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Chapter 276 It’s useless to talk more
Zhu Cheng fell silent, and neither Zhu Yu nor Lu Qing said anything.

After a while, the guard from before ran back and clasped his hands in a fist and bowed to Zhu Cheng: "Your Highness, we have searched the Jia family from top to bottom, inside and out, and found no trace of the canvas. We have checked the furnace and the latrine, and confirmed that we have not missed anything."

Zhu Yu looked at the guard with some sympathy; his expression was rather unpleasant, whether from the search itself or the outcome, it was unclear.

"What should we do now?" The guard looked to Zhu Yu for help when Zhu Cheng remained silent.

"It's alright," Zhu Yu waved her hand at him. She had expected this outcome. Since the other party dared to set up such a trap, there was no way they wouldn't be prepared to carry it out. "Let's think about it another way. Not just anyone can easily produce such a large piece of cloth."

As far as I know, our Shuo Kingdom is not particularly skilled in weaving, and we wouldn't spin such a wide bolt of cloth to stockpile unless there was a specific reason.

Therefore, we can start with the fabric shop and see if we can buy such a large amount of fabric from someone.

If you still have no clue from the cloth side and can't find anything, then you should check if anyone has recently drawn a picture for someone.

After all, suddenly producing such a large painting, especially one used to cover a corpse, couldn't possibly be a rare masterpiece; it might have been hastily painted on the spot.

Zhu Cheng also thought Zhu Yu's suggestion made a lot of sense, and nodded: "Yes, let's do it this way!"

The guard quickly responded and hurriedly led his men away from the Jia family.

“Let’s go. There’s nothing to investigate here. Since the people have already been brought to the prison, let’s go there. I want to interrogate them myself!” Zhu Cheng said to Zhu Yu and Lu Qing.

“Father, no rush.” Zhu Yu shook his head at him. “As you said, the people have already been taken to the prison and locked up. They can’t escape. So there’s no need to rush to interrogate them. Let’s just leave them in the prison.”

"What does this mean?" After these days, Zhu Cheng knew that his second daughter was not like his eldest daughter, Zhu Ning, who acted without thinking. On the contrary, she was extremely prudent. Since she said this, she must have her reasons.

"A person with a clear conscience will remain so no matter how long you leave them hanging."

However, if someone has already made preparations, and you interrogate them now, they can easily use the same set of words they have prepared in advance to deceive you. Those lies that they have long been familiar with may be so seamless that it is difficult to find any flaws.

It would be better to disrupt their expectations first, and not proceed according to their original plan. This way, they will panic and lose their composure.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cheng realized the truth in her words and couldn't help but scrutinize Zhu Yu again, feeling as if he were getting to know his second daughter for the first time.

He couldn't help but sigh and said with emotion, "I never expected that a woman like you could have such a mind, and I never expected that your mother, with her personality, could give birth to a daughter like you."

Zhu Yu simply smiled and didn't reply.

This praise sounds a bit strange, and it's hard to feel happy about it, but coming from the mouth of Zhu Cheng, such a stubborn old-fashioned person, it's not impossible to reluctantly accept it.

Lu Qing could tell that Zhu Yu didn't want to respond, so he spoke up at the right moment, saying to Zhu Cheng, "I wonder how Father-in-law plans to deal with the Pang family's overstepping of boundaries?" His question made Zhu Cheng forget his previous conversation with Zhu Yu and fall silent for a moment.

"What? Even now, Father-in-law, you still haven't made up your mind?" Lu Qing waited for a while, and seeing that Zhu Cheng hadn't responded, he asked again.

"This matter... is of great importance, and it is indeed difficult to make a decision." Zhu Cheng lowered his eyelids, his expression slightly embarrassed. If someone else had asked him this question, he could have evaded it and not responded.

But Lu Qing has taken such a big risk this time, helping Shuo Di to divert water into the canal and also helping him discover the Pang family's problems. If I were to be too obvious in my evasion, I might offend the other party: "You may not know, but Yu'er should have heard about it from her mother."

If it weren't for the support and assistance of the Pang family back then, I might not have been able to become the Prince of Shuo. That's for the public good.

Privately speaking, I was married to Madam Pang, and she bore me children and managed the household affairs.

Although the Pang family overstepped their bounds first, I'm considering this matter out of respect for the Buddha. If we can use this incident to teach them a lesson and pull back their overreaching hands, as long as they behave themselves and know when to stop, and don't overstep their bounds again, I won't dwell too much on what happened before.

The relationship between our Zhu family and the Pang family, while not exactly intricate, is not far off. Completely severing ties with them would not benefit me at all.

"Father is joking," Zhu Yu said, his face turning cold after hearing Zhu Cheng's words. He forced a smile and said, "Madam Pang has always been strict in managing the inner quarters. In the past, my mother never had so many opportunities to have so many intimate conversations with her daughter."

My daughter may be slow-witted, but she understands one principle: once unfaithful, always unfaithful.

If the Pang family's ambitions could be satisfied by living a wealthy and powerful household second only to the emperor in Shuodi, then perhaps the chaos that Father sees today would not exist.

Zhu Cheng's expression froze for a moment, then he frowned and said, "Alright, stop talking. My mind is made up, there's no point in saying more."

Lu Qing subtly tugged at Zhu Yu's collar from behind. Zhu Yu pursed his lips and didn't reply.

Lu Qing's expression remained calm, as if he had not expected Zhu Cheng's decision at all: "Let's put aside the pros and cons of my father-in-law's considerations for now, but there is one thing that needs to be considered in advance."

If this matter is used to warn the Pang family, it will inevitably alert them, making them aware of the situation and potentially taking precautions.

"If the other party isn't as sentimental and loyal as you, father-in-law, and doesn't always remember past relationships, then any new developments might be beyond your control, putting the Zhu family in a very passive position."

Zhu Cheng remained silent, seemingly having taken Lu Qing's words to heart, but without intending to respond.

Zhu Yu felt utterly disheartened and couldn't even be bothered to put on a fake smile anymore. He pursed his lips and said to Zhu Cheng, "Since Father has made up his mind, then we shall do as you please."

"Weren't you going to send people to the Wutie Mine to replace the Pang family members? There's no point in staying here; let's go back."