Chapter 63 His lips suddenly tightened into a straight line again…
"What did I tell you?" Fu Ciyan lazily found a chair and sat down, resting his chin on one hand, his handsome features showing a hint of weariness. "Everyone said I went to rescue people, but you just wouldn't believe me."
After calming everyone down, there was finally time to thoroughly examine the scene and question the injured in the fire.
Three of the injured testified that a young man wearing an indigo robe rescued them from the fire.
Gu Chunwen and the guards led Fu Ciyan to them for identification. They confirmed that he was indeed rescuing people in the fire, not setting it, thus clearing him of suspicion.
"You can leave now," Feng Mian reminded him, somewhat disapproving of his relaxed and comfortable demeanor as if he were in his own home.
Fu Ciyan shook his index finger. "You've misunderstood me. You think you can just dismiss me with a casual 'not guilty'?"
Feng Mian: "What do you intend to do?"
"I need to know who I'm taking the blame for, right?" Fu Ciyan crossed his legs, yawned slightly, and winked at Feng Mian, looking rather unserious. "Since the princess is so magnanimous, she shouldn't mind me watching from the sidelines for a while, right?"
Gu Chunwen looked him over and found him very strange. He had a very contradictory temperament. He could be described as frivolous and dissolute, yet his handsome features were very upright. He could also be described as having an air of nobility, yet he often sat or stood improperly.
His hands were calloused, clearly those of a martial artist, yet he offered no resistance when captured, merely offering a few lazy excuses, as if it were all indifferent and he didn't care about the outcome. It seemed that nothing could leave a mark on his heart.
But she seemed particularly concerned about Feng Mian.
Gu Chunwen can say with absolute certainty that no such person has ever appeared in Shengjing City, and it is impossible for him to be an old acquaintance of Feng Mian.
That's not right either. I heard that Feng Mian left the palace for a few months when she was young. Could it be that they met then?
Feng Mian had also had this suspicion, but although she couldn't remember the appearance or name of the little boy she had been locked in the cave with when she was young, she remembered that he was only two or three years older than her. Fu Ciyan was already twenty-five, so their ages just didn't match up.
"Do as you please."
In another hour, it will be dawn.
Although she promised to find out the truth within twelve hours, if the matter was not resolved before dawn, it would inevitably affect the entire day's trade. People from both Dayong and Beiyi would be thinking to themselves that if they started arguing and fighting again, their resentment would only deepen.
Therefore, Feng Mian planned to lure out the real culprit before dawn and had no intention of dealing with Fu Ciyan anymore.
She picked up her pen and wrote down everything that had happened and what confused her, so that she could both send a letter to Baili Xunzhou and sort out her thoughts.
Sitting not far away, Fu Ciyan craned his neck, trying to see what she was writing. A glimpse of a robe with dark embroidered cloud patterns flashed before his eyes. Looking up, he saw that the same Lord Gu who had just taken him to recognize faces stood right in front of him, completely blocking his view.
Pshaw, he's not the princess's husband, why are they guarding him so closely?
Fu Ciyan gave a soft snort and slumped back into his chair.
There was a light knock on the open door, and Lu Mingzhu returned with Feng Jia and Feng Yi.
"Princess, we haven't found the traveling merchant who first spread the news that the Canglang tribe burned down the granary." Lu Mingzhu and her men searched the two nearest trading posts thoroughly, but they couldn't find a single suspicious person.
"They run fast."
They must have thoroughly familiarized themselves with the terrain beforehand. Further searching the surrounding area would be like looking for a needle in a haystack—a futile effort. We must devise a way to wait and see, letting them stumble upon us.
Feng Mian looked at Fu Ciyan thoughtfully, "Since Young Master Fu has stayed, why not do me a favor?"
As the sky began to lighten with the first hint of dawn, merchants who had been unable to sleep all night gathered under the makeshift sheds, whispering amongst themselves.
"Have you heard? We've found enough witnesses and physical evidence to prove that the Canglang tribe didn't set the fire. The princess said she'll call us to go see it at Chenshi (7-9 AM)."
"Really? They found out so quickly?"
"Could this be fabricated evidence by some random person? I don't think the Canglang tribe is any good; it must have been them!"
"Exactly, it's burned to that extent, what kind of physical evidence can be found? I think it's just a casual remark, an attempt to shut us up."
"It's genuine, absolutely true! What's your rush? If Princess Chenshi can't produce any evidence, then you can make a scene!"
"Alright, then we'll just wait and see. I'll make those bastards from the Canglang tribe pay!"
The news spread like wildfire, and in the blink of an eye, it reached the entire trading post.
A figure resembling a scavenger slowly entered a low-lying cave. Those waiting inside excitedly leaned forward to greet him, "How is it? Has the backup arrived?"
The visitor shook his head and said in a low, hoarse voice, "There's been a problem. The Dayong side has found evidence, and it needs to be dealt with."
"Impossible! We've been so careful, how could we possibly have left any evidence!" The waiting person was agitated. "The people of Dayong are cunning; could they be lying to us?"
"Whether it's true or false, we have to go and see for ourselves to be sure. Otherwise, if we leave behind evidence, all our efforts will have been in vain!" The man gritted his teeth. "Damn it! Itan, you keep watch outside. If I get caught, kill me and get out of here!"
