Volume 1, Chapter 19: Low-Profile Development

"Her Royal Highness?"

As the voices of the crowd rose, the smile on Song Fanghuai’s face froze instantly.

A princess! She... she was a princess? How could a good-for-nothing like Shen Ji be mixed up with a princess? Could it be that she had come to deliver an imperial decree, stripping Shen Ji of his status and reducing him to a commoner?

Impossible! There was no precedent for a princess to personally deliver such a decree.

"I pay my respects to... Her Royal Highness..."

While Song Fanghuai was still lost in a daze, the bodyguards who had regrouped around him felt their legs go weak. They knelt down, burying their heads low, their bodies trembling uncontrollably. Song Fanghuai stared at Ning Shu with wide eyes, unable to believe the truth for a long time.

After a long pause, he finally regained his senses and asked tentatively, "Magistrate Feng, could you have... made a mistake?"

*Like hell I made a mistake!* Magistrate Feng had already met this princess yesterday afternoon. How could he be mistaken?

Feng Min cursed silently in his heart, then snapped sternly, "Bold, Song Fanghuai! How dare you not show proper respect when in the presence of Her Royal Highness?"

"Magistrate Feng, you had best double-check!" Song Fanghuai was still unwilling to give up. "Shen Ji is capable of anything to save his own skin! He could easily have found someone to impersonate a princess! Magistrate, don't be fooled by their petty tricks!"

It wasn't that Song Fanghuai didn't believe Ning Shu was a princess; it was that he couldn't believe a failure like Shen Ji could possibly have any connection to one. How could Shen Ji be worthy of such a relationship? It had to be a fake! This princess was likely a fraud! Since Shen Ji was bold enough to post fake imperial notices, it wasn't beyond him to hire an imposter.

"It seems you won't give up until you see the coffin," Ning Shu said coldly. She produced a golden medallion and looked at Song Fanghuai with a faint, mocking smile. "Is this also a fake?"

The Imperial Golden Medallion!

Song Fanghuai’s heart skipped a beat. It was real! She really was a princess. The strength seemed to drain from his body in an instant. His knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the ground with a thud, his entire frame shaking. "I, a commoner, Song Fanghuai, pay my respects to Her Royal Highness..."

Song Fanghuai bowed his head, frozen in place, not daring to lift his forehead from the ground. He had already offended the princess once. Now, he had gone and accused her of being a fraud? Wasn't that digging his own grave? Yet, he still couldn't fathom how Shen Ji could be in her company.

"Song Fanghuai, do you know your crime?" Ning Shu put away the medallion, her gaze cold as she looked down at him.

"This commoner knows his crime," Song Fanghuai’s voice trembled. "This commoner was blind and offended Her Royal Highness. I beg the Princess..."

"That is not what I am referring to!" Ning Shu interrupted him coldly. "Are you not aware of what you yourself have done?"

*What I have done?* Song Fanghuai’s heart pounded. Could the Princess have discovered the dealings between the Song family and the Fire Worshiping Cult? That was impossible! How could she know about that? Had something gone wrong on Qingwu’s end? If that were true, what was he to do?

*I cannot admit it! Absolutely not!* That was a capital offense punishable by death.

"This commoner is dull-witted; I ask the Princess to enlighten me." Song Fanghuai suppressed his fear, deciding to keep his mouth shut. Perhaps the Princess was talking about something else. He must not confess to anything voluntarily!

"I must say, not only are you bold, but you are also remarkably tight-lipped," Ning Shu said, looking him up and down. "It is no wonder the authorities had no idea you were secretly colluding with the Fire Worshiping Cult."

What? It really was that matter? Something had gone wrong! Something had happened to Qingwu! Song Fanghuai felt a buzzing in his head, cold sweat drenching his body. *It’s over! What do I do now?* He struggled to force himself to remain calm, but his trembling body betrayed his state of mind.

Just as Song Fanghuai was desperately searching for a way out, Shen Ji suddenly looked at Feng Min. "Magistrate Feng, why are you so nervous?"

*Nervous?* What nonsense! Imperial merchants were strictly screened, yet the imperial merchant of Qingzhou had been colluding with the Fire Worshiping Cult. As the Magistrate of Qingzhou, he hadn't noticed a thing. He was surely going to be implicated by the Song family; how could he not be nervous?

