Night Visit - Hidden Purpose

Li Sheng indeed placed great importance on this hundred-day banquet, which was evident from the grand display he put on. More than twenty dishes, big and small, were served. Seasonal fruits and vegetables unavailable on the market had been gathered, pan-fried, deep-fried, steamed, and boiled, transformed into rare delicacies.

“‘Golden Branches and Jade Leaves’, ‘Moon Dew and Ambrosia’, ‘Pearl Crabs’...” Tingxia counted them one by one, dumbfounded. “These aren't just dishes, this is clearly Li Sheng showing off his prestige!”

“And these Pearl Crabs, this fine salt, these aren't things you can get just with money, are they? This year's tribute of Pearl Crabs hasn't even been sent to the palace yet, but Li Sheng actually has them?”

“Yes, this is a specialty of Yuya City.” Chu Jin's gaze swept across the dishes on the table. “Crabs from Yuya, salt from Shi City, mandarin fish from Tingsong...”

He paused, then curled his lips into a mirthless smile. “He's trying to tell everyone here that his influence isn't just confined to Fengling City. The Grand Censor's hidden cards are far more numerous than imagined.”

Tingxia's expression changed. “Doesn't that make things difficult? When did Li Sheng infiltrate the powers of these cities?”

“Do you think he, a civil official with no troops or horses, could accomplish this on his own?” Chu Jin drank his wine noncommittally. “What I'm more concerned about is, why did Chu Rong suddenly return from the border?”

Tingxia had just stuffed a chicken leg into his mouth and said indistinctly, “Didn't His Majesty grant him permission to return to Fengling City for a few days each year?”

“That is correct.” Chu Jin was pensive. “It's just that in previous years, he always returned in the depths of winter to recuperate from old injuries. Why is he so early this year?”

“You mean...”

“These next few days, send some people to investigate where he has gone and who he has met since his return.”

After Chu Jin finished speaking slowly and deliberately, his gaze casually drifted to a corner of the banquet hall, and his brow suddenly furrowed.

Tingxia noticed the pause in his hand as he raised his cup. Following his line of sight, he was also taken aback for a moment. “Huh? Where's your Senior Brother?”

That spot was, at some unknown point, completely empty. Shen Mengzhi, who had been sitting there, was nowhere to be found.

Tingxia said, “Did he go out for some fresh air?”

Chu Jin withdrew his gaze without a word. After a long moment, he suddenly spoke, “Go take a look.”

“You want me to tail him?” Tingxia's eyes widened. “Hey, hey, that's your Senior Brother.”

“...”

Chu Jin shot him a look that was not quite a smile.

“I'm telling you to watch over his safety,” he said leisurely. “If anything dangerous happens to him, don't bother coming back.”

A Prince Regent in love is simply inhuman!

Tingxia immediately backed down. “I know, I know. I'll go, alright?”

After he left, Chu Jin wiped the fake smile he had worn for a long time from his face, his expression turning somewhat gloomy.

The words Tingxia had unintentionally mentioned earlier were still swirling in his mind—

“I don't know if that person was tortured or what, but there was a horrifying scar on his neck.”

He stared at the clear liquor in his cup, smooth as a mirror, emitting a rich fragrance.

“Li... Sheng.”

The wind blew, crumbling the reflection in the cup, silently scattering it.

On the other side, Shen Mengzhi walked along the shadows under the eaves.

He walked neither too fast nor too slow, as leisurely as if he had temporarily left his seat on a whim to wander around the Grand Censor's manor. Even the servants and maids who passed him by didn't notice anything unusual about him.

No one asked where he was going, nor did anyone ask why he had left his seat. They didn't think that such a sickly and pale-looking scholar would be capable of doing anything to harm the Grand Censor's manor.

It wasn't until the guard stationed in front of the study saw this distinguished guest slowly approaching that he belatedly realized something was amiss.

He looked at the person Li Sheng had brought back from Xufang and warily reached for the sword at his waist. “Young Master Jiang, what are you doing here?”

“It was too noisy at the banquet, so I came out for a walk and happened to pass by here.” Shen Mengzhi still had that gentle and harmless appearance. “May I ask what place this is?”

The guard observed his expression impassively. “This is the Lord Grand Censor's study. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed to enter. Young Master Jiang, please return quickly.”

Hearing this, Shen Mengzhi smiled faintly.

“A study is indeed an important place,” he said softly. “Court documents, state secrets, they are all hidden here.”

The guard's heart skipped a beat. He didn't know what he meant by these words, but he instinctively felt something was wrong.

“Young Master Jiang, what are you trying to say?”

In contrast to the guard's tense vigilance, Shen Mengzhi appeared extremely composed and said slowly, “I just want to give his lordship a reminder. A place like the study would be safer with a few more guards.”

The guard frowned. “You need not trouble yourself with this matter.”

