"Yes. It's good for a woman to have some skills in case something out of the blue happens, right?"
He Yu's eyes had a little gleam in them, "In case? I don't think you would need that"
"What does that mean? Are you looking down on me? Do you think I'm unable to learn?"
"No, I just thought since you've be traveling around for a long time you would have some skills yourself", He Yu answered.
"Those are just some self-defense skills. If it were in a serious situation, they would be useless"
"From your words, it seems your journeys were quite smooth", He Yu said.
Lingxi paused on the dumplings and looked him straight in the eye with a smile, "Of course, my journeys were quite smooth. Brother Qin Yan accompanied me throughout", she answered.
"He seems to be quite good in martial arts", He Yu commented as he served himself tea.
Lingxi leaned back, "of course, he has been protecting me since childhood".
She paused for a short while then leaned very close to He Yu with only the teacup he had on his lips separating them, "but don't worry, your highness will always be the most important person in my heart", she smiled.
There was an even longer pause before He Yu responded, "I'm not worried"
"That's good then", Lingxi responded and they both went back to eating as though nothing had happened.
[The Next Day]
[First Prince Residence]
[Yanxue Hall]
Li Min walked into Yanxue Hall with a meal box. The servants seemed quite familiar with her and let her in.
"Your Highness", Li Min greeted.
He Yan turned to see Li Min, "Miss Li, you're here", he answered.
Li Min smiled and walked up to him. "Your highness, what are you painting".
He Yan was making a landscape painting on a wide paper hung on the wall.
"A landscape", he answered holding his painting brush while assessing his work.
"This feels different from your other paintings", Li Min observed.
"Yes, I imagined it", he said laying his painting brush down on the tray a eunuch was holding.
He went on to sit down with Li Min sitting next to him.
"All Your Highness's painting are drawn from imagination but the scenery today has greater contrast. It is bold; not like your usual style", Li Min said.
"You have sharp eyes", He Yan agreed, "This painting is just my own imagination of the frontier. The landscape there must be bright but tense".
"Your Highness must really want to go over there", Li Min said resting her head on his shoulder.
"I would like to visit the place that keeps our Daxia safe and also lend a hand"
"In that case, my father would definitely find a way to help your highness"
"I hope so"
There was a short pause, "in the meantime your highness should try gaining the favor of the grand prince", Li Min suggested.
"I'm already working on that"
Li Min hesitated before saying what was on her mind, "I heard you went to see Miss Mo yesterday"
"Yes", He Yan did not deny.
Li Min straightened up slowly looking displeased.
He Yan noticed, "don't worry, she is just my granduncle's wife, my grandaunt, nothing more", he assured her.
Li Min's mood improved a bit, "okay, I believe you"
"I'm happy you do", He Yan smiled.
An idea struck Li Min's head, "how about Your Highness trade something else of equal importance in exchange of grand prince's permission. After all, no matter what you give, you would be getting the better end of the stick", she suggested.
He Yan smiled; he had not thought of that before, "My Min is truly the smartest of all", he praised rubbing her head.
Li Min smiled, pleased with herself. She opened the meal box.
"I made Your Highness some tofu; try it."
[Grand Prince's Residence]
Lingxi was sitting by the pavilion, admiring the view. The pavilion was right next to a large body of water (a stream connected to the rivers outside that passes through a locked tunnel) and was also surrounded by flowers and herbs. The environment made her feel relaxed and refreshed.
She was having freshly brewed peach wine with Liu Ying.
"Wow, the view here is even better than that of the Imperial Garden. I'm so lucky to see it," Liu Ying said, mesmerized by the view.
"Lucky?" Lingxi asked.
"Of course! Everyone knows no one can casually enter the Grand Prince's residence without a proper invite," she lowered her voice and leaned closer.
"I heard that even the Empress was denied entrance once."Lingxi smiled.
"I didn't know that."
"You didn't? Will you get in trouble for inviting me here then?" Liu Ying was a bit worried for her.
Lingxi laughed lightly, "What are you thinking? I am the madam of this household. Why would I get in trouble for inviting you?"
Liu Ying realized her mistake, "You're right. In that case, His Highness must treat you well."
Lingxi smiled in response affirming it.
"That's good, I was worried", she said and poured wine in both cups.
She drank hers first, "the wine is sweet", she commented.
Lingxi refilled her cup, "it's freshly brewed peach wine. If you like it, you can ask Butler Li. Take some along with you"
"I won't be polite then", Liu ying said.
Not too long later, He Yu was seen coming over. Liu ying quickly stood up to greet him.
"Grand prince", she curtsied.
He turned to Lingxi who stood up to curtsy too but he held her hand to stop her from bowing.
"I told you not to bow", he reminded her.
Lingxi smiled and turned to Liu ying, "you may leave now"
"I'll take my leave now. Thank you, your highness and grand prince", she curtsied twice before leaving.
After she left, Lingxi broke the silence.
She reached closer and leaned on his arm, "I didn't know no one was allowed into the residence. I only invited Miss Liu because I was bored. Don't be angry", she said tugging his sleeves.
He Yu was slightly bemused, "when did I say I was angry"
"Well..... your face wasn't looking very bright", she said raising her head to look at him.
"I'm sick, my face is never completely bright", he commented.
"So you're not angry?" she asked facing him with an eager look on her face.
He Yu looked at the wine on the table, "since you're idle, why didn't you find me?"
"Find you?" Lingxi did not understand.
"Didn't you want to learn archery?" He Yu asked looking at her.
Lingxi's face brightened up immediately, "you've agreed?"
"Come with me", he said and walked off with Lingxi happily holding his arm.
[Judicial Office]
"These are all the leads we've got for the case", an official who was assisting in the investigation, Lv Chi said.
"These so-called leads do not even address the case not to mention solving it", He Rui said.
"How about we visit Wei City one more time? We may find some more clues", Lv Chi suggested.
"We barely managed to gather these few clues in the beginning. It's been weeks. All the clues must have disappeared. What could we possibly find?" another official, Lu Qian said.
"Whoever orchestrated this plan was very careful. I'm impressed", Lv Chi said.
"There is a clue that can solve this case", He Rui voiced out catching everyone's attention.
"Your highness, what clue?" Lu Qian asked.
He Rui stood up, "the massacre happened at midnight, killing thirty six people, but there was not a sound captured by the surrounding buildings, why is that?"
Lv Chi and Lu Qian exchanged glances.
"From what we saw and the coroner examined, they were first gagged and their throats slit. As for the servants and guards, we deduced that they were attacked from behind their positions", Lu Qian answered.
"Exactly, but there is no such thing as a completely seamless operation", He Rui said. "Maybe the perpetrator knew the defenses of the mansion inside out?" Lv Chi deduced.
"That's right. So either an insider or someone close to the mansion must have this information"
"It can't be an insider. The total number of those killed corresponded exactly to the number of people in the mansion", Lu Qian answered.
"What if the person involved was not just an insider but someone who had access to the mansion and could come and go freely?"
"But we've already investigated all the people that visited the mansion that night", Lv Chi was a bit confused.
"That's the point. What if the perpetrator used a different strategy to commit the crime? As far as I'm concerned, if I were to commit such a crime, I wouldn't use such an obvious method. If it were you, what would you have done?"
Lv Chi's head was spinning, "Your highness, please don't joke with me. I don't have such wit to commit such a crime"
"Spread the word in the Ministry of Justice and the Investigating Bureau. Whoever can solve this will be handsomely rewarded"