Chapter V Search by the Tribunal
In the rocking carriage, Zhu Yu half-leaned on the soft seat, closed his eyes and dozed off.
Although her face looked calm, her mind was working rapidly.
She knew very well that going back now would be like walking into a trap.
But from what Maggie said, the people from the Inquisition were coming with such force that it was clear that they would not leave her any room for choice and she had no way to escape.
Zhu Yu's fingers unconsciously stroked the embroidery on his cuffs.
Never mind, let's just make the best of it. Avoiding it now is useless.
What's more, she knew nothing about how the Inquisition operated and had no memory related to it. Planning countermeasures in advance would make it more likely to reveal flaws.
The best way to deal with it is probably to seize the opportunity and act flexibly.
Zhu Yu simply used this period of free time to start sorting out the clues he currently had.
In the past two days, her biggest gain undoubtedly came from the experience in the secret meeting last night and the meeting with Lin Ji today.
From Mrs. Janet, she learned that Elena was not originally a wizard and did not meet the most basic membership criteria of the secret society. She was able to join the secret society and become a white-robed wizard only because of the support of someone behind her.
However, now that her backer is dead, her position in the secret society is shaky and she may be replaced by Elena's mortal enemy, the aggressive Sera, at any time.
In addition, Elena seemed to have detained a group of unidentified people in her winery, and the attack on her was likely closely related to this.
As for Lin Ji, the important clues related to the plot undoubtedly come from the diary of the leader of the mercenary group.
Through the records in the diary, Zhu Yu deduced that the relationship between Elena and the family suddenly deteriorated at a certain point. For some unknown reason, the Draka family even sent a knight disguised as a messenger in an attempt to completely eliminate her.
Finally, combining the secret society with the report he had just received, Zhu Yu sorted out another important piece of information - the status of wizards in this world is very bad, and the Inquisition has the power to arrest wizards, which may become a threat to her at any time.
Zhu Yu sorted out every piece of information like peeling off silk threads from an onion, trying hard to find a breakthrough point.
Compared to other things, she was not too worried about the internal struggles of the secret society.
After all, she is a real wizard now. Although her purification ability is still weak, it is real witchcraft after all.
If she failed to complete the so-called rescue mission at that time, she only needed to demonstrate her abilities in front of everyone at the right time and she would have the opportunity to turn the situation around and consolidate her position.
What she is really worried about right now is the Draka family.
Who knows when they will send new killers to assassinate her again?
Fortunately, at least judging from the other party's cautious style of doing things, they should not have any reason to take action openly.
Otherwise, they would have sent people to revoke her noble status, deprive her of her management rights of the tavern, and expel her from the family completely, instead of sending people to assassinate her in secret and let her continue to move around under the name of the Draka family.
Zhu Yu was deep in thought when the carriage suddenly trembled and the wheels slowly stopped.
She opened her eyes, drew aside the curtain and looked out, and saw several unfamiliar carriages and several tall horses parked in front of the mansion.
The horses were snorting, their hooves pattering on the bluestone ground, exuding a somewhat solemn and murderous aura.
Zhu Yu's heart tightened and he couldn't help but sigh silently.
——Okay, it seems she has to change her conclusion.
The most difficult thing now is probably how to deal with these people from the Tribunal!
Zhu Yu took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and walked towards the hall of the mansion.
Inside the hall, several Inquisition Knights in dark robes were quietly waiting, with silver-white badges flashing on their chests.
The leader was a tall man, about thirty years old, with a stern face and sharp eyes.
His black robes were embroidered with silver thorns along the edges, and he had a thin ceremonial short sword at his waist.
After seeing Zhu Yu and his group, the man nodded politely to Zhu Yu:
"Miss Draka, I am Rhine, the captain of the law enforcement team of the Inquisition. We have received a report that you suspect there is a wizard hiding in your mansion. Please allow us to conduct a routine search to prove your innocence."
Zhu Yu put on a proper smile, maintaining the elegance of a noble lady:
"Of course, I am willing to cooperate with your investigation. But please be careful not to disturb my servants."
Rhine nodded and signaled his men to take action.
Several law enforcers holding staffs walked out from behind him. As they whispered some kind of spell, the air in the mansion trembled slightly. Zhu Yu vaguely sensed that there was an invisible force flowing everywhere.
They walked up to the servants and carefully examined each one's body.
The light of the scepter was sometimes bright and sometimes dim, trying to capture any possible fluctuations of magical power.
Zhu Yu stood aside, folding his hands in front of him, watching all this with forced calmness, but his heartbeat quickened.
In contrast, Maggie and other servants were very calm, and Mrs. Gwen on the side was directing the servants to continue with their work as usual, without being affected at all.
The law enforcer walked around the mansion, carefully checking every room and corner, and finally returned to Rhine and reported in a low voice:
"No abnormal fluctuations of witchcraft power have been detected so far."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief and kept a calm smile on his face.
She asked in a gentle but questioning tone:
"Your Excellency Rhine, this result should be enough to prove my innocence, right? Obviously, this report is nothing but hearsay. How could there be a wizard hiding in my mansion? The efficiency and fairness of the Inquisition are impeccable, but if some people with ulterior motives deliberately spread rumors, wouldn't it be a waste of everyone's time?"
Rhine frowned slightly, as if pondering the deep meaning of her words, and spoke after a moment:
"Miss Draka, we will record your concerns truthfully, but this is our duty, and I hope you can forgive us."
