Chapter 694 The Imperial Advisor Returns

"no."

Gu Jiao denied it.

Mu Qingchen stared coldly at her, trying to see even the slightest flaw or guilty conscience in her eyes, but to Mu Qingchen's disappointment.

If Gu Jiao were to act out some love-hate relationship, it would probably be blinding, but she's not at all embarrassed; this is her natural performance.

flaw?

That's impossible.

However, whether Gu Jiaoxin feels guilty or not is a different matter from whether Mu Qingchen believes it or not. Mu Qingchen is not as easily fooled as Li Sande; his thinking does not have any logical blind spots that can be easily guided.

He has his own deductions and will not be influenced by Gu Jiao.

He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, his gaze icy: "You won't save Nangong Li. There's only one possibility for you being there: you killed him!"

Having spent so much time with his classmate, Mu Qingchen could tell, even if he didn't know him inside and out, that he was definitely not the kind of person who would repay evil with kindness.

Given his past conflict with Nangong Li, how could he possibly risk being mistaken for an assassin to save him?

It's already a sign of this classmate's mercy that he didn't finish off Nangong Li.

Gu Jiao shrugged: "If you say so, then so be it."

Mu Qingchen gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, his anger reaching a certain peak. In truth, he couldn't quite put his finger on what he was angry about. Was he simply angry at Mu Qingchen for his misdeeds in Shengdu, including the assassination of a famous general of the Yan Kingdom, or was he angry at Mu Qingchen for his many secrets and lack of honesty?

"Who exactly are you? What is your purpose in coming to the State of Yan?"

Gu Jiao didn't say anything.

Mu Qingchen was even angrier. Compared to having a big argument with him and questioning why he didn't believe her, it was his attitude of not wanting to say anything that was the most infuriating.

Mu Qingchen gritted her teeth and said, "Why aren't you saying anything? Are you admitting it?"

Gu Jiao glanced at him and said calmly, "If there's nothing else, I'll go inside first. If we're going to fight, we can do it another day. I don't want to start a fight in front of my house."

Having said that, Gu Jiao didn't even look at the long sword held across her neck, turned around, and reached out to push open the courtyard gate.

Mu Qingchen said coldly, "Stop right there! If you don't explain yourself clearly today, don't blame me for taking action against you!"

Gu Jiao ignored him; the courtyard gate had already been pushed open by Gu Jiao.

Seeing that Gu Jiao ignored his threats and anger, Mu Qingchen felt a surge of anger rising in his heart. He suddenly raised his long sword and stabbed it towards Gu Jiao's back.

Gu Jiao didn't want to fight Mu Qingchen, so she simply turned slightly to the side to avoid it.

Mu Qingchen was determined to force Gu Jiao to take action, and he quickly made his second move.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from the courtyard, clattering as they approached the door.

"Jiaojiao, is that you back?"

creak—

The courtyard gate opened, and Xiao Jingkong's little head poked out!

Mu Qingchen's eyes flickered, and she abruptly sheathed her sword!

However, a trace of sword energy still failed to be contained in time.

The gate was only slightly ajar; if someone were pulled out, they would get hurt; if someone were pushed back in, they would fall.

In the blink of an eye, Gu Jiao stepped forward, bent down to protect Xiao Jingkong, and blocked the sword energy.

Mu Qingchen hadn't intended to kill, especially since he had already absorbed most of it; it was just a wisp of remaining sword energy. Yet, even so, Gu Jiao's back was still slashed open.

Her clothes were torn, revealing a small patch of her fair skin and a bodice tightly wrapped around her front.

Mu Qingchen was slightly taken aback. He only felt that the small patch of skin was dazzlingly bright, and he didn't bother to think carefully about what the strip of cloth wrapped around Gu Jiao's body was.

He turned around, and for some reason, his mind went blank.

Xiao Jingkong didn't see Mu Qingchen outside the door. He thought only Gu Jiao had returned and wanted to call out to Jiao Jiao, but Gu Jiao raised an index finger and gently pressed it against his lips.

Mu Qingchen wanted to turn around, but inexplicably held back. He gripped the long sword in his hand and said in a low voice, "I will definitely find out the truth and find the evidence. If it really is you, then I will not tolerate it!"

