The little fox looked at him innocently, a little dazed.

Even because Jiang Shen pulled him too fast, a small tip of his tongue didn't have time to take it back.

"I didn't bite you on purpose!" The little fox came back to his senses and defended himself, "Who told you to catch me suddenly!"

He even blamed him.

Jiang Shen gritted his teeth: "Who told you to lick it?" The

monster described in the story sucks the essence of mortals, at most it just gets closer and absorbs some energy, so...it doesn't look like this bad fox.

Jiang Shen was so angry that his ears burned.

The little fox flopped in mid-air, Jiang Shen let go of his hand, and let the little fox fall back on the table.

Sitting in front of Jiang Shen, he said confidently, "But you just promised me that I can do whatever I want."

The Yaozu's cultivation methods will also improve, with the few months of trying in Changming Mountain, Li Ruan has already figured out the most suitable cultivation method.

This method will cause the least harm to ordinary people. Although according to Jiang Shen, it can only be done once every seven days, it can last for a long time.

It is second only to double cultivation.

But Jiang Shen was firm: "This won't work."

"Why not?" The little fox became furious, "How can a human being talk nothing."

"Ordinary people just talk like this." Jiang Shen stretched out his hand, Squeezing the little fox's bulging cheeks, he said intentionally, "Did you know it on the first day?" Little fox

: "Hmph!" : "Is there no other way?" The little fox needs him, of course he is willing to help, but not in this way. What this kind of thing means, the little fox may not understand, but he will not understand. His own mind is not that clean, if he coaxes or acquiesces to the little fox to help him...to do this kind of thing, it would be too bad.

The little fox is pure in nature and pure in mind, he can't—

"Then do you want to double cultivate with me?" the little fox asked.

"Cough cough cough --" Jiang Shen was caught off guard and choked, "Shuang...shuang what?

" I went over what I said when I first mentioned Shuangxiu to Jiang Shen, "I want you to sleep with me."

Then I saw Jiang Shen showing exactly the same expression when he was in Changming Mountain.

Regardless of memory loss or not, his personality has not changed at all.

But this time the little fox was different, he lowered his head: "It's a pity we can't do double cultivation now."

He didn't know how to do double cultivation before, so when he was beaten back to his original form, he kept pestering Jiang Shen to ask for double cultivation.

But now he knows what double cultivation means.

When he turned back into a fox, his body was only so small. With Jiang Shen's weight, it would be very difficult for him to double cultivate with him in human form. If he was allowed to do it in his original form, he would die.

The little fox said regretfully, "I can't do double cultivation with you."

Jiang Shen hadn't realized why the little fox was able to talk about double cultivation so calmly, but when he heard the little fox come to this conclusion, he suddenly felt a little lost.

The little fox seemed...not willing to do that kind of thing with him.

Anyway, he can't force others.

Jiang Shen suppressed the depression in his heart, and asked tentatively: "I seem to have heard that you can restore your cultivation by only absorbing the essence of mortals. Shouldn't you... eat there?" "Yes, you can..." The little fox

sighed "It seems like this is the only way to do it now, I will be careful not to hurt you."

Jiang Shen replied "Okay", put on his clothes, let the little fox jump into his arms again, and gently rubbed his neck Rubbed twice.

But in the next two days, Li Ruan still couldn't change back to human form stably.

Even with the essence absorbed from Jiang Shen, it was only enough for him to maintain his human form for one or two hours a day. He was worried that excessive absorption of essence would make Jiang Shen sick, so he didn't dare to eat more.

That shouldn't have been caused by that glass of wine.

Li Ruan guessed that it was probably because his current spiritual power was barely enough to maintain his human form, and the glass of wine caused his mana to stop for a short period of time, which happened to exhaust his spiritual power to the point where it was not enough to maintain his human form.

Even if he didn't drink that glass of wine, his spiritual power would probably be exhausted in the past few days.

In the past few days, the ears and tail were always exposed from time to time, which is a sign.

