Princess, she is the one who facilitated the extradition.

Yang was anxious and walked very fast.

Shen Ze followed behind, watching her walk briskly. He thought of how Yang Shi used to always complain of feeling unwell in front of her father, and then make her mother take care of her.

His eyes grew even colder, and he quickened his pace considerably.

"grandmother."

He ran forward and grabbed Yang's arm, feeling the loose flesh under his palm through her clothes, thinking of the absurd things Yang had done the night before.

Even though she was the one who caused many of the problems, she blamed her mother. If her father came home without a reason, she would definitely urge him to punish her mother.

Thinking of this, he struck Yang's neck with his other hand without hesitation.

Simple and efficient.

Yang was unharmed, and her whole body went limp.

Shen Ze helped her up and instructed the servants he had brought, "The old lady is distraught over what happened last night and wants to leave the mansion to commit suicide. Keep a close eye on her."

"Your Highness, the old lady didn't intend to commit suicide..."

Yang's confidant was about to explain when Wang, who had caught up with them, interrupted him before he could finish.

Wang glared angrily at Yang's confidante, "You insolent servant! You've wasted your mother-in-law's trust, and you've taken her to commit suicide! Guards, beat her to death!"

This old servant has served Lady Yang for half his life, and I don't know how many evils he has done for her.

Normally, she would have interrogated them thoroughly, but right now she didn't know what fate awaited the household.

The only option was to deal with this wicked servant first, and also to deter the other servants.

To prevent them from thinking something bad was going to happen at the mansion and taking the opportunity to cause trouble.

At her command, guards immediately gagged the old servant and pinned him to the ground, beating him with sticks.

Those who had originally intended to plead for mercy or take the opportunity to cause trouble were all too frightened to speak or act rashly when they saw that Wang was serious.

The Duke was imprisoned in the palace after being denounced, and the old lady also fainted. Now, the mistress and the heir are in charge of the household.

They dared not offend them.

Seeing that his mother had calmed the servants in the mansion, Shen Ze strode towards the stables, carrying in his arms the account book he had taken while helping Yang Shi earlier.

When the Crown Prince arrived at the Duke of Yue's residence, Shen Ze had just ridden away, and Gui Yao slowly walked out of the gate.

She smiled and bowed, "Since our last parting, I have been busy performing rituals to help the souls of the deceased, and I have not had time to close Your Highness's Yin Eyes. I am truly sorry."

The Crown Prince believed that Gui Yao did it on purpose.

But he didn't want to shut down his Yin Eyes yet, so he changed the subject and asked Gui Yao, "What are you doing here?"

It wasn't yet the Ghost Festival, the day when the souls of the dead return to the underworld. Perhaps Zhuzhu'er's spirit was still in the human world, and he wanted to see her one more time.

Find out exactly why Zhuzhu was crying out in pain, and where her body is.

How can he help her and save her?

Gui Yao's smile deepened. "I just returned to the capital today and received His Majesty's decree to find the soul of someone who died thirteen years ago."

The border of Lu is too far, so I thought I'd come to the Duke of Yue's mansion to see if any restless spirits of the dead have come seeking revenge.

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince glanced behind her.

There are no dead souls.

Gui Yao also turned around and glanced at it, "It seems that those heroic souls have been reincarnated. I couldn't find them at the Duke of Yue's mansion."

However, it wasn't a wasted trip. Prince Shen discovered the Duke of Yue's real account books and has now taken them to the palace.

"I'm worried he might be assassinated on the road, and I'd like to protect him for a while. Would Your Highness like to come along?"

Are there ledgers?

The crown prince's eyes flickered slightly, and he nodded. "Let's go."

The Duke of Zhenguo went to great lengths to leave the palace, presumably for the sake of these account books.

Given what happened to my second uncle last time, the Zhang family was able to carry out several interception and assassination attempts, so they might very well do the same this time.

He ordered the Imperial Guard driving the carriage, "Hurry up."

Upon hearing this, Gui Yao lightly stepped onto his carriage.

The Crown Prince instinctively held his breath. "I did not invite you to ride with me."

Although being in the same space as Gui Yao wouldn't make him faint from discomfort, his extreme germaphobia still prevented him from having outsiders in his carriage.

"oh."

Gui Yao slowly replied and sat down beside the Crown Prince, "That was a misunderstanding on my part. I thought Your Highness was urging me to get into the carriage quickly."

There was absolutely no intention of going down.

"However, we do need to hurry. Shen Ze isn't very skilled. If we get ambushed, we might not even get to see the real ledgers."

Seeing this, the crown prince did not drive her away again.

He also wanted to know if the Duke of Zhenguo and the Duke of Yue were really as Marquis Weilie had said, even wanting to embezzle the money for the soldiers' armor.

They could only urge the Imperial Guards to go faster. The Crown Prince used fine horses to pull his carriage, and they quickly caught up with Shen Ze.

