Whoever can strike me hard will be rewarded handsomely.

The words of the patrolling soldiers reached Qin Ji's ears.

He also asked Shang Jingming where he had suffered such a serious injury, and why he was wandering around outside in the middle of the night instead of going home to rest.

Seeing the elaborate search effort being made by the Vice Minister's residence, there's no need to send anyone to investigate.

If Shang Yu, the Vice Minister of War, hadn't known that Shang Jingming was seriously injured and that it was raining heavily outside, why would he have rushed out to look for him?

Given that Shang Jingming refused to go home, it's easy to guess who inflicted the bruises on his body.

Shang Yu was truly strict in disciplining his son; compared to him, the small amount of bamboo cane punishment I received seemed exceptionally merciful.

After returning to the palace, Qin Ji gave Bian Dou a few instructions.

Bian Dou received the order, changed into night clothes, returned to the palace, and accurately found the Vice Minister of War who was carrying a lantern and leading people to search around. He then shot a stone wrapped with a note, which hit Shang Yu in the back of the knee.

Shang Yu was caught off guard and hit by a stone. His knees buckled, and he knelt on one knee, supporting himself with one hand on the ground. The lantern tipped over and caught fire, but was quickly extinguished by the water on the ground.

"master!"

"grown ups!"

The servants were about to swarm over when Shang Yu raised his hand to stop their overreaction, picked up the conspicuous "white" pebble that had just hit him, and unfolded the note.

It had just rained, and the ground was covered in puddles. The paper was soaked, and the ink had slightly smudged, but the writing on it was still fairly clear.

[If Lord Shang doesn't want his mistreatment of his own child to be publicized and become common knowledge, then he should return home.]

It wasn't Shang Jingming's handwriting, but it was clearly a threat, meant to stop him from continuing the search. Shang Yu's expression turned somewhat grim.

The note's contents, judging from the tone, sounded like those of Jingming's cronies standing up for him. However, in the dead of night, with him surrounded by numerous servants, to be able to hit him with a stone without him noticing and without leaving a trace, was clearly the work of a master, unlike the work of Jingming's cronies.

Who exactly has Jingming fallen into?

Shang Yu's expression was grave. He put the note away, ignoring the threat on it, and took another lantern from the servant. "Keep searching."

He had only taken two steps when a pebble hit the back of his knee, forcing him to kneel on one knee. Shang Yu's face was beyond ugly.

This time he was on guard but was still hit, in the same spot.

The servant, observing his expression, carefully picked up the pebbles that had rolled to the side and handed them to Shang Yu.

Shang Yu opened the note again.

[Your son is seriously injured and is recuperating at a friend's house. He will return home when he wants to. What will others think of your son if you make such a fuss searching for him? An unfilial son who ran away in the middle of the night, keeping his father awake at night and causing him to search frantically everywhere?]

People at that time valued filial piety. If such gossip were to spread, it would only worsen Shang Jingming's already not-so-good reputation as a playboy.

That rebellious son's future is completely ruined.

Shang Yu crumpled the second note into a ball with an icy expression, stood up again, and at least from the contents of the two notes, it was clear that the other party had no ill intentions towards Jing Ming.

The servant asked in a low voice, "Sir?"

Shang Yu's answer was concise and to the point: "pen."

Immediately, a servant brought him pen and ink.

Shang Yu blew out the candle in his lantern and, using the light from the servant's lantern, wrote three lines of text on it.

[If he still acknowledges me as his father and comes back on his own after he recovers, I can let bygones be bygones regarding his midnight disappearance.]

Shang Yu placed the lantern back in its original spot, his expression shifting for a moment before finally adding another line.

[In the west of the city, there is a doctor named An Jitong who is skilled at treating wounds from beatings.]

Setting down the lantern, Shang Yu decisively said, "Return to the manor."

The patrolling soldiers were a bit confused as they watched the group of people make such a big fuss about searching for someone, only to leave in such a disjointed manner.

Someone muttered quietly, "Are they giving up the search?"

"The young master has probably already gone home."

"Going home so late at night, wouldn't that mean the Vice Minister's son is breaking curfew?"

"You saw it? You caught him? Has our Five Cities Garrison failed in its duty?"

"Damn it, stop talking."

"Keep your mouths shut, and don't tell anyone what happened tonight."

"Yes."

"Yes."

Bian Dou picked up the lantern from the ground and sneaked back into the palace. Qin Ji had already retired for the night, so he didn't report back to Qin Ji until after the court session the next day. "When Minister Shang saw the first note, he didn't react much and insisted on continuing to search for Young Master Shang. It wasn't until I threw out the second note that he changed his mind and went home."

"This lantern was left behind by the university professor."

Fu Lu took the lantern and presented it to the emperor.

Qin Ji glanced at the words above, and after confirming that the Vice Minister of War was not a ruthless or muddle-headed person unsuitable for the position, and that it was not something that had to be taken down, he gestured for Fu Lu to return the lantern to Bian Dou.

"Once Shang Jingming's injuries have healed a bit, give him this lantern and those two notes together."

Qin Ji wanted to see what Shang Jingming would do.