"Locked Room Mystery!?"
After Li Xuan saw the writing on the square ice block, he was surprised in his heart.
There was a simple case introduction on it, followed by the rules of today's competition.
Actually, it was quite simple; whoever could first deduce the truth behind the palace maid's death would win today's competition.
"The Emperor Yongyuan is truly getting more and more perverted with his games!"
"Doesn't he fear scaring his own children?"
"And that palace maid on the ground couldn't possibly be for today's competition..."
Li Xuan didn't dare to think further.
But immediately after, he realized he had worried too much.
After a brief moment of panic, the Imperial Princes and Princesses immediately focused intently on reading the text on the square ice block.
Some, who were quicker, had already stepped forward to examine the palace maid's corpse.
Even the Princesses were like this, not shying away from the dead body at all, as if those who had been screaming earlier were not them at all.
"This..."
Li Xuan was somewhat speechless, unsure what to say about the reaction of the Imperial Princes and Princesses.
Even those young Little Beans were the same, starting to look for clues with giggles and laughter.
It was as if what was on the ground was not a cold corpse at all, but merely a toy to complement their game.
This scene made Li Xuan feel a little chilled.
Li Xuan secretly looked up to see Ankang Princess's reaction, and found her frowning, her eyes full of unbearable pain.
Compared to the text on the square ice block, her gaze lingered more on the palace maid's corpse on the ground.
But there wasn't excessive fright in Ankang Princess's eyes.
Perhaps having personally witnessed her Imperial Concubine's death on her sickbed had made her less afraid of dead people.
"Your Highness, should we also go and take a look?"
Yu'er asked somewhat uneasily.
If it weren't for today's competition, Yu'er wouldn't want to push Ankang Princess next to a corpse.
Ankang Princess withdrew her gaze and said lightly, "No, let's look at the rules first."
Ankang Princess carefully read the writing on the square ice block.
Li Xuan also breathed a sigh of relief, although he didn't know what the prize for this competition was.
But for the first time, he didn't hope Ankang Princess would win.
"The Emperor Yongyuan is also a pervert, actually letting his children use a corpse for a competition."
"Even if it's a mystery, there's no need for it to be this realistic, right?"
Li Xuan shook his head, nestled in Ankang Princess's arms, and observed the others.
Someone had already started trying to answer. A Little Bean ran up to Chief Zhao, raised his hand, and answered, "Chief Zhao, I know how this palace maid died!"
"Oh?"
"Is the Eighteenth Prince already submitting his answer?"
Saying this, Zhao Feng took out a scroll, and also took out a writing brush, bringing it to his mouth to blow on it.
"This old servant must remind Your Highness, everyone only has one chance to submit their answer. Once it's recorded, it cannot be changed."
"Eighteenth Prince, are you sure you want to submit your answer now?"
The Eighteenth Prince didn't hesitate at all, nodded, and quickly said, "Chief Zhao, I'm submitting my answer now, please record it for me."
These words caused the other Imperial Princes and Princesses to turn their heads one after another, all looking at their young Imperial Brother.
The Eighteenth Prince was a notoriously mischievous child; they didn't believe this kid could solve the mystery before them so quickly.
Since the Eighteenth Prince was so insistent, Zhao Feng no longer tried to dissuade him and prepared to record.
"This old servant is ready, Your Highness, please speak."
The Eighteenth Prince cleared his throat with a mysterious cough, and submitted his answer.
"This palace maid froze to death!"
Zhao Feng's eyes flashed upon hearing this. As he looked at the Eighteenth Prince, he couldn't help but smile.
"Your Highness, is there anything else you wish to add?"
The Eighteenth Prince waved his small hand, and flatly denied, "No, that's it!"
"Okay, I have recorded Your Highness's answer."
Zhao Feng replied seriously.
The other Imperial Princes and Princesses all paused, but no one laughed at the answer. Instead, they looked at the Eighteenth Prince with playful eyes.
"Playing clever tricks?"
Everyone understood the Eighteenth Prince's little scheme.
It was likely that this mischievous child was not going to investigate the case, but rather cause trouble.
At a glance, the palace maid's cause of death was indeed very obvious.
The Eighteenth Prince submitted his answer first. If there was no more detailed answer than his, he actually had some chance of winning due to having the first move.
This chance of winning came from others being unable to produce a better answer than his.
