Great, it's just a lackey, we're saved!

Chapter 262 The Crown Prince shall never be coerced!

Zhou Wei rushed out the door and immediately saw someone being held down by A Bao's huge claws.

It was the steward from the Prince's mansion who had visited the courtyard yesterday!

Yesterday, the manager was all meek and humble.

Unexpectedly, he turned around and treated Abao harshly, not letting Abao eat his fill.

Now they're even so bold as to spy on the crown prince. Who gave them the guts?

The princess raised her eyes and glanced at the sky. The sky was beginning to lighten, and it was almost dawn.

The servants in the Prince's mansion also woke up one after another, preparing for the new day's work.

The manager was held down by Ah Bao, who kept shouting.

The sound carried far, causing a commotion outside the courtyard.

Before Zhou Wei could interrogate him, Guan threatened, "Release me immediately, or you'll never leave the palace!"

Zhou Wei sneered: "Can't leave the Prince's mansion? What, is this Spirit Prince's mansion under your control, you old hag?"

"You call this a royal palace a den of dragons and tigers? Are you the steward of the palace or a local thug?"

The steward was unable to move as Ah Bao held him down.

She could only continue cursing: "Who do you care who I am? Even the Spirit King wouldn't dare to be presumptuous in front of me, how dare you, a mere lowly servant, lay a hand on me?"

The eldest princess then said, "If Commander Zhou can't lay a hand on you, then what about me?"

"According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, what is the punishment for spying on the Crown Prince?"

"Their entire family should be executed!" Zhou Wei said slowly and deliberately.

The princess and Zhou Wei worked together, but they failed to scare off the steward.

He looked at the eldest princess with a mocking expression: "What kind of crown prince are you? A bastard of unknown origin..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was slapped hard across the face.

Seeing stars after being hit, the manager glared angrily at Zhou Wei.

"You lowly servant, how dare you hit me? Do you even know who I am?"

"I don't care who you are. You're full of foul language and dare to disrespect the Crown Princess. You deserve to die."

The steward's face was swollen on one side. Hearing the commotion outside, he knew that someone was rushing towards this courtyard.

He became even more arrogant: "This is Ningzhou, this is the Lingwang Mansion. No matter who you are, you must abide by the rules of Ningzhou."

After saying that, the steward looked at Jiang Yueli with disdain.

"Crown Prince? Ha! How laughable! You, a mere woman, dare to call yourself Crown Prince?"

Seeing that he was still speaking rudely, Zhou Wei drew the National Fortune Dagger and pointed it at the steward.

Are you really not afraid of death?

The steward showed no fear whatsoever, and even said with a hint of smugness, "Do you dare kill me? If you kill me, I'm afraid the princess will never be able to resolve her doubts for the rest of her life."

Zhou Wei was startled upon hearing this.

He looked at the manager with some suspicion: "What do you mean?"

“It’s nothing,” the steward said, though he was lying on the ground, his posture was still arrogant. “Didn’t you all go to the small courtyard in the west and see what happened?”

"If you kill me, I guarantee you'll never know the truth for the rest of your lives!"

Zhou Wei felt a surge of anger; she could not tolerate the manager's provocation.

But she knew that the eldest princess desperately wanted to know the truth and where her father, the emperor, was.

Judging from the manager's tone, he clearly knew the inside story.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have blurted out that Jiang Yueli was a bastard!

Zhou Wei turned to look at the Princess, having already decided that if the Princess prioritized the truth, then she would temporarily suppress her anger and spare this man's life.

To Zhou Wei's surprise, when she turned around, she saw a cold and indifferent face.

"Abao, kill him!"

Upon hearing the princess's command, the steward's arrogant expression froze on his face.

He looked incredulous, thinking he had misheard.

"Jiang Yueli, how dare you kill me? Aren't you afraid of being kept in the dark forever?"

The eldest princess said coldly, "Listen carefully, I am the Crown Prince of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and I will never be coerced by anyone!"

As the princess spoke, she squatted down and looked directly into the steward's eyes.

"I know your identity is extraordinary, and you probably know many secrets, but so what?"

"I will show you today that anyone who dares to threaten me will face certain death."

The steward never imagined that the princess would go so insane.

Just now, when he was eavesdropping, Jiang Yueli's emotions were already in a state of near collapse because a corner of the truth had been accidentally torn away.

In order to find the real Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, he couldn't wait to return to the capital.

How did you become so cold-blooded in the blink of an eye?

