At the question from Wei Li, Peng Mingzhu gave an innocent but very stern smile and said, "Your Highness, let's continue asking questions about the murder, alright? I must warn you that...I get very angry at people who are persistent in knowing things they don't need to know."
Hearing the threat behind her tone, Wei Li immediately decided to ask her the same question at another time instead since the murder was more important than knowing who she was.
"Alright," Wei Li nodded. "Is there anything else you can tell us that would help with our investigations?"
Putting a hand on her chin, she carefully tried to recall everything that went about at the scene of the incident, "You guys should investigate the murderer's past."
"Why so?" Wei Li questioned.
"Before I knocked him out, he was mumbling, 'Bastards need to die.' Well, something like that," Peng Mingzhu told him. "Anyways, this is all, right? Today has been tiring, I'd like to rest now."
"Yes, you can go now," Wei Li answered while thinking back on the question she refused to answer earlier.
He was very interested in knowing who this mysterious woman was. She was too talented, too beautiful, and too outstanding to remain unknown to the world…
As Peng Mingzhu almost stepped out of the study, Wei Kangnuan grabbed her wrist and called out her name.
"Uh...that… Sorry that you had to experience something bad on your first day in the capital," Wei Kangnuan apologized. "It truly makes me embarrassed...Haha…"
She knew that he truly meant what he said since his laugh at the end was wry and weak.
"It's fine. It's not like you can control the actions of your people," Peng Mingzhu forgave him. "Besides, nothing happened to me and I managed to get what I wanted before I got disturbed."
"Ah, that's good then…" Wei Kangnuan remarked, glad that even though she was always glaring at him, she also forgave him easily when it came to things like this.
He knew that he was not at fault, but if she was any other lady, maybe they would already be complaining to him and asking him to help cheer them up with materialistic things.
However, inwardly, he was also really happy to learn more about her.
'So, she knows how to fight and how to save people… She's a goddess…' Wei Kangnuan sighed in his mind.
Of course, if Peng Mingzhu heard what he was saying inside that crazy brain of his, she would automatically tell him that he was wrong.
She was not a goddess or an angel - she was a demon.
Forgiving the prince that was feeling apologetic towards her, she finally left the study and headed back to her room.
"Xiao Nuan, where did you find her?" Wei Li asked, curious about this mysterious woman.
Since they were close brothers, Wei Kangnuan was not in the habit of keeping secrets from Wei Li, so he answered, "Jiang River, close by my camp. Why?"
"She seems to be keeping lots of secrets," Wei Li replied while staring at the door that Peng Mingzhu left through.
"I know that," Wei Kangnuan told him as he sat down on his study chair and looked down at the paper that the subordinate of Wei Li left behind before leaving after Peng Mingzhu. "The moment I met her, the information she told Mo Yuanjun was different from the information she told me. She also knows that I know that."
"Even knowing that you still allowed her near you?" Wei Li asked with a raise of his brow.
Wei Li knew what his brother was like. If anybody seemed to be a suspicious person, his little brother would not hesitate to throw them out or torture them.
In the capital, every person thought that the scariest person was not the emperor, but the crowned prince. However, that was only because Wei Kangnuan was just too good at hiding himself.
Anybody who was close to Wei Kangnuan knew that he was a monster in disguise as an immortal. In the palace, all the palace servants and all the siblings understood that it was better to cross the crown prince than to infuriate the second prince.
"She may seem like a dangerous person, but I know that she is not a danger to me," Wei Kangnuan told his older brother.
"You really believe that?" Wei Li questioned while crossing his arms and leaning on the wall of the bookshelf.
"She has principles," Wei Kangnuan stated confidently.
"Fine, I will believe you," Wei Li sighed out as he released his arms.
Humming out a sound to say that he understood, Wei Kangnuan said, "With eight people having died and seven people injured, this case is now a mass murder. Father will not be happy knowing that there is someone bold enough to commit such chaos in his capital."
