Help! The innocent prince always tries to seduce me clumsily

Chu Shitong then understood Chu Shiyu's purpose in giving Qun Yu Tower to him.

It is similar to a method of first suppressing and then praising. First, an idea is proposed that is unlikely to be accepted by everyone. After being rejected by everyone, you then say what you originally thought in your heart.

The advantage of doing this is that it lowers the psychological defenses of people around you, making decisions that were originally difficult to make become relatively easier to accept because of previous more ridiculous decisions.

Chu Shitong didn't know the fundamental reason why Chu Shiyu did this, and why he wanted him to go out and build his own mansion.

However, the final outcome of this matter was beneficial to himself, and Chu Shitong had no objection at all.

She originally wanted to stay at the princess's mansion. Princess Wende was very important in His Majesty's heart, and she had a strong relationship with Chu Shifan. It was a good opportunity for her to establish a good relationship with the princess. She thought that Chu Shiyu would agree as soon as she mentioned it.

But now Chu Shiyu suddenly said that he would grant him a mansion, which made Chu Shitong somewhat excited.

If I had my own separate mansion, it would be much more convenient to do anything in the future. Living in the palace would be very troublesome both in and out.

Seeing that no one spoke, the Queen gently advised, "Your Majesty, this is not a good idea. Xiaoqi is only fourteen years old this year. If he is given a separate residence now, it may be a little unfair to the other princes."

This slight injustice refers to Chu Shihan and Chu Shifeng.

The third prince, Chu Shihan, is eighteen years old this year. He has been living in the East Second Residence for a year since he entered the court.

The fifth prince, Chu Shihuan, is seventeen years old. He came to the court at the beginning of this spring and was granted a mansion.

The Sixth Prince Chu Shifeng is one year older than Chu Shitong and now lives in the East Fourth House next door. If Chu Shitong were granted a mansion, Chu Shihan and Chu Shifeng would probably have many thoughts in their minds.

It was rare for Concubine Li not to go against the Queen.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Feng'er is already fifteen years old and still lives in East Four. Although Xiaoqi's residence was burned down, he can go somewhere else to stay temporarily and come back after East Five is repaired. I see that East One and East Three are both empty now. Xiaoqi has always been filial and naturally knows how to be considerate of Your Majesty."

Chu Shiyu said nothing, but he seemed to be thinking with his dignified face.

Wang Zexu said at the right time: "Your Majesty, East One and East Three are indeed empty, but they have not been cleaned up since the eldest prince and the fifth prince left. It is fine for the seventh prince to stay there temporarily, but it will probably take a few days to pack up the things inside."

Concubine Li was outspoken. When she heard Wang Zexu's words, she couldn't help asking, "What is there to clean up? Can't we clean up things while Xiao Qi is here? Besides, if there is something to clean up, doesn't that mean there is a ready-made place for Xiao Qi to rest?"

Wang Zexu smiled and said, "Your Highness, what you said makes sense."

Chu Shitong simply couldn't bear to look at Concubine Li.

It was obvious that Wang Zexu had been well taught by the former chief eunuch. When Chu Shiyu didn't speak, it meant that he was still thinking and needed some time to make a decision. Wang Zexu's timely interruption not only gave Chu Shiyu a way out, but also indirectly helped Chu Shiyu to say what he originally wanted.

When Concubine Li refuted, Wang Zexu smiled and admitted that what she said made sense. In fact, there was no smile at all, and there was a hint of perfunctoriness in his actions and tone.

It's like he doesn't want to argue with a fool, so he just acknowledges his idea and tells him to shut up.

Chu Shixuan said, "Father, the reason why East One and East Three were not cleaned up was because I and my fifth brother might stay in the palace for family banquets in the future. If Xiao Qi were to live there, it would be a bit inconvenient. In fact, it is not impossible to grant Xiao Qi a mansion now. I remember that when the late emperor was alive, he made an exception and granted you a mansion when you were sixteen. With your father's precedent, I think the officials will have no objection."

Chu Shifeng said dissatisfiedly: "Father was granted a mansion at the age of sixteen because he personally led troops to suppress the bandits in Langya Mountain and made great contributions. Not to mention that Xiaoqi is only fourteen years old now. What contributions has he made to the country that can be used to shut up the civil and military officials?"

"Although he has no merit, he has no fault either, right?" Chu Shixuan said, "Although Xiaoqi is only fourteen years old, he is much more stable than Sixth Brother in his conduct. Besides, Xiaoqi's residence was burned down by fire, and it was not without reason, so what's wrong with giving him a mansion?"

"Okay, stop arguing."

Chu Shiyu finally spoke, "I said I would grant you a mansion, it's just a mansion, what's there to argue about? A prince is living under someone else's roof, or in someone else's old house. If you tell others about it, aren't you afraid that the neighboring countries will laugh at us for having no place to live in Beiqing?"

"But your majesty..."

