35: Under the moon and flowers, in the wedding night?

Tianquan Division.

Inside the Second Hall.

Lin Qinghuang was looking at some scrolls. Seeing Xie Weilou enter, she gave him a faint glance and then ignored him.

Xie Weilou smiled and handed the box to Lin Qinghuang: "Lin Qinghuang, take a look at what gift This Young Master has prepared for you."

"Not interested."

Qinghuang said expressionlessly.

Xie Weilou opened the box and said, "Inside are some property deeds of the Lin family..."

"Hmm?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Qinghuang put down the scrolls. She picked up the deeds and looked at them.

She then looked suspiciously at Xie Weilou: "These properties were all transferred to Xie Wushang's name by your second aunt. Have you taken them all back?"

Xie Weilou smiled faintly and said, "These are your Lin family's properties. Now they should be returned to their rightful owner. Your name is written on them; you just need to have the people from the Merchant Affairs Department handle it."

Lin Qinghuang put down the deeds. She looked at Xie Weilou: "I'm giving them all to you!"

Xie Weilou, this fellow, seemed to be glorious upon returning to Zhenxi Marquis Manor, but his life must not be easy. Since he wanted these properties back, she would give them to him.

Xie Weilou frowned and said, "Who do you think This Young Master is? Do I lack these few properties of yours?"

Lin Qinghuang said indifferently, "What? You won't accept?"

Xie Weilou sat down beside her, crossing his legs, and said, "The Lin family's properties should naturally be returned to their rightful owner. If I were to truly take them, the blame for the Lin family's downfall would always fall on me. Then, if I were scorned by everyone, how could I enjoy romantic moments and a wedding night with you? Moreover, you will be mine sooner or later, and these properties will also be mine in the future."

"You..."

The more Lin Qinghuang listened, the more something felt off.

She glared at Xie Weilou and said, "You've already taken on that blame. Don't forget your time in prison."

Xie Weilou laughed, "My three years in prison were mainly due to peeking at Yan Ruyu bathing..."

"Heh heh! I asked you about the Lin family's downfall for three years in prison. If you had explained clearly from the start, you wouldn't necessarily have stayed in there for three years."

Lin Qinghuang said calmly.

"Is that really true?"

Xie Weilou glanced at Lin Qinghuang.

"......"

Lin Qinghuang fell silent.

Even if Xie Weilou had explained everything clearly, it would have been impossible for him to be released from prison.

Destroying the Lin family, releasing West Chu's major criminals, peeking at the Princess bathing, and humiliating royal dignity—the last one alone was enough for a death sentence.

Being imprisoned for three years was already considered very good.

Moreover, when Xie Weilou was imprisoned, Xie Nantian had given instructions that Xie Weilou was not to be released until he had served a full three years in prison.

During these three years, Xie Weilou indeed suffered a lot, but if he had been released early, he would probably have died long ago.

Three years in prison was, in fact, a form of protection for Xie Weilou.

Peeking at the Princess bathing—how ruthless was that woman? Anyone who dared to offend her would face certain death, let alone Xie Weilou, a grown man, who had seen her body.

That Xie Weilou was alive now was already a kind of luck.

"You should handle the matter of the deeds, otherwise Madam You will still cause trouble."

Xie Weilou mused.

With Lin Qinghuang's involvement, no one would dare to tamper with the deeds. Presumably, the Merchant Affairs Department would also not dare to act recklessly, otherwise, when the Tianquan Division investigated, those people would probably end up in prison.

Lin Qinghuang was silent for a second, then nodded and said, "Alright!"

Xie Weilou stretched lazily and asked, "How far along are your investigations?"

Lin Qinghuang glanced around and slowly began, "While investigating the Wuya Pavilion and Zhang Zai's account book, I discovered two things."

"Oh?"

Xie Weilou looked at Lin Qinghuang.

