Three years ago, when Xue Rui was young and ambitious, it was when Zhu Qingjue returned to the capital to study and was in high spirits. That year, at the Gentleman's Hibiscus Banquet, the Tenth Princess, who was an outstanding beauty, had charmed many young men.
Unfortunately, no one was able to obtain the two Golden Jade Hibiscus flowers at the banquet.
Xue Rui's first question made Zhu Qingjue's face turn cold.
"What do you mean?"
Xue Rui's expression did not change as he slowly said,
"Rumor has it that when the Tenth Princess was born, there was a strange phenomenon of sunset. The Celestial Commissioner divined that her eight characters were extremely strange, so she died too early. She was only recorded in the imperial jade archive when she was three years old. Before she reached the age of 15, she had been living by the side of the Imperial Ancestral Temple. After the Emperor inherited the throne, your father became the Celestial Commissioner and was in charge of sacrificial ceremonies. He often entered the forbidden area of the Imperial Ancestral Temple. As the only son of the Grand Preceptor, Brother Zhu was highly valued and often taught by him. Also, I heard that Brother Zhu loved tea as much as his life. This was similar to the Tenth Princess, so I guessed that Brother Zhu and the Tenth Princess had known each other for a long time. "
Xue Rui had been appointed as the Shaoqing of the Supreme Court. In the past year, he had handled countless cases. He was best at connecting all the clues together, dispelling the false and keeping the true.
A little tea was enough to reveal the secret relationship between Zhu Qingjue, the son of an important official, and the Tenth Princess of the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
Seeing Zhu Qingjue frown, Xue Rui did not need to admit it to know that he was right. The Second Young Master Zhu did have a friendship with the Tenth Princess.
"So what?" Zhu Qingjue said bluntly. Instead, he questioned, "Your old friend is already dead. Now you are investigating her when she was alive. What are your intentions?"
Xue Rui saw that he was not afraid and had a plan in mind, so he did not beat around the bush.
"Brother Zhu, why do you think the Tenth Princess passed away?"
Hearing this, Zhu Qingjue's expression suddenly changed, as if he had heard a joke.
"Lord Xue knows the cause of the Tenth Princess's death better than anyone else. Why are you still asking me?"
Xue Rui shook his head and said, "How the Tenth Princess died is something that only the person that schemed against her knows the best. Could it be that Brother Zhu is like the others, believing those rumors and thinking that she was harmed by my younger sister?"
Zhu Qingjue narrowed his eyes. "Of course I won't listen to rumors. I know what's true and what's false. Your sister is still young, so she might not have the intention to harm others. However, whether or not she was instigated by others, I don't know."
"You can tell? How are you going to tell? "Xue Rui raised his brows." Since when did Brother Zhu learn the Death Sentence Mystic Art? I didn't know about it. "
Zhu Qingjue's expression changed as if she suddenly thought of something. She straightened her back and looked at Xue Rui suspiciously for a while before she suddenly said,
"You asked that female fortune teller to tell the fortune of the Tenth Princess?"
Then, without waiting for Xue Rui to answer, she said to herself, "Yes, others can't ask for it, but she is your sworn sister."
Xue Rui didn't interrupt. He would wait for him to sort out his thoughts and then see how he would react.
Zhu Qingjue only lost his composure for a moment before he came back to his senses. He stared coldly at Xue Rui and asked, "What did that female fortune teller say?"
Xue Rui said calmly, "I can tell you, but you have to answer my last question first. Do you have an affair with the Tenth Princess?"
"You!" Zhu Qingjue was furious. He stood up from the chair and clenched his fists.
It's not him. Xue Rui instantly concluded in his heart.
"Then there's nothing," he said to himself. He picked up the purple clay teapot and poured a cup of tea for Zhu Qingjue.
"I was presumptuous. Brother Zhu, please don't take offense. This cup of tea is my sin. Please sit."
Zhu Qingjue didn't move. Xue Rui glanced at him, then turned to the door of the study and said, "Shu, come out."
Zhu Qingjue was startled. He turned to look at the lightly closed door.
Inside the room, Yu Shu was eavesdropping when she was suddenly called by Xue Rui. She touched her chin, tidied up her clothes, pushed the door open, and came face to face with the black-faced Second Young Master Zhu.
"Young Master Zhu."
Yu Shu walked to the soft chair next to Xue Rui and sat down. She raised her head and looked at Zhu Qingjue. Just now, she was inside and carefully listened to the conversation between the two people. She could roughly guess Xue Rui's intention.
"Ah Shu, tell Brother Zhu what you divined from the Tenth Princess' birth date and eight characters."
Yu Shu nodded and told Zhu Qingjue the truth.
