Chapter 69: Repairing the Plank Road
The morning light shone through the guesthouse, which had just been bustling with activity, now fell silent as a desolate grave. In the flower hall, a few timid diners were about to leave when a fierce glare from a Black Armor Guard pinned them to the spot. Even their breathing froze, as if even a breath would alert the murderous intent swirling throughout the room.
Yun Yuan's expression remained calm, but her feet were quietly moving, stepping deeper into the bloody flesh.
The man who had peeked out of the neighboring pavilion had already stood up and slowly walked towards the open doorway. The morning light flickered across the sword at his waist, a cold gleam flashing as Yun Yuan suddenly remembered—this man was none other than Zuo Xiaoyao of the Wuji Sect, one of the four men who had surrounded and murdered Feng Yanyuan at the Wangyou Inn that day. If only he were here… Just as she was thinking this, she saw another person emerge from the pavilion. It was Wei Qianji, another Wuji Sect member from the Wangyou Inn.
"It really is the Third Young Master Feng." Zuo Xiaoyao said, turning back to glance at Wei Qianji who remained expressionless.
The Yingchuan man's gaze was like a knife, slowly sweeping across Feng Yanyuan's body. Suddenly, he sneered, "My name is Mei Hanchuan." His voice was low, "At Lei Zhentian's birthday banquet, I wanted to experience the skills of the Third Young Master Feng, but unfortunately, I didn't get to do so. I didn't expect to meet him here today." The corner of his lip curled up, and the sarcasm intensified. "The Feng family's tactics of faking obedience but secretly disobeying are consistent and not surprising at all."
"Young Master Mei, please be careful with your words." Zuo Xiaoyao raised his hand to hold onto the carved door frame, frowning slightly. He turned his gaze to Commander Xiao and said with a hint of helplessness, "It seems like this is a misunderstanding. It's our fault for sending the signal too early."
"Misunderstanding?" Commander Xiao frowned.
Zuo Xiaoyao spread his hands, "We just heard the door being pushed open, so we gave the signal, but who knew—" He smiled at Feng Yanyuan and suddenly changed the subject, "The Third Young Master Feng went to the palace yesterday and is deeply trusted by the King of Huainan. Commander Xiao must have seen him too. Could it be that... he still suspects him of being the contact person?"
His tone was slow and lazy, even a hint of joking, but every word was as sharp as a needle. For a moment, the atmosphere in the room was stagnant.
Outside the window, the morning breeze blew across the eaves, bringing with it a burst of tiny sounds of copper bells.
Yun Yuan felt a chill in her heart - it turned out that these people had already set up a tight net here, waiting for the spy to show up.
But this Mei Hanchuan...
She had only heard of this man's name from Feng Jiu, who said that he was the young master of Meili Village who had performed brilliantly in the martial arts competition after the birthday banquet at Bagua Mountain. However, the three poisonous needles he stabbed at Xi Wu Gu at the last moment caused an uproar and led to a fight between Hua Guimu and Mei Jiumang.
Yun Yuan carefully studied Mei Hanchuan. If the poison needle had simply been secretly swapped, he would be a fool being exploited. But if it was intentional...
Commander Xiao pondered for a moment, his eyes suddenly fixed on Mei Hanchuan's face: "Young Master Mei, you should have been guarding downstairs, but you barged into the pavilion to check on people without permission. How do you explain this?"
Mei Hanchuan said, "Since Third Young Master Feng has seen through me, if I don't take preemptive action, I'm afraid it will be too late to regret it once he sends a message and sells the stolen goods."
"Nonsense!" Zuo Xiaoyao flicked his sleeves and laughed, "I told you long ago that you can't pretend to be a grain merchant with your skills. Third Young Master Feng has such a keen eye, it's only natural that he can see through you. Why make such a fuss?"
Mei Hanchuan suddenly shouted, "If that contact person is a Feng family slave—should I just sit there and do nothing?"
When these words were spoken, everyone in the room was shocked.
As expected! Yun Yuan suddenly raised her eyes and met Feng Yanyuan's gaze. The moment their eyes met, they both felt a chill in their hearts - they had fallen into a trap!
Luqi covered her lips with her wide sleeves, her laughter trembling like a silver bell. "Young Master Mei, you have a good eye." Her eyes flickered, "But I don't know how you recognized this as the Feng family's criminal slave at first sight?"
Mei Hanchuan sneered and walked over to the corpse. He kicked the bloody body with the tip of his boot and sneered, "What a loyal servant! Even before his death, he didn't forget to destroy the tattoo to protect his master." He squatted down and used two fingers to peel back the flesh behind the dead man's ear. "What a pity..." He lifted a piece of sticky flesh with his fingertips. "The brand wasn't removed cleanly."
