Chapter 54: Past - Fragrance in my wings, shelter and benefit, the governor has no...

——Ningxiang is my wing, and we can benefit from it together. It is no problem for me to know the state.

——The Sky Eagle is about to descend. During the interrogation, admitting your dereliction of duty and whether you have embezzled money may save your life.

Guo Yan stared at the two short sentences for a long time before carefully folding the letter. "Ms. Tang, I didn't expect Lin Xiangli to actually give you the letter. Did she make any requests of us?"

"No." Tang Suzi's eyes were a little evasive, and he avoided Guo Yan's gaze unnaturally, and changed the subject. "But there is no signature on this letter. How can we conclude that the mastermind behind this is Prime Minister Tuoba?"

"Indeed, I was just thinking about this. However, the content of the letter is quite clear. Since Tuoba Xuan wanted to kill people because of a few letters, there must be clues pointing to him in the letter, but we haven't been able to see them yet."

"Then what should I do? A Yu is still in jail." Tang Suzi had many things on his mind, and was anxious because the letter was not directed at him. He did not notice at all what he was calling the other party Bu Yu.

Guo Yan's face changed when she called him "Ayu," and a distant memory suddenly flooded back into his mind. In the past, Zhou Tiao had also called Fang Buyu this way.

Seeing Guo Yan staring at him strangely, Tang Suzi asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

I must be overthinking it. Guo Yan thought to himself, perhaps these days of getting along have made Bu Yu and Tang Su Zi's relationship much closer. Besides, it's just a name, what was I thinking just now?! How could it be possible? Zhou Tiao had already...

"Nothing." Guo Yan's face returned to normal, and he comforted Tang Suzi, "Don't worry, Miss Tang. I will take these two letters to find Buyu's adoptive father to discuss countermeasures. He is knowledgeable and I believe there will be a breakthrough."

＊

A hand hovered over the armrest of the imperial chair, its index finger holding two already-opened letters, their edges still curved and scorched. The hand was long and rough, a red mark etched deep into the base of the index finger, a distinct mark left by years of reviewing memorials, stained with cinnabar. A long scar stretched across the palm of his hand, like a serpentine centipede.

At this moment, his index finger and thumb were slowly stroking the letter paper in a certain rhythm. The jade ring on his thumb was shining with a clear luster under the dim light in the room.

Compared to Guo Yan, who was sitting on the side, too nervous to even breathe, Zhao Hui couldn't contain herself anymore. She stood up and said to the man sitting in the main seat, who was deep in thought, "Mingzhong, have you figured out anything? Tell us!"

Liu Mingzhong finally stopped what he was doing. He looked away from the letter and looked at Zhao Hui, who was anxiously waiting beside him. His eyes were filled with a doting smile. "Madam, don't worry. Come with me."

After saying this, he stood up and walked out the door. Seeing this, Zhao Hui and Guo Yan hurriedly followed him.

Liu Mingzhong stepped out of the shadow cast by the eaves and stood in the bright sunshine. He gently spread out the letter with both hands, grasped the two edges, and raised it high. In an instant, a magical scene appeared.

The bright sunlight filtered through the letter, and the light on both sides took on completely different colors. On the side facing the sun, the light remained normal; but on the side facing away from the light, the light transformed into colors under the transparent micro-shadows, as if emanating from the letter itself, and the letter surface shimmered with a strange light.

Liu Mingzhong carefully put the letter away under the astonished gazes of Zhao Hui and Guo Yan. Then, turning around, he said to them, "Five years ago, envoys from the Kingdom of Guay came to our country for exchange, bringing with them a large number of rare treasures from the Western Regions, including a batch of Lingma Xuan paper. At first glance, this Lingma Xuan paper looks no different from ordinary Xuan paper, but its magical feature is that when exposed to strong sunlight, it emits a colorful glow. At that time, His Majesty only awarded this batch of Xuan paper to a few people, including Tuoba Xuan."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Hui was overjoyed and cheered, "So, Bu Yu can be saved! Let's hand this letter to the imperial guards and rescue Bu Yu as soon as possible!"

But she soon realized that something was wrong with the two men beside her. There was no joy on their faces, but instead they were silent. "What's wrong? Am I wrong?"

Guo Yan explained, "Although the Prime Minister's Mansion is listed on the list of the Xuan paper awarded by His Majesty, this cannot be solely attributed to the Prime Minister's Mansion. After all, there are other people who also received this batch of Xuan paper."

Hearing this, Zhao Hui's joy was instantly extinguished as if by a bucket of cold water. "What should I do?"

Liu Mingzhong spoke at this time. He did not continue the topic of rice paper, but instead asked Guo Yan if he had found Chen Weiyu?

Guo Yan replied, "Still looking everywhere."

"Alright, send more people to search the streets and alleys, and any suspicious homes. We'll thoroughly investigate."

After Guo Yan disappeared outside the door, Zhao Hui finally couldn't help but ask, "Mingzhong, why didn't you let Guo Yan know that Chen Weiyu was hiding here?"