As he thought about this, Feng Min shuddered. *No! This bastard is trying to frame me!*

Feng Min cursed Shen Ji’s ancestors in his heart while putting on a look of profound shame. "This humble official is not nervous. It is just that regarding the Song family’s collusion with the Fire Worshiping Cult, I failed in my duties, and I am deeply ashamed!"

As he spoke, he continued to berate Shen Ji’s entire lineage in his mind. *I’m already being implicated, you bastard—stop adding fuel to the fire!* A mere oversight might result in demotion, but if the imperial court decided he was in league with the Song family, it would mean the execution of his entire clan!

Shen Ji grinned, deciding not to press Feng Min any further. He hadn't expected to bring Feng Min down with this, but making him uncomfortable was satisfaction enough.

Seeing that Shen Ji had ceased his pestering, Feng Min felt a slight sense of relief. He turned his anger toward Song Fanghuai. "Bold, Song Fanghuai! How dare you collude with the Fire Worshiping Cult! Who else are your accomplices? Tell the truth immediately!"

Song Fanghuai jumped, wailing at the top of his lungs, "I am... falsely accused! This is a slander! Shen Ji has a grudge against us and is deliberately slandering us. He wants to destroy our family and ruin our lives..." He continued to kowtow and beg the Princess to "investigate the matter clearly."

*Yes!* That was it—Shen Ji was slandering them! If he didn't admit it, there was still a sliver of hope. If he confessed, there would be no way out. He had to determine if the problem truly stemmed from Song Qingwu, or if the Princess had simply been misled by Shen Ji’s lies. If it were the latter, he could still fight back and deny everything. If it were the former, then everything was truly lost.

Watching Song Fanghuai’s clumsy performance, Shen Ji almost laughed. *He’s still trying to pin it on me? What a talent!* Had he not even considered that Song Qingwu and those from the Fire Worshiping Cult had already been arrested?

"Song Fanghuai!" Feng Min roared. "You are at death’s door, and you still dare to try and slander the young marquis?"

"Magistrate, I am innocent! I am truly innocent!" Song Fanghuai wailed, turning his focus to Shen Ji. "Young Marquis, what have the Song family ever done to you? Why are you so malicious, determined to drive us to our deaths?"

"That’s right, I do want to destroy you!" Shen Ji did not deny it. "It’s thanks to your collusion with the Fire Worshiping Cult that I even have this opportunity!"

"Slander! This is all slander!" Song Fanghuai struggled in his death throes.

"Is your brain made of pig fat?" Shen Ji laughed as he looked at him. "Haven't you wondered why, even though Chichi and I were wanted by the authorities throughout the entire city, we are still standing here perfectly fine?"

*Hm?* Hearing Shen Ji’s words, Song Fanghuai’s heart trembled violently. He had been so focused on denying everything that he hadn't stopped to think about that. Now that Shen Ji pointed it out, he realized something was terribly wrong. They had only retrieved that half of the jade pendant yesterday. And Shen Ji had only been declared a wanted man yesterday!

A trap! Everything had been a carefully laid trap prepared by Shen Ji for the Song family! He must have overheard what was discussed between Qingluan and that person. He had known about the Song family’s ties to the Fire Worshiping Cult all along! He had deliberately staged this trap, waiting for the Song family to jump right into it! He had never actually been wanted by the law; the whole thing was a ruse to deceive them!

Once he realized this, the look of tragic indignation on Song Fanghuai’s face vanished, replaced by a deep sense of self-mockery. "I never thought that after all my calculations, I would end up being outsmarted by a failure like you!"

At this point, Song Fanghuai knew that no amount of cover-ups or counter-accusations would matter. They had already fallen into the trap.

"Don't blame me," Shen Ji said, gesturing toward Ning Shu. "This was all the Princess’s brilliant plan; it has nothing to do with me!"

*Well, it was indeed Ning Shu’s plan.* He had merely been the one guiding her from the sidelines. If those bastards from the Fire Worshiping Cult wanted revenge, they could go find Ning Shu! As for himself, he would rather keep a low profile and continue to develop his own strength for a while!