Chapter 204 Where did the real Ji Heng go?

"Lord Jinyang, you've lost face."

A person's appearance without a face is indeed unsightly, but thanks to Achan, Bai Xiuming was experienced enough that he was not frightened at all, and even kindly reminded the other party.

Marquis Jinyang stood frozen in place, not even daring to reach out and touch his own face.

Many years ago, when he first received the name Ji Heng and became the Marquis of Jinyang, he couldn't sleep all night, fearing that when he woke up, his face would suddenly fall off and soldiers would break into the house, drag him away, and behead him.

Later, he became more and more adept at this identity, and no one doubted his identity. Gradually, he forgot his past fears.

In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed.

He thought he would live with this identity until his death, and that this enormous secret would be buried with him, but he never expected it to be exposed here today.

"You..." Marquis Jinyang felt as if his throat was stuck together. He swallowed hard a few times before he could speak, "You did it. When did you find out?"

The person who made his fake face said that it would fit him just like a real face, and once it was on, it would be impossible to take it off.

It was no surprise that Bai Xiuming would lose face in front of him.

"I have to thank Madam Xue; it was she who reminded me."

After saying that, Bai Xiuming waved his hand behind him: "Send the man to the town prison and keep him under strict guard."

"Yes." Before anyone knew it, a group of Mingjing Guards appeared behind Bai Xiuming. They seemed to have been lying in ambush, waiting to arrest him.

Marquis Jinyang did not resist. His cultivation level was forcibly increased by using pills. In terms of strength, he was not even as good as an ordinary third-realm cultivator, let alone when facing Bai Xiuming.

Marquis Jinyang was being escorted out by a group of people. As he passed Bai Xiuming, he suddenly spoke up: "Xunfang knows nothing."

Bai Xiuming glanced at him: "Marquis of Jinyang should worry about himself and think carefully about what he should explain."

After the man was taken away, a guard from the Mingjing Guard stepped forward and picked up the fallen face skin of the Marquis of Jinyang: "Sir, what should be done with this face?"

"Send it to Jiang Yan and let him examine it carefully."

"yes."

Bai Xiuming turned and walked out. He hadn't gone far when he saw Jiang Kai and Feng Yang waiting there, having received orders.

"grown ups."

"You two go to the prison. One of you will be in charge of the Marquis of Jinyang, and the other will be in charge of the Xue family. No need to ask for confessions; start with torture."

"Understood, sir." The two men acknowledged the order and left. Bai Xiu then went to find A Chan.

At this moment, Achan had already finished lunch and was idly flipping through Bai Xiuming's old cultivation notes. Most of the content was written by him, with many places having Mingwang's annotations.

She discovered that the Ming King had a mysterious confidence in Bai Xiuming, leaving behind at least a dozen statements such as "My son is a great talent," "My son is a gifted genius," and "My son will dominate the world in no time."

If Bai Xiuming hadn't personally confirmed that it was Ming Wang's handwriting, A Chan would have found it hard to believe that Ming Wang would have such a personality.

"What are you looking at, so happy?" Bai Xiuming had just entered the room when he saw A Chan looking at the booklet spread out on the table while laughing.

"Look at what King Ming is saying about you, my son, you are a prodigy!" Achan teased.

Bai Xiuming chuckled: "Father only talks a good game, but he's not serious about cultivation. He never held back when he beat me."

"That's great, you even have someone to teach you. Unlike me, I reached the fourth realm on my own."

Bai Xiuming stepped forward, picked the person up from the chair, sat down himself, and then placed Achan on his lap: "Teasing me?"

"No way," A-Chan said innocently. "Can't you even hear the truth?"

Bai Xiuming pinched her chin: "Unfortunately, you now have to cultivate as hard as I have."

"It's okay, but you have to remember to praise me more often."

“Okay, I guarantee it will sound better than my father’s praise.”

Achan smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. Bai Xiuming put his arm around her waist, looked down at her bright smiling face, and his eyes softened.

He never asked Achan if she would regret her choice, because he would never let her have that day of regret.

"By the way, why did you suddenly come back? How is Marquis Jinyang?" Achan suddenly remembered the important matter and raised her head slightly.

"Just as you guessed, he's in the town prison now, and he'll be questioned in a little while."

"Tsk, if the news that the current Marquis has been impersonated gets out, it will probably cause panic."

“Yes, so this news won’t get out.” Bai Xiuming played with A Chan’s hair. “His Majesty will find an excuse to get rid of her. You can choose how she dies.”

Achan's gaze was deep and unfathomable: "More than wanting him dead, I want to know where the real Ji Heng went?"

"With the example of the Princess of Xin'an before us, why don't you think that Ji Heng is really dead?"

"Because it's strange, he has been in Ji Heng's place for so many years and has never made a move against Lin Shi and Ji Chan. Why did he suddenly change his mind last year?"

Over the past year, the Marquis of Jinyang I've come to know is a muddle-headed, incompetent, and indecisive man. He's afraid of you and doesn't dare to lay a hand on me; even the death of his two children didn't make him act impulsively.

How could someone like that plot to kill Ji Heng, who already possessed considerable cultivation, and then silently assume his identity without being discovered? It's absolutely impossible without help. Either Ji Heng's most trusted confidant betrayed him, or Ji Heng himself abandoned the identity.

"You think it's the second possibility."

"Just ask him, and you'll find out."

Half an hour later, Bai Xiuming led A Chan into the town prison.

The two walked through the dark passageway to the interrogation room at the end.

Before even entering, Achan smelled a strong stench of blood, mixed with the smell of burnt flesh.

She covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief in disgust and followed Bai Xiuming inside.

A man, soaked in blood, was hanging from an iron frame, panting heavily. Hearing footsteps outside, he struggled to lift his head, revealing a face without features.

