Chapter 129

Xiao’s Family.

Qiao Zhongguo held Qiao Jiaojiao in the inner hall, still waiting for Xiao Hongda to return.

In order not to fall asleep, Qiao Jiaojiao was nibbling on small biscuits.

Qiao Zhongguo reviewed everything that happened tonight and asked Qiao Tianjing about the follow-up.

Qiao Tianjing calmly replied, “Dad, rest assured, everything is entrusted to Uncle Qiao. I’ve instructed him, the singing girl and those yamen runners are important witnesses, and they must be watched closely.”

“Although the singing girl is dead, her identity and the poison in her sleeve may still provide clues.”

“If General Guo listens to General Xiao and timely takes Guo Gaoyi to the palace to confess, then the Emperor will definitely send someone to take away the yamen runners and the singing girl.”

“If the Emperor is willing to investigate, he will definitely not miss the person behind the scenes!”

Upon hearing this, Qiao Jiaojiao couldn’t help but smirk.

[Will the Second Prince feel that his luck is bad, like he’s experiencing a “bad year,” haha? It’s time for him, who has been smooth sailing everywhere, to taste the bitterness of setbacks!]

[Li Xusheng was also careless. He probably didn’t anticipate that the Second Prince’s brilliant plan would fail, so he didn’t even prepare a contingency plan.]

[Tsk tsk, if the Emperor knew that the Second Prince had entered the Zongren Mansion and still hadn’t behaved himself, and even reached out to the military power in the southern border, I wonder how furious he would be!]

[I guess after this incident, the Second Prince will really have to lay low for a while. Smart people should know that affection is a consumable, using a little less each time.]

[I wish he would go crazy a bit more, so it would be easier to catch him red-handed. Unfortunately, the male lead is indeed clever, otherwise he wouldn’t have been the ultimate winner in the last life.]

Qiao Tianjing nodded in agreement when he heard this.

Even with the ability of his little sister to foresee the future, he never dared to underestimate the Second Prince in the slightest.

Every game must be played with all one’s might!

Qiao Jiaojiao took another bite of the biscuit, continuing to mutter to herself:

[Just now, Big Brother said that the singing girl seemed to recite a poem “The Cowherd and the Weaving Maid”?]

[Tsk tsk, Meng Guxue is really being tightly controlled by the Second Prince. I don’t know if she deliberately leaked this information, or if she accidentally revealed all her cards to the Second Prince.]

[If she had a little brain, she should have known to copy poems with the same style. Otherwise, with the Second Prince’s cunning, it would be strange if he didn’t find any flaws!]

[What if it’s discovered that she’s a soul from another world? No, given the Second Prince’s personality and methods, he might not only torture Meng Guxue, but also squeeze out all the modern knowledge from her brain before letting her go!]

Thinking of this, Qiao Jiaojiao shivered.

She already had a mental image of a whip dipped in saltwater in her mind!

Qiao Zhongguo noticed Qiao Jiaojiao’s unusual expression and hurriedly shook her, pulling her closer.

“Don’t be afraid, Jiaojiao, our entire family is willing to risk our lives to protect you!”

Qiao Jiaojiao grabbed Qiao Zhongguo’s arm, feeling extremely relieved. Suddenly, there was a strange noise from the inner hall.

Qiao Zhongguo stood up abruptly and saw Xiao Hongda returning in his night clothes!

Qiao Zhongguo hurried forward anxiously and asked the first question, “Lao Da, is General Guo alright?”

Xiao Hongda shook his head, “Master… General Guo is very calm. When I left, General Guo had already decided to take Guo Gaoyi to the palace to confess.”

Qiao Zhongguo finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“That’s great, with this, tomorrow’s court session will reveal the truth.”

Xiao Hongda still looked worried, “Although Guo Gaoyi committed the crime, it’s not as serious as General Guo’s. I don’t know if the Emperor will be lenient.”

