After resting for a while, Wei Jiao told Qing Ye about his past.
Qingye raised some questions that Wei Jiao hadn't thought about in detail before, but after listening to Qingye's analysis, she decided to investigate.
Our first stop was the Dragon Palace at Qinghai Lake. Back then, the bandits suddenly said they would take me back and killed the woman. This behavior was too strange.
Outside the Dragon Palace, Wei Jiao scanned the area with his divine sense. The entire Dragon Palace had changed beyond recognition, except for one familiar face in the backyard.
Wei Jiao led Qing Ye to infiltrate the past.
Old Shuicheng lay stiffly on the bed, barely breathing.
Qingye stepped forward, made hand seals and chanted an incantation, and a blurry double image appeared on Shuicheng's original body.
She slowly detached from the body and stood in the room. Her figure became clearer and clearer, and her expression gradually returned to the way Wei Jiao remembered her.
Who are you?
Her consciousness was still hazy, and she couldn't recognize Wei Jiao.
Wei Jiao waved his sleeve, revealing his figure and aura.
"Black Dragon?"
The number of black dragons in the world is already very small, and she was certain that she had never seen this one before.
Wei Jiao took out two dragon pearls and several mermaid tears from his body: "Now do you know who I am?"
Upon seeing these, the old water steward was first dazed, then his expression changed drastically: "It's... Her Highness the Princess?"
"You rarely called me that before."
Wei Jiao smiled and said, "It's been over a hundred years. I never thought we'd meet again in this way."
The old water steward stepped back and bowed respectfully.
Wei Jiao said, "You must know very well why I'm here. You must know something about what happened back then, who was involved, and what role they played. So, are you going to tell me the truth?"
The old woman knelt on the ground: "Now that Your Highness has come, this old minister should naturally tell Your Highness everything you know."
"You've become like this because someone behind the scenes wants to silence you?"
The old woman didn't answer the question. Instead, she recalled, "One hundred and twenty years ago, the North Sea sent an envoy to Qinghai Lake under the pretext of delivering festival gifts. One of the Sixth Princess's retainers was among them. He visited me and mentioned that Your Highness had been injured fighting a sea monster in the East Sea. At that time, I felt it was inappropriate for Your Highness to stay in the East Sea, so I told His Majesty about it. His Majesty and the Queen were very worried and sent bandits to inquire about your situation. Later, the bandits returned once. I wasn't there at the time, so I don't know what they said. Then I heard that the bandits had killed someone and fled, and Your Highness had been arrested. His Majesty and the Queen went to the East Sea and never returned."
"Have the Sixth Princess's retainers been in contact with anyone else?" Qingye asked.
“We have frequent dealings with Beihai, so I didn’t pay special attention to their behavior. I remember there were eight people in that group. The leader was a ceremonial official from the Beihai Dragon Palace named Kuiyi, and the sixth princess’s retainer was named Jiang Li. After the princess’s incident, His Majesty and the Queen returned. At that time, the Dragon Palace was in chaos. I was busy dealing with various matters and only after I got through that period did I realize that something was suspicious.”
"Get up and speak."
The old woman bowed again, stood up, and continued, "This old minister learned what happened. Although it seems like a simple matter that can be explained in a few words, there are many unreasonable aspects to what appears to be natural. After careful consideration, I think Your Highness may have been framed. I also unexpectedly heard something else: when the envoy came to visit, the bandit encountered an enemy outside and was injured. An envoy named Mie Ran happened to be there, helped him out, and brought him back to the Dragon Palace to bandage his wounds."
Upon hearing this, Wei Jiao's expression changed drastically.
The old woman sighed.
"Different snakes have different venoms, especially snakes that have cultivated into demons. Their venom often carries its own unique toxicity, and the symptoms of the poison also differ. The venom of the bandits must have been obtained by someone else at that time. After I learned about this, I became even more certain that something was amiss. I first investigated the eight envoys. The reason why the official Kuiyi came to Qinghai Lake at that time was at the behest of the Sixth Princess. Two of the military officers were guards, and I confirmed that they were not involved in this matter. Only Liangxiu, Zhouming, and Hequ remained, and I had not yet had time to investigate their details. I did not expect that Mie Ran's corpse would appear at Qinghai Lake."
"After His Majesty was executed, the Dragon Palace was searched and confiscated. Some people left, some were scattered, and some were imprisoned. I didn't have a chance to continue the investigation and was forcibly taken back to the North Sea. I never saw anyone again and was trapped in this courtyard. Later, my health started to deteriorate."
At this point, she knelt down again: "Your Highness, this old minister listened to slander and failed to detect the conspiracy, giving the enemy an opportunity. This old minister deserves to die, but I can at least see Your Highness before I die and tell Your Highness these things. This old minister can die in peace. It is time for me to go and accompany the late king."
As she spoke, her soul grew fainter and fainter until it finally disappeared.
Wei Jiao looked at Qing Ye.
Qingye shook his head and said, "It was suicide. Her soul was too weak. I was originally somewhat confident that I could save her, but she was determined to die, so there was nothing I could do."
After putting away the things that had just been laid out, Qingye stood up and asked, "Do you think it could be the Sixth Princess?"
"It's too obvious. I don't think it's her at all; it's just a smokescreen. It's possible that she was persuaded to go back to Qinghai Lake, but obtaining the snake venom from the bandits and then cleanly ending the affair doesn't seem like her method."
“The leading official and Jiang Li are probably both open agents. Since Mie Ran died at Qinghai Lake, the bottle of poison must have been taken away by another hidden agent. It’s not good for too many people to know about this, so I also believe that the two military officers are outsiders. Then the remaining three envoys should be thoroughly investigated. Do you know these three people?”
Wei Jiao shook his head. Even the aquatic creatures in his own Dragon Palace might not know everything, let alone those in the North Sea.
"In that case, we can only stay in Beihai for a few more days. The East Sea Dragon Palace handled that matter too quickly back then, without conducting a thorough investigation or giving your parents a chance to overturn the verdict. If it was just someone in Beihai who did it, it's unlikely to have gone so smoothly. Perhaps it was a scheme orchestrated in collusion with someone in the East Sea. Besides the backgrounds of these three people, we can also investigate from this angle."
“You’re right. At the time, I just thought the Dragon King of the East Sea was ruthless because he lost his beloved son, but now it seems strange.”
Wei Jiao, with a serious expression and his hands behind his back, looked at the lifeless body on the bed and said, "It seems like there are enemies everywhere. I don't think I have much patience left."
She reached out her right hand, which had transformed into a dragon claw with sharp fingertips.
She stared intently at her sharp nails, her face expressionless, but a strange light flickered in her eyes.
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