Chapter 113 Izumo Tower

It was a dark and windy night, and the lights in the Ministry of Justice were brightly lit.

The lanterns under the eaves swayed in the wind, and the six partition doors were wide open. Liang Yi brought a few more oil lamps and told Feng Tu to light them inside the house.

Shi Er stood in the yard, looking at Su Yan who was sitting among the bones.

Liang Yi had mentioned this matter before, and Shi Er thought he was exaggerating. But now that he had seen it with his own eyes, he was so shocked that it was hard to describe in a few words.

Zhao Qiujin walked to Shi Er with her arms folded and looked at him with her head tilted.

Shi Er frowned, took a step back, and said coldly: "If you are looking for Zhao Zong, he is not here."

"You're still hiding," Zhao Qiujin almost laughed at Shi Er's anger, "In terms of age, I'm the elder sister and you're the younger brother, and your mother isn't even a concubine, yet you're turning your back on me."

Shi Er was clear-headed. "I have no right to interfere in the affairs of my elders, nor do I have the position to interfere. My mother is no longer alive, and I have no power or influence. I can't stop you from doing whatever you want to do."

The more Zhao Qiujin looked at him, the more annoyed she became. "You... can't even wash your hair. I don't even want you as my brother!"

Shi Er: “…”

Damn, he just washed it.

Zhao Qiujin was more interested in what Su Yan was doing. She approached Liang Yi and asked, "Can she really distinguish human bones?"

Liang Yi said: "You haven't seen how she performed an autopsy. She just cut open a living corpse."

Zhao Qiujin: "... a living corpse?"

The little prince of their Great Zhou Dynasty doesn't look very smart.

Liang Yi described vividly: "If the dead bodies were conscious, they would definitely be afraid of Su Yan. She could take out their internal organs and put them back in. She could also lift up their scalps, did you know? The scalp is lifted up and placed directly on the face, and it can be folded back after the inspection. But when it is lifted up, the mouth, nose, and eyes are all covered, and the flesh and blood are blurred. It looks like all the facial features have been taken away..."

Zhao Qiujin leaned against the eaves and retched.

Liang Yi was very satisfied.

Su Yan has pieced together several skeletons.

Shi Er walked in and said, "If you are tired, take a rest first. I have asked someone to prepare some snacks for you."

Su Yan stretched and pointed at the skeleton and said, "The only obvious feature is the height. It is possible that they were misspelled, but we should try our best to return a complete skeleton to their family so that they can rest in peace. They will feel more at ease."

After the Gao's house incident, many families of the missing women came to identify the bodies.

But faced with almost identical skeletons, they couldn't tell their daughter and sister apart.

Although Su Yan didn't care, she hoped they could rest in peace.

Shi Er said: "You are really amazing. You can even spell this out."

"Not complete. The only basis is their height. If they had fractured bones before death, it would be better, but such cases are too rare," Su Yan said with a frown. "Only Fu Yue is shorter and has lived the longest, so she is the easiest to identify."

Shi Er snorted coldly: "Yu Dong's wish has come true."

He looked down on Yu Dong.

If she didn't know that Fu Yue had been eaten, she would just continue to help Zhao Zong. Such a person does not deserve sympathy.

Su Yan smiled and said, "Minister Shi should worry about himself."

"I?"

"Zhao Zong is your biological father. Although His Majesty has not punished you, you have already offended Zhao Mingde. Your career will be difficult."

Shi Er looked at the bones scattered all over the floor and whispered, "If I say that I never thought of hiding anything for them in the secret room, would you believe me?"

Su Yan looked at Shi Er.

Shi Er said, "I was a little worried at first. If I disobeyed them, I might lose my head. Zhao Zong is my father, but in front of Zhai Zining, my mother and I have to take a step back. He can't afford to offend Zhai Zining. He did mention that he wanted a son, but how could a son be as important as wealth and glory? What he feared most was that Zhao Mingde would find out about me. I went to take the imperial examination without telling him. Now it's okay. The worst that can happen is death. That's all."