Lin Qinghuang said, "Before the Lin family's downfall, the Second Prince visited the Lin family. The three hundred thousand taels of silver disbursed from the Lin family's account book and the three hundred thousand taels of silver later found by the Second Prince are very likely the same batch; additionally, when the Lin family fell, someone from Wuya Pavilion had taken action."

In this matter, she also discovered another important clue.

When the Lin family fell, people from Wuya Pavilion seemed to have taken action once. She had already investigated the information of one of them and planned to find a time to pry open that person's mouth.

Xie Weilou narrowed his eyes: "It seems the Second Prince's suspicion is indeed not small. So you think the Second Prince was responsible for the Lin family's downfall?"

Lin Qinghuang's lips curled into a sneer: "Some matters cannot be judged by appearances alone, nor by a tiny bit of information. Until this matter is clear, everyone is a suspect, including those outside of the few princes."

Evidently, she was not so foolish as to be led astray by a small amount of information she had uncovered. The information came too smoothly, which made her feel something was amiss.

"Clever Lin Qinghuang."

Hearing this, Xie Weilou's face revealed a smile.

Lin Qinghuang, this woman, was as intelligent as ever. The Second Prince naturally needed to be investigated; even if he wasn't the culprit, many useful things could be uncovered.

But if he were treated as the sole target, then one would truly go astray and become a tool in someone else's hands.

Xie Weilou asked with a smile, "What do you think of the Sixth Prince?"

"The Sixth Prince? Yan Wugou? This prince is usually very low-key, not showing off his abilities. I haven't seen him many times, so I naturally don't know his true situation."

Lin Qinghuang shook her head.

"Be wary! He's probably someone who pretends to be a pig to eat a tiger."

Xie Weilou warned.

As he said this, a chilling killing intent flashed deep within his eyes.

Lin Qinghuang scrutinized Xie Weilou: "Do you know something?"

Xie Weilou stared at Lin Qinghuang's graceful figure, her full breasts, her captivating waist, and her dazzling beautiful legs, which made him drool. He whispered, "Let me have a taste, and I'll tell you."

"Hmph!"

Lin Qinghuang snorted coldly.

But she took note of Xie Weilou's warning. Originally, her main targets were the First Prince, the Second Prince, and the Third Prince, but now, she had to add another target.

After a moment of thought.

She then said, "Several things happened last night."

"Oh? What interesting things?"

Xie Weilou became interested.

Lin Qinghuang said, "The first thing, a private firecracker workshop exploded twenty li outside the city. According to the information I have, that private firecracker workshop belonged to the First Prince; the second thing, Qingyuan Taoist Temple suffered a massacre, all the Taoist priests were wiped out, seemingly by a demonic creature; the third thing, Wuya Pavilion suffered a bloodbath last night, and many people died."

Xie Weilou smiled faintly and said, "The First Prince's firecracker workshop, the Second Prince's Wuya Pavilion. Were any of the Third Prince's properties damaged?"

The firecracker workshop explosion and the bloodbath at Wuya Pavilion were likely related to his destruction of Qingyuan Taoist Temple last night. It would be very interesting if those princes started fighting.

Lin Qinghuang shook her head and said, "The Third Prince's loss was the Zilan Teahouse that was previously sealed by the Tianquan Division. Currently, the First Prince and Second Prince have suffered losses, which seems to be the Third Prince's retaliation, but I feel things are not that simple."

"Who knows."

Xie Weilou gave a wry smile.

The Second Prince and Third Prince were very much like him when he was made a scapegoat in the past. The more they carried the blame, the darker it became.

"Reporting to Commander Lin, your subordinate has an urgent matter to report."

Zhang Long quickly entered the main hall and respectfully saluted Lin Qinghuang.

"What is it?"

Lin Qinghuang asked calmly.

Zhang Long said, "The Winter Hunt Assembly, which occurs once every three years in Tianqi, is three days away. This time, the location is Snow Wolf Valley, and we've been ordered to have the Tianquan Division participate in the defense."

After listening, Lin Qinghuang asked, "Did the Great Commander assign this task to the Second Hall?"