When Liu Suwu received the imperial edict, he felt a thunderous roar inside his head—the sky was falling!
And it involved Huo Ci again!
He rushed to the palace in a fluster, only to find that he wasn’t the only unlucky one.
There was also Cui Yu, the Minister of the Supreme Court.
The two exchanged wry smiles, feeling a sense of camaraderie between fellow sufferers.
After their audience with Xiao Ao, Cui Yu immediately organized his men from the Supreme Court into two teams. One team went door to door questioning the palace maids and eunuchs, asking if they had seen any unfamiliar faces.
The other team conducted a meticulous inspection of the palace walls and tiles, trying to find any trace left behind by the highly skilled intruder.
Liu Suwu summoned the coroner from the Ministry of Justice, and together with their counterparts from the Supreme Court, they conducted a thorough examination of the two corpses, from the tips of their hair down to their toes.
After busying themselves for most of the day, as dusk began to fall, Cui Yu returned dejectedly, his eyes meeting Liu Suwu’s desperate gaze.
Perfect. Neither of them had found a single thing.
Liu Suwu suddenly thought of Huo Ci.
He had heard that “he” was still at the Imperial Hospital, and the only witness was there too.
“Deputy General Xin!”
The two agreed on the spot and hurried over to the Imperial Hospital, just as they ran into “Huo Ci,” who was striding out.
“General Huo, please save us!”
“General Huo, please go easy on us!”
Jiang Xingyan looked at their awkward, sheepish faces, and her expression turned cold.
“This is about justice for my Huo family army. What do you mean, ‘go easy’?
Surely, you two don’t think this matter doesn’t need to be investigated further?”
Their hearts leaped into their throats. An oppressive, deadly pressure rendered them speechless for a long moment.
Liu Suwu looked like he was about to cry.
He would honestly prefer “Huo Ci” to set him up—at least that would be better than wanting him dead.
“General Huo, you misunderstand, you misunderstand.”
“What we meant was, could we ask the General to put in a good word with His Majesty, to grant us a few more days?”
Jiang Xingyan raised an eyebrow:
“It was I, your General, who asked His Majesty to investigate thoroughly. And now you want me to be the one to ask for an extension?
You two can’t wait for His Majesty to have my entire clan executed so the investigation gets dropped altogether, right?”
While Liu Suwu had some psychological preparation, Cui Yu was dealing with Huo Ci for the first time, and he was absolutely terrified.
Snot and tears streaming down his face, he wailed:
“Then, General Huo, please find us a quiet place. And after His Majesty has our heads chopped off, please help collect our remains. Make sure the coroner sews our heads back on before we’re buried.”
“I don’t want to end up a headless ghost.
It would scare my mother.”
The corner of Jiang Xingyan’s mouth twitched.
She shot Liu Suwu a questioning look: What’s going on here?
Liu Suwu gave a light cough, suppressed the smile at the corner of his mouth, and said seriously:
“Minister Cui was raised single-handedly by his elderly mother. He is a most devoted son.
He is now over thirty and still hasn’t married or had children.
He’s afraid that a wife might not get along with his mother and cause the old lady distress.”
Jiang Xingyan was stunned speechless. She just wanted to drag Huo Ci over and make him learn from this man.
After Liu Suwu answered casually, he suddenly realized something was off.
Minister Cui’s filial piety was famous throughout the court. How could General Huo not know about it?
Jiang Xingyan bit her thumb lightly, thinking that if Shangguan Luoyue was behind this, she would have erased all traces.
She couldn’t let Liu Suwu and Cui Yu become innocent scapegoats. These two were pitiful enough.
She hesitated for a moment, then spoke frankly:
“The culprit came prepared. You probably won’t find anything in the palace.
Once Xin Zhui survives tonight, you can go ask him.
If you really have nothing to do, then keep a close watch on Changle Palace.”
She finished hurriedly, brushed past the two men, took long strides, and in a few steps leaped onto her carriage, heading back to the military camp.
There was still one most important thing waiting for her to do!
Cui Yu thought “Huo Ci’s” advice was spot on. He immediately returned to the palace and began making covert arrangements.