Zhao Qiujin muttered, "It's like someone wants your head."

Shi Er did not argue with Zhao Qiujin. He bowed to Su Yan and said, "Miss Su, take your time. I'll leave this place to Miss Su. The young prince's people are all here. No one will disturb you. You will be absolutely safe in the Ministry of Justice."

He turned and left.

Su Yan sighed, "It's also our fault."

Zhao Qiujin: "What did we do wrong?"

"Zhao Zong is his father after all. We used their relationship to make Zhao Mingde give up Zhao Zong."

Although Zhao Zong himself did something wrong, he is Shi Er's father after all. Shi Er has helped them many times since they came to Beijing. Now Zhao Zong is being executed because of him. He doesn't show it on his face, but he must be sad.

Su Yan said: "If it was the little prince, I might have to think carefully about whether doing this would hurt him."

"Oh?" Liang Yi asked, "There's no one else here. Tell me the truth, is my father fit to live a few more years?"

Su Yan: “…”

It's so difficult.

In the second half of the night, Su Yan pieced together a few more skeletons, but none of them were complete.

These assembled skeletons will be preserved. Even if their identities cannot be accurately identified, their families will feel more comfortable seeing them.

Liang Yi and Zhao Qiujin stayed with her until late at night. Liang Yi was worried about her safety, while Zhao Qiujin was...

It's really exciting to be with the skeletons.

The work was almost done, and Su Yan stood up to stretch his muscles.

Liang Yi and Zhao Qiujin both slept on the rose chair. Two wealthy people could not endure such hardship.

Su Yan walked into the yard, turned his head and twirled his wrist.

There was some chaos outside the yard.

Su Yan followed the sound and found Shi Er had not yet rested. Someone was reporting to him, "General Shi is back. It is said that..."

"explain."

"He said he was going to see King Qunan! What Chief Steward Zhao meant was that although Zhao Zong's crime was unforgivable, you... you cannot be implicated. He asked you to go to Chuyun Tower tonight."

Shi Er was surprised and asked, "Me? He believes me?"

The subordinate said, "If Shi Yangui hadn't arrived in time, you could have taken care of the aftermath in the secret room. Manager Zhao understood everything. He was going to go to Chuyun Tower in person tonight, but it's not convenient."

"Oh? Something happened in the palace?"

"I don't know, maybe General Shi's deputy general is watching too closely, so it's inconvenient for Chief Manager Zhao."

Shi Er murmured, "Must we go to Chuyun Tower tonight? My father can't save his life, and Manager Zhao will be worried, but why tonight? What happened tonight?"

"Tonight...except for General Shi's return to the capital, nothing seems to have happened."

Su Yan's face turned pale.

When Shi Yan returned to Beijing, Zhao Mingde would definitely go to Chuyun Tower.

Shi Er suddenly looked in Su Yan's direction, and Su Yan stepped back.

Shi Er thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll go now. As long as Manager Zhao doesn't dislike me, I will do my best."

*

Su Yan woke up Liang Yi and left the Ministry of Justice to find Feng Tu first.

Liang Yi was sleeping soundly, his eyes half open, his thoughts drifting far away, and he did not pull them back even after he got on the carriage.

"You said General Shi is back? General Shi, General Shi... Brother Yan Gui? If he's back, then he's back. Why is it that King Qunan is leading his troops to attack the city?"

Su Yan was not in the mood to respond to Liang Yi, her hands were shaking the whole time.

She didn't know why, but she was uneasy, very uneasy.

The carriage headed all the way towards Shi Mansion.

Feng Tu was faster and did not pass the servant of Shi Mansion. He climbed over the wall and went into the mansion to find Shi Yangui.

When the carriage arrived at the gate of Shi Mansion, Shi Yangui was already waiting.

