This Lady Is Trying to Kill Me

Dumdum had generously given him the Jade Bone Picture and even let him go to the Roaring Dragon Pond to practice. This favor was not easy to return, so he had to think of a way to contribute and help her resolve potential troubles.

Yesterday, he had relied on his ‘black stocking thigh’ to obtain important information about Eunuch Cao, the Prince of Wu, and others.

When he was washing the little watermelons for Heroine Luo, she had analyzed the information and said that this matter might involve the rebellion of various princes. If he could confirm it and seize the opportunity to remove the hidden dangers in advance, his contribution would be enough to attain a minor noble title.

Logically speaking, he should report such important news directly to Dumdum and let her investigate through the government’s intelligence network.

But his source of information was clearly improper. Be it Eunuch Cao’s Wandering Body Palm or the Prince of Wu’s conspiracy, they were not secrets that he or even the Red Flower Pavilion could know. If he said anything directly, the matter of him ‘stepping on three boats and dominating the black, white, and gray paths’ would be exposed.

For this reason, he had to investigate this matter himself. Only when he had concrete clues could he report it as a coincidence.

But where should he start investigating this matter…

Ye Jingtang pondered for a moment, but he had no clue. He suppressed his thoughts for the time being and recalled what had happened last night.

Yesterday, Heroine Luo had clearly been very proactive. She had helped him scrub his back like a gentle wife, and she didn’t reject it when he helped wash her. In fact, under his coaxing and pestering, she had fed him the little watermelons just like that night.

When he saw how obedient Elder Sister Ning’er was, his bad habit of taking advantage of Ning acted up again. He held the crook of her left leg with his left hand and the crook of her right leg with his right hand and carried her to the bronze mirror in the room.

The result was obvious. Heroine Luo, who had almost fainted from embarrassment, returned to her senses and scratched him all over. Then she went out at dawn, probably going to buy medicine to cool him down.

Thinking that he would have to sleep with the bird for the next few days, Ye Jingtang couldn’t help sighing. Just as his imagination was running wild, there was some noise on the street.

He looked out of the window and saw a large carriage driven by four horses passing by on the street. There were imperial guards escorting it through the rain toward the Imperial City. He couldn’t see the person in the carriage.

Ye Jingtang felt that the specifications of this carriage were a little similar to Dumdum’s, but it was obviously not her. He asked, “Shopkeeper, which noble’s guard of honor is this?”

The shopkeeper selling roasted chicken sized up the procession from afar. “It should be the heir apparent of the Prince of Yan. I heard that Her Majesty is holding a banquet for the ministers today. He’s likely going to the palace to attend the banquet.”

Heir apparent of the Prince of Yan… Ye Jingtang was from Jianghu and didn’t know much about these people. He asked curiously, “The heir apparents of the vassal princes are all in the capital.”

“They’re all here. You can meet them occasionally when you go to Parasol Street. The Prince of Yan’s heir is quite famous in the capital. His nickname is ‘Cup Opener’. He hasn’t met a match in the capital for a few years…”

“The Prince of Yan’s heir is a martial arts expert?”

“His ability to shake dice in a cup is top-notch in Yun’an.”

n?n

Ye Jingtang understood and smiled. “Is it the same for the other heirs?”

The shopkeeper nodded. “The princely heirs of our Great Wei all have unique skills. The Prince of Liang’s heir is known as Liang Eight Jars. He once drank eight jars of wine for three consecutive days. There’s also the Prince of Wu’s heir, whose nickname is ‘Golden Tongue Gentleman’. No matter how good the famous chefs in the capital are, they can’t hide anything from the tongue of the Prince of Wu’s heir. For example, this kiln-roasted chicken. As long as he takes a bite, he can tell how many days this chicken has been raised, what it’s usually fed with…”

Ye Jingtang’s eyes were full of surprise. “It’s indeed impressive. Now that we already have ‘eating, drinking, and gambling’, do we have ‘whoring and breaking hearts’ in the end?”

The shopkeeper waved his hand gently. “It’s not easy for outsiders to see people’s ability to seduce women, so it’s difficult to make a conclusion at the moment. Young Master, your appearance is worthy of bringing disaster to the country and the people. Speaking of which, you can give it a try. There are many widows of wealthy families in Yun’an City…”

Ye Jingtang smiled and waved his hand. After he talked nonsense for a while, another carriage drove across the street and headed toward the Imperial City.

This time, the path was also opened by imperial guards, but there were constables from the Black Office following behind. It was obvious who was sitting inside.

Seeing this, Ye Jingtang got up, paid the bill, carried the bird in his arms, and walked to the carriage…

Rustle, rustle, rustle…

Fine raindrops sprinkled on the top of the carriage. Outside was the noisy street and the soft sound of horse hooves, but inside the carriage, it was very quiet.

Dongfang Liren was sitting on the small couch. She was still wearing a silver python robe, but she had changed it to the ‘court attire’. It was a robe with wide sleeves and a belt outlined with a python pattern and inlaid with pearls and jade. Her bearing was dignified and calm, and she was holding an old book in her hand, looking like a diligent prince always with a book in her hand.

But the content of the book… There was the line ‘jade tree in the backyard’…

While she was engrossed in reading, the white-haired old woman silently entered the carriage and placed the various reports from the morning in front of her. “Your Highness, the people sent to Broad Crossing returned yesterday. They examined Cheng Shilu’s injuries and found he had been stabbed fourteen times, all by the Black Qilin Spear. From the way he died, he seemed to have been poisoned… Young Master Ye’s style of doing things is indeed stable. If he can leave no survivors, he won’t.”

Dongfang Liren closed the book unhurriedly and rubbed her forehead. “He didn’t believe me when I said that people died wherever he went. He just went out to teach Cheng Shilu the rules of Jianghu. He only had to beat him into submission.. Why did he have to stab him more than ten times?”