Shen Mengzhi sighed faintly. Under the guard's increasingly cold and stern gaze, he slowly walked forward and said, “But this matter concerns both you and me.”

Noticing his movement, the guard shouted sternly, “Stop! Don't move!”

But the man seemed not to hear, continuing to walk forward quietly and with extreme calmness, his expression placid. In the silvery moonlight, he appeared incomparably cold.

The guard's shocked and angry voice rang out, “The Lord Grand Censor has given an order: no matter who it is, if they take one more step forward, they will be killed without mercy! Young Master Jiang, are you going to defy the order?!”

But these threatening words still failed to move Shen Mengzhi's expression in the slightest. Seeing him show no reaction, the guard gritted his teeth, applied force with his hand, and was about to draw his sword.

But in the next second, someone suddenly pressed down on his hand. A sudden burst of strength came from that person's hand, firmly suppressing the hand he had on the hilt, forcefully pushing the bright blade back into its scabbard.

The other person leaned close to his ear, his tone still gentle. If one ignored the absolute dominance he was displaying at that moment, his voice was even exceptionally pleasant. “If there were a few more guards... his lordship wouldn't be so passive.”

The guard turned his head in terror, trying to get a clear look at his face. He could never have imagined... no, no one would have imagined, that such a frail-looking man could so easily overpower the trusted guard of the current Grand Censor!

“You... you...”

A hand clamped tightly around his neck, leaving him almost unable to speak.

Before completely running out of oxygen and losing consciousness, he heard Shen Mengzhi say faintly, “I told you, this matter concerns both you and me.”

He let out a light laugh, as faint as a wisp of cloud and smoke.

“...It concerns his lordship's life.”

When the man under his hand no longer struggled, Shen Mengzhi released his grip, dragged the unconscious guard to the side of the wall, and then walked into the study himself.

The room was unlit. He lit a piece of candle, and its faint light immediately illuminated a small patch of shadow.

Li Sheng's study was exceptionally spacious. The living area was luxuriously furnished, with paintings by famous artists and white jade celadon porcelain filling an entire wall. Every item here was a coveted treasure that, if taken out, would be enough to provide for a family of three for a lifetime.

Shen Mengzhi walked closer, lightly swiped his fingertip across one of the celadon vases, and then rubbed his fingers together.

Li Sheng displayed these famous paintings and treasures so casually. There was no dust on them, so they must be frequently cleaned by servants.

So where would he put the things he cherished most, to avoid others from touching them?

Shen Mengzhi frowned, walking past the bookshelf, when he suddenly stopped.

He moved his feet aside, then squatted down, curled his index finger slightly, and knocked on the floor tile beneath him.

Hollow.

It must not be solid underneath. Qi Yu used to store a lot of Gardenia Brew this way, and when walking over that floor tile, the sound of the footsteps would be slightly different.

The edges of the floor tile were unusually neat. Shen Mengzhi carefully pried it open, and the candlelight instantly illuminated what was hidden below.

Spring Banquet.

His gaze hardened as he reached for it.

This scroll was stored in a jade box. Li Sheng must have valued it greatly, as he had added another protective cover. With a flick of his fingers, he peeled off the cover. Freed from its restraint, the scroll immediately began to unroll slowly.

Legend had it that when Zhou Xihe created this painting, he worked for three days and three nights without sleep, completing it in a single burst of inspiration. It was an exceptionally rare treasure.

But Shen Mengzhi merely held his breath, took a corner of this famous painting, and gently tore it.

Few in the world knew that when Zhou Xihe painted Spring Banquet, he used two sheets of Xuan paper—one for the spring scenery, and one for the sightseers. When combined, the bright spring light and hazy figures created a scene where both the artistic conception and skill reached the pinnacle of perfection.

It's just that Xuan paper is as thin as a cicada's wing, so even after being glued together, it was difficult to notice the trick. That was why even though Li Sheng had collected this painting for many years, he had not discovered its secret.

And Zhou Xihe had hidden something precisely in this thin gap.

Shen Mengzhi had already peeled open a slit in the Xuan paper, but he suddenly furrowed his brow.

There was nothing inside.

His expression changed slightly, finally revealing a trace of surprise. Then, his lips pressed into a line, so straight it was almost cold and hard.

...The painting was a fake.

Too much time had passed. He couldn't investigate the origin of this painting any further. He could only hastily restore everything to its original state and turn to leave.

As he passed the unconscious guard, Shen Mengzhi paused; then he walked over, took out a packet of medicinal powder from his sleeve, and poured all of it into the guard's mouth.

The moment the powder dissolved, the guard's fingers twitched, and his breathing quickened, as if he would wake up in the next second.

Shen Mengzhi leaned closer and said in a low voice, “You will remember nothing of tonight's events.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the guard's unconscious reactions immediately quieted down, and then he fell into a deep sleep.

The author has something to say:

Zhizhi shows off his skills a little.