“By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor recognizes that Prince Jing is a virtuous man who is prepared to sacrifice for his country. He was able to solve the case of the missing unmarked burial grave workers. By the Emperor’s orders, Prince Jing will be rewarded with 10 000 taels of gold, two satin brocade capes, five embroidered brocade cloaks, 14 bales of gold and silver satin, and 14 bales of Jiangnan brocade. Prince Jing has proven himself wise and capable and the emperor is very pleased with his performance.

Also, the emperor has decreed Prince Jing to take over the Ministry of Justice. The emperor hopes Prince Jing can keep an open ear and never forget his purpose in life!”

The atmosphere was completely solemn.

That was brilliant.

Chu Yunshen’s hard work finally paid off, so she did not fight Uncle Gen in vain.

Cheng Xiaoxiao almost wanted to cry. The absolutely biased emperor finally did justice to Chu Yunshen.

She almost wanted to set fireworks and celebrate.

“Congratulations, Your Highness. Please accept the royal decree!”

Yuan Qing smiled imperceptibly as he bowed slightly before handing the royal decree to Chu Yunshen who was kneeling on the ground.

“I humbly accept the decree. Thank you, Father!” said Chu Yunshen as he raised his hand to accept the decree.

Cheng Xiaoxiao felt she must be imagining things. Why didn’t Chu Yunshen seem happy at all?

He always gave off a cool expression and rarely had any reaction, but Cheng Xiaoxiao knew him well, so she could detect the difference.

Chu Yunshen’s dark beautiful eyes clearly seemed disdainful. Since Cheng Xiaoxiao was lying in Chu Yunshen’s arms, she could see his expression up close just by raising her head.

He certainly concealed his emotion well. If Cheng Xiaoxiao didn’t happen to be looking at him, she would not have realized how he truly felt about the decree.

However, Cheng Xiaoxiao couldn’t wrap her mind around it. Was Chu Yunshen unhappy with this reward?

The emperor was clearly putting Chu Yunshen’s talent to constructive use and it was a lot better than his previous job. Why was he put off by it?

Did she guess wrongly this time?

Since Cheng Xiaoxiao wasn’t entirely sure about Chu Yunshen, and she was unable to convince herself otherwise, she quickly disregarded her speculation and threw the thought out of her mind.

Chu Yunshen stood up after taking the decree and the rest of the people stood up one after another.

From the moment Cheng Xiaoxiao entered the hall, she could sense someone looking at her every now and then making her very uncomfortable. She had been curling up in Chu Yunshen’s arms in an awkward position to avoid it. Now, she had even curled up inside Chu Yunshen’s outer robes.

Chu Yunshen naturally noticed someone looking at them, so he hid the lion cat under his sleeves the entire time. Even though he was caught by surprise when the lion cat went under his robes, he left her to it.

Cheng Xiaoxiao secretly studied the hall through the gap in Chu Yunshen’s robes. She quickly caught the culprit staring at her.

It was none other than Chu Jinshuo looking at her with a proud look on his face.

Chu Jinshuo was dressed in a blue brocade robe today with a matching gold spider embroidery belt.

An expensive-looking jade pendant hung from his belt and a white folding fan was placed diagonally through it.

Chu Jinshuo wore black boots. There were jade embellishments on the back of the boots the size of chicken eggs.

He was such a poser. Cheng Xiaoxiao could go on forever just bitching about his outfit alone. It was exaggerated and pretentious. She felt like ripping apart Chu Jinshuo right away as she recalled how much she liked blue.

Chu Jinshuo’s black hair was held up by a gold hair ornament and his nose looked high. Cheng Xiaoxiao watched as he leaned against the wooden chair with his eyes lowered as he looked at the flawless jade pendant. However, his narrow eyes kept looking at Chu Yunshen every now and then.

When Yuan Qing was reading the decree, Chu Jinshuo had blatantly stared at Chu Yunshen’s face and the piercingly white lion cat in his arms.

That was right! He was looking at Cheng Xiaoxiao.

Cheng Xiaoxiao genuinely abhorred Chu Jinshuo.

He always pretended to be a gentleman. Even though he definitely dressed like one, his aura was far from refined.

Also, he always acted as though he was harmless. Did he think he was an innocent little lamb or something?

It was clear from t

he look in Chu Jinshuo’s eyes that he desired wealth and power and it was public knowledge.

He kept giving Chu Yunshen cold stares every now and then. If she could, Cheng Xiaoxiao wanted to pounce on Chu Jinshuo this very moment and scratch his eyes for casting an evil look at them.

Did he think he was better than the rest because he was a prince? He made it seem as though he was loftier than the others.

Cheng Xiaoxiao always hated pretentious people like him in both her lifetimes.

Now that Cheng Xiaoxiao had located the source of the rude stares, she stared at Chu Jinshuo as fiercely as she could.

Before long, a gurgling sound could be heard coming from the lion cat. Chu Yunshen lowered his eyes to see the lion cat staring angrily at his lovely eighth younger brother.

PAH!

Chu Yunshen patted the lion cat’s head gently through his outer robe and warned her to behave. He didn’t expect the lion cat to suddenly reach her claws out to wave them before pulling it back inside.

Cheng Xiaoxiao was furious!

How could Chu Yunshen do that?

Couldn’t he see Chu Jinshuo pushing them around? He was doing it on Chu Yunshen’s territory no less. How could he look at them so rudely? Wasn’t it a clear sign of intimidation?