In the country of Wei Empire, a murder was considered a mass murder when the incident resulted in four or more casualties - dead or wounded - excluding the murderer or suspect.
Sighing while shaking his head, Wei Li said, "I will head to the coroners and warden. We still have some information that needs to be discussed."
"I will investigate the past of the murderer then," Wei Kangnuan replied. "We can meet again when we have obtained more information."
"Alright," Wei Li agreed and headed to the door. "By the way, you actually really love her?"
Hearing his question, Wei Kangnuan was taken off guard, but he answered seriously, "Yes."
"What about Yuan'er?" Wei Li asked another question that Wei Kangnuan did not expect at all.
"What about her?" Wei Kangnuan asked back with a frown, removing his eyes from the paper and staring at his brother instead.
"You know that she has been waiting for you to propose to her," Wei Li said. "If you do not want to marry her, then let her go."
"Wei Li, you know better than I do that she is illusional," Wei Kangnuan stated seriously while giving his brother a piercing stare.
Normally, Wei Kangnuan would call his older brother, "Brother." However, whenever he wanted to show that he was getting angry, he would call his older brother by his full name instead.
"Xiao Nuan, that is only because…" Wei Li tried to create an excuse for the girl that they were talking about.
"Wei Li, remember that you are the crown prince. Getting manipulated so easily, you will be dethroned before you have even taken a seat on the throne," Wei Kangnuan warned, basically telling his brother that this Yuan'er they were talking about was merely a manipulative person.
"Xiao Nuan…" Wei Li sighed, feeling a tightness in his chest. "Us three used to be so close…"
"That was when we were still young and stupid," Wei Kangnuan told him with a cold face. "Wei Li, you are old now. You need to understand that not everything is what they seem to be. Remember this as the future ruler: many of the smiles you receive are false."
[A/N: I feel like what Wei Kangnuan is teaching Wei Li is so true. It's good to trust what you see, but not everything can be seen on the surface.]
Once they finished with their tense conversation, Wei Li finally left the estate. As for Wei Kangnuan, he was feeling depressed and angry at his brother, so he decided to go find the woman that could always bring a smile to him.
"WEI KANGNUAN! YOU BASTARD! IF YOU WANT TO EAT MY FOOD, JUST TELL ME! STOP STEALING MY FOOD! I'M HUNGRY TOO YOU FUCKING BASTARD! YOU THINK I'M A FUCKING IMMORTAL THAT DOESN'T NEED TO EAT AND CAN STILL LIVE!" a loud feminine voice screamed, her voice so deafening that all the servants in the estate could hear her even though they were nowhere near the kitchen.
At the same time, screams of moans could be heard, "Ow! Ow! Stop! Stop hitting me! It hurts!"
Putting her hands on both sides of her waist, Peng Mingzhu shouted, "Wei Kangnuan! How many times must I tell you to stop stealing my food?!"
Giving her an evil smirk, Wei Kangnuan boasted with an annoying grin, "Do you not know? The forbidden fruit tastes best after stealing it."
"Forbidden fruit? Hahahaha…" Peng Mingzhu gave a wicked hollow laugh. "I'll let you have a taste of my forbidden fruit."
Saying this, she took out a durian from her bracelet storage and threw the smelly fruit at the prince who was still boastfully eating the food he stole from her.
By the way...the durian was not sliced…
Sensing the fruit being thrown at him, Wei Kangnuan gave a quick flirtatious smile before dodging the fruit being thrown at him.
Since Peng Mingzhu was so loud when she shouted angrily at Wei Kangnuan, she attracted the attention of Butler Cui and Headmaid Yang.
So...it was at this moment where she was throwing a barrage of durians at their prince and him running around to avoid the durians while flashing her flirtatious smiles that the two middle-aged persons appeared.
At the chaotic scene in the kitchen, the two old people sighed before bowing their heads in shame.
Earlier in the day, they did not want to believe that their prince was stealing food from a commoner, but now...the evidence was just too bright for their old bones.