"How did you determine that Wang Er was a problem?" Mu Hanzhang went to Jing Shao and asked after Jiang Lang left. Everything had been perfectly fine, so why did he suddenly decide to investigate a bookkeeping scribe?
Jing Shao reached out to hold Mu Hanzhang tightly with one arm around his waist as he wrote a letter to his father to let the latter know that he was safe. "I saw his shifty eyes today, and I became suspicious." In fact, he hadn't seen Wang Er's face at all; such a majestic Cheng Wang wouldn't admit that he had done it in order to get rid of the lecher who coveted his Wang Fei!
The body in his arms had the light fragrance of medicine. Jing Shao hadn't liked the scent of medicine before, but when applied on his Wang Fei and it mixed with his natural scent, it unexpectedly smelled very nice. He couldn't help but bury his nose in his clothes and take a deep breath.
Tickled, Mu Hanzhang struggled out of his arms and sat to the side. "Are you reporting the abnormal movements of the Southeast King to Imperial Father?"
"En." Jing Shao wasn't satisfied with the meager amount of tofu he had managed to steal. He couldn't do anything about it, however, as his Wang Fei was sitting to the side; if he reached out to take him into his embrace from this angle, he wouldn't be able to write, so Jing Shao could only leave it for now, and earnestly finish writing the letter as soon as possible.
"You should mention Hao Dadao's merits and the bravery of the Shu army," Mu Hanzhang said, after taking a look at what Jing Shao had written.
"The Shu army?" Jing Shao looked at him doubtfully. Hao Dadao's meritorious service and family background were things he had been about to mention. He also hoped his Imperial Father would officially bestow the title of general on Hao Dadao, but what was with the Shu army? They had simply fought under Hao Dadao, and were no different from the Hunan and Guizhou armies. Why should he bring them up in particular?
Mu Hanzhang smiled and said, "Did Wang Ye forget that the Shu army was still fighting the northern barbarians with the first prince in Yunnan-Tibet previously?"
The Shu army had originally been ordered to go rescue the eldest prince. After Jing Rong was rescued, he took the Shu army to attack the northern barbarians again, and as expected, had little to show for it. When the battle against the southwest began, Emperor Hong Zheng transferred the Shu army back under Jing Shao's command to fight the southwestern vassals, leaving only the troops of General Zhengdong, who had initially been assigned to the eldest prince, to continue the struggle in the north.
When Jing Shao heard this, he frowned and pondered. If he praised the bravery of the Shu army, Emperor Hong Zheng would consider how the Shu army hadn't achieved anything in the hands of the eldest prince, and a comparison of the two situations would clearly show who was superior.
"Jun Qing... thank god you didn't marry someone else!" Jing Shao said slowly, after a moment of silence.
Mu Hanzhang shook his head and sighed. "Even if I married someone else, I would never help them with all my heart like this." I'm afraid it's hard to find someone else like you in this world, who dotes on me and always believes in me. He didn't say the last sentence out loud, and just looked at Jing Shao quietly. Seeing the other man about to open his mouth, he couldn't help reaching out to pinch his cheek.
"Naturally, there's no one in the imperial family more handsome than I am," Jing Shao said proudly.
Mu Hanzhang was immediately amused, and chuckled. "In the imperial family, there's no one with thicker skin than you."
The two people chatted and teased each other, and finally finished the letter informing the emperor of their safety. The left protectorate general then arrived to report the results of the interrogation.