Li Ruan simply stopped trying to change back into a human form, but kept the fox form all the time, storing his spiritual power for emergencies.

The only disadvantage of doing this is that Li Ruan can no longer go out with Jiang Shen to play.

"Then you wait obediently in the bedroom and wait for my return." Jiang Shen stroked the little fox's head, which made the little fox roll comfortably on the bed.

"I know." The little fox asked, "Are you going out of the palace today?"

Jiang Shen nodded, "Yes, I'm going to the Ministry of Punishment."

Several days passed, but Li Hongzhong still didn't let go.

Although Jiang Shen didn't let Li Hongzhong be tortured, the environment of the sky prison is harsh, and if it drags on for a few more days, the old official will probably die in the sky prison.

He had to see for himself.

"I originally promised to take you to play when I left the palace, but it's a pity..." Jiang Shen paused, and then said, "Last time you said you wanted to eat sugar man, I will buy it for you when you come back." The little fox's ears perked up:

" Alright!"

Outside the Crown Prince's East Palace, the carriage for leaving the palace had already been prepared early in the morning.

When Jiang Shen walked out of the palace gate, the little eunuch who guarded the gate came forward to help Jiang Shen into the carriage, but unconsciously looked behind him.

"What are you looking at?" Jiang Shen saw his absent-minded look and asked him.

The little eunuch hurriedly knelt down: "Slave, I don't dare!"

"Get up." Jiang Shen said, "I'm just asking you a few words, will my highness know how to eat people?" "

No... no." The little eunuch Said, "The slave is just thinking, I haven't seen the young master for quite some time, I don't know if the young master is safe, so..."

Jiang Shen suddenly said, "Are you thinking about him?"

"No, no, no, dare not—"

"Why are you nervous." Jiang Shen waved his hand, and without letting him help him, jumped into the carriage by himself, and then said leisurely, "Anyway, you don't think about him. Use."

His little fox will only like him, and it's useless for others to think about him.

Jiang Shen thought sweetly in his heart, and leaned over into the carriage.

The carriage drove away slowly, and the little eunuch who guarded the gate raised his head, horrified.

In the past few days, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has not brought the young master out of the house, there have been rumors in the palace that the prince is ruthless, and the young prince has not been favored for a few days, but he has already fallen out of favor. The little eunuch was still skeptical at first, but after hearing His Highness the Crown Prince's words, he felt that the rumors were not false.

What does it mean that it's useless to think about it? Could it be that the young master has been despised and will never appear in front of others again?

Or...has been secretly sent out of the palace?

The more the little eunuch thought about it, the more he felt it was possible. Looking back at the East Palace, he sighed deeply.

The prison of the Ministry of Punishment was built underground, and the environment was dark, with no light at all. As soon as you walk in, you can smell a rotten and damp smell.

Jiang Shen walked in under the guidance of the jailer, and soon met the person he wanted to see in the deepest part of the prison.

Li Hongzhong has been in this prison for five or six days since he was escorted back to Beijing and imprisoned. He leaned against the broken straw mat by the wall, looking a little tired, but the prison uniform on his body was still white and clean, and his gray hair was tied behind his head by a wooden hairpin.

It doesn't look like he's in such a mess.

Seeing Jiang Shen, he even smiled at him: "The old minister knew that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will come to see me in person sooner or later." The jailer

helped Jiang Shen open the cell door, moved a chair in, and then turned and left.

"Lord Li, since I'm here, let's get straight to the point." Jiang Shen sat down in front of Li Hongzhong, and said calmly, "Confess the person behind the scenes who instigated you to do these things, and I'll let you go." Li Hongzhong

said : "The old minister has said many times, no one instructed him, it is the old minister who wants to complete the unfinished business of His Highness, and went astray."

"Are you really not afraid of death?" Jiang Shen narrowed his eyes, "Are you afraid that your family will be implicated because of you?"

