This Kid's Acting Strange

The usually quiet Yongqing Palace instantly descended into chaos.

"You little beast! I'll kill you!"

"General Qin! Calm down!"

"Yan Ying! Control your temper!"

"Waaah! Father, she kicked my hip out of joint!"

"You bastard! Apologize to General Qin and the Heir at once."

The imperial palace was noisily abuzz in the middle of the night, until a soft cough came from inside the bedchamber.

The cough was faint, but it reached everyone's ears.

It was Emperor Li Hong's voice.

In an instant, everyone stopped moving and respectfully saluted the entrance.

Except for the Prime Minister's youngest son, Shen Jin.

His hip had been dislocated.

"Honored ministers, what brings you here so late at night?"

The voice from within the bedchamber was warm and gentle. Just hearing it felt like basking in a spring breeze.

He didn't sound like an emperor wielding supreme power at all, but rather a mild-mannered, refined middle-aged scholar.

At those words, Prime Minister Shen Kui hurriedly cupped his hands and bowed. "Your Majesty! My son failed to make proper arrangements. He did not post enough guards on the boat, and the Heir to the Marquis of Southern Suppression was abducted by villains. I have brought my son here to apologize."

"You—"

Qin Yanying was furious, but in the Emperor's presence, she swallowed the curses she had learned in the army and gritted her teeth. "Shen Kui! Don't think I don't know how often your little beast has tried to sabotage Muye.

"You say Muye was abducted because there weren't enough guards, but I heard that every room on the boat had a maid, and they checked on the guests every half hour to make sure no one choked on their own vomit after getting drunk.

"But Muye was missing for a full three hours before you even realized he was gone.

"Then, as soon as you discovered he was missing, the maid left a letter saying the Prime Minister's Mansion had nothing to do with it and killed herself. How do you explain that?"

Shen Kui was at a loss for words. "..."

How could he explain it?

There were so many maids in the Prime Minister's Mansion. He hadn't expected that the maid serving Qin Muye would be the one who had been bribed.

Worst of all, she was a household slave raised by the Prime Minister's Mansion. He couldn't even come up with an excuse for why she might have been bribed.

It was like having mud smeared all over his trousers...

Shen Jin couldn't help saying, "If I really wanted to harm Qin Muye, why is he still standing here—"

"Smack!"

Shen Kui slapped him across the face, his temples throbbing with rage. "You bastard! Shut up!"

"Father!"

Shen Jin was deeply aggrieved, but at the sight of his old father's savage, beastlike glare, he couldn't help shuddering.

He was the youngest child in the family, with only one brother more than a decade older than him, so he had been doted on ever since he was little.

This was the first time he had seen his father lose his temper with him so badly.

Could it be that even his all-powerful father couldn't settle this matter?

He was starting to get scared.

Li Hong smiled faintly and spoke unhurriedly. "Prime Minister Shen, do you think there might be more to this matter than meets the eye?"

Shen Kui quickly bowed. "Your Majesty! The suspicion against this old servant has not yet been cleared, and I have no way to prove my innocence, so I ought to say little. However, this matter concerns both my innocence and harmony between the civil and military officials. So I venture to guess that an unseen hand in the capital is stirring up trouble, hoping to inflame the conflict between the Shen and Qin families..."

Qin Yanying was so angry her nose nearly twisted. "Give me a break! The conflict between the Shen and Qin families needs an outsider to fan the flames? Just go home and take your whole family with you to kill yourselves. Then there won't be any conflict between our families!"

Li Hong's voice carried a hint of reproach. "Yan Ying!"

Qin Yanying hurriedly fell silent. She had grown up trailing after Li Hong and Qin Kaijiang, and in her eyes, the Emperor was no different from an older brother. Although he treated her like a younger sister, she still held him in great awe.

Only then did Li Hong smile gently. "Yan Ying, Prime Minister Shen has had his say. Now it's your turn. Don't rush."

Qin Yanying took a deep breath and voiced every suspicion in her heart.

There was a lot to say.

But most of it was the same old story.

In the end, she simply launched into a tirade, cursing Shen Jin as a worthless piece of trash for bullying her nephew, saying he was worse than a dog or a pig.

