Chapter 115 Closer to Qin Ji…

Chapter 115 Closer to Qin Ji…

Leaning close to Qin Ji's ear, Xiao Yanhui whispered as if she were about to tell a big secret, "And do you know who I met today?"

Before Qin Ji could ask, Xiao Yan Hui revealed the answer: "The Second Prince's concubine, Su Jin Yue, came to me today." Thinking of Su Jin Yue, who was currently staying in the mansion, Xiao Yan Hui couldn't help but praise himself for his cleverness.

At first, Su Jinyue did not intend to reveal her identity. She only used the identity of Yue Niang, a young embroiderer who had met Xiao Yanhui twice, to build a relationship.

She was implying that she had learned that an elder in her family had been implicated and imprisoned. She also learned that the elder had been bought by the Prince Cheng's Mansion. Since they were family, she hoped to meet that elder.

This was originally a small matter. If Su Jinyue was really just an embroiderer who had met Xiao Yanhui twice, then Xiao Yanhui would definitely have agreed to it.

After all, even if they were bought slaves, their masters wouldn't be so harsh as to deny them even the chance to see their relatives.

However, Xiao Yan Hui was already extremely suspicious that Yue Niang was Su Jin Yue, so he naturally wouldn't take Yue Niang or the so-called elder she mentioned lightly.

Yue Niang already needed someone's help, and Xiao Yan had been looking for Su Jin Yue for quite some time. Naturally, her subordinates had some clues. They brought her back to the mansion and used both soft and hard tactics to get some information out of her, which successfully made Yue Niang relent.

As evening fell, Xiao Yan not only confirmed that Yue Niang was indeed Su Jin Yue, but also learned from her that she still had physical evidence to overturn the old case of the Su family.

"The second son's concubine, Su Jinyue? She's not dead?" Qin Ji still had a vague memory of Su Jinyue.

Back when he was still in the palace, he used this woman to set a trap for the Second Prince and the Third Prince. He originally thought she was a useful pawn, but unfortunately, she was eliminated early in the power struggle within the Second Prince's harem. Unexpectedly, he heard her name again at this time.

"Wei Sa mentioned that the Second Prince's men seemed to be looking for someone, but it seemed they weren't looking very seriously. It turns out they were looking for a beauty. So... Yan Hui'er, what are you planning to do? The Second Prince seemed to have some genuine feelings for her back then. It just so happens that his long-cherished dream of Miss Xie is no longer possible. If we send her back now..." Qin Ji's eyes flashed with malice, looking like he wanted to stir up trouble and watch the show.

"Stop, stop, stop..." Xiao Yan reached out and pressed down on his overly exaggerated smile: "My prince, watch your manners, you're about to lose your composure."

Qin Ji glanced at Xiao Yan, his eyes even carrying a hint of allure: "Whether I am a gentle and refined person or not, doesn't the Princess know better than anyone else!"

Xiao Yan suddenly felt her heart beating a little fast, and quickly covered his eyes with her hand: "We're talking about serious matters." She said this, but in her heart she was secretly complaining that this person had become more and more charming lately.

After pausing for a few moments, he spoke again: "I did originally intend to use Su Jinyue to make the Second Prince's backyard even more chaotic, but after thinking about it carefully, it seems unnecessary."

Xiao Yan had to admit that she had always harbored ill intentions towards Su Jinyue.

She sent people to find the original female lead, partly to use Su Jinyue's exquisite embroidery skills as a breakthrough to win over the Empress, and partly to use Su Jinyue to further complicate the Second Prince's already messy love life.

But upon seeing Su Jinyue today, and learning that she was the embroiderer he had met before, Xiao Yan Hui felt that this Su Jinyue was somewhat different from the clingy, lovelorn, and heartbroken figure in the original book who was easily swayed by the Second Prince's slightest signal and would return to him.

If she truly wanted to sever all ties with the Second Prince, she didn't want to be the villain who pushed her into the fire. After all, in the original story, although Su Jinyue's status in Li Fang's heart improved after she re-entered Li Fang's household, the security of Consort Guo and the other concubines meant that her life wouldn't be easy from then on.

"Never mind, never mind, let's not talk about that for now. Su Jinyue came to me today because the Su family had a secret ledger from back then..." Xiao Yanhui truthfully told Qin Ji the gist of the matter.

"So what she means is that the Su family was wronged back then, and the reason they've come knocking on your door today is because of the accountant you bought. He has the secret accounts left behind by Lord Su back then, which can prove the Su family's innocence?"

After listening to Xiao Yan's account of the whole story, Qin Ji fell into a brief moment of thought, then revealed a cryptic smile.

"What's wrong? Why are you laughing so strangely?" Xiao Yan immediately understood the hidden meaning in his smile.

"It's rare to see my clever and quick-witted wife act silly," Qin Ji said, holding her in his arms and teasingly.