Concubine Li was just about to mention Chu Shifeng, hoping to take the opportunity to ask Chu Shiyu to grant her son a mansion as well. However, before she could even utter a word, she was frightened into shutting her mouth by Chu Shiyu's cold look.

The Queen knew that Chu Shiyu had already made up his mind, so she half-heartedly changed her words and said, "Your Majesty is right. It is my fault for not thinking it through."

"The Queen understands what I mean." Chu Shiyu's voice became a little gentler, and he said tiredly, "This matter is settled. You can arrange it. If anyone has any objections, let him come to me and tell me in person."

"The minister and concubine follow the order."

Chu Shiyu returned to the palace and everyone saw him off respectfully.

Concubine Li didn't expect that the Queen would actually change her attitude according to the situation. She clenched her fists in anger. If she had known earlier, she would have agreed with the Emperor. As a result, she not only didn't get any benefit, but was glared at by the Emperor.

The Queen glanced at the people who were still there and said, "It's getting late. You should go back and rest. I will take care of Xiao Qi's affairs."

Concubine Li laughed, but with a dagger hidden in her smile, she said, "Thank you for your trouble, Your Majesty. After all, Your Majesty is the best at guessing Your Majesty's intentions. I'm sure you have made all the arrangements properly. I'll take my leave now."

Concubine Li turned and left with her maid, and the queen didn't even bother to pay attention to her.

Chu Shifeng also laughed and said, "What a pity! I thought I could live with Xiao Qi. But I have to congratulate Xiao Qi for having his own mansion. It's getting late, so I'll take my leave now."

Chu Shihan saluted, his voice as cold as he was.

"My son, please retire."

The queen nodded, and in the blink of an eye, only Chu Shitong and Chu Shixuan were left in the circle.

Even though the queen came in the middle of the night, her clothes were still dignified and meticulous, except for the time-consuming bun which was a little sloppy, but it was also covered up by the dazzling array of phoenix hairpins.

"Xuan'er, it's getting late. You have to attend the morning court tomorrow. Go home and get some rest."

Her voice was no longer as stiff and dignified as it was in front of the emperor. It became much gentler, just like Yun Xiangrong who played the role of a loving mother in front of Chu Shiyu.

Chu Shixuan glanced at Chu Shitong, then turned around and saluted the queen, saying, "Then I'm sorry to trouble you, mother."

The queen ordered her servants to escort Chu Shixuan out of the palace, but Chu Shixuan refused. He came from the palace on horseback. The guards brought Chu Shixuan's horse, and Chu Shixuan rode away from the palace.

……

The mansion finally chosen for Chu Shitong was an empty house belonging to the royal family in the west of the city. Chu Shiyu originally said that this was not the one given to Chu Shitong last time, as it was changed by the queen.

But Chu Shitong didn't care much, because the house originally reserved by Chu Shiyu was in the south of the city, where there were many mansions of officials in the court. Almost every street you could see several officials' houses. If something happened, half of the court would know about it without even rumors.

Zhou Hengchuan's home is in the south of the city, otherwise Zhou Qixiang would not have shamefully taken sick leave overnight and not gone to court when Hua Xilou blocked his door.

Chu Shitong had expected that the Queen would change his house for him. This was the biggest obstacle the Queen could put herself in this matter.

When it comes to granting a mansion, the geographical location is very important.

If she lived in the south of the city, she might have established good relationships with many officials before entering the court. The queen certainly did not want to see this scene, so she changed her mansion to a house in the west of the city.

The west side of the city is mostly residential, and the only high-ranking official is the prefect of the capital.

When Chu Shitong was sent to the house in the west of the city, he was extremely satisfied.

The house is located in the best location in the west of the city. The front street is a bustling downtown with shops, and a short walk behind the back street is the moat of the capital city.

Although no one had lived in it for many years and it was still a little shabby after cleaning it overnight, the Queen wanted to justify her change of location in front of His Majesty so that she had the Ministry of Internal Affairs send a lot of things over overnight. She also sent someone to inform the teacher Chu Shitong that she was seriously ill and asked for three days of sick leave for her to rest.

The Queen thought that these small favors on the surface would temporarily make Chu Shitong no longer care about the geographical location of the house, but she didn't know that Chu Shitong not only didn't care about the exchange of geographical location, but was very grateful.

She didn't want to stay in the south of the city and be watched by a group of censors every day. The only advantage of the south of the city compared to the west of the city is that there are more bureaucrats. Therefore, the south of the city is jokingly called the bureaucratic area, and every inch of land in the area is sold at a high price.

In comparison, there are more shops in the market and more inns and restaurants in the west of the city, which means that this area is a commercial area. There are more ways to make money than in the south of the city, and they are closer.

What's more important is that there are no high-ranking officials. A fourth-rank official in the capital is nothing in front of her. She will be the biggest person in this area in the future, so naturally, she will not lack money.

It can be said that the results of tonight made her completely satisfied.

It was already dawn when we arrived at the mansion. A blank plaque hung alone at the door, and the copper lock on the door looked a little worn.

Bishui cleaned up the dormitory and helped Chu Shitong to bed.

