The next morning, Wen Ying came to Ling Qiyan's place again to apologize. Ling Qiyan ignored him, telling him to get lost and not be an eyesore.

Rebuffed, Wen Ying truly got lost, returning to his own courtyard to focus on his books.

Those dandies played at Ling Qiyan's estate for three days before leaving. Only as they were leaving did they realize someone was missing. It seemed that fellow Liu Qingxi hadn't been seen since he arrived.

These past few days, they had been drinking and carousing in a drunken stupor, so they truly didn't know when Liu Qingxi had disappeared. They just assumed he had left early due to some family matter, paid it no mind, and went their separate ways by carriage.

The estate returned to tranquility, and Ling Qiyan once again felt bored. Recalling Wen Ying, whom he had been ignoring for several days, he asked Jiang Lin, "Has that poor scholar learned his lesson?"

"Your Highness, Young Master Wen has been reading his books these past few days. He has been eating and drinking well and has not mentioned coming to apologize to you again."

Ling Qiyan smashed the teacup in his hand and ground his teeth. "Bring him to this Prince."

A quarter of an hour later, Wen Ying was brought in. He lifted the hem of his robes and knelt directly.

"You still dare to come?" Ling Qiyan said through clenched teeth.

"Your Highness summoned this student; this student did not dare to refuse."

"Do not test this Prince's patience again and again!"

"This student dares not."

Ling Qiyan changed the subject abruptly. "Take off your pants."

Wen Ying reminded him, "It has only just reached the hour of You."

Ling Qiyan looked at him with cold eyes. "So you'll be willing to take them off once it's dark? You won't run away?"

Wen Ying shut his mouth and said nothing.

Ling Qiyan was about to reprimand him further when a servant rushed in from outside to report that people from the Ministry of Punishments and the Shangjing Government Office had arrived. Liu Qingxi was dead, and they wanted to enter this estate of Prince Yu's Manor for a routine investigation, hoping for His Highness's permission.

Ling Qiyan frowned. "Liu Qingxi is dead?"

"That's what the officials outside said."

Ling Qiyan's face turned cold. "Let them in."

Wen Ying got up and stood to the side, his expression unruffled.

The one leading the group was the Vice Prefect of the Shangjing Prefecture. He entered, respectfully greeted Ling Qiyan, and then got down to business. "The young master of the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites' household, Liu Qingxi, was discovered yesterday at noon, dead on a stone bank downstream of the moat in the western suburbs. The coroner has examined the body; the time of death was three days ago. He likely fell into the water on the night of the sixth. Due to the summer heat, the body is bloated beyond recognition, and no more clues can be found. People from the Vice Minister's manor said he came to Your Highness's estate with several others that day and never returned. This subordinate official and others have already questioned the others who came with him. Today, we are here for a routine investigation at Your Highness's estate. We hope Your Highness will not take offense."

Ling Qiyan was somewhat nonchalant. "What did the others say?"

The Vice Prefect said with a grave expression, "They all claimed to know nothing."

"This Prince also knows nothing. He did come to this Prince's estate, but I didn't see him around afterwards. This Prince thought he had some family matter and left without a word."

"We hope Your Highness will allow this subordinate official and others to question the other people on the estate, and then investigate Young Master Liu's lodgings from that day."

"You may, but it must be done in front of this Prince. This Prince also wants to hear if anyone knows what happened." For once, Ling Qiyan didn't make things difficult.

All the servants on the estate were summoned and questioned one by one. Most of them knew nothing, hadn't seen Liu Qingxi, didn't know where he went, and hadn't seen anyone suspicious.

When it was Wen Ying's turn, because he was a student of the Imperial Academy, the bailiff questioning him was very polite. Wen Ying's expression was calm and composed, and he answered whatever was asked. He also said that he had only seen Liu Qingxi at the banquet that day, and after accompanying His Highness back to his room, he knew nothing more.

The questioner did not suspect him, nodded, and moved on to the next person.

