Chapter 467 A Huge Shadow

"What?!"

Shang Ruyi was shocked. The bowl in her hand slipped and fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.

Yuwen Qian frowned but didn't ask any questions. He just walked over and watched them silently. Wo Xue said in alarm, "Lord Yin had Song Yu locked in a side room in the front, and they even added more guards outside. But when they brought him his food just now, they found that he was already dead."

"...!"

Shang Ruyi's face darkened, and she immediately said, "Let's go!"

She didn't care about anything else, got up and hurriedly took Wo Xue out.

When they arrived at the door of the room that was temporarily used to imprison Song Yu, Yin Changyue, Dai Junliang and others were already there. The group surrounded the room, and lying in a pool of blood in the center of the room was Song Yu's body.

A short knife was stuck in his chest, and blood stained most of his body.

Seeing that the person who had just been alive and stubbornly arguing with Shang Ruyi was now dead, everyone showed different expressions: anger, regret, and a hint of helplessness and panic.

More than anything, there was confusion.

Song Yu died just like that.

Was it suicide out of fear of punishment, or—

Shang Ruyi remained silent, only pursing her pale lips as she looked down at the corpse. Song Yu's eyes were bloodshot, his pupils bulging, his face contorted with rage and terror, even a hint of resentment, as if he had encountered something horrific before his death.

Faced with such a filamentous form, even under the blazing sun, and despite having just experienced the most brutal battlefield conditions, Shang Ruyi couldn't help but gasp in shock.

But she wasn't afraid.

Instead, it was anger.

Not only her, but even Wo Xue, who had come with her, frowned. Her pretty face was filled with barely suppressed anger as she gritted her teeth and said, "How could this be?"

"..."

No one answered her.

In fact, everyone who saw this scene felt the same way.

Meanwhile, Yin Changyue and Dai Junliang, standing to the side, had ashen faces and were extremely depressed.

It should be noted that with this incident of plotting against a court official occurring in the army, Yin Changyue, as the military supervisor, would definitely be held accountable upon returning to Daxing. His previous attempts to smooth things over were also in the hope of suppressing the matter and keeping himself out of it. However, the general's wife refused to give up and collected all the evidence. He could only help clarify the case, at least completing a task and providing an explanation. But just as the case was clarified, the suspect died.

Even if he wins a great victory in the battle of Fufeng this time, he will have a hard time explaining himself to the imperial court.

Dai Junliang shared the same concerns.

After a long silence, Dai Junliang finally spoke softly, "Madam, we just arrived. There's only Song Yu's body in the room. And—"

"What?"

"The window is open."

Upon hearing this, everyone hurriedly looked up and discovered that the window on the other side was indeed ajar. However, since this room was where suspects were being held, the windows should have been sealed shut.

Shang Ruyi frowned: "Why weren't the windows sealed?"

One of the guards immediately said, "Madam, the window was originally sealed shut, but when we checked just now, we found signs that it had been pried open with a dagger. In addition, there were several footprints on the windowsill. It seems that someone must have entered this room through the window."

"..."

Upon hearing these words, Shang Ruyi fell silent.

After a long while, a cold light flashed in her eyes, and she said in a deep voice, "So, Song Yu did not commit suicide."

Her words made the room even quieter.

Song Yu did not commit suicide.

This was something everyone had already guessed when they saw his ferocious and terrified expression before he died, and now they understood it even more clearly.

He was murdered.

only--

Dai Junliang thought for a moment, then turned to the guards at the door and asked, "While you were guarding outside, did you hear anything coming from inside?"

The guards exchanged glances and shook their heads.

One of the leaders said, "After Lord Song was locked up, he kept shouting and threatening us. We followed the orders of Lord Dai and Lord Yin and ignored him. After a while, Lord Song quieted down, and we assumed he was just tired of shouting. We never expected that—"

"Didn't you hear a sound at all?"

"No."

Hearing their words, Dai Junliang frowned and muttered, "If he was really killed after being broken in, with Lord Song's skills, could the other party really have prevented him from making a sound?"

For a moment, everyone fell silent again.

After a moment of thought, Shang Ruyi said softly, "So, it wasn't just one person who made the move."

"...!?"

Everyone immediately turned to look at her, and Yin Changyue's eyes widened in astonishment: "What does Madam mean—"

Shang Ruyi said, "At least two people made the move."

"..."

"Only in this way can we subdue Song Yu and kill him without him making a sound or alerting the guards outside."

"..."