"Agur!"
"For the glory of the true God!" Agul grasped Itan's hand, his eyes filled with the resolve to die.
With an incense stick's worth of time left until dawn, a figure took advantage of a shift change, slipped into a blind spot, and nimbly vaulted into the woodshed in the backyard. He pressed his ear against the small window on the edge and heard incessant cursing coming from inside.
"I'm a witness, not a criminal. Why equate me with evidence like this? If I hadn't seen through the Alna tribe's disguise, would you have even found this evidence?!"
A fierce glint flashed in Agur's eyes as he carefully climbed through the window. The moment he landed, a long sword was thrust across his neck.
Fu Ciyan raised his handsome eyebrows. "The small fish in the Alna tribe are really easy to catch."
Agul's eyes hardened, and he lunged forward to charge at the sword. Fu Ciyan withdrew his sword in time, turned around with a swift movement, and slammed the man down with a "smack." "You can't die now. Bear with it. You can die in an hour!"
Outside the open window, a streak of arrows flashed in the faint light reflected from the rising sun.
Itan hid atop a nearby tower that had risen into the sky, nocked an arrow, and aimed at Agul's head in the distance. He gritted his teeth, about to release the string, when a figure suddenly flipped up from below, kicked over his bow and arrow, slammed him to the ground, and wrapped his legs around his neck.
"Brother, the higher you stand, the harder you fall, have you heard that?"
At dawn, when everyone gathered again in front of the ruins of the trading post, two people disguised as members of the Alna tribe from the Canglang tribe were brought in.
The Alna tribe members would tattoo their ears with a special pigment when they reached the age of five, making it impossible to distinguish the two individuals. Furthermore, Gu Chunwen and his men followed their trail and found the hidden arson tools, thus revealing the truth.
The members of the Azure Wolf tribe proudly declared, "The arsonists were from the Alna tribe! What does this have to do with our Azure Wolf tribe!"
Merchants who had previously questioned and insulted the Canglang tribe did not need to be prompted; they stepped forward and apologized to the members of the Canglang tribe.
Chu Jingqi immediately turned the incident into a jingle, portraying the Canglang tribe as the victim and the Alna tribe as the vicious wolf sowing discord. He then paid people to spread the word.
"Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels fast. There are so many people here, and everyone's talking at once. Who knows which version of the story will end up circulating outside? What if some malicious people also try to smear the Canglang tribe? Wouldn't all our efforts to uncover the truth have been for nothing? We have to strike first and seize the market for rumors... no, for the truth!"
Along with this newly created rhyme, the exciting story of "The Alna tribe sent people to burn down the Dayong trading post in an attempt to frame the Canglang tribe, but Dayong thoroughly investigated and cleared the Canglang tribe's name" spread widely.
The second day of the trade fair was as lively as ever. Merchants from both sides discussed the matter from time to time while trading, mainly focusing on topics such as "feeling sorry for the Canglang tribe", "praising Dayong", and "denouncing the Alna tribe".
When people share a common dislike for someone, their relationship will quickly improve through a united condemnation, making the trade on that day a hundred times more harmonious than the first day.
After settling their compensation with Feng Mian, the merchants who suffered losses in the burning of the trading post rushed into the northern barbarian trading district of the border market and bought up goods in a big way. They turned all their guilt for misunderstanding the Canglang tribe into real money, and with their full harvest, they prepared to go south to sell their goods. They also promised to take this story with them so that more people would know the despicable face of the Alna tribe!
Other Northern Yi tribes that did not participate in this trade fair gradually heard about the Alna tribe's framing of the Canglang tribe. Most of the more neutral tribes were shocked. At the time of the incident, the Canglang tribe and seven other tribes were still within the territory of Dayong. If the people of Dayong really believed that the Canglang tribe had provoked the incident, these seven tribes would probably not have a good ending!
Although the Northern Barbarians split into thirty-six tribes, they were once compatriots who worshipped the same gods. If we trace back dozens of generations, they might even have the same ancestor. There were disputes among the Northern Barbarians, and the tribes fought for survival. They used such shameful means against other tribes in front of Dayong. Who knows if they would become pawns that could be sacrificed at any time if they agreed to cooperate with the Alna tribe in the future?
Several tribes abandoned their plans to cooperate with the Arna tribe in attacking Dayong. The remaining tribes also began to hesitate and waver.
The sealed letter and the military report from the outpost arrived in Baili Xunzhou's hands one after the other. He laughed so hard he almost fell over. "What does it mean to lift a rock only to drop it on your own foot? Brilliant, truly brilliant!"
Yao Zhiyuan rewarded himself by opening a box of pastries for tomorrow, saying, "The Princess has done a wonderful job with this trade market."
"Of course." Baili Xunzhou smiled and lowered his head to continue reading the letter carefully.
From the moment he received the letter, even before reading its contents, a wide smile played on his lips. It was thick and substantial, clearly containing several pages of writing, a far cry from the thin notes he usually received!
This small difference was enough to make him happy all day.
Then, as he looked at him, the corners of his mouth suddenly became straight again.
Feng Mian's letters were written like a diary. Gu Chunwen and Lu Mingzhu appeared from time to time, but these two were old acquaintances, and seeing them in the letters did not affect his temperament. So who is this Fu Ciyan who suddenly appeared?
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