After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

"A woman who ran away from a arranged marriage?"

"almost."

It had nothing to do with the case of Prince Xin's disappearance; it was just a coincidence.

Shangguan Xiu took a breath and, after a moment, asked, "What did His Majesty say?"

"Are you asking this as a Jinyiwei spy, or as Shangguan Xiu?"

"As a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, ask him this question." Shangguan Xiu looked at his elder brother seriously.

"Oh, you've accumulated enough merit to be promoted to a hundred households?"

"I've saved up enough..."

Shangguan Xiu showed the red mark on her wrist.

"I have found a fine instrument of torture."

He chuckled softly.

Shangguan Yun glanced at the red mark on his wrist, puzzled by its meaning, but did not ask any further questions.

"What kind of torture device? Where did you find it?"

"A type of shackle, found among civilians, that can greatly improve our efficiency in arresting people."

Previously, arresting people required carrying heavy handcuffs and leg irons, and even wooden shackles, which was very inconvenient.

However, if you carry those small handcuffs, it will be much easier to arrest people.

Perhaps in the future.

In addition to the flying fish robe and embroidered spring knife, the common insignia of the Embroidered Uniform Guard also included these small iron handcuffs.

"A few days?"

"Three days." Shangguan Xiu pointed to his buttocks and said solemnly, "I need to recover from my injuries. In three days, I will bring the blueprints of that torture device back to the government office and report my success."

"Become a centurion first, then report your merits?"

"Yes," Shangguan Xiu said frankly, "we still need a facade."

"Oh."

Shangguan Yun smiled.

Knowing when to compromise on dignity while simultaneously demanding power is the first step to becoming a scion of a prominent family.

He acquiesced to the other party's request.

He then answered the question posed earlier: "His Majesty means to keep it a secret, so that we can only search for people secretly."

"Keep it a secret?"

"Prince Xin will inherit the throne in three months. If the news of his disappearance gets out now, the three princes will probably have some inappropriate thoughts."

"Oh..." Shangguan Xiu nodded in understanding.

He didn't even dare to think about such royal secrets.

Then, he remembered something unusual and frowned.

"When I was working as a peddler in Hangezhuang the day before yesterday, I noticed that there seemed to be quite a few people from the sticky pole office there."

The Sticky Rod Office, the intelligence agency of the Northern Dynasty, was as feared as the Embroidered Uniform Guard, striking terror into the hearts of the people of the Northern Dynasty.

Shangguan Yun was somewhat surprised, but nodded, acknowledging his half-brother's abilities: "Not bad, it seems the people at the Sticky Rod Office are also looking for someone."

"The news has leaked?" Shangguan Xiu was startled. "Are they also looking for His Highness?"

Shangguan Yun shook his head.

"I don't know, we're investigating too, a third of our staff are watching them."

He paused, then said:

"The princess of the Northern Dynasty is staying in the Northern Dynasty's embassy next to the Court of State Ceremonies. She will marry His Majesty in a month. The Court of State Ceremonies is proposing a title for the Imperial Concubine. This is a top priority for the Northern Dynasty. The Office of the Imperial Stud should not cause trouble at this time."

After saying that, Shangguan Yun rubbed his temples. He hadn't slept for two days and was exhausted, but there was no trace of Prince Xin and His Majesty's health had deteriorated. He had to hurry.

"Rest now, and bring us the blueprints for that torture device as soon as possible."

This half-brother was more sensible than he had imagined.

They never asked who assassinated Prince Xin.

"Brother."

Just before leaving, he heard his half-brother call out to him again.

"The womanizer who was arrested with me is named Li Liang. Please send someone to keep an eye on him, brother."

He always felt that this person was somewhat strange.

"Okay," Shangguan Yun replied casually.

We'll just leave it to Qin Yuanyao to arrange someone for him later. He's just a country flower thief; he's not worth putting much effort into.

……

At the same moment, Li Liang, a womanizer imprisoned in the Jiangning County Jail, lay on the ground, clutching his buttocks and crying out in pain.

A jailer in black clothes came to bring him food.

Li Liang reached out from behind the iron bars and grabbed the jailer's ankle: "Hey, hey, Zhai, Zhai, Black Tiger, Zhai..."

The jailer kicked him away, cursing impatiently, "Screw you!"

Bang bang bang!

The jailer kicked the iron bars several times, seemingly extremely angry, then shook his head and left. Li Liang kept his head on the ground and didn't bother him anymore.

At dinner time.

Li Liang had an extra chicken leg in his rice bowl compared to others.

In the pitch-black night.

Someone sneaked in and whispered to him, "Did you see clearly?"

Actually, I didn't see it clearly... I fell into Ning the Demon Lord's trap as soon as I entered the backyard.

He was just a new recruit to Black Tiger Stronghold, and like the other henchmen, he was ordered by the leader to go to the countryside to find a woman. His first stop was his hometown, Li Family Village.

But as soon as they entered the village, they heard people boasting that the young scholar had rescued a bride.

I scratched my head at the time, thinking it couldn't be that coincidental, but I couldn't sleep that night, so I went over to take a look.

did not expect.

They fell right into that little devil Ning's trap!

Hands wrapped in cloth strips, a young scholar cursing him as worse than a pig or a dog, a teenager saying he "peed himself," an old man carrying a torch, a strong man carrying a hoe, and someone even holding a pig-slaughtering knife to castrate him... Li Liang's mind was filled with all sorts of images that sent chills down his spine.

He gritted his teeth: "Look closely, that woman looks exactly like the one in the portrait..."

The following morning, Li Liang's case was heard by the county government.

The constables who participated in the arrest were flogged and are recuperating at home. When the county magistrate sent someone to inquire, the constables said that Li Liang had not succeeded and that the matter was actually not very clear.

The county constable nodded, determined not to wrong any innocent person, and handled the case impartially. He sent someone to Lijia Village to summon witnesses to testify in court. However, the returning constable said that Lijia Village was in the midst of the busy farming season and no one could come. Moreover, the villagers said that Li Liang was only wandering around outside at night and no one saw him actually climb over the wall.

Li Liang immediately kowtowed repeatedly in the hall, crying out that he was wronged.

"Agriculture and sericulture are indeed important matters!" The county magistrate nodded and instructed the clerk to write them down.

On the third day, a light rain fell from the sky.

Li Liang was acquitted in court due to insufficient evidence.

The county magistrate earnestly advised in the courtroom: "There's a curfew in the city, but surely there is in the countryside too! Don't wander around at night anymore, you're scaring people!"

The incident was classified as Li Liang being unable to sleep at night and wandering around, where he was mistakenly arrested by the villagers.

Li Liang kowtowed repeatedly, tears streaming down his face: "Thank you, Your Honor!"

……

……

A light rain pattered against the gray paper windows of the Reading Seeds' home.

"Is it tasty?"

Ning Nan asked softly about the Zhu family's young lady, Zhu Qingmian, who was sitting on the bed, her mouth greasy and licking her fingers.

"Hiccup... It's alright."

Zhu Qingmian let out a burp, the sound melodious and pleasant, quite unlike her previous eating manners.

"Oh dear, what a tragedy!" Yang Qiniang looked at the chicken bones that Zhu Qingmian hadn't finished eating with heartache, showing a pained expression like a child selling their grandfather's land, but there was nothing she could do.

Ningwa made the lotus leaf chicken for Qingmian, so she could only watch with envy as she wrung out a towel and fiercely wiped the woman's greasy mouth on the bed.