Someone died, and the incident quickly evolved from a scandal into a murder case.
Jiang Xu worked in the Dali Temple and was also the deceased's superior, so he could only handle the case on the spot.
The guests were sent back to the banquet place to wait. Yang Qing's body was carried away, and Zhao Shen also put on his clothes and waited for questioning.
In the reception hall, because Madam Zhao and Zhao Lian had both fainted, Xue Hanshu was the only female host who could take charge. Even if she collapsed, she could only sit here and accompany the female guests.
She just sat there stiffly, like a walking corpse, with no life in her eyes. The makeup on her face was mottled by the tears of fear. She looked extremely embarrassed, and had long lost the calmness and composure she had not long ago.
Many ladies and young ladies around her were comforting her softly out of sympathy.
After a long time, she slowly came back to her senses, and her gaze attacked Xue Zhiyi like a sword.
Seeing Xue Zhiyi sitting there unharmed, Xue Hanshu was filled with hatred: she had been jealous of Xue Zhiyi since she was a child. The favors Xue Zhiyi showed her were like charity to her. Xue Zhiyi had been granted marriage to a prince before he even reached the age of marriage, while she had to sacrifice her dignity to secure a high-ranking marriage. But why now… why was she already married into a high-ranking marriage, while Xue Zhiyi couldn't marry a prince anymore? Her status was already higher than Xue Zhiyi's, yet she still lived worse than him? Why couldn't she defeat Xue Zhiyi no matter what she did?
But Xue Zhiyi just met her gaze leisurely.
Could Xue Hanshu have thought that her pain and humiliation were limited to this? She had probably thought too highly of Xue Zhiyi.
Today, she dared to come to the Yongping Marquis Mansion, not because she was unaware of the risks involved, but because she needed to take the risk to do something, and she needed to personally stab back the knife that Xue Hanshu stabbed at her.
Two hours passed like this, and no one knew what had been concluded during the interrogation. The guests waited until dusk before someone opened the door of the reception hall.
The person in the lead was still wearing the same red dress he wore when he attended the banquet today, with a red headband studded with jade ornaments on his head. He looked casual and flamboyant, but his expression was unusually serious.
It was Huo Wuyou.
He placed one hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist, and with the other hand he weighed the token. He raised it and said to the crowd, "Your Majesty has issued an order: All guests at today's birthday banquet are to leave on their own accord. The Yongping Marquis's residence is under martial law, and no one in the Zhao family is allowed to leave, pending investigation."
When these words were spoken, everyone was stunned: Even though Yang Qing was dead, how could it have come to the point where His Majesty had to personally order him to be confined to his home?
Xue Hanshu's face turned pale for a moment. She shook her head, "Impossible... Impossible! How could His Majesty impose martial law on the Yongping Marquis's Mansion for no reason?"
Her voice went from mumbling to becoming louder and louder until it turned into a scream, no longer showing the gentle and reserved demeanor she once had. With bloodshot eyes, she stood up and pointed at Huo Wuyou, angrily cursing, "This is impossible! Marquis Lin'an, you're forging the imperial edict!"
Huo Wuyou, however, showed no sign of turmoil at her outburst, nor did he display the arrogance of a triumphant villain. He simply stated the facts slowly, "Yang Qing died of a stroke while on horseback due to an affair with Zhao Shen. Your Majesty need not trouble you with such matters. However, several letters written in the Northern Di language were found hidden within Yang Qing's underwear. This constitutes a serious crime of treason. Not only will the Zhao residence be sealed, but the Yang residence will also be closed for investigation. Madam Third Young Master, please do not disobey your orders."
For a moment, Xue Hanshu seemed to have lost her breath and she just sat down stiffly. Her red eyes looked at Xue Zhiyi in disbelief, like a puppet, and then at Huo Wuyou, her gaze wandering between the two.
She understood...she understood everything!