Chu Yunshen might not be in the position to glare at Chu Jinshuo, but a cat didn’t have problems doing it!

They had to send the right signal and Chu Yunshen simply didn’t get it.

Yuan Qing saw the interaction between Chu Yunshen and the lion cat and smiled uncontrollably. He held the horsetail whisk with poise and waved it. “Your Highness, you sure get along well with your lion cat.”

“Thanks for coming out here to send the decree. Xiaowu!”

Chu Yunshen rarely went out of his way to be polite. Cheng Xiaoxiao could sense Yuan Qing’s smile becoming a bit more sincere.

Xiaowu quickly came back with a hefty purse. Yuan Qing smiled even more brightly.

Cheng Xiaoxiao went speechless.

He was grinning from ear to ear because of the money. She was simply too innocent to think that Yuan Qing was genuinely commending Chu Yunshen and her for getting along well. He was in fact reminding Chu Yunshen to reward him for his efforts.

Yuan Qing took the reward from Xiaowu and felt its weight in his hand before he put it inside his sleeve happily.

He beamed as he stood in front of Chu Yunshen to bow and say, “Thank you, Your Highness. Now that we are done, I will be on my way. His Majesty has already told Prince Qing to notify the ministry of justice about this.”

Yuan Qing left with his entourage of eunuchs. In an instant, only Chu Jinshuo, Chu Yunshen, and Xiaowu remained in the hall.

After accepting the decree, most people would have scattered by now, but Chu Yunshen surprisingly told Wan Xia to stay.

“Congratulations on cracking the case and receiving rewards, Brother Yunshen. My apologies for not congratulating you sooner.”

Chu Jinshuo finally stopped playing with his jade pendant and held his folding fan.

He stopped leaning against the seat casually and stood up straight as he apologized to Chu Yunshen.

“Thanks, Brother Jinshuo.”

Chu Yunshen sat at the seat in the center of the hall with the lion cat in his arms and spoke nonchalantly without looking at Chu Jinshuo.

“Brother Yunshen, you certainly look different now that you have received a promotion.” A threatening light radiated from Chu Jinshuo’s eyes.

Chu Jinshuo’s words were filled with underlying meaning leaving Cheng Xiaoxiao worried. Sure enough, Chu Jinshuo promptly proceeded to make Cheng Xiaoxiao blow up.

“You are certainly good at stealing something when no one is looking. You managed to get the ministry of justice without even looking.”

What the hell was he saying?

He was implying that Chu Yunshen wasn’t good enough for the job and simply stole it from Chu Jinshuo.

Chu Jinshuo smiled sinisterly as he spoke. Even Cheng Xiaoxiao couldn’t bear listening to the sarcastic tone in his voice. However, Chu Yunshen seemed completely nonchalant.

“I have to thank Brother Jinshuo for taking such good care of it in the past! I am sure it will make things easier for the handover.”

Chu Yunshen simply answered courteously. Chu Jinshuo tried to make small talk and ignored the patronizing tone in Chu Yunshen’s voice. He glanced at the people in the hall profoundly and changed the subject. “Brother Yunshen, this won’t be the end of it. Brother Yunshen, even though things were exciting, it was too bad only outsiders were around to see it.”

Xiaowu’s face collapsed. Cheng Xiaoxiao wanted to jump out of Chu Yunshen’s arms and beat up Chu Jinshuo right away.

Come on!

Let’s fight!

What was this stupid little brother saying?

Chu Yunshen pressed the restless lion cat in his arms. He was worried about hurting the lion cat. otherwise, he might have used internal energy to suppress her.

Had he been over-feeding the lion cat? Why was she so strong now?

The lion cat gradually calmed down as Chu Yunshen comforted her. However, she kept glaring at Chu Jinshuo with her contrasting eyes.

Chu Jinshuo didn’t seem to be pretending to be innocent this time.

All he said was outsiders when the lion cat suddenly exploded. Could a lion cat understand what they were saying?

Chu Jinshuo touched his nose and looked straight at Chu Yunshen.

Xiaowu continued looking at Chu Jinshuo coldly. Chu Yunshen glanced at Xiaowu subtly and Xiaowu promptly composed his anger.

After the atmosphere eased up, Chu Yunshen finally said, “What do you mean Brother Jinshuo?”

“Now that you are promoted, it is the perfect time for you to get married!”

The moment Chu Jinshuo heard Chu Yunshen’s answer, he opened his white folding fan with a flick. He was in such a good mood that he even fanned himself.

Despite only moving the fan gently, Cheng Xiaoxiao could sense a cool wind coming towards her.

Did someone kick Chu Jinshuo in the head? Why did he suddenly play matchmaker?

Moreover, what did Chu Yunshen’s marriage have to do with him?

Did he have nothing better to do than to stick his nose into Chu Yunshen’s personal matters?

Cheng Xiaoxiao felt flustered. What if Chu Yunshen took up Chu Jinshuo’s suggestion and got married to someone?

She didn’t dare to continue thinking about it. Just thinking about Chu Yunshen dressed in red wedding robes holding the hand of some unknown woman made her feel upset.

Impossible!

How could Chu Yunshen be capable of doing that?

He would never just marry some random woman!

Cheng Xiaoxiao pretended to be composed and stopped staring at Chu Jinshuo.

Even though she did not notice it, Chu Yunshen detected the change in her mood.

The lion cat in Chu Yunshen’s arms suddenly trembled, so he held her in his arms a little more tightly.

As for Chu Jinshuo’s words, Chu Yunshen couldn’t be bothered with them.