Jiang Yanzhen couldn’t help but press his lips together tightly.
When disaster strikes, everyone fends for themselves. He hadn’t even done anything yet, but Duke Chu had already cut him off so heartlessly. Lowering his voice, he said, “This has nothing to do with me. I don’t even know Hu Yichuan!”
Xing Min smiled faintly. “Master Jiang, whether you know him or not, that’s hard to say. But those who went to kill—it’s confirmed that they were from your Jiang family. No matter what, shouldn’t you come with us to sort this out?”
Jiang Yanzhen could hardly breathe.
Duke Chu’s residence really had no intention of helping him anymore.
Otherwise, with just a few people caught by the Shuntian Prefecture, wouldn’t he have had ways to handle it?
In the end, it was clear—Duke Chu had deliberately ordered him to send people to silence the witnesses.
That way, when something went wrong, the blame could all fall on his head.
Meanwhile, Duke Chu’s family could wash their hands of the matter.
Outrageous!
The old incident was one thing—everyone involved had dirty hands, so they tolerated each other.
But the issue with Old Madam Liu was entirely their own doing!
How could they push that onto him now?!
At the same time, the atmosphere in Duke Chu’s residence was suffocating, like black clouds pressing down on the city. Everyone in the household knew that something terrible had happened.
Who didn’t know the Duke and Duchess Chu had been deeply devoted to each other?
Now that the Duchess had suddenly died, everyone feared the Duke might truly kill someone.
No one dared to approach the Duke.
But some things couldn’t be avoided.
Madam Liu knelt nearby, crying and sobbing, “Father, we all know you’re heartbroken, but the old madam has already passed. The dead should be laid to rest…”
Laid to rest?
Duke Chu’s face remained expressionless as he stared at Old Madam Liu’s body.
Time ticked by. By the middle of the night, greenish blotches had already started to appear on the corpse’s face.
His heart twisted with pain.
She had always loved to be beautiful. No matter when, she always dressed herself exquisitely and elegantly.
And now, she was like this.
Who had done this to her?
The Eastern Palace!
Liu Wangfei!
Qi Yuan!
Every one of them—none could be spared!
As he thought of this, he suddenly stood up and walked to the doorway. Staring at the half-burnt door, he coldly asked, “What happened? Why was there a fire today?”
Actually, it wasn’t that strange.
Madam Liu softly explained, “The household was in complete chaos today. Everyone was distracted by the commotion at the front, and many people ran outside to watch… so…”
So probably no one was paying attention, and the fire started.
Duke Chu snorted without even changing expression. “They were supposed to take care of the old madam, but instead, they went off to watch the spectacle. What’s the point of keeping them? Beat them all to death!”
In fact, Great Zhou’s laws forbade the arbitrary killing of slaves.
But for many, that law was nothing more than a scrap of paper.
Duke Chu, in particular, wouldn’t even glance at such restrictions.
His mental state was clearly no longer normal. Madam Liu dared not oppose him and softly agreed.
Only then did Duke Chu walk a few steps forward—when suddenly his legs gave out and he collapsed, tumbling down the steps.
He was simply too exhausted.
He hadn’t slept properly for days.
On top of that, he had been constantly enraged, terrified, and repeatedly provoked.
His emotions had fluctuated too intensely.
Especially tonight—keeping vigil beside the Duchess for half the night—his legs were probably already numb.
Looking at him falling down, Madam Liu quickly called for people to help him up.
At this moment, Jiang Yanzhen had already arrived at the Shuntian Prefecture office.
His face was ashen, and along the way, he kept thinking about how he could possibly distance himself from this.
But as soon as he stepped inside, Xing Min casually said, “Master Jiang, it’s best for us to just speak plainly. Right now, Princess Consort Lu has already recalled who tried to assassinate him and Liu Wangfei back then. Zhou Wang personally went to fetch the man, and I hear as soon as they return, they’ll head straight to see His Majesty.”
Jiang Yanzhen’s legs went weak.
Princess Consort Lu remembered?!
Didn’t that mean Princess Consort Lu would now know that the one who tried to kill Liu Wangfei back then was Lu Minghui, and that Duke Chu was involved too?
And he—he had always spoken and acted on behalf of Duke Chu…
…
Liu Wangfei must hate him to the bone.
Once the truth was confirmed, Liu Wangfei would surely tear him to pieces!
And if Princess Consort Lu returned, it would already be too late.
The people who had fallen into the Shuntian Prefecture’s hands were all his. If Princess Consort Lu came back and dragged him into this—wouldn’t Duke Chu just shove all the blame onto him?
If he still tried to cover for Duke Chu, he really would be out of his mind!
Thinking of this, Jiang Yanzhen’s whole body felt weak. He hurriedly said, “No, no, no! It wasn’t me! It really wasn’t me! Even though those people were mine, I didn’t order them to do it! It was Duke Chu, it was Duke Chu!”
Xing Min laughed silently in his heart and finally let out a long breath of relief.
In fact, this setup hadn’t even been perfect.
But whether it was perfect or not didn’t matter.
What mattered was the timing.
Everything had happened to line up just right.
Especially the death of Duchess Chu—it really came at the perfect moment.
With her death, Duke Chu immediately severed communication with Jiang Yanzhen.
Jiang Yanzhen was exactly the type who couldn’t stay calm. His entire existence had been about clinging to Duke Chu’s household. The moment Duke Chu grew cold toward him, he immediately believed he had been abandoned.
Xing Min applied a little more vague pressure, which further convinced Jiang Yanzhen that Duke Chu had truly discarded him.
Xing Min widened his eyes and said, “Master Jiang, you can eat whatever you like, but you can’t speak recklessly.”
Jiang Yanzhen anxiously cried, “I’m telling the truth! I can testify!”
The country estate outside the city wasn’t far. He had to confess everything before Zhou Wang returned!
Meanwhile, Zhou Wang had no time to worry about whether he would return to the capital or not.
When he arrived at the estate to retrieve the person, he was completely stunned. Corpses were lying scattered all over outside the estate.
If someone didn’t know better, they’d think bandits had slaughtered the place.
Especially at the arched entrance—there were seven or eight corpses with their heads severed.
…
Zhou Wang was so terrified his heart nearly stopped.
Dear heavens, when he took on this mission, he never expected it would be like this!
If he failed to bring Lu Mingan and Xiao Mo safely back, wouldn’t the Eldest Princess and Emperor Yongchang tear him apart?!
The short distance into the estate felt to him like walking toward his own grave—he feared that the next thing he’d see would be the corpses of Lu Mingan and Xiao Mo.
That really would be the same as walking to a grave.
His own.
With this in mind, he braced himself, closed his eyes, suppressed his pounding heart, and pushed open the estate door—only to immediately see a familiar figure standing inside.
At that moment, he almost wanted to kneel and kowtow toward the east.
But when he saw the person lying at Lu Mingan’s feet, Zhou Wang felt like maybe he’d kowtowed too soon.
Dear heavens!
Lu Minghui is dead?!
He quickly strode forward and grabbed Lu Mingan’s arm. “Mingan, where is His Highness?”
Forget whether Lu Minghui was dead or not—what mattered most was whether Xiao Mo was still alive!
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