Chapter 39: A Lesson

Zhu Xu sat in the carriage, brows tightly knit. He had no idea what had made him seem suspicious enough to be followed.

The carriage rolled steadily forward. Though Zhu Xu could not see behind him, whether from nerves or not, he felt certain someone was tailing them.

"Your Highness, we've reached the palace gate." Cao Wenzhao said quietly from up front.

Zhu Xu mused for a moment, then said, "Don't look back. Go straight in."

Cao Wenzhao drove the carriage through the inspection, and it swayed its way into the palace.

"Don't stop. Keep going." Zhu Xu said.

Cao Wenzhao acknowledged and drove on, continuing forward.

The carriage rattled over the stone road, slowly making its way along, turning past a palace gate.

Not long after their carriage disappeared, an ordinary-looking man appeared at the palace gate. Holding a token, he too passed through the gate and entered.

He glanced at the palace gate where Zhu Xu had vanished, then turned and walked off in another direction.

The moment he turned away, Zhu Xu and Cao Wenzhao stepped back out. Zhu Xu watched the man's retreating back, eyes narrowed slightly, and said, "Follow him. See which palace he enters."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Cao Wenzhao's expression was cold and grim as he silently trailed the man from a distance. They had done many things over the past two years—if anyone seriously investigated, it would be absolutely terrifying. No one could protect them!

Zhu Xu turned and headed toward Jinghuan Palace, pondering where exactly he had slipped up to invite suspicion, and who had grown wary enough to send someone to follow him.

"Oh my, isn't this His Highness Prince Hui?"

Zhu Xu was walking with his head down when suddenly a gust of cloying perfume stung his nose, and a laugh tinged with coldness drifted over.

Zhu Xu's heart leaped for an instant, but when he looked up, his fair face lifted into a look of pure innocence as he smiled. "Mother Ke, where are you off to?" At the same time, his mind churned: 'Did my earlier actions alert that old witch? Was the person following me sent by her?'

Madam Ke was dressed in bright red, as beautiful as a bride just married. She approached with a graceful smile, reached out and pinched Zhu Xu's cheek, wearing a falsely concerned smile. "Your Highness, have you slipped out of the palace again? Her Majesty the Empress has been in a bad temper lately—you should be careful."

Madam Ke pinched hard, and Zhu Xu's face hurt terribly, but he still forced a smile and said, "Thank you for the reminder, Mother Ke."

Madam Ke pinched once more before letting Zhu Xu go, then swept past him in grand style, surrounded by her maids and eunuchs.

"Go slowly, Mother Ke." Zhu Xu turned around and called out loudly.

"Hee hee..."

Even after she had gone far, Madam Ke's cloying laugh, enough to make one's hairs stand on end, still drifted back.

Only after Madam Ke's entire party had completely disappeared did Zhu Xu's expression harden. He stared coldly at the spot, his mind racing.

'That old witch came out in broad daylight—has something happened in the palace? Was that man sent by her? Was it really a coincidence?'

Zhu Xu returned to Jinghuan Palace full of doubts. To Yao Qingqing, who came out to greet him, he said, "Have Cao Huachun come see me."

Yao Qingqing saw Zhu Xu's expression at a glance and hurriedly said, "Yes, I'll go right away."

The moment Cao Huachun entered, Zhu Xu asked directly, "Has anything happened in the palace today?"

Cao Huachun was taken aback. He thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Your Highness, the palace has been very calm today. Nothing has happened."

Zhu Xu frowned and said, "That old witch left Xian'an Palace. Did you know?"

Cao Huachun's expression changed. "This servant deserves death. This servant will go investigate at once."

"Go quickly. Come tell me when you find out." Zhu Xu suppressed his rising irritation and waved Cao Huachun off.

"Yes." Cao Huachun's heart was pounding with panic as he rushed out of Jinghuan Palace in a fluster. Madam Ke appearing in the palace was a major event for the entire imperial grounds. She held status and influence even greater than the Empress Dowager's.

Meanwhile, in a private room of a tavern in the western part of the city.

