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After a while, she looked up, her eyes sparkling as she gazed at the Emperor, "Your Majesty, did you walk too fast just now? You’ve sweated, and there’s sweat sticking to the hair on your neck. May I help you straighten it out?"

This was the second time she had seen His Majesty with less than perfect poise, and it seemed every time was for her...

"Hmm." The Emperor’s lips curved upward, unable to resist bending down to kiss her. After the kiss, he slightly bowed his head and let her take care of him.

Lian Hua bit her lip, her face flushed, took out a handkerchief, and began to earnestly help the Emperor wipe his sweat and straighten his hair, much like a wife tending to her husband, a tender warmth flowing between them.

After she had finished arranging, Lian Hua’s mood also returned to normal. She looked around and said, "Eh, where is the tied-up man?"

Only then did she realize that the tied-up person was gone, and the Serpent scattered on the ground was also missing. She couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious; it had not been easy to capture him, and they shouldn’t let him escape.

The Emperor quickly calmed her by saying gently, "Darling, the villains have all been caught, don’t worry. Let me call someone over, and you can ask them."

While saying this, he shouted toward the distance, "Cao De." That fellow had good insight, and the people repairing the Main Hall had already been moved elsewhere by him.

Speaking of Cao De, before the Emperor had called him, he was standing in the distance, idly chewing on a blade of grass, bored out of his mind, almost turning into a longing statue.

He inwardly grumbled, the Emperor really had a hard time, how could he take so long to comfort someone. That Little Beauty instantly transformed from a tiger to a cat in front of the Emperor, really, it was enviable.

This is probably what love is like, being able to show weakness in front of the one you love, freely shedding the hard armor you wear.

How wonderful it would be if the person he liked could do the same. He also wanted a day when he could slowly comfort that person, but that person was so free and easy; he had never seen them cry. In front of that person, it was he who became the cat, alas.

He glanced over at where the Emperor and the Little Beauty were, still not finished, hugging and embracing each other. Tsk, he might as well keep waiting.

Looking at the few men in front of him with bruised noses and swollen faces, these were the ones that Little Beauty had ordered to be tied up.

Little Beauty was still too merciful; these men only had a foul sock stuffed in their mouths and no other injuries.

He couldn’t stand it and had someone rough them up a bit more.

Looking at the burly man who now looked pitiful, with one side of his eye already black and blue. Tsk, really pitiful, he might as well give a hand.

As soon as he said he’d help, Cao De lifted his foot and kicked the other eye of the burly man, feeling much more satisfied after doing so. Now both sides were symmetrical.

"Ancestral Master, my men have already searched once and found nothing unusual. The people repairing the Main Hall are all accounted for; should we take them all back now?" A plain-looking, energetic young man asked respectfully, his vibrant spirit betraying a hint of distinction.

Aside from Cao De, the Ancestral Master, everyone else in the Internal Guard Bureau, from top to bottom, had extremely ordinary appearances, like a grain of sand in the sea, indistinguishable once thrown into the crowd, and very inconspicuous.

This had been specifically arranged by the Emperor and Cao De when they first established it, to facilitate covert operations, and it had remained this way ever since.

The title of Ancestral Master for Cao De dates back to a long time ago when the Internal Guard Bureau was covertly established by the Emperor—who was then the Crown Prince—as he often found himself in difficult situations.

He entrusted the whole Internal Guard Bureau to Cao De, who managed everything from its establishment to the selection and training of personnel; it could be said that Cao De is indeed the Ancestral Master of the Internal Guard Bureau.

After Cao De retired, the people of the Internal Guard Bureau respectfully addressed him as Ancestral Master. He was young-looking and handsome; even in his twenties, he still looked youthful and took advantage of this in the eyes of young women and wives.

Having heard the spirited young man’s words, Cao De removed the grass from his mouth and asked indifferently, "How was the Serpent brought in? Did you find any clues or traces?"

The spirited young man looked troubled and said, "I am incompetent, Sir, and have not yet found anything. Those repairing the Main Hall are searched when they come and go. Moreover, it’s impossible to carry a live Serpent on one’s person, so I suspect there might be an insider who helped smuggle it in.

Once I bring the suspects back for a thorough interrogation, I will surely get to the bottom of this. "

Cao De sighed, shook his head, and thought to himself, This apprentice really isn’t up to snuff.

Bored, he glanced at the spirited young man and prodded the man in front of him with the grass, saying, "Go back and take ten lashes. Once your buttocks bloom, your brain will open up."

The spirited young man looked up in astonishment. He hadn’t done anything wrong, had he?

Cao De squinted his eyes, looking like a fox, and said impatiently, "Fifteen lashes. Any more and you’d have to lie in bed to recover, and I’d waste silver on your upkeep.

These days are times of peace, and torturing isn’t in vogue anymore.

Use your head. If you can’t carry it on your person, couldn’t it be smuggled in something else?

You must not merely search the surface, search more meticulously. "

One thinks that just interrogating will solve everything. If you don’t use your brain, how can that work? Even an interrogation needs some evidence, otherwise, how much they hide, you wouldn’t know and wouldn’t know where to start!

As for what was used to carry it, he had seen it early on while he was glancing around, but he just wanted to see how long it would take for the Internal Guard Bureau’s blockheads to figure it out.

Looking at the situation, it did not look promising. Oh dear, if they were this unintelligent, wouldn’t he end up losing regarding Imperial Doctor Wang’s matter?

The Emperor had better coax his Little Beauty soon, for he was still waiting to report back and take care of major matters!

The spirited young man seemed to understand somewhat and nodded as he left. The Ancestral Master still cared about him, after all—just fifteen lashes, no need to recuperate in bed.

Cao De looked at the person tied up and gagged, and he was increasingly perplexed by that Little Beauty. She looked as meek as a lamb, acted recklessly, yet somehow, everything turned out just right because of her blunders.

Take for instance how Little Beauty had these few people tied up and stripped of their outer garments. At first, he thought Little Beauty was merely playing peevishly, but upon closer inspection, he discovered the oddities.

The craftsmen were soaked in sweat daily, their undergarments yellowing and blackening.

Unlike these people, who only dressed up superficially; their robes looked similar to a craftsman’s, but stripping them revealed pristine undergarments, clean with fine materials, a stark contrast to the worn undergarments that a true craftsman wouldn’t even discard.

Little Beauty was quite sharp to notice all this and with just a few people, somehow managed to subdue the craftsmen, guards, and staff from the Interior Work Department, letting none escape. Tsk tsk, impressive. One must not underestimate Little Beauty going forward.

Everyone here will certainly need to be brought back for thorough investigation. Better to wrongfully kill than to let them go; even if the guards and Interior Work Department staff are found innocent, they must be investigated for their oversight!

Cao De lowered his gaze in deep thought, pondering who could possess such ability to breach multiple defenses and send a poisonous insect into the palace...

Just then, he heard the Emperor’s voice, perking up instantly. Ah, finally, he was being summoned.

He was still awaiting to quickly report back, guide the investigators of Imperial Doctor Wang a bit more, and then interrogate the people caught by Little Beauty. He was planning to attack from both ends.

He had already thought of trying Little Beauty’s method, feeding the Serpent to these few people to see the effect, already somewhat impatient to start.