Chapter 66 Cutting Off the Fire at the Bottom of the Blade
Wanqing chuckled: "The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review became suspicious as expected when he saw that they didn't know anything about it."
"Old Lady Hou and Liu Ruolan probably realized that the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review had some suspicions about them. Liu Ruolan immediately defended herself, saying, 'With such a big fire, the bodies are burned beyond recognition. How can you see any features?'"
"The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review said that although the bodies were burned by the fire, they were only burned. Not all the bodies were completely unrecognizable and turned into charcoal. Some of them still had skin intact."
Even if someone is burned beyond recognition, everyone has some unique features that cannot be replicated. In any case, one's own mother and wife would not be able to completely fail to recognize them.
Wanqing smiled and said, "After the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review finished speaking, he had someone take the old lady of the Marquis and Liu Ruolan to the place where the corpses were kept, and asked them to find the body of the Marquis of Yongning from among those corpses!"
"The old lady of the Marquis and Liu Ruolan looked at each other, not daring to recognize each other. The two of them immediately started wailing and then pretended to faint from excessive grief and were taken back to the Marquis's mansion."
"Once they were brought back to the Marquis's residence, they felt safe, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law immediately pretended to wake up and got together again."
Shen Qingci took a sip of tea, nodded, and wasn't surprised: "We need to discuss countermeasures. We should first find someone to determine the physical characteristics of the substitute so we can then claim the body!"
This mother-in-law and daughter-in-law certainly put on a good show.
She found it quite interesting just to listen to it.
But to conclude that the Marquis of Yongning is not dead simply because the old lady of the Marquis and Liu Ruolan mistook the body for his own and dared not describe his features or identify the body seems... a bit far-fetched.
Wan Qing nodded and quickly added, "But before the two of them could go to identify the body again, there was new news from the Dali Temple."
"Tell me, someone saw Marquis Yongning in the city!"
Shen Qingci's eyelids twitched. This must be the message that Chu Jichen released.
"Old Madam Hou and Liu Ruolan looked at each other in dismay, and then hurriedly rushed over, saying how could that be? Huo Yunting was clearly in the prison when the fire broke out."
"But I never expected..."
Wanqing's eyes flashed with excitement: "They were still in front of the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review when someone suddenly came to report that an assassin had kidnapped the Marquis of Yongning and was currently on the roof of the Zhuangyuan Tower, the tallest building in the capital."
"That man said that more than ten years ago, the Liu family killed his entire family, and he secretly infiltrated the Prime Minister's residence to avenge his family."
"Last night, the Prime Minister ordered that the guards of the Imperial Prison be bribed and that someone be sent into the prison to rescue Marquis Yongning. Then, a scapegoat was found and placed in the place where Marquis Yongning was imprisoned, and the Imperial Prison was set on fire."
"After the Prime Minister's men rescued the Marquis of Yongning, they conveniently had him escort the Marquis of Yongning to the border, pretending to be Huo Yunzhan. Huo Yunzhan in the capital had not died in battle; it was all an enemy's scheme to allow the Marquis of Yongning to legitimately replace Huo Yunzhan and return to the city."
"But no matter how much the Prime Minister and the people of the Yongning Marquis's mansion planned, they never expected that he would come to the Prime Minister's mansion seeking revenge."
"So, he killed the other guards who were escorting Marquis Yongning and brought him here, all to let everyone know about the despicable scheme that Prime Minister Liu and Marquis Yongning were plotting!"
Shen Qingci raised an eyebrow. Chu Jichen's move was indeed... a fatal blow.
Although the so-called assassin was probably not really an enemy of the Prime Minister's mansion.
The Marquis of Yongning being held hostage by the assassin might not actually be the real Marquis of Yongning, but...
The Zhuangyuan Tower is located in the most prosperous area of the capital. If such a commotion is staged, the entire capital will probably know about it.
Even if Huo Yunzhan really left the capital under the cover of Prime Minister Liu's men, he would never dare to return as Huo Yunzhan.
Otherwise, it would confirm that what the assassin said was true.
At that time, Prime Minister Liu will be dragged down with him.
Shen Qingci smiled and asked, "And then?"
However, once things have progressed to this point, everything that happens afterward becomes less important.
Wan Qing said with great interest, "After hearing the report, both Madam Hou and Liu Ruolan looked incredulous and kept saying, 'Impossible.'"
"They say that Marquis Yongning was imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison. If the Heavenly Prison catches fire, Marquis Yongning must be dead."
"It is said that the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review looked at them strangely at the time."
idiot.
Shen Qingci cursed inwardly. They hadn't even claimed the body yet, but they were already insisting that Marquis Yongning was definitely dead.
How strange!
It was as if they couldn't wait for Marquis Yongning to die.
"After they finished speaking, they probably realized something was wrong, and said, 'Didn't they say that a corpse was found in the cell where the Marquis of Yongning was being held?'"
"The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review told them directly, but many people saw it with their own eyes; the person who was holding the Marquis of Yongning hostage was none other than the Marquis of Yongning."
"Let them come along to Zhuangyuanlou to take a look."
"When they arrived at the Marquis of Yongning, they indeed saw the Marquis of Yongning being held hostage on the roof."
Shen Qingci nodded. It wasn't surprising. She had personally witnessed the disguise skills of Chu Jichen's subordinates.
If she could disguise herself as her, she could naturally disguise Huo Yunzhan perfectly.
"As soon as they got there, they started yelling at the man, saying that the person he had kidnapped was not the Marquis of Yongning at all!"
"The assassin held the knife directly to the neck of the Marquis of Yongning and said, since they think he is not kidnapping the Marquis of Yongning, why don't he just kill him? Once he is killed, they will know whether it is real or not."
Shen Qingci smiled; Chu Jichen was truly formidable.
They treated the old lady Hou and Liu Ruolan like monkeys, making them run around in circles.
Neither Madam Hou nor Liu Ruolan were certain whether the assassin had truly taken Yongning Marquis hostage.
After all, Marquis Yongning was indeed still alive, and he did indeed intend to use the fire to escape to the border and return as Huo Yunzhan.
Although they kept saying that he was not the Marquis of Yongning.
But they absolutely dared not let the assassin kill the hostages in his hands.
They dare not gamble.
Especially the old Lady Hou.
As for Liu Ruolan, she's probably already fallen out with Huo Yunzhan. It would be better if Huo Yunzhan were dead.
But the old lady of the Marquis is different. She lost Huo Yunting, and now she only has Huo Yunzhan as her sole heir.
Even if Huo Yunzhan no longer has the ability to carry on the family line, at least Huo Yunzhan is alive, and no matter whose identity he lives under, that is enough to support this Marquis's mansion.
Once the person is gone, the Yongning Marquis's mansion will be completely finished.
As she pondered, she heard Wanqing continue, "The old lady panicked immediately and asked him to show the person to them to confirm whether he was indeed the Marquis of Yongning."
"But the man completely ignored him, saying only that he needed to get Prime Minister Liu to come so he could collect a debt from him!"
"Liu Ruolan was furious and angrily told him to dream! The man said that if Prime Minister Liu did not come, he would not release Marquis Yongning. Then he took the hostage and jumped off the building and ran away."
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