Bai Chen stared at her, his lips curving slightly as he teased, "Don't you know what kind of woman I like?"
Seeing Bai Chen staring at her affectionately, if she didn't know about that woman named Le Ling, she might really think that the woman he liked after rejecting the highly - admired courtesan was herself. How ironic!
Wan Ruo couldn't help but let out a disdainful laugh and said coldly with a smile, "How would I know what kind of woman Lord Bai Chen likes?"
"So, does it mean I haven't made myself clear enough? The one I like is still oblivious?"
Suddenly, Bai Chen turned around and pinned Wan Ruo down. Staring deeply into her eyes, he said tenderly, "The one I like is right in front of me!"
Caught off guard by Bai Chen's confession, Wan Ruo stared at him with wide eyes. On the surface, she remained calm, but inside, her heart was in turmoil!
Wan Ruo blushed. Was he confessing his feelings to her?
Then Bai Chen kissed her.
Wan Ruo was startled. She immediately pushed Bai Chen away, looked around furtively, and whispered, "This... This is not the right place!"
Looking at Wan Ruo's cute appearance, Bai Chen thought, What should I do? She's really driving me crazy!
Then Bai Chen picked Wan Ruo up and walked towards his residence.
On the other side, after hearing that the prefect Shi Huang had suddenly died at home, Si Hongxi always felt that something was fishy.
He had always been in good health. How could he suddenly die? Could it be that he was framed?
Early the next morning, he asked the emperor for permission and went to the prefect's mansion with a coroner to conduct an autopsy.
"Your Highness, Lord Shi did die suddenly. There are no fatal external injuries or signs of poisoning. The cause of death should be sudden heart failure!"
"Someone, go to the imperial hospital and check if there were any heart - related problems in Lord Shi's previous medical records!" Si Hongxi ordered his servant.
Then he led people to check Shi Huang's study. Sure enough, while rummaging, they found some torn pieces of paper.
Si Hongxi picked them up casually and was surprised to find the name Wei Zhong on them. He quickly pieced these pieces together.
It turned out to be an unfinished memorial. It seemed to be a letter of accusation. Although it was unfinished, the content was enough to convict that old guy!
So his death was very likely a result of this.
Si Hongxi immediately entered the palace and presented the evidence he had found to the emperor.
"I, your subject, accuse the current prime minister Wei Zhong of colluding with Li Xian, the vice - minister of the Ministry of Revenue, to embezzle five million taels of silver from the military pay. All the bribes were deducted from the military pay..."
There was no more content after this. It seemed that the writer had met with misfortune before finishing it.
Seeing this, the emperor was furious. Finally, he had an excuse to deal with this old fox!
He immediately ordered people to arrest Li Xian, the vice - minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and sent Si Hongxi to raid the prime minister's mansion!
In an instant, the prime minister's mansion was in chaos!
Si Hongxi ordered people to temporarily detain Prime Minister Wei. After sending him away, the search began.
"Even if you have to turn the place upside down, you must find the embezzled money!" Si Hongxi shouted menacingly at his subordinates.
"Yes!"
Watching Prime Minister Wei being taken away, the whole family panicked. Mrs. Su glared at Si Hongxi viciously and threatened, "Prince Pingnan, aren't you afraid that my father will impeach you in front of the emperor for what you've done today?"
Hearing Mrs. Su's words, Si Hongxi sneered and reminded, "Mrs. Su, do you think what I'm doing now is not the emperor's order? Wei Zhong embezzled the military pay. I believe General Su would also despise such a person!"
"You..." Mrs. Su almost spat out blood when she heard this.
She frowned tightly. It seemed that this was indeed the emperor's order.
"Mother!" Wei Qingshan supported Mrs. Su on one side, looking worried.
At this time, Qin Manman, who was still unaware of what was going on, saw the soldiers searching the house outside. She immediately rushed out and shouted, "What are you doing? Who allowed you to do this?"
However, the soldiers ignored her words and continued to search carefully. They even broke into Qin Manman's residence to search!
"How dare you! Get out! Who allowed you to do this? Don't you know this is the prime minister's mansion? Do you want to die?" Qin Manman shouted angrily.
But her words were like air and had no effect in stopping them.
"Miss Manman! It's the emperor's order to search the prime minister's mansion. Please cooperate!"
At this time, Mu Qing stood outside and explained.
The emperor's order? What on earth was going on? At this moment, she realized that something might have happened to her adoptive father.
She quickly ran to the study. The door of the study was already open, and there were many people searching inside!
She subconsciously looked at the bookcase. The soldiers were checking it up and down repeatedly. She nervously swallowed hard.
At this time, Si Hongxi just appeared at the door. He noticed that Qin Manman's behavior was a bit strange. She was staring intently at the bookcase. Could there be something wrong with it?
"Miss Manman, why are you here?"
Si Hongxi suddenly spoke, which startled Qin Manman.
She looked back and saw that it was the prince. She, who was already nervous, became even more flustered.
She stammered, "Ah, Your Highness, why are you here?"
As she spoke, she nervously glanced at the candlestick, afraid that the soldier would accidentally touch the switch.
Si Hongxi followed her gaze and looked at the candlestick. He became even more suspicious.
At this time, Mu Qing suddenly came in from outside. He shouted, "Your Highness!" and shook his head, indicating that they hadn't found anything.
Si Hongxi frowned and slowly walked towards the bookcase. Qin Manman's heart beat even faster as she watched him approach.
He carefully examined the bookcase from top to bottom. "Have you searched this bookcase carefully? Have you found anything?" he asked the soldier beside him.
"Yes, Your Highness. We've searched it. There's nothing unusual!" the soldier replied.
Si Hongxi nodded and tapped on the partition inside the bookcase. After listening carefully, he felt that something was wrong.
Seeing this, Qin Manman quickly stepped forward to stop him. "Your Highness, what are you looking for?"
"We're looking for the embezzled silver. Miss Manman, do you perhaps know where it is?" Si Hongxi probed.
"Your Highness is joking. How would I know? But this study is so small. There shouldn't be any silver hidden here, right?"
Seeing Qin Manman's panicked look, Si Hongxi was even more certain that there was something fishy going on. He sneered and said, "That's not necessarily true! Maybe there's a secret chamber hidden here!"
Hearing Si Hongxi's words, Qin Manman was stunned. She stammered, "How... How is that possible!"
Humph, Si Hongxi turned to look at the candlestick on one side. He studied it carefully and then reached out to try to turn it.
Watching this scene, Qin Manman's heart was in her throat.
Sure enough, after only a few turns, the switch was opened.
They saw the bookcase slowly opening a door.
"Your Highness!" Mu Qing was quite impressed. He quickly stepped forward to take a look.
Si Hongxi stopped Mu Qing, and Mu Qing understood the prince's meaning.
"Come here!" Mu Qing waved his hand. He first ordered two soldiers to prepare torches and go in first, and he followed behind.
At this time, Qin Manman stood there, not knowing what to do.
"Miss Manman, why don't you come in and take a look?" Si Hongxi looked at Qin Manman and said.