Jiang Kai stood beside the iron frame, neatly arranging the blood-stained torture instruments in his hands. Seeing the two enter, he didn't say anything and simply turned and left the interrogation room.

"Lord Bai..." Marquis Jinyang seemed to have injured his tongue, blood kept spilling from the corner of his mouth as he spoke, his voice was indistinct, "What do you want to know? I will tell you everything."

He hadn't expected Bai Xiuming to be so ruthless. After capturing him, he didn't even give him a chance to speak before having him tortured.

Having lived a life of luxury for so many years, he had never suffered such torment. Moreover, with his cultivation sealed, he was now no different from an ordinary person. After a round of torture, he felt that he was not far from death.

Now he only asks for a chance to speak; he doesn't dare to think about anything else.

Bai Xiuming ignored him, pulled over a chair from the side, and A Chan sat down with a clear conscience.

It was only then that Marquis Jinyang noticed Achan, and his pupils contracted sharply.

After sitting down, Achan straightened her skirt before raising her head: "Lord Jinyang, it's been a long time."

Without a face, even changes in expression were impossible to discern. A-Chan was somewhat disappointed, so before he could react, she continued, "Let's get to know each other. My name is A-Chan, and I'm the one Ji Chan sought out to avenge her. And you, what's your name?"

"Wh-what?" Even though the physical pain had already made Marquis Jinyang somewhat dazed, he was still shocked when he heard Achan's words.

"Why are you so surprised? I wasn't even surprised when I found out you weren't the Marquis of Jinyang."

"Yes...hehe..." The Marquis of Jinyang made a sound that was both crying and laughing. If something as absurd as him not being the Marquis of Jinyang had already happened, what was so strange about Ji Chan not being Ji Chan?

"My name is Ji Mo."

The name sounded somewhat unfamiliar to him; he had abandoned it for many years.

“Ji Zhuang’s half-brother.” A Chan still remembered the information she had seen last night.

Ji Mo nodded, feeling only horror in her heart; even she knew this.

"Let's talk about why you became the Marquis of Jinyang, and who helped you forge your identity?"

"I can't say." Seeing the displeasure on Achan's face, he dared not hide it and hurriedly said, "We made a contract, and I will die if I tell."

"So cautious." Achan looked up at Bai Xiuming.

Bai Xiuming strode towards Ji Mo, stopping a few steps away without reaching out to touch him, only saying, "Raise your eyes."

Ji Mo subconsciously looked at the other person, only to see a flash of golden light. The next moment, his mind went blank. In a daze, he felt something suddenly break off from his body, and he felt completely relaxed.

After an unknown amount of time, he finally regained consciousness. By then, Bai Xiuming had returned to Achan's side.

"What am I doing..."

"The contract has been dissolved. From now on, you'd better believe everything you say," Bai Xiuming said in a completely calm voice. "Otherwise, I'll show you what it's like to be slowly sliced ​​to death without actually dying."

No, I wouldn't dare.

"Since you don't dare, then answer my questions: Who helped you forge your identity, and where is Ji Heng?" Achan asked.

“It was Ji Heng who helped me forge this identity. I don’t know where he is now, but I do know that he is with the demon race.”

Ji Mo was afraid that if he spoke too slowly, he would displease Bai Xiuming, so he blurted out everything he knew.

He said, "Back then, Ji Heng rescued me from the bandits and took me to Jiaozhou to have a fake face made for me, saying that I should replace him as the Marquis of Jinyang. He also said that I didn't have to do anything, as long as I maintained the Marquis of Jinyang's mansion and didn't let the Ji family fall into ruin."

Is there anything else?

"He also said..." Ji Mo's eyes flickered for a moment, "that I should take good care of Lin Shi and Ji Chan, and that in the future I can choose a boy from my own offspring to be adopted and inherit the Jin Yang Marquis's mansion."

Achan smiled. She had always thought that there were more human species than demon species, and now she had truly learned something new.

"Such a good thing suddenly fell into your lap, didn't you ask him why?"

"He didn't say it, but I guessed it."

"oh?"

“There was a woman with him, very beautiful, and the two were inseparable. He even called that woman princess.” Ji Mo recalled the past and swallowed hard. “After I changed my face, that woman killed the person who gave me the face. I found out that she was not human at all; she was a demon.”

Have you seen each other all these years?

Ji Mo first shook his head, then seemed to remember something and froze, his voice becoming weak: "Last year, that princess sent someone to look for me."

Ah Chan looked at him, her face still smiling, but her voice was cold: "What does she want with you?"

"She told me to find an opportunity to kill Lin Shi and Ji Chan."

"She told you to do it, and you just did it. Aren't you afraid that Ji Heng will find out and cause you trouble?" Achan asked.

“I didn’t want to either,” Ji Mo explained, trembling. “But the people she sent said that Ji Heng already had a child with the princess and wouldn’t care about Ji Chan’s life or death. However, Lin Shi and Ji Chan are in the princess’s eyes. If I don’t do as she says, they will kill Xun Fang and our child.”

Under Achan's watchful gaze, Ji Mo's voice grew softer and softer.

"Then why didn't you let Ji Chan and Lin Shi die together back then?"

“I…I’m afraid that Ji Heng might still care about this daughter, so…”

"So you wanted to please the princess while clearing yourself of suspicion, so you created a death scene that had nothing to do with you."

Ji Mo didn't admit it, but A Chan knew she had guessed right.

He allowed Xue Shi to use Xue Mingtang to kill Ji Chan.

Just as he predicted, Ji Chan died in a deliberately staged "accident".

If she and Ji Chan hadn't met on the Lantern Festival last year, Ji Chan would have died mysteriously, just like her mother.