amaotonovel Chapter 751 The Dusty Chamber
Chapter 751 The Dusty Chamber
Shen Yanxi said, "Your Highness, please forgive us. We have no intention of offending you. However, this matter is of great importance. If there really is a murderer sneaking in, it will also threaten Your Highness' safety. We will feel more at ease if we search the place."
Xiao Su's face darkened. "So you really got the emperor's decree today to search the Sanqing Temple?"
Shen Yanxi shook his head. "Your Highness has misunderstood. The Emperor has not issued an order. As for the search, the Emperor has also stated that His Highness's consent must be obtained first."
"What if I don't want to agree?"
"Your Highness may not agree, and we will never force a search. However, the missing woman's case has caused a stir in the imperial city. If Your Highness refuses to search, rumors may spread."
"Prime Minister Shen, are you threatening me?" Xiao Su looked at Shen Yanxi coldly.
"Your Highness has misunderstood. I have no such intention. However, since Your Highness is cultivating in the mountains, I think what you want is to have no worries in your heart. The case of the missing woman has not been solved, and the people in the imperial city are in panic. Countless innocent women are in danger. This situation is probably not what Your Highness wants to see."
Xiao Su frowned, "Prime Minister Shen, are you trying to blackmail me morally?"
"Please don't misunderstand me, Your Highness. I am only expressing my speculation. If I have made you unhappy, please forgive me." Shen Yanxi stood up and bowed to Xiao Su to apologize.
Shen Yanxi's attitude was very good, and he was also the prime minister, so even if he said something inappropriate just now, Xiao Su couldn't hold on to it.
He looked at Shen Yanxi in silence. Seeing that Xiao Su did not speak, Shen Yanxi smiled, stood up and said, "Since Prince Su is unwilling, we will take our leave first. I came to Sanqing Temple today and disturbed Prince Su. Here, I apologize to Prince Su again."
As he spoke, Shen Yanxi glanced at Pei Zhaozhi.
Pei Zhaozhi also stood up and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I will take my leave now."
Jiang Suining and Zhong Yixiu also stood up.
Seeing that several people were about to leave like this, Xiao Su called them back.
"and many more."
"Does the prince have any other instructions?"
"Since this matter involves the disappearance of so many women, if you want to search, it is difficult for me to stop you."
"Your Highness is very wise and we admire you." Pei Zhaozhi spoke immediately.
"I haven't finished what I want to say yet." Xiao Su glanced at Pei Zhaozhi, "This Sanqing Temple is my place of meditation. I don't want to see those soldiers making a fuss and turning this place upside down. Since you are here today, the four of you will check it out. If you don't find any problems, don't disturb us again."
Shen Yanxi raised his eyebrows, "Your Highness, if it's just the four of us, I'm afraid it will be difficult to investigate this huge Sanqing Temple."
"I will only give you this one chance. If you feel it is inappropriate, then just pretend that I didn't say anything. As for the search, let's just drop it for now and don't mention it again." Xiao Su's attitude and tone were firm, and he seemed very dissatisfied with being interrupted.
Shen Yanxi, Jiang Suining and the others looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
After leaving the Sanqing Temple, the Taoist boy led them into the garden.
"Your Majesty, I have mentioned a few people and you can check them at will."
After saying that, he retreated.
"This Sanqing Temple is quite large. It would be difficult for us to investigate it thoroughly just by the four of us, and..." Pei Zhaozhi frowned.
"Do you find it a little strange?" Jiang Suining took over Pei Zhaozhi's words.
"Yes, Prince Su's reaction makes me feel that something is wrong."
He was unwilling to let the soldiers come up to search, saying that he did not want to disturb the peace of the temple. Although this reason sounded reasonable, he always felt that it was not the whole reason.
Moreover, Prince Su could not have failed to understand that it would be difficult to investigate the Sanqing Temple with just the four of them. It would be more like a procedure to clear the Sanqing Temple of suspicion rather than a search.
Also, after all, as a member of the royal family, he enjoyed the offerings of the people and had been practicing asceticism for so many years, but he did not care about the missing women at all. It was a bit too cold.
"Don't think too much about it. Maybe Prince Su is really sure that there won't be any problems in his temple, so he thinks it's just a formality." Shen Yanxi said.
Jiang Suining looked at the look in Shen Yanxi's eyes and filled in another possibility in his heart that he hadn't said out loud.
Another possibility is that there is indeed something wrong with the Sanqing Temple, and Prince Su did this only because he felt guilty.
No matter what the reason was, the four people split up and started to check the Taoist temple.
The side rooms on the left and right were originally used for pilgrims to rest.
However, since there are no pilgrims in Sanqing Temple nowadays, most of them are empty.
The door was not locked. Jiang Suining pushed open one of the doors and when he entered, he found that there was a thin layer of dust in the room. It was obvious that no one came in on weekdays and no one came to clean the room regularly.
After looking around, Jiang Suining walked out and moved to the next room.
Looking at each room one by one, the layout is basically the same, and most of them are covered with a thin layer of dust.
Jiang Suining stood in the middle, looked at the shelf in front of him, walked forward and picked up the ornaments on it.
After a moment, she put the ornaments back in place and walked out.
Standing under the eaves, I happened to meet Zhong Yixiu walking towards me from the other side.
Zhong Yixiu frowned slightly, and it seemed obvious that she had gained nothing.
Together, they walked deeper into the backyard, where the Taoist children's bedrooms were, and further inside was an alchemy room.
When I walked into the alchemy room, Shen Yanxi and Pei Zhaozhi happened to come over.
There was no dust in the alchemy room, and even the alchemy furnace was clean, without even a trace of ash underneath.
"It seems that no one has used this place before." Zhong Yixiu said.
Jiang Suining looked around and was about to speak when he heard the voice of a Taoist boy outside the door.
"Everyone, this is the prince's alchemy room. Although it has not been used for a long time, the prince does not like irrelevant people to enter. If you have checked it, please leave."
"But we haven't found out yet." Pei Zhaozhi frowned.
"Then please ask Lord Pei to investigate carefully to avoid missing anything and continuing to suspect me later." Xiao Su appeared behind the Taoist boy.
"Don't blame me, Your Majesty. We just want to get to the bottom of it." Pei Zhaozhi said.
Xiao Su looked at the room, his eyes seemed to be filled with reminiscence, "This alchemy room was originally built by me on a whim, but I am not good at alchemy, so I haven't used it for a long time."
"Compared to the wing rooms in front, this alchemy room is quite clean." Jiang Suining said.
Xiao Su glanced at Jiang Suining and said, "I usually have people clean up the place regularly. You came at the right time. The place was just cleaned yesterday. Is there any problem?"