The Command to Pamper the Husband - Chapter 84

As the steward stood there, bewildered, Song Jin walked past him straight to Lu Zhan, and the steward quickly followed.

“Open it and see.”

At Song Jin’s words, Lu Zhan complied. The jar wasn’t sealed, just covered with a wooden lid. When the lid was lifted, it revealed more than half a jar of broken silver pieces, varying in size.

The steward was completely stunned. Under the flower garden in the east courtyard of Duke’s Estate, there were supposed to be only corpses. How could there be a jar of silver? Who buried it! When they buried it, did they discover the bodies? Staring at the jar, the steward’s expression became dark and unreadable.

Song Jin rubbed her chin and then pretended to calculate with her fingers, looking very much like she was performing some mystical ritual. “It’s a jar of money. Could it be that the ghost’s death is related to money?”

At the mention of gold, the steward’s hanging hand twitched slightly, and his iron-blue face filled with killing intent turned to shock. The deceased was named Qian Lai (literally meaning “money comes”). The cause of death was related to the gold mine. Gold, money, Qian Lai. The steward’s mind was in turmoil. Was this jar of silver buried by one of Duke’s servants, or was it the soul of Qian Lai…

Thinking of this, the steward shivered.

“This jar was something the ghost touched before leaving its body. It must carry the scent of the ghost’s body. To find the body, we need to start with this jar.”

Song Jin smiled at the steward. “I came today to apologize to Your Grace. I didn’t expect to encounter such a thing. I will do my best to track down the whereabouts of the body to make up for the guilt I feel towards Your Grace. With that, I bid farewell.”

With that, Song Jin turned and left. Watching her back, the steward’s dark eyes flashed with hesitation, and then killing intent.

Just now, when he reported back, Duke was equally shocked by what he said. However, because of the Third Miss, Duke’s intention to kill the Fourth Prince did not waver. No matter how shocking or unusual the situation, Duke would not joke about the Third Miss’s happiness. The Third Miss was to be married to the Crown Prince. Only if the Fourth Prince died would the Third Miss give up.

As he clenched his fist, the steward was about to give the order when, for some reason, the dagger strapped to his calf suddenly fell to the ground. The steward looked down and saw a string of beads in the dirt beside the dagger. The beads were a Buddhist item. To be precise, they were a peace blessing string unique to Qingquan Temple in Yuzhou.

The steward frowned, crouched down, and picked up the beads from the dirt. Brushing off the ashes, he found a name and birth date on the beads. Qian Lai.

Holding the beads, his hand trembled, and his fingers turned icy cold. The steward almost dropped the beads. How could this be! How could Qian Lai’s belongings be in this pit?

This was the pit from which they had just dug out the jar. Could it be that Qian Lai buried this jar? But Qian Lai was already dead.

With this thought, the steward’s desire to kill the Fourth Prince waned. He turned and headed for the spot where they had buried Qian Lai’s body last night. The Fourth Prince had said the body was no longer there. But the ground hadn’t been disturbed. How could the body be gone?

His mind filled with thoughts, the steward grabbed a shovel and began to dig. In no time, a large pit was dug, but there was no body. Cold sweat broke out on the steward’s back. The winter wind blew, causing him to shiver continuously. How could it be gone? It was really gone. Where could it have gone!

“Go get the Duke!” In his shock, the steward didn’t bother to report personally. He turned to a tree in the southwest and shouted. The trunk of that tree was hollow, hiding Duke’s secret guards, who monitored everything in the east courtyard.

However, when the steward spoke, the tree remained still. No secret guard appeared. The steward was stunned. A strong sense of foreboding rose within him. Squinting at the tree, the steward clenched his fist and slowly stood up. He leaped towards the tree. Activating a mechanism, the tree’s bark slowly lifted, revealing the hollow trunk inside. No one was there. The secret guard was gone.

Where did he go? When did he leave? A series of shocking discoveries left the steward no time to think. He turned and ran towards Duke’s quarters.

As he left, a shadow on the wall outside slipped away.

At the Crown Prince’s mansion, a man dressed in gray cloth stood respectfully. The Crown Prince held a book, not lifting his eyes, his face showing irritation at being interrupted, “What is it that you came all this way?”

The man detailed the events at Duke’s east courtyard to the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince knew exactly how the secret guard in the tree had disappeared. Lu Zhan had killed him and buried him on the spot. After all, the flower garden in Duke’s east courtyard was full of corpses.

The Crown Prince didn’t believe the Fourth Prince’s mystical talk. He knew that Lu Zhan had stolen Qian Lai’s body. But the jar… The Crown Prince rubbed his forehead, looking tired from reading. He threw the book aside, leaned back in his chair, and sighed.

“Did you see anyone bury it?”

The man in gray cloth immediately shook his head, “Your Highness, my brother and I took turns watching Duke’s Estate for twelve hours each. We never saw anyone bury anything there. Besides, the place is full of bodies, and secret guards are always watching. No one can get close, let alone dig without Duke’s permission.”

The Crown Prince understood. But a jar appearing out of nowhere, what’s that! The jar didn’t contain anything else, just silver. This was… The Crown Prince felt a strong sense of unease again. The kind of unease that comes from lack of knowledge. Indeed, my knowledge is lacking! Frowning in frustration, the Crown Prince sighed.

However, he was sure of one thing: since returning from Yuzhou, the Fourth Prince had changed. Changed significantly. So much that he seemed like a different person. This indicated that, although these small details were beyond his control, the overall direction was correct. There was definitely a capable woman by the Fourth Prince’s side.

“How is the investigation on the Fourth Prince?”

This question wasn’t directed at the man in gray cloth. The Crown Prince’s attendant reported, “No news yet. It seems no woman has been found.”

The Crown Prince waved his hand. A capable woman wouldn’t be so easily discovered.

Suddenly, the Crown Prince felt a thrill of encountering a worthy opponent. Interesting!

As they spoke, a servant came to report, “Your Highness, the capital magistrate has begun the trial, but the Fourth Prince hasn’t arrived yet.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than another man in gray cloth appeared. “Your Highness, the Fourth Prince has just finished eating three bowls of noodles at a noodle shop at the east end of the alley by the magistrate’s office and is now heading to the office. He paid with silver from a jar.”

The Crown Prince… His eye twitched. It suddenly seemed like the Fourth Prince had known about the jar all along and went there specifically to dig it up. The reason… The Fourth Prince was short on money.

He remembered there was a storybook with a similar plot. With this thought, the Crown Prince immediately stood up and went straight to the bookshelf, frantically searching.