Evicted on the spot
In an instant, the image of the foreign woman in white gauze who had passed by her in the corridor flashed through her mind.
Chu Huaiming took another step forward, making room for the person behind him.
The sun shone brightly, and Chu Mao, whose face was thin and withered and who was usually calm and composed, now seemed to have a burning flame in his eyes as he carried Hu Miaorong's still warm body out of the house.
Although Hu Miaorong's face had become rough from the hardships of the frontier, her beautiful, serene features were still discernible. At the corner of her lips, a trickle of blood was dripping onto the ground.
"Tick-tock".
A Qiu unconsciously stepped back, only to bump into Gu Yi's arms. His tall and imposing figure stood behind her, like an unchanging mountain, giving her strength and clarity.
She steadied herself, knowing that the other party recognized her as Gu Yi's successor from the Carved Moon Sword, and immediately explained, "I am the successor of the Junior Master, but I am also a junior member of Madam Chu's Music Academy. My master's wife, Sun, once studied with Madam Chu in the dance troupe. I did not enter the room just now."
She couldn't help but feel fortunate that Gu Yi had pulled her back earlier, preventing her from barging in before Chu Huaiming and Chu Mao discovered the body. Otherwise, even if she could explain things clearly, it would have been a very complicated process.
The two of them stood in the courtyard the whole time and did not go inside, which was witnessed by all the servants.
Chu Mao's eyes flickered; he had clearly recognized A Qiu from her appearance. After the performance of the dance "White Silk" in front of the palace, A Qiu, as the chief disciple of the Music Bureau, had been kept behind by Lady Sun to sit and talk with Hu Miaorong. He had some recollection of that.
Despite the devastation he had endured, he still managed to look up at what was behind A-Qiu and ask in a deep voice, "And who is this?"
With the tragic upheaval in the Shuofang army, everyone was a suspect. If Gu Yi continued to conceal his identity, it would be a lack of sincerity. He raised his hand to remove his veil, nodded slightly, and said, "I am Gu Yi."
Hu Miaorong's body lay in state in the main hall of the Beining Hall, covered with a white cloth.
Although her death was sudden, her face remained as if she had lived, with a faint smile on her lips, peaceful and serene. The trace of blood that had flowed from the poison had been wiped clean.
A Qiu stood behind Gu Yi, her emotions surging, a complex feeling that was hard to describe.
As the chief assassin, she had taken countless lives with her blade used to assassinate the Qin emperor. The Lanling Hall, however, had always held a very detached view of life and death.
"Amidst the vast changes of nature, there is neither joy nor fear."
Death can be heavier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather. What we should pursue in life is not immortality, but rather the ultimate limits that we, as human beings, can reach.
The assassin, who snatches a life in an instant, should aspire to a state of being like a wild goose, gliding across the vast white earth without leaving a trace.
This is the "way of life and death" she gleaned from the sharpest edge of a blade.
But when she saw Chu Mao's blank, unconvinced gaze, and Chu Huaiming's heart-wrenching wailing before the coffin, she would recall Hu Miaorong, a middle-aged woman, with a simple yet proud smile at the palace banquet.
Unlike Sun Neiren's life dedicated to the music bureau and Xue Hongbi's pampered life in the Pei family, Hu Miaorong was pushed by fate to the border, but found the simplest and most fulfilling ending for an ordinary woman.
Her existence was inextricably linked to these people, and therefore her death caused the living immense pain.
There is no superiority or inferiority among them; it is just that this is the first time that A Qiu has experienced the pain of life and death separation between husband and wife, mother and child.
As a junior member of the Yuefu school and a junior of Hu Miaorong, A Qiu also burned three sticks of incense before the spirit tablet.
As the delicate fragrance drifted into the air, A Qiu thought to herself, "Madam Chu, even just for the sake of our friendship as fellow disciples of the Music Academy, A Qiu will definitely find out your enemy and avenge you."
Gu Yi's identity was too prominent, so he only let Chu Mao and a few others know about it and did not reveal his identity in public on this occasion, otherwise the nature of the matter would have escalated.
After A Qiu bowed, Chu Mao, suppressing his grief, went straight to the point: "Miao Rong died from poisoning, but whether she was forced to take the poison or did so herself is currently unknown. May I ask, Miss A Qiu and your esteemed master, why have you come to our door at this particular time?"
The fact that A Qiu had been accepted as a disciple by Gu Yi was now common knowledge. Gu Yi did not want to reveal his identity in front of everyone, so after clearing himself of suspicion, he still covered his face with a veil and addressed Chu Mao as "Respected Master" instead of "Young Master" in front of everyone.
A Qiu glanced around, and Chu Mao immediately understood her meaning. He said to Chu Huaiming, "Huaiming, you take the others down."
After Chu Huaiming led the others out of the mourning hall, A Qiu said, "To be honest, I came here to ask about Madam. Madam was given to General Li Mingyuan as a dancer accompanying the army, so she must know something about the general's family affairs."
Before Chu Mao could react or deny it, she said, "I have recently heard that the Marquis of Guannei grew up among the Xianbei people and has half Xianbei blood. Is this true?"
She bombarded him with questions one after another, trying to elicit Chu Mao's true reaction.
Hu Miaorong is no longer here, so asking Zhu Mao is the same. She hadn't considered Zhu Mao as a suitable person to question before, firstly because they had no prior relationship and it would be far-fetched, and secondly because Zhu Mao, as a military advisor in the vanguard battalion, was bound to be loyal to Li Chongyu and wouldn't be someone who could be easily coaxed out of information.
But the situation has changed now. Chu Mao is in a moment of grief and can no longer be as meticulous and vigilant as before.
She stared intently at Chu Mao.
