What Bad Intentions can the Yandere Crown Prince have?-Chapter 95: Ah Xiao—Beautiful and Well-Behaved

Chapter 95: Chapter 95: Ah Xiao—Beautiful and Well-Behaved

Despite being threatened, Pingyang Princess was quite happy when she left.

As she reached the door, she turned back and asked, "How come I didn’t see little Ah Xiao today?"

Tang Xiaobai immediately became alert, "Why are you asking about him?"

Upon seeing her cautious demeanor, Pingyang Princess was excited, "Of course, because I like him! Ah Xiao is beautiful and obedient—"

Before she could finish, Tang Ziqian dragged her out of the door and said coldly, "Stop eyeing Xiao Bai!"

He instantly changed from indifference to a daunting cold fierceness, surprising even Tang Xiaobai.

The princess didn’t seem to be interested in her, though?

Still, she didn’t dwell on it. After the princess left, she inquired about the morning’s interrupted topic, "Brother, what about Lv Xia? What did he say last night?"

Tang Ziqian looked at her unexpectedly and asked with a smile, "What did he say?"

Tang Xiaobai felt a bit annoyed with this childish teasing tone.

Tang Ziqian, noticing his sister showing signs of annoyance, quickly adopted a serious demeanor and responded, "He knows nothing of consequence. Early this morning, I had someone report the case to Wannian County—" Thinking of something, Tang Ziqian stroked his chin and smiled slightly, "If you’re interested in this case, I’ll take you to the Wannian County Office tomorrow!"

... 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Tang Ziqian was true to his word.

On the 17th day of the first month, after school and lunch, Tang Xiaobai was taken out by Tang Ziqian.

The Wannian County Office was not far from the Duke Yan Mansion. Riding on their horses, the siblings left Qinren Street and walked east a few steps before they saw it.

Because Tang Ziqian was familiar due to presenting captives at the city gate, he was recognized by the old official at the Wannian County Office entrance and was promptly greeted with a salute.

After dismounting, he helped Tang Xiaobai down and casually asked, "Is County Captain Xue here?"

Only then did Tang Xiaobai realize the intention.

So they were here to cause trouble!

...

The County Magistrate was responsible for county security, capturing thieves, and other matters.

Truth be told, Tang Xiaobai always felt that Xue Shaoqin, with his scholarly air, was quite mismatched with the role of County Magistrate, though with Yao He around, it was manageable.

Now it’s just—

"This official greets General Tang." Xue Shaoqin stood and bowed respectfully, but his voice and body trembled slightly.

Tang Ziqian didn’t even look at him. He casually pulled a scroll from the bottom of a pile of case files on the desk.

These files were genuinely stacked one atop another, so pulling the bottom one caused the ones on top to collapse.

Tang Xiaobai saw Xue Shaoqin rush over, thinking he would catch the falling files, only to see he was reaching to grab the scroll from Tang Ziqian’s hand.

However, a single glance from Tang Ziqian deflated his resolve, and he withdrew his hands.

This piqued considerable curiosity.

Tang Xiaobai approached her brother, tiptoeing to see the opened scroll—

She couldn’t understand it...

She recognized every character, but together they were incoherent.

Yet the mischievous Tang Ziqian, known for setting fire to scholars’ beards as a child, directly figured it out, "Ling Xian..." He closed the scroll with a smile, "Does County Captain Xue have a fondness for astrology? Why become a County Magistrate?"

Xue Shaoqin remained speechless.

Tang Ziqian’s gaze flickered, tapping the "Ling Xian" against his palm, lazily inquiring, "I heard mastering ’Ling Xian’ permits star observation?"

Xue Shaoqin shook his head blankly, "I-I can’t..."

Tang Ziqian chuckled and asked, "How goes the investigation into Scholar Lv’s assault case?"

Xue Shaoqin muttered, head bowed, "No progress yet..."