Zhou Jianyu sat in the seat of honor, calmly sipping tea with a placid expression.

Zhou Yingqiu, Ni Wenhuan, and Wei Liangqing pushed the door open and entered. He did not even lift his eyelids.

Zhou Yingqiu watched Zhou Jianyu's manner and expression, his brow twitching slightly. Then he said with a chuckle, "Manager Zhou, has the noble one arrived? We were just about to go pay our respects."

Zhou Jianyu set down his teacup, glanced at the three men, and said flatly, "The noble one is not so easy to see. Magistrate Zhou, wasn't the lesson from before enough?"

Zhou Yingqiu's face instantly turned ugly at these words. He stared at Zhou Jianyu and said coldly, "Manager Zhou, what do you mean by that?"

Zhou Jianyu glanced at Zhou Yingqiu, then turned to Ni Wenhuan. "Magistrate Ni, don't harbor thoughts you shouldn't have. Otherwise, wherever your wife's brother went, one more prison cell won't make a difference."

Ni Wenhuan's expression changed drastically. Looking at Zhou Jianyu's completely different demeanor, and thinking of that noble one's capabilities, his gaze also turned dark.

Finally, Zhou Jianyu looked at Wei Liangqing and raised an eyebrow slightly. "Magistrate Wei, stop worrying about your uncle's matter. Until His Majesty issues an edict, no one is getting him out. The noble one said he won't be in danger for the time being."

Wei Liangqing's lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't know how to begin. His gaze involuntarily shifted to Zhou Yingqiu and Ni Wenhuan.

Zhou Yingqiu, Ni Wenhuan, and Wei Liangqing all secretly looked down on Zhou Jianyu as a mere merchant of base registry. But at this moment, watching his manner and hearing his words, a chill ran through each of their hearts.

After the chill in his heart, anger rose in Zhou Yingqiu. When had a mere merchant ever dared speak to him like this? But he knew all too well that if that mysterious noble one truly wanted to deal with him, it would probably take just a single word.

Thinking this way, Zhou Yingqiu actually felt somewhat better. His ugly expression eased a little. He raised his hand toward Zhou Jianyu and said, "Manager Zhou, we have no other intentions. We merely wish to discuss face to face with the noble one how to rescue Eunuch Wei. After all, the matter is of great consequence and involves many people."

'I suspect "many people" means the three of you, doesn't it?'

Zhou Jianyu sneered inwardly, but his expression grew even more arrogant. He pushed two packages on the table forward and said, "I have already conveyed what the noble one asked me to pass on. You three weigh the matter yourselves. These two items—one is for Magistrate Zhou, one is for Magistrate Ni. Keep them safe and don't let outsiders see them."

Zhou Yingqiu and Ni Wenhuan both wore unpleasant expressions. Not only had their intentions been seen through, they had provoked the noble one's displeasure, and been so "humiliated" by someone they had never deigned to notice before. They were full of pent-up anger but could do nothing about it.

Zhou Jianyu paid no heed to their expressions. He was acting on the orders of "Her Majesty the Empress" to teach the three of them a lesson. Having said his piece, he stood up and said, "Gentlemen, the noble one is giving you a chance to help with matters. If something like this happens again, three cells in the Embroidered Uniform Guard's prison will definitely be reserved for you."

With that, he rose and left, ignoring their shocked, livid faces.

Even after Manager Zhou had gone far, the three were still breathing heavily, faces full of rage.

"Just a base commoner, daring to humiliate us like this! I'll find someone to bury him alive right now!" Wei Liangqing suddenly slammed his fist onto the table in fury.

Ni Wenhuan detested people who resorted to killing at the slightest provocation. Though being lectured by a mere merchant was a great humiliation, he would not go so far as to commit murder directly.

Zhou Yingqiu was the most rational of the three. But he knew that Zhou Jianyu's words most likely came from that noble one. Thinking of his terrifying influence, he forcibly suppressed his anger and said to the other two, "Never mind him for now. Let's see what these things are."