Chu Mao was initially shocked, but then immediately denied it, saying, "These are all nonsense. The mother of the Marquis of Guannei and the wife of General Li Mingyuan were daughters of a noble family in Youzhou. The Marquis of Guannei grew up in his maternal family. You can find out these things by asking around in the area."
A-Qiu calmly said, "Sir, can you swear on your life that everything you have said is true?"
Chu Mao flew into a rage and shouted, "Why should I swear an oath with my life to a southerner like you?"
He looked again at Gu Yi, whose face was hidden behind a veil, and suppressed his anger, saying, "My wife has just passed away and has not yet found peace, yet you have come to my door, subtly inquiring and slandering the Marquis of Guannei with every word, coercing me to give unfavorable testimony. You are truly skilled! It seems that the rumors I heard in the market a few days ago are probably seven or eight parts true!"
Even though A-Qiu knew what he meant, he still asked, "What rumors have you heard, Military Advisor?"
Chu Mao said, word by word, "It refers to the state gift of the previous Marquis of Guannei, which was abandoned in a pigsty and left to wander the streets." He coldly raised his eyes and stared at A Qiu, saying, "The Shuofang Army wouldn't be so petty as to find fault with one or two items from the previous dynasty, but this matter has been widely discussed and spread throughout the capital in just a few days. It's a blatant slap in the face to the Marquis of Guannei, and also to the Shuofang Army! Instead of spreading rumors about the Marquis of Guannei's lineage, you should think about how to give us an explanation!"
Before A Qiu could react, he called out, "Show them out!" and turned to go into the inner room, clearly indicating that he was asking them to leave.
For a soldier in the vanguard battalion to dare to stand up to Gu Yi, who was second only to the emperor in the Southern Dynasty, shows that he is incredibly tough.
Chu Huaiming entered upon hearing the noise, but his expression was not pleasant either.
Having entered the capital with only three thousand soldiers, every member of this army was prepared for no return and had no fear of death. Yet, when Hu Miaorong died mysteriously at the Beining Pavilion, A Qiu and Gu Yi came to inquire about Li Chongyu's secret background. Even A Qiu herself would find it difficult to give such behavior a pleasant look.
Chu Huaiming led his soldiers to escort A Qiu and Gu Yi out of the Beining Pavilion, remaining silent and expressionless the entire way. It was less a courteous farewell and more an escort, as he wanted to ensure they were completely gone before he felt at ease.
A Qiu broke the awkward silence, saying, "Young Master Huaiming, judging from Uncle Hu's remains, she was most likely coerced into sacrificing her life for your and your father's safety. Don't you want to find out who forced her?"
She deduced that Hu Miaorong had taken the poison herself, because if someone had forced her to take the poison, there would definitely be signs of struggle and injury on her face.
Hu Miaorong's expression was serene, knowing that once the secret was buried with her, there would be no future trouble. Besides Chu Mao and his son, who else in this world did she care about? And besides their lives, what greater thing could make her decide to abandon them and go to the Yellow Springs alone?
An assassin cannot be ignorant of human nature. It's just that in the past, A-Qiu only used his knowledge of human nature to plan sure-kill schemes.
Chu Huaiming's body trembled violently, and he looked at A Qiu with a pale face.
He was a filial son, and nothing could have terrified him more than his mother, who had been perfectly fine just moments before, collapsing and dying in her usual house.
Upon learning that his mother most likely died protecting him and his father, she was even more determined to deliver a heavy blow to his heart.
Seeing his expression, A Qiu knew that her goal had been achieved, so she stopped provoking him and said gently, "In Jianzhang City, I'm afraid there aren't many people who can do better than my master. If you need anything, just send a message to Jinlingtai."
He then said, "Whether you and your father believe it or not, there is no one in the world more eager to cooperate with the Marquis of Guannei than my master. My master's position is already unassailable. Do you really think he would want to replace the Marquis of Guannei?"
Even if Li Chongyu were successfully eliminated, the Shuofang Army, having been based in the northern border for many years, would at most be fragmented and scattered, and would absolutely not obey the command of the Southerner Gu Yi. Moreover, losing this powerful army that blocked the various Hu tribes would only be a bad thing, not a good thing, for Gu Yi's Southern Dynasty, which had only been established for ten years.
In fact, in terms of age, A Qiu was only two or three years older than Chu Huaiming. At this moment, Chu Huaiming looked at A Qiu with a mixture of surprise and doubt.
When he first met her, his only impression was that she was the lead dancer of the White Silk Dancers. Later, he vaguely heard that the Junior Tutor Gu Yi had taken a female musician from the Music Bureau as his disciple.
Gu Yi was a master of qin music in his time and also served as the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. His willingness to teach someone with exceptional talent, though seemingly abrupt, was not hard to understand. After all, everyone knew that Gu Yi's political ideal was to govern the country with rites and music and to improve the morals of the world.
But he never expected that the unique talent of this "young master's successor" seemed to lie not primarily in music.
In just a few words, she pointed out the key to the current situation.
This was something that even Chu Huaiming, who had always been in the military and had a basic understanding of military affairs under his father's tutelage, had never expected.
Seeing his expression, A Qiu knew that she had achieved the desired effect. She gave him a graceful bow and then left with Gu Yi.
Only Chu Huaiming remained, watching the two figures disappear into the distance, his mind undecided.
After the two left Beining Pavilion, A Qiu finally let out a long sigh of relief.
But all that could be seen by the roadside was a lean horse in the west wind, and the weeping willows were all withered and yellow, a scene of the setting sun.
Gu Yi followed her for a few steps, then suddenly said, "Although you are the master of the Divine Weapon Hall, you seem to have mastered the teachings of both the One-Word Hall and the Punishment Wind Hall."
She possesses almost all the persuasive eloquence of Gongyi Xiu and the ruthless cunning of Moyi Mingyue.
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