The Eighteenth Prince gave a look, and the attendant beside him immediately took action.
The Eunuch suddenly acted, pushing over the ice blocks beside him.
These ice blocks, cut into squares and neatly stacked, instantly collapsed, about to crash onto the palace maid's corpse.
Seeing this scene, Li Xuan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, giving this Little Bean a different evaluation.
In previous rounds, he had only considered him a mischievous child, but unexpectedly, he had a bit of quick wit.
He knew he couldn't find anything on his own, so he decided to focus entirely on causing trouble.
On the square ice block that Zhao Feng had uncovered earlier, it didn't say this couldn't be done.
The Eighteenth Prince wasn't old, but he could actually find his own way to win within the rules, which was truly not simple.
Perhaps having won against them twice before, Li Xuan had always had a low opinion of Ankang Princess's siblings, but now it seemed they weren't so bad.
At least this Little Bean before him was somewhat interesting.
Seeing that the ice blocks were about to fall on the palace maid's corpse, the other Imperial Princes and Princesses scoffed.
"Eighteen, looking down on your older brothers and sisters will lead to a big loss, you know."
Someone in the crowd said.
Then, several people stepped forward and caught a considerable number of ice blocks one by one, not letting even a single block fall onto the palace maid's corpse.
After all, at this moment, several Imperial Princes and Princesses were gathered around the palace maid's corpse examining it, and their attendants couldn't possibly watch their masters be in danger.
This time, everyone could only bring one attendant.
Therefore, they were the most trusted of trusted aides, and possessing cultivation was a necessity.
Some of their Imperial Concubines had even specifically let them bring their most loyal old servants with them.
Many Imperial Princes and Princesses were accompanied by old Eunuchs whose depth couldn't be seen, but from their cold eyes, it wasn't difficult to tell that they were all ruthless individuals.
Among them were even many familiar faces that Zhao Feng knew.
Eunuchs also had different paths to promotion.
Someone like Zhao Feng, who held both cultivation and power, was naturally the most overbearing.
But there were also those who realized their shortcomings early on and focused their energy on only one aspect.
These Eunuchs who were dedicated to martial arts had long ago found suitable masters and offered their loyalty in exchange for various cultivation resources.
Although most were destined to become mere tools, they were also the most useful tools in the hands of the nobles and held considerable status.
No matter where, to stand out, one must either master a specialized skill or control vast resources.
Possessing both, one would naturally be invincible.
Didn't Zhao Feng become the Chief of the Internal Affairs Bureau by starting with managing one or two Eunuchs?
Seeing that his sneak attack didn't work, the Eighteenth Prince wasn't angry. He just grinned, clasped his hands behind his head, and showed a mischievous smile.
It seemed that for him just now, ordering his attendant to knock down the ice blocks was just a trivial matter.
One should know that several of his older brothers and sisters were standing next to the palace maid's corpse.
Ankang Princess also frowned upon seeing this scene.
After two consecutive failures, these Imperial children showed their ruthless side once they had room to maneuver.
Yu'er couldn't help but pull Ankang Princess's wheelchair back two steps, not wanting to get involved in their conflict.
The Eighteenth Prince was mocked, and he also retorted, "Who looks down on whom, it's still uncertain."
The ice blocks stacked around suddenly collapsed one after another, more ice blocks hitting the palace maid's corpse.
If it were hit solidly, it would likely only leave a piece of meat patty for them to continue studying.
"Eighteen, we agreed to split the reward equally, you can't go back on your word!"
"Call me Imperial Brother!" the Eighteenth Prince emphasized, and then continued, "Also, when have I ever lied to you!"
The Ice Cellar suddenly became chaotic, and the attendants started fighting fiercely.
Other Little Beans gathered around the Eighteenth Prince. From their appearance, it seemed they had formed an alliance at some point.
Li Xuan had always thought these young little guys were just there to make up the numbers and be mascots.
But today, it seemed they were going to cause a big commotion.
They only had one old Eunuch left by their side to symbolically protect them.
Don't look at them as just mischievous children, but mischievous children also have their own unique wisdom.
They knew that during the competition, no one would actually harm their lives, even if they had the intention, they wouldn't have the guts.
And if there really was an accident, Zhao Feng would also protect them.
The mischievous children's fearlessness was utilized to the extreme by them.
And by using this point, they just needed to make the scene as chaotic as possible.
