"A flawless deduction."
Madam Du, surprisingly, clapped her hands with a leisurely air. Unlike Xiao Fengque's frivolous and lively gesture, Madam Du's clapping was very solemn and composed, as if she were paying tribute to a worthy opponent.
"May I ask how I gave myself away?" Madam Du asked, glancing sideways.
Xiao Fengque reached into his robes and took out a sachet. Upon seeing the sachet, Madam Du's expression changed slightly.
It has a scrolling floral pattern, a blue and white background, and is made of fine, milky silk. It's exactly the same as the one from earlier in the day. It just looks very old; it's been around for a long time.
"Many years ago, Tianjuan slaughtered my entire family, leaving behind this sachet."
Xiao Fengque lowered his eyes, his expression neither sad nor happy.
“Its texture, its feel, its scent, every single detail is etched into my mind,” Xiao Fengque said coldly. “The moment I saw the sachet you made, I knew it was fake.”
The topic was too heavy, and everyone in the room fell silent for a moment.
"At that moment, I knew that there was no Tianjuan from the beginning, only a few imposters."
Doctor Mei stroked his beard and said leisurely, "The one who could mobilize all the guards and take this opportunity to throw the corpse of the Prince of Nanxiang in to confuse the situation must be someone of high rank and power in the mansion—Steward Lin was already under the control of Young Hero Xiao at that time, so we can't think of anyone else."
"No wonder I saw Xiao Fengque winking at you!" Eagle-Eyed Swordsman Diancangying exclaimed. "I thought Xiao Fengque's eyes were twitching and I was trying to sell her my unique Eagle Eye Pill!"
"You should keep your Eagle Eye Pills for yourself," Xiao Fengque said with a smile, trying to appease her. "If we accuse Madam Du without any evidence, we'll probably be thrown out. That's why I asked Doctor Mei to pin this on Xie An first, to stabilize the situation and plan for the future. We'll try to get more information from her tonight."
Now that things have come to this, the truth is clear. Madam Du remained silent for a long time, and finally could only let out a deep sigh.
"Heroes have always emerged from among the young. I'm old, truly old."
A self-deprecating bitter smile appeared on Madam Du's resolute face: "Nan Fuqin has bullied and humiliated me for half my life, but in the end, he died by my hand. He looked like a pig when he died! I feel so relieved. I just didn't expect that your damn bounty would actually trick me."
Madam Du stood up, proudly dusted herself off, and said arrogantly, "A general has a way of dying. If you want to kill me, I will not resist. But please spare my family, as a way for you all to accumulate some good karma."
Xiao Fengque touched the tip of his nose. The other heroes exchanged bewildered glances.
It's good to deduce the truth. But to be burdened with the responsibility of a thousand or so lives is still too much for them.
Seeing that the crowd was beginning to waver, Madam Du pressed her advantage, saying, "Although I am not as wealthy as Nan Fuqin, I have amassed a considerable fortune over the years. If you are willing, I am willing to give you all my wealth in exchange for the lives of my entire family!"
Doctor Mei's eyes lit up: "How many do you have?"
"One thousand taels of silver."
Doctor Mei: "..."
Yan Sandao jumped up: "Your man is incredibly wealthy, but you only have a thousand taels?! Is a life of a Du family member worth only one tael of silver?"
Madam Du frowned: "My money is clean, not some kind of filthy wealth built from the people's hard-earned money!"
Yan Sandao snorted disdainfully: "Stupid woman! All money is noble! There are only cheap people and cheap goods in the world, where is there cheap money?"
"Alright, alright," Xiao Fengque had to step in to break up the fight. "This case was solved by all of us. What do you think should be done?"
Fifth Sword spoke first: "How about we just forget about it... Anyway, the Prince of Nanxiang wasn't a good person, so let him die if he's dead."
Yan Sandao snorted: "Although this woman is dirt poor, she is a good woman. I agree with the fifth brother's opinion."
The divine physician stroked his beard: "One hundred thousand taels."