He didn’t notice Liu Suwu squinting as he stared at “Huo Ci’s” retreating back.
Something seemed a bit off.
——-
Without needing Jiang Xingyan to urge him, Wang Qi knew what to do.
He urged the black horse pulling the carriage to run like the wind, and they quickly returned to the camp.
Jiang Xingyan didn’t want to waste a single moment. She ran straight to her tent.
Although she had been looking after Xin Zhui all day, her heart had long been with Yunge’er.
“Yunge’er, are you feeling any better?”
Yun Chunfeng was listlessly leaning against his bed. When he saw her enter, his ashen face finally gained a few traces of color.
He forced himself to sit up and asked in a low voice, looking down:
“Miss, is Deputy General Xin doing any better?”
Jiang Xingyan’s eyes fell on his snow-white neck, where there was a distinct and glaring red mark.
Her heart ached with every throb.
Her hand, wanting to gently touch it, froze in mid-air.
“Yunge’er, does it hurt?”
Yun Chunfeng shook his head slightly, not meeting Jiang Xingyan’s eyes.
“It was Yunge’er being willful. I’m sorry for making you worry, Miss.”
Jiang Xingyan was so anxious she wanted to tear her hair out. “Don’t say that. If you have something to say, let’s talk in our dreams, alright?”
Yun Chunfeng timidly looked up, his eyes full of grievance:
“Yunge’er has lost his magical power. I can no longer perform the Soul Summoning Art…”
Jiang Xingyan was horrified. She grabbed Yun Chunfeng’s hand. “What do I need to do so you can recover some of it?
Should I go to the Immortal Mountain and beg your master, Yunge’er?
Or I can offer five million taels to get Senior Brother Fuhai to come out of retirement. If that’s not enough, I’ll use my entire fortune.
I—”
Crash!
Before she could finish, the tent flap was flung open. “Brat, get your sorry self out here!”
Fortunately, Jiang Xingyan and Yun Chunfeng were in the inner room and couldn’t be seen right away.
Jiang Xingyan was utterly speechless.
It was already the hour of Hai (9–11 PM). Was it really appropriate to barge into someone’s tent in the dead of night?
At such a critical moment, what a mood killer!
Jiang Xingyan gently let go of Yun Chunfeng’s hand and tucked the corner of his blanket in for him.
“Yunge’er, wait for me.”
Yun Chunfeng’s cheeks flushed crimson, and he lowered his head.
Jiang Xingyan strode into the main tent and saw Shangguan Hanshan, wearing an outfit that only revealed his eyes, standing inside with a huff.
She looked at him, baffled. “Are you insane?
Barging into my territory in the middle of the night, yelling and screaming—do you have a death wish?”
Shangguan Hanshan was instantly furious.
“You brat have got some nerve!
How dare you speak to me, the Guren*, with such insolence! Today, I will definitely wring your neck!”
[Guren: A term used by ancient Chinese monarchs to refer to themselves, meaning ‘the lonely one.’]
Instead of dodging, Jiang Xingyan stepped forward. “Go ahead, wring it!”
Shangguan Hanshan turned his palm into a claw, moved like a phantom, and grabbed “Huo Ci’s” neck with both hands.
He was just about to twist hard, to be rid of this infuriating brat once and for all, and also vent some of his darling girl’s anger.
But unexpectedly, he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Every time he tried to apply force, he remembered his little girl’s round, angry little face.
She was waving her little fists: “No bullying Mama!”
Shangguan Hanshan snapped back to his senses with a jolt. He quickly pulled his hands back, stumbling backward in shock.
No, he couldn’t kill “Huo Ci” yet.
He still hadn’t figured out why his little girl called “him” Mama.
It was truly bizarre.
Jiang Xingyan watched coldly as he averted his gaze and withdrew his hands, a complex look on his face.
“Didn’t you go back to the adopted daughter you couldn’t bear to leave? Why are you back here?”
Shangguan Hanshan’s temper flared instantly.
“I knew your rotten heart would think that way. I was afraid you’d go blabbing nonsense to my darling girl, so I rushed all the way here to explain.
What business is it of yours anyway!