Hearing Jiang Shen's words, Li Hongzhong's eyes moved slightly.

His straight back suddenly relaxed, and he leaned against the cold and damp wall of the cell, sighing slowly: "Family? Do I still have family?"

Jiang Shen's face darkened: "What do you mean?"

The light in the prison was dim, and the old man's face could not be seen clearly. He could only hear a slight smile: "What do I mean, Your Highness should know best. Arson in the ancestral temple is a serious crime for punishing the nine clans. The old minister did it in the temple. After a lifetime, it’s very clear."

"But my family... can His Highness still find it?"

Jiang Shen didn't answer, he looked at the old man by the wall, his eyes became extremely cold.

"I found it." After a while, Jiang Shen said softly, "From your wife and elderly mother, down to your little granddaughter who just turned five years old, and the servants who have served your family for many years, there are a total of forty people in the family. I found all seven of them."

"...in an unnamed valley hundreds of miles away from the capital."

On the second day after Li Hongzhong was arrested, dozens of members of his family fled. the capital. Jiang Shen naturally sent people to chase after him, but a few days ago, he found that the fleeing family had all died in a valley.

Not a single one was left alive.

Jiang Shen originally thought that the family accidentally fell off a cliff and died while fleeing for their lives.

But now it seems...

"They jumped by themselves." Jiang Shen said coldly, "You know that if you are arrested, your family members will be implicated and imprisoned, as a threat. So you made a plan before you left the capital, and simply Kill them all, so that others can no longer use them to threaten you."

"...Master Li, you are so cruel."

Li Hongzhong took a deep breath: "...I am sorry for them." "

You I'm sorry for them." Jiang Shen closed his eyes, "When we found the valley, it happened to rain the day before, and the blood in the valley flowed like a river. I sent people to search for two days, and finally found all Find all the bodies."

"Do you want to know what those wreckages look like? Shall I have someone bring them to you now?

" Now that I have made this choice, I have never thought of retreating. Your Highness does not need to waste your efforts.”

“Dayi?” Jiang Shen stood up abruptly, “Is your five-year-old granddaughter also doing it for righteousness? Knowing anyone's mother is also for righteousness? How dare you pretend to be righteous when you do such an unkind and unfilial thing?"

Li Hongzhong hid most of his body in the shadows, closed his eyes, and did not answer.

Jiang Shen breathed a sigh of relief: "That's all."

He turned his head and looked at Yu Xiu who was guarding behind him: "I know why you were so troubled a few days ago."

Yu Xiu asked in a low voice: "Your Highness, can you Let the subordinates torture..."

The old man in prison clothes still sat where he was, and didn't even move his eyelids when he heard Yu Xiu's words.

"Even if you beat him to death today, he won't say anything." Jiang Shen said, "Let's go, there is no need to continue the interrogation." A person who is determined to die, even if he is just a scholar, is still better than those warriors

. Difficult to deal with.

He led Yu Xiu out of the cell, and the jailer came forward again, removed the chair, and locked the cell door.

"Your Majesty, please give me a bowl of poisoned wine." Jiang Shen looked at the old man by the wall through the prison door, and said softly, "Leave him a whole body, and throw it into the nameless valley after death, to be with him." Family reunion."

The old man in the cell suddenly raised his head.

But Jiang Shen didn't look at him again, turned around and walked outside.

In the cell, Li Hongzhong took a few steps on his knees, climbed to the cell door, and kowtowed solemnly to Jiang.

"...Thank you, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

That voice was covered by the cold wind in the prison, and it also covered the old man's low sobs.

Jiang Shen arrived at the Ministry of Punishment only in the afternoon today, and he was delayed in the sky prison for so long, when he stepped out of the sky prison, the sun had already set.

The environment in the dungeon was harsh and the smell was unpleasant. Jiang Shen pressed the center of his eyebrows wearily, and the servant waiting outside the dungeon immediately came forward to help Jiang Shen take off his filthy robe and changed into a brand new one. Jiang Shen let his servant help him change his clothes, and Yu Xiu behind him asked: "Your Highness, why don't you continue

the investigation after killing him like this?"

