Conan's physique? The Crown Princess is involved in a murder case again

After Ao Ying handed Xu Xingyin's message to Jing Zhichen, the Crown Prince, who was bending over the desk reviewing memorials, nodded in agreement without comment.

"Since the Crown Princess has given the order, you should just follow it."

"This is a brilliant plan, Crown Princess." Even Qiong Guang, who was standing beside him, praised, "If the Crown Princess were a man, I'm afraid half of the staff in the Eastern Palace would be outshined by her."

"The person I choose will not be wrong."

The usually aloof Crown Prince actually smiled with a hint of pride.

Looking up and seeing Qiongguang's admiring gaze, Jing Zhichen felt a little unhappy again, so he put down his pen and asked Aoying again.

"How is the investigation going at Xiangyu Pavilion?"

Aoying shook his head honestly, "No progress yet."

"In that case, let Qiongguang continue the investigation, and you just finish the things that the Crown Princess has asked you to do."

"Yes!"

After receiving this order, Aoying almost had the word "happy" written on his face.

Looking at Qiongguang next to him, his face turned green and he begged for mercy bitterly.

"Your Highness, I am not familiar with this place. How about someone else? I think Xuan Yao is a good person. He handled the skinny horse incident quite well last time."

"Now all the evidence points to Liu Yongfeng. In secret, we only have one clue, Xiangyu Pavilion, to dig up. This is a very important matter. You are very careful and I believe in you."

Having said that, Qiong Guang had no choice but to agree. He sighed, not knowing how he had offended Jing Zhichen today.

……

When Zhang Songping rushed into the inner courtyard in a hurry, Zhang Tong was so scared that she almost broke the blood amber vase in her hand.

Zhang Tong patted her chest in fear and said, "Thank God, the bottle is fine."

Zhang Tong found out that Xu Xingyin liked things made of blood amber, so she spent a lot of time and effort to get this excellent blood amber spring vase, which she planned to give to Xu Xingyin as a gift to show her appreciation.

Zhang Songping knew about this matter, but the situation was urgent and he couldn't care less.

"Mother! Father sent someone to send those bitches from Yuchun Lane away. I thought something was amiss so I arrested a woman and interrogated her. Guess what happened?"

Zhang Tong knew about Lin Niang and her two children from Yuchun Lane.

Zhang Zishi brought this woman all the way from Xiancheng to Jiangning. Zhang Zishi values ​​her very much, so how could he send her away for no reason?

Realizing this, Zhang Tongshi's tone became a little impatient, "Don't keep us in suspense, speak politely."

"Father took a lot of silver and sent elite guards to escort the people from Yuchun Lane away. The servants in the courtyard were also dismissed. According to what the old woman said, they will never come back."

Having said that, Zhang Songping pounded the table angrily.

"That woman heard from the messenger my father sent to tell her that the truth had been revealed, and Jiang Ning would find a way to make us mother and son take the blame, in exchange for time to escape from Ming Yuchun Lane, and also to leave a trace of blood for the Zhang family."

Having said that, how could Zhang Tongshi not understand anything?

Perhaps Zhang Zishi's evil deeds were exposed, and in order to preserve his bloodline he resorted to this desperate measure, actually sacrificing the lives of mother and son in exchange for a glimmer of hope for the survival of those bastards outside!

"What this woman said may not be true. Things may not be that bad right now. If we act rashly, we will fall into someone else's trap."

Furious, Zhang Tong finally calmed down after drinking a cup of tea and tried to think about the problem as calmly as possible.

"Send someone... No, go to the government office in person and meet your father."

At this point, Zhang Songping was helpless and could only nod and listen to his mother.

Zhang Songping went to the yamen specially, but was coldly rejected by the yamen runner: "Master Zhang is very busy and has no time to meet guests. Please forgive me, Master Zhang."

After being rejected, Zhang Songping became even more flustered.

He increasingly believed that Zhang Zishi would sacrifice them and his son for Yuchun Lane, and he became furious and started swearing at several yamen runners.

As luck would have it, he met the Crown Prince Jing Zhichen, who rewarded him with twenty strokes of the cane.

Zhang Zishi was a bad parent. Although Jing Zhichen did not punish him, he deliberately mentioned it a few times in front of the officials.

Zhang Zishi had never lost face like this before. He was very angry at his disappointing son and was even more unwilling to see Zhang Songping.

The bailiff who was carrying out the caning took Zhang Songping's money and went much easier on him. He also whispered to him, "There is no overnight hatred between father and son. Young master, just give in to Lord Zhang and you will avoid this painful beating, right?"

The implication was that the beating was Zhang Zishi's idea, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was merely following Zhang Zishi's wishes.

If the same words were said to Zhang Tongshi, she might not believe it, but Zhang Songping, who had just been beaten with a stick, was blinded by hatred.

He was carried back to the Zhang residence holding his breath. As soon as he saw Zhang Tongshi, he cried:

"Mother, not only did my father refuse to see his son, he also ordered someone to beat him with 20 sticks! I am so angry!"

Seeing her son being beaten like this, Zhang Tong felt very upset. She sat on the ground in a daze and muttered:

"Are you really so cruel?"

When the "yamen runner" took the silver to report to Xu Xingyin, Xu Xingyin was so proud that his pigtails were about to stick up to the sky.

The plan went so smoothly. I guess Zhang Tong will come to find me soon!

Xu Xingyin waited for three days, and his mentality changed from initial confidence to self-doubt.

On the other hand, Qiongguang of Xiangyu Pavilion, who had been reluctantly investigating for a long time, finally got some clues:

There is someone else behind the scenes who owns Xiangyu Pavilion. The purpose of this person setting up Xiangyu Pavilion is probably not just to make money and get information, but more like...

The means of generating legal revenue by circulating money of unknown origin through Xiangyu Pavilion is commonly known as money laundering.

As everyone knows, there are many beauties in Jiangnan. The reason why Xiangyu Pavilion can stand out among the numerous brothels in Jiangnan is closely related to its willingness to spend money on the girls in the pavilion.

In addition to the income from entertaining guests, the girls also received an additional subsidy for clothing and makeup. The more famous the girl was, the higher the subsidy she received.

Looking at the whole Jiangnan area, this is a unique treatment.

According to Qiongguang's investigation, the money spent on the girls' clothes and makeup alone accounted for as much as 40% of the total monthly income. After deducting the expenses of the shop, waiters, servants, food and supplies, the account of Xiangyu Pavilion was just barely breaking even.

According to government records, Xiangyu Pavilion had a monthly income of nearly 50,000 taels, and at its peak, it could reach nearly 100,000 taels.

Such a huge gap is only on the surface. All revenue reported to the government is subject to tax.

In other words, it is just a way for Xiangyu Pavilion to demonstrate its strength and give an explanation to the government. No one knows how much its secret income is.