"Jiang Yi, please sit."
Although Jiang Yao was a royal descendant, and even the most favored by the Emperor, he never put on any airs in front of this trusted subordinate of his father.
"Thank you."
Jiang Yi was also not going to stand on ceremony. Although he was merely a eunuch following his master, he was a very important figure in the current empire. Even if Jiang Yao was a prince, he was not his master, so all the goodwill he had towards him was based on the Emperor's preference.
"During the auction today, I encountered an assassin. The assassin is likely to be from the realms above, as his strength was similar to mine. He was clearly looking down on me as being an expert from the lower realm, and because of his carelessness I managed to notice him straight away.
"However, I am not willing to believe that an assassin will arrive in our realm with no purpose at all. Although I am famous here, I am not a threat to any of the factions in the upper realm, so I do not think that they would be willing to waste their effort on me."
Although Jiang Yao was somewhat convinced that the power behind the assassin was aiming more at Luo Xiao than himself, he was not going to reveal the identity of this younger man.
Jiang Yi looked at the Seventh Demon Prince with an inquiring gaze. He did not fully believe that the culprit would aim at Jiang Yao, mainly because the one most likely to do this was the Fourth Demon Prince, and he did not have the ability to reach the upper realms.
However, it could not be ignored that Jiang Luo might be involved in the crime, so he had to look for proof before he would be able to reach a conclusion.
The only reason he had arrived this evening was because he had felt how much importance the Emperor placed on this matter, so he had to take this trip, even though it was a waste of time, and more beneficial for solving the case if he went to investigate the fourth son of the Emperor.
"You called me here to lure the tiger away from its cave?"
Although Jiang Yi had arrived, he did not want to waste much time here, but when he noticed the casual and almost languid attitude of Jiang Yao, he understood that the summon was not because he truly wished to discuss the episode, but to make the culprits assume certain things and reveal flaws in their actions.
"I am not sure if it can be considered luring the tiger away from its cave, but I did call you here with ulterior motives."
Although Jiang Yao was seen through, he did not mind. He knew very well that Jiang Yi and his father would agree with him, and support any decision he made, so he casually explained his plans.
The Head Eunuch of the Royal Palace stayed within the Seventh Prince's Mansion the entire night, and the lights in the study never died out.
Although Jiang Yao was in complete control of his subordinates, he knew how to make his news travel to the ears of those he wanted.
By the time Jiang Yi left, Jiang Luo was already pacing hurriedly forth and back in his study. His face, which had attractive features, was warped into a mask of hatred and indignation.
"Why would father let his servant stay with Jiang Yao for so long? Is he planning on making Jiang Yao the Crown Prince?"
Jiang Luo was full of worries and anger as he thought about how he might lose the throne forever, and he did not know how to act next.
"Your Grace, you promised me that Jiang Yao would die without a whole corpse! Why is it that I did all the things as expected, but both him and his little toy are still roaming free?"
Jiang Luo was furious and on the verge of losing his sanity, when he finally remembered that he had a golden goose by his side that could help him win no matter what.
Leaning in a chair, a woman was sitting languidly. She was twirling a glass of wine in her hand and seemed to be bored beyond compare as she witnessed the desperate prince.
The woman's delicate features bore a resemblance with Qin Zhaolu, but unlike the other, this woman was much younger but also less refined. This woman did not have the same heart-stopping beauty as Qin Zhaolu.
"I can't move too clearly as I do not want to alarm the old men in my family, but I guarantee that they will die soon."
This woman was also surnamed Qin, but unlike Qin Zhaolu and Qin Jingchen, she was not born to the main wife of the patriarch, and thus she would always be considered the child of a concubine.
Her status would not be enough for her to marry another man as a main wife, unless her personal strength was good enough to ignore her background, and this gap in identity had always left her unsatisfied.
When she found out that her halfbrother had an affair and became dao companions with a woman from the Luo family, she had grasped the opportunity to destroy them both.
Now that she found out that her half-sister had located the spawn they had created, she could never allow this Luo Xiao to return to the realms above.
Although the Qin family loathed the Luo family, Luo Xiao was, after all, the only descendant of the direct line of their family.
It was clear that Qin Jingchen had no intention of marrying anyone else, and he would not get other children, and Qin Zhaolu also seemed to be against marriage.
Since this was the case, those old men from their family were likely to be willing to take Luo Xiao back.