The daughter of the emperor is reborn to be beautiful and cool, and the King of Zhenbei loves her wi

Shen Nanzhi was right under the peony bushes, with the outer wall behind her, so there was no way to avoid it.

Because of her nervousness, her fingers that were originally supporting the ground subconsciously wanted to clench into fists.

But the next moment, her fingertips accidentally touched something.

Before Shen Nanzhi's eyes could glance over, the touch of her fingertips had already made her hair stand on end and cold sweat pour out.

That's a human skull!

Just at this time, Liuyun had already arrived in front of the peony bushes, and Shen Nanzhi was discovered in the blink of an eye.

In a hurry, Shen Nanzhi had no choice but to speak: "Seventh Prince!"

It's better to stand up on your own than to be dragged out by Liuyun.

Xiao Qian, who had turned around and was about to leave, suddenly stopped.

Liuyun, who had already walked to the front of the flowers, was also startled, and then pushed the flowers aside.

Shen Nanzhi squatted in the flowers, her face as pale as paper. She seemed to be frightened and didn't come back to her senses for a long time.

Seeing that it was her, Liuyun didn't dare to act rashly. He could only turn around and question Xiao Qian'an with his eyes.

At this time, Xiao Qian'an had already walked over quickly.

Shen Nanzhi pinched herself secretly, and when she looked up at Xiao Qian'an again, she had an expression of barely suppressing nervousness and fear.

"Seventh Prince."

Before Xiao Qian'an spoke, Shen Nanzhi explained, "I saw a cat running into the yard, so I followed it to look for it. I didn't expect... to see this..."

Having said that, Shen Nanzhi reluctantly stood up and pointed under the peony bushes.

There was actually a pile of bones underneath!

Shen Nanzhi had been hiding in such a hurry that no one noticed. In addition, the peonies were so lush that they were not easily noticed.

If her fingertips hadn't touched it, Shen Nanzhi probably wouldn't have noticed until she left.

However, coupled with the previous black cat, it gave her a good excuse.

It was not known how much Xiao Qian believed this statement, and he did see a black cat running by just now. At least on the surface, he didn't dare to do anything to himself.

Shen Nanzhi took a half step back, pretending to be still frightened by the bones on the ground, and turned to look at Xiao Qian'an.

Today, Xiao Qian'an was wearing a black brocade robe, still looking handsome and stern.

It was only when he saw Shen Nanzhi that those eyes, which were like an ancient deep pool, seemed to have a few more ripples.

Xiao Qian frowned and looked at Shen Nanzhi: "Miss Shen, was that cat just now yours?"

Fortunately, he still remembered what Shen Nanzhi said last time and did not cross the line and call her "Zhizhi" again.

But his words seemed to be testing Shen Nanzhi, to see how much she had just heard and how much she knew about this courtyard.

Shen Nanzhi took a half step back and said coldly, "It's not mine. I just thought it was pretty attractive, so I followed it all the way. I didn't expect to see these. To be honest, I also heard what the Seventh Prince said just now."

Even if Shen Nanzhi didn't say it, it couldn't be hidden, so Shen Nanzhi could only admit it openly and asked Xiao Qian'an: "It's just that there is one thing I don't understand. The Yao family's case has been handed over to Lord Liang of the Dali Temple. Does His Highness the Seventh Prince want to intervene?"

The case that required Xiao Qian'an to appear here in person to handle it was definitely not just a simple case involving Yao Zheng.

It is very likely that this hot spring villa is involved in something bigger and more secretive.

But Shen Nanzhi couldn't say this, let alone show any doubt about the matter.

Otherwise, you might end up getting into trouble.

"It turns out Miss Shen also likes cats."

Xiao Qian'an moved aside a little and saw Shen Nanzhi still standing under the courtyard wall. In front of her was a dense bush of peonies. Fearing that it would be difficult for her to get out, he reached out his hand to help her out.

But Shen Nanzhi just glanced at him, and said politely and distantly: "Thank you, Seventh Prince, I can do it myself."

As she spoke, she lifted the hem of her skirt with one hand to avoid accidentally brushing against the bones, and with the other hand she was about to push away the peony branches in front of her.

However, unexpectedly, Xiao Qian'an was not angry after being rejected. He took the opportunity to push the branch away to Shen Nanzhi.

After Shen Nanzhi stood still, he began to explain, "Early this morning, my third brother presented the files of Gao Jingwen and Gao Xun to the emperor. The emperor was furious and my second brother was confined to his house. Not only was the Ministry of Revenue shaken, but the Ministry of Justice, led by Zhao Kang, also suffered. The emperor asked me to purge the Ministry of Justice. It just so happened that the Yao family still had files of two old cases in the Ministry of Justice. I thought it might be related to Yao Zheng's death, so I rushed over to take a look. Maybe I can solve the case as soon as possible, help the Shen and Yao families, and also help the troubled Lord Liang."

