Dugu Jingyao is reborn as Li Chu's beloved

Chapter 246 Feng Shengyi and Zhang Deyu Investigation

Li Chu personally escorted Dugu Jingyao back to her house before returning to his own residence. It was time for dinner, but he had no appetite at all and felt extremely depressed.

Li Chu sat at the table with a frown on his face, his mind constantly replaying the memories of his time with Dugu Jingyao and her requests. After pondering for a moment, he finally made up his mind to deal with the matter.

So, Li Chu called Feng Shengyi, the guard beside him, and ordered in a low voice: "Feng Shengyi, quickly go and find Zhang Deyu for me."

Feng Shengyi took the order and left. He knew that his Highness was in a bad mood at the moment, so he did not dare to delay even a little. Along the way, Feng Shengyi hurriedly walked and soon arrived at where Zhang Deyu was.

When Zhang Deyu saw Feng Shengyi approaching, he couldn't help but feel a pang of fear in his heart, secretly saying that something was wrong. Knowing both His Highness and Feng Shengyi, he thought Feng Shengyi's sudden visit was likely a sign that His Highness was going to hold him accountable.

Despite his inner trepidation, Zhang Deyu forced himself to remain calm, forcing a smile onto his face. He bowed and said, "Master Feng, I'm honored to see you. What could you wish for?"

Seeing this, Feng Shengyi immediately waved his hand and said, "Eunuch Zhang, why do we have to be so polite? Besides, it's not me who wants to look for you this time, but His Highness asked me to take you to see him. Stop talking nonsense and come with me!" After that, Feng Shengyi turned around and walked towards Li Chu's study without waiting for Zhang Deyu's response.

Seeing this, Zhang Deyu secretly thought that something was wrong and hurriedly quickened his pace to catch up. He felt as nervous as if there was a jumping rabbit in his heart. Before long, he arrived at the door of the basic study.

As soon as he entered the study, Zhang Deyu didn't even have time to think. He bent his knees and fell straight to his knees with a plop. Then, without even a word wasted, he kowtowed heavily, his voice trembling as he spoke, "Your Highness, every mistake is my fault. I have truly failed to live up to your trust!"

At this time, Li Chu, who was sitting at the head of the desk, had a solemn expression on his face. His sharp eyes swept coldly over Zhang Deyu who was kneeling on the ground, and he slowly said: "Hmph, since you already know it, then wait until this matter is properly handled, and then go and receive the punishment yourself!" After speaking, he seemed to feel a headache coming, and raised his hands to gently rub his temples on both sides.

Zhang Deyu's heart, which had been hanging high, felt a little relieved when he heard he was going to be punished. After all, although His Highness had ordered him to accept the punishment, he hadn't specified the specific punishment. This was a blessing in disguise; at least he had escaped disaster for the time being. Thinking of this, he breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly thanked him, "Thank you, Your Highness, for your mercy! Thank you, Your Highness!"

Li Chu had no expression on his face, and simply said, "Get up."

Zhang Deyu felt as if he had been pardoned when he heard this. The heavy burden on his heart finally fell to the ground. He stood up trembling, but still kept his head down, not daring to look directly at Li Chu.

Li Chu was a little annoyed when he saw Zhang Deyu didn't look up. He muttered, "Zhang Deyu, why don't you look up? Do you think I'm going to eat you?"

Hearing this, Zhang Deyu had no choice but to raise his head. After all, even though he didn't raise his head, he could still hear his prince's displeasure.

Seeing Zhang Deyu raise his head, Li Chu's expression eased slightly, and then he said, "This prince has always felt that something is wrong. Qiuyu has been in the mansion for two years. She has always been treated well and has never done anything wrong. Why did she suddenly do this today?"

After hearing what his own prince said, Zhang Deyu also felt that there was indeed something wrong. Although Qiuyu was sent by the Crown Princess to be their prince's concubine and teach him about that matter, she had always done a good job and the mansion had not treated her unfairly. Moreover, she had never done anything beyond the rules. It was really strange that she would suddenly cause such a scene.

Zhang Deyu immediately bowed and said, "Your Highness, do you suspect someone instigated Qiuyu to cause trouble in front of the princess?"

Li Chu nodded slightly, indicating that he agreed with Zhang Deyu's statement.

Zhang Deyu continued, "Then I will go and investigate who Qiuyu has been in contact with recently."

