Chapter 186 Self-deception is not good
Huangwu guessed, "They probably don't know, right?"
“He definitely doesn’t know. A-Chan would never tell him this secret.” Bai Zhanhuang’s tone was certain. Only he knew A-Chan’s secret, and only he could accept A-Chan’s original identity without any reservations.
Huang Wu understood the meaning behind Bai Zhanhuang's words and tentatively asked, "Your Highness, what do you intend to do?"
Bai Zhanhuang fiddled with the white chess pieces in his hand, his loose hair falling over his shoulders as he lowered his head, also obscuring the candlelight reflected on his face.
The handsome face hidden in the shadows was cold and menacing, unlike anything he had ever shown before, but his voice carried a hint of amusement: "Naturally, we'll find a suitable opportunity to let him discover the truth."
"Bai Xiuming must have investigated A Chan's identity from the beginning. Her disguise must have been perfect." Even she was curious about how A Chan had managed to possess someone in the capital without being discovered.
"Perfect? Not necessarily. With her personality, how could she be willing to pretend to be someone else for a long time? If there's even a hint of doubt, she'll definitely..."
He suddenly lost his voice at this point.
If what he said is true, why didn't Bai Xiuming investigate further?
The Bai Xiuming he knew was not someone who could be easily fooled, unless the other party was simply unwilling to investigate further.
Bai Zhanhuang's lips twitched slightly, but he quickly returned to normal.
It's alright, this isn't something Bai Xiuming can decide whether he wants to or not. Deceiving yourself is bad; many things need to be clearly distinguished between right and wrong.
When everything is laid bare before him, can he still pretend nothing happened?
"Does Ji Chan still have any close relatives?" Bai Zhanhuang asked.
Huang Wu thought for a moment and replied, "It is still unknown whether she is related to the Marquis of Jinyang by blood. Apart from that, she has no relatives in the capital. However, I heard that her maternal grandparents, who were exiled, have been pardoned by His Majesty and will soon return to the capital."
"My maternal grandparents' family... must have had a very close relationship with Ji Chan."
"Does Your Highness intend to use that family?"
Bai Zhanhuang did not deny it: "Some truths are more convincing when spoken by close family members. Find that family, cause them some trouble, and then send them back to the capital."
After giving his orders, Bai Zhanhuang seemed to feel it wasn't enough and asked, "Are Princess Xueyao's people still trying to contact me?"
"Yes, the King of Xiling is dead, and the King of Dongping is too timid to get involved with the demon race. Now, the Northern Wilderness is her best option. For the past six months, they have never given up on seeking an audience with the Prince."
“Tell them that I want to make a deal with Princess Xueyao, which concerns the selection of the next Ming King of Great Xia. Tell her to send a smart person to the capital.”
Huang Wu immediately understood Bai Zhanhuang's thoughts: "Does Your Highness want to use the demon race to get rid of Bai Xiuming? Will Princess Xueyao agree? Going to the capital is a one-way street for them."
"Yes," Bai Zhanhuang replied softly. "She suffered heavy losses in Xiling and will definitely want to turn the tide. One Ming King has already suppressed the demon race to the point that they dare not raise their heads. If the Ming King's adopted son also advances to the fifth realm, it will not be good news for the demon race."
Bai Zhanhuang narrowed his eyes slightly, like a hunter hidden in the shadows, looking for every opportunity to kill his prey with a single blow.
Regardless of why Achan chose Bai Xiuming, he will prove that her choice this time was wrong.
"But didn't you say before that the demon princess was just a pretty face, with no advantage other than a better bloodline? Why join forces with her and leave yourself vulnerable? If the three of us join forces, even if Bai Xiuming has three heads and six arms, he can't escape." Huang Wu asked, somewhat puzzled.
Besides the desolate forest, the Northern Wilderness Royal Palace also has three other fourth-realm experts, which is enough to achieve the prince's goal.
"It's not time for you to make your move yet. I've heard that someone by her side has advanced to the fifth realm, and she now has a certain say in the demon race. If this transaction satisfies me enough, we can deepen our ties in the future."
Huang Wu understood; the prince wanted to test the other party's abilities.
Bai Xiuming seems like a good candidate for surgery.
Without giving it any further thought, she respectfully replied, "Your subordinate will contact them immediately."
Huang Wu didn't care whether Bai Zhanhuang's actions betrayed the Great Xia Dynasty. The prince guarded the Northern Wilderness for the Great Xia Dynasty, yet he only earned the emperor's suspicion. The Empress Dowager died, but their Northern Wilderness Royal Palace had to hand over half of its property. How ridiculous! The current situation was only because the emperor had gone too far.
