Upon entering the bookstore, Pei Shijiu picked up a cup and said, "Why is there a black flame drawn on this? It's strange."
"Is it black? Look more closely," Qiao Lian'er said.
Pei Shijiu's expression turned serious. He raised his cup to look at it in the sunlight, and sure enough, the black surface revealed a shimmering, iridescent color, like a raven's feather.
"It's quite interesting."
Then he picked up other objects to look at.
"This is the Xuanhuo totem of Xiufeng Kingdom. Mu Xinghe is in charge of supervising the creation of these furnishings for receiving foreign guests. However, in the booklet given to him by the Honglu Temple, the pattern and color of Xiufeng Kingdom are black fire. This is a major taboo in Xiufeng Kingdom. Anyone who violates this taboo will be beheaded."
Pei Shijiu frowned: "Someone wants to use this method to start with Mu Xinghe and pin a crime on the Qiao family."
"That's right."
"That must be Li Zanran. He reviewed the booklet, and it was Mu Xinghe, whom he strongly recommended to Lord Gu, who had no connection with him. How could he be so generous?"
"And you asked me to keep an eye on him, and I discovered something suspicious about him."
“He often meets with someone in private. That person comes from the northern grasslands. I traced the source further and found that the other person is most likely one of the Crown Prince’s men. This is because I intercepted a letter addressed to Mutai. The letter contained only a few words, saying that everything was going smoothly and to wait for good news.”
Qiao Lian'er never expected that the investigation would eventually lead back to the eldest prince.
She probably managed to obtain 50,000 warhorses from the Tatars, which angered them. The eldest prince did this to show his loyalty.
She paused for a moment: "Let's hold back for now and wait until Mu Xinghe successfully completes his task before settling accounts one by one."
The booklet in Mu Xinghe's hand is evidence of Li Zanran's crimes, and there's no denying it.
As night deepened, Mu Xinghe returned from his shift. Qiao Lian'er called him into the small room and explained the situation simply and clearly. In short, there was a flaw in the booklet that Li Zanran had reviewed. Regarding Xiufeng Kingdom, they couldn't follow the instructions on it, or something would go wrong. She also showed him the real Xuanhuo pattern.
Mu Xinghe's face alternated between pale and flushed. He held the flag of Xiufeng Kingdom, staring down at it, his fingers unconsciously clenching so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
Looking closely at the other furnishings, they were all made of Xuanhuo (mysterious fire).
Qiao Lian'er didn't say anything too harsh, but how could he not understand that someone was setting a trap for him? Moreover, he was the top scholar in the imperial examination. The speckles in the black easily reminded him of the power representing new life and faith. Remove the colors, and all that's left is the boundless darkness. What is this if not an ancestral curse? If the Xiufeng Kingdom were to take this seriously, it would be a serious matter.
“Li Zanran, I have no grudge against him, why would he do this to me? No, he wants to harm the entire Qiao family.”
"Firstly, he is a tool in someone else's hands, and some people cannot tolerate the Qiao family. Secondly, he not only wants you to make a mistake, but also wants Lord Gu to be implicated. In this way, the position of Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies will be his, killing two birds with one stone."
"Brother-in-law, you should focus on doing your job well and make sure no one can find fault with it. We can settle the score later."
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