Ta Xuelai said seriously, "I also agree with Fifth Brother's opinion. Doctor Mei, if we divide this money equally among us, it will only amount to a little over seven thousand taels each. If you really want it, I have quite a bit of wealth, so I'll give it to you!"
"How can the truth be left ambiguous?" a pale-faced young swordsman said. "Even if the Prince of Nanxiang is not the best, he is still a member of the imperial family!"
"My family's guard dog also has blood from three noble clans," the two brothers retorted sarcastically.
The pale-faced young hero blushed: "Even if the Prince of Nanxiang has a thousand faults, he will be dealt with according to the law!"
Yan Sandao covered her mouth and giggled, "If the law were effective, the Prince of Nanxiang should have died a much more miserable death."
The heroes argued back and forth, and Xiao Fengque, with a somber expression, was also unable to make up his mind.
Is anything in this world ever simply black and white?
Seeing that the verbal dispute was about to escalate into a physical fight, Xiao Fengque had no choice but to raise his hand to stop everyone: "Enough! Let's take Madam Du into custody first..."
"No!"
A voice interrupted the argument as the door was kicked open and a figure burst in.
Upon closer inspection, everyone recognized the newcomer as Fifth Treasure—Fifth Sword's elder brother. The two brothers were responsible for guarding and questioning the servants imprisoned in the manor. Although Fifth Sword had arrived, Fifth Treasure remained in the cell.
"Ah Bao, what brings you here!" Fifth Sword looked surprised.
"I was afraid you would make things difficult for Madam Du!" Fifth Treasure shouted. "And I was right!"
Fifth Sword looked troubled: "Abao, we promised Madam Du..."
"But we promised everyone!"
What?
Everyone was taken aback by his words. Xiao Fengque was startled, and with lightning speed, he flashed in front of Fifth Treasure, squinting at him and demanding, "What's going on?"
Fifth Treasure's eyes showed grief and indignation: "Young Master Xiao, I would like to ask you to see some things."
"What?"
"The truth. And..."
The heroes followed Fifth Treasure into the dungeon.
Since the "real culprit" Xie An had been arrested, the servants were no longer suspects. The private prison was temporarily unguarded. The guards of the Prince of Nanxiang had all gone to escort Xie An and keep vigil for the Prince.
The private prison of the Prince of Nanxiang's mansion was enormous, reeking of blood and dust. The largest hall was the torture chamber, a place specifically for severely torturing prisoners.
The courtroom, which was originally quite spacious, was now filled with dark, crowded people.
They were the servants in the mansion.
Singers, musicians, concubines, servants... a hundred or so people, yet the hall was solemnly silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Upon seeing Xiao Fengque and his group arrive, the group all turned to look at them. So many eyes were rather unsettling.
"Please, esteemed heroes, spare the lady!"
The sudden shout from a hundred or so people startled everyone.
"Wait a minute." Yan Sandao pulled out his hairpin and picked at his ear. "What are you yelling for! I'm going deaf!"
"Thump!"
These people actually knelt down all at once!
People in the martial arts world can't stand this. Yan Sandao was startled—he jumped back in a physical sense.
"Xiao Fengque! You go! Your Mandarin is the best!"
Of all the heroes present, only Xiao Fengque possessed any semblance of friendliness. The rest were either burly and strong, ugly and deformed, or treacherous and cunning, enough to scare these people to death.
Xiao Fengque frowned and stepped forward to help up the concubine of the Prince of Nanxiang who was kneeling in the front row: "Get up, everyone. No one can hear you when you're kneeling."
The crowd stood up in a disorderly manner. The concubine, whom Xiao Fengque had helped up, grabbed his sleeve and cried, "This was my doing! It has nothing to do with you, Madam!"
Xiao Fengque was taken aback, broke free from the other person, and said unhappily, "The truth will not change because someone takes the blame."
The concubine cried, "It really was me! I'm the one who stabbed her with that dagger!"
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