Xue Hanshu laughed uncontrollably, and everyone got goose bumps without knowing why. They just thought she had gone crazy from the continuous stimulation.
But Xue Hanshu was more clear-headed than anyone else at this moment. She knew clearly that her plan had already been figured out by Xue Zhiyi and Lin'an Hou!
She had long known that her husband and father-in-law were Prince Gong's men on the surface, but were actually helping Prince Cheng in secret. Now that Jiang Xu had betrayed Prince Cheng, in order to prevent him from exposing the Zhao family, Jiang Xu, this scourge, had to be eliminated.
The Yongping Marquisate and the Northern Di had private dealings, and Yang Qing was a spy planted by the Northern Di in Dayong. Everything they did today was to use Yang Qing's life in exchange for Jiang Xu's life.
As long as Xue Zhiyi and Yang Qing's affair was discovered and Yang Qing died, Xue Zhiyi would have no room for rebuttal, and the news that Yang Qing was a spy for the Northern Di would be released. Once verified, the Jiang family would inevitably be implicated. Once the Jiang family was searched, someone would find the "Mountain Tour". Between the painting and the mounting paper, there was a letter as thin as a cicada's wing. The text would appear after being soaked in water, and the fact that the Jiang family was collaborating with the enemy would be confirmed!
But I didn't expect that they had already discovered it, and even used a trick to replace Xue Zhiyi with Zhao Shen today, and even returned the letters...
Xue Hanshu laughed so hard she collapsed, the veins on her forehead bulging. In the end, what she thought was a brilliant scheme was nothing more than a clumsy performance in Xue Zhiyi's eyes! Why... why was it like this! Why couldn't she just win against Xue Zhiyi just once, even by half a step?
She overturned all the cups and plates on the table, and the porcelain bowl fell to the ground and broke into several sharp pieces. Xue Hanshu picked up a piece tremblingly, and was about to stab Xue Zhiyi like a madman, but Huo Wuyou hit her knee with the scabbard of his sword, making her fall to her knees on the ground. The porcelain piece pierced her palm, and her hand was covered with blood.
The men from the Cavalry Battalion stepped forward and arrested Xue Hanshu, and also dismissed all the guests.
Xue Zhiyi looked indifferently at the struggling Xue Hanshu. It wasn't that Xue Zhiyi hadn't been sincere towards this fourth sister. When they saw her being bullied by Xue Panrou as a child, had Xue Zhiyi not always sincerely protected her? Before today, Xue Zhiyi had never intended to force her to a dead end. It was she who had been pestering him endlessly. Since that was the case, he would accept the defeat.
Jiang Xu rushed over against the flow of people at this moment: "Awan, are you okay?"
Hearing this, Xue Zhiyi's expression relaxed slightly, and he smiled slowly: "It's okay, thank you for your concern, brother."
Jiang Xu was not unaware of the relationship between his sister and the Third Young Master's wife. He placed Xue Zhiyi behind him and looked at Xue Hanshu, who was like a mad dog, with caution and disgust.
There are only a few members of the Xue family left in the world, but they still want to kill Awan. I really don't know how Awan survived in that den of tigers and wolves.
…
This matter did not take too long to be investigated, because both Yang Qing and Zhao Xu had indeed collaborated with the enemy. It had not been investigated before, but now that it was investigated, the evidence was extremely conclusive.
Digging deeper, it was found that the 100,000-strong Huo family army fell at Yueling Pass because Zhao Xu colluded with the enemy, set a trap, and joined forces with the Northern Di to kill the soldiers of Dayong. His only purpose was to gain military merit in this battle.
For a moment, the government and the public were shocked.
If it were an ordinary day, the story of Zhao Shen having an affair with a man and the adulterer dying of a stroke while riding a horse would be written into a play and sung for years, but now no one has the time to mention it.
When the Yongping Marquis was imprisoned and his house was searched, it took three days to empty out the Zhao family, who had accumulated wealth for a hundred years. It was a spectacular sight.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
