An Qin picked up the teacup on the table and had another sip. She said, "Just do what I ask you to do. Check the gender of the dead body in the grave."

"Your Highness, it's... I will." Sicha was a little hesitant. But after a while, she agreed.

An Qin nodded but soon she frowned again and continued, "No, you can't go there."

"What's wrong, Your Highness?" Sicha quickly asked when An Qin changed her mind.

The latter explained, "Zhou Ji seems to treat us with great respect, but I can always feel his hostility. If you leave the mansion at midnight, you will be caught. To be on the safe side, you go to find those guards my father sends here and ask them to do it."

"I see. I will go right now." Sicha responded.

An Qin nodded, "Be quick."

Then, Sicha walked out of the room.

When she reached the mansion gate, Zhou Ji asked, "Miss Sicha, where are you going?"

"Oh, Mr. Zhou, Her High... Concubine An has some clothes made to order in the Woman Flower and we're told to pick them today." Sicha stopped to explain to Zhou Ji.

Zhou Ji nodded and answered, "Alright, it's late, so you'd better be quick."

Sicha responded and walked out of the mansion.

When she went far, Zhou Ji said to the doorkeeper next to him, "I'll follow her out and you stay here to guard the mansion."

Getting a reply from the doorkeeper, Zhou Ji then tailed after Sicha.

When walking out of the mansion, Sicha didn't head to the place An Qin mentioned but to the Woman Flower first.

It was late now so she was afraid that the shop would close when she returned after getting things done.

Zhou Ji would suspect her if she didn't come back with clothes.

Sicha directly walked into the Woman Flower when she arrived. Seeing that, Zhou Ji who hid far away knitted his eyebrows.

Did he worry too much? Zhou Ji looked at the shop and decided to wait here for a while.

As expected, Sicha didn't go back to the mansion after she walked out. She looked around and headed in the opposite direction.

Zhou Ji raised his eyebrow and followed her.

Reaching a quiet place far away from the crowded market, Sicha quickly looked back.

Seeing that, Zhou Ji rapidly pressed himself against the wall to hide himself. It seemed that Sicha didn't see him.

Sicha walked to a courtyard fast and knocked at the door several times.

Soon, Zhou Ji saw a man opening the door.

He popped his head out to look around after Sicha stepped in, and then he closed the door.

After Sicha walked in, Zhou Ji showed himself. He didn't expect An Ran had planted spies in Jing City.

But he didn't know what they were here for!

When Sicha went inside, Ji Lan who opened the door looked at her and asked, "What can we do for you?"

Then, Sicha repeated what An Qin wanted them to do.

Ji Lan frowned at her words and couldn't fully understand why An Qin asked them to do that. But he still said, "Alright, we will."

"I can't stay here for long. I'll go back now in case someone sees me," Sicha said to Ji Lan.

Ji Lan nodded and Sicha turned around to walk to the door.

Seeing the door was opened again, Zhou Ji immediately stepped back to hide himself.

Standing before the door to look around, Sicha didn't close the door or walk out until she saw no one on the road.

Zhou Ji didn't show himself until Sicha left. He took one more look at the courtyard and rushed back to the mansion.

He tended to check what Sicha would do next.

However, he followed her the whole way and she just went back to the mansion.

Sicha went to An Qin's room when she was back.

"Finished? Did anyone see you?" An Qin asked when she saw Sicha.

Sicha put clothes she picked from the Woman Flower down on the table, poured water into a cup, and had a sip. She replied, "Your Highness, don't worry. Zhou Ji was in the mansion when I was back and I even greeted him. Also, I didn't find anyone in the mansion who was gone. No one will suspect me."

An Qin nodded.

In the meantime, Zhou Ji who came back was asking people to keep an eye on Infanta An Qin. Then he told Xiao Mu that he would leave the mansion for some time.

Afterward, he went the same way he came back to the courtyard Sicha visited just now.

It was getting dark. Zhou Ji had spied on the courtyard for a long time, but no one came out. He frowned. But judging from Sicha's behavior, he thought she must have told something to those spies in the courtyard.

Thus, Zhou Ji decided to continue to wait here.

In Lan's Mansion

"Mr. Lan, My Lord invites you to see him." Prime Minister Lan's servant reported.

Lan Ruojing slightly frowned and nodded, "Alright, I see. Tell my father that I will be right there!"

Then Lan Ruojing stood up and walked outside.

Right when he reached Prime Minister Lan's room, he heard coughs.

Lan Ruojing quickly pushed the door open and walked to Prime Minister Lan's bed. "Father, are you okay? It's getting cold now. Please take care."

