In Prince Ping's mansion, Chai Shijing patiently sent away Li Xi who came to visit him suddenly.
By the time he and Kang Yueran arrived at Duke Lu's mansion, all the people there had already been slaughtered.
Duke Lu, wounded in many places, still wielded his red tasseled spear with impressive force. Behind him, Gao tightly embraced Wan Hui, both trembling with fear.
The fake Kang Yueran seemed to have watched enough of the cat and mouse game. He set up the crossbow and fired two arrows in rapid succession, killing Gao and Wan Hui.
The last bit of blood was gone, and Duke Lu's eyes were bloodshot. He cursed loudly: "Chai Long, you ungrateful villain, you tyrant!"
The fake Kang Yueran pretended not to hear and shot an arrow into Duke Lu's chest. Duke Lu fell to the ground, and when he was about to shoot again, Kang Yueran rushed in.
Kang Yueran also used a crossbow and shot an arrow at the fake Kang Yueran. "Who the hell are you? How dare you pretend to be me?" Then he shot three arrows in succession.
The men in black didn't expect Kang Yueran and Chai Shijing to come, so they started fighting with them. Chai Shijing blocked them from the front, preventing the men in black from getting close to Kang Yueran, and Kang Yueran shot the men in black with a crossbow.
There were not many men in black left, and after more than a quarter of an hour, tonight's assassination was finally over.
At this time, the only people alive besides Kang Yueran and Chai Shijing was the dying Duke Lu.
Chai Shijing walked up to Duke Lu and looked down at him condescendingly.
Duke Lu fell to the ground and laughed at himself, "I never thought that you would be the ones who saved my life in the end."
"I'm not trying to save you. I just don't want to be...used."
"It seems that you have guessed it. It was the emperor... who was behind this." After he said that, he took a few deep breaths and knew that he was dying.
He continued, "Prince Ping, since you saved my life, I'll tell you a secret. The next person the Emperor wants to kill will definitely be you. He wants to avenge Nie Qiu'er."
Chai Shijing had someone investigate Nie Qiu'er's identity. "I was still a child when Nie Qiu'er died. What did her death have to do with me? Why did she seek revenge on me?"
"Because, it was me who murdered Nie Qiu'er... I was the one who orchestrated it, and it was... Lin Dong who did it."
This answer was unexpected yet reasonable. Chai Shijing was speechless.
Duke Lu's eyes were empty. "After decades of scheming and humiliating myself, I still failed..."
Kang Yueran sniffed Duke Lu's breath and said, "He's dead!"
She and Chai Shijing looked at each other. Even though their enemy was dead, neither of them could be happy.
Chai Shijing collected his scattered thoughts and said, "The arrow wound on Duke Lu's body is difficult to hide. Why not set it on fire? Although it still can't hide the cause of death, it will make it difficult to tell who is who."
Kang Yueran waved her hand and said, "No need to burn it. It's enough to just hide Duke Lu's family and the person who pretended to be me."
"Yueran, don't underestimate His Majesty's methods. No matter how secretly we hide, it will be difficult for us not to be discovered. Once we are discovered, we will be in great trouble."
"It's okay. My master lent me his treasure bag temporarily. It can hold not only things but also these people. No one can find them." She didn't want to hide the fact that she had a space from Chai Shijing for the rest of her life. It would be better for her to let him know gradually.
Chai Shijing frowned and asked in confusion, "What kind of treasure bag is this? It can even hold people?"
Kang Yueran put her hand on Duke Lu, and Duke Lu immediately disappeared.
Chai Shijing rubbed his eyes, doubting that he had seen it wrongly. "What...what's going on?"
"It's my master's magic weapon. I'll explain it to you when I get back. Let's get to work first. If we're any later, the Yulin Army will be here."
After collecting all the people, Kang Yueran took Chai Shijing's hand and said, "Ajing, I still want to make a fortune." Duke Lu's mansion must be very rich. Instead of letting Emperor Jianning get it for free, it would be better to let her take it away.
"Make a fortune? How? Do you want to take all the gold and silver in this mansion away?"
Kang Yueran blinked, "A Jing, you are so smart!"
When Kang Yueran entered the storehouse of Duke Lu's mansion, she stretched out her hand and all the gold, silver and treasures disappeared.
Wang Jian and the Yulin Army quickly arrived at Duke Lu's mansion. Also arriving was Lei Ying, who pretended to meet them by chance on the way.
Seeing the black-clad figure and the servant's corpse at the door, Wang Jian was surprised and angry. The capital had been turbulent this year; even the mansion of a first-rank duke had been broken into by thieves. He glanced furtively at Lei Ying, debating whether to offer an explanation.
Lei Ying's focus was not on Wang Jian at all. He followed the corpse all the way to Duke Lu's study.
This courtyard had the most corpses and the most obvious signs of fighting. Lei Ying searched around but found neither Duke Lu nor the person pretending to be Kang Yueran.
He suddenly had a bad feeling and said to Wang Jian, "Commander Wang, please take someone to look for Duke Lu." He then pulled off a token from his waist and handed it to a Yulin soldier, saying, "Go to the garrison and ask Zhao Guang to bring two thousand imperial guards to help."
Duke Lu’s mansion covers a very large area, and even after searching until noon the next day, Duke Lu’s family was still not found.
Zhao Guang was Lei Ying's confidant. He said, "Commander-in-Chief, if Duke Lu is still alive, he will definitely find a way to escape the capital. I have arranged for our people to guard the city gates. He is carrying women, children, and a large amount of gold and silver. It is impossible for him to leave the city quietly."
"I always feel something is wrong. Duke Lu doesn't have much affection for his wife, Gao, so why would he take her out of the city? Also, if they were going to flee to the ends of the earth, it would be understandable for him to take some gold and silver jewelry with him, but why would he take everything in the warehouse with him?"
They had spies in Duke Lu's mansion, and they knew that although Duke Lu had already packed his belongings, he hadn't moved any of the gold and silver. "This is indeed strange. Commander-in-Chief, what should we do next? Without Duke Lu's body, we can't prove anything..."
"I've thought about it and I think Duke Lu is most likely still hiding somewhere in the palace. I'll return to the palace to report to His Majesty. You lead your men to continue the search. Even if you have to dig three feet underground, you must find Duke Lu for me."
Zhao Guang agreed and continued searching with his men.
Lei Ying went to the palace and recounted the events of Duke Lu's mansion. Finally, he kowtowed heavily and said, "I am incompetent and have failed Your Majesty's trust. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
Emperor Jianning hadn't anticipated this outcome. Without a victim and no evidence, he couldn't bring Chai Shijing to justice. "They're all gone? Lei Ying, tell me, did Duke Lu hide himself? Or did Prince Ping hide Duke Lu?"
"According to the spies from Prince Ping's mansion, no one left the mansion last night. When I arrived at Duke Lu's mansion, the man in black had just died. I'm afraid Prince Ping didn't have time to take Duke Lu and his family away. I believe Duke Lu hid himself."
If Duke Lu had been hiding himself and hadn't shown up during the Imperial Guards' search, he must have known that the black-clad man's true owner was him, not Chai Shijing. "Lei Ying, send more men. We must find Duke Lu and his family as soon as possible. We must find them alive or dead."
"Yes! Then what about the Duke of Dunning..."
"That idiot doesn't need to worry too much. Once Duke Lu's matter is settled, it won't be too late to send someone to kill him."
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