Among the crowd, a maidservant collapsed to the ground, trembling, and cried out, "This servant doesn't know, this servant really doesn't know! That day, this servant just had a tryst with him in the woods and then left. This servant really doesn't know what happened after that!"

Wen Ying looked over. It was the maidservant who had the illicit union with Liu Qingxi in the mountain forest that night. After just a few questions, she panicked and confessed, crying and proclaiming her innocence, trying to crawl towards Ling Qiyan. "Your Highness, save this servant! This servant really didn't know Young Master Liu was murdered! It really wasn't this servant who did it!"

Ling Qiyan kicked her away with a cold face. The Vice Prefect asked Ling Qiyan, "Your Highness, may this subordinate official and others take this maidservant back for interrogation?"

"You may, but everything requires evidence. She is, after all, a person of this Prince's manor. Don't you dare use torture to extract a confession just to close the case," Ling Qiyan reminded him irritably.

"Of course." The other party agreed meekly.

Another half hour passed. Ling Qiyan finished his evening meal. The group of bailiffs finished searching Liu Qingxi's lodgings from that day and the back mountain forest mentioned by the maidservant. They returned to report that they hadn't found anything suspicious. It had been raining for the past two days, so even if any traces were left on the back mountain, they couldn't be found anymore.

However, the deep lake at the base of the cliff on the back mountain did indeed connect to the moat. Perhaps Liu Qingxi had fallen from there, and his body was washed downstream to the moat, where it was later discovered.

The group of officials had no choice but to withdraw.

After they left, Ling Qiyan put down his bowl and chopsticks and returned to the inner room. Wen Ying consciously followed him.

Ling Qiyan's expression darkened. He ordered Jiang Lin to take all the servants in the room out.

The door closed. Ling Qiyan gestured with a cold voice to Wen Ying, "Kneel."

Wen Ying knelt readily.

"Do you know that if this Prince had just told them that you left this Prince's main courtyard that night and were gone alone for nearly an hour, you would now be their suspect?" Ling Qiyan said, sizing up Wen Ying's expression.

Wen Ying lowered his head and did not answer.

Ling Qiyan kicked him. "Speak! Is Liu Qingxi's death related to you? What exactly were you doing that night?"

After a moment of stalemate, Wen Ying raised his eyes and looked calmly at Ling Qiyan. "Without evidence, unless a confession is tortured out of me, this student will not admit to it."

He was a student of the Imperial Academy. Without evidence, the Ministry of Punishments and the Shangjing Government Office would never dare torture a confession out of him, so he was not the least bit afraid.

Hearing this, Ling Qiyan's anger flared. "So it really was you? What audacity!"

He stood up, flustered and exasperated, paced back and forth a couple of times, growing more annoyed the more he thought about it, and kicked Wen Ying again. "Give this Prince a reason!"

Wen Ying clenched his jaw and remained silent.

Ling Qiyan said angrily, "Must this Prince call those officials back before you're willing to tell the truth?"

Seeing Wen Ying's cold, hard demeanor, as if nothing could faze him, Ling Qiyan swallowed the curses on the tip of his tongue. Suppressing his anger, he managed to soften his voice. "If you confess everything to this Prince honestly, this Prince will naturally protect you. Since you have pledged yourself to this Prince, you are this Prince's person. This Prince will naturally shield you."

After a long silence, Wen Ying finally spoke, his voice hoarse. "This student did it."

"The reason?"

"A fellow townsman of this student, named Zhao Xi, also studies at the Imperial Academy. This student once told Your Highness that after this student's father passed away, this student relied on the sponsorship of an old teacher to continue studying for the exams. That old teacher was also this student's first mentor. Zhao Xi is the teacher's only grandson. Before coming to Shangjing, this student promised the teacher to help look after Zhao Xi."

Ling Qiyan listened impatiently. "What does this have to do with Liu Qingxi's death?"

Wen Ying closed his eyes, a trace of anger in his voice. "Liu Qingxi took Zhao Xi to get acquainted with powerful nobles. Zhao Xi was violated by the Heir of Duke Wei and his cronies. Afterwards, Liu Qingxi had him thrown into a lake, where he drowned."