Hearing this, Shen Nanzhi suddenly understood.

There was nothing wrong with Xiao Qian'an's explanation and it made sense. Moreover, considering the emperor's favor towards Xiao Qian'an, it was reasonable for him to directly ask him to purge the Ministry of Justice.

However, Shen Nanzhi always felt something was wrong.

Also, when he just gave orders to Liuyun, he was so cautious, was he really just here to investigate the case?

Before Shen Nanzhi could think about it, Xiao Qi'an had already glanced at the bones under the flowers and patiently explained, "The Yao family's villa was previously repaired and maintained by Yao Su, a distant cousin of the Yao family. A few years ago, Yao Su embezzled the monthly wages of the craftsmen, causing dissatisfaction among the craftsmen and they went on strike. In the end, the two sides clashed, and Yao Su's men accidentally killed two craftsmen. He gave the others hush money to settle the matter. Even though the families of the two deceased people came to make trouble later, Yao Su and the other craftsmen who benefited from it were consistent in their statements, claiming that the two people disappeared after leaving the hot spring villa and had nothing to do with the Yao family, and the case was left unresolved."

At this point, Xiao Qian'an turned his gaze from the bones back to Shen Nanzhi's face, and said with some emotion: "The bodies of the two craftsmen who had never been found before were unexpectedly buried under the peony bushes. I think they should have been dug out by the black cat just now. Speaking of which, I have to thank Miss Shen."

Shen Nanzhi also turned around and took a look at the pile of bones.

The soil on top was still fresh, with traces of cat scratches, so Xiao Qian'an's words sounded fine.

Moreover, if this was the reason, then it seemed reasonable for Yao Zheng, who knew the inside story, to refuse Fourth Miss Xie from borrowing the hot spring.

But, was Xiao Qian'an being so cautious just now just to investigate this old case and find this pile of corpses?

Is there really such a coincidence?

The doubts in his heart grew even stronger, but Shen Nanzhi didn't show it on his face. He just waved his hand and said, "It's good that I didn't cause trouble for His Highness."

In fact, if Xiao Qian'an hadn't been here, she would definitely have sneaked in to investigate.

But now, she had no choice but to get up and say goodbye.

But what Shen Nanzhi didn't expect was that Xiao Qian'an actually called her and said, "Since Miss Shen is here, why don't you come in and have a cup of tea and help me look at this case and be my advisor?"

Xiao Qian'an was so frank that Shen Nanzhi felt that her previous suspicions were wrong.

However, it is also possible that Xiao Qian said this deliberately to make her let down her guard.

When it comes to the ability to control people's hearts, Shen Nanzhi never dared to underestimate Xiao Qian'an.

For example, before in the courtyard of Wuyi Lane, Shen Nanzhi's cold and distant words, as well as the teacup thrown at him, almost represented a breakup with him. However, when they met today, he was still able to chat and laugh with her, and was even considerate to her, as if he had no grudges at all.

This is the most terrible.

This person is so cunning that it is impossible to see through him.

He can pretend nothing happened, and so can Shen Nanzhi.

Therefore, although she was extremely reluctant to stay with Xiao Qi'an, Shen Nanzhi also wanted to find out the truth and agreed with a smile: "In that case, I will bother your Highness the Seventh Prince."

She just wanted to take a look at what was in the Yao family villa.

Seeing her accept, Xiao Qian'an didn't seem surprised. He raised his hand and said, "Miss Shen, please."

Shen Nanzhi quickened his pace and followed.

After passing through the corridor and a small courtyard with a rockery, we finally arrived at a small garden.

There is an octagonal pavilion in the yard.

As soon as they sat down, a maid brought them hot tea and fresh fruits.

Through the crescent arch of the garden is the entrance to the Yao family hot spring.

From a distance, Shen Nanzhi could hear the clanging sounds coming from inside.

She only took a quick glance, and Xiao Qian explained, "It is said that the Yao family's pond ran out of water some time ago, so they hired craftsmen to continue digging it."

The Yao family only occupied a slightly larger hot spring pool, and the hot spring villa they built was not very big either. Shen Nanzhi didn't find any problems along the way.

All that was left were a few guest rooms and the hot spring bath that was being renovated.

Seeing Shen Nanzhi holding the teacup and not in the mood to drink tea, Xiao Qian suggested: "Miss Shen, if you have nothing to do, do you want to go and take a look?"

Shen Nanzhi nodded and said, "Okay."

The two walked out of the pavilion one after the other and passed through the crescent arch.

Going further ahead, you will see the entrance to the hot spring pool built with several rockery.

After passing through the rockery and going further inside, I saw a hot spring pool that was as big as half the yard.

