The head of the Red Mansion

Chapter 183 Hiding

Jiao Da quickly realized something was wrong at Ningguo Mansion.

There are people outside monitoring the mansion.

And judging from their expressions, it seemed as if they couldn't wait to storm into the mansion.

Haha~
In broad daylight, these people have some nerve.

The guards quickly sprang into action.

Since the other party was only targeting the Ningguo Mansion, they did not alert the Rongguo Mansion.

There's really no use alarming them over there; there aren't many capable fighters there.

The guards quickly and silently took their positions.

Shen Ning, who was about to go to sleep, felt uneasy and put on a robe to look outside.

It wouldn't have mattered if I hadn't looked, but once I did...

There was even a lamp lit in the direction of Tianxiang Tower.

Is it Jiao Da?

Just as Shen Ning was about to send her maid to check, she heard the sound of the courtyard gate.

"Who?"

The old woman guarding the gate asked.

"It's me! Rong-ge'er."

It was Jia Rong who received Jiao Da's letter and came over with his servant, carrying a lantern.

The old woman quickly opened the door. "Rong-ge'er? What brings you here so late?"

"I've come to see my grandmother."

Rong-ge'er spoke gently as he carried a lantern and walked along the corridor. Soon he saw Shen Ning waiting for him.

"Grandma~"

Rong-ge'er quickly walked a few steps, "It's cold, you should go to sleep early. Your grandson is fine outside."

"Your father hasn't come back yet?"

"Yes!"

Rong-ge'er said, "Grandmother, don't worry, Father has brought six skilled men with him."

There were also many patrol personnel along the way to Shuntian Prefecture. Even if Prince Jin was incredibly audacious, he probably wouldn't dare to openly attack his father.

"Judging by the time, by the time those people outside arrived, Father had already entered Shuntian Prefecture."

If there's no delay, they'll be back soon.

"..."

Shen Ning nodded, "I'm fine here, you should go back and get some rest too."

Rong-ge practices martial arts and studies every day, which is much harder than what she does.

"I've already told Granny Tang that I won't be going back today; I'll sleep here with you."

Anyway, he has guest rooms here.

"...Alright!"

Shen Ning said, "I'm going to sleep now, you should go to sleep too!"

"Yes!"

Rong-ge'er agreed, but he couldn't help glancing at his aunt's room again.

Unfortunately, my aunt was clearly asleep, otherwise I would definitely have woken her up later.

He blew out the lantern and went to the west wing, which he often visited.

At this moment, because of his arrival, Qingzhu and the others all sprang into action.

From the charcoal brazier to the hot water bottle, hot water, snacks, and fruit platters were quickly set out.

"Sister Qingzhu, I already soaked my feet when I came, so there's no need to pour any more water."

"I know, sir, you should get some rest. If you don't rest, your wife won't be able to sleep peacefully either."

Qingzhu tucked the hot water bottle into the quilt. "If you need anything, Tang Gui, just call out."

"Yes!"

Tang Gui, the servant who accompanied Rong Ge'er, nodded hurriedly.

Their young master often sleeps soundly until dawn.

There's really nothing to shout.

"The quilt in the closet was aired out the other day, and you're on night duty tonight..."

Just as she was about to say something more, she heard rapid footsteps outside.

Qingzhu was worried that something was wrong, so she couldn't help but turn around.

"Father!"

When Rong-ge'er saw Jia Zhen return, he was so happy that he immediately ran out.

"Why are you here?"

Jia Zhen was quite pleased that her son had come to keep her company.

But as a father, you have to keep your feelings to yourself, lest your son become too proud.

"Hearing that his father was not home, the son came to keep his grandmother company."

Rong-ge answered his father with a grin as he followed him toward Shen Ning's room.

"Father, has the person been sent?"

When Rong-ge heard that such a big thing had happened at home when he went to school, he was very surprised.

However, upon hearing that his grandmother had also received a lot of things, he couldn't help but feel envious.

"Is Lord Dong here? Does he know that he wasn't an ordinary thief?"

"Mother!"

Jia Zhen ignored his son, but when Shen Ning looked at him, he bowed and immediately said, "When I went to Shuntian Prefecture, Lord Dong personally received me."

The old man was incredibly welcoming when he saw him.

He said he had caught a thief, and the old man seemed a little disappointed.

Old Dong's eyes lit up when he said that this person had stolen from his house before and had run away around the God of Wealth Gambling House.

"When he heard that the thief was the one who had escaped last time and disappeared around the God of Wealth Gambling House, he didn't even wait for his son to finish his cup of tea before rushing off to interrogate him."

"..."

A smile crept into Shen Ning's eyes. "When you came back, did you notice anything unusual?"

"You know what, there really is one."

Jia Zhen smiled.

