house with him is?"
Shisan Niang shook her head. "That woman changed her appearance. I don't know who she is."
The man in fancy clothes snorted coldly, "Xiao Yichen only has a few women like this. Do you think she looks like the Prince of Chen's concubine? I heard that the Prince of Chen almost killed his wife in order to marry this concubine."
Shisan Niang thought about it and was not so sure. Ji Lingxue and Ji Yuqing looked very similar.
The man in fancy clothes turned his head to look at the sky outside the window and said, "It's time for the morning court session. You should stay in the mansion first. In order not to cause unnecessary trouble, you should not go out for the next few days until the news outside has died down.
Shisan Niang knelt on the ground to express her gratitude. The man in gorgeous clothes walked past her, opened the door and went out.
There was a big drama in the court today. The prince, who usually attended court once every three days and had not come for five days, was the first to stand in the court today for the first time.
The officials who came later paid their respects to Xiao Yichen one after another, and Xiao Yichen nodded gracefully until the king's uncle appeared, and then King Chen nodded to him.
This uncle of the emperor was deeply favored by the emperor, and he was given a lucrative job in the Ministry of Revenue.
Xiao Yimo, wearing a dragon robe, sat on the dragon throne surrounded by palace servants. All officials kowtowed and paid their respects, but Xiao Yichen stood out from the crowd and bowed to him.
Xiao Yimo glanced at the sky outside and teased Xiao Yichen, "Does my royal brother have anything to say when he goes to court today?"
Xiao Yichen smiled and nodded, then he bowed and presented the account book of the Western Suburbs gambling house that he had prepared long ago to Xiao Yimo, "I went to the most famous gambling house in the Western Suburbs yesterday because I was bored. I didn't expect to find some tricks. This gambling house is incredible. The profit in just one month reached tens of millions of taels. I was itching to play a game at that time, and I left after winning a little money. I didn't expect that the thugs of this gambling house would block my way and prevent me from leaving. The only people who could leave were those who lost everything. I think that the behavior of this gambling house is problematic, so I raided the gambling house and found a lot of accounts of unknown origin."
The ministers looked at each other in surprise. The Prince of Chen was truly amazing and had made another achievement.
During Prince Chen's last trip to Moon-Watching Lake, he accidentally discovered the Third Prince of Dayan. Although he did not capture him, he seized all of the Third Prince's belongings that he had left in the capital. This time, Prince Chen also seized the most popular gambling house in the capital. Regardless of whether his reasons were justified or not, the fact is that he gained a large sum of property to fill the national treasury.
Even the emperor, who had never been optimistic about him, looked upon him with a smile. This was a great ability.
Xiao Yimo glanced at it, nodded and smiled, "My royal brother, you have worked hard. The 50 million taels of gold seized from this gambling house will be added to the national treasury, which will be just enough to repair the dam next year."
In the court, there were voices of compliments such as “Long live the emperor, his wisdom is great.”
The uncle of the emperor bowed to Xiao Yimo and said, "Prince Chen really helps the emperor to relieve his worries and benefit the people. Many girls in Beijing have disappeared inexplicably today. The Ministry of Justice has been busy with these missing cases for half a month, but there has been no progress. It would be better to let Prince Chen join the investigation of this case. Maybe there will be light at the end of the tunnel."
Xiao Yimo's face darkened. Now that the year is almost over, such a missing case has been exposed. It is illegal at the foot of the capital. These thieves have too much contempt for the imperial power and for him as the emperor.
Xiao Yimo turned his gaze to Xiao Yichen and asked for his opinion. Xiao Yichen was brave and invincible in the battlefield, but it was a bit far-fetched to ask him to solve difficult cases.
Xiao Yichen turned his head to look at the uncle of the emperor and raised the corner of his mouth. It seemed that he had offended the uncle of the emperor invisibly.
Xiao Yichen said: "I will give it a try."
While the battle in the court was going fiercely, heavy snow was falling outside.
Mo Xiang walked into Ji Lingxue's room carrying a thermos, "Princess, it's snowing outside..."
Ji Lingxue lowered her head as if she didn't hear what Mo Xiang said. Mo Xiang curiously moved closer to Ji Lingxue, but was frightened by the two snakes on the table, "Ah... snakes... snakes... poisonous snakes!"
Ji Lingxue looked up at the uneasy Mo Xiang and consoled him, "Don't worry, these two are just dead snakes." I asked the secret guard to bring them from the gambling house last night.
There were a lot of treasures hidden in that gambling house, including snakes and scorpions. Ji Lingxue was only interested in poisonous creatures, so she collected them all.