Wipe his hands with the handkerchief handed over by the servant, "Li Hongzhong is unkind and unfilial to his family, but he is loyal and righteous to the person behind him. There have not been a few courtiers who can do this in this dynasty. Let him have a good time."

Yu Xiu: "...Yes."

Jiang Shen thought of something again, smiled lightly, and led Yu Xiu to stride out.

"Don't be sour, we didn't get nothing from this trip."

Yu Xiu: "Your Highness means..."

"Li Hongzhong's attitude is so firm, but I am sure of one thing." Jiang Shen said, "What he said The one who follows is definitely not the third child."

The third prince forged the secret seal and assassinated the prince. Although he was not abolished as a prince, he had withdrawn from the crown prince dispute ahead of schedule. In this way, even if Li Hongzhong's plan succeeds that day, what he can get at most is that Jiang Shen's crown prince will be abolished.

It doesn't help the third prince.

Jiang Shen didn't think that Li Hongzhong would risk the lives of his family for this reason.

Moreover, if he could act first and kill the whole family in advance, what he was afraid of was that if he fell into Jiang Shen's hands, he would threaten his family's life and force him to confess behind the scenes.

Since he was worried about being threatened to extract a confession, he would not have said the third prince's name so easily.

Even arson with crude oil now seems to be blaming the Ministry of Industry.

An arson would not only damage the prince's reputation, but also involve the third and fourth princes. This is the real intention of this bureau.

"So..." Yu Xiu lowered his voice, "Could it be the sixth prince?"

Jiang Shen frowned: "Do you think the sixth...has the guts?"

The sixth prince Jiang Xin, who is only seventeen this year, is the least talented and the most cowardly among the several princes. Jiang Shen didn't believe that he could make such a big game by himself.

Yu Xiudao: "But behind the sixth prince, there is Lord Xiangguo backing him." The

only daughter of Xiangguo at that time was the virtuous concubine of the current emperor, and the mother concubine of the sixth prince.

Over the years, the Holy Majesty's physical condition has deteriorated day by day. When the Prime Minister was in control of the government, there were indeed many rumors among the people that the Prime Minister was ambitious and wanted to take the imperial power instead.

He can't be such a traitor himself, so it makes sense to blame his grandson.

"Let's check it out." Jiang Shen said, "Whether it's true or not, this matter can only end here. If it's really Xiangguo's side...their last move won't be far away." Yu Xiu: "

Yes Jiang

Shen's carriage stopped at the entrance of the criminal department, Jiang Shen took Yu Xiu out of the criminal department, a young eunuch hurried over and knelt down in front of him: "Your Highness, you can figure it out, something happened in the palace!"

Jiang Shen hurriedly asked: "What's the matter?"

"Yes...it's His Majesty." The little eunuch said: "Half an hour ago, His Majesty suddenly delivered an order to come to the East Palace, asking the young master to have dinner at Qianqing Palace." Jiang Shen raised his eyebrows

. Frowning: "Why did the father suddenly order him to eat?"

"I don't even know!" The little eunuch's voice sounded like he could cry immediately, "But the person who came to deliver the decree is someone from Concubine Shu's palace. What they mean seems to be that Concubine Shu Gui said something in front of the sage, and the sage... suddenly wanted to see the young master." Jiang

Shen asked urgently: "How is it now, has he gone?"

"Ah?" The little eunuch Dazed for a moment, he said, "Little... Young master, isn't he not in the palace?"

Jiang Shen was stunned for a moment.

Then react immediately.

The little fox's human form remains unstable now, probably because he hid himself.

He calmed down a little, and asked again: "Talk slowly, what happened after the decree was delivered to the East Palace?"

