The King of Zhen expressed his strong desire to go and have a look at the commotion.
The emperor clearly knew that Xiao Jinghan and Xiao Tian were the same person. Would he still send Xiao Tian to prison?
He was determined to find out what the emperor was up to.
"Xiao Tian, wait! Don't go!" Before dawn, as the palace gates had just opened and Xiao Tian was about to leave, the emperor stopped him.
"I have to go back to find Yi Qing. I can't keep lying to her like this."
"I'm the one who lied. What does it have to do with you?" The emperor grabbed his clothes and refused to let go. "Aren't you curious about how Yi Qing will handle this?"
The loss of the tiger talisman was, as the King of Zhen had said, not about the talisman itself but the incident.
The emperor had already prepared to issue an official notice today, so he wasn't nervous at the moment. He was more eager to find out who was behind this.
"This has nothing to do with Yi Qing. She shouldn't be the one to handle this," Xiao Tian said coldly. "This is my business. I'll go back and investigate on my own. Xu Maozhi, don't let him come again."
He was supposed to investigate the right things, not their relationship. It was simply...
Xiao Tian was still a bit nervous. What if his identity was suddenly exposed?
"Stealing the tiger talisman isn't the biggest problem," the emperor said. "But think about it. There are people in the general's mansion who want to cause chaos. If you don't take this opportunity to root them out, can you be at ease?"
"As I said, I'll handle it myself," Xiao Tian said in a deep voice.
"By the time you finish investigating, it'll be too late. Everyone has their own expertise. Xu Maozhi is good at this. Let him handle it."
Xiao Tian thought for a while. "Then issue another imperial edict to him and make him obey me."
"I'd be crazy if I did that," the emperor snorted. "Talented people are usually arrogant. If I make a third - rank official obey a guard like you, do you think Xu Maozhi won't jump into a well out of anger? Then who will return my vice - minister of the Supreme Court?"
"That's your problem. I'll settle the score with you about last night later!" Xiao Tian said coldly, full of disdain. "Aren't you going to court? What are you holding me for?"
"No, you can't go. I want to see how Yi Qing will handle this. I want to see if she can catch the culprit," the emperor played his trump card. "If she does, in the future when she's angry with you, I'll take the blame myself and say it was me who forced you to use the identity of Xiao Tian. How about that?"
Xiao Tian was a bit tempted.
"Moreover," the emperor increased the stakes, "I'll also give Baozi official recognition. How about that?"
Xiao Tian hesitated.
Even if he claimed later that Baozi was his own flesh and blood, there would probably be many intrigues.
But if the emperor gave official recognition, it would be different. Even if someone wanted to say something, they would have to consider the weight of the imperial edict.
Then they wouldn't dare to say anything. Over time, this matter would be forgotten.
The emperor pulled him. "Don't worry about it. I didn't say that Yi Qing stole the tiger talisman. I need to see if she's worthy of being your woman. In the future, you'll have to go to war for me. Can she hold up the family when she's alone in the mansion?"
"She has her maternal relatives," Xiao Tian said coldly.
"Duke Di... Heroes are in their twilight years and have no worthy successors. It still depends on you," the emperor patted Xiao Tian on the shoulder.
He involved Xu Maozhi also because he wanted to dig deeper to see if Yi Qing was hiding anything else.
This woman was too deep - seated, and there were too many doubts behind her.
Thinking about the fact that she knew the King of Qi, gave birth to a child for Xiao Jinghan, saved the King of Zhen, and was also the only legitimate granddaughter of Duke Di... All these things together were truly astonishing.
The emperor found it hard to believe.
Xiao Tian sat down silently. After a while, he said, "Two days. At most two days. If there's still no result, I'll go back."
The emperor agreed to him.
When it was time for court, the emperor was a bit surprised to see the King of Zhen, but he pretended to be calm.
Fortunately, the King of Zhen didn't say a word throughout the court session and left obediently after it ended, not causing any trouble for the emperor.
The King of Zhen said, "I'm here to find Xu Maozhi. Don't flatter yourself, Your Majesty."
Xu Maozhi strode forward. The King of Zhen shouted from behind, "Vice - Minister Xu, wait a moment."
Xu Maozhi turned around and looked at the King of Zhen. With a business - like attitude, he bowed and said, "Does Your Highness have any orders?"
"Well," the King of Zhen cleared his throat, "No orders. I just want to ask you one thing."
"Your Highness, please speak."
"Did anyone stop you when you went to court this morning?"
Xu Maozhi frowned. "Was that Your Highness's doing?"
"So there was. You didn't make things difficult for her, did you? She's my person!"
Xu Maozhi said, "I didn't make things difficult for her. But Your Highness, she was speaking on behalf of the general's wife. You and the general's wife..."
"If you're so imaginative, why don't you write novels?" The King of Zhen glared at him. "Do you think everyone is guilty? Didn't Zisu tell you the truth? Look at your suspicious look."
The King of Zhen really disliked Xu Maozhi.
Xu Maozhi said, "Your Highness is wrong. Everything should be based on evidence. In this matter, I can't help but think that maybe the general's wife, realizing that her crime was hard to cover up, came up with this plan to get away."
The King of Zhen: "..."
He really had no patience to deal with him. He glared at him fiercely. "You're so stupid."
Then he flicked his sleeves and left, not even bothering to look at him anymore.
He didn't know that Xu Maozhi watched his back and the corner of his mouth curled up.
— These noble princes were really annoying. They always thought they could influence his investigation.
At breakfast, Baozi asked Yi Qing, "Mom, why isn't Uncle Xiao here?"
Yi Qing calmly picked up a soup dumpling for her and said, "He has some business to attend to. He'll be back soon."
But Baozi said, "Mom, I heard that the study caught fire and the tiger talisman was lost. Is Uncle Xiao looking for the tiger talisman?"
Zisu stopped eating and looked at Yi Qing and then at Baozi.
Yi Qing said indifferently, "Who did you hear that from? Maybe you heard it wrong."
Baozi said seriously, "Mom, I didn't hear it wrong. Many servants in the mansion are talking about it. It's not just one person saying it."
"Many people are saying that the tiger talisman is lost?" A playful smile curled up on Yi Qing's lips.
It seemed that the person behind this was already impatient to stir up trouble.
Baozi nodded and looked at Yi Qing worriedly. "Mom, is the tiger talisman really lost?"
Yi Qing said, "It was lost, but it's been found now."
"Where was it found?" Baozi kept asking.
"In Mom's room," Yi Qing didn't hide it from him. She told him everything and then said, "Can you keep this a secret for Mom and help me catch the bad guys?"
Baozi nodded seriously. "Yes, I want to help Mom catch the real culprit."
"Really?" Yi Qing asked with a smile. "Do you have any good ideas?"
Baozi stood up and whispered his idea in Yi Qing's ear.
A look of satisfaction appeared in Yi Qing's eyes.