It was none other than Qing Ye who brought Xie Yi back.
Seeing Xie Fengran come out, Qing Ye lowered his head guiltily. He bowed to Xie Fengran and said, "Greetings, miss. The marquis has returned home safely. I'll take my leave now!"
Xie Fengran squinted her eyes and stared at him for a while with a somewhat unfriendly look. Then she said, "Lan Fang, see this young man out."
"Yes, miss!"
Hearing Xie Fengran's tone, Qing Ye secretly thought something was wrong. He couldn't help but feel worried for his master. Not daring to explain anything, he obediently followed Lan Fang out of the door.
After leaving the courtyard of the study, Qing Ye noticed that Lan Fang only brought a little maid. He quickened his steps and approached Lan Fang. He said in a somewhat flattering tone, "Sister, please explain to the miss that it was the marquis who went to the teahouse. Our master just entertained him, just entertained him!"
Lan Fang stared at Qing Ye with a straight face.
This look carried a bit of annoyance and anger, which made Qing Ye's heart skip a beat.
Just when he thought Lan Fang would scold him, Lan Fang spoke.
"How old are you this year, young man?"
"Ah?" Qing Ye was confused. He scratched his head and replied somewhat puzzledly, "Eighteen!"
Lan Fang gave a soft laugh. "I'm sixteen, so I can't bear this title of sister from you!"
After saying that, she hid her smile and pointed in the direction of the main gate. "Take your time. I won't see you out!"
"..."
Next to the study was Xie Yi's room. He rarely went to live in Lady Yun's courtyard. He either stayed in the concubine's place or with Concubine Yuan.
Now that Concubine Yuan had been sent away, Xie Fengran had no choice but to have him carried to the room next door. She assigned a maid to take care of him and then called out his personal page.
"You've been with father all day today? Why did he get so drunk?"
The page was called Shun Zi. He was the one newly assigned to Xie Yi by the old madam last time. Hearing Xie Fengran's question, he quickly replied, "Yes, miss. I've been with the marquis all afternoon."
"In the afternoon, the marquis originally wanted to go to the Ningxiang Pavilion, but for some reason, he changed his mind when he got to the door. Then he went to the Lingfeng Teahouse to drink tea. He happened to meet the prince from the princess's mansion there. The prince invited the marquis to drink tea and they went into a private room. The marquis didn't let me follow, so I don't know how it turned into drinking and he got drunk!"
"Was it just the two of them drinking?"
"Yes!"
Xie Fengran nodded and waved her hand. "Go and take good care of father. From now on, when father wants to drink, you should try to persuade him."
"Yes!"
Xie Fengran tilted her head. He Xiang took out a purse from her bosom and stuffed it into Shun Zi's hand. "This is from the miss. Keep it to buy snacks!"
The purse was heavy. Shun Zi could tell there was a lot of money in it just by holding it. He quickly refused. "Miss, this is too much. This..."
"Father has no one to take care of him now. When he goes out, you should learn to advise him. If there's anything wrong, you can go to the Qingsong Courtyard to find grandmother, but never anger father."
Shun Zi was smart. He understood what she meant right away. "Don't worry, miss. Now that I'm following the marquis, I'm his man."
"Okay, go! Take good care of father."
As they were talking, Lan Fang also came back. The two of them escorted Xie Fengran towards the Tingfeng Courtyard.
Lan Fang told Xie Fengran what Qing Ye had said.
Xie Fengran sighed. She could vaguely guess what Qin Junxing meant. She shook her head helplessly. "Where does this man put his mind!"
Now that the matter of the Wang family was at a critical moment, he still had the heart to think about such things.
Her father was good at nothing but eating, drinking and having fun. She didn't know what the two of them had talked about.
After all, that prince didn't seem like a person who would flatter others!
That night, Xie Fengran had a busy time and didn't sleep well. But she wasn't the only one in the capital who didn't sleep well!
At midnight, a fine drizzle started to fall in the capital. There were no pedestrians on the street.
But the Wang family's mansion was brightly lit. Outside the mansion, the Second Prince, wrapped in a cloak, was reclining against the carriage wall with his eyes closed, taking a rest. The curtain of the carriage was lifted.
A group of imperial guards surrounded the carriage. There was also a row of shabby carriages parked behind it. Officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Capital Magistrate were bustling around, holding things in their hands.
After a while, the Second Prince's personal eunuch came out. He was holding a box in his hand. He walked to the carriage and whispered something. The Second Prince reached out his hand to take it.
But for some reason, he retracted his hand and waved it. "Give it to the people from the Ministry of Justice." After thinking for a while, he felt it wasn't safe enough. He raised his hand and called over the leader of the imperial guards. He pointed at the box and said, "This was found in the secret compartment of the study. I suspect there are more important things in it. You hold it personally and hand it over to the minister of the Ministry of Justice later."
"Your Highness, why not give it directly to the people from the Ministry of Justice?"
The Second Prince's eyes sharpened. His stubbornness flared up. "I told you to hold it, so hold it. Do you have a problem?"
"No, no!"
The leader of the imperial guards was angry but dared not show it. Afraid that something might happen to the box, he quickly put it close to his body.
The Second Prince nodded in satisfaction and leaned back.
The Wang family had many connections in the court. Who knew if there were any people from the Wang family among the officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Capital Magistrate who came tonight? The box that could be placed in the secret compartment must contain something very important. If it was switched, wouldn't all their efforts be in vain!
It had to be said that the Second Prince was very vigilant.
Before the Second Prince searched the study, Master Wang had been taken to the prison. At this time, it was Lord Wang, the father of the queen, who was in the study keeping an eye on things.
Censor Wang was standing beside him. He watched coldly as these people searched the study and took the things away.
After everyone had left, he stepped forward and whispered to Lord Wang, "Uncle, just now a black box was found in the secret compartment of Second Brother's study. It was taken away by Eunuch Yan beside the Second Prince!"
Lord Wang frowned. "That Second Prince... Have someone check if it was given to the Ministry of Justice or the Office of the Capital Magistrate. If it concerns the Wang family, replace it. If it has nothing to do with the Wang family, just let it be!"
"Yes!" Censor Wang immediately ordered someone to do it.
Not long after, a servant came back to report. "Master, sir, that thing is not in the hands of the people from the Office of the Capital Magistrate or the Ministry of Justice."
"Is it in the hands of the Second Prince?"
The servant shook his head, looking completely bewildered.
Censor Wang frowned. "Then whose hands is it in?"
"In... in the hands of the leader of the imperial guards!"
"..." Censor Wang was speechless.
The imperial guards were the emperor's personal guards. They were extremely loyal. The Wang family hadn't been able to plant anyone among them over the years.
It was better if it was in the hands of the Second Prince than in the hands of the leader of the imperial guards!
Lord Wang's eyebrows moved. He let out a soft laugh. "The Second Prince really surprises me!"
He didn't want to get involved and get the reputation of slandering the Wang family, so he simply pushed the thing out.
"Normally, I thought he was ambitious but incompetent. Now it seems I was wrong!"