Bai Zheng glanced at her and smiled faintly. "Get ready. Qing Shao should be coming back soon."
With that, she dipped the writing brush in her hand in ink and swiftly brushed it across the snow - white paper. In one smooth motion, the words "Suyin Workshop" appeared on the paper.
Seeing Bai Zheng's actions, Zhu Ling remained expressionless. These days, her young lady had either been busy with the shop business from dawn till dusk or personally inscribing names for several shops. She had never shown any concern about Qing Shao.
Zhu Ling couldn't help but ask, "How does the young lady know that Qing Shao is about to return?"
Since Qing Shao was taken away by the eunuch from the palace on the day of the betrothal feast, there had been no news at all.
Bai Zheng put down the brush, frowned at the words on the paper. Dissatisfied, she crumpled it into a ball and tossed it onto the small mountain of discarded paper on the ground. As she tossed it, she glanced at Zhu Ling and said with a smile, "Do you know who is the happiest that Feng Jingyang has fallen ill with hysteria?"
Zhu Ling replied somewhat confusedly, "I suppose it should be the Marquis of Gaochang. If the murderer of his daughter doesn't pay any price, it would be unjust."
Bai Zheng picked up the brush again and said calmly, "The case is not yet concluded, but the prime suspect has fallen ill with hysteria, presumably haunted by the soul of the deceased. If something happens to Qing Shao, the key witness, at this moment, who do you think will suffer the most?"
Zhu Ling was taken aback, frowned, and thought for a while before saying, "Could it be... the Fourth Prince?"
"Not only him." Bai Zheng smiled faintly.
"Is there someone else? Young lady, please don't keep me in suspense." Zhu Ling flattered her by tidying up the stack of papers on the table, then picked up a clean one and waited eagerly.
Bai Zheng quickly crumpled the newly written paper into a ball and threw it on the ground. Seeing Zhu Ling sensibly handing over a clean sheet, she turned her head and said with a smile, "There's also the one who ordered Qing Shao's detention..."
"His Majesty?" Zhu Ling couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice. Then, realizing something, she quickly covered her mouth.
Bai Zheng nodded, her eyes showing a hint of coldness. "Feng Jingyang had already admitted to the murder. Since Qing Shao didn't lie, she should have been released after a simple interrogation. But Feng Linche detained Qing Shao on the pretext that 'there are still hidden details in this case', clearly intending to shift the blame onto her. But before Qing Shao could be forced to confess anything, Feng Jingyang fell ill with hysteria, and the news spread throughout the city. At this point, how can Feng Jingyang escape his guilt?"
Hearing this, Zhu Ling suddenly understood and continued, "Feng Jingyang can't escape his guilt. Now, the Marquis of Gaochang and even the whole world are watching His Majesty's handling of the matter. If something happens to Qing Shao, it will only ruin His Majesty's good reputation."
A cold glint flashed in Bai Zheng's eyes, and she said slowly, "After all, compared with his own good reputation, a son is not that important."
"But he's his own son!" Zhu Ling blurted out in disbelief.
"He's just a son. He has more than one." Bai Zheng sneered. "A failed son is just a useless pawn."
The royal family is the most heartless. Moreover, Bai Zheng had already experienced Feng Linche's heartlessness thoroughly from the incident of the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion. Now in the palace, perhaps only Concubine Zhao is truly worried about this son.
"So, the Fourth Prince is really a bit pitiful..." Zhu Ling sighed.
Hearing this, Bai Zheng's pen, which had just touched the paper, paused. "Do you think Feng Jingyang got hysteria out of his own conscience?"
Zhu Ling was stunned and asked in return, "Isn't it?"
Bai Zheng's pen suddenly changed direction. "Based on his meager conscience?"
Instead of the words "Suyin Workshop", the characters "Feng Linyuan" appeared on the paper under Bai Zheng's hand. She looked at these three characters, the corners of her lips curving upwards. "Someone has just stirred up the clear water, waiting for the big fish to jump onto the shore."
"Does the young lady mean the Marquis of Gaochang?" Zhu Ling was still a bit confused.
The Marquis of Gaochang is the one who most wants revenge. At this time, the one who would want Feng Jingyang to fall ill is most likely him.
But Bai Zheng shook her head, put down the brush, and carefully placed the paper in front of her aside. "It's not the Marquis of Gaochang."
"Why?" Zhu Ling asked instinctively.
"Because something will happen at Zheng Yan's funeral." Bai Zheng looked at the paper in front of her, a complex look flashing in her eyes.
These days, because of Qing Shao's matter, she had been keeping an eye on the palace's movements. Naturally, she also knew what was happening in the palace and had guessed what Feng Linyuan meant by "helping the chess - player".
Bai Zheng considered herself not a sentimental person. Although she deeply regretted Zheng Yan's innocent death, since the dead were gone, the affairs after death didn't concern Bai Zheng, a person who always believed in science. After all, the living were the most important.
If Zheng Yan's funeral could help Feng Linyuan obtain something important, even if there was a commotion, it didn't matter.
Thinking of this, a faint tenderness flashed in Bai Zheng's eyes.
Just as Bai Zheng had expected, at sunset that evening, news came from the palace.
Qing Shao was sent back.
It seemed that Bai Zheng's warning to the eunuch had worked. Qing Shao only suffered some minor flesh wounds during the interrogation, which were not very serious.
However, when Bai Zheng sent someone to invite a doctor to treat Qing Shao, Bai Fu returned empty - handed and reported.
"Several well - known doctors in the city have been summoned to the palace and haven't returned for several days."
Bai Zheng, sitting beside the bed, gently tucked the quilt for Qing Shao. Then she turned her head, raised her eyebrows at Bai Fu, and said, "I'm afraid they didn't just detain the doctors, right?"
"How does the young lady know..." Bai Fu looked up in surprise. Seeing Bai Zheng's knowing expression, he quickly nodded and told all the news he had heard on the street.
"I heard that the Fourth Prince's hysteria has become more and more serious, and he has lost a lot of weight. Concubine Zhao is both angry and anxious. Once, in a fit of rage, she vented her anger on a royal doctor who said he couldn't cure the prince and even drew her sword and cut off one of the doctor's arms.
Later, a wandering doctor was invited. After a look, he said that the Fourth Prince didn't have hysteria but was possessed by an evil spirit."
Normally, such news should have been blocked in the palace and not spread at all. But the incident of Zheng Yan's murder happened at the betrothal feast of Feng Jingxuan and Bai Di, and everyone who attended the feast knew about it. Moreover, everyone had noticed Feng Jingyang's strangeness at that time. Now that the Grand Tutor's Mansion was searching for folk doctors everywhere, the news couldn't be hidden and had spread throughout Yongding City.
"So all the Taoists and Buddhist abbots in Yongding City have been invited?" A thought - provoking sneer curled Bai Zheng's lips.
"The young lady's prediction is exactly right." Bai Fu said with sincere admiration. "If one is possessed by an evil spirit, to be cured, one has to subdue the evil spirit."