Bai Languo thought it over and over again. She finally drew a conclusion. Then, she immediately pulled Mei up. Bai Languo wanted to get justice for him. She said, “Since you are not a thief, you should explain to them clearly to avoid becoming a wanted criminal after dawn. My cla.s.smate Mei is innocent, so he won’t be arrested!”

However, Puyang Yue only simply said, “Who will believe his ridiculous story?”

After hearing this, they instantly stopped. Bai Languo turned her face back and said in anger, “I believe it! Don’t you believe it?”

Puyang Yue nodded and said with bitter smile, “I also believe it, you believe it, and I believe and even b.u.t.terfly believes it, but will landlord Yang believe it?”

“You are the prince. If you tell them it is true, they wouldn’t dare disbelieve!” Bai Languo thought the ident.i.ty of the prince would be quite useful in this authoritarianism society.

Puyang Yue didn’t think so. He said,“Even the emperor can’t be so impetuous. You should understand that the emperor is like a boat while the people are like water, so I can never do anything unpopular.”

“Coward! Dead dog! Selfish and hard-hearted!” Bai Languo scolded loudly.

Puyang Yue wasn’t angry. He just said, “Whatever you say.”

Bai Languo continued anxiously, “Anyway, we can’t see my poor cla.s.smate Mei becoming a wanted criminal, can we?”

Puyang Yue lightly sighed. How could he explain to others such a ridiculous thing? Even if what Mei Junzhi said was true, landlord Yang could still suspect that he stole after peeing. Thinking about this, Puyang Yue took a cold look at the silly boy again. He asked, “Did you find anything amiss when you entered landlord Yang’s house last night? For example, did you see the real thief?”

“No.” Mei Junzhi shook his head without any hesitation.

Puyang Yue’s face got gloomy. He said, “Think again.”

Mei Junzhi had to c.o.c.k his head and think back. After thinking for a while, he muttered,“I remember there was a figure flas.h.i.+ng across when I pa.s.sed by the yard. It was a woman, so I don’t think she could be the thief. I also smelled a faint fragrance from her. At that time, I only caught a glimpse of her back as she went past the pillar. She was very pretty and charming. Such a beautiful woman surely couldn’t be a thief, right?”

“What time did you see her?”

“Somewhere between eleven p.m. and one a.m.”

“The servants of landlord Yang’s house noticed something was missing between one a.m. and three a.m.”

“By then, I was already out in the hillside outside the city.”

“The thief could’ve stolen anytime before this time period.”

Mei Junzhi perked his lips. He said, “In any case, it wasn’t me!”

Bai Languo suddenly cut in, saying, “Mei didn’t notice anything wrong, so perhaps that graceful woman saw the thief? She should be a person in landlord Yang’s house, right?”

Mei Junzhi nodded. He said, “In the moonlight, I saw the woman dressed in gorgeous clothes. She only flashed across, but her silver jewelry was sparkling. I supposed that she was the mistress of the house. This is the reason why I think she is not the thief.”

“There are only several mistresses in landlord Yang’s house. His first wife died many years ago. Since then, he never remarried. His daughter Yang Chengyu was a born beauty, but she was too willful. Therefore, she is still unmarried. His son Yang Chengen is an absolutely useless man who loafs around all day. The first wife of Yang Chengen, Tong Waner, is Adai’s mother, who is a good woman.”

Bai Languo and Mei Junzhi started to a.n.a.lyze them one by one based on the information provided by Puyang Yue. Finally, b.u.t.terfly reminded them, saying,“It’s not useful to make guesses now. We should go to Adai’s home and ask them!”