The assassins lurking in the shadows were about to make their move when they saw the prince's carriage appear and hesitated.

The next instant, the carriage curtain was lifted, and Gui Yao leaped out of the carriage, landing on Shen Ze's horse with her toes, and reached out to him.

"There's an ambush. Young Master Shen, you should give the account books to the Crown Prince first."

Upon hearing Gui Yao's voice, Shen Ze reined in his horse and saw that the Crown Prince's carriage was indeed behind him. He immediately took out an account book from his pocket and handed it to Gui Yao.

If Gui Yao wanted to tamper with the accounts, he would have done so while still at his residence.

Gui Yao took the account books back to the carriage and handed them to the Crown Prince.

The prince took out a white handkerchief and, through the handkerchief, began to flip through the account book.

The assassins lurking in the shadows exchanged bewildered glances.

The Crown Prince is the hope of the Duke of Zhenguo's faction; how could they dare to snatch something from the hands of their hope?

If the crown prince were injured, they would have no chance of survival.

Even if we assume Gui Yao is there, they probably wouldn't even have a chance to get close to the carriage.

After all, they had all heard how Gui Yao single-handedly captured the Sixth Miss and Zhang Da, and crushed the other assassins.

The sixth young lady is still imprisoned, and in the end, the assassins could only retreat silently.

I felt incredibly uneasy.

Upon receiving the news, they went to the Duke of Yue's residence and searched the room, only to find that the Duke of Yue would entrust such an important item to Lady Yang.

By the time they realized that Shen Ze had taken the items, and with Gui Yao and the Crown Prince following them, they had no chance to make a move.

I only hope that the Duke's punishment will not be too severe.

Gui Yao jumped back onto the carriage shaft, watched the assassins silently retreat, slightly curled her lips, and bent down to get into the carriage.

Inside the carriage, the crown prince's expression grew increasingly grim.

"They are truly so callous, disregarding the lives of their soldiers and the fate of the Great Sheng Dynasty."

Gui Yao could tell from Gu Xiao's expression that what he said was true.

"What does Your Highness intend to do?"

The Crown Prince's voice was cold. "I will hand over the account books to the Emperor, and all those who committed the crimes will be dealt with according to the law."

"Your Highness has fought in many battles and knows best the suffering of soldiers and the cruelty of the Duke of Yue and others."

Gui Yao placed her hands together and leaned slightly against the carriage. "With this account book in Your Highness's hands, the Gu family army can be said to have been exonerated."

Even if they are exonerated, those heroic souls who risked their lives to protect the country and its people will never come back to life.

What's even more tragic is that they died at the hands of the enemy, and even more tragically, due to the greed of their own people...

Gui Yao sighed heavily.

The prince felt a chill run down his spine at that sigh.

He had never actually been on the battlefield, but he understood the importance of armor to soldiers.

During the years when Baozhu fought in his place, he received countless letters from the front lines. In those letters, Baozhu was injured a total of thirty-seven times, both major and minor.

On the battlefield, swords and spears have no eyes. Even with her exceptional skills, she has been injured so many times. Ordinary soldiers, without the protection of armor...

The crown prince closed his eyes, slammed the account book shut, and squeezed out a sentence from his throat: "I will not let him off easily."

He knew that his maternal grandfather supported him for his own selfish reasons, but he never expected that his moral bottom line was so low.

He even betrays his own soldiers during the war; what wouldn't he do?

No wonder Baozhu kept crying out in pain; she didn't know what kind of suffering she would endure if she fell into the hands of such a person.

Unfortunately, the Duke of Zhenguo was not on the list, which was expected, as he was always cautious in his actions.

Fortunately, this ledger can cripple him in several ways, but he cannot confront Baozhu about her death yet.

Thinking of the precious pearl, the crown prince looked at Gui Yao.

With her profound and mysterious abilities, could she help him find the precious pearl without alerting the Duke of Zhenguo?

Before he could speak, Gui Yao interrupted, "The soldiers who were killed by the Duke of Yue are pitiful, and there is another person who is also pitiful. If possible, I hope Your Highness can help her as well."

The Crown Prince had dealt with Gui Yao several times and had figured out her tactics. Since she had said such a thing, it was generally difficult for him to refuse.

So he simply asked, "Which one?"

"The birth mother of the Duke of Yue."

"She was the concubine of the old Duke of Yue. She was always well-behaved and obedient, but Yang portrayed her as an arrogant and domineering woman who bullied the wife. In the end, she was burned to death by the Duke of Yue himself."

A cold glint appeared on Gui Yao's face. "There are always some people in this world who are worse than animals, harming their own relatives."

The prince's grip on the account book tightened.

He thought of the Empress, he thought of the Duke of Zhenguo, and Baozhu was also their close relative.

"If verified, they will not be let off lightly."