“If Guo Gaoyi is really executed tonight because of this, General Guo will probably have a thorn in his heart.”

When Qiao Zhongguo heard this, a mysterious and profound expression appeared on his face.

“Lao Da, don’t worry, with helpers around the Emperor, we’ll be fine.”

Xiao Hongda: ?

“Farewell for three days, Old Qiao, I’ll have to take a closer look at you!”

Xiao Hongda sized up Qiao Zhongguo from head to toe, surprised at how meticulous he had become in his actions.

Qiao Zhongguo laughed, draping his arm around Xiao Hongda’s shoulder, finally showing a hint of relaxation on his face.

“Come on, the wine’s all set up. Even if it’s just for show, we should have a few drinks, right?”

Two hours later, with the support of the Tianjing brothers, Qiao Zhongguo stumbled out of the Xiao Mansion’s gate, completely drunk.

General Xiao specially escorted them to the door, his steps unsteady from drinking quite a bit himself.

They bid farewell aloud, and it was clear that this meeting had been enjoyable.

Helped onto the carriage, as soon as the curtain was lowered, Qiao Zhongguo’s drunkenness vanished from his face, replaced by a clear and sober expression.

Qiao Jiaojiao watched her father with admiration, jokingly saying:

[So it turns out my dad has the potential to be a movie star!]

As the carriage swayed on its way to the Qiao Mansion, Qiao Jiaojiao, who had been active all day, had already fallen into a deep sleep.

After Qiao Zhongguo and Qiao Tianjing returned home, they went to the study. About half an hour later, Qiao Bo finally returned with the guards.

Qiao Zhongguo asked in a deep voice, “How did it go?”

Qiao Bo respectfully replied, “Reporting to General, the body of the singing girl and the government official have been taken away by the palace people.”

Qiao Tianjing finally smiled when he heard this, “That’s great.”

Qiao Bo’s expression relaxed as well, smiling as he said:

“It’s quite a coincidence. The Second Prince’s men arrived first, and we just met face to face. But before they could make a move, the imperial guards came.”

“We claimed to be from the Guo Mansion, standing openly there, while the Second Prince’s men fled in disarray.”

“We waited for the imperial guards to take the people away before leaving leisurely.”

At this point, Qiao Bo suddenly lowered his voice, his expression slightly solemn.

“Two of our brothers were originally stationed behind the Zuixian Tower and in the alley. They didn’t show up.”

“They left a bit later, and unexpectedly found that there was another force observing in the shadows!”

Hearing this, Qiao Zhongguo and Qiao Tianjing both sat up straight.

“Do you recognize them?”

Qiao Bo shook his head, “The other party is also very cautious, they only made their move after seeing us leave. If it weren’t for our brothers hiding in the shadows, we might have missed them.”

“According to my inference, that force should have been there to observe. Otherwise, if they intervened, our brothers would not have been completely unaware.”

Qiao Zhongguo couldn’t help but stand up.

Qiao Tianjing, with a pensive look, suddenly spoke up, “Dad, I have a guess.”

Qiao Zhongguo turned around, looked at Qiao Tianjing, and the two of them simultaneously uttered two words:

“The Crown Prince.”

As the heir apparent, his position was supposed to be secure, with the most important thing being to obediently follow orders. As long as he didn’t arouse suspicion or disgust from the emperor, he would inherit the throne obediently.

Since he became the Crown Prince, that’s what he had been doing.

However, the incident at the Dragon Boat Festival feast made the Crown Prince fully realize that his position as the heir was not as secure as he had thought. The Second Prince held immense favor with the Emperor.

So, he began to take action!

This time, he was just observing.

Because Qiao Tianjing had laid out the groundwork in advance, resolving Guo Gaoyi’s crisis.

At this moment, Qiao Tianjing had no doubt that if he hadn’t intervened, the Crown Prince’s forces would have undoubtedly entered the fray, disrupting the Second Prince’s plans!

This pond was indeed very deep.