Ling Qiyan was stunned. "...You knew all this already?"

"This student only knew that Zhao Xi had previously met a certain young noble through Liu Qingxi, and that his death was inextricably linked to that person. That night, when this student returned to my quarters to change, I happened to see Liu Qingxi and that maidservant enter the woods for a tryst. I followed them. After the maidservant left, I seized Liu Qingxi and forced him to tell me the cause of Zhao Xi's death. He told the truth."

"So you threw him into the water?" Ling Qiyan sneered. "You really are something. This Prince misjudged you. I thought you were a frail scholar, unable to withstand the wind. I never thought you would even dare to kill someone! Just to repay your so-called debt of gratitude to your teacher, you took such a huge risk to kill him. Aren't you afraid of being exposed and dying without a burial place yourself?!"

Wen Ying calmly retorted, "Has it been exposed?"

Ling Qiyan was at a loss for words.

Indeed, those officials hadn't suspected this fellow at all. Even if they knew he had been away alone for over half an hour that night, he could easily argue that he had just gone back to relieve himself and bathe, and got delayed. Based on that alone, they could never convict him.

Ling Qiyan's thoughts raced. He suddenly asked, "So your initial reason for getting close to Liu Qingxi and coming to this Prince's estate with Zhang Yuan's group was just to investigate the cause of Zhao Xi's death?"

Wen Ying did not deny it. "If not at Your Highness's estate, this student would never have found an opportunity when Liu Qingxi was alone, nor would there have been such a perfect time to strike."

Ling Qiyan was choked with anger. "You pledged yourself to this Prince because you wanted this Prince to help you?"

Wen Ying did not answer.

"Did you ever suspect this Prince?"

Wen Ying pressed his lips together tightly.

With a "smack," Ling Qiyan slapped him across the face. This time, he was truly enraged. "Get the hell out!"

Wen Ying got up and retreated towards the door. When he reached it, Ling Qiyan called him back. "Get back here!"

Wen Ying walked back, was kicked by Ling Qiyan, and knelt on the ground again.

"Do you admit your mistake?!"

Wen Ying met Ling Qiyan's gaze frankly. "In killing Liu Qingxi, this student was not wrong. In suspecting Your Highness, deceiving Your Highness, and using Your Highness, this student was wrong."

Ling Qiyan raised his hand, intending to slap him a second time. But when his gaze fell on the overly conspicuous red mark on Wen Ying's fair face, he paused, lowered his hand, and sat back down on the couch with a thump, staring coldly at him. "Liu Qingxi is dead, but what about the Heir of Duke Wei, Shen Xingyao? Don't tell me you want to kill him too? You were lucky this time and didn't get caught. If you dare to touch Shen Xingyao, even this Prince won't be able to protect you."

Ling Qiyan knew the type of person Liu Qingxi was; he would hang around with him, but also curry favor with Shen Xingyao's group. Ling Qiyan wasn't the least bit surprised that Wen Ying said Liu Qingxi had sold that Zhao Xi to Shen Xingyao. But Shen Xingyao was the eldest son and legitimate grandson of the Shen family. In Empress Shen's heart, he was a precious nephew ranked just behind the Second and Sixth Princes, even dearer than her own biological son. If anything were to happen to that boy, the Shen family would probably turn Shangjing City upside down to get to the bottom of it.

But this madman, Wen Ying—Ling Qiyan felt that if given the chance, he might really dare to do it.

The more Ling Qiyan thought, the more frustrated he became. He just wanted to keep a male favorite, so how did he end up with such a mess? And this fellow Wen Ying wouldn't even let him bed him. What was in it for him?

Prince Yu couldn't help but begin to consider whether he should just kick out this trouble-making retainer, lest he bring even greater trouble upon himself in the future...

Wen Ying suddenly shuffled forward two steps on his knees, placed a hand on Ling Qiyan's leg, and looked up at him with a glimmer in his eyes, saying hoarsely, "Your Highness, as you wish, this student is willing to serve you."