"His Highness is not in the palace today. The servants originally wanted to follow His Highness's order and not let anyone approach the palace. But the person who came to deliver the letter was the nun in Concubine Shu's palace, saying that she had brought the Holy Lord's order, and the servants did not dare to stop "

"They wanted the young master to come out to receive the order, but they knocked on the door for a long time and no one answered, so... they broke in." "

Who knew that the young master was not in the palace, and no one in the palace knew him Where did they go, they couldn't find anyone, so they had to leave first." "

...The Holy One just passed an order to ask you to go to the Qianqing Palace to face the Holy Spirit immediately after you return to the palace."

Jiang Shen said silently.

His little fox is now unknown in the palace, just a folk boy. Concubine Shu is in charge of palace affairs, so naturally she would not just want to see him on a whim.

Different from the dissolute temperament shown by the fourth prince Jiang Heng, Concubine Shu has always been ambitious. If she can't be a queen, she wants to be the empress dowager.

Jiang Shen didn't know what she wanted to do with the incident today, but most of it was aimed at him.

Fortunately, the little fox was still clever and didn't fall into the trap.

Jiang Shen thought for a while, and jumped into the carriage in two or three steps: "Go back to the palace first."

The carriage swayed forward, Jiang Shen sat in the carriage and closed his eyes to rest, but his thoughts were spinning quickly.

The few people who came to pass the decree did not find the little fox, which proved that he should be safe now. The question now is, how should he explain to His Majesty why the boy who was supposed to be in his bedroom disappeared and where did he go?

In case the Holy Majesty must meet him tonight, where can Jiang Shen find a young man to meet him?

But he had to go back to the palace.

The little fox is still hiding in the palace, the moment Jiang Shen returns later, he will be in danger for an extra moment.

"Where are you now..." Jiang Shen murmured.

If he knew where he was hiding, it would be easy to do what to do next, but...

Jiang Shen was thinking about this when he suddenly felt something grabbing his trouser leg.

He opened his eyes and looked down. There was a fluffy and bright red fox tail under the cushion beside him.

Jiang Shen: "..."

Jiang Shen lifted the cushion on that side, and a bright red shadow jumped out of it and threw himself into his arms.

"Did you ask me just now?" The little fox rubbed against his neck, and said happily, "I'm here."

Jiang Shen was tickled by him, pulled the little fox off his body, and asked, "You Why are you here?"

"I found it here." The little fox said, "I was sleeping just now, and I heard someone shouting outside your bedroom, as if they wanted to see me. I can't even change people now, how can I see them? , so I sneaked out of the window before they entered the house to look for me."

Jiang Shen asked: "So, you just found this place from the East Palace?" "

Yes, you said you were going to the Ministry of Punishment .”

After Li Ruan came out of the palace, he first found the little tit. It is familiar with the capital and knows many birds. They asked all the way and searched all the way, and they found this place not long after.

"Don't worry, no one saw me, not even when I got into your carriage." The little fox cocked his tail triumphantly, "I'm smart."

Jiang Shen smiled and rubbed his head: "Well, smart."

"But what should we do now?" The little fox asked him again, "You can't take a fox to see your father, can you?"

Jiang Shen asked: "Can't you change back to human form?"

" Change can be changed, but it may not last long." The little fox was worried, "Your father is in such poor health, if I turn back into a fox in front of your father, will he be scared to death by me?" Jiang Shen:

" ..."

Scaring to death should not be possible, but it is certain that a certain little fox will die.

Jiang Shen was thinking about it, but saw the little fox struggling, breaking free from his grasp, and jumping to the ground.

The little fox raised his head to look at him, Jiang Shen actually saw a bit of cunning in his clear eyes.

"I can do it."

He stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on Jiang Shen's knees, and wagged his tail twice triumphantly.

Then, like those gangsters who like to take advantage of women from good families, he stretched out a paw and landed on Jiang Shen's lap.

The little fox said mischievously: "Give me a bite, and it will definitely be fine if you persist for a day."