This criminal's self-destructive behavior was indeed an attempt to hide his guilt. Yun Yuan felt her foot tingle slightly as it stepped on the skin.
Previously, they had used the opportunity of hunting down the assassins from the Dianqian Pavilion to create the illusion that Feng Yanyuan was working for the royal palace. The King of Huainan had not pursued the matter because the three "Night Wanderers" were no ordinary men; how could such masters be abandoned? If Feng Yanyuan were truly an accomplice, why would he have killed him?
But now...
Yun Yuan glanced at the people in the pavilion who were staring at her with eager eyes, and a chill ran up her spine - the Feng family spy and Feng Yanyuan appeared here at the same time. The carefully planned drama from the day before might have to be reconsidered.
Luqi suddenly took a half step back, covering her face with her silk sleeves, her slender fingers trembling slightly: "This...this bloody mess, young man, please don't touch it anymore."
Zuo Xiaoyao leaned against the carved porch, shook his head helplessly, and chuckled softly: "If you ask me, this tattoo... even if it's the mark of the Feng family, so what? This person hasn't had time to do anything yet. I think Young Master Mei is a little eager to make a contribution..."
"If you had no evil intentions, why would you kill yourself?" Mei Hanchuan sneered, wiping the blood from his hands on the corpse's shirt. Suddenly, he pulled a crumpled piece of silk from his sleeve. "When I just broke in, I saw him swallowing this." His gaze was like a knife, piercing the silent Feng Yanyuan. "The Third Young Master Feng is pursuing me so relentlessly. Could it be... that's also why?"
Luqi ducked back to Zuo Xiaoyao's shoulder. "Young Master Mei, you don't mind such a filthy thing..." She frowned and examined it carefully. "But there's not a single word on this silk. Why would this person swallow it?"
Mei Hanchuan unfolded the silk to the morning light and sneered, "This silk is quite mysterious." He twisted the surface with his fingertips and said, "The words written with alum only appear when exposed to water - Commander Xiao, don't you understand?"
"Zheng—" The commander drew out his ring-handled sword, the blade's spine reflecting Mei Hanchuan's calm expression as he lifted the piece of brocade onto the blade's tip. He looked at Mei Hanchuan meaningfully, "Young Master Mei is indeed astute. It seems this feat will be remembered by you."
Mei Hanchuan bowed and said, "Commander Xiao, thank you for your kind words. I simply admire your great reputation and hope to serve you."
Commander Xiao stared at him intently for a moment before turning and shouting downstairs, "Someone! Bring some water!"
"Hey, wait a minute." Zuo Xiaoyao waved his sleeves. "If this item really carries the secrets of the palace..." His smile didn't reach his eyes. "How dare we, the white-clothed men, take a peek? How about you, the commander, take this item back to the palace and examine it before we discuss it?"
Commander Xiao was slightly startled, then suddenly laughed heartily, "Master Zuo is indeed very thoughtful, but..." He looked at Feng Yanyuan, "I'll have to inconvenience Third Young Master Feng and have him go with me."
Feng Yanyuan was as silent as the abyss, and walked down the stairs with a flick of his sleeves.
The moment he pushed the door open, he realized the convicted slave was indeed a spy. This assassin was clearly here to die, and the unremoved tattoo behind his ear was a deliberate flaw. Needless to say, the forged palace secrets on the silk would undoubtedly prove his identity as an "enemy spy." His brother had been using these same tactics for years, and they hadn't changed a bit. He didn't even bother to get angry anymore.
But Yuan'er...
As he walked past her, his brows furrowed slightly. Before he could figure out what to do with her, he heard her pleading in a tearful voice from behind: "Commander, please have mercy and allow me to accompany you and take care of you..."
Huainan Palace.
Inside the interrogation room, the tung oil torch cast the coroner's hunched figure against the brick wall. The corpse had been turned over and ripped like rags, and a hideous branding mark, resembling the intersecting points of a trident, was visible on the shoulder blade—the mark left by the Feng family's unique "Soul-Breaking Halberd" branding iron.
The brocade was soaked in water. The coroner did not look at the yellow-brown lines that gradually appeared on the brocade. He just prepared the green wine and left.
As the clanking of iron chains approached from afar, the King of Huainan tapped the brocade with his rhino-horn-handled dagger. Turning, he saw Feng Yanyuan's arms entangled in cow sinew ropes, bound by seven layers of black iron chains. He roared, "Assholes! Who allowed you to humiliate Zi Shang like this?"
