Admit to having treasonous intentions?
Song Yinghuai's face remained calm, neither confirming nor denying.
To overthrow the crown prince was indeed considered treason in Emperor Guangwu's eyes.
Tapping his fingers lightly on the table, he said, "Father is self - opinionated and suspicious by nature. If many court officials oppose my staying in the capital, Father will assume that my influence in the court has grown too large and that I pose a great threat to him and the crown prince. Instead..."
Xiao Rencheng was quick to catch on. "Instead, we can go with the flow and all support the crown prince's proposal. In this way, the emperor will think that you pose no threat to him or the crown prince, and he won't be able to tell which court officials are on our side. Naturally, he will have no reason to keep you in the capital."
"Correct," Song Yinghuai nodded. "If the entire court seems to be on the crown prince's side, Father will only think that the crown prince is forming a clique and his power is growing. The one guilty of treason won't be me, but him."
"What a brilliant move of going with the flow!" Xiao Rencheng clapped his hands. "I'll go and inform all the families tonight. We'll collectively impeach you tomorrow!"
---
When Lan Jinqin returned to the Wen Mansion, Liuli told her that Wen Zilong had already gone to rest in the villa.
It was better that he was resting. She had almost fallen out with Wen Zilong, so there was no need to deal with him.
"Has Peilan been brought into the mansion?" Lan Jinqin asked.
Liuli shook her head. "No. It's strange. Didn't they say that the master would bring Peilan into the mansion today? Why is there no movement... And Peilan isn't in a hurry either. She didn't even come to cause trouble today."
Lan Jinqin also found it strange, but she couldn't figure out what Wen Zilong and Peilan were up to. So she put aside her doubts, quickly washed up and went to bed.
Too many things had happened today.
Suddenly seeing her third younger sister, who was supposed to be dead, and her status as a criminal and her position with Song Yinghuai...
All these worried her, and she tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
At this moment, a window in the bedroom suddenly made a slight noise. Lan Jinqin looked at the window in horror.
She saw the window being slowly propped up, opening a small crack. Then the crack got bigger and bigger, and a figure appeared by the window...
The hairs on Lan Jinqin's body stood up instantly, one by one...
A... rapist?
Lan Jinqin's hands trembled imperceptibly. Cold sweat broke out on her temples. Her breathing became rapid, and she opened her mouth to call for help.
But the intruder had good hearing. As soon as he jumped into the room, he heard the unusual breathing sound from the bed.
He flashed open the bed curtain and covered Lan Jinqin's mouth with his hand!
The man's palm was strong and steady. It not only covered her mouth but also pinned her hands above her head, making her unable to move!
Let me go!
Lan Jinqin struggled violently. Fear welled up like a tide.
The man in the dark seemed to sense Lan Jinqin's extreme fear. After a moment of hesitation, he finally spoke, "I mean no harm. If you stop struggling and don't call for help, I'll let you go."
His voice was a bit off - key, vaguely familiar, like the tone of someone who had disappeared many years ago.
Lan Jinqin was stunned for a moment, then stopped struggling to show her agreement.
The man kept his promise and let her go.
Then, Lan Jinqin felt the man pat a stack of papers into her arms and then climb out of the window again.
He obviously didn't expect Lan Jinqin to be awake, so he wasn't wearing a mask. Lan Jinqin suddenly looked up and saw the somewhat familiar side - face of the man as he left.
Lan Jinqin was even more stunned.
She lowered her head and vaguely saw what was left in her arms by the moonlight...
Lan Jinqin quickly got out of bed and lit the lamp to check.
"Silver notes?" She stared at the stack of silver notes in disbelief.
There were actually 200,000 taels!
Another 200,000 taels of silver notes!
She was stunned for a moment, then suddenly ran to the window.
The moonlight outside the window was cold. The parasol tree in the yard rustled in the moonlight. The man was already out of sight.
"Sheng Jiangli," Lan Jinqin's eyes welled up with tears. "Is it you?"
The only response was the sound of the gentle wind.
Lan Jinqin choked back her sobs and silently sat back at the table.
Under the dim lamp, a few silver notes lay quietly.
She didn't expect that tonight, not only did she meet her third younger sister, who had come back from the dead, but also the brat who had been missing for nine years!
At this moment, she suddenly felt a surge of excitement in her heart.
There were still people in the Lan family...
