On the other side, in the west of the city.
The sudden heavy rain gradually subsided after lasting for a few quarters of an hour.
Near Yuning Marquis's Mansion in the west of the city, countless imperial guards were still on strict guard. However, the imperial masters who were patrolling and hunting inside, after confirming that there were no thieves hiding, had already given up the search and came outside the watchtower in the northwest corner of the imperial city.
Dongfang Liren, dressed in a silver python robe, stood in front of the gate of the watchtower, with her head held high and her complexion extremely good.
She had been in command inside the watchtower for a whole day. Now, she had captured more than twenty important criminals at once, which could be considered a great achievement. The only regret was that the heir apparent of the Prince of Wu had a special status, and it was necessary for a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Punishments to take him into custody. She couldn't lead her guards to capture him.
But the credit for this matter would undoubtedly fall on her, the discerning Princess. Such a major case had occurred only a few times since the founding of the country, and she had managed to solve it. In the future, when asking the Ministry of Revenue for money, she would be justified, and the censors and remonstrators would find it even more difficult to gossip about the ambiguity of her authority. Just thinking about it made her feel relieved.
Since Dongfang Liren had achieved such a great merit, she definitely couldn't let her subordinates down. As soon as the search and arrest operation ended, she prepared to hold a celebration to give a good compliment to her subordinates who had been busy for a whole day.
However, Dongfang Liren stood in front of the watchtower and scanned the crowd who had returned to the team. She found that the dignified Master Yejingtang, who deserved the greatest credit, hadn't come back. So she asked:
"Shang Jianli, where has Yejingtang gone?"
Shang Jianli might be afraid that the matter of leaving his post without permission would stain Yejingtang, who had just achieved great merit with some blemishes. He explained:
"Master Ye has the help of the Snow Eagle, and he has eyes and ears everywhere. Just now, he found that there was too much commotion at Mingyu Building and went there to offer assistance. A general outside the capital may act according to the situation and not necessarily follow the emperor's orders. Master Ye should have discovered a situation that he couldn't help but deal with, so he left the team in advance..."
Dongfang Liren knew about Qiu Tianhe's help. It was reasonable for Yejingtang to run over to check since he didn't know about it. Naturally, she didn't mind and continued:
"Regarding this major case, you should know who deserves the first credit. I plan to make Yejingtang the deputy commander of the Black Yamen in the future. Do you have any objections?"
The position of deputy commander was roughly on the same level as the White-Haired Di Ting, which could be regarded as a rapid promotion. But the chief constables of the Black Yamen present definitely wouldn't think this was due to nepotism anymore. She Long spoke up:
"There are many people in the yamen who are good at fighting, but few who are good at solving cases. People who can both fight and solve cases are extremely rare. With Master Ye's talent, we even feel that it's unfair for him to be a deputy."
Yang Lan, the empress dowager's bodyguard, came out to assist in capturing the thieves today. At this moment, she smiled and said:
"With Master Ye's talent, he will definitely be the Seventh Fiend of the Black Yamen. What nickname do you think he should have, Lord She?"
The Six Fiends of the Black Yamen meant "Six Great Fiends", and their nicknames were named after the ghosts and messengers of the underworld. Originally, it was a derogatory term used by people in the martial world.
But because the Six Fiends were all tough characters, over time, it gradually became an honorary title.
The Six Fiends of the Black Yamen themselves didn't particularly like these nicknames from the martial world and wouldn't give themselves such nicknames. But when others called them like that, they didn't really mind.
She Long thought for a moment: "There is already the 'Lord of the Underworld'. With Master Ye's talent, he might as well be called the 'King of Hell'."
Dongfang Liren was in a good mood and also joined in the joke. Her face darkened slightly, and she said fiercely:
"If he is the King of Hell, then what am I?"
Everyone thought it was right. The King of Hell of the Black Yamen must be His Highness the Prince of Jing. If someone else took that title, it would be like overshadowing the master.
Shang Jianli didn't like his own lousy nickname "The Ghostly Messenger of Impermanence", but he was quite enthusiastic about giving nicknames to others. After serious consideration, he said:
"Master Ye can solve cases and wield a knife. He is truly proficient in both civil and military affairs. Among the beings in the underworld, the Civil and Military Judges seem to be suitable for him."
She Long's eyes lit up and he nodded: "That's true. But the judges are all fierce-looking. Master Ye's appearance..."
Yang Lan smiled and said: "Then call him the 'Jade-Faced Judge', which just matches the nicknames of the Six Fiends in the martial world."
Dongfang Liren thought this nickname was quite imposing and nodded:
"Let some rumors spread in the martial world. Otherwise, after a while, the people in the martial world might come up with a 'Ruthless Granny Meng' for him first. Once a nickname spreads, it's hard to get rid of. If Yejingtang doesn't like it, he might be feeling frustrated for half his life."
"Hehe..."
...
After complimenting everyone for a while, Dongfang Liren let everyone get off work to rest, and she directly returned to the imperial city from the city wall.
Dongfang Liren had already received the news that Eunuch Cao had run out and finally entered the palace today. She knew that Eunuch Cao couldn't cause much trouble, but she didn't know how her elder sister had finally solved the problem.
For this reason, after getting off work, Dongfang Liren went to Changle Palace immediately, planning to report on her work, find out the situation, and also request a reward for Master Yejingtang by the way.
It was already night, and Changle Palace was brightly lit. The palace maids were performing their respective duties and walking around.