"The Tenth Princess lost her footing in the Sea-view Tower. It was her own doing. No one harmed her. And in her life, there was a Peach Blossom Tribulation, which provoked the Star of Misfortune before the accident. That Peach Blossom Tribulation happened to be on the body of a man called Xiao Ji. I deduced from the appearance of misfortune that the Tenth Princess's death tribulation was caused by this Xiao Ji, but my big brother is a dog. "
She didn't speculate any further, and her words stopped there, yet she hit the nail on the head — The Tenth Princess' death was her own doing, and it had nothing to do with Xue Rui.
At the end of her words, Xue Rui continued, "I don't know what misunderstanding Brother Zhu had about me before. But if the Tenth Princess really died because of me, I don't have to go through so much trouble to find you to find the truth. After all, three years have passed. How many people still remember that incident?"
"…" The annoyance on Zhu Qingjue's face was replaced by surprise. He slowly sat back, frowning and thinking.
Yu Shu winked at Xue Rui. Could it be him?
Xue Rui shook his head gently. It's not him.
"You came to find me today … because you suspect me?" Zhu Qingjue asked in a deep voice. Xue Rui and Yu Shu's words were watertight. He didn't completely believe them, but at least half of his doubts were dispelled.
And he was a person from the Xiao family. Thinking about it, he knew why Xue Rui would target him.
Xue Rui said honestly, "I suspected you before, but when I talked to you just now, I realized that Brother Zhu doesn't look like a shameless person."
Zhu Qingjue looked at him deeply and said, "You guessed correctly. I was able to enter the Imperial Ancestral Temple because of my father. When I was young, I knew the Tenth Princess. I was two years older than her. When we met, we became playmates. When we grew up, we treated each other like siblings …"
At this point, he paused, looked at Yu Shu, and said,
"Just like you and the fortune-teller."
Xue Rui didn't say anything, but Yu Shu couldn't help but twitch the corner of her eyes.
The two of them were selling dog meat. If Zhu Er and the Tenth Princess wanted to deceive them, then it was the truth.
As soon as Zhu Qingjue started talking, he said, "I left the capital to study.
When I came back, the Tenth Princess had reached the age of marriage. After the Hibiscus Gentlemen's Banquet that year, she moved back to the palace from the Imperial Ancestral Temple. I was happy for her, but I also heard about you asking for an imperial edict. I secretly inquired about you. I knew that you were a romantic person, but you didn't go too far. I was relieved. I also took the opportunity of working in the Imperial Physician Bureau to check the Tenth Princess' pulse and talk to her about you … "
He looked a little strange. He hesitated for a while before continuing,
"She once told me that she didn't like you. However, His Majesty had spoken, so she had no choice but to secretly write you a letter to express her attitude. She wanted to see if you could break off this engagement, but you didn't reply. I wanted to think of a plan that would satisfy both sides, but before I could think of a plan, she … got into trouble."
After that, he quietly watched Xue Rui's expression, trying to find some flaws from his face.
"So, you think that I received a private letter from the Tenth Princess rejecting the marriage and knew that she didn't like me, so I became angry and instigated my sister to go to the palace to bring the message, causing her to lose her footing and fall into the lake from the Sea-view Tower, and finally die?" Xue Rui calmly tried to figure it out.
Zhu Qingjue coughed lightly and said confidently, "I thought so before, but after fighting with you at the banquet last night, I don't think you are a narrow-minded person."
These words actually returned Xue Rui's previous doubts about him.
"Whether you believe it or not," Xue Rui said faintly, "I have never received a private letter from the Tenth Princess. Before she died, I didn't know that she didn't like me at all. From the divination of my sworn sister, I think that the Tenth Princess was manipulated by a scoundrel, who instigated her to take risks and frame my third sister, thus destroying the marriage arranged by His Majesty. I didn't expect that she would die overnight because of her beauty. "
A topic that touched on a person's scar like this would inevitably cause the person involved to feel embarrassed, but after Yu Shu's explanation, Xue Rui had already let go of the guilt he felt towards the Tenth Princess, and even the infatuation he had when he was young had completely vanished.
Now, he only wanted to find out the person who plotted against him behind the scenes.
"So, you didn't know about it?" Zhu Qingjue was suspicious. His gaze fell on a set of old cooking utensils on the tea table, and he couldn't help but think,
If Xue Rui didn't know that the Tenth Princess was resisting the marriage, then he had no reason to harm her. The Tenth Princess falling from the Sea-view Tower was a bit strange no matter what. The young lady of the Xue family was still young, so she wouldn't have any intention of harming others. Could it be that she really jumped from the building to avoid the marriage?
Once this thought came, it couldn't be taken back.
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