Reborn Princess

Returning to the bed, Zhou Jingmo pulled out Shen Luoning, whose eyes were red from crying.

"Aning, I'm sorry for putting you through this." He coaxed her.

"My Lord, I won't live any longer, I won't live any longer..." Shen Luoning sobbed, "What should I do now? What should I do?"

"Your Majesty, please let me die!" After saying that, Shen Luoning broke free from Zhou Jingmo and wanted to bang her head against a pillar and die.

"Aning, don't be like this. You know how much I love you. Don't hurt yourself." Zhou Jingmo hugged her.

Shen Luo Ning sobbed even louder. "What should I do? I...my father will beat me to death."

Zhou Jingmo hugged her and said, "I will marry you. I will go to propose marriage in a few days."

Shen Luoning's crying became quieter. "Your Majesty, are you serious?"

"When have I ever lied to you?" Zhou Jingmo said.

Shen Luoning sobbed while Zhou Jingmo patted her back to comfort her. When Zhou Jingmo couldn't see, she curled her lips and smiled.

She can also be a princess.

Many people were terrified watching the play in Tongyuan. Everyone was afraid of losing their heads if the prince's dirty deeds were discovered.

Lu Hanze stood at the window and looked out over the entire Yanjing. King Xuan was famous for his generosity and virtue. He wanted to kill him to silence him, but he couldn't.

If anything happened to anyone, Zhou Jingmo would be cursed by the people as a hypocrite.

……

The next morning, when Shen Lilan woke up from the bed, Zhou Cechen was still lying beside her.

She had fallen asleep in the carriage last night after she came ashore from the boat.

She suffered from insomnia for several days after Zhou Cechen left, but now she can finally sleep well.

Finally, it was Zhou Cechen who carried her out of the carriage and back to Liyuan Pavilion. She was half asleep and half awake, and he held her in his arms, so she let Zhou Cechen help her change clothes and take a bath.

As long as Zhou Cechen is around, he will never delegate these things to others.

Both of them were exhausted from the tension of the past few days and Zhou Cechen had been traveling all night. When they woke up, it was almost noon.

Shen Lilan glanced sideways at the person beside him. It was great to have him there.

After Shen Xilan slept with Zhou Cechen, almost every day when she woke up, Zhou Cechen was gone, and the bed beside her was always cold.

On the rare occasions when Shen Lilan opened her eyes first, she would sleep next to Zhou Cechen and look at his face.

Zhou Cechen's eyelashes are quite long, Shen Lilan thought.

I haven't seen him for a few days, and I'm really happy to see him now.

Just as he was watching, Zhou Cechen put his arm around Shen Xilan's waist and pulled her into his arms.

"Don't want to sleep a little?" he asked.

"It's almost noon." Shen Lilan reminded with a blink of his eyes.

Zhou Cechen pinched his nose bridge. He actually slept for so long.

He kissed Shen Yanlan on the forehead and stood up. "I need to report to the emperor. I will have dinner with you tonight."

Shen Yanlan also sat up from the bed and said, "Okay, Your Majesty, go ahead."

……

In the imperial study, Song Yan was reporting to Zhou Hengyan the clues he had found in various places in recent days.

After Zhou Cechen came in, Zhou Hengyan glanced at him and asked, "Are you willing to come to see me?"

Song Yan bowed to Zhou Cechen, but Zhou Cechen waived his gift.

"Your Majesty, I have indeed made a significant discovery on this trip. Those officials are very popular among the people in their respective counties and are well-known for their integrity and honesty. The people are full of praise for them."

"When I investigated with Prince Ding'an, I saw that the officials' clothing, food, shelter and transportation were indeed very simple, and the restaurants and businesses were not in their names, but in the names of some merchants."

Zhou Hengyan frowned. There really was no flaw at all.

"However, we found two strange murder cases in Liaoze County. In both cases, the bodies of missing girls were found, but the coroners did not perform autopsies. In the end, the cases were hastily closed, and the cause of death was written as drowning."

This set of cases seems reasonable, but it seems like they are trying hard to cover up something.

"I dare to guess that the county magistrate forcibly occupied the place and then killed them."

He had witnessed Liu Linzhi's hypocrisy with his own eyes, and had also seen countless girls being killed. He could not sit idly by.

"I share the same opinion as Censor Song." Zhou Cechen said.

Song Yan glanced at him, and Zhou Cechen continued, "I checked the ironware shop in the next few days and found that a large number of weapons they cast were shipped out."

"Although the daily output of the ironware shop is recorded in the book, I have observed a shop for nearly two days and found that their output does not match the amount in the book."

"The production volume far exceeds the registered volume, otherwise I would not have noticed it."

"These records are all controlled by the county governments, which means that the ironware shop has a deep connection with the government."

Zhou Hengyan frowned, it was obvious what he was going to do.

"Selling salt and casting ironware illegally is a sign of rebellion!" Zhou Hengyan slammed the table and shouted.

Things are really going to change.

Zhou Cechen said: "They are bold enough to let us detect them, which means the person behind them must have been planning for a long time and is now impatient."

Zhou Hengyan and Zhou Cechen looked at each other and understood.

"The thief is still determined." Zhou Hengyan said.

"The private forgery of weapons has even reached Yanjing, that's great!"

"Why doesn't the emperor try to use the enemy's trick against him?" Zhou Cechen looked at Zhou Hengyan. Some people were better eliminated completely.

For a moment, the imperial study fell into silence.

"What will they do next?" Song Yan suddenly asked.

Zhou Cechen said coldly: "It takes so much preparation to rebel. The next step should be to start with the people."

At this time, Chang Cisheng suddenly came to the imperial study and reported, "Your Majesty, something has happened."

"Come in." Zhou Hengyan said.

Eunuch Chang came in holding a whisk in his hand, bowed, and then looked at Zhou Cechen and Song Yan who were standing there.

"Nothing, just say it."

"Your Majesty, Liu Linzhi died in prison, but I don't know who spread the news. The news spread very quickly, and now the people of Yanjing know about it."

"Liu Linzhi was a role model of honest governance and was respected by the people. Now he has died in prison for unknown reasons, and the people are spreading rumors..."

Zhou Hengyan frowned, "What?"

"It is said that you are not a wise ruler. You cannot bear to see that Liu Linzhi is so popular, so you arbitrarily accuse him of a crime and kill him in prison. Many people feel deeply sorry for this."

Zhou Hengyan sneered, "You are right, you can't wait to start with the people."

"What should we do now?" Song Yan asked.

Zhou Hengyan: "In that case, let's set a trap for you."

……

"Will you please enter the jar?"

Shen Xilan was sitting in the room inside Zhou Cechen's study and asked Zhou Cechen who was sitting opposite her.

Zhou Cechen nodded, and then pushed a plate of fried cherries in front of Shen Lilan.

"The capital will not be peaceful these days. I have arranged guards for you to follow you."

Shen Lilan looked at the cherry pancakes that Zhou Cechen pushed over and asked, "When did the prince put these snacks in his study?"

"You like it."

Shen Lilan curled his lips.

Zhou Cechen put down the tea bowl in his hand and said, "You eat first. I'll go take care of some things."

After that, he walked out of the room and went to the study outside.

Watching Zhou Cechen go out, Shen Xilan pursed her lips. She put down the cherry pancake in her hand and followed Zhou Cechen to the study.

In the study, Zhou Cechen was sitting at the desk, holding a pen and preparing to dip it in ink.