I'm not a fortune teller.

Chapter 100 The Murder I Remembered
To many families in the capital, Zhang Rui was just an unknown official of the sixth rank. However, those who could be candidates for the prince here were all from wealthy families. Naturally, they had no shortage of intelligence and knew Zhang Rui's background. But no one expected that the emperor actually planned to give him a spot!
"I am terrified!" Zhang Rui stepped forward and said, "With my qualifications and abilities, how can I be qualified to participate in such a matter? Your Majesty, please withdraw your order."

"My dear Zhang, don't you plan to share my worries?" the emperor asked with a smile.

"My ability is really limited." Zhang Rui still shook his head: "With my ability, even if I really find the evil spirit by accident, I don't have the ability to keep him. On the contrary, it will alert the enemy. I am really afraid of holding everyone back."

"Lord Zhang does have some self-awareness!" Minister Qi said coldly.

Zhang Rui looked at the other person in surprise. It seemed that he had not offended this old man. Why was he mocking him like this?
Then he saw that the other ministers were not looking at him very well, and he immediately realized that there were only eleven families to choose from. There was one choice for each of the seventeen princes except the crown prince. One more choice meant one more opportunity. Naturally, they would not have a good attitude when a guy like him, who suddenly appeared, took away one of their people.

Minister Qi has extremely high qualifications and the probability that he will have a second prince is very high, so naturally he treats me badly.

Thinking of this, he hurriedly said, "Master Qi is right. I am indeed not suitable. Please take back your order, Your Majesty."

"Lord Zhang, you are too modest." The emperor smiled and said, "Your ability is highly praised by both the Crown Prince and the Queen. You also had the ability to lead people out of the painting market when you rescued the Third Prince. Now that the painting spirit is rampant, it has reached the point of endangering the country. Lord Zhang, since you have chosen to come out into the world, you still have to take responsibility."

After these words came out, many people realized that, yes, Zhang was able to take the third prince Li Yu away from the painting market, so he must have some information about the painting market. If he could use it, he could be included in the game. After all, he was a hidden family, so what if he was lucky enough to be chosen? Wouldn't he still be controlled by other families?

Thinking of this, everyone including Minister Qi stopped trying to stop them. Minister of War Wei Jiaming spoke up, "Since your majesty insists, Lord Zhang should not keep making excuses."

Zhang Rui frowned. He didn't understand why the emperor wanted to drag him into this, but it seemed he couldn't refuse.

And the other party mentioned the queen, which made him hesitate.

Queen and Prince
He remembered what the queen whispered in his ear when he was leaving.

"Even if you can't come back, at least find a way to save our child."

Fuck. Is that your own child?
"Your Majesty thinks so highly of me, I am really terrified." Zhang Rui sighed, "Since this is the case, I will not refuse. Let's take the 17th place."

When these words were spoken, everyone was stunned, and the little baby on the stage also looked at Zhang Rui curiously.

For some reason, when looking at Zhang Rui, Seventeen, who had always been restless, became very quiet. He kept looking at Zhang Rui curiously. When the other party talked about him, he didn't know what happened, but he felt happy in his heart, and immediately grinned.

This smile made Zhang Rui's heart skip a beat.

A feeling I had never had before came over me. It seemed like something in this world was connected to me.
"Seventeen?" The emperor looked at Little Seventeen and then at Zhang Rui, then smiled and said, "Master Zhang is really careful enough."

"I still know how much it weighs." Zhang Rui saluted.

When the other ministers heard the other party choose number seventeen, they nodded secretly. Although this new guy made quite a stir a few times, he was still well behaved and not too arrogant.

"My dear minister, you are so modest." The emperor said with a smile, "I remember that you seem to have a good relationship with Cui Yan, right?"

Zhang Rui's heart skipped a beat and he looked up at the emperor. According to the intelligence, the current emperor should still think that the queen and Cui Yan are having an affair, right?

I don't know how he will deal with these two people.

"I have known Cui Yan since childhood. We are childhood friends."

"Is that so?" the emperor said faintly, "Then you should keep a close eye on Seventeen. After all, the palace is not safe right now."

"Don't worry, Your Majesty." Zhang Rui took a breath and bowed, "I will protect Your Majesty's safety!"
-
"Master Zhang, why don't you take my sedan chair and go back with me?"

When leaving the palace, Lu Chengfeng approached him again. This guy's enthusiasm was higher than he had imagined, and it seemed that he was planning to rely on him.

"Your Excellency, the Duke is very polite." Zhang Rui said helplessly, "Then I will be disrespectful to refuse your offer."

The Duke's sedan chair was extremely spacious, and the two little princes could play with each other inside. Looking at the lively children, Zhang Rui felt extremely complicated.

Dogecoin system, it’s bad enough that his cheap wife got him one, but now he has got a cheap child.

"Why did the Duke choose the fourteenth prince in the end?" Zhang Rui looked at the other child with some curiosity.

The little prince looked to be only five or six years old, with baby fat still on his face. He looked somewhat festive and quite lovable.