"Your Highness, you must be exhausted after a night of hard work. Although this place is simple, please tolerate it for a while."

"Fortunately, has Xuan Changji come over?"

"He came here early when he got the news. I heard that East Fifth Institute has already made arrangements. Xiao Yanzi will definitely be found."

Chu Shitong said: "It will be difficult for you and Xuan Changji tonight."

"It's not difficult, it's not difficult."

There was no trace of the pitiful look on Bishui's face that she had when she was crying and talking to Chu Shiyu. Her chubby little face smiled in an embarrassed manner.

"Your Highness is really smart. He used his brain and we moved to another place to live."

Chu Shitong smiled.

The fire tonight was arranged by her.

Not only did he arrange it, he also found out who poisoned him yesterday.

……

The time went back to a few hours ago. After Chu Shitong and Bishui finished talking, Xuan Changji walked into the room not long after.

Chu Shitong was a little unhappy at first, because the traditional rule was that anyone other than a personal maid or servant had to report in advance before entering the room, but Xuan Changji just walked in directly.

Bishui was originally unhappy with the man who stole her job, and she couldn't help but say a few words to Xuan Changji. However, Xuan Changji acted as if he didn't hear her, and his expression was very strange.

Chu Shitong noticed something was wrong and asked.

Xuan Changji then whispered that he had just been wandering around in the courtyard of East Fifth Building and didn't know where he had gone when he accidentally smelled a faint smell of kerosene.

Xuan Changji subconsciously sensed something was wrong and began a silent search.

Because he already had some basic skills in martial arts, he made very little noise when he was searching and was not discovered by anyone.

He saw a barrel of kerosene in a corner of the backyard that was filled with firewood and other debris. It was normal to have some kerosene where there was firewood, but when Xuan Changji dug through the pile of firewood, he saw several barrels of kerosene inside that were tightly covered by the firewood.

This is obviously abnormal.

Beiqing has a clear regulation strictly prohibiting the amount of kerosene. Even the imperial palace is not allowed to possess so much kerosene privately.

Xuan Changji restored the firewood to its original state, returned to the house without moving, and told Chu Shitong about this matter.

Chu Shitong understood instantly. She had said just a second ago that there was no need to alert the enemy, because the person who wanted her dead would not attack her only once. However, Chu Shitong did not expect that the second attack had been prepared within just one day.

He set fire to the palace in such a skillless way, trying to die in the sea of ​​fire.

There are only six people in the entire East Fifth Institute, including Chu Shitong and Xuan Changji. The person who can move the kerosene in and hide it in such a difficult-to-find place must be from the East Fifth Institute.

The three of them, together with Bishui's previous discovery, checked the background of the remaining three people.

First, there was the servant guarding the gate. Bishui had heard the private conversation between Yue'er, who was beside Yun Xiangrong, and him, and knew that the gatekeeper was sent by Yun Xiangrong.

Yun Xiangrong knew Chu Shitong's whereabouts so well that this matter had already been confirmed without even needing to be confirmed.

The second is Xiao Shuanzi who guards the warehouse.

If Xiao Shuanzi was preparing for fire prevention, he could have just moved the kerosene directly into the warehouse. The warehouse was locked all year round and generally would not be opened unless valuables were taken out. It was much safer to put it in the warehouse than under the firewood pile, so Xiao Shuanzi was ruled out.

Chu Shitong learned that Xuan Changji had some kung fu skills, so as a test, he asked Xuan Changji to go to Xiao Shuanzi's residence to see if he could find anything.

As expected, he was found. Xiao Shuanzi was not an obedient servant. In fact, Xiao Shuanzi was sent by the Queen, because Xuan Changji found a hole under Xiao Shuanzi's bed, in which were hidden some yellow and white objects, several hairpins, and a woman's handkerchief.

Jing Bishui recognized it and realized it was the handkerchief of a palace maid in the Queen's palace, because the red thread on the handkerchief was not an ordinary red thread. If you look closely, you can see that the red thread is bluish, and this bluish peony red color can only be used by the Queen in the harem. It seems that the maid in the Queen's palace took advantage of her position and stole the silk thread.

Bishui said that this kind of thing is actually very common. Basically all the palace maids in the Queen's Palace use this peony red color, and she has seen many of them.

Because of this incident, Xiao Shuanzi died.

He was not killed by the burned beams because he was saving Chu Shitong, but because he wanted to report to the queen when the fire was just lit. Chu Shitong ordered Xuan Changji to tie him up and strangle him to death, and then broke his spine and threw him into the fire to create the illusion that he was killed by the beams.

Chu Shitong wanted to enlarge the fire and make it burn to the point where it could not be reversed, so she could not let Xiao Shuanzi go to report the news.

After all, as a eunuch, Xiao Shuanzi made so much gold and silver with his own information, and he had been having an affair with the palace maid for who knows how long. It was time for him to die.

Excluding Xiao Shuanzi and the gatekeeper, only Xiao Yanzi, who was cleaning, was left.