"All these things of yours are off - limits to others, aren't they?" Ran Ran said after taking a sip of hot tea.
"They're off - limits, but if you want to take a look, feel free to rummage through them," Xu Maozhi replied. "Go ahead and look around. There's nothing I need to hide from you. I'll go change my clothes first."
There was a mirror in the study. Just now, he caught a glimpse of himself in it and only then realized that his appearance was a mess. He looked no better than a fool on the street.
"Go ahead."
When Xu Maozhi came out after changing his clothes and washing his face, he saw that Ran Ran had rolled up her sleeves. She had put the books scattered on the desk back in their places and was now wiping the ink stains on the table with a rag.
"Hehe," Xu Maozhi sat down on the chair beside her and stared at her, grinning. "Ran Ran, you're so hard - working."
"If my room were this messy, my mother would break my legs," Ran Ran said crossly, her hands moving non - stop. "Now, quickly explain to me who those two women were! You'd better come up with a fool - proof story, or it's over between us!"
Xu Maozhi said, "I don't need to make up a story. I'll definitely tell you the truth. A few days ago, the emperor suddenly summoned me to the palace and said he had an extremely urgent and highly confidential matter for me to handle."
Ran Ran pursed her lips. She thought that the emperor's secret edict was really a good shield. How could she continue to question him?
Although she mostly believed Xu Maozhi, she still felt quite annoyed.
Unexpectedly, Xu Maozhi showed no sign of stopping. "The emperor said that there's a very poisonous thing called Ruyi Ointment. This thing can..."
Come to think of it, it was really the emperor's fault.
The emperor was worried that Yi Qing might be hiding something or have a wrong understanding of Ruyi Ointment. After much thought, he decided to find someone else to investigate.
Xu Maozhi, a well - known detective in ancient times, caught the emperor's eye.
"Stop right there!" Ran Ran panicked. "Didn't the emperor say this matter was highly confidential? If so, why are you telling me?"
Xu Maozhi was taken aback for a moment, then said, "It's confidential, but I don't need to hide it from you! Do you think you'll go around blabbing? Of course you won't. I trust you."
Ran Ran said, "What if I accidentally let it slip?"
"Everyone makes mistakes. I do too!"
Ran Ran felt inexplicably comforted, but her reason told her this was not right.
"The emperor's secret edict must not be told to anyone, not even me. Do you understand?" Ran Ran lectured him. "You can't just tell me like this. I'm really worried that you've told others too. Think about it. Have you told anyone else? Xu Maozhi, this is a matter that could cost you your head!"
"Of course I won't tell others. I'm not stupid. How is it just 'telling' when I tell you? Husband and wife are one. I..."
"Who's your wife? Shameless!" Ran Ran blushed, even her earlobes turning red. She lowered her head and kneaded the corner of her clothes, showing a bit of a young girl's shyness.
"I'm shameless. I'm shameless. Don't be angry."
"Who said I'm angry? Do you think I'm so easy to get angry?"
Xu Maozhi was at a loss. After a while, he said with a smile, "Anyway, I won't hide anything from you. You can rest assured that I won't blab to others. Otherwise, how can the emperor trust me?"
"You don't need to tell me either," Ran Ran said. "No matter how willful I am, I still understand this principle."
Now she believed that Xu Maozhi wasn't lying to her.
"It's okay to tell you. I trust you won't blab."
"Alright," Ran Ran glared at him. "Can't I just say I don't want to hear it?"
"Okay." Xu Maozhi finally stopped but then added uneasily, "You know I'm not very smart. If you want to know something, just ask me directly. I'll definitely tell you. But if you beat around the bush, I might not understand..."
"I'll temporarily believe that you were just questioning those two women for your investigation. But why were you dressed like that?"
"Cough... I dress like this at home, especially when I'm extremely busy. Mainly because you're not my wife yet, no one's here to take care of me. I'll never do this again..."
Ran Ran was speechless. Just as she thought, this guy didn't know the meaning of "appearance".
As they were talking, Xu Maozhi's stomach growled.
He felt a bit embarrassed. He grabbed a white pancake that had been sitting there for who knew how long and started munching on it with the tea.
The pancake looked hard and unappetizing.
Ran Ran said, "Tell the kitchen to prepare some food and send it over!"
As the vice - minister of the Ministry of Justice, he surely could afford a cook.
Ran Ran really wanted to cook him a bowl of noodles, but she held back.
It wouldn't be appropriate for her to cook for him before they got married!
"No need, no need," Xu Maozhi said, biting into the crumbly pancake. "This is convenient. Where were we just now? Oh right, I've been extremely busy these days, so I didn't go to see you. Why did you come? Is there an urgent matter?"
Ran Ran said, "If it were urgent, it would be too late by now."
"Hehe, that's true. For non - urgent matters, you can still tell me."
Ran Ran remembered why she came. Looking at how busy he was, she felt quite embarrassed. So she said, "It's not a big deal. I'll talk about it later. You're busy. I'll leave now."
"Don't go. I'm done with my work," Xu Maozhi said. "You came all the way here. Don't be in such a hurry to leave. I've finished all the investigations the emperor asked me to do. I just need to write a memorial to report back later."
"Alright then," Ran Ran bit her lip. After a while, she said, "I haven't heard you talk about investigating my elder brother's death recently."
Although she didn't like his investigation, Xu Maozhi had always been so determined. But for some unknown reason, he suddenly stopped talking about it. Ran Ran was very curious.
Xu Maozhi tightened his lips.
Why? Because he had already found out the truth.
He knew that her elder brother wasn't actually dead. Xiao Tian was Xiao Jinghan.
Not all things required digging up a coffin to find the truth.
By putting all the clues together, he finally figured out the truth.
But he couldn't tell Ran Ran. It wasn't that he wanted to hide it, but he was worried that she wouldn't be able to accept the deception. Moreover, Xiao Tian and Ran Ran had a very poor relationship with each other. If she knew that was her elder brother, how sad she would be?
"Is it because of me?" Ran Ran asked tentatively.
Xu Maozhi nodded.
Ran Ran sighed. "Thank you, Xu Maozhi. I know asking you to stop the investigation might go against your principles, but we just want to live a peaceful life. This is not so bad."
"As long as you're happy," Xu Maozhi said sincerely.
"Actually, I came today to tell you that my sister - in - law is pregnant. I don't know if it's Xiao Tian's child..."