Chapter 60: Is the Crown Prince Returning to His Position?

Lin Qingyue had just returned to the Jin Wangfu when she saw Xiao Hua wandering at the main gate.

"Didn't you go into the Imperial Palace?"

He did not reply, only crinkling his nose to sniff, "You have the scent of alcohol on you, and a very thick Yin energy?"

"Your nose is certainly sharp. The scent of alcohol is because I had a few cups with Xie Shouzheng and the others tonight; as for the Yin energy... that must have been picked up at the Gu family's."

That eldest Miss Gu had such great resentment, yet they refused to resolve it or perform a rite of passage, simply sealing the coffin and burying her—it would be strange if nothing went wrong.

But there was no helping it; it is hard to persuade those who are determined to die with kind words!

Lin Qingyue did not explain further and turned the topic to Xiao Hei, "With you and your father reunited, I thought you would stay in the Imperial Palace."

In fact, after Qi Zhaodi confirmed that a wisp of the Crown Prince Dongfang Qi's earthly soul was attached to Xiao Hua's cat body, he had wanted him to stay in the Imperial Palace to avoid further danger.

Xiao Hua said: "Although only two wisps of soul have returned, with the two souls merged into one, I can temporarily return to my physical body."

"You want to return to your physical body?"

That he could attach a wisp of a remnant soul to a cat's body was a matter of coincidence; using it for another year or two would not have been a problem. But once he abandoned the cat body, the cat's body would rapidly decay and could no longer be used.

And once he returned to his original body, due to the lack of a heavenly soul, he would only have three months of life. If he could not find the lost heavenly soul, he would never be able to turn back into a cat.

"I know the consequences." Xiao Hua flicked his tail and said, "But if I keep hiding in a cat's body, it is too inconvenient."

Mainly, he really did not want to be stared at by people checking his backside to tell if he was male or female.

Of course, this was something he could never say out loud.

The proud little cat tilted his head, his amber eyes reflecting Lin Qingyue's shadow.

"After I return to my original body, I will accompany you to the Chiying Land."

"You are coming too?"

"The Chiying Land is vast; even if my heavenly soul fell within it, trying to find it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. But if I go, I will be able to sense it, which can reduce the time spent searching."

"I don't mind, but the key is, can your Imperial Father let you go?"

"My Imperial Father has already agreed."

In fact, to persuade Qi Zhaodi to agree, Xiao Hua had spent an entire night talking. Qi Zhaodi finally agreed, but requested that he take more guards.

Xiao Hua, however, felt that having too many ordinary guards was unnecessary and would only implicate innocent lives. Moreover, this trip required keeping a low profile.

In any case, Qi Zhaodi eventually agreed.

Lin Qingyue nodded: "Very well."

After the human and the cat had finished discussing, it was time for Xiao Hua to return to the Imperial Palace.

What he did not tell Lin Qingyue was that he had snuck out tonight behind Qi Zhaodi's back. It was also his way, in the identity of a cat, to come and say goodbye to Lin Qingyue.

By the time they met again, he should be able to have recovered his human body and set off together on the journey to find the heavenly soul.

Lin Qingyue could not help but pinch Xiao Hua's cat face and sighed: "What a pity, I quite like you the way you are now. And Bi'er, she should have prepared a midnight snack for you; won't you eat something before you go?"

Xiao Hua shook his head, a smile similar to a human's appearing on his cat face: "If there is a chance in the future, I will thank Bi'er personally. If there is no chance... then let her think I ran away and got lost."

"Deputy Envoy Lin, I am returning to the palace now. On the day we agreed to depart, I will wait for you outside the city gates."

Having said that, he raised a cat paw to wave at Lin Qingyue, then turned and left.

In truth, he did not have to come out tonight; he could have easily entrusted someone to deliver a message regarding the matters that needed to be settled.

Yet he still wanted to come out in person, simply wanting to meet Lin Qingyue and talk. Nothing more.

As soon as Lin Qingyue entered the Wangfu, she saw it decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, looking full of festive joy.

This is... prepared for taking in a Secondary Consort?

Originally, Lin Qingyue kept Dongfang Yan on a string, partly to resolve the obsession of the original owner, and partly because she had developed a mind to toy with him.

But now, the original owner's obsession had been settled, and since Lin Qingyue was preparing to go to the Chiying Land, there was no need to keep walking the dog-prince around. So, if Dongfang Yan wanted to take in Lin Ruzhen, then let him.

However... she would give Dongfang Yan a grand wedding gift before she left, to repay him for his blindness and ignorance!

The next day, as soon as Lin Qingyue arrived at the Profound Mirror Division, she heard a guard report: "Lord Xie, Deputy Envoy Lin, something has happened at the Gu family's!"

Xie Shouzheng asked: "What happened?"

The reporting guard said: "Early this morning, the servants discovered three homicides at the neighbor's house; Gu Fu Ren, the Guo woman, Steward Gu, and Li Tiansheng, who was invited to help yesterday, all died miserably."

"The most tragic was Gu Fu Ren; her heart was dug out, and the scene was bloody and too horrible to look at! The people of the Gu family were scared to death, convinced that the eldest Miss Gu's ghost had returned for revenge. The Gu family servants sent people to the Profound Mirror Division for help early this morning."

The others began to discuss it upon hearing this:

"Yesterday we wanted to resolve the resentment, but they found some third-rate hack from outside and insisted on driving us away. Now they want to come crawling back; what do they think our Profound Mirror Division is?"

"Exactly! Ignore them. Since the Gu family has money, they can go hire some capable people from the common folk themselves."

"We have a mountain of work to do; we don't have time to deal with their family!"

Xie Shouzheng said: "You little brats, your ideological awareness is just not up to par! The Gu family is indeed detestable, but if ghosts are causing trouble and we ignore it, letting it grow until it becomes a malevolent spirit, it will harm others and affect the safety of the entire Jingcheng! As public officials, we absolutely cannot refuse a case."

Everyone lowered their heads one after another after being scolded by him.

Dami could not help but give Xie Shouzheng a thumbs up: "As expected of Lord Xie, your awareness is truly high!"

Xie Shouzheng suddenly changed his tone and said: "However, our Profound Mirror Division is not an idle office; we have piles of cases, big and small, every day, and we are never finished! Everything must have a priority, right? Let's push the Gu family's case back for now. When we have free time and manpower, then we will go handle it!"

"The Lord is wise! This subordinate will go send them away immediately!" The reporting guard turned and ran off at once.

The other guards also snickered to themselves.

Although they were public officials, they were constantly bullied by those Nobles, so it was inevitable that they held a grudge in their hearts.