Then, before Xiao Yan could get angry, he explained, "The fact that Su Jinyue was punished and sent to the palace as the daughter of a disgraced official means that the Su family was only charged with ordinary corruption. In His Majesty's eyes, corruption is not a serious crime. Even if the sentence were severe, it wouldn't be a capital offense. But back then, her father committed suicide in prison for a crime that wasn't punishable by death. Isn't that strange?"

"It is precisely because of the suspicious circumstances surrounding her death that Su Jinyue insists that her father was wrongfully killed back then."

She tried to search her memory, but it was already blurry. Even though she had forgotten the cause and effect, Xiao Yan remembered that the female protagonist's father had indeed been exonerated.

"Compared to dying unjustly, I think the Su family's situation is more like coming to an end. Perhaps it was precisely because the investigation was restrained and the conviction was not severe that Su Jinyue's father's confidants were not implicated and were even able to continue working as managers in other officials' households."

Although I haven't seen the so-called secret ledger yet, I'm ninety percent certain that if it's truly exposed, it won't just exonerate the Su family, but rather confirm that he deserved to die back then, and it will also implicate many other big fish.

"Interesting!" Qin Ji narrowed his eyes slightly, a calculating glint in them: "Perhaps the second brother is about to have another important secret account fall into our hands."

“So…” Xiao Yanhui’s eyes widened slightly: “You mean that the secret account is important evidence that the Su family hid back then, and that this matter is related to the Second Prince.”

"Given the second son's age at the time, he himself may not have gotten involved, but it's hard to say whether his mother and the power behind her were involved."

Su Jinyue had only been in the palace for a short time when she was promoted from a lowly palace maid to serve in the second prince's palace, and then quickly became his personal maid. If it was a coincidence, it was too much of a coincidence.

"We'll probably have to wait until we get the secret ledger from the shopkeeper to find out the truth. But if Su's father deserved to die back then, it would be a waste of all the hard work Su Jinyue has put into finding the truth and exonerating him all these years."

Upon closer reflection, Xiao Yan Hui had to admit that Qin Ji's analysis made a lot of sense. As for the case of the Su family being overturned in the original book, the second prince was the one who ascended the throne at that time. If Su's father was originally from his faction and Su Jin Yue was his beloved woman, what difficulty would it have been for him to issue an edict to overturn the case?

"Yan Hui'er!" Seeing that the person in his arms had been lost in thought after speaking, Qin Ji frowned slightly in displeasure, then whispered in her ear.

"Hmm?" Xiao Yanhui, still lost in her own thoughts, gave a perfunctory response.

"Ah!" Suddenly feeling a cool sensation on her earlobe, followed by a slight pain, Xiao Yan exclaimed in surprise, her ears and face turning bright red.

This... This guy was clearly talking about serious matters, so why is he suddenly licking and biting me like that: "You bastard, are you a dog?"

"Such a beautiful time, such a beautiful night..." Qin Ji pulled the person who had slipped out of his embrace back into a tight hug, and continued to tease her by sucking on her translucent, jade-like earlobe.

Then a soft hand touched her forehead and gently pushed her away: "Who said they had to wait for my birthday?"

It wasn't that Xiao Yan Hui wanted to reject him, but several times when things almost escalated, Qin Ji would resentfully mutter "waiting for your birthday" and then hold back. As a result, she especially liked to tease him with this time limit, and it always worked.

Sure enough, this time was no exception.

Qin Ji left a deep, heavy kiss on her neck, then stiffened and collapsed heavily onto the bed, his face filled with the unsatisfied yet helpless feeling of death.

"Yan Hui'er, your birthday is the day after tomorrow, do you still remember?" Qin Ji said this through gritted teeth. Sometimes he himself didn't know what he was insisting on, but when facing Yan Hui'er, he would have these seemingly inexplicable sense of ritual and these seemingly strange bottom lines.

"well!"

"Why are you sighing?" Looking at Qin Ji, who was lying on the bed and looked quite attractive in the candlelight, Xiao Yan glanced at his face, which was even more alluring because of his restraint and forbearance, and deliberately poked his face with her finger.

Feeling the soft touch from his fingertips and the slightly higher temperature than usual, Xiao Yan Hui became even more excited. Her fingers slid to his neck, and with a gentle press, she could feel a throbbing pulse beneath his skin.

Then, he grabbed her wrist, and the scalding heat emanated from his palm, making her feel that the spring night was getting hot.

The two looked at each other at the same time, exchanged a slightly damp and sticky look, and then looked away at the same time, but their eyes quickly met and intertwined again.

While Prince Cheng and his wife were indulging in a sweet, flirtatious game of mutual seduction and restraint, the Second Prince was furious.

"Thud!" A stack of account books was slammed to the ground by the Second Prince Li Fang.