He was so glad that he had listened to his mother once again.

“It seems like someone was watching my son all the way here,” Jia Zhen said. “But when they saw the direction my son’s carriage was going, they were probably in a hurry and ran away immediately.”

They should go back and report to their master.

"When my son entered the mansion, he saw two people and ran away in a hurry."

Have the people watching outside already left?

Shen Ning's smile widened. "Well done!" She turned to Rong Ge'er, who was listening to their conversation. "Your father and I are usually at home. But you, when you go to school tomorrow, take two more people with you. Be more careful."

"Grandson knows."

Rong-ge nodded hurriedly.

He is their family's only son, so nothing can happen to him.

Rong-ge'er sometimes thinks that it would be great if his father could give him another younger brother.

Otherwise, he would always be thinking about home no matter what he does.

"My grandson basically doesn't come out of school once he's in school."

The gifts for my aunt and in-laws were all bought with the help of Tang Fu and Tang Gui.

"It's good to know."

Shen Ning nodded, "As for family matters... for now, your father and I will take care of them. You're still young, so you don't need to worry about so much."

Children who worry too much don't grow tall.

"Alright, everything's fine here, you can all go back to sleep!"

Taking advantage of the Prince of Jin's displeasure, she got a good night's sleep.

The royal children have gone astray; it's truly heartbreaking.

Shen Ning was also extremely annoyed by this piece of dog skin plaster.

Now that he's unhappy, she's happy.

At this moment, the Prince of Jin was indeed extremely unhappy.

He thought he was fast enough.

He assumed that since Shen and Jia Zhen had caught the skinny monkey, they would definitely torture him severely.

They even tried to negotiate some terms with him using the skinny monkey as leverage.

Unexpectedly, they sent him to Shuntian Prefecture overnight.

That old bastard Dong Xiaoquan has always been a dagger in the emperor's hand.

He had always disliked him.

now……

The Prince of Jin walked back and forth barefoot on the thick carpet, looking irritable.

Did the skinny monkey sell everything to the Jia family without any delay? Or did he keep his mouth shut and say nothing, leaving Shen Shi and Jia Zhen with no way to get their hands on it, so he simply gave it to Dong Xiaoquan to help them get their hands on it?

The Prince of Jin hoped for the latter, but Lady Shen never played by the rules.

"Your Highness, we've found it."

The steward entered, exuding a chill. "Skinny Monkey was carried into Shuntian Prefecture. It's said his limbs were dangling, probably because they were broken."

Prince Jin: “…”

He was so angry he wanted to smash things and kick people. "Where's Dong Xiaoquan? What's he doing?"

In fact, when he learned that Jia Zhen had personally delivered the skinny monkey there, he suspected that Dong Xiaoquan had personally received him.

Despite his doubts, the Prince of Jin still wanted to hold onto some hope.

Hopefully, the Jia family didn't get anything out of the skinny monkey, and hopefully Dong Xiaoquan won't take this case seriously because of a thief.

"It is said that Jia Zhen was received by him personally."

The steward was sweating. "Moreover, I've checked, and this afternoon, several strangers went to Nansi Hutong, where Skinny Monkey usually goes, and carried away a large box."

Prince Jin: “…”

The last glimmer of hope in my heart was gone.

Thieves all love money.

If the skinny monkey could tell the other party about all his family's wealth, then his mouth must have been pried open.

Son of a bitch!
Can't even last half a day?
The Prince of Jin closed his eyes tightly. "Deal with Mr. Liu, who cooperated with the skinny monkey."

what?
The butler secretly swallowed, "...Yes!"

"Make it clean."

The Prince of Jin waved for him to leave, and only after the door closed did he collapse onto the thick carpet as if his bones had been removed.

There's no one with the surname Liu, so even if Skinny Monkey tells Dong Xiaoquan everything, it's useless.

They have no evidence.

After his elder brother, the crown prince, passed away, he disposed of all the letters related to him.

Whether it was Dong Xiaoquan or the emperor who wanted to file a complaint against him with the emperor's father, they needed evidence.

And isn't the emperor supposed to be a filial son?
The old man is getting on in years and probably can't handle this kind of shock.

At this moment, Prince Jin greatly hoped that the emperor would be a truly filial son.

If he were like him...

The Prince of Jin seemed to remember something and suddenly sat up. "Someone come here."

He couldn't wait for others to serve him, so he dressed himself.

"Your Majesty..."

The servant boy quickly came in to help.

"Inform the Princess Consort that I will be there shortly."

The princess has had two things stolen.

He had the skinny monkey take them both times.

The first time was when he wanted to test the skinny monkey's abilities.

The second time was some time ago, on the Emperor's birthday, when she was slapped by Madam Shen and had to apologize to her in the end.

