Farewell Flower Festival

In the evening, Han Lie came to the Marquis's Mansion and said that he had a private matter to discuss with Zhao Huan.

The housekeeper first took him to see Zhao Zhong. Han Lie took out the IOU and said that Zhao Huan had lost money in a gambling game with him before and owed him five thousand taels. There was also Zhao Huan's fingerprint on the IOU.

Zhao Zhong knew that the IOU was most likely fake, but Zhao Huan had now been diagnosed with amnesia, so he naturally had no memory of whether he had lost the money or not. However, Zhao Zhong really didn't expect that someone would come to his house to extort money, and it was Han Lie.

The Han family has Han Luo, so everyone in the capital has to give them some face.

The Marquis's Mansion is no exception.

Zhao Zhong acknowledged the IOU and asked the butler to get the silver note and give it to Han Lie. He also took the opportunity to inquire about Emperor Mu's attitude.

"I heard that the Emperor has detained His Highness the Fourth Prince in the palace. Is this true or not?"

Han Lie said, "It was Chief Steward Xiao who asked the Fourth Prince to come to the palace to cooperate with the investigation. The emperor was in a bad mood after knowing this, but after all, it concerns the reputation of the royal family, so the matter should be investigated thoroughly." He changed the subject, "Although the Second Young Master has lost his memory, he still has more than a dozen lives on his shoulders. It is a great favor from the emperor that he can stay in the mansion to recuperate. If he is exiled in the future, the Marquis should not bear any resentment." The last sentence sounded like a joke.

Zhao Zhong also responded with a smile and asked the housekeeper to send Han Lie away.

After Han Lie left, Zhao Zhong's face darkened. He went to the study and wrote a secret letter and had someone send it to the palace.

……

Two days later in the morning, a rare guest came to the palace. It was Eunuch An from the palace. Eunuch De asked him to convey a message saying that the matter had been investigated clearly and Mu Tianling would be able to come back today.

Chao Yan tried to find out who was behind the frame-up of Mu Tianling. She knew that Zhao Zhong must be involved, but she didn't know what the result of the investigation by the Inner Court would be. However, Eunuch An kept his mouth shut and just answered with two vague sentences before leaving.

Chaoyan and Eunuch Wu waited at the gate for a whole morning, but he still hadn't come back. Chaoyan was a little suspicious that Eunuch An had lied about military intelligence, until she saw a carriage coming and dispelled her suspicion.

Although everyone has returned, Qianfeng's situation is not optimistic.

Mu Tianling and Feiyu were safe and sound, but Qianfeng had obviously suffered torture. His face was extremely pale and his lips were chapped. He probably hadn't drunk a drop of water in the past two days. He could only make a few hoarse sounds from his throat. Although he was wearing clean clothes, the blood oozing from the wound had dyed the clothes on his back red.

Eunuch Wu immediately sent someone to call a doctor. Before the doctor came, Eunuch Wu first treated Qianfeng's wound. Chaoyan was not in a position to come in, so she waited outside the door. Mu Tianling was also in the yard.

In the room, Eunuch Wu asked Feiyu to help hold Qianfeng down and take off the bloody clothes on his back. Qianfeng gritted his teeth and groaned, cold sweat broke out on his forehead due to the pain.

When the doctor came, Eunuch Wu had already applied powder to Qianfeng and bandaged his wound, saving a lot of effort. After checking Qianfeng's pulse, the doctor wrote a prescription and gave some dietary precautions.

As soon as Eunuch Wu sent the doctor out of the house, Chaoyan ran over to ask about Qianfeng's condition. Eunuch Wu said that he was fine and all he had to do next was to rest well.

Chaoyan went into the room to see Qianfeng, and when she came out she found that Mu Tianling was gone.

It was not until the evening that Mu Tianling opened the door of the study and walked out. As soon as he came out, he heard Chao Yan's voice, "Are you hungry, Your Highness?" He turned his head to look at her, said nothing, and walked away.

Chao Yan followed him into the house, poured him a cup of tea, then went to the kitchen to bring dinner and put it on the table. She walked to the windowsill, looked down at the jasmine flowers in bloom, and said after a while, "Your Highness, don't be too hard on yourself."

Hearing these words, the depths of his deep eyes moved slightly, as if his heartstrings were gently touched by a soft feather. His gaze fell on the hand that was stroking the flower, and gradually moved to her soft profile. He stared at it for a moment and then looked away.

Chao Yan glanced back at him, walked to the stool and sat down, patted the table, and asked him to come over to eat.

Under her gaze, which was as firm as a stabilizing force, Mu Tianling stood up and walked over to sit opposite her. Chaoyan picked up some food for him first and watched him finish eating. When she picked up some food for him the second time, he also put a piece of braised pork ribs in her bowl. Chaoyan plucked up the courage to ask, "Your Highness, your salary has not been deducted, has it?" Mu Tianling picked up another piece of pork ribs for her, and Chaoyan stopped asking.

The next day, Chaoyan brought Feicui to visit Qianfeng. Seeing him wandering around in the yard, Chaoyan asked Feicui to help Qianfeng, who could hardly walk properly, back to the house to rest, and asked Feicui to stay and look after him.

After coming back, Chao Yan walked to the desk and ground ink, glancing at the people practicing calligraphy several times.

After Mu Tianling finished writing a piece of calligraphy, he asked, "What do you want to ask?"

Chao Yan asked tactfully: "Your Highness, are you not going out today?"

Mu Tianling nodded.

Chao Yan continued to ask politely: "What about tomorrow?"

Mu Tianling said: "Don't go out."

Chao Yan plucked up the courage to ask, "The emperor didn't punish your highness, did he?"

Mu Tianling was silent for a moment, then said, "Don't worry, the salary is still there."

It seemed that he was punished, so Chao Yan stopped making any noise and disturbed him from practicing calligraphy.

A few days later, Chaoyan heard a bizarre news that Zhao Huan had gone crazy.

Chao Yan is a little impressed by the endless tricks these father and son come up with. Last time he was poisoned, then he lost his memory, and now he is pretending to be crazy. They are so shameless that one has to admit defeat to them. They are so shameless! Hurry up and get struck by lightning!

As for Zhou Hua, Eunuch Wu was unable to find out any news about him, and Chao Yan had no idea what had happened to him.

The ministers in the court saw through Emperor Mu's attitude through this incident, and their stance changed quietly.

......

A month later, Qianfeng's injuries healed, and Mu Tianling took Qianfeng and Feiyu out again.

Chao Yan felt relieved that she had not lost her stable job.

But until dark, no one came back.

Chao Yan wondered if she had run into another difficult case. What kind of crappy luck was this...

As the night deepened, Chao Yan wandered at the gate, glancing towards the other end of the alley from time to time. She felt that if she kept looking for a while longer she would soon become a husband-waiting rock.

The sound of wheels turning came from the other end of the alley, and the carriage slowly drove out of the night.

When she was almost at the door, Chao Yan quickly slipped back behind it, not wanting him to know that she was waiting for him.

After Mu Tianling got off the carriage, he walked towards the door with Qianfeng and Feiyu.

Chao Yan was ready to show up to create an encounter. When he approached, she smelled a hint of alcohol and thought that he must have gone out for a social event. Then a faint smell of perfumed powder drifted over, which was caught by her sensitive sense of smell. It was the scent of rouge and powder used by girls in their homes, and it was not cheap stuff.

Mu Tianling had already caught a glimpse of a figure hiding behind the door. Even though he couldn't see the face clearly, he knew it was Chao Yan. He thought she would suddenly jump out and scare him. As soon as he approached, she turned and left, and seemed to mutter something swearing.