As for the person who did it—

Dai Junliang thought for a moment and immediately said, "The government office is heavily guarded, and outsiders cannot enter or leave at will. Moreover, this is the backyard, and such a thing has happened, so I have already ordered strict guarding."

"..."

"In the backyard, there are only a few of us and the people who follow us."

"..."

"But none of these people have ever left."

Just as everyone was wondering, Shang Ruyi looked around and suddenly asked, "Where are the two guards who were with Song Yu just now?"

"...!?"

Everyone was stunned for a moment upon hearing this.

But someone immediately realized that she was referring to the two seemingly slow-witted, even incompetent, guards who had just been "publicly tried" Song Yu in the council hall.

Yin Changyue said in astonishment, "I... after I had Song Yu imprisoned, I dismissed them all."

Because they were not involved in the plot to murder the general, they were not imprisoned along with him. When their master was imprisoned, they were naturally dismissed.

At this moment, Dai Junliang seemed to understand something and immediately ordered the guards behind him: "Go, go find it quickly!"

Several guards received the order and hurriedly ran downstairs.

It was past noon, and the sun overhead was like a burning fireball, baking the ground red. The room was as hot as a kiln, but everyone standing inside felt a strange chill rising from the bottom of their hearts, as if an ominous premonition was spreading silently.

After a while, several guards ran back.

Dai Junliang immediately asked, "How is it?"

The guard, panting, said, "Sir, those two people have disappeared."

"What?"

“We went to ask, and the people below said they hadn’t seen them. We searched the entire government office and even the military camp, but we couldn’t find them anywhere.”

Upon hearing this, Dai Junliang's face immediately darkened. After thinking for a moment, he said immediately, "Quickly send people to search, conduct a city-wide manhunt, we must find these two people!"

"yes!"

Those people immediately ran down.

A flurry of activity erupted around her, but Shang Ruyi stood to the side, exuding an unusual chill. Although the final result was still unknown, she could almost foresee what it would be.

Those two people are probably gone forever.

At this moment, she turned to look at Song Yu's corpse again. Even covered by a white sheet, the distorted and ferocious features of his face before death were still visible. And at this moment, Shang Ruyi finally understood one thing—

No wonder he died in such a terrified state.

Clearly, even he hadn't expected that the two guards he considered dull and incompetent would suddenly become so quick and agile, breaking into the room where he was imprisoned.

But they didn't come to save him; they came to kill him.

Even now—Shang Ruyi realized that the two guards were not as dull and incompetent as they seemed.

Their sluggish and incompetent demeanor just now was probably an act.

It seems they have realized that Shang Ruyi has enough evidence to implicate Song Yu. Even if they save him temporarily, he will not escape the fate of being publicly tried by the court after returning to Daxing City. If that happens, it will likely implicate even more people and things.

Therefore, their sluggishness and incompetence at that time was actually a form of surrender, allowing Shang Ruyi and others to judge and imprison him.

Similarly, it's about lowering their guard.

Once they thought they had everything under control and imprisoned Song Yu, the two men reappeared and murdered him. In this way, the case of the murder of the general could only end here!

From this perspective, those two seemingly dull and incompetent guards were not Song Yu's men, or rather, while they appeared to be Song Yu's men, there was actually another, even more powerful figure behind them.

That is, what Shang Ruyi wanted to find out from Song Yu was who had instructed him.

This person has been hiding behind the scenes from the very beginning. The entire battle of Fufeng was overshadowed by the enormous shadow cast by this person—the medicinal herbs were looted, Yuwen Ye fell ill, Song Yu set fire to harm him, and just now, they had just interrogated Song Yu and he died before the truth was fully revealed.

To be killed silently at such a time—

It's to silence them!

With just this thought, Shang Ruyi clenched her fists, her slender knuckles turning white, yet a sense of infuriating powerlessness spread through her body.

In the end, she was a step too late.

If I had persisted just a little longer at that moment, perhaps I could have extracted information from Song Yu.

But--

Just then, a tall, dark shadow appeared from behind, blocking out the blazing sunlight and enveloping Shang Ruyi in its shadow.

Shang Ruyi suddenly felt a tightness in her chest.

She slowly turned around, and when she looked up, she met eyes that, though bathed in sunlight and shadow, appeared exceptionally bright and serene, as if they were detached from all bloodshed and filth, pure and untouched by the dust of the world.

It was Yuwen Qian.

His eyes were clear, his expression calm, and he said, "Is the matter resolved?"