Now, go and invite my darling girl out here at once!”
Jiang Xingyan’s lips curled into a sarcastic smile. She thought about how he had said he was going to confront Shangguan Luoyue, yet ended up hiding among her guards, protecting her.
How ridiculous.
“Invite her out?
So you can strike her dead with one palm and let Shangguan Luoyue rightfully—”
Bang!
Shangguan Hanshan smashed the largest table in the tent with one palm strike.
It was made of hundred-year-old boxwood, yet he had reduced it to powder.
“Say another word out of line, and this table will be your example!”
Jiang Xingyan wasn’t afraid of him. “What?
Struck a nerve? Lashing out in shame and anger?”
Shangguan Hanshan felt a powerlessness and frustration—he clearly despised “him,” yet couldn’t get rid of “him.”
He clawed at his hair with both hands and paced back and forth in the tent.
He recalled how he had appeared at Changle Palace and repeatedly asked Shangguan Luoyue if she had seen anyone who looked like her. She had stubbornly denied it every time.
The shadow guards he had secretly placed around her had told him about her recent behavior.
Shangguan Hanshan felt a surge of murderous intent rising from the bottom of his heart.
She truly was an unfeeling, ungrateful wretch. He had raised her for so many years, yet she turned out to be a viper.
Not only had she hidden the existence of his darling girl, but she also intended to harm her. Despicable and hateful!
“I’ve confirmed it. She has a vicious heart and tried to harm my darling girl. That was indeed my fault for not investigating thoroughly.
Taking her life would be as easy as snapping my fingers.
But that would bring criticism upon my darling girl.
How can you stop every gossiping mouth?
So I plan to—”
Shangguan Hanshan lowered his voice, so only the two of them could hear, and told Jiang Xingyan his plan.
Jiang Xingyan hadn’t expected him to be so thorough.
But… was he really willing to go through with it?
Seeing her skeptical look, Shangguan Hanshan exploded:
“How many times do I have to tell you before you believe me!
She only has the title of an adopted daughter!
I never even let her live in the palace. I only gave her a mansion outside the palace.
If anything, our relationship is more like monarch and subject, not mother and daughter!”
Seeing that Shangguan Hanshan was about to lose it again, Jiang Xingyan quickly stopped him.
“Stop.
I believe you. I trust you. Is that good enough?
I promise I won’t say anything to her. After you’ve succeeded, you can talk to her yourself, alright?”
Shangguan Hanshan, from who knows where, produced a set of paper and brush. He wrote down what Jiang Xingyan had just said on the paper in one swift motion.
Then, with lightning speed, he grabbed her hand and quickly pressed the paper against it.
The paper, infused with his internal power, was as hard as an iron plate. It immediately slashed a long gash across Jiang Xingyan’s hand.
Hiss!
Huo Ci, who was tossing and turning in Yun Chunfeng’s tent, sat up bolt upright from the sharp pain.
Shangguan Hanshan couldn’t care less about that. He squeezed her hand hard, used a drop of blood to make a red thumbprint, and pressed it like a seal.
“Good. Signed and sealed. No backing out!”
He solemnly folded the paper, tucked it into his robe, flew out of the tent, and vanished in seconds.
The corner of Jiang Xingyan’s mouth twitched: This man is absolutely out of his mind!
She looked down at the table, shattered to dust. “Hey, pay for that!”
Thump!
A small embroidered pouch was tossed in from outside the tent.
It tore a hole right through the canvas.
Jiang Xingyan picked it up and looked inside: Wow, quite generous.
Two gold ingots, wrapped around ten banknotes worth one hundred thousand taels each, for a total of one million taels.
Her mood instantly improved. Jingling the pouch in her hand, she walked into the inner room.
“Yunge’er, a windfall from heaven—”
Her voice stopped abruptly. Because with one glance, she saw that the inner room, which had only contained Yun Chunfeng, was now packed with people sitting in a dark mass.
She scanned them quickly. There were eight of them, and they were all wearing Daoist robes!
One of them was a familiar face—it was Daoist Fuhai.
“Junior Brother’s wife, is that offer of five million taels still good?”