Just as Xiao Qian'an said, the pool must have dried up not long ago. The bottom of the pool was slippery and there was some mud. On the southern side of the hot spring pool, four or five craftsmen were continuing to dig downwards. The clanging sounds just now came from here.

These craftsmen were all rough men. Because of the hot weather and in order to gain strength, they were all shirtless. Two of them even had their upper bodies naked.

Shen Nanzhi glanced at it inadvertently and quickly turned his head away.

Seeing this, Xiao Qian'an glanced at him, and Liu Yun immediately stepped forward and said, "Hurry up and get dressed, so as not to offend the noble man!"

Those people immediately dropped the tools in their hands and hurriedly put on their clothes.

Even so, Shen Nanzhi didn't want to look at it for too long. She was about to leave, but the moment she turned around, she thought of something wrong with the look she just had!

The bottom of the hot spring pool was extremely slippery everywhere, especially towards the middle area, where there was more water.

This means that the running water of the hot spring is in the center.

However, the ground excavated by those craftsmen was dry and hard.

According to Xiao Qian'an, since they were trying to draw out fresh water, they naturally had to dig deeper along the pool eye. But why did they dig so far away from the center?

When Shen Nanzhi thought of those craftsmen with their upper bodies naked, she couldn't help but wonder if this was a deliberate arrangement just to prevent her from observing closely and to take advantage of the fact that she had to avoid suspicion!

But even if she noticed it, she could only pretend to be unaware for now.

Without knowing what the relationship between this group of people and Xiao Qian'an was, and what they were doing, Shen Nanzhi couldn't alert them.

She suppressed the subconscious urge to turn around to check again, and turned around and left as if nothing had happened.

But suddenly my feet slipped.

Shen Nanzhi's body was unstable, and she fell to the bottom of the hot spring pool without any warning.

There is no water underneath, but the bottom of the pool is paved with solid bluestone slabs. Falling down would be extremely tragic.

Without even thinking, Shen Nanzhi turned his ankle and prepared to somersault to stand up.

However, the poolside was too slippery.

This time, instead of being able to keep her balance, she slipped again, causing her to fall straight down.

Almost instinctively, Shen Nanzhi raised his hand to grab anything he could, and ended up grabbing a bulge on the edge of the hot spring.

She was about to hold on tightly, and was about to use the bulge to push herself up, but she didn't expect that the bulge would suddenly cave in with a crisp sound.

There was a loud rumbling sound immediately, and the bluestone bottom of the pool suddenly shattered, revealing a huge, pitch-black pit, as if everything at the bottom of the pool had been swallowed up by the pit.

Shen Nanzhi lost his footing and fell down.

As the world was spinning, she saw Xiao Qian'an, who was closest to her, with an anxious look on his face. He rushed over, as if he wanted to grab her hand.

"Zhizhi!"

But in the end it was still a step too late.

Watching her falling into the huge pit below along with the broken bluestone slabs and the soil on both sides, Shen Nanzhi tried to grab the wall of the pool several times, but to no avail.

The pool wall was extremely slippery, making it difficult to grab hold of or climb onto. Even if she did, that part of the pool would soon fall down with her.

Since there was no hope of rushing forward, Shen Nanzhi could only try his best to flip back and forth on his toes between the falling bluestone fragments and the pool wall, trying his best to avoid large pieces of bluestone fragments and cushion the force of his own fall.

While dodging the falling rubble, she seemed to see Xiao Qian'an's figure.

But it was just a glance, and Shen Nanzhi had no time to think about anything else. As she kept dodging and falling, her toes finally landed on solid ground.

But before she could breathe a sigh of relief, a blanket of bluestone slabs came crashing down towards the place where she had just landed.

Shen Nanzhi hurriedly glanced around and saw a square secret room.

At this critical moment of life and death, she didn't even have time to think about how there could be a secret room under the hot spring pool. She had to turn over as quickly as possible and roll into the secret room.

Boom!

The entire pool bottom collapsed completely.

Fortunately, the secret room was intact.

Shen Nanzhi only suffered minor scratches.

But unfortunately, she was completely buried in the secret room at the bottom of the pit.

It was pitch black all around.

The biting cold instantly spread throughout Shen Nanzhi's bones.

Not only that, the overwhelming darkness almost made Shen Nanzhi collapse.

This made her mind involuntarily recall over and over again the situation of being trapped in the dark, hopeless and cold coffin.

Cold, damp, dark and desperate.

Like a maggot on the tarsal bone, even after being reborn, it is still imprinted in the deepest part of Shen Nanzhi's soul.

As strong as she was, she couldn't stop trembling at this moment.

Just at this moment, Xiao Qian'an's slightly anxious voice suddenly rang in her ears: "Zhizhi? Are you okay?"

Shen Nanzhi's heartbeat almost stopped.

That glance just now was not an illusion, Xiao Qian also jumped down!