He walked to the front of the carriage and held out his hand to Su Yan, but Su Yan had no intention of getting off. He just asked, "Is General Shi going to see King Qunan?"

Shi Yangui withdrew his hand and nodded.

Liang Yi hid behind Su Yan and dared not speak.

Her attitude towards Shi Yangui was really bad, and he was frightened just by listening to it.

Su Yan asked: "Where?"

Shi Yan Gui said: "King Qunan has not left yet. If the news leaks out, it may bring disaster to him. We can't tell you."

Su Yan said, "Is it that you can't say it or that you can't say it? You left for a few days, and suddenly appeared in the capital a few days ago. Now the discussion is over? When you came back, Zhao Mingde wanted to go to Chuyun Tower. Why is that?"

Shi Yangui said calmly: "I don't know."

"Your deputy general has been keeping an eye on Zhao Mingde. Don't you know?"

The atmosphere was tense. Liang Yi nervously tugged at Su Yan and whispered, "Be polite, be polite..."

Shi Yangui smiled slightly, "I really don't know."

Seeing this smile, Su Yan was stunned.

All the suspicions from the past emerged in her mind one by one. Her chest heaved violently. She leaned her upper body out of the car window, grabbed Shi Yangui's collar, and stared at him with a frown.

Liang Yi was horrified.

Judging from Su Yan's attitude, he is ready to fight to the death with Shi Yangui.

Su Yan's voice trembled, "Is this your plan, or his plan?"

Shi Yangui lowered his eyes and gently pushed Su Yan's hand away. "This is the safest plan."

Su Yan sat back weakly, "Yes, using the people of a city as bait can annihilate the enemy and keep the border of Da Zhou safe. It is indeed worth it."

She regained her composure and said to Feng Tu, "Let's go. I've finished asking questions."

Feng Tu looked at Liang Yi, and Liang Yi nodded.

He bowed to Shi Yangui again, and then drove away. Shi Yangui watched the carriage go away.

Chu Feng walked out of the mansion and stopped behind Shi Yangui. "Miss Su always seems to agree with others, but in fact, she is very stubborn. Will the general send someone to follow her?"

Shi Yangui was silent for a long time before he said self-deprecatingly: "She is not wrong, I am indeed such a person, she... everything has been settled, she can't change anything, Liang Yi will watch her, forget it."

＊

The carriage headed all the way to Izumo Tower.

There were still three streets to go, and Su Yan asked Fengtu to stop and got off alone.

Liang Yi followed him down and asked, "Are you not going?"

Su Yan hugged Liang Yi and said, "Nice to meet you."

Liang Yi looked at her stupidly.

Feng Tu said: "Miss Su, you don't want to go to Chuyun Tower by yourself, do you? It's too dangerous."

Liang Yi said blankly: "If you want to go, go together, why go alone?"

Su Yan said, "I have to go take care of some personal matters. To be honest, it's a little dangerous and we may not see each other again. We are friends and we should say goodbye properly. You don't have to ask to go with me. I will never agree. If you want to go, I will bang my head against the wall right now."

"I really don't understand," Liang Yi said anxiously, "You just went to Shi Mansion and are going to Chuyun Tower now. Are you going to find Brother Yun? You don't look sad these days. Have you not let it go yet?"

"I am sad, but not too sad," Su Yan smiled, "I must avenge my parents. If I don't get along with Zhao Mingde, I will not have a good ending. Death is a matter of time. But if I don't go today, or if I implicate you, I will be very sad. Fengtu, take the little prince away."

Feng Tu looked at Su Yan for a long while. Although he didn't want Su Yan to take risks alone, he was indeed more concerned about Liang Yi's safety.

"I see."

He stopped Liang Yi.

Liang Yi: "Are you also fooling around with her?!"

Su Yan turned and left.

After walking for a long time, she could still hear Liang Yi's gradually weakening voice, "Am I His Highness or are you His Highness?!"

Su Yan quickened his pace and walked towards Izumo Tower.