The person in charge was unaware, but Zhou Wei knew.

There are three kinds of people in this world: men, women, and emperors.

To be a qualified emperor, one must set aside human emotions and only consider advantages and disadvantages.

No matter how much the steward knows, it can't compare to his current provocation of the crown prince's authority.

Jiang Yueli is already going further and further down the path to becoming an emperor!

"There are so many secrets in this world, who can know them all?"

Jiang Yueli's voice grew increasingly cold as she glanced at A Bao.

He ordered, "Kill him!"

This time, before the manager could even utter a sound, Ah Bao slapped him on the head.

Po's palm strike could shatter a giant tree, let alone a flesh and blood body.

This slap was also somewhat influenced by Ah Bao's personal grudge, since the manager had been withholding its food.

When the people from the Prince's Mansion rushed into the courtyard, what they saw was the steward's corpse and his mangled head.

The Prince's guards stared at the corpse on the ground, stunned.

Huo Shan, the clerk following behind, was so shocked that he retreated repeatedly, his face turning pale.

"You...you actually killed the manager?"

Huo Shan felt as if his father had died, and almost collapsed to the ground.

He was beaten with a stick, and when he got back, he told the steward that the princess was not to be trifled with, and that no matter what he did, he should not be too aggressive.

Unexpectedly, the manager had been running rampant in Lingzhou for years and had long forgotten what fear was.

That torturous method was actually used on the eldest princess again!

What Huo Shan didn't expect was that Jiang Yueli actually dared to kill someone directly.

This is much harder to handle than her two older brothers!

The princess scanned the faces of everyone in the Prince's mansion, and none of them dared to meet her gaze.

Zhou Wei stepped forward and said, "The steward of the Prince's mansion, who spyed on the Crown Prince, should have his entire family executed!"

"However, the Crown Princess is merciful. Out of respect for Prince Ling and Prince Nie, she only executed him."

After Zhou Wei finished speaking, she looked at Huo Shan.

"Lord Huo, the steward is dead, and you are the only one I recognize. You should order someone to remove the body and clean the courtyard as well. The Crown Princess is kind and cannot stand the smell of blood."

Upon hearing this, Huo Shan couldn't help but tremble.

He killed someone in a short time and then claimed he couldn't stand the smell of blood?

Huo Shan had never seen such a master and servant before; their words and actions were like those of completely different people.

He was only momentarily stunned when he heard Zhou Wei let out a disgruntled snort.

Huo Shan immediately ordered, "Quickly, carry her away and clean the courtyard with clean water for Her Highness the Crown Princess."

After saying that, he turned to Zhou Wei and said, "Commander Zhou, this place is in a mess. Why don't you ask Her Highness to go back to her room to rest?"

"Once the cleanup is complete, I will immediately invite Your Highness over."

Zhou Wei looked at Huo Shan with a smile: "Huo Diancheng, I still prefer your unruly attitude."

After saying that, he helped Jiang Yueli back to her room.

Listening to the noise outside, Zhou Wei sighed: "This steward must know a lot of things. Judging from the reactions of Dianjun and Huo Shan, he is probably the one who is truly in charge of this Prince's Mansion."

The eldest princess nodded: "I suspect that he is someone close to the emperor in the palace."

This conjecture makes sense; only those trusted by the fake emperor could know many secrets.

That's why they dare to be so arrogant and disregard Jiang Yueli, the Crown Princess.

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Wei suggested, "Princess, the steward is dead, and this lead has been cut off."

"The information we have now is too conflicting. I think we need to ask Mr. Tan to take charge."

"Tan Lin?" The eldest princess frowned. "What makes him so special? Aren't you smarter than Tan Lin, Weiwei?"

Zhou Wei chuckled to herself; Jiang Yueli actually thought highly of her.

"Princess, the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion is skilled in divination and strategic games. They deduce the secrets of heaven and play games with people's hearts."

“I’ve heard Mr. Tan say that the true successors of Zhengshan Academy are skilled in logical reasoning, which is very different from deducing heavenly secrets.”

"Simply put, Tan Lin can quickly unravel complex and tedious clues, and deduce the outcome of events based on basic logic."

"The things Tan Lin learned are also known to people in our area; they require extremely strong logical reasoning and analytical skills."

In this regard, Zhou Wei only knows the basics.

If we want to use the two games played by the eldest prince and the second prince as a premise to deduce more truths.

Inviting Tan Lin is a perfect match for his expertise!