Chapter 69 What if what Prince Su said about liking someone...?

Earlier, the coroner of the Dali Temple examined the body in the Hezhou case and preliminarily determined that the headless male corpse found by the well was not from the Li Dynasty, and there had been no prior reports of foreigners living in his home.

Four nights ago, Qin Xiao, who had reviewed the examination documents for the assassination case at Xujiahoushan by coroner, secretly left Beijing for Hezhou.

He searched through the night for the city entry and exit records kept in the prefecture. Two days before the massacre of the Hezhou family, two foreign names appeared in the records. Many foreigners had entered and exited Hezhou before and after, but one of them had no record of leaving the city, and there was no trace of this person in Hezhou.

The skeletal remains of this headless male corpse bear a striking resemblance to the remains of the foreign assassins in the assassination case at the back of the Xu family's mountain, and are also distinct from those of the Li Dynasty.

Qin Xiao initially concluded that the assassination in the back mountain of the Xu family and the massacre of the entire family in Hezhou were committed by the same group of people.

The further down you look, the more tightly Biezhi frowns.

After reading the memorial presented by the Court of Judicial Review, she fell into a long silence, all her unspoken words ultimately condensing into one question: "Why?"

She doesn't understand, and she can't understand.

Neither he nor the Liu family involved in the Hezhou massacre had any grudges against Jing Qing, so why would he attack them, even disregarding the bond they had formed growing up together?

"Silence her." Fu Huaiqing's gaze swept over her knuckles, which were slightly red from gripping the edge of the memorial tightly, and he pried them open one by one. "The Liu family and the Bian family should have noticed something, and this thing can ruin what they are doing and push them into the abyss."

Bie Zhi suddenly lifted her eyelids, "Is it true that he and Zhang Yan are spies from the Western Lan Kingdom?"

Fu Huaiqing remained indifferent.

He closed the memorial and casually set it aside.

“Rather than being spies from the Xilan Kingdom, they are more like subordinates of Helan Daisong.” Fu Huaiqing’s expression darkened slightly. “They are not loyal to the Xilan royal family, but to Helan Daisong.”

Upon hearing this, Biezhi's breath hitched.

In the pause between words, she suddenly remembered what Fu Huaiqing had mentioned to Huyan Daji half an hour earlier, "The person you just asked Huyan Daji for, is it Helan Daisong?"

She guessed very quickly. Fu Huaiqing raised an eyebrow, neither confirming nor denying.

Biezhi shook her head: "He won't give it to me."

You can guess the answer without even thinking too much.

According to what Huyan Daji just said, he wanted to compete for that position, and if he wanted to sit in that position, even if Helan Daisong did not belong to his camp, he would not hand over Helan Daisong for the sake of Xilan Kingdom.

If he were to hand him over, he would be a sinner for all time in the eyes of the Western Lan Kingdom.

“Of course he won’t give it to me,” Fu Huaiqing said casually.

What he really wanted was not Helan Daisong.

“If you tear down his roof right away, and then back down and only remove one of his windows later, he will happily agree.”

Biezhi blinked.

She felt that this theory seemed somewhat familiar.

It was as if, upon learning that Ji Ran was the master, the sky had collapsed halfway, only to suddenly realize that the master was Prince Su. It seemed as if the sky had completely fallen, but in reality, there was still some room for maneuver.

What if Prince Su's expression of affection was genuine?

At this moment, the wheel tracks suddenly came to a stop.

Bie Zhi suppressed her wandering thoughts and was the first to get up, lift the curtain, and step out.

Without waiting for the guards to bring a stool, she jumped off the carriage decisively and swiftly, and without waiting for Fu Huaiqing to dismount, she ran quickly towards the Dali Temple.

The guards on duty at the entrance of the Dali Temple saw the young girl get off the carriage of Prince Su's mansion, and naturally dared not stop her. One of them hurriedly went inside to report, fearing that they would not be able to catch up in time.

When her gaze met Qin Xiao's, who was walking towards her, Bie Zhi slowed her pace slightly.

Qin Xiao's slightly upturned lips softened when he saw the tall figure behind the girl. His eyes were filled with indescribable emotion as he looked at Biezhi, whose expression was no different from when she was in the Qin family. He bowed to the newcomers and stepped aside to let them pass. "His master is with him."

Upon hearing that her master was also there, Biezhi's round almond-shaped eyes narrowed for a moment.

She turned her head with a complicated expression, meeting the man's dark eyes, which held a hint of reassurance. In an instant, the oppressive atmosphere that had been hanging around her dissipated slightly, and she urged, "Hurry up, let's go take a look together."

us.

Together.

Upon hearing those four words, Fu Huaiqing's expression changed.

Biezhi didn't realize anything was wrong and urged him on again, wishing she could walk the rest of the way for him.

She was eager to find out the truth.

She couldn't rest easy until she understood Jing Qing's purpose.

The dimly lit dungeon was filled with a scorching heat, like candlelight or charcoal fire.

Upon seeing the figure bound hand and foot to the rack, Biezhi stopped in her tracks as she descended the steps. A hint of indescribable emotion flickered in her clear, almond-shaped eyes. She looked down at her master, who was sitting quietly in front of the rack with his eyes closed, his dark hair almost reaching the tip of his nose, indicating that he had not slept for several days.

The echoing footsteps in the empty prison caught the attention of the man on the rack. He looked up, and their eyes met for a moment. His gaze swept over his body inch by inch, and then he smiled very lightly, his tense body suddenly relaxing.