This little prince actually has a great background. He is the younger brother of the third prince Li Yu, and has a maternal family background from the Qin family of Donghai. However, because he is too young, he is naturally not as popular as his brother Li Yu.

"The seventh prince analyzed by Lord Zhang was snatched away by Minister Jiang, and the most suspicious fourth prince was taken down by Minister Qi. I don't have many good candidates anyway, so I might as well choose one that is not troublesome." Lu Chengfeng shook his head and sighed, "This fourteenth prince has the support of the Qin family of Donghai. Choosing him is like letting the Qin family owe me a favor, which can also be exchanged for some benefits in the future." "Lord Duke is really good at planning." Zhang Rui rolled his eyes. Since he couldn't choose the popular one, he might as well choose the one who could get the most benefits. It was quite a trick.

"Actually, I was planning to choose Li Yu at first, but I didn't expect the Shen family to take it first."

"Lord Shen is calm and a man of great wisdom." Zhang Rui nodded.

"Master Zhang, you'd better be careful with the Shen family."

"Why do you say that?" Zhang Rui frowned.

"We only have a rough idea about the Tanhua case now. Your suspicion has not been completely eliminated. The county lady died tragically under the bridge. Shen Yuan, as the chief judge of the Dali Temple, will not stop testing you. Although he is not a sinister person, he is a person who is very serious about handling cases. Don't let him get entangled with you."

Zhang Rui: “.”

That's true. Just as I was about to inquire about Shen Yuan's style of doing things, I suddenly saw a familiar figure through the gap in the curtain.

"parking!"

Seeing this, Lu Chengfeng looked over curiously, and was a little confused when he saw the figure.

Cui Yan?

Zhang Rui quickly got out of the sedan chair: "Cui Yan."

"Big cough, Lord Zhang?" Cui Yan stopped and looked over.

Zhang Rui suddenly felt relieved. In fact, he had guessed that the emperor might not do anything to Cui Yan, but he was not sure. After all, the queen was the legal wife, and it was not surprising that the emperor would do anything if he suspected that he was cuckolded.

"Since you are Mr. Zhang's friend, let's get in the car together." Lu Chengfeng said with a smile.

Of course he knew Cui Yan. He was quite famous in the capital three years ago. Now, a new round of spring examinations was about to begin, but he could not return to southern Xinjiang because of the Tanhua case. Princess Yueyao insisted on marrying anyone else back then, and now a new round of selecting a prince consort was about to begin. I wonder what His Majesty was thinking by keeping this man and not taking the opportunity to get rid of him.

Another question is, why is he outside the Qinglong Gate? He shouldn't be eligible to attend the prince's banquet this time, right? Is he just hanging out here?
"Master Cui, please get in the car. We can go back together." Zhang Rui said quickly, "It's dinner time now. My mother must have prepared the meal."

Cui Yan glanced at Zhang Rui, but shook his head: "No, please tell my aunt, I won't go."

"What are you doing?" Zhang Rui frowned, and a bad feeling welled up in his heart. He got out of the car and forced the other person into the car: "Your luggage has been received at my house. After the post station returned it to you, it has long been occupied by someone else. Are you going to sleep on the overpass tonight instead of staying at my house?"

As soon as the word "overpass" came out, Cui Yan trembled noticeably and his face became even paler.

Zhang Rui was very sensitive to this and frowned and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

"If you have something to say, I can avoid you." Lu Chengfeng smiled and said, "But I don't recommend you to do that. I think you must have encountered some difficulties. Mr. Zhang is my friend regardless of age difference. His friends are naturally my friends. If you need any help, just ask."

Upon hearing this, Cui Yan glanced at the other party, with a hint of hesitation in his eyes. He had naturally heard of the Lu family's prestige. It was one of the top ten big families in the capital. As the head of the family, Lu Chengfeng had enormous power at his disposal. Perhaps his own difficulties were not even a big deal in the eyes of the other party.

Zhang Rui thought the other party was troubled by the Queen's matter, and was about to speak to defend him, but he heard the other party say: "The Duke should know a lot about evil spirits, right?"

Zhang Rui realized something was wrong when he heard this and immediately shut up. The Duke also looked at him curiously and then said, "There are many kinds of evil spirits in the world, and naturally no one dares to say that they know all of them, but there are certainly some experiences in this area. What did Lord Cui encounter?"

"Big Dog, do you still remember the time when we got drunk on the bridge three years ago?" Cui Yan looked at Zhang Rui and said.

Big dog?

Lu Chengfeng looked at Zhang Rui strangely. This nickname was really simple.

Zhang Rui looked at his childhood friend speechlessly. It seemed that the other party was indeed very upset, otherwise he would not have called him by his nickname in front of outsiders.

"Of course I remember. What happened?" Zhang Rui was a little curious. The other party had been in the palace and was taken there by the queen. What happened during this period that reminded him of the situation on the bridge that year?

"I remember something." Cui Yan's face turned pale. "Back then, a woman did die in front of us, and I just saw that thing."

Zhang Rui: “.”

(End of this chapter)