After leaving Ranshui Pavilion, Lu Fusu sat on the carriage and looked at the street scene outside the window.

Sand and dust rose up under the feet of pedestrians, fogging the transparent red sunset.

Although he grew up in the capital, he had never walked on the streets of the capital by himself and could only move freely in the palace.

When going out, you must sit in a carriage.

Although I had toured various places before, I had to sit in a carriage before leaving the capital.

...I really wish I could walk freely on the street, even just once.

Thinking of this, there was a sudden pain in the depths of his eyes, as if he had been pricked by a needle.

"...?"

He looked away and blinked.

Nothing unusual, maybe dust got into my eyes.

Lu Fusu blinked two or three times and unconsciously held his left arm with his right hand.

The carriage drove into the downtown area from the outskirts of the capital. More and more people were walking on the street, and everyone was walking in a hurry. The imperial guard riding beside the carriage reported to him that they would soon arrive at the palace city.

After a while, the gate of Miyagi appeared in front.

I wonder if Shui Xinyuan has returned to the palace?

at this time……

When the carriage was about to enter the palace city, it stopped in front of the gate.

"What's wrong?"

"Your Majesty, Mr. Zhuge... No, Mr. Zhuge requested to stop the car."

"What?"

Lu Fusu opened the window, stuck his head out, and found Zhuge Qing standing in front of the carriage.

He looked up at Lu Fusu and squinted his eyes in the sunset.

"It's so rare. Why did you come to greet me?"

"...Excuse me, the emperor has just returned to the palace and came to bother me. Could you please ask the emperor to come to your humble residence?"

"Your home? Go to your home?"

"right."

Zhuge Qing opened the carriage door with a solemn expression and sat in.

"Because the situation is urgent, please allow me to go with the emperor."

"What happened?"

"Today is really not a good day. I was transferred to my father's yamen and was used as a punching bag by someone. Even my wife's best friend disappeared..."

"……What did you say!"

...Zhuge Qing's wife's best friend...

When Lu Fusu's eyes widened, the carriage had already returned to the direction of Jingcheng Street.

…

A group of forbidden soldiers came to Chunhua Street as Shui Xinyuan's entourage. They originally planned to wait in the box where the noble ladies were having dinner, or in the box next door, but the people in the store said that the box on the first floor had already been reserved by guests, so they

Plan to stand by in the hallway.

The maid of the Han family also said that soldiers in armor walking up and down the corridor would scare other guests and attract more attention, so they were driven to the second floor.

"The geishas in that shop are all on the second floor... With those geishas preening around, how could the accompanying soldiers not be distracted?"

"...Is that why you didn't notice the movement downstairs?"

"They said that before they heard Chunxiang yelling, they heard no unusual noises, at least there was no big fight downstairs that would alarm the people upstairs."

"It's really too negligent..."

"They are just a bunch of trash! They should look at the Queen's face, not those noble ladies. These people don't understand the situation at all..."

Compared to the empress who treats everyone with courtesy, those Imperial Guards feel that they are more likely to get into trouble if they don't listen to the orders of the domineering nobles... Zhuge Qing said angrily.

"Even if those people are trash, shouldn't someone usually be posted outside the store?"

"That's the problem……"

Zhuge Qing had a bitter look on his face and was a little hesitant in speaking.

The carriage drove at an astonishing speed on the busy street and headed straight for Zhuge's house.

"Didn't those aristocratic ladies just announce the location of the dinner this morning?"

"Yes, before I prepare to go to court."

"They notified the Central Publishing House later that the official responsible for escorting the Queen did not expect that they would meet with the Queen at a store on Chunhua Street. When they hurriedly went to convey the news, the name of the store they mentioned was not Hongyuan Tower. He said it was Ziwei Tower."

"..."

Lu Fusu's cheek twitched suddenly.

"On Chunhua Street, there are both the Red Kite Tower and the Ziwei Tower. The crape myrtle is a purple whorl, and the Red Kite is a lighter red flower... There are many stores with similar names on Chunhua Street, and these two stores are special.

It’s easy to make a mistake. Moreover, the official responsible for escorting the escort insisted that what he heard was Ziwei Lou, maybe it was also the trick of the nobles..."

"So there is no censor monitoring that store?"

"In short, it stands to reason that the invitation location should be notified in writing, but we were too careless."

"...It's all my fault that I was looked down upon by those guys."

When Lu Fusu muttered in pain, the carriage shook hard and stopped.

Lu Fusu got off the carriage in front of Zhuge's house and followed Zhuge Qing quickly into the house.

"In addition, there is someone who knows what happened in Hongyuan Tower..."

"...The man from Sanhu Village?"

They quickly walked along the corridor and came to a room. In addition to Qing'er and several officials from Zhongshu Province, there were also soldiers from the Zhuge family looking at a man with his hands tied behind his back.

Lu Fusu walked straight towards the man and grabbed his chest.

"...Are you the gardener?"

Ziwei frowned in pain and shook his head.

"I, I don't know anything, I really don't know... I don't know... Ah, Shui Xinyuan ran away suddenly..."

"Shut up!"

Lu Fusu was furious and Ziwei was so frightened that he could not speak.

"You are not allowed to call Shui Xinyuan's name again. Only I can call her name."

"..."

Ziwei finally realized who he was facing. He was so frightened that he trembled all over and rolled his eyes.

"Zhuge Qing."

Lu Fusu stared at Ziwei with sharp eyes and said calmly: "I discovered something. I have never beaten anyone, but I have killed someone... Which is easier, beating or killing?"

"...Well! Practice makes perfect in everything..."

"Your Majesty, please don't start killing people here, otherwise it will be troublesome to clean up afterwards."

Lu Fusu slowly turned his head when he heard the voice of Qing'er, the best friend Shui Xinyuan was thinking about for a while who was pregnant with Liujia, restraining his anger.

Qing'er nodded to him, but her face was paler than usual.

"Besides, I've already punched this bastard twice."

"..."

Lu Fusu then discovered that the gardener's left cheek was swollen.

"Qing'er... don't do anything easily. What if the child in your belly becomes violent?"

"My son would not be so heartless and not angry when encountering something like this."

Zhuge Qing pressed his forehead, while Qing'er stared at Ziwei with tearful eyes and gasped through her nostrils.

"Do you want to sit down first? I heard from Chunxiang that this bastard should not be the only one who needs to be tied up and tortured."

"Right……"

Lu Fusu pushed Ziwei away heavily, sat on the chair pointed by Qing'er, and breathed out.

"You can sit down too! I have no intention of coming to your house to disturb you when you are pregnant."

"No, rather than find out later, I would rather share the burden with the emperor now."

Qing'er said, "I'm sorry for being rude, little girl." She also sat down on the bench.
To be continued...