The Salted Fish’s Political Marriage - Chapter 18

Seeing Mu Yanzhou looking so confident and composed, a thought flashed through Yuan Jiu’s mind: “Beauties are naturally born knowing how to confuse people.”

This was the very thing His Highness, the Prince of Qi, had said himself.

Yuan Jiu looked at Mu Yanzhou in silence, ultimately resisting the urge to speak, swallowing his words back down. Keep your mouth shut, keep your conduct strictly in check!

The current Emperor did not have many children.

Counting both princes and princesses, there were only five in total. Among them, only the Prince of Qi, Mu Yanzhou, and the First Prince had moved out of the palace to establish their own residences.

Compared to the First Prince, whose mother was only a common concubine, Mu Yanzhou, as the son of the late Empress, had a residence not only closer to the imperial palace but also larger, with a vast number of servants. Huiming Hall alone had nearly a hundred attendants, and there were thirty or forty people qualified to serve by the Prince’s side.

That afternoon, in the front courtyard of the residence, Yuan Jiu called all thirty or forty of them out. They stood neatly in the open space, not daring to even breathe loudly.

Mu Yanzhou had stopped reading his book and sat silently under the tree, watching the courtyard.

Song Mingzhi’s sedan chair landed outside the front courtyard. Seeing this, the attendants bowed in unison: “Greetings to the Princess Consort.”

Compared to the Prince himself, who was very easy to fool, the servants in the residence seemed to fear Song Mingzhi more. Seeing this, Mu Yanzhou couldn’t help but admire him genuinely: “Impressive.”

Song Mingzhi walked into the courtyard: “No need for formalities.”

As he spoke, he took a booklet from his sleeve.

What is the Princess Consort holding?

The attendants’ hearts were instantly in their throats. One by one, they couldn’t help but crane their necks to look. However, Song Mingzhi had no intention of keeping them in suspense. As soon as he stood still, he looked down at the booklet and said softly to the crowd: “His Highness has been busier than usual lately with his studies and recuperation. You all serving in Huiming Hall should be even more attentive than before.”

Song Mingzhi’s words carried a faint Shulan accent, and his soft, lingering tone brushed over the courtyard like a feather.

Mu Yanzhou couldn’t help but narrow his eyes slightly.

In his previous life, Song Mingzhi was not only the personal shadow guard responsible for the little Emperor’s safety but also one of the commanders of the shadow guards. Although his tone was calm, it carried a subtle sense of pressure. Those who had been sneaking glances at his hands immediately went quiet: “Yes, Princess Consort.”

Mu Yanzhou finally couldn’t help but laugh.

Song Mingzhi handed the booklet to Yuan Jiu. Then, they heard Yuan Jiu read aloud: “Zhishu.”

What he held in his hand was a name list.

After being called, an attendant in a tawny short robe walked out of the crowd. He still hadn’t figured out what was happening when Song Mingzhi fixed his gaze on him and recalled earnestly: “The evening before last, while on duty in Huiming Hall, you were hiding behind the bookshelf taking a nap.”

“Ah?”

Taken completely by surprise, Zhishu’s breath hitched. No way, how did the Princess Consort find out!

A faint smile touched Song Mingzhi’s lips.

The attendants planted in Huiming Hall by the old, dim-witted Emperor were not all problematic, but they were generally lazy. Catching their mistakes was as simple as could be. As a former shadow guard, Song Mingzhi’s old trade was observing people and keeping a blacklist.

As the Prince of Qi’s consort, since he had nothing else to do, Song Mingzhi had observed Huiming Hall for a few days and knew exactly what was going on. Before the attendant named Zhishu could bow or argue, Yuan Jiu had already read the second name. Song Mingzhi didn’t even hesitate, exposing his problem too.

Song Mingzhi said calmly: “Yesterday morning, you were half an incense stick of time late.”

Huiming Hall fell into absolute silence.

Everyone buried their heads like quails, terrified that they would be the next one named.

In this silence, a faint sound suddenly emerged from the peach tree in the courtyard

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