Shen Jin was seething, but under his father's furious glare, he could only swallow his anger in humiliation.

After listening patiently, Li Hong said unhurriedly, "The Brocade Guard has already investigated what you mentioned. Everyone involved has been confined, and they can be questioned further at any time. Be patient. I will certainly deliver justice for you and Muye. In the meantime, I hope you can keep the greater good in mind."

Qin Yanying: "..."

It was always like this whenever she spoke with the Emperor. He did everything without hurrying, yet you couldn't find a single fault in what he said. If you kept pressing him, you were the one being unreasonable.

She could only nod. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Li Hong smiled faintly, then asked, "Muye, you must have been frightened."

"Thank you for Your Majesty's concern."

Qin Muye was flattered, like a well-behaved junior.

Li Hong sighed softly. "I had meant to bring you back to the capital so you could recuperate, but I never imagined that before you'd recovered, you'd be caught up in a whirlpool like this. I feel deeply ashamed."

Qin Muye hurriedly replied, "Your Majesty, please don't say that. I'm in the capital already. If someone wants to harm me, there's nowhere I can hide. I'm already more than satisfied that Your Majesty is willing to stand up for me.

"Besides, my uncle is excellent at investigating cases. I've told him everything I can remember. With him on the case, he'll find the mastermind sooner or later."

"Hey, you..."

Qin Yanying was so frustrated she could hardly bear it. She hadn't expected her nephew to cave in so quickly.

At least the Emperor had been the one to shut her down.

This kid hadn't even waited for the Emperor to say anything before pledging his allegiance?

Seeing this, Shen Kui finally let out a breath of relief. The Emperor really was impressive, calming the aunt and nephew with just a few words.

That good-for-nothing playboy from the Qin Family might have a somewhat twisted personality, but in front of the Emperor, he was as well-behaved as a little darling.

Li Hong smiled in approval. "I'm glad you can see it that way. Since that's settled, it's getting late..."

Qin Muye hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, there is just one more unreasonable request I'd like to make."

"Go ahead."

"This time, I narrowly escaped death. Those villains struck me in secret, and I nearly lost my mind. I've recovered somewhat now, but there are still many memories I can't recall, and I don't know when they'll come back.

"As Commander of the Brocade Guard, my uncle must have more than one case on his hands. He may not be able to drop everything whenever I need him. So I hope Your Majesty will allow me, whenever I remember something, to give my commander uncle a little direction."

"Oh?"

Li Hong gave him a knowing smile. "You're close to Commander Chen. Why ask me?"

Qin Muye replied respectfully, "Who in Great Gan doesn't know he devotes himself only to serving Your Majesty? The cases he handles are all Your Majesty's cases. Without Your Majesty's permission, what right would I have to direct an elder?"

"True enough! I grant it, then!"

Li Hong cautioned him warmly, "But be sure to remember: don't treat a chicken feather as a command arrow and disrupt the Brocade Guard's normal investigations. And don't frame anyone deliberately or torture a confession out of them. Otherwise, I'll take back this verbal decree."

"Yes!"

"It's late. Chen Sui, stay behind. The rest of you may leave."

After bidding farewell, everyone filed out of the bedchamber.

From beginning to end, Li Hong hadn't shown his face.

They left the palace gates and each boarded their own carriage.

Shen Kui glanced at Qin Muye's retreating figure. He couldn't shake the feeling that something about the kid was off today.

Qin Yanying nagged the whole way. Even after they got into the carriage, she was still complaining to Qin Muye. "Why did you give in so quickly, you little rascal? You're the victim. With all my years of experience in making a scene, I can tell you that you've got every right to kick up a fuss.

"If you'd cried and made a scene, you could've at least dislocated the other side of that Shen brat's hip. But you just let him off like that? You're bringing shame on the Qin Family!"

Qin Muye rubbed his head. "Auntie, I have my own plans."

"What plans do you have?"

"Tell me, what's the biggest problem we'll face after we get back to the capital?"

"We're short on money!"

"Starting tomorrow, we won't be anymore!"

"..."