After pausing on the steps for a long time, another branch descended the steps.

She looked at the man on the shelf, then at her master, who had suddenly woken up and whose face was covered with exhaustion.

Many questions I once wanted to ask now seem unnecessary.

She didn't need to question him about why he disregarded their friendship, nor did she need to ask him if he remembered his master's kindness when he acted, nor did she need to find out if he still remembered the fellow disciples who had worked for him.

After a brief silence, the branch slowly spoke.

"You killed me on Zhang Yan's orders, didn't you?"

His direct and to-the-point remarks plunged the prison into a deathly silence.

Fu Huaiqing lowered his gaze slightly, landing on the girl's straight, pine-like back, a faint smile appearing in his deep, clear eyes.

What she hates most is going around in circles.

Jing Qing's eyes narrowed slightly. He hadn't expected that she already knew about his relationship with Zhang Yan. His gaze passed over the branches and fell on the figure of the man hidden in the darkness. The man was like a towering mountain, standing quietly in the shadows. He remembered the guards who had run around for her that night. It was only later that he learned that the guards were all from the Prince Su's mansion.

Thus, the man hidden in the shadows is none other than the current Prince Su.

With Prince Su around, there seems to be nothing to worry about.

After a long silence, he withdrew his gaze and said calmly, "It's him."

"Why?" Biezhi pressed.

"Judging from his tone, your appearance is very similar to one of his old friends." Jing Qing was only vaguely aware of this, but he was certain that if Zhang Yan couldn't deal with the other side of the matter, it would only incur the wrath of those above.

Bie Zhi frowned. "Who is it?"

“I don’t know. He just keeps giving orders without any reason.” In the past few days, Jing Qing recalled the various people she had met through Zhang Yan over the past ten years, but she had not encountered anyone who looked like Bie Zhi. “The old friend he mentioned must have met him ten years ago.”

Ten years ago.

Fu Huaiqing glanced thoughtfully over the area and then gave Jiang Yue a look behind him.

Jiang Yue bowed and accepted the order.

He took three or four steps back, then a thought flashed through his mind. He suddenly remembered what the guard had just told him, and frowned. He couldn't tell if there was something fishy going on, or if it was another spy sent by someone else to investigate another branch. He paused for a moment, then stepped forward and whispered.

Upon hearing this, Fu Huaiqing's indifferent expression turned serious after a short while.

He parted his thin lips slightly: "Check."

Biezhi couldn't possibly guess who the old friend who resembled her was. She had been in Xianyun Tower for ten years, and going back even further... Her eyes flickered, and her fingers, hanging by her side, trembled slightly.

She suddenly turned around and looked at Fu Huaiqing in the shadows.

The girl looked straight at him, her expression filled with astonishment, as if trying to confirm whether he had heard her.

With just one glance, Fu Huaiqing knew what she was thinking.

The resemblance is so strong that Zhang Yan could recognize the person at a glance that they must be nine and a half out of ten similar.

Only close relatives could achieve such a perfect resemblance.

Jing Qing stared intently at her junior sister, who was running briskly into the shadows. Her lips twitched for a moment, and she called out her name. But a moment later, the junior sister turned around, her joy still lingering, tinged with a hint of anxiety, as if she was rushing to share something with someone.

Their eyes met, and he shook his head. "It's nothing."

The man's eyes were filled with an overwhelming sense of desolation and helplessness, which was impossible to ignore. As his emotions overflowed, Biezhi's initial joy gradually subsided, and she realized that if he were to be convicted in the future, this might very well be the last time she saw him.

Her Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and tears welled up in her dry lips. For a long while, she didn't know what to say.

At this moment, Ling Feng, who had been silent for a long time, stood up.

He took half a step forward, blocking their view, and said to Jing Qing, whom he had personally escorted back and tied to the rack, "If there's anything you need, just tell me."

Jing Qing understood his meaning, lowered her eyes and smiled.

Footsteps sounded beside his ear. He raised his eyes and looked at the girl who kept glancing back. A tear welled up in his eye and quickly slid down without leaving a trace.

His junior sister is the most radiant sunlight in summer.

She seemed to be covered in flames, and wherever she went, she could cause a stir. There was never a dull moment when she was around. Whenever she appeared in a certain place, she would attract people to stop and linger, or subconsciously want to get closer to absorb the vitality surrounding her.

He was one of them.

People in extremely cold places think they have finally caught a glimpse of sunlight.

In fact, sunlight can fall on everyone, not just him.

He was just one of many people in the audience.

"Did you hear what he said?" Biezhi couldn't help but ask as soon as she stepped out of the dungeon. The sunlight that slowly fell on her body dispelled the biting cold from the dungeon. She turned to look at the man who was climbing the steps. "Someone who looks a lot like me might be my parents."

The sunlight fell on the girl, casting shadows all around her. Fu Huaiqing walked towards her and hummed in response.

The words "father" and "mother" are completely unfamiliar to Biezhi.

From the time she could remember, she knew she was an orphan, and her only support was her grandmother who had taken her in. Apart from that, she had no other relatives.

When she was young and naive, she envied the children in the village who had their parents with them.

She couldn't understand why she didn't have parents.

Everyone has it, but she's the only one who doesn't.

"Back then, I thought, 'If only I had a father and a mother.'" Biezhi couldn't help but laugh as she recalled hiding behind the treetops as a child and watching other parents lead their children home. She said to him, "I remember, I was so envious back then that I was drooling."