But she had already raised enough money and sent it away yesterday. The 200,000 taels of silver notes that Sheng Jiangli had sent could only be temporarily kept for emergencies.
Lan Jinqin put the silver notes into the money box, blew out the lamp and went back to sleep.
It wasn't until the lamp in the room was blown out again that Sheng Jiangli, who had been hiding on the wall, jumped over the wall.
"That girl, Jinqin, just glanced at the 200,000 taels of silver notes..." Sheng Jiangli wiped the sweat from his forehead and muttered. "She's really calm."
Anyway, he had completed the task that Caiyu had assigned him.
He just needed to find an opportunity to return the private seal to her, and everything would be perfect.
When Sheng Jiangli returned to Luoyanju, it was already late at night.
The low - hanging clouds slowly drifted across the night sky. The cool wind blew the chaotic tree shadows, and the rustling sound was mixed with the fluctuating chirping of insects.
The yard was pitch - black. Usually, Suobude and the others would be full of energy, drinking and practicing swordplay in the yard, but tonight they all went to sleep unexpectedly.
Sheng Jiangli looked at the dark yard and inexplicably felt lonely.
Just the day before yesterday, when he came back late at night, the yard was full of laughter and brightly lit.
"Brother Sheng, this is the osmanthus cake I made during the day. Try it and see if it's delicious."
Sheng Jiangli seemed to see the little girl's crescent - shaped eyes. She was holding a piece of osmanthus cake and insisting on stuffing it into his mouth.
He dodged left and right in disgust. "No! I won't eat that tooth - rotting food for little girls!"
Suobude and the others laughed and cheered. "General, the little girl spent a whole day figuring this out. She ruined ten pots of it. We've eaten all the trial ones. She only left the best - tasting plate for you!"
Qingqing chased Sheng Jiangli around the yard. "If you don't eat it, I'll keep chasing you!"
After running around the yard for two laps, Sheng Jiangli finally snatched the osmanthus cake impatiently and threw it into his mouth just to get rid of her.
"Is it delicious?" Qingqing looked at him eagerly.
A cloyingly sweet taste spread in his mouth. Sheng Jiangli frowned but still replied truthfully, "Not so good. It's too sweet."
"Really?" Qingqing muttered disappointedly. "But Sister Caiyu taught me to make it like this! Could it be that my proportion is wrong? I'll go and ask her tomorrow."
Taught by Caiyu!
Sheng Jiangli immediately changed his tune. "After chewing it a few times, it seems okay... You get used to the sweetness."
Qingqing glared at him angrily and turned away.
The wind blew, scattering the little girl's departing shadow.
Sheng Jiangli's elbow slipped on the stone table, and he woke up from the dream, looking around blankly.
After a while, he clicked his tongue. "I was dreaming. Why did I dream of that brat? Why didn't Sister Shu'er come into my dream?"
He felt thirsty and got up to go to the kitchen.
The water in the teapot was left over from last night. Sheng Jiangli didn't care. He tilted his head and gulped it down from the spout of the teapot.
The cool tea went down his throat, and he became more awake.
He put the teapot back on the table. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a plate of osmanthus cakes beside it.
This was...
After a moment of hesitation, Sheng Jiangli reached out and picked up a piece and put it into his mouth.
It was probably left by Qingqing when she left the day before yesterday.
It was sweet and glutinous, with the fragrant smell of osmanthus.
"It's not as sweet as last time," Sheng Jiangli muttered. "She really changed it!"
Sheng Jiangli sat down and unconsciously picked up the osmanthus cakes one by one.
He ate up the whole plate of osmanthus cakes.
In the dark corner outside the kitchen, Suobude and the others were squatting and whispering.
"See, I told you that if we put the osmanthus cakes there, the general would surely think of her when he saw them."
"Yes, yes. I didn't expect you, who seem so stupid, to come up with such a good idea."
"The general ate up the whole plate. I don't believe he doesn't miss Qingqing!"
When the sky began to turn white in the east, the sound of noisy horses' hooves sounded outside Luoyanju.
Sheng Jiangli had just swallowed the last piece of osmanthus cake when he suddenly saw Suobude and the others rushing out of the corner excitedly. Ignoring him, they rushed towards the gate.
"She's back! She's back!"
"The girl outside must be Qingqing!"
Before Suobude and the others could finish shouting, they felt a gust of wind pass by their ears. Sheng Jiangli jumped over them and pulled open the main gate of Luoyanju with one hand!