Tang Ziqian stood up, "Busy reading idle books, no wonder there’s no progress," he sighed, "I should probably discuss this with County Magistrate Zheng!"

"General Tang! General Tang!" Xue Shaoqin hurriedly blocked his path, eyes fixated on the scroll in Tang Ziqian’s hand, "Scholar Lv refuses to speak, and I have no leads. I ask General Tang for leniency..."

"Refuses?" Tang Ziqian chuckled, "I heard you have a Chief of Evil skilled in interrogation, able to even investigate the Second Miss of our Duke Yan Mansion?"

Xue Shaoqin finally diverted his gaze from the scroll in shock, looking at Tang Ziqian, "General Tang refers to Yao He? Isn’t he dismissed already?"

"Then bring him back!" Tang Ziqian gestured with the scroll under the sunlight theatrically, "I heard this book is hard to find?"

Xue Shaoqin replied with a pale face, "Yao He is also hard to find... he left the Capital City, and I don’t know his whereabouts..."

Tang Ziqian patted his shoulder with the scroll.

Xue Shaoqin hurriedly slumped his shoulder, as if afraid the scroll would cause damage.

"Since County Captain Xue could find this book, you should also have a way to find Yao He," Tang Ziqian said while tucking the scroll into his sleeve. "This book requires focus, so I’ll hold it temporarily for County Captain Xue to avoid distractions in finding people and handling cases!" With that, he signaled Tang Xiaobai to leave.

Xue Shaoqin followed them to the Wannian County Office gate, tearfully watching the siblings ride away, "Please treat it well, General Tang..."

He sounded as if his own son had been kidnapped.

Seeing this, Tang Xiaobai also felt sorry for him. Once outside the county gate, she quietly pleaded for Xue Shaoqin, "County Captain Xue is an honest man, bullying him doesn’t feel rewarding, does it?"

Tang Ziqian was amused, "Taking one of his books constitutes bullying? If you say this outside, people will think your brother turned vegetarian."

"Then should I say my brother beat County Captain Xue to the point of searching for his teeth on the ground?"

Tang Ziqian laughed heartily and patted her on the head, "Even naughtier than your sister was!"

Tang Xiaobai chuckled, "I doubt County Captain Xue will find Yao He anyway, so Brother doesn’t need to exert effort." After all, Yao He had lost his steady job and vanished out of town, that’s enough.

Tang Ziqian laughed, "Am I urging him to find Yao He? I’m urging him to properly investigate the case!"

Tang Xiaobai pondered and said, "Actually, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Without Yao He, County Captain Xue indeed struggles." Glancing at the scroll tucked on Tang Ziqian’s waist, she shook her head.

Xue Shaoqin’s focus wasn’t here, so how could he uncover the oddities in the Lv Xia case?

But Yao He seemed overly obsessed with the truth.

But now it seems neither finding Yao He nor having Xue Shaoqin investigate the case is reliable.

"Who do you think wants to harm—"

The words "Lv Xia" hadn’t even left her mouth when Tang Xiaobai saw Lv Xia.

This time, however, Lv Xia wasn’t being attacked, instead walking quietly from the east-west street turning south, face down, heavily burdened with concern, without noticing her and Tang Ziqian.

Tang Xiaobai instinctively glanced at where he came from.

"Zheng Mansion is that way," said Tang Ziqian.

Tang Xiaobai stared in the direction of Zheng Mansion for a long while, then, upon returning to the mansion, whispered to Tang Ziqian, "Brother, do you think the one who attacked Lv Xia could be Prime Minister Zheng?"

From a distance, Lv Xia and Prime Minister Zheng were from the same sect but scarcely interacted, indicating a weak acquaintance;

Up close, like today, Lv Xia seemed to have come from Zheng Mansion, appearing distressed, indicating his requests went unfulfilled and perhaps even his plea for protection was denied;

Thus, only Prime Minister Zheng seems to have an overt and traceable conflict with Lv Xia.