Dongfang Liren, accompanied by the palace maids, passed through the corridors and buildings and came outside Chengan Hall. Seeing that it was quiet inside, she asked the palace maid in the hall:
"Is His Majesty not here?"
The palace maid came closer and curtsied: "I haven't seen His Majesty come back, and this maidservant doesn't know if His Majesty is in the bedroom either."
Dongfang Liren knew that her elder sister had excellent martial arts skills and would not greet the palace maids when coming and going. And the palace maids didn't dare to enter the emperor's bedroom without permission. So she went to the door of the bedroom on the east side by herself and knocked on the door:
Dong dong——
——
Inside the bedroom, in the bath pool.
The Empress of the Great Wei Dynasty, with her fair skin, was lying in the warm pool water, closing her eyes and concentrating on regulating her breath. Her expression was a bit better than before, but there was still a touch of redness on her cheeks.
Yejingtang, with his tattered clothes, had a piece of cloth tied over his eyes. He stood with his hands behind his back by the bath pool, facing away, looking like a Buddha who was emotionless and regarded beautiful women as skeletons.
While the two were in silence, a voice came from outside the palace:
"Is His Majesty not here?"
...
Yejingtang heard Benben's voice. At first, he didn't think much of it, but then he suddenly thought...
Holy crap!
Yejingtang remembered that the beautiful woman was nakedly soaking in the pool beside him. He could already imagine the scene of Benben, the chubby dragon, getting furious and drawing a knife to chop him. He immediately thought it would be best to leave.
The Empress of the Great Wei Dynasty, lying in the pool water, opened her eyes. Seeing that Liren had come, the expression in her eyes was also a bit strange. But seeing that her brother-in-law was about to run away, she still said:
"You are not allowed to leave."
"Hmm?!"
Yejingtang paused in his movement to stand up and turned his head to look at the beautiful woman. With his eyes covered, there was a look of astonishment on his face—What do you mean?
Do you want to create a situation where this moment is just like that moment before?
The Empress of the Great Wei Dynasty didn't mean to let Yejingtang hide in the bath pool and take a mandarin duck bath with her:
"My injury is not healed, and I can't let the Prince of Jing find out. If you run away, she will definitely come in and search. Go out and distract her for me."
?
Yejingtang was a bit speechless: "How can I distract her? I'm a man, and if I appear in the empress's bedroom, should I say that I'm here to take shelter from the rain?"
The Empress of the Great Wei Dynasty shrugged slightly: "The Prince of Jing is already about to come in. If you go out now, you will also be discovered. My injury can't be known by the Prince of Jing. Either you find a way to go out and distract the Prince of Jing, or you can just stay here and wait to be hacked to death by the Prince of Jing later."
Yejingtang definitely couldn't stay here and wait for Benben to come in. So he quickly walked towards the door, pulled down the black cloth covering his eyes. Just as he put his hand on the sliding door, a commanding voice of an elder sister came from behind again:
"Wait a moment."
"Hmm?"
Yejingtang instinctively looked back!!
The bathroom was dimly lit. The stunningly beautiful woman with a graceful figure was soaking in the misty white pool water, leaning against the white jade stone, with the water reaching up to her chest.
The water in the bath pool wasn't very deep. Although it was a medicinal bath, it had almost no impact on the visibility. By the dim yellow light, the first thing that caught his eye were the two long legs at the bottom of the pool.
Because she was taking a bath, the beautiful woman's posture was quite casual. Her left leg was placed on her right leg, facing the door. At a glance, although her figure was plump, he couldn't see the inappropriate parts. But to say that he didn't see anything at all, it seemed that he really didn't see much...
?!
Yejingtang's pupils shrank slightly. The white mounds that he would probably have his eyes gouged out for looking at directly and irresistibly came into his sight.
Going further up was the slender waist that could be encircled with one's arms, and then the white mounds that were half-floating on the water surface. The beautiful woman reacted quickly and hugged them with her arms, so he didn't see too much.
The two of them looked at each other for a moment.
The beautiful woman's eyes obviously widened a bit. Her originally charming and calm peerless face showed a different kind of oppressive power that seemed to cause millions of corpses to lie on the ground.
Then she seemed to remember something and quickly retracted her legs and curled up in front of her...
"..."
Yejingtang was indeed stunned for a moment. After reacting, he quickly turned his head back and held the sliding door with his hand. He felt that he had caused a huge disaster, and even the King of Heaven couldn't probably save him...
The Empress of the Great Wei Dynasty already had a red flush on her face. At this moment, in just an instant, her face turned completely red.
Her imperial mindset prevented her from losing her composure on the spot, but her long eyelashes still trembled a few times. Almost gritting her teeth, she said calmly as usual:
"Go out and distract Liren first."
Yejingtang's head was buzzing. He wanted to forget the scene just now or pinch himself a few times to wake up from this dream and make up for everything, but it was obviously impossible.
To be honest, he didn't really see much. He only saw the edge contours of the key parts. But to say that he didn't see anything at all...
This seemed even more terrifying than having three lovers at the same time. At least with three lovers, one could try to bring them together. In the current situation, even if the beautiful woman didn't silence him, Benben would definitely skin him alive...
Yejingtang forced himself to calm down and asked:
"What did you want to say just now?"
"I forgot."
The Empress of the Great Wei Dynasty was very honest and expressed her true state of mind.
Yejingtang wasn't surprised by this. He opened the sliding door, walked out quickly, and then closed it...