After saying that, he gripped his sword and stepped into the night with a heavy gaze.

Gu Jiao closed the courtyard gate so that Xiao Jingkong wouldn't see her back, otherwise the little guy would worry again.

Xiao Jingkong tilted his head and said, "Jiaojiao, who was that outside just now? I didn't understand what he said."

"It's nothing, just a classmate who brought me home." Gu Jiao patted his head. "Why did you come here?"

Xiao Jingkong said, "The academy is on holiday, so my brother-in-law brought me here!"

Gu Jiao asked, "Is your brother-in-law here too?"

Xiao Jingkong shook his head and spread his hands, saying, "He was here at noon, but he's gone out now. He said he'll pick me up tomorrow, or maybe Brother Chengfeng will pick me up!"

Xiao Heng specially sent Xiao Jingkong here, so he must have something important to do.

Gu Jiao guessed correctly; Xiao Heng had indeed gone to take care of some business.

Gu Chengfeng was also there.

Xiao Heng first brought Xiao Jingkong to Gu Jiao's place and handed him over to Nan Shi Niang and Master Lu. Then he went to Tianxiang Pavilion and returned to the inner city with Gu Chengfeng.

Gu Jiao didn't actually tell anyone about her plan to assassinate someone in the palace, but Xiao Heng could guess it.

The two people in this world who understand Gu Jiao best are Gu Yan and Xiao Heng.

From the moment Nangong Li left the city to find Gu Jiao, the two of them had already set their sights on him.

Gu Chengfeng followed his carriage all the way, while Xiao Heng first delivered Xiao Jingkong to Nan Shi Niang and Master Lu.

After leaving Tianqiong Academy, Nangong Li went straight to the palace.

Gu Chengfeng and Xiao Heng dared not get too close, and fortunately, Nangong Li did not dare to stop the carriage too close to the palace in order not to be discovered.

Nangong Li contacted a palace eunuch and secretly entered the palace by hiding in a box used for purchasing ingredients.

Nangong Li's trusted guards remained in the carriage to wait.

News of Nangong Li's death didn't spread quickly. It wasn't until evening that his trusted guards heard from passersby that General Nangong had been murdered in the palace.

Others might not know the inside story, but how could his trusted guards not know?

Nangong Li went to kill that student from Tianqiong Academy. If something happened to Nangong Li, it must have been because that student killed him!

The trusted guard hurriedly drove the carriage to inform the Nangong family.

It's not a good idea to take action on the street.

Xiao Heng spread out a map of the inner city and said to Gu Chengfeng, "Go east."

Gu Chengfeng, driving the carriage, said, "Don't get it wrong!"

Xiao Heng said, "It can't be wrong."

They walked east through an alley and happened to run into the carriage of their trusted guard. The guard seemed to realize that he was being watched and turned around and walked through another alley.

Xiao Heng glanced in the direction of the alley and said, "Turn around and head to Nanyu Street."

Finally, the two cornered their trusted guard at the corner of Nanyu Street.

Once we get rid of him, no one will ever know why Nangong Li entered the palace today.

...

Nangong Li's death caused a huge uproar in Shengdu. There were three major doubts about the matter. First, why was Nangong Li in the palace? There was no record of him entering the palace, in other words, he entered the palace secretly.

The servants of the Nangong family said that he left the mansion with a guard named Liu Dong.

The Ministry of Justice immediately sent people to search for the guard named Liu Dong, only to find that Liu Dong had died violently in the street.

He was fatally stabbed in the vital spot by a hidden weapon.

The perpetrator clearly possessed strong counter-surveillance capabilities, leaving no clues at the scene and no eyewitnesses found nearby.

The case had just made a breakthrough when it hit a deadlock.

The second major point of suspicion is the three eunuchs who died at the crime scene.

Two of the three were from the Imperial Kitchen and the other from the Hall of Central Harmony. These three had no interaction in private and were not close on the surface, so it's unclear why they ended up together there.

They had sacks and ropes around them, and it looked like they were about to grab something.

Furthermore, after the coroner examined the bodies, it was speculated that they were killed by Nangong Li's internal force.

