More and more gifts were delivered to Liu Shan Men in the following days, all of which were high-quality jewellery, silk, perfume, rouge and health supplements… Colleagues of Shen Yiren and Song Ou thought they were about to tie the knot. Ming Suwen wished should she could just knock the lights out of everyone because they were constantly asking her the same thing.
Ming Suwen ignored the reluctance of the female constables, ordering all chests sealed as soon as they were delivered and collected in their training courtyard, prohibiting them from touching them. If someone was using it to frame Liu Shan Men for accepting bribes, then all those chests were enough to incriminate them for multiple lifetimes. The sender disregarded her response and kept sending carts every day. By the twelfth day, Liu Shan Men ran out of room in their training grounds.
All right, if you want to send gifts, I’ll kindly accept them.
Ming Suwen accepted the gifts delivered on the thirteenth day, then summoned several wealthy families in the capital. Though they didn’t disclose who bought the goods, she confirmed the buyer had very deep pockets. She sold the items back to the owners at 30% less than their original prices to clear out their training area.
The next day, more gifts were sent, one of which was a chest of copper coins.
“Who needs a life?!” Nobody dared to utter a word when they saw Ming Suwen flaring up for the first time. “Sending whatever I hate. Are they a prankster?”
Ming Suwen interrogated the unlucky spy she thrashed last time, but she used torture this time as part of her interrogation regime. He eventually gave in, though he only divulged it was the ministry of personnel and military. To assure her, he showed her everything he had on him. Frankly, the confession wasn’t any help; she interrogated another spy to be told it was the ministry of justice. Evidently, asking them wasn’t going to get her anywhere because they were told what to say beforehand.
“Sister, relax.” Chu Yinghua raised a hand. “Did you not teach you us, ‘Learn to adapt’? Mayhap this is their attempt to cause us distress and then strike.”
“Yinghua…”
His Majesty couldn’t have taken over a thousand men with him if he’s travelling covertly. According to Hong Jiu’s report, they should have around two thousand people if the remnants of Evil Spirits will join them. If he needs more men, it’d only take five days to mobilise troops from the capital to Huzhou. It takes a month, at least, to reach Nieyao City from Huzhou, but it’ll be hard to predict how their journey will look as they close in on Nieyao City. I was going to settle things in seven days and then set off. Damn it.
Lan Kelan opined, “Given the six ministries sent the spies, the secretaries must know who the mastermind is. Unfortunately, we cannot question them as meagre constables. Even if we did, I doubt they would tell us.”
“… Hmph.” Ming Suwen inhaled confidence and showed the signature look she sported whenever she was about to pull something that’d be legally questionable. “Let’s go have a word.”
Chu Yinghua: “… With who?”
“That would be some high rankers.”
***
Red Prince liked to polish his swordplay upon waking since it was a routine he adopted from childhood. He always set aside two hours daily to refine his swordplay as, from a young age, his father taught him to practice with discipline and not indulge in wealth. For the same reason, after he turned eight, he always slept sitting and meditated in his sleep. As a result, he received adulation for his martial prowess and was said to have eclipsed his father from years ago.
From twelve years old onwards, Red Prince went through mentors monthly since that was all the time he needed to surpass them until he eventually found someone he couldn’t overtake. Owing to his prowess, his father allowed him to commence training their clan’s signature style once he turned sixteen. This was how he came to be called “Sword King” among his siblings.
If Red Prince wasn’t training or tending to his daily necessary routines, he devoted his time to national affairs nowadays, meeting with officials after a short break post-workout to start. In the last few days, Red Prince had cracked several big cases and cracked down on corrupt officials, so meetings had comprised primarily of good news.
Administrator: “Your Highness, your rising reputation and delegation are good signs.”
Whilst writing, Red Prince questioned, “How are things… at Liu Shan Men?”
Administrator quietly answered, “They have stopped investigating any cases and reduced their patrols. Your strategy must be taking effect, Your Highness.”
Can’t have time to investigate cases when you are paranoid about what’s happening at home, can you?
Victory came to Red Prince’s lips: “Good. Women should stay at home.”
