"Fan Renmei is missing?"
Song Jinyu stopped and cast her beautiful eyes out of the window. Could it be related to Li Zichao?
She had seen the Li family genealogy just yesterday. "The legitimate son is Li Ziqi, and the second son, Li Zichao, is an illegitimate child." Li Ziqi was well - known for his talent and had already earned official honors, while Li Zichao was rather inconspicuous. He not only failed to obtain any official degrees but also lingered in the theaters.
Fortunately, he never did anything out of line. Thus, Li Zichao was not in favor in the Minister's Mansion.
Seeing her puzzled look, Zhongli Mingye asked, "Have you thought of something?"
"How could a proud and ambitious woman like Fan Renmei take a fancy to Li Zichao?"
He let out a soft laugh. "Maybe it's just a matter of personal preference."
"Did Li Zichao's daily visits to the opera house move her?" In the earthly world full of hardships, perhaps the most precious thing was a sincere heart.
Walking to the window, Zhongli Mingye continued, "The mold for printing silver notes is the key. It was found out yesterday that one of them was lost for a day. Since it was of great importance, when the official in charge found it again a day later, he didn't think much of it."
"A year later, silver notes from the same bank began to appear!"
He sighed. "The body of that strong man you mentioned was found in the moat this morning."
Song Jinyu kept silent, only hoping that Fan Renmei had nothing to do with this matter.
Unfortunately, now there was neither a living person nor a dead body. Gradually, it seemed to prove that she was closely related to this case.
Just as they were discussing, Qing Feng came in to report, "Your subordinate followed Li Zichao and found that he went to a cemetery!"
They exchanged a look, and Zhongli Mingye immediately strode away.
"Surround the opera house for this king!"
Fan Renmei's disappearance made Zhongli Mingye suddenly feel that the person behind this had noticed his actions. Therefore, he had to act faster!
"I'll go too!"
Getting into the carriage, Song Jinyu went straight to the cemetery.
Li Zichao and Fan Renmei were far more complicated than they seemed on the surface, and this matter had exceeded her expectations.
"Here? There?"
He became more and more panicked. "Fan Renmei, where are you?" Last night, Li Zichao saw Li Ziqi's personal servant leading some people to the opera house. Not long after, they carried out a coffin.
He vaguely felt that something was wrong. He only followed them halfway and then lost them.
Now, when he came to look for her in the daytime, there was no trace of her. Stumbling around in the cemetery, he finally saw a newly - buried tomb.
Li Zichao knelt down and frantically dug with his hands.
When Song Jinyu and the others arrived, his hands were already covered in blood from digging.
She motioned for Qing Feng to go forward and help. Soon, the guards of the prince's mansion carried out a big red coffin from the tomb!
How cruel! Using a big red coffin meant that the person in the coffin would never have a chance to be reincarnated!
Qing Feng pried open the coffin. Fan Renmei inside looked lifelike. Song Jinyu frowned, stepped forward to feel her pulse, and said, "She's in a fake death state!"
Hearing this, Li Zichao was overjoyed and shed tears. "Thank you, Princess, for saving her life!"
"Come, take them away!" Song Jinyu had an intuition that this matter was of great importance, so she secretly took them away together. Before leaving, she buried the empty coffin again.
At the same time, there was a heated debate in the court. Yu Prince, who was mainly in charge of this matter, became the target of the attack. He proposed to thoroughly investigate the opera house and Fan Renmei.
However, some people in the court thought that the direction of investigating the silver - note case should not be focused on that actress.
Ming Ruyi coldly watched them and exchanged a look with Zhongli Mingye. They understood each other's thoughts. The emperor was impatient. This case involved too many people, and further investigation would implicate more officials.
But if they could uproot the moths in the court through this case, it would also be an opportunity.
"Son, do your best to thoroughly investigate this matter."
"Those who resist the order can be killed on the spot!" This was the biggest silver - note case since the founding of the Great Xia Dynasty. If it couldn't be thoroughly investigated, the foundation of the country might be shaken.
Surrounding the opera house, they found the burned account books in Fan Renmei's room.
The opera troupe master was trembling with fear. Someone had taken Fan Renmei away last night. He thought he could be safe, but now it seemed that he couldn't.
Fortunately, all the evidence had been destroyed.
In the underground secret room of the opera house, Zhongli Mingye looked at the completely destroyed silver - note molds and knew that someone must have tipped off the enemy.
However, not all of them had been destroyed in time.
His phoenix - like eyes gradually turned cold. The force behind this person was extremely powerful. It was a big fish!
When he returned to the mansion late at night, Song Jinyu was still waiting for him. "Fan Renmei is in my hands."
"..."
Zhongli Mingye looked at her in shock.
"She has woken up now. She was given a fake - death drug." She continued, "But the nails on the coffin were real. That is to say, when the effect of the fake - death drug wore off, she would have died of suffocation."
"What should we do now?"
"What?"
"My love, you're so capable. How about this king being a kept man and being supported by you?"
"..."
How boring. But a smile still curled up on her lips. They could see the scheming in each other's eyes.
When Fan Renmei woke up, she saw a peerless beauty sitting opposite her, playing with a few long nails.
"The fake - death drug was indeed real."
"However, that person really wanted you dead." The long nails were spinning in Song Jinyu's hand. Song Jinyu sneered at Fan Renmei. So what if she was extremely beautiful? Under the excessive pursuit of desires, her facial features were slightly distorted.
Seeing her silent, Song Jinyu stood up. "If it weren't for Li Zichao, you would probably be dead by now."
"No matter how beautiful the appearance is, it will decay." Leaning close to Fan Renmei's ear, Song Jinyu said, "Your real lover is not Li Zichao, is it?"
"Is it Li Ziqi or Minister Li?"
These seemingly light - hearted and baseless words fell on Fan Renmei's heart like a thousand - jin weight. She put away all her defenses and slumped on the bed, saying nothing.
He actually wanted to kill her.
The fake - death drug was real, but the long nails were also real. The blood - red coffin. Did he want her soul to be scattered and never to be reincarnated?
Fan Renmei looked up at the sky, trying not to let the tears flow down.
All the past romances were nothing compared to the stakes of interests. Li Zichao lingered in the opera house every day and inadvertently became a shield for his elder brother and Fan Renmei.
After all, in the eyes of others, Li Ziqi was the legitimate son of the Minister of War and a well - known talent in the capital.
A talented man should be paired with a beautiful woman. No matter how strong Fan Renmei was, she couldn't resist the longing for the mortal world.
Late at night, Li Ziqi was directing people in a villa to burn the silver notes to ashes. He recalled that after the last time he had an intimate encounter with Fan Renmei a few days ago, while she was in a relaxed state, he managed to get the location of the last batch of fake silver notes from her.
Only then was he relieved to send her to her death.
He was a noble son from a prominent family and the son of the Minister of War. How could he marry an actress?
On his way back, it was unusually quiet. The sedan chair was a bit heavy. The sedan - chair bearers were staggering as if they couldn't bear the weight of the sedan chair.
Suddenly, a ghostly fire blew in from outside, and a big red coffin blocked the middle of the road.
The sedan - chair bearers looked at each other and dared not move forward. Li Ziqi got out of the sedan chair. His sinister eyes seemed to be deep in thought. Suddenly, he burst into laughter. "Fan Renmei! Are you still not willing to die?"
"Do you think this young master doesn't know about your affair with the Prince of Pingnan?"
"Woo... Woo..."
He was a bit panicked. After all, he had just killed her not long ago. Now... "Who's pretending to be a ghost?"
Suddenly, a white shadow flashed by. Li Ziqi saw it clearly.
"Fan Renmei!"