Help! The innocent prince always tries to seduce me clumsily

Chu Shiyu listened to Chu Shitong's advice and looked around among the civil and military officials, but couldn't find anyone suitable.

The civil and military officials in this dynasty seem to be performing their duties, but in fact they may have secretly sided with someone in the fight for the throne.

Chu Shiyu basically knew who the connections of which prince were. Couldn't he tell from the daily court sessions?

If we choose an official who remains neutral, I'm afraid that once we go to Jiangzhou, not only will we not be able to investigate the case, but we may even have a hard time coming back alive.

The reason why they chose to send the prince out when encountering such a thing was mainly because officials in some areas were so bold as to protect each other. If the person investigating the case was a prince, they would at least be a little afraid. If it was an ordinary official, he might be eaten alive if he went there.

The people in Jiangzhou have become so unscrupulous that they take human lives lightly. Apart from the prince, it would be extremely difficult for anyone to investigate the case.

On the surface, Chu Shitong was suggesting that they could look for someone else, but in reality he was just proposing a path that Chu Shiyu would never choose. He pretended to give him advice, but in reality he was trying to get his attention.

Chu Shiyu was sitting on the dragon throne, looking down at all the ministers with a stern and majestic expression. He was silent for a long time before he slowly spoke: "I will feel relieved if the prince handles this matter. Xiaoqi, are you willing to share my worries?"

Chu Shitong naturally would not agree immediately, he had to avoid suspicion at least.

"I am not familiar with investigating cases, and I am afraid it will be difficult to find out anything if I go. It is better to let my third brother go."

Chu Shihan glanced at Chu Shitong expressionlessly and said nothing.

Chu Shiyu rejected the proposal without even thinking about it.

"No, third brother. You should go."

"Then..." Chu Shitong pretended to be forced to agree, "Your son obeys your order."

The matter was finalized in this way. Chu Shitong left Beijing for Jiangzhou within two days. This time it was an open investigation. Basically, by the time Chu Shitong arrived in Jiangzhou, the other side would have received the letter long ago. I'm afraid he would see a big show when he got there.

After the court session, all civil and military officials dispersed.

Chu Shitong walked briskly among the ministers.

Meng Yongliang quickly came to Chu Shitong's side. The speech just now in the hall made him break out in cold sweats.

"Your Highness, are you really going to Jiangzhou?"

Chu Shitong did not express his attitude, but just said vaguely: "My father asked me to go, so I naturally had to go."

Meng Yongliang was puzzled, "But...if you wanted to go to Jiangzhou to investigate this matter, why didn't you just let me take that couple..."

He didn't say anything more, but his meaning was obvious.

Chu Shitong and Chu Shifeng were obviously on the same side. If Chu Shitong was allowed to investigate the matter, he would definitely be on Chu Shifeng's side. If that was the case, wouldn't it be better to just kill the couple in the cradle? Why did they specifically let him take over the case and file a complaint?

Isn't this just looking for trouble?

Chu Shitong smiled meaningfully, "Lord Meng, this is not something you should worry about. You should think more about how you were suppressed by the Sixth Prince during my absence. You brought people to file a complaint with the Emperor, but the Sixth Prince will not let you off so easily."

This is already a very veiled threat.

As soon as Chu Shitong left, Chu Shifeng would definitely hold a grudge against him and want to attack him, at least in secret.

Meng Yongliang was just a prefect and had few guards around him. If he was really attacked by a group of assassins, he would have no chance of survival.

If Meng Yongliang wanted to take advantage of Chu Shitong's absence from the capital and secretly seek refuge with Chu Shifeng to seek a way to survive, first of all, Chu Shitong would definitely not tolerate it. With Chu Shitong's power, it would be easy for him to kill him.

Moreover, even if he surrendered, Chu Shifeng would not accept him, which would be tantamount to directly offending the two princes.

Meng Yongliang wiped the cold sweat off his forehead repeatedly. He had already done what he was supposed to do. It was too late to run away now.

"Your Highness, please give me some advice."

Chu Shitong said: "Just do what you should do obediently, I will send people to guard you. As long as you don't seek death, you will not die."

Meng Yongliang felt relieved at this point, at least he was not abandoned.

"Thank you, Your Highness. I am unable to say more. I will take my leave now."

The two of them were just walking side by side, with no intention of having a conversation. He was afraid that others might notice something, so he left quickly.

Chu Shitong was walking slowly, actually waiting for Chu Shifeng.

"Xiaoqi."

As expected, Chu Shifeng caught up very quickly. The reason why Chu Shifeng didn't chase Chu Shitong directly was because he went to talk to the Minister of Dali Temple.

He probably wanted the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple to do something to the couple, but the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple was Chu Shixuan's man and would definitely not be threatened by him.

