"What!?"
Ye Xi stood up abruptly in a hurry. The sudden movement tugged at the wounds on her body and hands, making her gasp in pain.
"Don't be in such a hurry, miss. Be careful of your wounds," Ling Yan said as she flashed forward to support Ye Xi and carefully examined her wounds.
"Are they all dead?" Qiao Yan also quickly stepped forward to comfort Ye Xi while asking, "Do we know the details? Was there anyone else with the prince who could testify?"
"The news came in a hurry," Steward Chen replied quickly. "We don't know the specific situation yet. But when the prince went to question them, there were probably no outsiders around."
Ye Xi finally came to her senses. Knowing that she couldn't lose her composure at this moment, she forced herself to calm down and asked, "Where is the prince now? Are Mian Xiao and Lin An by his side? What's the situation with the Yan and Shen families?"
After organizing his words a bit, Steward Chen said clearly, "Just when the incident happened, the people from the Ministry of Justice went to interrogate the two with new evidence. And at the same time, the Yan family sent someone to visit. That's how the whole thing blew up. The people from the Yan family held onto the prince and wouldn't let go. They were shouting everywhere that the prince knew the Shen family had found new evidence, and out of guilt, he came to kill them to cover up his tracks."
"With such a big incident, the Ministry of Justice will surely enforce the law impartially. But the prince has a special status, so the matter was brought before the emperor. He should be in the palace now. Lin An and Mian Xiao have also been detained. As the Shen family is under house arrest, there has been no movement from them for the time being."
Ye Xi let out a cold snort and paced back and forth slowly, thinking, "The Yan family sure picked a good time to visit. Did Lord Xie Huaiyue leave anything behind?"
Steward Chen shook his head. His eyebrows were so tightly knitted that they could have crushed a fly. "The incident happened suddenly. Since it happened on Lord Xie's territory, he was also called into the palace at that time. With the Ministry of Justice and the Yan family around, there was no time to leave anything."
The atmosphere fell silent for a moment. Seeing Ye Xi's face turn even paler, Qiao Yan quickly comforted her softly, "Don't be so anxious. There's no direct evidence in this case anyway. It's not convenient for us to inquire. I'll go back now and ask my brother..."
"No, A Yan," Ye Xi suddenly grabbed Qiao Yan's fair hand. Her eyes were shining brightly. "Don't look for your brother. Look for your uncle. Firstly, as the head of the Censorate, Lord Su is in charge of this case. He must know more details and inside information."
"Secondly, on the surface, he has no special relationship with me or A Yuan. If there's anything to say later, his words will be more credible than those of the well - known good friend, the young Marquis Qiao. A Yan, this time..." Ye Xi's eyes showed a bit of guilt. "I'm afraid I'm taking advantage of our past favors."
"What are you talking about?" Qiao Yan said discontentedly as she gently punched Ye Xi's arm. "If it weren't for your whole - hearted help, my cousin and Lian Yi would probably have been tortured to death in the Luo family. Now that something has happened to the Prince of Yu'an, it's only right for us to help."
"Moreover, it's obvious that this is a frame - up. Since my uncle is in charge of supervision, it's his duty to oversee the case and clarify the situation."
Trying to ease Ye Xi's mind and make her relax, Qiao Yan joked, "With my uncle's temper, if the Prince of Yu'an is really in the wrong, he won't care about any past favors. If pushed too far, he might even send my cousin back. You won't be able to take advantage of him even if you want to."
Knowing that Qiao Yan was trying to make her happy, Ye Xi didn't want to disappoint her. She twitched the corner of her mouth and forced a smile.
It was inconvenient to use the prince's carriage, so Ye Xi got into the carriage that Qiao Yan had come in.
Perhaps because of her anxiety, although the journey took only about a quarter of an hour, Ye Xi felt as if it had taken several hours.