"Why can't it be the murderer's internal energy?" the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review asked the coroner in the morgue.

The Minister of Justice was also present, and he was quite curious about it.

The coroner said, "I also examined General Nangong's body. General Nangong did not suffer any internal injuries. I dare to speculate that the murderer had no internal strength."

The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review frowned and said, "Without internal energy, you were able to kill the renowned General Nangong with a tree branch? Old man Sun, do you understand what you're saying? Or did you make a mistake in your examination?"

The coroner said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "I have been performing autopsies for decades and dare not say that I have never made a mistake. If you do not believe me, you can find another coroner to perform the autopsy on General Nangong."

The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review naturally sought him out.

The results were consistent with those of Old Man Sun's autopsy.

"If he didn't need to use internal force to kill General Nangong, then he certainly didn't need to use it to kill three eunuchs." Based on this reasoning, the coroner deduced that the internal force that killed the three men came from Nangong Li.

Thus, the third major mystery of the case emerged—who could have so easily killed Nangong Li without any internal energy, or even without using any internal energy at all?

Yang Chang, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and Dong Wei, the Minister of Justice, investigated for a day and a night, but found nothing.

Yang Chang, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, said, "Liu Dong is clearly the best breakthrough point. As long as we can get the truth out of him about what Nangong Li did in the palace, the truth of the case will be solved."

Minister of Justice Dong Wei said, "The person is dead, there's no point in saying anything more."

Both the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice were located in the outer court of Duanmen, except that the Court of Judicial Review was on the west side and the Ministry of Justice was on the east side.

With dawn approaching, returning home to rest was out of the question. He could only go to the government office to change his clothes, preparing to go to court soon to report the case to the emperor.

As they were about to part ways, Yang Chang noticed that Minister Dong was deep in thought and couldn't help but ask, "What are you thinking about?"

Minister Dong said, "I'm wondering, who exactly killed Nangong Li? And did they kill him in the palace? It feels like..."

“What does it look like?” Yang Chang asked.

Minister Dong shook his head: "I don't have any solid evidence, but when I stood at the crime scene looking at Nangong Li's body and the tree branch that was left there, I seemed to feel a murderous intent of revenge."

This is one of Minister Dong's strengths; he is a judge with a keen intuition about cases, and his intuition is accurate in the vast majority of cases.

They had once apprehended a serial killer without any leads. However, one day the killer happened to meet Minister Dong on the street. With just one glance, Minister Dong pointed at the man and said, "He is the killer."

Therefore, when Minister Dong said that the other party was seeking revenge, Yang Chang did not immediately deny this claim.

Yang Chang asked thoughtfully, "Has Nangong Li offended anyone?"

Minister Dong said, "You should ask, among the people Nangong Li has offended, who could easily kill him? Have you carefully observed the shape of that tree branch? Don't you think it looks like a long spear?"

Yang Chang recalled for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's right, the tip was sharpened, and the length is close to that of a spear."

Minister Dong said, "As far as I know, only the spear technique of the Xuanyuan family can possess such power without using internal energy."

Yang Chang frowned: "You mean... Nangong Li was killed by the Xuanyuan family? The entire Xuanyuan family is dead, and the only one left, the former Crown Princess, was crippled. Your deduction is completely invalid."

Minister Dong pondered for a moment and said, "What if... someone is lucky enough to survive?"

Yang Chang said confidently, "There's no chance of anything going wrong. Don't forget, all the bodies of the Xuanyuan family members were examined one by one. The coffins were nailed shut before the two brothers, Prince Jing, were allowed to carry them away."

Minister Dong said with a solemn expression, "Xuanyuan Sheng, I inexplicably thought of him when I saw the murder weapon during the day."

Yang Chang said with a laugh, "He is even less likely to be the murderer. Of all the sons of the Xuanyuan family, he died the most tragically. He was pinned to the city wall by his own red-tasseled spear and died from being pierced by ten thousand arrows. His body was hung on the city wall for a whole month. Prince Jing almost spent all his family's wealth to get the body of the Xuanyuan family's son back. If there had been even one survivor, Prince Jing would not have had to go to such lengths."

