Chapter 599: Reaping the Benefits (3)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
He could guard against Song Jingchen or eliminate him, but he didn’t know who this mysterious person was.
He did not know what the other party’s motive was. This powerlessness was the most terrifying.
“Your Highness, Miss Liu is here.” A voice came from outside the door.
Shangguan Pu narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice, “Let her in.”
Ever since the female corpse of the Wutong River was exposed, Shangguan Pu’s trust in Liu Piaopiao had changed.
Liu Piaopiao also knew about this matter, so she had been investigating who had caused her to take the blame recently. She concluded that it was Madam
“Madam An?” Shangguan Pu frowned.
When Madam An first entered the backyard of Prince Jing’s residence, she also liked to play tricks like other women. She was just jealous. He did not like these things and would not care about them
However, later on, Madam An gradually calmed down.
There were so many women in the backyard, but she had become the gentlest. In addition, she was also the type of woman he liked, so Shangguan Pu went to her room more often.
However, why did Shangguan Pu find it unbelievable that such a timid woman had betrayed him?
He looked at Liu Piaopiao suspiciously.
This was how humans were. At first, he believed in Liu Piaopiao and felt that she was good at everything. He even thought of taking her in.
Once he suspected her, he felt that she had ulterior motives.
Liu Piaopiao guessed his thoughts and pursed her lips. “Bring her in.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a young maidservant was carried in by two old women with her mouth covered.
Liu Piaopiao said, “This little maidservant works in the kitchen.”
Shangguan Pu was about to let her continue when the steward walked in. “Your
Highness, someone sent another letter.”
“You didn’t see the person who sent the letter?” As Shangguan Pu spoke, he opened the letter. The handwriting was the same as the letter from last night. There was a short sentence on it: 100,000 taels of gold as remuneration.
He paused. Was the person here to gain benefits from what happened yesterday?
He was clearly going to spend a large sum of money, but Shangguan Pu heaved a sigh of relief.
He placed the letter on the candle and lit it. He glanced at the people present and said, “There’s no need to keep him anymore.”
The manager understood that he was talking about the old prince. He nodded and left in a hurry.
Shangguan Pu knocked on the table. “Continue.”
On a certain day, all the teahouses and wine shops began to discuss the old prince’s attempted assassination of the emperor.
At this moment, someone mentioned the women they had saved from under the Fragrant Teahouse.
After the women were rescued, more than ten of them were tortured beyond recognition. In addition, many corpses were dug up.
The Imperial Capital naturally could not ignore such a huge matter. These women were all clues, so Lord Cai simply imprisoned them.
However, most of the people were discussing the appearances of those girls.
“Oh my, did you see that those girls look like Heaven Immortals?” A man who was lucky enough to watch the entire process yesterday drooled.
It was more like they were good-looking. How could they all be good-looking? Those who had never seen them before naturally did not believe it. “No matter how good-looking they are, can they be as beautiful as Miss Peony from the Drunken Red House?”
Peony was the courtesan of the Drunken Red House and the one Xuanyuan Ce had once spent a lot of money on.
Without waiting for the first person to speak, others who had seen her before immediately stood up and retorted, “Don’t doubt me. She’s really prettier than Miss Peony.”
Just as everyone was arguing about who was good-looking, a scholarly-looking young man stood up and said disdainfully, “You only know how to look at skin. How shallow! Why don’t you think about where those women came from? Why were they hidden in the basement of the Fragrant Teahouse for no reason? And those injuries, those corpses…”
Everyone paused. Although these words did not sound good, it seemed to be the case. Someone said, ‘We don’t know, right? Scholar, if you Imow, tell us.”
The scholar adjusted his robe and said, “I happen to have some connections in the Imperial Capital, so I’ve heard a little about it.”
“Then tell us!”
“Yes, say it quickly.”
Seeing that everyone’s curiosity had been piqued by him, the scholar stopped trying to leave them hanging and sighed. “I heard that those women weren’t willing. They were captured from remote places.”
They were captured? Everyone was in an uproar.
Those women were locked up in the Fragrant Teahouse, which was the old prince’s business. Did this mean that the old prince was the one who captured them?
The scholar took a sip of tea and suddenly asked, “Everyone has heard about the old prince’s attempted assassination of His Majesty, right?”
Seeing everyone nod, he shook his head and said, “Then guess, why did he do that?”
Initially, some people thought that the old prince might have been wronged. Now that the scholar had laid the groundwork, everyone naturally connected the two matters.
What else could it be? He must have been exposed and decided to strike to keep things under wraps. Unexpectedly, Lord Jing arrived in time and prevented him from succeeding..
