Lose My Heart to the Lovely Kitten Princess - Chapter 106
Chapter 106 The eighth prince’s schemes
Cheng Xiaoxiao laughed gloatingly.
Cheng Xiaoxiao didn’t care about the plotting and scheming. She was simply delighted at seeing Xiaowu disappointed. Served him right for trying to be a smart aleck.
Despite how sensible it sounded, Xiaowu wasn’t as smart as he thought.
No matter how smart he was, Chu Yunshen was always three steps ahead of him. Cheng Xiaoxiao buried her head in Chu Yunshen’s arms and almost suffered internal injuries from suppressing her laughter.
Since Chu Yunshen was unable to see her expression, he was worried that she was unwell and weary from travel or unable to acclimate.
The moment he saw Cheng Xiaoxiao smiling brightly when he finally turned her face around, he instantly realized that she was just being mischievous.
“You’re so naughty.” Chu Yunshen didn’t know what to do with Cheng Xiaoxiao. He sensed a real love-hate relationship with her as he tapped her head. He couldn’t help laughing when he saw her staggering from his touch.
Xiaowu sensed how much his master doted on the lion cat!
These days, humans couldn’t compare to a cat. Xiaowu couldn’t help feeling insignificant.
Xiaowu could sense tears welling in his eyes as he watched in envy.
Chu Yunshen started to play with the cat and seemed to forget the man before him. After some time, he waved his hand impatiently and gestured for Xiaowu to leave.
Xiaowu felt reluctant to leave when his esteemed master wanted him to go.
Was his master really not going to consider praising him?
Chu Yunshen didn’t understand why Xiaowu was still looking at him earnestly. He thought his instructions weren’t clear enough, so he benevolently added, “Oh yes. Go to the market and piers to check the current salt price. Remember to compare it with the books.”
Xiaowu gave up completely and left dejectedly. “Yes, Master.”
Xiaowu came back hurriedly just as he was about to step through the door.
“Master, you have already sent many people to investigate all the wealthy merchants. Should I still go? After all, you never have less than five people serving you. Why don’t I…”
“It’s fine. Just get Tingzhu and Nongying to stay.” Chu Yunshen didn’t seem as worried as Xiaowu. Instead, he waved his hand nonchalantly.
“Why don’t you let Songtao stay as well?” Xiaowu knelt before Chu Yunshen and attempted to convince him.
“It’s fine.” Since Chu Yunshen knew Xiaowu was loyal to him, he did not blame him for being worried.
Xiaowu knew Chu Yunshen’s temperament well. Since no one was capable of changing Chu Yunshen’s mind, he did not continue trying and bowed before he left quietly.
Cheng Xiaoxiao and Chu Yunshen spent the night at Jin City’s county magistrate’s office. After being exhausted from travel, the man and cat quickly fell into a deep sleep.
A storm was brewing at Prince Qing’s residence in the capital.
Chu Jinshuo stood with his hands behind his back and his back facing the table. Although his face could not be seen, his aura was so powerful that people couldn’t help trembling.
The servant who had read a letter didn’t know what Chu Jinshuo’s plans were. He lowered his head and didn’t dare to make eye contact with Chu Jinshuo.
“Well done, Chu Yunshen! You sure acted quickly enough! You skipped Liu Yuanyi and went straight to Chen Fu. Continue to keep an eye on Chen Fu round the clock!”
“Yes, Your Highness!” His servant left immediately after receiving his order and didn’t want to linger a minute.
Chu Jinshuo’s personal guard, Zhao Yan, entered the room. He bowed and said, “Your Highness, Prefect Magistrate Liu has sent you secret correspondence.”
“Read it!”
Chu Jinshuo sat in front of the desk and wrote without raising his head even.
Even though Zhao Yan was apprehensive, he had to fulfill Prince Qing’s orders.
“County Magistrate Chen secretly sent a letter to Prefect Magistrate Liu. He informed him that Prince Jing has already discovered Sir Su’s involvement and arrested him, so he had no choice but to admit to his crimes and provided a list of the rich merchants he was working with…”
“That idiot!” Chu Jinshuo almost snapped his white jade calligraphy brush in half. He suppressed his fury as he gestured for Zhao Yan to continue.
Zhao Yan was startled, so he swallowed hard as he stared at the letter in his hand. He was terrified that the letter might contain more things that would trigger Chu Jinshuo.
Sadly, things went contrary to his wishes and the rest of the contents of the letter was even more worrying.
Zhao Yan shuddered before he finally found his voice and said, “County Magistrate Chen told Prefect Magistrate Liu that since Sir Su was already caught, they might as well give up a rook to save the king. He pushed the blame on Sir Su altogether and guaranteed that you won’t get implicated.”
“He overestimated himself!”
Just as Zhao Yan expected, Chu Jinshuo was furious and promptly shoved everything off the table.
“Chen Fu is an idiot and can’t be trusted! Does he think that Chu Yunshen didn’t know about his little ploy? Or does he think I am the idiot here?”
“Master, now that County Magistrate Chen has given Prince Jing the name list, doesn’t it mean your businesses are…” Zhao Yan looked at Chu Jinshuo cautiously, but Chu Jinshuo flew into a rage once more.
“Tell them to keep a low profile for now. They can continue after the dust has settled. As for those merchants, we can find some other people to work with.”
Chu Jinshuo didn’t care about the rich merchants’ well-being. Since they were commoners, their lives meant nothing to him.
It was just such a pity that the fool had destroyed Chu Jinshuo’s source of income in Jin City after all the meticulous planning he did.
“That stupid Chen Fu! How could he give up my businesses so easily?” Chu Jinshuo kept walking up and down the table with his hands behind him. “If I am not mistaken, Chu Yunshen now possesses the books as well.”
