Chapter 918 The Grudge Between Father and Daughter
Just as Yuwen Ye had said before, from the day after the Lantern Festival, the entire city of Chang'an became restless.
The Left Guard began a massive search of the city, leaving no place untouched by their carpet search of every market and every road. Yet, even so, the assassins who had ambushed Pei Xingyuan and then vanished without a trace remained at large.
Of course, they also captured the restaurant owner and staff where the assassins were hiding.
The restaurant owner was terrified by what had happened that morning, especially the fact that the people who rushed out of his restaurant had actually fought with the imperial officials. He was so frightened that he confessed everything without being tortured after being arrested. Unfortunately, he knew very little about it. After all, half the city had been out and about on the main street the night before, and his restaurant was located on the busiest part of the street, with hundreds, if not thousands, of people coming and going. How could he possibly remember everything so clearly?
At the end of the interrogation, he could only vaguely recall that all these people had been drinking and spending the night in the private room.
But it wasn't until after the incident that they checked the private rooms and found that the food and drinks that the people had ordered beforehand were almost untouched. It seemed that they had planned to stay there all night, waiting for the carriage carrying Pei Xingyuan to pass by.
This, in turn, creates new problems.
These people stayed in the restaurant all night, and they didn't even wear masks when they came out. They clearly didn't care if others saw their faces. Aren't they afraid of being recognized in the future?
The answer to this question was quickly obtained.
After several days, when no clues could be found in the city, the Left Guard began searching the area outside the city. Soon, they found several corpses in a ravine on the outskirts of the city. Fortunately, the weather was cold and the corpses did not decompose. The restaurant owner and the guards escorting the body went over to identify them and found that they were the assassins who had rushed out of the restaurant and attacked them that day.
These people had obviously fled the city after the attack that day and were silenced here.
He had initially hoped for good news from the Duke of Wushan, but after several days of pursuit, he returned dejectedly to report back, having found no trace of Jiang Yan and Liang Youying along the way. After all, in the midst of war and chaos, finding two people skilled in martial arts who were willing to hide was harder than climbing to heaven.
The case has once again reached a dead end.
Yuwen Yuan flew into a rage, berated the men of the Left Guard, severely punished all the guards escorting Pei Xingyuan, and even punished the restaurant owner and his staff with beatings. The Duke of Wushan was fined a year's salary.
After accepting his punishment, Yu Dingxing endured his anger, the intermittent pain from his half-blind eye, and the exhaustion from days of being jostled on horseback, before returning home. A maidservant hurriedly brought him a cup of hot tea, which he took, drank a sip, and immediately slammed to the ground, roaring, "It's so hot! Are you trying to burn me to death?!"
The maid was so frightened that she hurriedly knelt down on the ground. Before she could even beg for mercy, Yu Dingxing roared in uncontrollable rage, "Drag her away and beat her!"
The maid cried and kowtowed repeatedly, "Master, Master, spare my life, spare my life..."
Just then, someone came from outside to announce: "The Crown Princess has arrived!"
Normally, Yu Dingxing would have rushed out with his servants to greet her, but this time, he sat motionless in the hall, watching the maid kneeling at his feet, crying and begging for mercy, his ferocious face filled with a cold expression; his servants hurriedly went out to greet her, and soon, they saw Crown Princess Yu Mingyue walking in from outside.
It wasn't until she entered the hall that Yu Dingxing raised his eyelids and said coldly, "The Crown Princess has arrived. Please forgive this old minister for being unwell and unable to greet you from afar."
Yu Mingyue frowned.
These past few days have been incredibly difficult for her. Ever since Yuwen Qian returned and questioned her, although she denied everything and Yuwen Qian didn't do anything to her, his cold attitude was undeniable. Everyone in the Crown Prince's residence was opportunistic, completely following Lou Liangdi's lead. She regretted it terribly. Why had she acted impulsively and sabotaged the case? If she had known someone would intercept Pei Xingyuan and prevent the case from proceeding, why had they even taken action in the first place?
Now, Yuwen Qian doesn't trust her, and even the emperor doubts them.
This time, sending Yu Dingxing out of the city with his injuries to pursue Jiang Yan and Liang Youying was ostensibly an official mission, but it was actually a form of punishment. Everyone knows that the world is in chaos, and people are like flowing water. Especially since those two are traitors from Wanggang Village, if they really reach Dongdu, it will be a battle between two armies. How could they possibly be found?
As expected, Yu Dingxing suffered for several days and was even fined. Although it was a minor punishment to serve as a warning, it was still a clear slap in the face.
Yu Mingyue returned to the Yu residence with a belly full of frustration, wanting to discuss it with Yu Dingxing. However, upon entering, she saw a maid kneeling on the ground, crying with tears streaming down her face. She immediately felt annoyed: "What's going on?"
As they were talking, they saw the broken teacup on the ground.
He immediately said, "Why aren't you dragging it away yet!"
As soon as she spoke, the servants dared not delay. The steward immediately brought in two servants and dragged the maid out of the hall. A moment later, a shrill scream came from afar outside the second gate. The steward hurriedly ordered someone to close the gate, thus shutting out the scream.
At this moment, Yu Mingyue slowly sat down, looking at Yu Dingxing's still somewhat ashen face, and tentatively asked, "Father, these past few days—"
Yu Dingxing said coldly, "Thanks to the Crown Princess, I haven't been worked to death yet."
Yu Mingyue immediately said, "Father, I don't understand what you mean. It was the Emperor who sent you to hunt down those two traitors. Even if it's tiring, it's for the good of the court."
Yu Dingxing gritted his teeth and said, "Yes, to serve the imperial court."
"..."
"But in the past, the imperial court never allowed wounded soldiers to go out on official business."
Yu Mingyue's throat tightened, and she let out a heavy breath, saying, "There's nothing we can do about this."
Yu Dingxing sneered, "No way? The Crown Princess was very resourceful back then. She had me interrogate everyone in a village outside the city, and as a result, she released Su Qinglan, replacing Du Ruoming, whom you yourselves had put forward. The Princess Consort of Qin and the eldest grandson of the Emperor are still alive and kicking. Now that Pei Xingyuan is missing, the Emperor has turned his attention to me."
A cold glint flashed in Yu Mingyue's eyes when this was mentioned.
She sat there in silence for a long time before finally raising her head and speaking softly, her voice barely audible: "Does Father know who the person who ambushed Pei Xingyuan was?"
Upon hearing this, Yu Dingxing was stunned.
The next moment, his eyes suddenly turned bloodshot with rage: "What does the Crown Princess mean by that?!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com