As May arrived, the weather in the capital improved day by day. After returning home, Achan rested for quite some time before finally recovering.
To outsiders, she looked no different than when she left. When asked why she had been away all this time, they simply told others that she had gone out to visit relatives.
Only Chen Hui noticed A Chan's unusual behavior. Ever since returning to the capital, she seemed to have something on her mind, often lost in thought, as if pondering something very important.
Seeing that she was not physically or mentally harmed this time, Chen Hui did not investigate further.
That afternoon, Achan and Chen Hui went to Yongningfang together. They heard from Mr. Xu, the owner of the shop next door, that a variety show troupe from Qingzhou was performing in Yongningfang recently. Mr. Xu had taken his wife and children to see the show a couple of days ago and heard that it was very exciting.
Since there weren't many customers today, Achan and Chen Hui decided to close the shop early and go to Yongningfang to watch the excitement.
They had originally come in a horse-drawn carriage, but two streets away, they were stopped by patrolling constables who said there were too many people ahead and the carriage could not be driven in. They could only leave the carriage at a nearby inn.
Seeing that the street ahead was indeed bustling, Chen Hui did not argue with the yamen runners. She spent a few coins to find a nearby shop to temporarily store the carriage before walking into the street with A Chan.
Although it's only late afternoon and the time is still early, there are already quite a few pedestrians and vendors pushing their carts down the street.
Compared to the bustling street in front, the street they were on was a bit quieter. After walking a short distance, Achan suddenly noticed an academy ahead.
There are dozens of academies of all sizes in the capital, which is not surprising.
Strangely, she saw someone who looked somewhat familiar at the entrance of the academy.
Previously, she had instigated Bai Xiu to imprison Xue Shi in the town prison. After that, the Marquis of Jinyang came up with a foolish idea, thinking that if he recognized her back, he could get Xue Shi out of trouble. He even found someone to act as an intermediary, but he was scared away by A Chan.
Ah Chan still remembers that the man said his name was Ji Zhuang.
Although they had only met once, Ah Chan remembered the person who was sent by the Ji family to find her quite clearly.
She was somewhat surprised to see Ji Zhuang outside the gate of this academy today.
The other person didn't look well at the moment. He used to be a bit chubby, but now his cheeks were sunken and his face looked much more haggard, as if he had encountered some misfortune.
Seeing that Achan stopped walking after a while, Chen Hui turned her head in confusion: "What's wrong?"
Achan pointed at Ji Zhuang and whispered to her, "That's a relative of the Marquis of Jinyang. Let's watch the excitement."
Chen Hui smiled helplessly and stopped to watch the commotion with A Chan.
At this moment, Ji Zhuang seemed to be arguing with people in the academy. He also had guards behind him, and he looked like he was up to no good. Many people who originally wanted to go to the front street, like A Chan and the others, gathered here and refused to leave.
Ji Zhuang did not back down when he saw the people coming. He pointed at the person who had just arrived and seemed to be the headmaster of the academy and said, "My son was perfectly fine before he came to the academy. He suddenly disappeared after arriving at the academy the day before yesterday. You still dare to say that this was an accident. Clearly, someone killed my son!"
Ji Zhuang lunged at the somewhat thin headmaster of the academy, shouting, "Give me back my son's life!"
The dean looked thin but was quite agile. He took a few steps back and wasn't tackled. Then Ji Zhuang was stopped by the people from the academy.
Ji Zhuang's guards were no pushovers either, but they were outnumbered by the academy's personnel, and the two sides were locked in a stalemate at the entrance, neither able to gain the upper hand.
The dean seized the opportunity to reply loudly, "Master Ji, on the day your son had the accident, I had someone report it to the authorities. The Prefectural Government also sent people to investigate. The result was that your son had drunk too much and drowned after falling into the academy's pond. I admit that the academy has a responsibility for inadequate supervision. But we dare not bear such a heavy responsibility as to say that someone harmed him."
“My son has an excellent alcohol tolerance. Even when he’s drunk, he just sleeps. There’s no way he would go near the pond. Someone must have deliberately lured him there.” Ji Zhuang clearly didn’t believe the other party’s words.
“I know that Master Ji is grieving the loss of his beloved son and is willing to cooperate. You brought people here yesterday, and I also called your son’s roommate out for questioning. All three of them can testify that your son went out on his own and was not lured by anyone else.”
