I insist

Chapter 226: The evidence must not be leaked.

Song Miqiu shook her head at this, feeling that this approach would not allow her to control the other party at all, and would only embolden Minister Zhou to investigate her even more.

The best solution is to conduct a counter-investigation of Vice Minister Zhou.

After all, if Vice Minister Zhou wanted to investigate me, it was simply because he wanted to mess with me or use the evidence he gathered to threaten me.

Either way, it would make Song Miqiu very unhappy.

She hated being threatened more than anything in her life, and if Vice Minister Zhou dared to threaten her, she wouldn't mind retaliating.

Thinking of this, Song Miqiu looked at Qingzhi and said in a deep voice, "Since Vice Minister Zhou likes to investigate my identity, then let's do the opposite and investigate Vice Minister Zhou as well."

"What's there to investigate about the other party?" Qingzhi didn't understand. Zhou Shilang's status was obvious.

Seeing this, Song Miqiu subconsciously rolled her eyes. She hadn't expected Qingzhi to become so dull-witted!

"Are you stupid?" Song Miqiu said helplessly, holding a thin wooden stick in her hand, and swung it down at Qingzhi's arm.

"Since Vice Minister Zhou has laid out everything he can investigate before us, why don't we investigate the things that Vice Minister Zhou hasn't laid out before us?"

Hearing Song Miqiu's words, Qingzhi finally realized what was happening. He let out a few howls, feeling quite embarrassed about how his mind had suddenly come to its senses.

Song Miqiu sighed, looked up at the other person, and shook his head.

Vice Minister Zhou had a lot of bad habits, making it very easy for Qing Zhi to investigate. He quickly gathered evidence and handed it all over to Song Miqiu.

Before Vice Minister Zhou could take any action, Song Miqiu invited him to the teahouse owned by Qingzhi.

She asked Qingzhi to arrange a room for her, and invited her in with a smile. Song Miqiu sat there quietly, sipping her tea, and raised an eyebrow. "You've really gone all out. It's just a mere Minister Zhou, yet you've managed to bring out such expensive tea!"

Qingzhi looked at the other party with amusement and asked in return, "If I hadn't done this, you would definitely have swindled a large sum of money from Minister Zhou today, right? So naturally I would have to provide you with the best tea so that you could make the most of your abilities, wouldn't I?"

Song Miqiu smiled, brought the teacup to her lips, and chuckled as she raised it, saying, "You're really something!"

Just as Song Miqiu was about to drink her second cup of tea, Vice Minister Zhou arrived late.

Standing in the teahouse, Vice Minister Zhou followed the waiter upstairs to find Song Miqiu. He was quite puzzled as to why Song Miqiu had invited him to have tea.

After all, he and Song Miqiu had no interaction, except for the fact that she had insisted on punishing his subordinates.

"Sir, this is the room." The waiter walked to a room, glanced at Minister Zhou, but did not go in. Instead, he turned around Minister Zhou and strode away.

Although Vice Minister Zhou was very puzzled, he still pushed open the door, stepped over the threshold, and went inside.

As soon as he entered, he saw that Song Miqiu was already drinking tea. The aroma of tea floating in the air instantly aroused Zhou Shilang's desire to drink some as well.

He looked around and saw that Song Miqiu was the only one present.

Vice Minister Zhou swallowed hard. He looked up at Song Miqiu and asked in a deep voice, "I wonder why Imperial Physician Song invited me here?"

"Of course, I'm inviting you to have some tea." Song Miqiu smiled and moved the teacup, which had already been filled for Minister Zhou, forward. "Such fine tea, I'm sure Minister Zhou has smelled it too. Why don't you sit down and have some tea?"

Vice Minister Zhou wanted to say something, but the aroma of the tea was so enticing that he licked his chapped lips, smiled, and sat down in front of Song Miqiu.

He raised his teacup, smiled at Song Miqiu, and said, "Since Physician Song has so sincerely invited me to have tea, then I shall gladly accept!"

Vice Minister Zhou tilted his head back and drank the tea in one gulp, then laughed heartily, "This tea is clearly of the highest quality. It seems Physician Song has spared no expense."

Song Miqiu was not in a hurry. After watching the other party finish his tea, he slowly raised his own teacup, took a sip, and said, "But this is still not as bad as Vice Minister Zhou's extortion."

Upon hearing the word "extortion," Vice Minister Zhou stopped drinking his tea and looked up at Song Miqiu warily, the tea no longer tasting sweet. "What do you mean?"

"What do you mean?" Song Miqiu looked at the other party with amusement and continued, "Does Vice Minister Zhou want me to explain things more clearly?"

"You still don't dare admit to extorting money from me?" Song Miqiu said, feigning annoyance. "Recently, I ran into the Crown Prince, and he told me some things. I was looking for someone to curry favor with, and that's how I happened to investigate your affairs."

These words startled Vice Minister Zhou, who had no doubts about Song Miqiu's words.

In Vice Minister Zhou's eyes, Song Miqiu was quite close to the Crown Prince and others, so it was not impossible for him to discuss matters with them.

Thinking of this, Vice Minister Zhou's face instantly turned ugly. Looking at the half-finished tea in his hand, he immediately realized that the other party wanted to blackmail him.

Thinking of this, Vice Minister Zhou looked at Song Miqiu with a mocking expression and asked in a deep voice, "Then isn't your behavior just like mine?"

"First, you have no evidence. Second, if you really report this to the Crown Prince or the Emperor, I can simply say that I donated these things to poor families. Anyway, even if I lose my money, I can still gain fame."

This infuriated Vice Minister Zhou. According to Song Miqiu, no matter how she came, she could always get away with it, and he would always be at a disadvantage.

He slammed his hand on the wooden table, stood up abruptly, and glared coldly at Song Miqiu. "Song Miqiu!"

Facing the enraged Vice Minister Zhou, Song Miqiu remained calm. She smiled, looked up at him, and said, "The evidence is not in my hands."

Upon hearing this, Vice Minister Zhou immediately deflated.

If it were Song Miqiu, I could just threaten her, seize the evidence, and destroy it.

But the evidence wasn't in Song Miqiu's hands, so he had no choice but to comply. "What exactly do you want?"

Seeing the other party's defeated expression, Song Miqiu rested his chin on his hand, looking at the person in front of him with amusement. Thinking of the way he had tried to kill him just now, Song Miqiu couldn't help but say, "Vice Minister Zhou was quite the showman just now!"

Vice Minister Zhou gritted his teeth, clenching his fists tightly, perhaps suppressing the anger in his heart. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and finally lowered his head, "Lord Song, I was wrong!"

If all the evidence in Song Miqiu's possession were to leak out, he would be finished.

After thinking for a moment, Vice Minister Zhou made up his mind and said, "I'll give you as much silver as you want, as long as you don't leak the evidence!"