Finally, they saw the back door of the Su Mansion. Before the carriage even stopped, Ye Xi was about to get off. Qiao Yan and Ling Yan quickly grabbed her and carefully helped her out.
Inside the mansion, Su Zhongjie had just returned. He had just stepped into the hall when Qiao Yan brought Ye Xi in.
After some simple greetings, Ye Xi stated her purpose. But she didn't reveal her identity as Man Ping for the time being. Otherwise, it would really seem like she was coming to demand repayment of favors, which would surely make people unhappy.
Su Zhongjie didn't deliberately hide anything. He knew that Lian Yi was on good terms with Yi Yaofeng. Although he didn't know how they got together, having been in the officialdom for decades, he knew there must be someone helping behind the scenes.
Moreover, the matter had become such a big deal. Concubine Shen and the Fourth Princess had already knelt in the imperial study to ask the emperor for justice. Even if he wanted to hide it, he couldn't.
"Miss Xi," Su Zhongjie said as briefly as possible. "Anyway, the Yan family is insisting that the prince did something wrong and killed them to cover up his tracks. The emperor can't be partial, so he has temporarily imprisoned the prince in the prison and lifted the house arrest of the Shen family. The Yan family has found another ledger, proving that the ledger the prince found earlier, which recorded the Yan family's embezzlement of silver, is fake. The Ministry of Justice went to Tanzhou to investigate, but they found that the mansion being built there was actually for other purposes, not for pleasure."
"That's all I know. Anyway, the situation is very unfavorable for the prince now. Miss, you'd better make plans early."
Ye Xi bowed deeply and said gratefully, "Thank you, Lord Su, for telling me this. I have one last question. Who is the person from the Yan family who found the new ledger?"
"The youngest son of Yan Yifan, Yan Guan."
After thinking for a while, he added, "Although he has participated in the imperial examinations at the prefectural level several times, he has no official title."
Ye Xi understood. She bowed politely again, chatted with Qiao Yan for a few more words, and then took her leave.
"Xiao Xi," Qiao Yan said worriedly. "What should we do now? Did you ask about Yan Guan because you have some plan?"
Ye Xi took a deep breath and looked at Qiao Yan quietly. A faint blush appeared on her pale cheeks. "No. But it doesn't hurt to ask."
"Yan Xuan," Ye Xi's voice was unusually calm. "Go and find out where this Yan Guan is now. Yan Gui, go to the prison to see how the prince is. If you really can't get in, don't force it. There must be other ways."
"Yes," the two replied and left.
"A Yan," Ye Xi patted the fair hand that Qiao Yan had on her arm. Her eyes were shining. "Thank you for today. I'll handle the rest myself. You go back first. I'm going to the palace."
"Go to the palace!?" Qiao Yan's eyes widened in surprise. "It's not easy to get into the palace. You don't have an imperial edict to summon you, and you have no connections in the palace..." Suddenly, she grabbed Ye Xi's arm tightly and exclaimed, "You're going alone. Do you, do you want to break into the palace!?"
"No," Ye Xi quickly explained, not expecting Qiao Yan to misunderstand so much. "Have you forgotten my other identity? I'm also Man Ping, the junior sister of Master Hun Yuan."
Qiao Yan let out a sigh of relief and patted her own chest. Knowing that she really couldn't help with this matter, she gave Ye Xi a few instructions and let her go.
In the Chaogan Hall of the palace—
"Resolving the hexagram, turning bad luck into good fortune. There won't be any problem," Hun Yuan said as he sat cross - legged on a cushion. There was no great worry between his eyebrows.
"Is there any variable?" Ye Xi sat on another cushion beside him, still wearing a veil hat in case someone came.
"There is a little," Hun Yuan didn't hide it. "In any hexagram, there is always a changing line. It's normal."
Ye Xi rolled her eyes at Hun Yuan silently and frowned. "Since there's a variable, where is it? We should make preparations in advance."
"We can't prepare. That variable..." Hun Yuan shook his head. "Is you."