Chapter 53

The thing that could make the Qin King come to the morgue in the middle of the night without alarming others must be something very important, and it cannot be known by others...

Such matters are clearly related to danger. Gu Qiancheng did not want to know at all, but Qin Jiyi did not let her off.

"Do you not want to know what this king is looking for?"

Without a second thought, Gu Qiancheng shook her head: "No." Please don't tell me, I really don't want to know.

"But what if this king wants to tell you?" Qin Jiyi did not give Gu Qiancheng a chance to refuse and directly said, "This morning, the Emperor bestowed a private seal upon this king. By evening, this king discovered the seal was missing. Apart from this king and the Emperor, only the chief eunuch by his side knew that I had the seal today."

"Now there's one more person." Gu Qiancheng was utterly frustrated.

This man was too wicked. She didn't even have time to cover her ears, and even if she did, it wouldn't have helped.

"You're right, there's one more person." Qin Jiyi acknowledged that Gu Qiancheng was smart, but no matter how smart she was, knowing this matter meant she couldn't escape.

"I'll help you find it." Gu Qiancheng felt like crying; she really didn't want to know too much by accident.

"Do you think you can find it?" He had already made it clear, and he didn't believe Gu Qiancheng didn't understand.

Gu Qiancheng understood, but she really didn't want to understand.

Gu Qiancheng asked dejectedly, "If it can't be found, why is His Highness the Qin King still looking for it?" Is he just looking for trouble after having nothing to do?

Qin Jiyi didn't hide anything from Gu Qiancheng and frankly said, "No matter what, if something is lost, it must be searched for. Whether it is found or not, one must have a backup plan."

If the seal bestowed by the Emperor was lost, and the news reached the Emperor's ears, the Emperor would certainly be displeased and might even think Qin Jiyi was incompetent, unable to keep even a seal safe.

In the grand scheme of things, this was a sign of disrespect to the Emperor; in the smaller picture, it was Qin Jiyi's carelessness. If it could be quietly retrieved, that would be the best outcome.

Qin Jiyi came to the morgue out of a侥幸 (侥幸 means侥幸, but in this context, it means a侥幸 or a hope). If he could find it, the matter could be considered as if it never happened. However, it now seemed that things were not that simple.

The seal was given to Qin Jiyi privately by the Emperor, and no one else knew about it. After Qin Jiyi left the palace with the seal, one of his subordinates reported that the coroner had a new discovery that was beneficial to the case.

Qin Jiyi was stuck on that case and rushed over when he heard about the new developments. The coroner indeed had some findings and discovered some suspicious points.

Qin Jiyi returned to the Ministry of Justice with the new evidence and convened a meeting with his subordinates, which kept him busy until midnight...

It wasn't until he returned to his residence and bathed that he realized the seal was missing.

Qin Jiyi recalled that he hadn't encountered any suspicious people today. After leaving the palace, he had only been to two places: the Ministry of Justice and the morgue.

Qin Jiyi had already searched the Ministry of Justice and found no trace of the seal, so he brought people to the morgue. Before they started searching, he saw Gu Qiancheng lying among the corpses.

At that moment, Qin Jiyi understood...

There were no suspicious people near him today, but what about the corpses?

He wouldn't be wary of corpses. His seal must have been stolen by one of the "corpses." He didn't know what the thief intended to do with the seal, but he had a guess about who was behind it.

The only people who could bribe the chief eunuch by the Emperor's side were his several uncles. It seemed that his recent firm stance had angered them.

A cold smile appeared on Qin Jiyi's lips, making Gu Qiancheng feel a chill and have an impulse to run away...

Qin Jiyi didn't say much, but he had revealed the important points. Gu Qiancheng didn't need to think much to realize that the loss of Qin Jiyi's seal was likely related to those princes.

Those princes would not let Qin Jiyi off easily with his private seal. However, this guess was something Qin Jiyi couldn't tell the Emperor.

The chief eunuch by the Emperor's side was undoubtedly one of his confidants. Without any evidence, if Qin Jiyi rashly reported this matter, the Emperor might think that Qin Jiyi was plotting against his uncles and his confidants.

Qin Jiyi had to swallow this loss, whether he liked it or not.

After Gu Qiancheng understood, she couldn't help but shiver. The struggle for imperial power was terrifying, and she was better off staying far away.

Qin Jiyi, who had survived until now, was certainly not a simple character. Instead of worrying about whether Qin Jiyi would suffer because of this matter, she was more concerned about whether she would be dragged into some unknown danger because of her closeness to Qin Jiyi.

"Afraid?" Gu Qiancheng's fear was too obvious, and Qin Jiyi couldn't pretend not to notice.

"Of course, I'm afraid. One wrong move and it could cost me my life." Gu Qiancheng spoke the truth.

She wasn't like Qin Jiyi, who had a grandfather who was the Emperor to protect him. Her life was hard, and if something happened to her, the Gu family wouldn't protect her; they would even hand her over to show their loyalty.

"It's not as terrible as you think. With this king here, even if something happens, it won't be traced back to you." Qin Jiyi glanced at the morgue. Since the seal couldn't be found, he didn't want to stay in this place any longer: "This king is leaving. Tomorrow at dawn, this king will wait for you at the entrance of Donglin Academy."

After saying that, Qin Jiyi turned and left with the lantern. Whether Gu Qiancheng would be afraid alone in the morgue was not within his consideration.

Joking, this woman was even willing to lie on a board with corpses, what else could scare her?

Ah... Did she agree?

Gu Qiancheng realized this only after Qin Jiyi left and couldn't help but laugh...

Although she still thought Qin Jiyi was despicable and lacked manners, he was much better than Qin Yunchu and Prince Zhao. At least he wasn't as arrogant and condescending as the typical imperial princes.

Gu Qiancheng stood in the morgue until she was sure Qin Jiyi had left, then opened the door and went out. As soon as she stepped out, she was surrounded by Uncle Gu San and two guards.

"You weren't discovered by the Qin King?" The guard who was watching the door looked at Gu Qiancheng in disbelief. He remembered there was no place to hide in the morgue.

Although he had been praying in his heart, he didn't really have much hope...

"Yes, Qian... cough." Uncle Gu San called out Gu Qiancheng's name and immediately swallowed the "cheng" part, asking, "Where did you hide? Really, you weren't discovered by the Qin King?"

"Yes, yes, how did you avoid His Highness the Qin King? You don't know how worried I was. If the Qin King had found out, we would all be in trouble." The guard was also very curious and asked several times.

Gu Qiancheng didn't want to say more, but these three people wouldn't let her off and kept asking. Since that was the case, she wouldn't blame them for being scared.

Gu Qiancheng pointed to the morgue behind her and said mischievously, "I lay next to the dead bodies, and the Qin King didn't find me."

"What?"

"Ah..."

The two guards' faces changed drastically when they heard this, and they retreated several meters away from Gu Qiancheng before stopping.

"Miss, you have such a big heart." They had guarded for over ten years and never dared to do that.

Gu Qiancheng shrugged and said helplessly, "There was no place to hide inside."

"That, that... seems true." The two guards also thought it made sense.

Apart from lying with the corpses, where else could this girl hide?

What courage!

Despite the praise, the two guards didn't dare to get close to Gu Qiancheng, as if she had some contagious disease. They urged Uncle Gu San and Gu Qiancheng to leave quickly and not stay there.

They were truly terrified tonight. If it happened again, they might end up inside...

End of the page.