Zhu Yu: "Of course I understand. After all, the careful investigation of the Tribunal is for the safety of everyone. Of course, I am willing to cooperate fully."
Having said that, the law enforcement team showed no signs of withdrawing and remained standing still.
Zhu Yu waited for a few seconds, his eyes narrowed slightly, and just as he was about to speak, Lai Yin finally spoke again, apologetically:
"Miss Draka, please understand that in addition to your servants, you yourself will also need to be tested. According to the regulations, all nobles enjoy preferential treatment during the investigation, but they are not exempt. After all, we need to ensure that any suspicion is completely cleared."
When Mrs. Gwen heard this, her face suddenly darkened, and she suppressed her anger in her tone:
"Lord Rhine, you should be aware of the status of a noble. You cannot offend them at will."
Rhine remained unmoved and maintained his official attitude:
"It is precisely because of Miss Draka's noble status that we are more cautious to ensure that there will not be any unnecessary suspicion."
Mrs. Gwen wanted to argue again, but Zhu Yu gently raised his hand to stop her, with a hint of coldness in his eyes, he said:
"In that case, according to what you said, do the guards and servants who went out with me just now also need to be tested? Otherwise, wouldn't this search not be thorough enough?"
Rhine: "It would be best if Miss Draka is willing to cooperate."
Zhu Yu said calmly:
"Maggie, go call them in and cooperate with the Inquisition's investigation."
Soon, Maggie entered the hall with a group of servants and guards. Everyone stood aside quietly, waiting to be inspected.
The law enforcers stepped forward one by one and tested them one by one with the staffs in their hands.
Every time the staff detected a target, it would emit a faint halo of light, and then return to calm without any abnormalities.
Zhu Yu stood aside, glancing at 996 in the crowd from the corner of his eye.
Seeing him nod slightly at her, Zhu Yu retracted her gaze, lowered her brows, and quietly waited for the final review.
Soon, the law enforcer stood in front of Zhu Yu, and the light from the staff slowly passed through her body.
There was silence all around, and everyone's eyes were focused on this final inspection.
As the light of the staff remained stable, the law enforcer turned and nodded to Rhine, indicating that there was no problem.
The air seemed to flow at this moment.
Everyone present, including Rhine, breathed a sigh of relief.
Rhine bowed respectfully to Zhu Yu:
"It seems that this is indeed a misunderstanding. Miss Draka, our investigation is over. Please forgive us for disturbing you."
Zhu Yu waved his hand gracefully: "Now that the misunderstanding has been resolved, I hope that your Highness will be more cautious in future investigations to avoid similar mistakes that affect the normal life of the mansion."
Rhine responded solemnly:
"I will."
After the law enforcers of the Tribunal left the mansion, Zhu Yu immediately gave Mrs. Gwen a look.
The latter immediately understood, retreated silently, and quietly caught up with one of the law enforcers who was left behind.
Mrs. Gwen stopped the man at the corner, put on a gentle and decent smile on her face, and whispered:
"Sir, can you tell me who reported our Draka family?"
The law enforcer's expression remained unchanged, and he refused with a stern face:
"Sorry, the identity of the whistleblower is confidential and we cannot disclose it."
Mrs. Gwen sighed and said in a worried tone:
"Alas, our young lady has always been law-abiding and her family's reputation has always been spotless. It would be disheartening if she was framed without any reason. Can you give us a little clue?"
As she spoke, she took out a heavy purse from her sleeve and gently placed it into the law enforcer's hand.
The sound of coins colliding was crisp and pleasant, and the law enforcer's brows immediately relaxed a little, and his eyes also relaxed a little.
He looked around and said in a low voice:
"I don't know much, but I heard that this anonymous tip came from inside the Golden Cup Tavern you run. Your lady might be able to start by investigating the employees who were recently fired."
He paused, and added with a meaningful look:
"Especially those guys who were fired for some reason and hold a grudge."
Mrs. Gwen wrote down the contents and thanked him:
"Thank you for your generous advice."
The law enforcer coughed softly, put the heavy money bag into his wide robe sleeve as if nothing had happened, and quickly caught up with the team.
After returning to the mansion, Mrs. Gwen quickly told Zhu Yu the news she had obtained.
After listening, Zhu Yu frowned slightly and tapped the table lightly with his fingers:
"The insiders of the pub... who are the employees who were recently fired?"
Maggie stood aside and spoke thoughtfully:
"Miss, as far as I know, there is only one employee who was fired from the tavern recently - the brewer, Old Jack."
"Old Jack?" Zhu Yu looked at Maggie in confusion, "Why was he fired?"
Maggie sighed, "He's addicted to alcohol, especially as he gets older, he can't control himself anymore. He often made mistakes due to drunkenness, such as adjusting the alcohol content incorrectly during the brewing process, and even nearly ruined the entire batch of wine several times. If our tavern's wine supply was not completely dependent on him...otherwise, it would have been a disaster if it were any other tavern."
Zhu Yu stroked his chin with his fingers:
"So, he might have been unhappy after being fired... and reported it to the Tribunal?"
Maggie snorted unkindly:
"This kind of person will do anything for revenge."
Zhu Yu: "Anyway, since the clues point to him, we have to go and confirm it."
She looked up at Mrs. Gwen and said, "Send someone to check where old Jack has been and see if he has done anything unusual recently."
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