Zhao Yan felt annoyed with Chen Fu as well. How could he end up so useless? How could he give Chu Yunshen something as important as the name list so quickly the moment he got interrogated?
“County Magistrate Chen didn’t give them the real set of accounts, but…”
The moment Chu Jinshuo heard that Prince Jing didn’t get his hands on the books, he became slightly calmer. Chu Jinshuo looked at Zhao Yan sternly when he refused to speak up. “Why are you stammering? Speak up!”
“Once Prince Jing discovers that the numbers don’t add up, he will get suspicious and interrogate County Magistrate Chen again. When the time comes, he would probably give him the real books.”
Zhao Yan had already knelt on the ground in fear when Chu Jinshuo started to smash things on the ground. He did his utmost to minimize his presence. He was terrified that his master would throw his temper at him.
“What did Liu Yuanyi have to say about this?”
Even though Chu Jinshuo seemed refined, he was particularly terrifying when he lost his temper now.
Zhao Yan had worked for the man for a long time, so he was keenly aware of how scary he was. He certainly wasn’t as gracious as he looked.
“Prefect Magistrate Liu said he was unable to get in touch with Sir Su, so he had no choice but to contact you.”
Zhao Yan continued to kneel on the ground as he organized his words. He simply hoped that Chu Jinshuo could calm down. “Prefect Magistrate Liu said he awaits your orders.”
“He’s a smart man after all.”
Zhao Yan noticed Chu Jinshuo sounded less angry. The atmosphere felt more relaxed and less cold.
“What about the palace? Have we regained contact?”
“Not yet.”
Zhao Yan felt as though Chu Jinshuo’s voice sounded very distant and unfathomable.
After working for Chu Jinshuo all this time, he had yet to see through him.
“We can’t keep waiting for mother to get back to us. It will only spell trouble if we wait. Zhao Yan!”
“Yes, Master!”
Chu Jinshuo smiled cunningly. He reached his hand out to the pot of gladiolus beside him and yanked its bud off viciously. The bud was thrown onto the ground nonchalantly.
“Chen Fu has outlived his usefulness. Since he is useless, there is no point keeping him around.” Chu Jinshuo stepped on the delicate bud and twisted it under his foot a few times.
“Take some men and stake out the county magistrate’s office. I want Chen Fu’s head tomorrow so as to eliminate all future trouble.”
Chu Jinshuo looked out the window at the dark sky. He had already concealed the ruthlessness on his face.
“What about Prince Jing?”
“You don’t have to do anything about him. Just focus on Chen Fu. If we do not kill him, he will pose a threat to me.” A maniacal look appeared in Chu Jinshuo’s eyes. He was starting to look forward to how this would play out.
“Oh yes. Take this with you. Remember to kill him and leave this at the crime scene.”
Zhao Yan understood his orders. He cautiously took the object from Chu Jinshuo.
It was a small, exquisite token with the seventh prince’s name on it.
Zhao Yan was in shock. He pondered whether the eighth prince had moved his plans up.
He wanted to ask more, but now that Chu Jinshuo had reverted to his usual refined self, he didn’t dare disturb him. Instead, he quickly left the room in silence and closed the door behind him.
Rain had started to come down outside the room.
A dangerous aura was looming in the darkness and intensifying rapidly in the autumn rain.
The unusually quiet county magistrate’s office felt strange. Ever since Cheng Xiaoxiao arrived yesterday, she could sense a huge mystery in Jin City and felt as though some plot was brewing.
She didn’t dare to sneak out today and stayed obediently with Chu Yunshen.
Almost all of Chu Yunshen’s guards were sent out and even Xiaowu wasn’t with him.
Cheng Xiaoxiao couldn’t help feeling bored since Xiaowu wasn’t around for her to bully.
The moment she saw Chu Yunshen sitting in front of the desk with a serious look on his face, she knew he was reading something dreary again.
He was so boring.
Cheng Xiaoxiao yawned in disdain. She lazily reached her front paws out as far as she could and stretched.
That felt great!
Hmm?
Why were these stupid hands trying to touch her?
Cheng Xiaoxiao turned her head to see it was Chu Yunshen rubbing her bouncy little ears.
She moved her ears and went closer to Chu Yunshen.
Fine. She would show him some generosity today and let him touch her ears!
In her heart, Cheng Xiaoxiao refused to admit that it felt good when he touched her ears.
The man and cat hung out amicably as they remained wrapped in thought. However, the seemingly serene harmonious sight was quickly interrupted by County Magistrate Chen as he barged into the room hurriedly.
“Yes, County Magistrate Chen? Can’t you see that I’m busy?”
Chu Yunshen couldn’t even be bothered to look up. The way he treated County Magistrate Chen and the cat was poles apart.
Chen Fu felt contemptuous in his heart. He was just playing with the cat. How could that be considered important?
All the fourth prince did was play without any ambition. He was such a disappointment.
He couldn’t compare to how dignified and mature the eighth prince was.
Sadly, Chen Fu was unaware that the eighth prince whom he looked up to had already sent men to the country magistrate’s office and had already laid an ambush outside just waiting for the perfect opportunity to kill him.
If he knew of the truth, would he praise the eighth prince for being so extraordinary?
Nonetheless, Chen Fu bowed and nodded to Chu Yunshen ingratiatingly. “I am here to invite you and the cat to the main hall to eat.”
Chu Yunshen didn’t put Chen Fu in a spot. He stood up and walked over to Chen Fu calmly.
The man dressed in white garments looked handsome as he walked in the gentle breeze.
Despite Chen Fu’s disdain for Chu Yunshen, he had to admit that he was so strikingly gorgeous that no other prince could compare to him in the looks department.
The county magistrate’s office corridors were so long that Cheng Xiaoxiao felt dizzy from all the turns.