Commander Xiao was stunned: "This man's martial arts..."
"If he really wanted to make a move, you would have already become floating corpses in the moat!"
Commander Xiao looked at the silk and the corpse on the table: "But this evidence..."
The Prince of Huainan suddenly grabbed the green liquor from the lacquer table and poured the amber liquid onto the brocade. The yellow-brown lines suddenly turned indigo, and then acrid white smoke rose. In an instant, only the scorched yellow silk was left.
Commander Xiao was stunned.
"Don't you think about it!" King Huainan threw the empty wine bottle at Commander Xiao's feet. "Why did Zuo Xiaoyao insist that you bring this thing back to the palace for inspection?!"
Seeing Commander Xiao's bewildered expression, the King of Huainan angrily shook his head, "Untie him quickly!"
Commander Xiao stepped forward quickly, and the inlaid gold key on his belt collided with each other in a panic.
"Take this out later." The King of Huainan pointed at the scrap of silk, "Say this is the silk that once wrapped the 'Golden Crispy Jade Minced Meat'. Ordinary people won't recognize it, but it's treated as some kind of secret."
Commander Xiao was even more bewildered upon hearing this. He knew that "Golden Crispy Jade Minced Meat" was a precious delicacy, and that chefs often smeared alum water on silk to preserve its freshness. But even from a distance, the stain he had just seen didn't look like a random smear... But seeing the prince's fury, he didn't dare ask any further questions.
"I will go and explain it right away." Commander Xiao bowed, took the remaining silk and hurried away.
Feng Yanyuan bowed deeply to the King of Huainan to express his gratitude.
"Zi Shang, please sit down." The King of Huainan turned and sat down, then asked directly, "Is this your brother's work?"
Feng Yanyuan's fingertips curled slightly.
"Shi Du mentioned this to me." The King of Huainan picked up the wine jug and poured him a glass, then shook his head and sighed, "Brothers quarreling is nothing to be surprised about." The amber wine swayed in the moonlight. "I've watched my uncles play out this whole thing."
Feng Yanyuan lowered his eyes and looked at the moonlight swaying in the cup, smiled bitterly and said: "It's just the dirty work of a small family in the market, how dare you compare it with the ups and downs of the royal family." He raised his hand and drank the wine in the cup, swallowing the unfinished words with a rolling of his Adam's apple.
"Every family has its own troubles. But the drama in the Taiji Hall is probably more lively than that of your Feng family." The King of Huainan sighed and suddenly leaned forward. "Do you want to know what is painted on that brocade?"
Feng Yanyuan was slightly startled. Before he could speak, he heard the King of Huainan say, "This is a map of the inner courtyard of my palace." The prince tapped the table lightly. "Even the secret guards are marked exactly."
Feng Yanyuan frowned.
Presenting the map of the palace openly would alert the King of Huainan, who would rebuild the palace structure. It would also arouse suspicion and lead to the purge of his retainers.
No one would believe that this was an intentional exposure.
The spy was holding a map of the palace and appeared in the guest house at the same time as him. He then acted as if he was eager to sell the stolen goods - was he doing this kind of damage just to frame him?
What on earth does Feng Yanhao want to do? !
The King of Huainan studied Feng Yanyuan for a moment before continuing, "This map is so realistic, it suggests there's a spy inside the palace... I don't want to alert any unrelated guests. I wonder how Zishang can find this rat?"
Feng Yanyuan was stunned: King Huainan really didn't doubt him?
"Does the prince have any plans in mind?"
"The most likely candidate is Mei Hanchuan, but he has no chance." The King of Huainan flicked the wine jar with his fingers. "At the Shouchun Banquet, he actually used the Beggar Gang's 'Ghost Knocking on the Door' against the Beggar Gang during the duel—" He suddenly lowered his voice and said, "I kept him here just to see if he has something to hide and if there's someone pulling the strings behind it."
Feng Yanyuan nodded slightly: "Your Majesty, I understand."
The King of Huainan stared at Feng Yanyuan's face for a moment, then suddenly smiled. "Zi Shang looks like this... has he already made up his mind?"
"Although I'm not sure who it is. But..." Feng Yanyuan said: "The traitor must be the real contact person today."
"The contact person?" King Huainan raised his eyebrows slightly. "Is there any mystery in today's incident?"
"He never sets up just one scheme." Feng Yanyuan smiled bitterly. "The frame-up is just a pretext. First, it makes the prince suspicious of me, and second, it's used to cover up his tracks." A sharp glint flashed in his eyes. "There must be another purpose."
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