The princess couldn't bear to part with her precious possessions, so she forced him to take them from the storeroom.

In a fit of anger, he told the skinny monkey to fetch a few more items.

The princess was so angry that she wanted to report it to the authorities, but her stewardess had already gone to Shuntian Prefecture, and her men had brought her back.

But Dong Xiaoquan was also there that day.

The princess was just using the days when Dong Xiaoquan was around to annoy him.

It wasn't a good thing for him back then, but now...

He could have easily said that the skinny monkey had stolen from the Prince of Jin's residence, but he was concerned about his reputation and wouldn't let the princess say it.

As Prince Jin walked faster and faster toward the backyard, in the Shuntian Prefecture prison, the clerk was writing furiously, and the skinny monkey poured out everything he needed to say.

He had long imagined the day when he would capsize in a ditch.

He swore to the Prince of Jin that if things really came to that, he would just be an ordinary thief, and even if he were imprisoned in the Shuntian Prefecture jail, his crime wouldn't be too serious. He would never put himself on a path to death.

However, Mr. Liu, who was in charge of copying the letter, said that this was the normal procedure.

If the Prince of Jin is benevolent, he will at most abandon him.

But in special circumstances... for example, if the other party knows that he is a man of the Prince of Jin, then he only has one chance to live.

He answers whatever people ask, and the slower and less he speaks, the greater the danger he faces.

On the contrary, the more he talks, the more his arresters want to protect him.

By then, it wouldn't be so easy for the Prince of Jin to kill someone to silence them.

The skinny monkey had followed the Prince of Jin for many years and knew that he was not a kind person.

Therefore, even if he were arrested as an ordinary thief under normal circumstances, the Prince of Jin would not use him, but would also take precautions to prevent future troubles.

“Oh, right,” Skinny Monkey thought of Mr. Liu, “Mr. Liu is probably in danger now too.”

Mr. Liu had wanted to leave for a long time.

The more secure the emperor's throne is, the less safe these people are in the Prince of Jin's residence.

It's not that the emperor knows about them or wants to do anything to them.

Rather, it was because the King of Jin wanted to silence witnesses for his own sake.

“He once said that my life and his life were almost intertwined. If I were arrested, he would be close to death too.”

"...If you feel bad, why don't you try to leave?"

As Dong Xiaoquan waved to his two trusted yamen runners, signaling them to keep an eye on the Prince of Jin's residence, he couldn't help but ask the skinny monkey a question.

"We've thought about it."

Skinny Monkey regretted it, "But back in my hometown, I still have a brother and a sister. If the Prince of Jin can't find me, finding them... will be a piece of cake."

Dong Xiaoquan: "..."

He knew it was true.

He sighed inwardly and asked, "What's Mr. Liu's name? Where does he live, and who's in his family?"

The key point is still with Mr. Liu.

If Shen Ning could think of imitation and forgery, then Dong Xiaoquan, who was cunning and resourceful, could certainly think of it too.

The Emperor Emeritus's suspicion of the Crown Prince began with a single letter.

As the princes grew older, they all wanted to dethrone the crown prince and take his place.

Among them, the Prince of Jin was the most favored by the Emperor.

With the crown prince fallen, he has a 99% chance of becoming the new crown prince.

But the crown prince was of a fiery temperament, and he set fire to...

Dong Xiaoquan suppressed the myriad thoughts in his mind and stared intently at the skinny monkey.

I don't know where my home is.

The skinny monkey shook his head. "All I know is that he speaks with a Jiangnan accent and is a candidate for the imperial examinations in the capital. But I don't know the exact year. He never talks to me about it, or rather, because the 'people' serving him are always around, so it's inconvenient for him to say."

……

At the Prince of Jin's residence, the Prince of Jin, who had finally managed to appease his princess, was about to go to bed with her to solidify their relationship when there was another knock on the door.

"Your Majesty~"

The butler's voice trembled slightly.

Prince Jin's heart skipped a beat. Ignoring his alluring queen, he quickly got out of bed and opened the door. "What's wrong?"

He stared intently at the butler, hoping it wasn't bad news.

"Your Highness, something terrible has happened." The steward's forehead was sweating. "Mr. Liu went out this afternoon, saying he was going to have mutton soup, but he hasn't come back yet."

"..."

The King of Jin felt a sudden darkness before his eyes.

He gritted his teeth and said, "Where are his servants?"

He knew perfectly well how important Mr. Liu was.

Therefore, he sent two capable servants over.

They served while simultaneously keeping an eye on him.

There haven't been any problems for so many years, how come now...

The Prince of Jin was filled with hatred and anger.

Now is the most crucial moment!

His father used to dote on him, and his mother was not yet confined to her quarters.

But now...

"They...they are looking too."