"It's also possible that the three of them colluded to give their testimonies."
“If Master Ji does not believe me, he can certainly appeal to the government again. I will absolutely not stop the government officials from coming to investigate.”
Both sides had their own arguments, and each had its own logic. However, after hearing the dean's words, everyone leaned more towards the academy's side.
After all, the government had already sent people to investigate, and Ji Zhuang was still insisting on it, which was rather unreasonable.
Ji Zhuang glared angrily at the academy's headmaster. He had gone to the Jingzhao Prefecture yesterday, but this was the capital, and the prefect of Jingzhao was not someone he could easily meet. The officials there only said that the case would be investigated thoroughly before sending him away.
The dispute at the entrance of the academy quickly attracted the attention of patrolling yamen runners. Four runners rushed over, shouted loudly, dispersed the onlookers, and stopped Ji Zhuang, who was causing trouble.
Ji Zhuang originally did not want to leave, but seeing that the yamen runners were about to draw their swords, his guards had no choice but to help him away from the academy.
Coincidentally, they retreated to Achan's side. Ji Zhuang, who had been staring intently in the direction of the academy and struggling, calmed down a little when he saw Achan standing to the side.
When the guards saw that their master had finally calmed down, they stopped too.
"It's you." Ji Zhuang broke free from his guards' grasp, straightened his clothes slightly, and recognized A Chan.
"Long time no see." Ah Chan disliked the Ji family quite a bit, but Ji Zhuang and she didn't have any real grudges. Since the other party recognized her, she didn't pretend not to know him.
Ji Zhuang nodded to her, unable to say anything polite at this moment, but when he looked at the academy, the sorrow on his face deepened.
After listening to his conversation with the academy's dean, Achan still had some doubts in her mind, so she asked him, "I just heard your conversation with that person. Since you suspect that your son's accident was caused by someone, why don't you ask the Marquis of Jinyang for help?"
Even though the Marquis of Jinyang's mansion is now in decline, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. It's just a matter of a word of face, and the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture won't refuse.
Ji Zhuang's expression changed. He glanced at A Chan and said with some difficulty, "The Marquis of Jinyang took a concubine the other day and has been unable to receive guests."
Since his son's accident, he has still not been able to enter the Jinyang Marquis's residence.
Achan blinked. She hadn't expected that a casual question would lead to such shocking news.
She had always believed that the Marquis of Jinyang truly loved Xue. Even when she was imprisoned in the town, he did not choose to divorce her. So why did he take a concubine halfway through?
In the years before, when he kept Xue Shi outside the mansion, he had no concubines. Is it because he suddenly couldn't stand the loneliness now?
And... the day before yesterday?
"Did you and your son go to the Marquis of Jinyang's residence the day before yesterday?"
"How do you know?" Ji Zhuang asked back.
"There's a joyous occasion at the Marquis of Jinyang's residence. As a member of the Ji family, you must have joined in the celebration, right?" Achan reasonably speculated. "So, your son drank at the Marquis of Jinyang's residence?"
Ji Zhuang nodded and emphasized again, "Yes, but my son has an excellent alcohol tolerance. He shouldn't have gotten drunk from those few drinks."
"Since you shouldn't have gotten drunk, didn't you ever consider that there might be something wrong with the alcohol?"
Ji Zhuang's expression changed: "Impossible!"
“Even if we’re going to investigate a case, we need to find out the whole story. There’s no reason to only investigate the academy and not the Marquis of Jinyang’s residence. Or do you really think the Marquis of Jinyang is some kind of clean person? It’s not impossible that your son saw something he shouldn’t have seen and was silenced.” Achan admitted that she did it on purpose.
However, her guess was not wrong. After drinking at the Marquis of Jinyang's residence, she returned to the academy and then suddenly fell into the water and drowned. If Ji Zhuang did not believe it was an accident, wouldn't he have to investigate all the suspicious places? Who could guarantee that there was no problem at the Marquis of Jinyang's residence?
Achan dared to speak, but Ji Zhuang dared not even think about it.
Seeing his expression change repeatedly, Ah Chan added, "Master Ji, please don't be biased and only cause trouble for the academy. If the people in the academy are truly innocent, your son will probably die with regrets."
After saying that, Achan didn't look at his expression, said "Please accept my condolences" again, and walked towards the front street with Chen Hui.
Ji Zhuang watched A Chan's departing figure from behind and said coldly to the guards, "Forget everything you just heard."
The guards quickly lowered their heads and said, "Yes."
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