Save my man, why does he always turn out to be the savior?

Chapter 381 The Prince's Mystery: The Cannon Fodder Bride Forced into a Substitute Marquis'

However, Qin Guannan had briefly interrogated the three thieves before. They only thought that the Third Prince was a foolish and rich playboy who just wanted to lure him to the outskirts to rob him. There seemed to be no ulterior motive involved.

What was the purpose of Emperor Xinghe's large-scale investigation a few days ago? Several people close to Consort Xian in the palace were even arrested and have not been released yet.

Could it be that Consort Xian really did something? Grand Secretary Qin shook his head. He knew his own daughter well. Qin Lanxi was not the type to wield power. So, his daughter must have fallen into someone else's trap.

Considering the cause and effect of the whole incident, Grand Secretary Qin felt that things were not so simple, but he couldn't figure it out.

On the night the Third Prince was attacked, Emperor Xinghe sent his chief eunuch, Xia Yuzhong, with men to the outskirts of the city overnight.

Although Emperor Xinghe was very concerned about the safety of the Third Prince, he would not have made such a big fuss and sent people out of the palace overnight if he knew that the Third Prince was safe.

Moreover, they even sent the chief eunuch from Emperor Xinghe's side!

Opening the palace gates and the city gates overnight was such a attention-grabbing act that Emperor Xinghe could not have been unaware that his every move would arouse various speculations among his court officials.

At this point, what Emperor Xinghe should do is to bring the Third Prince back to the palace as discreetly and inconspicuously as possible.

But he did it anyway, and Grand Secretary Qin couldn't figure out Emperor Xinghe's intentions.

There's also Shen Huaizhi, who looks like Qin Guannan, on the estate. Grand Secretary Qin knows that Shen Huaizhi is an illegitimate son of the Marquis of Xuanping and has no connection with the Qin family at all. How could he look like Qin Guannan?

There was no record of Shen Huaizhi in the capital. It was said that he was bedridden for many years, but Qin Guannan said that he showed no signs of illness at all.

Shen Huaizhi is eighteen years old this year, the same age as the Third Prince Tang Ruiqian. Could it be...?

Grand Secretary Qin's eyes were filled with doubt and uncertainty. He felt that his guess was too far-fetched, but he felt that he needed to test the waters with Lord Shen Mingze.

On the outskirts of the village

For several days in a row, no one came to the manor. Only Lord Shen sent someone to tell him that if the Song family came again, Shen Huaizhi could pretend to be polite and deal with them temporarily, so as not to alert them.

Upon hearing this, Su Jinyue and Shen Huaizhi understood that Lord Shen had already reported the matter to Emperor Xinghe. It seemed that Emperor Xinghe intended to lure the snake out of its hole and catch them all in one fell swoop.

Since that's the case, Su Jinyue and Shen Huaizhi don't need to worry about what happens next.

Xiao Fuzi's injuries have now passed the critical period after surgery, and she is fine now.

Since they had nothing to do that day, Su Jinyue saw that the weather was nice and decided to take Shen Huaizhi to go for a picnic near the manor.

Seeing that Su Jinyue was in such high spirits, and that she had been busy ever since they arrived at the estate, Shen Huaizhi decided to go out and have some fun together for a day.

Su Jinyue didn't plan to go too far. The peach blossoms on the mountains near the manor hadn't completely faded yet, so it would be perfect for a picnic there.

Su Jinyue brought a lot of food, and Ping An even led people to the mountains to catch rabbits and pheasants. Su Jinyue only took one rabbit and one pheasant, which was enough for her and Shen Huaizhi to eat.

The rest can be left to Ping An and the others to handle.

Ping An had already prepared the rabbit and pheasant. Su Jinyue brought seasonings from the estate, so she marinated the rabbit and pheasant first, while Shen Huaizhi went to start a fire.

Since it's a picnic, it's more fun to be self-sufficient.

Shen Huaizhi had never had a picnic before, and this was his first time starting a fire. Although he was clumsy, he was in high spirits.

Finally, Shen Huaizhi successfully started a fire, and he felt a great sense of accomplishment.

Su Jinyue was happy to see that Shen Huaizhi was having so much fun.

In addition to the marinated rabbit and pheasant, Su Jinyue also asked Chuncao to prepare some vegetables, which were skewered on bamboo sticks and grilled later.

Seeing that Shen Huaizhi had already started the fire, Su Jinyue brought over the skewers to grill.

Shen Huaizhi found the raw food quite novel and, following Su Jinyue's example, started grilling it as well.

However, Shen Huaizhi had never done these things before, and the things he baked were either undercooked or lacked seasoning, so Su Jinyue had to tell him to redo them.

Although Shen Huaizhi was in a flustered state, he managed to bake it successfully in the end.

While Su Jinyue and Shen Huaizhi were having a great time, a carriage slowly approached on the road leading to the manor.

The mountain where Su Jinyue and Shen Huaizhi were located was not far from the road, and it was not high either. When the carriage passed by, it naturally noticed the commotion on the mountain.

Although only one carriage came, there were quite a few guards around it, and they were mainly there to protect the people in the carriage.

Hearing the commotion, a person got off the carriage. If Su Jinyue saw this person, she would know that it was Xia Yuzhong, who had come a few days ago.

Xia Yuzhong sent people to check up the mountain. Some of the team left quickly, but returned shortly afterward and explained the situation in the mountain to Xia Yuzhong.

Xia Yuzhong returned to the carriage, and soon came out again to stop the carriage. He got off the carriage first, and then respectfully helped another person off the carriage.

The person who came down next was Emperor Xinghe, who had come out of the palace incognito. After learning that Shen Huaizhi was his child with Consort Qin Lanxi, Emperor Xinghe could no longer sit still in the palace.

He was eager to see the child; judging from what Shen Huaizhi had done before, the child was very intelligent.

Emperor Xinghe did not want to use his imperial power to summon him directly to the palace, knowing that Shen Huaizhi would have no right to refuse, but if he did so, he would lose the bond between father and son.

So Emperor Xinghe came in person. He wanted to see what this child, whom he both pitied and admired, was really like in private.

Su Jinyue and Shen Huaizhi were still having a great time barbecuing, unaware of the commotion down the mountain.

However, since the other party showed no hostility at the moment, Shen Huaizhi told Ping An and the others to just eat and drink in peace and not to panic too much.

When the people at the foot of the mountain came up, Su Jinyue and Shen Huaizhi saw Xia Yuzhong behind Emperor Xinghe and knew that the newcomers were no ordinary people.

It seems that only Emperor Xinghe had the opportunity to be personally served by the chief eunuch by the emperor's side.

Su Jinyue and Shen Huaizhi exchanged a glance, put away their playful thoughts, put down their barbecue skewers, and stood up to wait for Emperor Xinghe to come forward.

Emperor Xinghe had already seen Shen Huaizhi. The boy was tall and had long legs, with a graceful demeanor. Even though he had guessed Shen Huaizhi's identity, he showed no sign of panic.

As Emperor Xinghe approached, he also got a clear look at Shen Huaizhi's appearance.

It's true! It really looks like a member of the Qin family. No wonder Xia Yuzhong guessed that Shen Huaizhi's background was unusual after only meeting him once.

But upon closer inspection, one can still see that Shen Huaizhi and he do share some similarities.