Li Chu nodded in agreement, but added, "If you can't find out, then interrogate Qiuyu. If you can't find out, Feng Shengyi will assist you."

Both of them bowed their heads and said, "Yes, Your Highness!" Then they left the study.

Listening to Li Chu's serious tone, the two knew their prince was truly angry. After all, he was always gentle and rarely angry. It seemed that Princess Yi'an held a great deal of importance in their prince's heart, and their respect for Dugu Jingyao deepened even more.

After a day of investigation, they found that someone had indeed come into contact with Qiuyu, but they could not find out who it was. So Feng Shengyi and Zhang Deyu discussed it and decided to interrogate Qiuyu.

Qiuyu saw Feng Shengyi and Zhang Deyu coming and felt that something was amiss. However, she remained calm and bowed to them, saying, "This servant pays respects to Master Feng and Chief Steward Zhang."

Feng Shengyi felt that Qiuyu was always the type to accept things as they came, so he decided to persuade her with kind words first, and then torture her if she was still stubborn. After all, it was a reward from the Crown Princess, so it would be inappropriate to torture her directly.

So the two of them sat at the head of the table. Zhang Deyu smiled and said, "Miss Qiuyu, we haven't treated you harshly in this household, have we?"

Hearing this, Qiuyu shook her head and said, "To reply to Manager Zhang, no."

Zhang Deyu still had a slight smile on his face when he asked, "Then why did you do this in front of Princess Yi'an?"

Qiuyu thought to herself, "As expected, you asked this question." So, with a slight sob, she said, "Steward Zhang, this servant has the honor of meeting the future princess for the first time. Is it wrong to seek a higher position?"

Seeing that she refused to give in, Zhang Deyu's face darkened and he said, "I'm trying to persuade her with kind words now, don't refuse my toast and then drink the penalty!"

Qiuyu was startled, but quickly regained her composure and said, "Eunuch Zhang, although I am also a servant, I still want to move up. Is there any problem with that? People go to higher places, and water flows to lower places. Isn't this human nature?"

Feng Shengyi didn't have Zhang Deyu's patience, so he just asked, "Qiuyu, who was behind this?"

Qiuyu was really panicking at this moment, thinking: Could they have found out? That shouldn't be the case. She was asked to leave halfway that day, and in a remote place.

So she burst into tears and said, "Master Feng, I respect you as His Highness's personal guard, but you can't frame me!"

Feng Shengyi saw that he couldn't make sense of her and didn't want to waste time talking to her, so he shouted to the outside: "Come in!"

Zhang Deyu was also shocked to see Feng Shengyi so angry for the first time. Qiuyu was even more shocked and forgot to cry...

After that, someone came forward with some torture instruments, and two sturdy old women stood behind Qiuyu.

Qiuyu shuddered and asked, "Master Feng, what are you going to do?"

Feng Shengyi said, "Since you won't listen to my kind words of advice, I have no choice but to resort to some tricks."

Qiuyu wanted to say something else, but Feng Shengyi said, "Don't use the fact that you're His Highness's concubine, or that it was a reward from the Crown Princess, as an excuse. I only dared to torture you because I benefited from His Highness."

Hearing this, Qiuyu was horrified, thinking: "It's His Highness who benefited from this? It seems His Highness really values this princess." Had he really done something wrong?

Seeing that Qiuyu had no intention of saying anything, Feng Shengyi glanced at the two maids behind him, and they stepped forward and lifted Qiuyu up.

Qiuyu quickly begged for mercy: "Master Feng, wait a minute, I will tell you everything."

Qiuyu then told her everything that happened when she was asked to leave that day, except that the man was wearing a veil, so she really didn't see who he was.

After Qiuyu finished her explanation, Feng Shengyi asked her to sign and seal her name, then left with his men.

The two of them took the confession to find Li Chu.

After knocking on the door and being allowed in, Feng Shengyi handed the confession to Li Chu's desk. The more Li Chu read it, the tighter his brows furrowed. After reading it, he slammed the table and said, "How can this be absurd? Someone actually laid hands on my house!"

Feng Shengyi and Zhang Deyu both knelt and said, "Your Highness, please calm down!"

Li Chu said, "I will tie Qiuyu up and bring him to the palace tomorrow, and ask my mother to decide what to do with him!" After saying that, he rubbed his temples.

The two agreed, and Li Chu asked them to leave first.