Chapter 301 - Separate Interrogation

Wang Wen said from behind, “No matter what conspiracy he has, he won’t succeed. I don’t believe he can do anything to us!”

The camel team was getting closer and closer. Mahal didn’t hide away. Instead, he looked at them secretly from the top of the mountain.

When Jin Xiaoyu approached him, she also looked up at him.

He unexpectedly smiled at Jin Xiaoyu with contempt.

At other times, Jin Xiaoyu had already smashed a big rock towards him.

But now, she felt that something was wrong.

Had something dangerous happened in the tribe, or… Little Xun?

Wang Wu was still talking to Tarico, “Tarico, is this old man provoking us? Do you want us to tie him and beat him up?

Jin Xiaoyu immediately stopped him, “Don’t mess around. Let’s hurry back to the tribe and see how it is.”

……

The tribe was fine and so was Little Xun.

Jin Xiaoyu let out a sigh of relief. It looked like she was overthinking. Also, Mahal was too good at acting and deliberately created panic for them.

Jin Xiaoyu gave the gifts she bought from Beihui City to everyone. Everyone was happy and grateful to her.

Walking around after she returned, she didn’t see Xiao Baoshan.

She didn’t mean to pay special attention to Xiao Baoshan, but Xiao Baoshan was always too eye-catching. He would become the focus of attention whenever he stood in the crowd. Now that he wasn’t in the tribe, it was quite strange.

So when Jin Xiaoyu saw Ye Xiaoxian, she joked, “Where’s your man? Did he go to Baoning City to chat and drink with General Qian?”

Ye Xiaoxian stammered, “He…”

She was not sure if she should tell Jin Xiaoyu about this, including the fact that the Sixth King and the Seventh King had already returned to the capital city.

However, if she didn’t tell Jin Xiaoyu about this, there was no one to whom she could tell.

Li Hongmei and Baozhu were not interested in the imperial court, nor did they have much ability to judge. Squire Liu might have some ability to judge, but Ye Xiaoxian felt that it was too abrupt to talk about these things with Squire Liu.

Jin Xiaoyu might be a good person to talk about this.

Ye Xiaoxian pulled Jin Xiaoyu aside and said, “Baoshan went to Baoning City, but he was not to drink and chat with General Qian. General Qian has already returned to the capital city. Not only him, but also the Sixth King and the Seventh King were both called back to the capital city.”

“Ah?” Jin Xiaoyu immediately realized that something was not right.

Ye Xiaoxian was frightened by Jin Xiaoyu’s expression and asked, “Do you also feel confused about this?”

“Of course. If this kind of thing isn’t confusing, nothing in the world would be. The reason why the Sixth King and the Seventh King were summoned to the capital city must be the Emperor had doubts about them and suspected that they had done something unspeakable here.”

Ye Xiaoxian asked, “Does establishing the camel team count as something bad and unspeakable?”

“Of course not. The camel team is doing benefit to the common people. Look at the people in Tianshan tribe now, they are living an increasingly better life. And for the people nearby, bulls and sheep are sold, and cotton can be sold at a good price too. They are more than happy.”

“Then…” Ye Xiaoxian asked, “What else can be suspected?”

“I don’t know. If the Sixth King and the Seventh King used all these income to do things for the people, then the Emperor definitely won’t say a word, but it is hard to tell if they used it to do something else.”

Ye Xiaoxian said, “Even if they use the money to do something else, they will also try to cover it on the account. They won’t be easily found out, will they?”

“It’s hard to say,” Jin Xiaoyu said, “If the government wants to check the accounts, they have to start from us. Our accounts are never fake. Are there any suspicious people coming to our tribe recently?”

Ye Xiaoxian said, “No, indeed.”

Apart from a few businessmen, no one came.

Jin Xiaoyu was relieved, but when she thought of Mahal, she added, “We have to pay attention to Mahal. I always feel that he has a conspiracy.”

Then Jin Xiaoyu explained to Ye Xiaoxian the way she saw Mahal when she came back.

Ye Xiaoxian couldn’t help but feel her hair stand on end.

She was not optimistic at all, “Why do I have a feeling that something big is going on here?”

Jin Xiaoyu said, “I feel this way too. In short, let’s be careful. Don’t lose our sights. We have to be wary of people coming from the outside as well.”

……

Li Chengyi and Li Chengru headed to the capital city unhurriedly.

They took the state highway, but it still took them half a month to reach the capital city.

The two of them haven’t returned to the capital for a long time, but the mansion they lived in before was still guarded and cleaned by the servants for a long time, so they would always have a place to live.

Not long after they entered the capital city, the two of them were called into the palace separately.

Li Chengkun was the one who met Li Chengyi and the state preceptor met Li Chengru.

Li Chengkun had a calm steady appearance before he became the Emperor. Now that he was the Emperor, his thoughts were even more incomprehensible.

