After refusing marriage, she was pampered by the prince who acted as a shield.

Chapter 291: It's Li Xiao Kui

"The prefect of Suzhou has been arrested, but we don't know who he is or where he is yet."

Lin Rusi listened quietly, her beautiful eyes suddenly lighting up: "So that means there's no one to be the prefect of Suzhou now?"

Ye Qing was taken aback, then nodded: "Your Highness, you intend to..."

“What Prefect Su did in Suzhou was disrespectful to the people and the Emperor. Naturally, we must collect evidence and search through Prefect Su’s residence to see if there is any evidence. We cannot let any evidence slip by.”

Ye Qing looked at his lord in confusion, then realized what he meant and quickly nodded: "Yes, yes, I understand. I will take men to search Prefect Su's residence."

As Ye Qing left, Li Jingyang turned around and met the little girl's bright eyes, noticing her pretty pupils darting around.

I knew then that she had a plan in mind.

"Tell me, what do you want to do?"

"Your Highness, would you like to come along and see just how much that dog of a prefect has embezzled?"

Lin Rusi was indignant, and Li Jingyang naturally wouldn't refuse. The two of them, together, led men to the residence of the Suzhou prefect overnight. Even Lin Rusi was amazed by the wealth that the prefect had accumulated over the years.

She had long suspected that this Prefect Su must have embezzled a great deal of money over the years; otherwise, how could he possibly have so much gold and silver jewelry in his home?

Given Prefect Su's official rank, even if he didn't spend a single penny of his monthly salary, he wouldn't be able to save up this much over the years!

"Don't be angry. We don't know who kidnapped him. I'll have someone investigate after this is over."

Lin Rusi nodded without saying anything more.

It would be somewhat unreasonable if it were a spy from an enemy country who kidnapped the person, since Prefect Su's actions have already been exposed, and no one in the city would believe him anymore.

Even if you kidnap him, he can't do anything.

Li Jingyang pursed his thin lips slightly, a thoughtful look appearing in his eyes.

The two men found a pile of valuables in Prefect Su's house. Li Jingyang asked indifferently, "Asi, what do you plan to do with these?"

“Since it was embezzled from the people, then it should be returned to the people. The city is currently lacking food and clothing, so this large sum of embezzled money can be considered compensation for the people.”

"Very well, I will have them exchange all this money for grain and the like."

Soon, Li Jingyang's men exchanged all the valuables and distributed them to the people of Suzhou.

Ye Qing led his men to search, and soon they found clues.

"Your Highness, someone saw men in black appearing near Prefect Su's government office that night, and Prefect Su disappeared after that day."

"Men in black?" Lin Rusi frowned.

Not long ago, there were several incidents involving spies, so Li Jingyang had already set up layers of guards, and no suspicious persons were allowed within a ten-mile radius.

What kind of man in black is he? Does he have the ability to take Prefect Su away from so many people surrounding him?

The guards searched almost the entire city of Suzhou, but found no trace of any suspicious persons entering or leaving.

Could it be that it was done by their own people?

“It’s not hard to guess, actually.” Li Jingyang’s gaze remained fixed on the ledger, without moving an inch.

"You have an idea?" This man always had such a calm face, which made Lin Rusi feel annoyed. She really wanted to punch him a couple of times to see if he would still be so calm.

What ideas could he possibly have?

They've been together almost all these past few days. Is there anything that Li Jingyang knows but she doesn't?

“Suzhou is not a city that is easy to enter or leave now. If someone wants to sneak out, they must be someone with some serious skills.” Li Jingyang rubbed his eyes, picked up the teacup next to him and took a sip. “Suzhou has long been under our control. Besides the people we brought, there is another group with such skills.”

He suddenly stopped halfway through his sentence.

Lin Rusi remembered this quite well: "Tell me who it is!"

Li Jingyang tapped the table lightly with his fingertips, enunciating each word clearly: "Li, Xiao, Kui".

"he?"

Lin Rusi was surprised and suddenly turned to look at the guard standing to the side: "Go and check Li Xiao Kui's residence."

After leaving the mountain stronghold, Li Xiao Kui behaved very well. Coupled with his arduous trip to Lingzhou and his subsequent efforts to help arrange refugees upon his return, Lin Ru Si had unconsciously come to regard him as one of her own.

Just now, Li Jingyang mentioned another group of people besides himself and his group, but she never thought of Li Xiao Kui at all.

My heart suddenly felt heavy; it seemed that my trust had been betrayed once again.

This feeling is truly unpleasant.

A short while later, the guards who went to Li Xiao Kui's residence returned with the news: "Your Highness, Your Highness, Your Highness, Li Xiao Kui and the others have disappeared. Their luggage, valuables, and personal belongings have all been packed away."

Lin Rusi's heart sank to the bottom.

Could it be that even those words spoken in the mountain stronghold were just an act?

Lee Siu-kwai truly has excellent acting skills.

"There's no need for that."

Seemingly noticing her disappointment, Li Jingyang pinched her cheek: "Perhaps, this time it's not betrayal?"

"Your attempt at comforting me is really lacking in skill." Lin Rusi slapped his hand away in frustration. "You know what kind of person Prefect Su is. He even saved my face. Isn't that betrayal?"

"How about we make a bet?"

Li Jingyang's hand, which had been knocked away, came back up: "If Li Xiaokui really wants to save Prefect Su, then you win, and I will grant you one condition, any condition."

so generous?

Lin Rusi looked at him suspiciously: "You would be so kind?"

"What's wrong with fulfilling a small request from my own princess?" Li Jingyang said nonchalantly, smiling as he watched her.

Lin Rusi felt uneasy under his gaze.

But upon closer reflection, she realized that the person had already been rescued, so she couldn't just give up like that, could she?

"Don't smile so creepily, what if I lose?" Lin Rusi reached out and messed up the creepy smile on his face.

"If the princess loses, tonight..." Li Jingyang grabbed her as she tried to run away, leaned close to her ear, and smiled maliciously.

Lin Rusi's face flushed red instantly. She slapped Li Jingyang across the face and pushed him away, saying, "What are you doing in broad daylight? Stay away from me."

That shameless bastard dares to say anything. Does he think all these guards here are dead?

The guards lowered their heads and looked down, wishing they could see the flowers on their toes.

Stay calm, you'll get used to it.

Lin Rusi was unsure how Li Jingyang intended to verify this by setting up such a bet.

Unable to sit still, Lin Rusi rushed to the yamen to find Li Jingyang, only to find him gone. After inquiring around, she learned that he was at the residence of Prefect Su, directing his men to fill in the secret passage.

She ran over and saw Li Jingyang directing the crowd to knock down the secret room where Prefect Su had imprisoned the two of them when they first arrived.

"Why did you suddenly decide to undertake such a large project?" She knew that the mansion had extremely complex secret passages.