Chapter 165 Is it fun to be held hostage?

Seeing that she didn't seem to intend to pursue the matter, Achan immediately seized the opportunity: "Then, when you return to the city, could you give me a ride along the way?"

"Don't you like to relax outside? Why are you coming back to the city?"

Tsk, judging from that tone, she's still a bit upset.

Achan moved closer to Bai Xiuming, behaving very obediently: "Of course I'm going with you, sir. Wherever you go, I'll go."

"Oh," Bai Xiuming said coldly, "I need to consider it."

The two were close, but did not touch each other. Achan secretly reached out to hook his finger, but he deliberately dodged her twice. On the third try, she finally hooked it.

She shook their intertwined hands: "Please, sir, take me with you. There are still three corpses on the estate. It's terrifying. I have nightmares every time I look at them."

"Really? You're that scared?"

“Yes.” Achan nodded vigorously. “It’s especially terrifying.”

"You'll get used to it after a few more glances."

Ah Chan sniffed, her eyes instantly reddening again, her voice trembling slightly, sounding extremely pitiful: "Since this is the adult's order, I will obey."

She released Bai Xiuming's hand, took two steps forward, and then two more.

"return."

Achan immediately turned around and quickly returned to Bai Xiuming's side.

"I will make an exception for you this time."

"Thank you, sir." Achan's face immediately lit up with a smile. She turned around and immediately spotted the largest black horse among the many dragon-blooded horses.

She trotted up to the horse, touched its face, and gestured for it to look at her.

The black horse glanced at Achan perfunctorily, then turned its face to the side, as if to indicate that it understood. Achan then moved to the side, grabbed the saddle, and successfully climbed onto the horse's back.

To prevent the man from suddenly changing his mind, she needed to secure a spot to go back first.

As soon as Achan sat down, someone snapped their fingers, and the horse beneath her trotted off towards the sound.

"Slow down, I haven't even settled in yet," Achan complained.

Black Horse snorted, probably annoyed by her being so troublesome.

If it weren't for the short distance, the man and the horse might have had a fight.

The black horse stopped beside Bai Xiuming. He mounted the horse, habitually putting his hand around Achan's waist, and then instructed his men: "Go to the manor to collect the body of the Northern Wilderness King's Consort. Keep it quiet and don't disturb the villagers."

"yes."

He then looked at Liang Yan, who was standing frozen in place: "Lord Liang."

Liang Yan seemed to be lost in thought, his reaction slightly slow: "...What are your orders, Lord Bai?"

"How did Lord Liang find the body of the Dowager Princess of the Northern Wilderness?"

Hearing that he only asked this question, Liang Yan breathed a sigh of relief and replied truthfully: "I found traces of the Empress Dowager and the Zhao family's servants in a dilapidated temple halfway up the mountain opposite the manor. Then, based on the traces left in the temple, I found the manor and discovered the bodies."

"Lord Liang is quite adept at tracking."

"You flatter me, Lord Bai."

"Did you hear that?" Bai Xiuming glanced at Jiang Kai, who was waiting to the side.

"I'll take my men there right away."

Since Bai Xiuming has taken over the case, the Mingjing Division will naturally have to investigate the scene to prevent any errors or omissions in the case files later.

After Jiang Kai and his men left, the remaining Mingjing Guards put Liang Yan's subordinates under their control. As for Zhao Hongliang, he was carried away because of his leg injury, while two people stood behind Liang Yan.

Although neither of them was as skilled as him, Liang Yan dared not show the slightest abnormality.

"In urgent situations, expediency is necessary. I apologize for the inconvenience, Lord Liang," Bai Xiuming's voice rang out from above.

Liang Yan quickly replied, "I wouldn't dare."

Every time the other person spoke, he became extremely nervous.

He dared not look up at the person on horseback, but he could immediately see the light green skirt embroidered with orchid patterns overlapping the hem of Bai Xiuming's vermilion official robe.

Ironically, Liang Yan had heard about the romantic escapades of this Lord Bai long ago.

What impressed him most was the incident where Bai Xiuming knocked on the palace gate in the middle of the night for a woman. At that time, he was curious about what kind of woman could make someone like Bai Xiuming care.

He had specifically asked around and learned that the woman was an abandoned daughter of the Marquis of Jinyang's mansion, surnamed Ji, and that Bai Xiuming was willing to offend the Marquis of Jinyang's mansion for this woman.

At the time, he only wanted to know what taboos this Lord Bai had, so as not to accidentally offend him in the future. But he never expected that he would actually encounter the man, not only failing to recognize him but also offending him to the point of no return.

Bai Xiuming noticed Liang Yan's nervousness, but did nothing about it.

After dealing with the matter here, he turned his horse around and led the rest of his subordinates back to the city.

Along the way, Achan obediently leaned against Bai Xiuming's lap. It wasn't until they entered the city and the pace of travel slowed down, and the sound of horses' hooves became less noisy, that she whispered to him, "Where did Huiniang go? Why wasn't she with you?"

Bai Xiuming whispered in her ear, "You filed a false report and got jailed."

"Liar!" Ah Chan didn't believe it.

The next moment, she felt a warm sensation on her earlobe. Before she could react, her earlobe was suddenly bitten lightly.

"Huh? What are you doing?" Ah Chan exclaimed softly, quickly raising her hand to cover her ears, but her hand was caught as soon as she raised it.

Bai Xiuming squeezed her hand and asked, "Is it fun to be held hostage?"

It's his fault for acting too normally. Ah Chan thought she had already won him over, but he was just waiting for her here.

After wavering between telling the truth and lying, Achan finally answered honestly: "It's not very fun, and it's a bit dangerous."

The person who fought with Shang Yin was quite strong, and almost injured her several times.