He let Li Chengyi sit down and gave him tea and desserts, then he looked at Li Chengyi for a while.

Before Li Chengyi went to Baoning City, he was a refined prince. Now that he had been staying in Baoning City for a long time, his skin had become rough, but his face was still rosy and he looked very energetic.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the Sixth Prince. The Sixth Prince is becoming more and more energetic. It seems that the land in the western part of the country is a tough place to work in.”

“Brother is too flattering. I simply accepted my own fate. No matter where I am, I will just be myself and do my best.”

“Em.” Li Chengkun took a sip of tea and asked, “Have you really accepted your fate? Back then, Emperor Father had demoted you to the border, but after I took his position, I didn’t call you back. Don’t you blame me?

“Of course not. I didn’t resent Emperor Father back then, of course I won’t resent you now either. Although I have been on the border, I always remembered that I am the son of the imperial family. I would still pray for the imperial family during holidays.”

Li Chengyi carefully answered the question while guessing what kind of trick Li Chengkun was playing.

The emperor even separated him from Li Chengru, obviously trying to beat them up.

Li Chengkun didn’t know if the emperor was satisfied with this question because his face didn’t reveal anything.

The emperor asked again, “I remember last year a betrayer of the imperial court took his grandson and fled to Baoning City. Did he seek help from you?”

Li Chengyi was shocked and felt he had a clue of Li Chengkun’s purpose.

He and Li Chengru weren’t summoned back without a reason but because of Prime Minister Xun.

Did they know that Little Xun was hiding in Tianshan tribe?

……

In another palace, State Preceptor was also asking Li Chengru.

“The Seventh King must know about Prime Minister Xun, right? This man had always been against his Majesty. Last year, his whole family was executed. However, someone rescued him and his grandson, and they later fled to Baoning city.”

Li Chengru also realized that they were called back to Beijing because of Little Xun.

Obviously, they had found out about Little Xun.

He knew that Li Chengyi must have been asked the same question. If their answers were inconsistent, they would be punished at any time.

What should he do? He and Li Chengyi had not discussed this matter beforehand.

Who would have thought that they were called back the capital city because of this?

Perhaps there were other things, such as military deployment.

However, they only thing he could do was to take what was already happening.

“Prime Minister Xun? Of course I know. It was strange to say that when I was in the capital city, the people had always said good words of Prime Minister Xun. It was said that he loved the people as if they were his own children. He was so experienced as he had served three emperors. How did he become a traitor after I left the capital?”

Li Chengru pretended to be confused and returned to his usual unruly appearance as he was in the capital city before.

State Preceptor was obviously unsatisfied with the answer, “The Seventh King means that we were wrong about Prime Minister Xun?”

“Of course not!” Li Chengru immediately said, “It’s been a long time since I left the capital city. I don’t know what had happened here, so I’m simply curious. Some people look honest and righteous from their appearance, but we don’t know how many dirty thoughts are hidden under their looks, right?”

When Li Chengru spoke, he stared at state preceptor, which made state preceptor think that Li Chengru was scolding him.

However, Li Chengru quickly shifted his eyes.

State Preceptor could reply nothing but, “That’s right, the Seventh King sees things very clearly. Although you are young, you really understand people.”

Li Chengru asked again, “Oh right, what did you ask me again? The former Prime Minister took his grandson to Baoning City? I know about this, and there was another person who came together… What was the name? I forgot. Someone said that Prime Minister was dead, but his grandson ran away and he asked my brother, the Sixth King to help find the child. We searched the city for a long time but couldn’t find that child. I didn’t know what happened afterwards.”

State Preceptor asked, “Oh? Is that so? But how did I hear that he was hidden in a tribe by you guys? What was the name of that tribe? Tianshan tribe? The Seventh King often visited the tribe and had business dealings with the people there.”

Li Chengru’s heart skipped a beat.

Indeed, they came for this.

It turned out that they had investigated him and Little Xun. It was not a secret that Little Xun was living in the tribe.

Then, should he admit it now?

He didn’t know what Li Chengyi would say.

Regardless of whether he admitted it or not, as long as Li Chengyi and his answers were inconsistent, the two of them would suffer.

At this point, the only thing he could do was to take a bet.

“Ah? Did you say that the Prime Minister’s grandson was hidden in the tribe? Tianshan tribe?” Li Chengru pretended to be surprised.

“I go to that tribe two or three times a year, but I didn’t see any grandson of the Prime Minister. There are a lot of children over there. Which one are you referring to? But even if you tell me, I might not recognize him. I don’t like children anyways.”

State Preceptor narrowed his eyes and said, “The Seventh King really has great wits and short memories. You forgot that there was also a woman who helped the child escape. If the Seventh King can’t remember the child, you can always remember women. I heard that woman was very graceful. Do you remember such a woman at the tribe?”