Gu Zezhi was only ten years old back then. He should be nineteen by now and his appearance might be somewhat different from when his younger self.

Gu Jing’s eyes lit up at once. He quickly got up and ran to the window to look down but the two of them were too far away. He could only see their distant backs.

“Xin’er, did you see it clearly?” Gu Jing turned to Qin Xin and asked.

Qin Xin shook her head. “I just caught a glimpse when they came down the stairs. Maybe I was wrong.”

Gu Jing’s right hand grabbed the window sill. His eyes darkened as his thoughts wandered.

Duan Royal House had been in turmoil all these years which stemmed from the dispute between legal wife and concubines.

The imperial concubine of Duan could not give birth to an heir even after having been married to King Duan for twenty years. At the age of thirty-five, King Duan was forced to make the eldest son of his concubines his heir. But who would have thought that Princess Duan would be pregnant the following year? And the old woman would actually give birth to a son to King Duan, Gu Zezhi.

So, the situation at Duan Royal House was a bit awkward.

Prince Duan wasn’t at fault. Even King Duan couldn’t talk about dethroning his heir, let alone the young Gu Zezhi, who might not even live and grow up.

At the beginning of this year, Gu Jing accidentally heard the emperor talk to the imperial eunuch that he wanted to call Gu Zezhi to study in the capital. Gu Jing also heard that he wanted to test Gu Zezhi; and if Gu Zhezhi was useful, he stated that it would be right and proper for the son of legal wife to inherit the title.

Right then, Gu Jing secretly went and revealed this news to Prince Duan to be friends with him.

Gu Jin furrowed his brow slightly as he nibbled his lip.

Qin Xin, looking at Gu Jing’s expression, came up with an idea. “Should I send someone to take a look?”

Gu Jing promptly refused without even giving it a thought, “It’s not proper.”

If that guy was really Gu Zezhi, that would mean that Prince Duan hadn’t killed him! Prince Duan is too softhearted to be a great man…

Gu Jing had to think hard about who was the most suitable partner for cooperation.

Gu Jing’s answer was well within Qin Xin’s expectation so she quickly changed her words, “Second Young Master, my jade pendant is missing. My grandma especially went to Huangjue Temple to get it for me before I left for the capital.”

Gu Jing looked at her and raised his eyebrows.

Qin Xin winked at him and continued, “My jade pendant was just here but it has gone missing when someone bumped into me from behind. Maybe someone stole it.”

Qin Xin might not have said it clearly but Gu Jing understood it all at once.If he wants to know if the man just now was Gu Zezhi or not, it wasn’t really that difficult. One just needed a legitimate reason to check, that’s all.

They exchanged a tacit look.

Gu Jing groaned and said, “The security of Qingyun County is really bad. Dong Shun, take my token and go to the county office.”

Dong Shun was Gu Jing’s personal servant, who knew his master’s mind best. He hurriedly ran to the county office with Gu Jing’s token.

So, the magistrate of Qingyun County came to know that the Second Prince’s fiancee had lost her jade pendant in the county.The magistrate started panicking immediately.

As the magistrate, he had been trembling every day since the royal carriage came to the Jianglin Palace. He was afraid of something going wrong, and he could not protect his black hat. But he had never imagined that something would really go wrong!

[TLN: The officials in ancient China wore black hats.]

To make up for this mistake, the magistrate immediately started sending out officials to search for the culprit.

“Lord Zhang.” Dong Shun shouted at the top of his voice. “His Royal Highness doesn’t want to disturb the people for a jade pendant.”