Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2580: Atonement for Sins 43.0
"Again?" Xue Ruitian looked at Song Yaojia with a smirk on his face, "Are you sure you two didn't follow the girl?"

"Of course not!" Song Yaojia denied it flatly, "Who do you think we are? One is the crown prince and the other is the prince. Even if we are not decent, we can't do such a thing. Besides, we were the first to arrive at the shop, and she came in later with her maid."

"You went there first?" Shen Cha immediately grasped the key point, "You went there to thank the owner of that shop. Did he save you at that time?"

"Xiaocha is still the smartest. Who is like you guys who don't think positively?" Song Yaojia rolled his eyes at Xue Ruitian and Bai Meng who were hugging each other and grinning, and angrily took another large piece of lamb chop from the mutton pot and put it in his bowl. While waiting for it to cool down a little, he continued, "After the Lantern Festival, we were confined by the palace, uncle and father, and we didn't go out for more than half a month. Although the palace and the palace sent thank-you gifts on our behalf, we still want to thank them in person, so that it would be more sincere." He looked at the others and whispered, "Your Majesty's good reputation among the people and the market was gained bit by bit like this. This time was just the beginning, and then it slowly spread. Everyone knows that the crown prince is not arrogant at all and is very approachable." He looked at Bai Meng, then at Shen Haolin, and chuckled, "I helped him hide from you, you should have a deep understanding of it, right?"

"Indeed."

Bai Meng exchanged glances with Shen Haolin and Xue Ruitian, their expressions were very helpless. They were young at that time and did not know the dangers of the world. They also did not know that Song Jue was able to thrive among the people. Every time they tried to stop him, it was very difficult. Either they were misled and went to the wrong place, or they were hidden by others. In any case, not once was it successful.

But they didn't expect that the assassination at the Lantern Festival was the beginning of it all.

"You go and thank the shopkeeper, and he will know who you are, right?" Shen Cha thought the mutton soup was particularly fragrant, so she poured a second bowl and drank it slowly, mouthful by mouthful. "Didn't you tell the girl from Zeng's family?"

"We requested confidentiality. We couldn't tell anyone who asked." Song Yaojia sighed, "At that time, we hadn't found out who the real murderer was, so..."

"I see!" Shen Cha nodded. "What happened next? Did that girl come?"

"We exchanged pleasantries with the shopkeeper for a while and expressed our gratitude. When we were about to leave, she came." Song Yaojia smiled at the few people. "When she came in, she happened to catch up with us leaving. We met and recognized each other. She was also grounded for a long time because of that incident. She came to thank the shopkeeper as soon as she was able to go out."

"You two really are..." Bai Meng raised his eyebrows slightly, smiled wickedly, and said, "You are so in tune with each other!"

"This is fate!" Xue Ruitian also scooped up a lamb chop and winked at Song Yaojia, "You're not attracted to her right now, are you?"

"How is that possible?" Song Yaojia sighed and said, "We just said hello and thanked her. If it weren't for her, we probably wouldn't have been able to avoid her so easily, right? So, we definitely thanked her, but we didn't know we would run into her, so we didn't prepare a thank-you gift." He finished chewing a lamb chop and went to grab another one. The lamb was really delicious, and the more he ate, the more addicted he became. As he chewed, he said, "This is a bit rude to us."

"Indeed." Shen Cha nodded, "What happened next?"

"Later, we asked someone to find out who was the daughter of the Zeng family, so we sent someone to invite her to a gathering at Liushang Manor." "Liushang Manor?" Shen Cha raised an eyebrow, looked at Shen Haolin, then at Xue Ruitian and Bai Meng, "I've never heard of it."

"You definitely haven't heard of it. Liushang Manor was later confiscated." Shen Haolin explained, "Its owner was Guo Pei, the former Minister of Rites. Although Princess Runing was not implicated, the power of those around her was liquidated." He sighed softly, "In fact, she didn't have any power at all. They all belonged to the county horse."

"Her county horse is really a talent. If there is no traitor in the Ministry of Rites," Shen Cha thought for a while, "Brother Xiaojue and Brother Yaojia's whereabouts cannot be exposed, right?"

"That's about it." Song Yaojia nodded, "But at that time, no one knew so much, and the case was still being investigated secretly, and no one was alerted." He sighed, "Liushang Manor is relatively private, and it's not easy to book. Our identities are not suitable for booking this, so..." He looked at Bai Meng, "We booked it in the name of Xiao Baizi, and sent a letter to Zeng's house in the name of Xiao Baizi's relatives."

"Yes!" Bai Meng nodded. "We were prepared for the post to be returned. After all, the censor does have some problems with us. But..." He spread his hands and said, "To my surprise, Mr. Zeng agreed."

"Although he is an imperial censor, he is not an unreasonable person. Your thanks are sincere and will not be rejected."

"Xiaocha is right." Song Yaojia nodded, "But what we didn't expect was that on the day of the appointment, it wasn't just Miss Zeng who came alone, her mother came with her as well. Others might not know us, but that lady did. She almost fell to her knees when she entered the private room, luckily we held her up. Later, we also told her not to reveal our identities to anyone except herself, especially His Majesty."

"Actually, you recognized Brother Xiaojue, right?" Shen Cha gave Song Yaojia a wicked smile, "Brother Yaojia rarely comes to the palace, so those women probably don't know you, or they may be familiar with you but don't know who you are."

"Almost." Song Yaojia nodded and said, "Compared to me, it is naturally more important to hide your Majesty's identity, isn't it?"

"So...she probably knows who you are, right?"

"It's not impossible. Who knows?" Song Yaojia shrugged, looked at the other party who was still chatting, and turned around to continue, "The whole meal went smoothly. I thanked her and gave her gifts. I thought we would never meet again, but I didn't expect that when we met again, it would be my turn to save the beauty."

"A hero saving a beautiful girl?" Everyone's eyes were focused on Song Yaojia. Xue Ruitian looked unconvinced. "With your skills back then, you can still be a hero saving a beautiful girl? I don't believe it!"

"Hey, just because I'm not good at martial arts doesn't mean I don't have guards around me!" Song Yaojia shook his head proudly, "Since that incident, on the surface I don't have anyone with me, but in fact, the guards are following me in secret. My father and uncle both said that if I don't have guards, they will never allow me to go out alone. It's not just me." He sighed and said, "Your Majesty is the same."