"Thank you for your care, Ruojing. Cough... Cough..." Prime Minister Lan coughed again when he answered Lan Ruojing.

Lan Ruojing patted him on his back at once.

The Emperor kept cracking down on them after knowing what happened to the victims of the flood disaster in Jiandu. And officials close to them had started to alienate them.

Prime Minister Lan knew those officials were cunning and Imperial Concubine Xiao must have meddled in this.

Officials all knew that Chushi Lanfu lost his powerful backer now. Chushi Weiming was another promising emperor candidate other than Chushi Lanfu, while the other two princes were not competent enough to achieve high.

But what happened in Jiandu was a fatal blow to the Lan Family!

When he fetched his breath, Prime Minister Lan looked up and waved his hand to people in the room. "Leave us alone."

When others left, Prime Minister Lan looked at Lan Ruojing and asked, "Ruojing, how's the investigation you mentioned before going on?"

"Father, I haven't found anything yet!" Lan Ruojing didn't answer his father until he thought for a while.

Prime Minister Lan sighed, "Ruojing, time is flying. All officials I invited to have meals with us find excuses to turn me down."

"I understand. I'll hurry up!" Lan Ruojing nodded after hearing what his father said. Actually, he also knew they were in a pickle.

Prime Minister Lan nodded, "Alright, this is the only way that we can earn the Emperor's trust back. This is the only way. You'd better hurry up!"

While speaking, he coughed again.

"Father, don't worry. You should focus on resting well to recover now." Lan Ruojing patted him on his back and comforted him.

Prime Minister Lan leaned against his bed with red eyes. Within just a few days, he looked much thinner, having a sallow complexion.

He said, "I'm sleepy. You can go back to sleep now."

"Okay." Lan Ruojing nodded, walked out, and gently closed the door.

When getting back to his room, Lan Ruojing looked more serious.

The problem boiled down to one person, Infanta Qingcheng. Without her, the Emperor wouldn't have known what happened to the victims of the flood disaster before his family made any preparation.

The Emperor didn't trust them anymore. His sister was the Empress, but she was too kind to fight with other concubines for the Emperor's love.

So it was always their father that bought over officials. But at present, the Emperor had taken back the power he gave to their father and this was equal to locking them in a cage.

Besides, Imperial Concubine Xiao was apparently plotting something. The Third Prince's wife was going to give birth to a baby. If she did, the baby would more or less be a threat to Chushi Lanfu.

If Imperial Concubine Xiao played any trick to hinder them, he was afraid that...

At the thought, Lan Ruojing looked colder.

Had Qiao Shu successfully carried out their plan?

Then he stood up to walk outside. Si moved to him and asked, "Young Master, where are you going at this late hour?"

"I'll be right back." Lan Ruojing disappeared in the dark like a flash just after he answered Si.

At the same time, Qiao Shu just took off her clothes and lay down on her bed.

Before long, when she hadn't fallen asleep yet, she heard a sudden noise.

Qiao Shu quickly opened her eyes and put on clothes she put near her.

A gust of cold wind blew in through the window, drawing Qiao Shu to look at the window.

"Didn't we agree that I would come to see you if anything came up?" Qiao Shu recognized that was Lan Ruojing from the figure.

The latter turned around to close the window. At once, the temperature in the room went up again.

Lan Ruojing directly walked to Qiao Shu's bed and said, "It's already been a few days, but you didn't come to see me at all."

"Because everything is fine in the Shuo Ling's mansion these days. Besides, Shuo Ling isn't in his mansion. Even if things go as you expected, I'm afraid you don't dare to go there without any preparation." Qiao Shu gathered clothes around her and explained.

She didn't plan to cover for Lan Ruojing, but he had something on her to threaten her to join his camp. That was why she agreed to help him.

But it was not up to her whether she could find the result he wanted. After all, Shuo Ling's mansion was well guarded and Lan Ruojing didn't dare to break in with no preparation!

She already sensed something strange when she treated Shuo Ling.

She didn't think his parents died a natural death.

After old General Shuo died, Shuo Ling's mother tried to commit suicide several times but was stopped by her. Although Shuo Ling’s mother didn't tell Qiao Shu anything, Qiao Shu could see the despair and grievance in her eyes.

Also, she somehow had some findings when treating Shuo Ling.

However, she wouldn't tell Lan Ruojing about her findings unless she was in a really urgent situation.

Hearing what Qiao Shu said, Lan Ruojing threw himself at her on her bed and pinched her chin with his hand. "So, Miss Qiao, you think I was joking before?"

"Mr. Lan... Please let me go…" said Qiao Shu whose eyes were wide open because the pain came over her.