Chapter 321 Companionship is the most enduring form of love; Two female corpses

Luo Heng took out a white handkerchief from his waist and carefully wiped the bloodstains from his hands.

Upon hearing this, a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

He lured Pei Yuan to Yangzhou and killed him there; this was a revenge plan he had long ago devised.

However, the initial plan was to carry out this plan when Shen Chu faked his death.

Shen Chu faked her death and left, but once the news of her "death" spread, Pei Yuan would definitely rush to Yangzhou.

He must be in a state of mental turmoil due to the news of Shen Chu's "death," and that would be the best time to take action.

But now he has changed his mind.

It's better to let Pei Yuan die sooner, so that A Chu can completely give up on him and have no more expectations.

"As soon as Pei Yuan leaves the capital, contact our people immediately and deploy the assassination plan as soon as possible."

Wanqiu bowed and said, "Yes."

After hesitating for a moment, she couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Will Lord Shen suspect the young master?"

"I see that today, when you said you didn't report this to His Majesty, Lord Shen didn't seem to believe your oath."

Luo Heng's face regained its usual gentle smile.

“Everything I said is true. I did not go to the palace that day, nor did I see His Majesty.”

He merely informed Prince Heng of the news; given Prince Heng's fear of Prince Rui, he would naturally go to the palace to complain.

There's no need for him to personally intervene.

Luo Heng casually tossed the blood-stained handkerchief on the ground, lifted his foot and walked forward, but the smile on his lips was somewhat unsettling.

"It doesn't matter if Achu doesn't believe me. As long as Prince Rui dies, the only man by her side will be me."

"For women, companionship is the most enduring form of love. As long as I sincerely spend time with her and genuinely care for her, she will eventually accept me and not care about these trivial matters now."

His voice faded at the alley entrance.

Wanqiu looked dazed, a bitter look flashing in her eyes.

The longest-lasting love is companionship, isn't it?

She gave a bitter smile, bent down to pick up the bloodstained handkerchief from the ground, tucked it into her sleeve, and left.

Perhaps because of the draft during the day, Chen Chu did not sleep well at night.

She dreamt of the scene on the painted boat on Qiutang Lake that day.

Pei Yuan pulled her into his arms and whispered a promise in her ear.

"Achu, wait for me."

The scene shifts again, revealing the cold, angry expression on the face of the Longqing Emperor.

“Chen Chu, if you dare to harass the sixth prince again, I will make the Ning'an Marquis's Mansion bear the crime of treason once more, and I will never forgive Qiao Shi either.”

Shen Chu was startled awake and was covered in sweat.

She lay there in a daze for a while, then heard footsteps outside the door.

"Achu, it's me."

Ling Ce's voice rang out from outside the door.

She asked Hongxiu to send a message to Ling Ce, telling him to try to come back that night.

Shen Chu put on her clothes, got up, and called Ling Ce in.

As usual, Ling Ce took out two red apricots from his chest and threw them on the table as soon as he entered the room, looking disgusted.

"Carrying two of these things really affects my skills; it makes me clumsy at all."

"So, what did you call me here for? Li Anning and I had arranged to sneak out of Tianxiang Tower together tonight."

A nighttime raid on Tianxiang Tower?

Shen Chu's eyes brightened slightly. "You've already discovered Tianxiang Tower? You're going to sneak into Tianxiang Tower tonight? That's wonderful."

Go to the Chrysanthemum Courtyard of Tianxiang Tower and find a girl named Zheng Xin'er, she..."

Before he could finish speaking, Ling Ce jumped up in surprise.

"Who did you say? Zheng Xin'er?"

Shen Chu was taken aback. "You know Zheng Xin'er?"

Ling Ce waved his hand, "It wasn't me, it was Li Anning looking for her. Do you know why Li Anning disguised herself to join the Mingde Class?"

Shen Chu shook his head.

Ling Ce said, "Last night I became her ally. She told me that the main reason she joined the Mingde Class this time was to find a girl named Zheng Xin'er."

Zheng Xin'er is her good friend's cousin. According to her, Zheng Xin'er comes from a military family. Her father died early, and her mother and brother are both sick, so the family lived in extreme poverty.

Before her mother died, she resolutely refused to spend money on medical treatment and saved all the money to send her to the Mingde Class to study, hoping to secure a good future for her.

Who knew that a number of teenage girls had gone missing a few days ago, and Li Anning's good friend originally wanted to pick up Zheng Xin'er.

But then they couldn't get in touch with Zheng Xin'er. Granny Fang said that Zheng Xin'er had finished her studies and left, but they couldn't find her anywhere.

Li Anning came to Yangzhou to visit her good friend and relax.

Unexpectedly, she ran into her best friend who was worried about her cousin's situation. Her best friend guessed that Zheng Xin'er might still be in the Mingde class.

So Li Anning volunteered to sneak into the Mingde Class, but when she couldn't find anyone there, she unexpectedly discovered Tianxiang Tower.

She went to investigate last night, but unfortunately, before she could find anything, she was discovered.

Ling Ce looked puzzled. "A-Chu, how do you know about Tianxiang Tower, and how do you know Zheng Xin'er is there?"

Shen Chu recounted his visit to Tianxiang Tower during the day.

"...I always felt that Zheng Xin'er's behavior was a bit illogical. She seemed very anxious and nervous."

Moreover, when she saw Manager Zhao, there was a faint fear in her eyes.

Since Tianxianglou poisoned her to frame me, it shows that they had always intended to abandon Zheng Xin'er.

"Go back now and hurry to Tianxiang Tower. If you're late, Zheng Xin'er's life might be in danger."

Upon hearing this, Ling Ce immediately turned and left.

Shen Chu grabbed a red apricot from the table and threw it over, saying, "You can't lose your important disguise tool. Go and come back quickly, don't alert the enemy. I'll be waiting for you."

Ling Ce dared not delay, and his figure quickly disappeared into the vast night.

Chen Chu, however, was unable to sleep. After getting dressed, she thought for a moment and then wrote another letter.

He handed the letter to Hongxiu and instructed her, "Go immediately to find the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice who is recuperating at the post station and personally deliver this letter to him."

Ling Ce waited until the sky began to lighten with the first hint of dawn before rushing back, his face still damp with dew.

Shen Chu hurriedly went to greet him, but when she saw that there was no one behind him, she couldn't help but show a hint of disappointment.

"You didn't find Zheng Xin'er? Or were you too late, and something happened to her?"

Ling Ce waved his hand, picked up the teapot on the table, and poured a full pot of water directly into his mouth.

He patted his chest, burped, and then said, "We found Zheng Xin'er, but she's not in the Chrysanthemum Courtyard; she's been locked up in the demolition room."

When we found her, she had just been whipped, her body covered in bruises, and she was on the verge of death.

Seeing Shen Chu's anxious expression, Ling Ce quickly said, "Don't worry, I have some medicine prepared by my senior brother. Li Anning has already applied it to her, so she should be fine."

Chen Chu breathed a sigh of relief. "Why didn't you bring her back?"

Luo Heng said, "She refused to come back with us, saying she was afraid of alerting the enemy and told us to quickly find a way to report to the authorities."

Zheng Xin'er said that there is a crabapple tree in the garden of Tianxianglou, and two female corpses are buried under that crabapple tree.

"Ah Chu, shall we take some men and dig up the body first thing tomorrow morning? Once the body is found, Tianxiang Tower can be temporarily closed."