Liu Mingzhong sat upright in his chair, his expression calm as he responded, "Now that we have the letter paper, even though Wang Gui has changed his confession at the Sky Eagle Pavilion, the Prime Minister's Mansion token found on his steward is irrefutable evidence. Ultimately, if we also reveal Chen Weiyu's trump card, then even if Tuoba Xuan denies everything, he won't be able to clear himself of the blame."

He slowly turned the jade ring in his hand and continued, "Chen Weiyu is the most crucial link in our operation. The reason we didn't let Guo Yan know about this is to make this play more realistic and flawless. Only by making Tuoba Xuan completely unable to guess Chen Weiyu's hiding place can we gain more opportunities to counterattack."

"Why don't you take action quickly?"

Liu Mingzhong stopped turning the ring because of Zhao Hui's words. His thumb covered the green light of the jade ring and said in a deep voice, "Now is not the time."

"Why?"

"Our plan currently lacks someone who can work with Tuoba Xuan and cooperate with us." Liu Mingzhong analyzed and suddenly met Zhao Hui's worried eyes. He couldn't help feeling annoyed. Why did he say so much and only added to her troubles?

He smiled and embraced Zhao Hui, comforting her softly, "It's okay, these are just small problems, I'll find a way."

＊

On the willow bank outside the city, an old woman, flamboyantly dressed with a pale complexion and rosy lips, was panting, holding her waist. She pointed at the woman in front of her who was fleeing with a bag on her back and ordered the two servants beside her, "What are you two standing there for? Quick, catch up with her! Bring her back to me!"

She was frail, and while she was running, the tail of her skirt got caught in the reeds on the shore. She was quickly caught up by the servant while she was trying to pull it away.

Two servants held one of her shoulders and forced her to kneel in front of the old woman.

She burst into tears and kept crying and begging, "Mom, I won't go back! Please, let me go..."

The old woman leaned over and pinched her chin fiercely, sneering, "Let you go, huh, where can you go?"

"Brother Xuan will give you my ransom money. He told me that he will give you the money as soon as he officially takes office next month and receives his salary..."

"Hahahahaha," the old woman said as if she had heard a huge joke, "Are you talking about Tuoba Xuan? Although the Tuoba family has declined, they are still a family of scholars. Moreover, he is now the new top scholar with a bright future. He will have all the women he wants in the future. Why would he want a prostitute like you?"

"No! Brother Xuan swore to me that he would marry me! Don't worry, we will give you the ransom."

"Marry you!" The old woman laughed even more happily. After laughing up her head and then lowering her head, the smile on her face disappeared, replaced by a terrifying look. She fanned her palm at her, "Wake up! Today's list has come out. Tuoba Xuan is about to marry Princess Duanyang and become the emperor's consort! You are still dreaming!"

"Impossible! Impossible..."

"Take her back!"

——In the dim room. "Ah!!" A painful howl was followed by a loud baby cry.

The midwife pulled a wrinkled, sticky child from beneath her blood-stained body, walked over to her, and excitedly shouted, "It's a boy!"

She turned her face away, not wanting to see the child she had given birth to.

The midwife shook her head helplessly and ran the child to the old woman waiting outside the curtain. The old woman turned her face away in disgust, muttering, "I'm a courtesan, how could I have encountered such bad luck!" She covered her nose with a handkerchief and stepped aside a few steps. "Hold him away from me, so that he won't encounter such bad luck in the future!"

——A team was escorting prisoners to the execution ground. She stood on the outskirts of the crowd and saw from the corner of her eye that the team at the end of the street was slowly moving towards her.

The crowd was noisy and bustling, and the sound of discussions reached my ears.

"Have you heard? Today's criminal is quite important. He's the youngest leader of the Sky Eagle Pavilion in history!"

"That's right! I heard he was sentenced to death because he offended the Prime Minister!"

"What a pity, such a young life!"...

The procession of prison vans drew closer, and the crowd grew more and more agitated.

She looked at the crowd vaguely. The crowd blocked the procession, and she could only see the top of the prison cart.

Suddenly, the crowd seemed to become transparent, and her eyes could penetrate the crowd and see the person imprisoned in the cage. He happened to turn his head to look at her.

Everything around her seemed to be still at this moment. In this silence, she heard the man's deep voice.

"Liu Yiyi, you are not worthy of being a mother. Even if I die, I will haunt you for eternity, making your life worse than death and your death restless!"

"No!" Liu Yiyi suddenly opened her eyes and sat up from the bed in shock.

The darkness around her made her think she was still in that horrible delivery room. She was so scared that she didn't even bother to put on her shoes and rushed to the door barefoot.

Shrouded in chaos and fear, she completely forgot to open the door from the inside, and she was convinced that someone had locked it from the outside. She raised her hands and banged on the doors and windows desperately.

"Madam! Madam! What's wrong with you?" The maid who was awakened quickly ran over and hugged her.

"You...you are...Chunlan." With the candlelight lit by the maid, Liu Yiyi slowly saw everything around her. "Where is this?"

"Madam, this is in the Four Seasons Valley. Are you having a nightmare?"

Liu Yiyi was finally sure that she had returned to reality. Her rapid breathing calmed down a little, but her face still looked frightened, as if she had not yet completely escaped from that terrible dream.

"Madam, it's okay, it's okay, it's all just a dream..."