Thinking of this, Achan added, "That person threw several hidden weapons at me. He was particularly insidious and clearly ruthless, often taking lives lightly."

Seeing that she still couldn't resist complaining even at this point, Bai Xiuming almost laughed out of anger.

He raised his hand and pinched Achan's delicate chin, hissing, "Didn't you ask for it? If there's a next time, I'll lock you in the lowest level of the prison."

"Will you come with me?" Achan blinked and looked at him.

Bai Xiuming did not answer. He seemed to be thinking about something, but his eyes suddenly darkened.

Achan, oblivious to his odd behavior, persisted in pressing him, "You still haven't told me, where did Huiniang go?"

"Feng Yang took her to your estate via another route."

"Why didn't you say so sooner?" Achan complained. If she had known, she would have gone straight back to the manor.

"Didn't you say you were afraid of seeing corpses and begged me to take you back to the city?"

Ah Chan was silenced by her own words, hummed twice, and stopped arguing with him.

The group returned to Mingjing Division. Bai Xiu ordered A Chan to be put down from her horse and then called Jiang Kai over.

"What are your orders, sir?" Jiang Kai hurriedly stepped forward.

"Take a statement from her, then send her back."

Jiang Kai glanced at A Chan and quickly nodded to assure her, "Don't worry, sir, I will make sure Miss Ji gets home safely."

"Hmm." Bai Xiuming didn't say anything more, turned his horse around and left.

The Dowager Princess of the Northern Wilderness died in the capital, and he also detained the people of the Military Command without authorization. Now he must go to the palace to see the emperor immediately.

When Bai Xiuming entered the study, the emperor was talking to the crown prince. The father and son were talking about something pleasant, and both of them had smiles on their faces.

His eyes flickered slightly, and he roughly knew what the two were happy about; the Crown Princess was due to give birth in two months.

Upon seeing Bai Xiuming, the emperor waved to him and casually asked, "What brings you to the palace today?"

Although Bai Xiuming did not want to spoil the good mood of the father and son, he could only report the truth: "Your Majesty, the Dowager Princess of the Northern Wilderness has died."

The emperor and the crown prince both frowned. The emperor asked in a cold voice, "Who did this?"

"The murderer is suspected to be Shang Yin, the grandson of the Dowager Consort."

The implications of this sentence were so rich that the emperor wasn't particularly surprised, but the crown prince looked astonished: "Isn't the King of the Northern Wilderness unmarried?"

The emperor glared at his son and coughed lightly: "What do you mean by 'suspected'?"

"I was in a hurry to enter the palace and have not yet formally questioned the case. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

The emperor waved his hand: "You came to the palace for more than just this, didn't you?"

If it were a minor matter, given Bai Xiuming's cautious nature, he certainly wouldn't have come to see him without even asking about the case.

"Yes, according to Shang Yin, the massacre of the Shang family twenty years ago was a conspiracy between the Northern Wilderness King and the Zhao family, and the Dowager Consort was also one of the real culprits. The two families divided up the Shang family's property, and now half of the Shang family's wealth is still hidden in the Zhao family's secret vault."

He killed two people: first, to seek justice from His Majesty, and second, to expose the wolfish ambitions of these two families.

"The Shang family massacre?" The emperor pondered for a moment and asked, "Is it that Ghost Control family? I remember that incident caused quite a stir back then."

Bai Xiuming nodded: "That's right. After the Shang family was wiped out, the gates of hell opened, affecting nearby prefectures and counties, and many people died."

"How did the Shang family get involved with the Dowager Consort?"

"The wife of the eldest son of the Dowager Consort came from the Shang family. At that time, the Mingjing Division also investigated the Dowager Consort, but there was no evidence. The Zhao family at that time was also unable to do this, so they did not investigate further."

The emperor narrowed his eyes: "I remember that not long after that, the Prince of Northern Wilderness submitted a memorial requesting the establishment of a successor consort?"

"yes."

The concubine of the Zhao family was not the first wife of the previous Northern Wilderness King, but because this concubine had not only been married but also had children, the emperor remembered her very well.

"Impressive skills indeed, managing to consummate the affair right under my nose." The emperor's tone was icy. "Investigate. I want to know the truth."

"Your Majesty, the Imperial Tutor still wields considerable influence. If I were to investigate the Zhao family now, I fear the impeachment memorials would be buried during tomorrow's morning court session."

The emperor glared at him irritably: "If you don't go, I'll have someone dig a hole and bury you right now."

The emperor had no affection for the Zhao family. Zhao Qi was his father's favorite minister, but not his own.

He bestowed honors upon the Zhao family only out of respect for the late emperor.

However, if this matter is indeed related to the Northern Wilderness King's Mansion, it would be a pleasant surprise.

"Your subject obeys." Bai Xiuming hesitated, "Your subject has one more matter..."

"explain."

"Today, Zhao Qi's eldest son, Zhao Hongliang, along with Liang Yan, the commander of the military command, and others, surrounded and killed Shang Yin, intending to silence him. They also overheard what Shang Yin said. Fearing that the news would leak out, I brought them back to the Mingjing Division to await Your Majesty's judgment."

The emperor sneered: "I underestimated this imperial tutor. Even the commander of the military command is at his beck and call."

To put it mildly, this was just the Zhao family asking for help to find the Empress Dowager's whereabouts, but now it has become evidence of their unrest. If they hadn't deliberately befriended Liang Yan, how could they have gotten him to do things for them?

If they had no ulterior motives, why would the Zhao family associate with the military command?

Compared to that, Bai Xiuming's detention of the person was a minor matter.

The emperor glanced at Bai Xiuming: "You did well. Tell that Shang Yin that as long as he cooperates in finding the secret vault, I will give him justice."

"Your Majesty is wise."