Prince Jing, now the Duke of Anguo.

Yang Chang stopped, patted Minister Dong on the shoulder, and said earnestly, "Old Dong, I understand that you were promoted by the Xuanyuan family in your early years and have always felt resentful for not pleading for them back then. However, you should also understand that you personally took over the case, and the Xuanyuan family did indeed rebel. As officials of the court, we cannot associate with traitors, nor can we sacrifice righteousness for petty benevolence. Today, you mentioned the Xuanyuan family in front of me, and I will pretend I didn't hear anything. But when you are in front of His Majesty, you must keep your mouth shut and not offend him."

"Old Yang." Minister Dong called out to him as he turned to head towards the Dali Temple.

Yang Chang turned to look at him: "What is it?"

Minister Dong's expression was complicated: "Back then... were you really not wrong?"

Yang Chang asked, "Which matter are you referring to?"

Minister Dong said, "You know that."

Yang Chang's gaze darkened, and he said solemnly, "Old Dong, you only need to remember that what the Ten Great Families did... was for the greater good!"

...

The death of Nangong Li caused a huge uproar among the aristocratic families. Although Nangong Li was not the eldest son of the Nangong family head, he was more outstanding than his older brother, and the Nangong family head had always been grooming him as his successor.

Unexpectedly, he was murdered in the palace.

The head of the Nangong family was furious and put pressure on the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review, demanding that they find the murderer within three days!

However, this is impossible. Not only are they currently clueless, but even if they had clues, they wouldn't be able to conduct a thorough and large-scale investigation into this murder case.

Because the king's birthday is approaching.

The entire capital was busy celebrating the monarch's birthday. At this crucial moment, the murder of General Nangong Li was being made a big fuss. Was this just inviting bad luck upon the monarch?

Moreover, Nangong Li's unauthorized intrusion into the palace had somewhat displeased the king.

They will conduct a thorough and high-profile investigation after the monarch's birthday banquet is over.

...

Gu Jiao knew nothing about what was happening in the outer court; she went to the academy as usual.

Mu Qingchen also came to class.

He was still sitting in the second seat in the last row, closest to the right rear door.

The first one is Gu Jiao's position.

Everyone was already used to Mu Qingchen sitting at the same table as Gu Jiao, so no one felt it was inappropriate to see him sitting there.

Only Gu Jiao clearly sensed that Mu Qingchen's aura had changed; he looked at her with a very wary gaze.

Gu Jiao sat down without changing her expression.

Zhou Tong, who sat in front of her, turned around and looked at the two of them with a grin, saying, "As expected, Liu Lang, you have a lot of influence. As soon as you came back to class, Young Master Qingchen also came."

Yes, she has enough influence to warrant that even the most powerful young master in the capital personally came to monitor her.

Mu Qingchen remained silent, her aura chillingly cold.

Zhou Tong shrank back, hiding his face with a book, and whispered to Gu Jiao, "What's wrong, Young Master Qingchen? Are you unhappy?"

Gu Jiao thought to herself, "With your voice, half the classroom can hear you. Why are you using a book to block it?"

“Ask him yourself,” Gu Jiao said.

Zhou Tong pursed his lips; he dared not ask.

Zhou Tong changed the subject, saying, "Hey, Liu Lang, did you see the King when you went to the palace yesterday? Was the 10,000 taels worth it?"

"What do you mean, ten thousand taels?" Gu Jiao's focus was always on gold.

Zhou Tong said, "It's being said that the prize money for second place is ten thousand taels of silver. Even the servants in our academy are saying so."

Gu Jiao took the book out of her bag: "One thousand taels."

If it were ten thousand taels, Mu Chuan would have been buried alive by her long ago.

No, she actually wants to bury Mu Chuan alive now.

Forget it, considering I've taken this opportunity to kill Nangong Li, I'll bury him later.

The king's birthday banquet was scheduled for the tenth day of the sixth month, and all officials of the fourth rank and above in the court, as well as prominent families in the capital, received invitations to the banquet.

The day before the banquet began, Gu Jiao heard the news she had been waiting for.

The Imperial Advisor has returned to Shengdu.

(End of this chapter)