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

Chapter 292: Inside Story

Since the two of them didn't plan to stay here long, why go to all this trouble to deal with these things?

"fool."

Li Jingyang's originally serious expression softened when he met her curious face, and he gently tapped her forehead: "You've already done this, aren't you going to learn your lesson?"

"There was one Li Xiao Kui before, and there will be countless Li Xiao Kui after him."

Standing on high ground, Li Jingyang surveyed the entire mansion: "These things are impossible to guard against. Instead of being on high alert day and night, it's better to just flatten them and be done with it."

After thinking about it carefully, Lin Rusi realized that this made sense.

It's a real shame that so many secret passages and chambers were destroyed, given how much manpower and resources were used to build them.

"It's getting late, why aren't you resting? What are you doing here?" Li Jingyang finally shifted his gaze to her.

Upon seeing this, he couldn't help but frown: "The night wind is chilly, why don't you put on another layer of clothing?"

Lin Rusi's attention wasn't on whether or not to add more clothes. It was only after Li Jingyang's reminder that she remembered why she had sought him out, and she quickly steered the conversation back on track: "How do you plan to verify that bet...?"

Halfway through her sentence, Lin Rusi met Li Jingyang's smiling eyes and involuntarily recalled the bet he had mentioned, making it impossible for her to say the rest of her words.

Pah, that's vulgar.

Li Jingyang waved her hand, and someone quickly stepped forward and handed her a note.

“Look, As.”

Li Jingyang looked at her leisurely: "It was brought in just a stick of incense's time ago."

"What is this?" Could it be that this guy has already sent someone to investigate Li Xiao Kui?

There's a result so quickly?

Lin Rusi looked suspicious, took the note, and glanced at it casually.

The paper contained a simple sentence: "Su can be seen ten miles south of the city, Li Xiao Kui."

Sure enough it was him!

"This guy actually had the nerve to send a message back."

Upon seeing this, Lin Rusi waved the note and pouted, saying, "However, I won. Li Xiaokui has already rescued Prefect Su."

"Asi, you may have some misunderstanding about the word 'save'."

Li Jingyang seemed to have already guessed the contents of the note: "We'll only know the truth when we see it for ourselves."

"Then let's go see. I'd like to know what kind of trouble this guy is up to." Lin Rusi stood up angrily, her face extremely ugly.

Li Jingyang's words made her think that Li Xiaokui might have other reasons for doing this, but what is it that can't be told to them directly?

"Why are you still so reckless?"

Li Jingyang pulled her back with a mixture of helplessness and affection: "The letter was written by Li Xiaokui. How do you know it wasn't written under duress? We should find out the truth first."

Lin Rusi knew he was right, so she had no choice but to patiently wait for the person who went to gather information to return.

The address mentioned on the note was not far from Suzhou city and was in a very conspicuous location.

A few hours later, the guard who went to check returned with shocking news.

The Suzhou prefect, who was robbed by Li Xiao Kui, was castrated and dumped behind a hill ten miles outside Suzhou.

When they found the man, the Suzhou prefect had been tortured beyond recognition.

His limbs were broken and crushed, and he had only a few teeth left. His face was covered in bruises, and he appeared to be mentally unstable.

Beneath him, a long stream of blood meandered, soaking through his clothes and seeping into the soil.

The guard intended to bring the Suzhou prefect back, but when he found him, the prefect was already barely breathing; he turned over and died instantly.

Upon hearing the report, Lin Rusi remained silent for a long time. What kind of deep-seated hatred could make Li Xiaokui hate the Suzhou prefect to such an extent?

Was it just because she forced him to kidnap the two of them?

Li Jingyang sent out two groups of people: one group went to find the Suzhou prefect according to the address on the note, and the other group inquired about the situation in the vicinity of that address and searched for Li Xiaokui's whereabouts.

Surprisingly, not long after the first group returned, the second group appeared.

After taking the Suzhou prefect away and torturing him to death, Li Xiao Kui made no attempt to conceal his whereabouts and directly exposed his location to the guards.

He took Prefect Su away without consulting the two of them, and even if it was to kill him, it remained a thorn in Lin Rusi's side.

Upon learning Li Xiao Kui's location, Lin Ru Si didn't hesitate any longer and went straight there.

This time, Li Jingyang didn't stop him. Instead, he ordered a carriage to be prepared and they rode out of Suzhou at full speed.

In a small tavern at the corner of Lingzhou City, Li Xiao Kui was drinking himself into a stupor while holding a wine jar.

When Lin Rusi and the other person arrived, he was lying on the table, mumbling a name indistinctly.

Although Li Xiao Kui came from a wealthy family, perhaps because he had spent a lot of time with bandits, his image in Lin Ru Si's mind had always been that of a carefree and easygoing person. This was the first time she had ever seen him drowning his sorrows in alcohol like this.

"Wake up, wake up." Lin Rusi picked up the chopsticks from the table and poked his face.

Li Xiao Kui mumbled twice, showing no intention of getting up.

"Forget it, let's just carry him back." Lin Rusi said helplessly. She paid for his drinks and then called to the accompanying guards to help him onto the carriage.

The trip to Lingzhou Prefecture was brief, both in arrival and departure.

Lin Rusi, who had been coming to see what was going on, didn't have the heart to stay this time. She frowned all the way and started staring blankly at Li Xiaokui.

Li Jingyang sat next to her. At first, he only felt that the atmosphere in the car was dull, but after a while, he felt that something was wrong.

He couldn't help but glance at Lin Rusi first, then at Li Xiaokui, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

The princess has been staring at this boy for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Should he forcefully wake the kid up and then kick him off the carriage?

"What are you thinking about?"

Feeling a pang of sadness, Li Jingyang casually moved next to Lin Rusi, then stretched out his long arm and put it on her shoulder through her back.

Lin Rusi was preoccupied and didn't notice his little actions: "Did you hear what he was saying?"

Li Jingyang immediately felt depressed. Just because of this little thing?

His princess hasn't even glanced at him since she got into the car.

"Ignore him."

Li Jingyang secretly kicked Li Xiaokui, his expression extremely resentful: "If you want to ask anything, just ask him when he wakes up."

"Since this kid deliberately exposed his whereabouts and let us find him, he was already planning to tell us the truth."

Upon hearing this, Lin Rusi realized that it did indeed make sense.

Only then did she notice Li Jingyang's arm around her shoulder. She glanced at him sideways and smiled.

This man is clearly jealous, but he's pretending to be nonchalant, which is actually kind of cute!

However, Lin Rusi shook her head inwardly, but did not intend to expose him.