Reborn as Powerful Minister's Beloved-Chapter 657 - 634: First Update

"Lord Ju sent Her Ladyship back?" Zheng Congyuan momentarily regained his sanity and found his sudden thought to be ridiculous.

No matter how, the things that Ju Nanyi said before him today couldn’t have been thoroughly concocted in just these few days. Even if Ju Nanyi worked tirelessly day and night, it wouldn’t be enough to come up with such comprehensive and meticulous planning.

If it were someone else, they probably would have drowned in such an enormous strategy, but the man’s foresight was enough to make him a sovereign of a country, and he naturally could feel that Ju Nanyi was wholeheartedly focused on the court of Nanzheng State, considering everything from the state’s interests. What was there for him to suspect?

Only, why would Ju Nanyi return with Nian Ru?

Today, he was supposed to accompany Nanmen Yu to the "Princess Chao Ren’s" grave. With the thoughtfulness of Ju Nanyi, he wouldn’t give Nanmen Yu any chance for suspicion. Therefore, he would not return to Prince Duan’s Mansion today, and more importantly, Ju Nanyi didn’t even mention a word about it.

Was it truly because he was so focused on state affairs that such trivial matters appeared insignificant, not wanting to waste time?

"The Emperor—" Eunuch Du felt he had said something wrong, but upon carefully reviewing his words, he hadn’t misspoken, and moreover, the Emperor had summoned Lord Ju in the afternoon, who didn’t arrive until the evening. This reason was beyond reproach.

Yet Eunuch Du was clearly a bit more intelligent than the average person, and seeing that Zheng Congyuan’s expression was off, he immediately imagined all possibilities. Although implausible, Eunuch Du hesitated, then took a step forward. This was the closest he had ever been to Zheng Congyuan since he entered Chenyuan Hall.

"The Emperor, please forgive me, this servant was nosy and asked Lord Ju a question: why could nobody find you, yet you returned with Her Ladyship? Lord Ju told this servant that he went to handle an urgent matter. It was also a coincidence that when we couldn’t find Lord Ju in the afternoon, a guard reported that Lord Ju ordered someone to dig something out from a pile of dead bodies in the southwest corner. This servant thought, maybe it has something to do with Lord Ju’s late appearance."

Eunuch Du didn’t know what the connection was but indeed sent someone to investigate Lord Ju’s whereabouts in the afternoon when he was untraceable. Others might not uncover this, but as the overseer of Chenyuan Hall, he naturally was able to find out.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Congyuan suddenly understood and couldn’t help admiring Ju Nanyi’s careful planning. After such a long time, he still remembered, and it was to ensure that Nanmen Yu had not the slightest suspicion.

Thus, walking with Zheng Nianru would seem even more reasonable.

"You may leave—" Zheng Congyuan was in a good mood.

...

Nanmen Yu indeed had no more doubts. Prince Duan acted madly, one moment saying Zheng Nianru was dead, the next she was alive again, crying like that in front of the grave, which wasn’t something that could be faked.

Especially now, as he discovered the truth himself, he had to believe that Zheng Nianru was really dead.

In front of him were two corpses dug up from a pile of dead bodies, though calling them corpses was generous since their flesh had nearly decomposed, leaving almost only bones. However, Nanmen Death Soldiers had their unique marks, a section of their foot bones was greenish; even now when only bones remained, it was clearly identifiable.

So, the ones before him were indeed the two he had left with Zheng Nianru, Song Gao and Song Yuan.

Though Song Gao and Song Yuan weren’t top-notch experts, in Nanzheng State, they were indeed capable of protecting Zheng Nianru alone from the rebellion at that time.

And indeed, they did receive a secret letter, but it failed to reach Nanmen Yu in time. By the time it arrived, the dust had settled.

Clenching the secret letter in his hand, it detailed Song Gao and Song Yuan’s request for backup, as they planned to evacuate the Crown Prince’s Wife to a safer place.

This secret letter explained why Zheng Nianru was found in a farmhouse in the Southern Suburb. He had been negligent. In that situation, Zheng Haoyuan had already lost his sanity. How could he have taken the chance to assume Zheng Nianru wasn’t in danger just because she and Zheng Haoyuan were on good terms?

The investigation over these past few days hadn’t been entirely without useful information.

Zheng Nianru was captured by Zheng Haoyuan as a threat to Prince Duan, hoping to force Prince Duan to join his side. At first, Nanmen Yu couldn’t make sense of it, but as his investigation deepened, he learned of some matters even Zheng Congyuan didn’t know about: the Nanmen Death Soldiers had found that Prince Duan had a secret troop. It seemed that Zheng Haoyuan had learned of this secret, which was why he captured Zheng Nianru.