When Jiang Suzhou went to Gu Changyun's room that night, as expected, Gu Changyun and Xu Du were still in the bedroom.
There was already food on the table and not a single person was left to serve them.
Seeing Jiang Suzhou come in, the two bowed to him and Gu Changyun poured tea for him.
Jiang Suzhou sat down at the head of the table.
"Master said you were coming early in the morning, so this subordinate had someone make a dish of squirrel mandarin fish," Gu Changyun said with a smile as he moved the plate of fish in front of Jiang Suzhou.
"Would master like to try it?"
Jiang Suzhou couldn't help but feel a bit confused.
He didn't like to eat sweet things, especially sweet and sour Jiangnan dishes. After coming to Jiangnan for a few days, the food on the table in his room was mostly northern dishes.
Did the original host like to eat sweet things?
He looked suspiciously at Gu Changyun and saw Gu Changyun raise his eyebrows with a bit of surprise on his face.
"Master doesn't want to eat it?"
Jiang Suzhou didn't say anything and reached out with his chopsticks to pick up a piece of fish.
When the fish entered his mouth, there was a sweet taste that made Jiang Suzhou's brows wrinkle involuntarily.
His chopsticks paused.
Although the soul in King Jing's body was his, the body was still King Jing's. Other than experience, the only thing that could affect a person's taste was their taste buds. He didn't like to eat sweet things and didn't have any psychological barriers. Then his body's reaction to the fish with chopsticks must have come from his body.
The original host also didn't like to eat sweet things, so Gu Changyun's actions were clearly testing him.
Jiang Suzhou chewed a few times and then looked indifferently at Gu Changyun.
He saw Gu Changyun's face reveal a bit of a smile, like he was relieved of a burden after his doubts were dispelled.
Jiang Suzhou didn't say anything and just coldly looked at him with a bit of scrutiny and warning in his eyes.
Gu Changyun immediately sensed it. He blinked slightly and said with a smile, "Sure enough, Master still doesn't like sweet things. It's just a pity that this famous Jiangnan dish hasn't caught His Highness's eye for three years. "
Jiang Suizhou slowly put down his chopsticks.
"You have a lot of guts." He looked down at the table and said indifferently.
Gu Changyun looked at him without saying anything.
Jiang Suzhou asked, "Did you get the results you wanted?"
Gu Changyun paused for a moment and then chuckled.
"Master, what are you saying? This subordinate only saw that the mandarin fish that was delivered from the residence these past few days was fresh and wanted to have them cook it for Master to try. "
Jiang Suzhou's knuckles slowly tapped on the table.
If someone who knew him was here, they would definitely be able to tell that this was his habitual action when he saw through the other party's lies and thought of countermeasures.
Jiang Suizhou knew that they could tell that he wasn't the original owner.
He had mentally prepared himself. After all, these two people were the original owner's trusted aides. Even if they didn't know each other all the time, they definitely knew each other well. Since these two people could be taken in by the original owner, they definitely weren't ordinary people. If he wanted to fool them, it would be very difficult.
But he didn't think that the other party would start to test him the second time they met.
This proved that from the first time they met, these two people could tell that he was different from the original owner.
His knuckles tapped on the wooden table. The sound was soft and slow as it echoed through the silent room.
At this time, Xu Du who had been waiting on the side spoke.
"Master, forgive him. Chang Yun was just a bit naughty." He stood up.
Jiang Suizhou looked at him and saw Xu Du give him a deep bow.
"But Master, don't worry. No matter what happens, his loyalty to Master can be witnessed by the heavens and earth."
This was a show of loyalty.
Jiang Suizhou knew that he was telling him that no matter who he became, as long as he was still their master, they would be loyal to him.
He lowered his eyes and drank a mouthful of tea, suppressing the sweetness in his mouth.
There was no proof, so he naturally wouldn't believe it.
But he also knew that his identity was something that was clear between the three of them. He had given a warning and the other party had shown their loyalty. There was no use in forcing them now.
He needed facts to prove that Xu Du's loyalty was real or fake. Before this, what he needed to do was to find a way to restrain the other party so that they wouldn't betray him.
Jiang Suizhou picked up his chopsticks again as if the confrontation just now had never happened. He calmly talked to them about the letter he had received yesterday.
Xu Du and Gu Changyun also acted as if nothing had happened and carefully discussed the contents of the letter with him.
Just like the last time they met, these two people's thoughts were organized and logical. They also had their own opinions. When they proposed countermeasures, they were usually straight to the point. It was the same as Jiang Suizhou's analysis based on historical data.
It was as if he really was the original owner. He did his best without holding back at all.
Jiang Suizhou couldn't tell if they were deliberately pretending or if they really didn't care if the person in front of them was the original Imperial Prince Jing. But no matter what the reason was, the analysis they proposed was useful. After Jiang Suizhou considered it, he wrote down the parts that he thought were useful.