Chu Shitong stopped where he was, watching Chu Shifeng running forward in two steps at a time, and said, "Why are you walking so fast?"

"Royal brother." Chu Shitong said, "My father sent me to investigate the matter in Jiangzhou. I was angry. If I had been so close to my brother in front of all the ministers just now, I'm afraid someone would report me to my father."

Chu Shifeng couldn't stop looking annoyed, and when he heard Chu Shitong say that, he felt even more annoyed.

"I want to see who dares to speak out. The Dali Temple Minister really doesn't know what's good for him. He's just Chu Shixuan's dog, and he's so indifferent to me. It seems that Chu Shixuan wants to use this matter to make a fuss about me."

There were basically no officials to be seen on the road to the palace. Chu Shitong patiently advised, "Brother Emperor, please calm down. Although this matter was somewhat unexpected, it is fortunate that I was the one who investigated this matter, and did not let my eldest brother investigate it."

Chu Shifeng's expression improved a little. "It's a good thing that the emperor asked you to investigate. It seems that the emperor didn't want to change my position because of this matter, otherwise he wouldn't have asked you to go."

"Yes."

Chu Shitong smiled. Chu Shiyu definitely didn't have that idea.

Chu Shifeng had done such an embarrassing thing at Chu Shixuan's birthday party, but Chu Shiyu still subconsciously protected him, which was enough to show that Chu Shiyu really had expectations for this son.

But it doesn’t matter, Chu Shitong will disappoint Chu Shiyu.

"Your Highness Prince Qi, please stay!"

Wang Zexu's voice came from behind the two of them.

In fact, Chu Shitong also guessed that Chu Shiyu must have something to tell him.

When she turned around, Chu Shifeng suddenly grabbed her wrist with great force, holding her tightly in his hand like an iron clamp.

Chu Shitong asked, "What's wrong, my brother?"

Chu Shifeng's brows were gloomy, and he leaned closer. In an instant, the distance between them was only a few inches. Chu Shitong could even smell the faint smell of tobacco on him.

He stared at Chu Shitong's light brown eyes, and his words unconsciously carried a bit of pressure, "You and I know why the emperor asked you to enter the palace this time. No matter what he said, don't forget that you and the king are on the same side."

What he meant was that if Chu Shiyu asked Chu Shitong to investigate the case seriously, Chu Shitong should not choose to investigate the matter thoroughly just for the sake of credit.

Chu Shifeng knew clearly that what happened in Jiangzhou could not withstand investigation.

Chu Shitong smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, my emperor. I know it clearly."

Chu Shifeng looked at her smiling face, her eyes as pure as water, and his heartbeat quickened at an inappropriate time. He then quickly let go of her wrist and distanced himself from her.

Wang Zexu ran forward, saluted, and said, "Your Highness Prince Qi, Your Highness Prince Yu."

Chu Shitong asked, "But does the emperor have something for you to tell me?"

"Your Majesty, please ask Prince Qi to go to the Imperial Study."

"Then I'll trouble you to lead the way, sir."

Chu Shitong turned to look at Chu Shifeng, "Brother, please go back first. I will go to the palace for a while."

Chu Shifeng seemed to have something to say, but because Wang Zexu was present, he hesitated for a moment and did not say it, then turned around and said.

"The king will leave first."

The green feather robe made his back look as lonely as ever, and there was a time when Chu Shitong even felt sorry for him when he saw it.

Chu Shifeng seemed to have lived in a life of luxury and power since he was a child. His arrogance, unique power and wealth made everyone around him fear him and try to please him.

But no one was sincere to him.

Sometimes, after playing the role for too long, Chu Shitong actually developed some brotherly feelings for him during the days they spent together. After all, the only two sworn brothers who rarely met could pamper their brothers like Chu Shifeng did.

But Chu Shitong knew very well that between her and Chu Shifeng was the cold dragon throne that represented supreme power, which meant that the two were destined to never be sincere to each other.

......

Royal study room.

"My son, I will meet my father."

Chu Shitong knelt down and saluted.

It was quite strange that today Chu Shiyu was not reading memorials at the desk. Instead, he was sitting on the couch strangely, playing with a string of tourmaline beads in his hands.

"Get up."

"Thank you, Father."

Chu Shiyu didn't even look at Chu Shitong, but kept staring at the tourmaline beads in his hand.

His voice sounded absent-minded, with a hint of tiredness and age.

It seemed that when the two were alone together, Chu Shiyu no longer had the stern and majestic aura that no one could approach in the court.

Chu Shitong noticed that Chu Shiyu had grown a lot of white hair without him noticing.

There was silence in the hall, and Chu Shitong stood aside pretending to be well-behaved.

After a long time, Chu Shiyu put down the tourmaline beads in his hand, sighed, and said, "Xiao Qi, how do you plan to investigate the matter in Jiangzhou?"

