"You said you caught the murderer?" Lan Linxue thought she had misheard. She shifted her body, put her arm on the table, and looked at Jiang Ming with a puzzled expression.
"Yes! Your subordinate has caught the murderer!" Jiang Ming said decisively.
Lan Linxue found it increasingly interesting. He was eating peacefully, and Qin Kou'er was standing unharmed behind him, while the person kneeling on the ground claimed to have found the murderer. Could it be that Qin Kou'er hadn't done her job properly, giving him leverage over her?
As Lan Linxue considered this possibility, her eyes slowly darkened. "Who is the murderer?"
"It's a group of ruthless bandits in Baiyang Mountain outside Yangzhou! My men have already been deployed to capture them immediately!"
Lan Linxue immediately felt relieved, but Qin Kou'er frowned. However, in the blink of an eye, she understood the reason.
She sent people to frame Hu Feifan, pinning Shi Mengjian's death on him. Jiang Ming must have discovered this as well, and of course, he couldn't let the blame fall on the Grand Secretary's eldest grandson. So, he fabricated a group of bandits to take the blame, thus ending the matter once and for all, allowing everyone to continue living their lives.
"Oh, so they were bandits!" Lan Linxue nodded knowingly, staring at her hands as if polishing some rare treasure, but said nonchalantly, "A bunch of bandits actually managed to kill a fourth-rank official of the imperial court? And they even burned and blew up the headquarters of Yangzhou's richest man to pieces. Isn't that right, Pavilion Master Qin!"
Qin Kou'er quickly bowed, "Yes! Qin Tian Pavilion did indeed suffer some losses yesterday!"
Lan Linxue looked at Jiang Ming, who was trembling slightly on the ground, with a mocking gaze, her eyes as cold as ice. "Jiang Ming, is Yangzhou a bandit's den? A bandit who can do such a big thing in one night, is he still a bandit? He's a rebel! A rebel has appeared in your territory of Liangjiang, and you dare to hide it?! You're tired of living! Or..."
Lan Linxue paused for a moment, and Jiang Ming trembled even more violently.
"Or do you think I, the Crown Prince, am a fool, someone you can manipulate at will? Jiang Ming, do you really think you're some kind of high-ranking official, the Governor-General of Liangjiang, a first-rank official? That I can't touch you without the Emperor's decree? Let me tell you, if I kill you now, the Emperor won't even ask a single question, believe it or not?"
"I believe you! I believe you! Your Highness's discerning judgment is far beyond what we subordinates can match! Yangzhou is surrounded by mountains and dense forests. Although there are a few bandits, there are absolutely no rebels! Moreover, Your Highness is wise enough to have discovered any connection between the fire in this alley and the bombing of Qin Tiange's headquarters. I suppose I have overlooked something. If Your Highness has any leads, please inform me so that I can immediately capture the ringleader!"
Lan Linxue's hand on the table clenched tightly in an instant. "So, according to you, two groups of people committed crimes in Yangzhou last night, right?"
"This humble servant is foolish, but that's how it seems!"
Jiang Ming was definitely not stupid; he absolutely could not allow these two things to become one. Just now, when their men went back in to thoroughly clean up the fire scene, they discovered several corpses in the backyard. After having them identified by someone, the men in blue uniforms were clearly Hu Feifan's subordinates.
More importantly, each person had a piece of skin cut off their arm—the very spot where the Hu family had left the white ape tattoo. He had secretly had someone scrape the bone, and the white ape tattoo had actually seeped into the bone; it was clearly visible no matter how you looked at it. Didn't this mean that Hu Feifan was the one who killed someone last night?
Now that Hu Feifan has disappeared, he needs to be even more cautious. He must immediately distance himself from anything that could involve Hu Feifan. Under no circumstances can he allow this person to get into trouble on his territory.
Lan Linxue stared intently at Jiang Ming for a long while, then suddenly relaxed, leaning back lazily in her chair with a wicked smile, and said, "This matter seems incredibly complicated. Lord Jiang, you'd better not try to stir things up in front of me. I get a terrible headache whenever I think. Besides, I'm just here to observe the people's conditions; your matter is beyond my jurisdiction. You'd better hurry up and report what needs to be reported and keep the records as required. With such a big incident involving the Jiangnan Salt Transport Commissioner, it won't be easy for you to cover up everything yourself!"
"Your subordinate would absolutely not dare! Before coming here, I had already sent the memorial to the Emperor by express courier, traveling six hundred li. I expect the Emperor will issue an edict in the next few days! I..."
"Alright! This is so annoying! Get out, get out! I still need to eat!" Lan Linxue didn't wait for him to finish speaking and waved her hand to kick Jiang Ming out.
"You all get out!" Lan Linxue glanced at the people around her with annoyance. "I can't eat just looking at your faces! Qin Kou'er stays to serve, the rest of you get out!"
"yes!"
The group of people scrambled to their feet, backed out, and gently closed the door behind them.
Seeing that everyone had left, Lan Linxue immediately perked up, patted the seat next to her, and looked at Qin Kou'er with a smile: "Sit down! Have dinner with me!"
Qin Kou'er sighed inwardly, but she didn't stand on ceremony. She walked to a chair and sat down, picked up a bowl, handed it to Lan Linxue, and pointed to the crab roe soup in the distance, "Give me a bowl!"
Lan Linxue glanced down at the bowl in front of her, somewhat bewildered, then pointed to herself and said, "You asked the Crown Prince to serve you rice?"
Qin Kou'er looked at him with a particularly serious expression: "I haven't eaten or drunk anything all day because I've been taking care of you. What, do you want Yan Nuo to keep you company tomorrow?"
As soon as Lan Linxue thought of Jun Yannuo, she immediately took the bowl and obediently went to serve Qin Kou'er crab roe soup!
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