This way, no one could investigate peacefully. At that time, no matter how unreliable the Eighteenth Prince's answer was, he would still be the strongest candidate for victory.
The others also saw the Eighteenth Prince's plan and had different reactions.
Li Xuan huddled in Ankang Princess's arms, watching the commotion from afar.
The rules of today's competition were relatively lenient, and it was held in a rather special location, which led to the current chaotic scene.
Zhao Feng, as the referee, had no intention of stopping them at all. He lightly used his lightness skill and jumped onto the square ice block with the writing on it.
One rule on the square ice block was that this ice block must not be damaged, otherwise, one would be directly disqualified from the competition.
Therefore, to some extent, that square ice block was the only safe zone in the Ice Cellar.
For a time, the ice blocks in the Ice Cellar continuously shattered, ice chips flew everywhere, and it was a complete mess.
But the Little Beans were just Little Beans after all. Even if they banded together, they weren't quite enough to watch.
"Suppress them!"
Whether they were targeted from the start or just watching from the sidelines, at this moment, they all sent out their attendants to suppress the attendants of the Little Beans' side.
The scene continuing like this had no benefit for them, and it would also waste precious time. If potential clues were further damaged, it would be even more troublesome.
Winning the competition was important.
But how to win the competition was even more important.
They believed that Zhao Feng would report the process of every competition.
If the Little Beans won like this, the Emperor Yongyuan would probably even praise them.
But if these Princes who were almost adults did this, they would likely have no chance of becoming the heir in this lifetime.
While winning the competition, they needed to showcase their abilities as much as possible.
Especially the First Prince, who liked to follow rules, greatly disliked the chaos before him.
He immediately joined forces with others and initiated the expulsion of the Little Beans.
"Those who aren't properly investigating the case, all of you get out!"
The First Prince's call was immediately echoed by others.
Except for those like the Three Little Ones who didn't care much about winning or losing and were focused on watching the fun, everyone else joined in.
The Little Beans' expectations were beautiful, but reality was too cruel.
After only causing trouble for about fifteen minutes, peace was restored in the Ice Cellar.
The Little Beans, along with their injured attendants, were all driven out of the Ice Cellar and were not allowed to enter again.
The First Prince, in conjunction with others, established the rule that the scene should not be further damaged, and anyone who violated it would be jointly expelled.
This proposal was agreed upon by most people.
After all, they all wanted to deduce the truth based on their own abilities.
The First Prince sent his attendant to guard the iron door of the Ice Cellar.
The Little Beans outside couldn't push the door open with their own strength at all, and as for the injured attendants, they didn't dare to approach the guarded iron door.
As the iron door slammed shut, the noisy voices of the Little Beans were also completely cut off.
Peace was finally restored inside the Ice Cellar, although it was much messier than before.
But fortunately, the palace maid's corpse was not damaged.
"This First Prince does have some authority."
Li Xuan looked at the First Prince, recalled the expulsion he had organized earlier, and nodded secretly.
Moreover, he dared to send out his attendant, which indicated he was quite confident in his own strength.
At this moment, Ankang Princess suddenly stroked Li Xuan's head and quietly said in his ear, "Li Xuan, did you see the ice block under Chief Zhao's feet?"
Ankang Princess's eyes were fixed on the square ice block with writing on it, looking mysterious.
"The secret of this competition is hidden there."
Ankang Princess's tone was triumphant, revealing a confident smile.
Li Xuan was startled, looked at the square ice block, and carefully read the writing on it again, but found nothing wrong.
"Meow?"
Li Xuan tilted his head up, uttering a question.
"Hehe, you can't guess, can you?"
Ankang Princess just smiled, still keeping them in suspense.
Yu'er saw Ankang Princess and Li Xuan whispering and also pricked up her ears curiously.
Seeing that Yu'er was also curious, Ankang Princess pulled her close, took one of Yu'er's fingers, and then slowly wrote on Li Xuan's back.
Both Li Xuan and Yu'er concentrated, wanting to see what Ankang Princess wanted to write.
Ankang Princess wrote very slowly, making it easy for Li Xuan and Yu'er to distinguish the first character.
"Catch."
Li Xuan and Yu'er both looked up at the square ice block under Chief Zhao's feet and found this character.
Then Ankang Princess's pen strokes didn't stop, and she successively wrote several more characters on Li Xuan's back.
"The one who catches the true culprit wins!"