So after they finished eating and finished discussing all the big and small matters that had happened in the past few days, Jiang Suizhou got up and left.
— — Although it wasn't a big deal to spend a night here, he was now a person who had lost his identity. Just thinking about spending a night here with the original owner's subordinates, he felt that it was a very torturous thing.
The two people got up with him and saluted him as he left.
It wasn't until the servants escorted Jiang Suizhou out of the courtyard that the two people sat down at the table again.
Gu Changyun softly laughed.
"He found out." He said.
Xu Du looked at him disapprovingly, "I told you before not to tease him."
Gu Changyun raised an eyebrow.
"I just didn't expect him to be so sharp." He said. "But look, he didn't get angry either."
Xu Du glanced at him.
"Not necessarily." He said.
Gu Changyun laughed a few times.
"Who cares." He said. "I just want to see what this smart and soft-hearted new master will do next."
— —
Jiang Suizhou returned to the Concealment Hall, but he didn't return to his bedroom. Instead, he went to the study while it was still early.
Apart from the letters, there was also a lot of other information that could be found in the original owner's study. But because it was placed in an extremely secretive manner and there was a large number of them, Jiang Suizhou hadn't thoroughly checked the information in the original owner's study.
Now, he had a guess in his heart. He wanted to try and find something from the information stored in the study.
This search went on for four hours until it was almost midnight.
He found an account book that the original owner had stored in the depths of the desk.
There was nothing special about the account book, but Jiang Suizhou found that the amount of money in the account book was very large. Every time it was paid out, it was on the fifteenth of the month. And these silver taels were personally handed over to Xu Du by the original owner.
In addition, there was an expense in the account book. Although there was a slight fluctuation every month, the amount was very small.
Normally, such a small amount of money wouldn't be recorded by the original owner. Since it was recorded, then the use of the money must be very important.
Every month, the date of payment was also on the fifteenth.
Jiang Suizhou had a plan in his heart.
He thought for a long time until Meng Qianshan knocked on the door to remind him that it was late at night and he still had to go to court tomorrow. Only then did he put away the account book properly and returned to his bedroom.
At this time, it was already late at night. Most of the servants had already gone to bed, leaving only a few people on night duty.
Meng Qianshan opened the door for him. Jiang Suizhou stepped in and saw Huo Wujiu sitting under the lamp reading a book.
He frowned and supported his forehead with one hand. It seemed like he didn't understand the contents of the book and was a bit irritated.
Hearing the sound of movement at the door, Huo Wujiu looked up and saw Jiang Suizhou taking off his cloak as he walked into the room.
His eyes paused imperceptibly and stopped on Jiang Suizhou.
… Why did he come back?
Jiang Suizhou put his cloak in Meng Qianshan's hand and turned his head to see Huo Wujiu sitting there with a book in one hand. It was as if he didn't see him.
Jiang Suizhou felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
No matter how lazy he was in the Ministry of Rites, he still had to be on guard against his colleagues. He had to act as if he was Imperial Prince Jing at all times. Once he returned to his manor, the two subordinates with sharp eyes would be enough to deal with him.
On the other hand, Huo Wujiu ignored him all day and rarely spoke to him. He didn't even look at him. This made him feel relaxed.
Under this kind of atmosphere, Jiang Suizhou even vaguely felt the joy of returning home.
With this thought, Jiang Suizhou lightly sighed in self-mockery.
How much hardship did he have to suffer to think that Huo Wujiu was cute?
Hearing him sigh, Meng Qianshan only thought that he was tired. He hurriedly supported him and led him to the back room to wash up.
After the two figures disappeared behind the screen, Huo Wujiu, who had been staring at the book, slowly raised his eyes and looked at his back.
… This was a bit difficult.
This morning, when Huo Wujiu heard Meng Qianshan say something along the lines of, "He went to Madam Gu's place because of you", he thought that this eunuch was crazy. But now that it was so late at night and Prince Jing was rushing back, Huo Wujiu also felt that something was wrong.
It was one thing for this eunuch to like him, but now he didn't even care about his concubine and wanted to come back to sleep on his bed …
Huo Wujiu frowned and slowly tapped his finger on the wheelchair.
Could it really be because of him?
He never liked to owe people, whether it was material or emotional. Because of this, he especially hated it when people willingly gave him things that he didn't need. He never appreciated it.
For example, Imperial Prince Jing.
Huo Wujiu looked away and lowered his eyes again to look at the book in his hand.
This book was written by a great scholar of the Jing Dynasty. It was full of benevolence, righteousness, and morality. Huo Wujiu was already annoyed enough when he read this book. Now that Imperial Prince Jing suddenly came back, his mood should've worsened.
But when he looked at the book again, Huo Wujiu's brows inexplicably couldn't knit together anymore.
It was as if this pedantic and foolish Confucian scholar had suddenly become less detestable.