Chu Shitong said: "Of course, we will investigate whatever we can find."

Chu Shiyu looked up at him. His eyes, which already had some wrinkles, were still bright enough to be a little scary.

"You are usually close to Lao Liu. Why do you think I asked you to investigate this matter?"

Chu Shitong paused and blinked a few times in panic, as if he had just realized this belatedly.

But she had no idea what answer Chu Shiyu wanted to hear, and didn't know how to start the conversation for a moment.

If Chu Shiyu wanted to investigate this matter thoroughly, he could have asked Chu Shixuan or Chu Shihan to investigate, but he chose to let himself investigate it, excluding the fact that Chu Shitong took the initiative to draw attention to it. Chu Shiyu must have his own considerations.

He knew that Chu Shitong had a good relationship with Chu Shifeng, but he still asked Chu Shitong to investigate the matter.

Could it be that he hoped that Chu Shitong could hide Chu Shifeng's mistakes and only deal with the affairs of Jiangzhou without implicating Chu Shifeng?

But if the officials in Jiangzhou are reshuffled, then Chu Shifeng's basic power will collapse. Isn't this something more terrible than being implicated?

A proud man like Chu Shifeng is not much worse than Si Jingli. To let the power behind him fall and be laughed at by others is even more painful than killing him.

"Father has his reasons for doing this. Xiao Qi is stupid and doesn't dare to guess the emperor's intention. I hope Father can give me some advice."

Chu Shiyu let out a long sigh, feeling exhausted and helpless like an old man in the late autumn.

"Xiao Qi has never started a family and career, so it's normal for her to not understand what I'm thinking."

He said this out of nowhere, and Chu Shitong really had no idea what he wanted to express.

It's nothing more than a matter of strict inspection or laxity. Is it that difficult to say?

A strict investigation and cleansing of Jiangzhou was carried out and Prince Yu was imprisoned.

Songxie Jiangzhou also needs to change the water, at most Prince Yu's status will be much lower than before.

Chu Shitong didn't say anything. She didn't understand what this had to do with starting a family and building a career.

Chu Shiyu stared at the sky outside the window and the new buds growing on the trees. The skylarks had also returned early and were jumping and chirping on the branches.

The incense burner in the house is burning, and the curling sandalwood fragrance is refreshing and calming.

Master Chu said: "I always feel that my health has not been as good as before in the past two years."

"Your Majesty, you are worrying too much. You are in your prime and strong. You don't need to worry about these things at all."

"I know my own health." Chu Shiyu's brows were tinged with sorrow. "I hope nothing happens to any of you princes. It is said that the imperial family is ruthless, but in the final analysis, you are all my sons. If anything happens to any of you, I will definitely care."

Chu Shitong looked at him coldly, as if when Chu Shiyu said this, he had transformed from the almighty emperor into a loving father.

He clearly didn't trust any of the children, yet he could say words that showed he cared and loved any child.

"I understand what your Majesty means." Chu Shitong knew what he meant, but she had no intention of changing her actions. The worst that could happen was that she wouldn't say it out loud.

Chu Shiyu said with satisfaction: "Xiao Qi is still sensible. None of your brothers can compare to you."

Chu Shitong smiled and said, "Father is joking."

"I've been thinking about one thing."

Master Chu said, "Over the years, there have been constant rumors about the position of the Northern Green East Palace. I think it is time to establish a crown prince. What do you think, Xiaoqi?"

Chu Shitong said expressionlessly: "Father is still young, there is no need to appoint the crown prince so early. Although the several royal brothers are good, they also need to be tempered."

Over the years, Chu Shiyu had tested her with the position of the Crown Prince no less than five times. Every time he asked her questions over and over again, but in the end he never established the Crown Prince.

Chu Shitong was too lazy to answer.

"If I want to give you the throne of the Eastern Palace, are you willing?"

Chu Shitong's face showed no emotion. She had long been numb to this kind of temptation. She showed no joy, nor panic, nor did she quickly belittle herself to make Chu Shiyu find someone else.

"Since ancient times, the throne of the Eastern Palace has been established by the eldest son or the heir. Little Seven is neither the eldest son nor the heir, and has no merits or faults. Father, please do not honor your son."

Chu Shiyu lowered his head and sighed, picked up the tourmaline bracelet on the table, stroked the tourmaline beads with extra care, and talked to himself.

"Xuan'er is indeed the best candidate for the Eastern Palace, but now is not the right time."

Chu Shitong cursed impatiently in his heart.

I already have the answer in my heart, but I have to keep testing it every time. I don't know why Chu Shiyu does this.

Could it be that he was afraid that she, who always pretended to be innocent, would snatch the Eastern Palace from Chu Shixuan, the eldest son?