Xiao Yichen locked all the black bears and leopards in the gambling house in cages and raised them as pets.
Mo Xiang twitched his lips, speechless about Ji Lingxue's weird hobby, "Princess, what are you doing?"
Ji Lingxue said "oh" without looking up, and continued to study her poison, "Oh, I plan to make two bottles of poison and sell them on the black market. I heard the price is very good."
Mo Xiang opened his mouth and ate the wind. "Princess, you are not short of money, why are you still researching poisons to harm people?"
Ji Lingxue seemed to understand Mo Xiang's thoughts and said with a smile: "Even if I don't study poisons, there are still people out there who buy them at high prices." So it's not that she is unkind but the market demand.
Mo Xiang raised his index finger, which seemed to make sense.
Seeing the poison in the bowl turn from green to black, Ji Lingxue exclaimed in surprise: "It worked!"
Mo Xiang's eyelids twitched as he asked, "What kind of poison is this?"
Ji Lingxue said: "Five steps and you will die. Doesn't it sound scary?"
Mo Xiang nodded vigorously. Just hearing the name gave him a feeling as if the god of death was coming.
Ji Lingxue stretched lazily and turned to look at the heavy snow falling outside. "It's really snowing."
Ji Lingxue put on her outer cloak and walked under the eaves, reaching out her hand to catch the falling snow. At this moment, Zi Ye's voice rang out at the door, "Is the princess here? Concubine Qing wants to see you."
Mo Xiang responded, and then saw Ji Yuqing walking in wearing a red fur coat, like a ball of fire rushing into the yard.
Ji Lingxue twitched her lips when she saw Ji Yuqing, who was wrapped tightly. "Sister, is there something you want to talk to me about?"
Ji Yuqing smiled and said, "If there's nothing else, why don't I come to see my sister? Look how cold it is on a snowy day, it's a good time to visit."
Ji Lingxue smiled and looked at Ji Yuqing with deep eyes. No one would come to your temple for no reason. If he came, there must be something.
Ji Lingxue felt that Ji Yuqing came to see her because she must have discovered that the map of the palace had been replaced. She didn't want to go to Xiao Yichen to test it, so she came to her to ask indirectly.
Ji Lingxue turned and went into the house. Ji Yuqing hurriedly followed her in and sat opposite Ji Lingxue on the coffee table, on which there was a teapot that was steaming.
Ji Yuqing picked it up and poured a cup of tea and started drinking it, but her eyes were darting around. "It's my first time to visit my sister's new home. It's strange that the thunder struck my sister's side yard that day. Fortunately, my sister is blessed with a good life, and the prince has taken such good care of her that he let her live in Yilanyuan to face the prince."
"Sister, your tea is so delicious. I wonder if you have any more? Can you give me some?" Seeing that Ji Lingxue had not spoken to her, Ji Yuqing found a topic to talk about.
Ji Lingxue raised her head and looked at Ji Yuqing blankly, "Sister, what did you just say? I saw it was snowing outside, and I was worried that the prince didn't wear thick clothes when he went to the morning court. Mo Xiang, go and give the prince a thick cloak later."
Mo Xiang at the door responded, "Yes, Princess!"
After hearing this, Ji Yuqing's face turned pale and blue. Ji Lingxue was getting more and more outrageous. She ignored her words and deliberately showed her affection in front of her.
Ji Yuqing tried hard to force a smile. If she hadn't come here for the map, she would have really wanted to just walk away.
Ji Lingxue looked at Ji Yuqing with amusement. She didn't expect this girl to be so capable.
Ji Lingxue turned around and asked Mo Xiang who was standing at the door: "What did my sister, the concubine, say just now?"
Hearing Ji Lingxue calling her "sister concubine", which was completely intended to emphasize her status, Ji Yuqing began to feel uncomfortable again.
Mo Xiang then loudly replied, "Princess, Concubine Qing said she likes the tea you use and asked if you could give her some."
Ji Lingxue nodded, "Oh, my sister likes it. I'll pack a bag for her later. This is the West Lake Longjing tea given by the Queen Mother."
Ji Yuqing's mouth twitched, "Sister, do you know that something was stolen from the palace?"
Ji Lingxue blinked, turned her head and asked Mo Xiang: "Mo Xiang, you have been on duty recently, and you can see who enters my courtyard. Although I have no dowry, I still have dozens of taels of silver."
Ji Yuqing's mouth twitched, "Sister, I'm not talking about the backyard, but the prince's study?"
(End of this chapter)