Back in the duty room, Steward Hu wiped the sweat off his forehead, placed a thick stack of confessions on the table, exhaled deeply, and said, "Sir, you truly are brilliant! To think of using a fake Hai Pig to coerce the real Hai Pig into confessing. Look at his earlier uncooperative attitude, compared to how he just cooperated with the investigation and provided detailed accounts—it’s as if he were a completely different person!"
Chief of Staff Xing pondered, "That person just now was not Qian Fugui."
Steward Hu exclaid, "What?"
Chief of Staff Xing looked at the confessions on the table and said, "The only person who could cause such a change in Hai Pig must be soone truly close to him."
Hai Pig did indeed confess, and from his expression and tone, no signs of lying were detected.
Therefore, it’s reasonable to believe that everything Hai Pig stated was the truth.
However, which parts of these confessions were genuinely known by Hai Pig, and which parts were deliberately conveyed to the court through Hai Pig’s mouth by that close acquaintance, is unknown.
Steward Hu slamd the table as he stood up, "Outrageous! How dare they toy with the court and its judicial officers! Sir, shall we apprehend that person imdiately?"
Chief of Staff Xing analyzed calmly, "No need. If necessary, they will co to us on their own."
Steward Hu’s fiery zeal was doused instantly, "Ah, yes."
-
Dawn was breaking.
Si Snake woke up from his slumber.
His deep, ocean-blue eyes opened, and he reached out to release Ji Li’s acupoint lock.
Ji Li, who had been stiff and immobilized all night, could finally move again.
Except... damn it, his legs were numb!
Ji Li shot him a dagger-like glare. "You actually slept soundly, even in a cell! What were you thinking? If soone had attacked us last night, we’d both already be dead!"
Si Snake replied, "In a safe environnt, one can sleep peacefully."
Ji Li said indignantly, "And what if? What if soone did indeed try to assassinate us, when one of us is immobilized by an acupoint block and the other sleeps like the dead? Aren’t you afraid of trouble?"
Si Snake: "Did such a thing happen?"
Ji Li was silenced.
Si Snake’s gaze swept over him and pointed at the Feng Shui Compass in Ji Li’s hand. "Your compass is broken."
Ji Li fud, "It’s been broken for a while! Thanks to you blocking my acupoint!"
Si Snake thought for a mont. "The Twelve Guards ca by last night? Who?"
Ji Li puffed his cheeks angrily and said, "I’d like to know too! That Feng Shui Compass has been with for so long, and it’s the first ti it’s ever reacted so intensely. Even the needle snapped, but I have no idea which one of them it could’ve been!"
Si Snake asked, "Could it be the one we were looking for a few days ago?"
Ji Li mused, "Hard to say, but I don’t think so. It’s the first ti my Feng Shui Compass encountered a phenonon it couldn’t withstand, to the point of breaking."
Si Snake looked at the patched-up, shabby compass and asked, "How did it break before?"
Ji Li admitted frankly, "I was unlucky. Dropped and broke it."
-
Lu Yuan had just descended from court when he was summoned to the Ministry of Justice by Chief of Staff Xing.
"Is Chief Xing going to interrogate ?"
Lu Yuan asked.
Chief of Staff Xing replied with neither humility nor arrogance, "Grand Commander Lu has been summoned as a witness, nothing more. It’s rely a routine investigation, not an interrogation."
As he spoke, he gestured towards his duty room. "Grand Commander, please."
Lu Yuan entered the duty room without resistance and sat down on a chair.
Steward Hu, on the other hand, seed quite intimidated by him.
Already seated in the corner, he still couldn’t resist pulling his desk back even further, as if wishing he could embed himself and the desk into the wall.
Seeing his subordinate’s cowardice, Chief of Staff Xing could only shake his head internally while keeping a calm exterior.
"Lu Yuan."
He changed his mode of address.
From this mont on, he was no longer facing a high-ranking court official, but rely an ordinary witness.
"You once served as an adviser in the late Crown Prince’s mansion. Do you recall soone nad Luo San?"
Lu Yuan tapped his finger lightly on the table. "Luo San? Rings a bell. Did Hai Pig confess? He talked? That doesn’t sound like him. Did he et soone?"
Before anything had even been said, Lu Yuan had already deduced most of it. No wonder he’d once been taken as an apprentice by Lin Zhengliang.
Chief of Staff Xing replied sternly, "I am not permitted to reveal details of the case to you. Just answer my questions."
"Luo San was a hunchback, nicknad ’Three Hunchback’. Skilled in astronomy and mathematics, but he often caused trouble due to his drinking problems. Among the retainers, he was not particularly notable. After the Crown Prince passed away, he fled imdiately with so stolen money. Many retainers fled back then, and the Supre Emperor couldn’t be bothered to pursue them."
At this, Lu Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly. "So the traitor was him?"
After the Chu Family and the Crown Prince t their demises, he had suspected everyone in the Crown Prince’s mansion, yet sohow, Luo San had escaped his notice entirely.
Looking back now, the act of excluding him alone was unusual in itself.
Only by tracing backward could one arrive at such a conclusion.
Yet back then, he hadn’t realized it imdiately.
Luo San was no simple man. He understood him and knew perfectly well how to remain invisible before him.
Chief of Staff Xing continued, "Did you ever see him again afterward?"
Lu Yuan shook his head. "Never. If it truly is him, then the identity he registered with the governnt office would surely be fake, and his so-called friends were likely just for show."
In other words, questioning who Luo San associated with in the Crown Prince’s mansion was pointless.
Lu Yuan and Chief of Staff Xing handled investigations differently. Chief of Staff Xing excelled at uncovering clues and inconsistencies from intricate details, while Lu Yuan specialized in logical deductions.
In essence, there was no disparity in rank.
Each had their strengths, and they neither interfered with each other’s thods nor rejected the insights the other contributed.
Chief of Staff Xing nodded in acknowledgnt of Lu Yuan’s assessnt.
Lu Yuan said, "I will also investigate this matter privately. As soon as I have news of Luo San, I will inform the Ministry of Justice promptly."
Chief of Staff Xing stood and cupped his hands in a gesture of respect. "I am deeply grateful, Grand Commander."
The two left the duty room together.
A sweet, high-pitched voice accompanied by the sound of quick little footsteps cut through the air. "Grandpa Xing! Grandpa Xing!"
The previously stern face of Chief of Staff Xing suddenly softened with a warm smile. "Zhaozhao!"
Bao Shu stretched out her little arms. "Grandpa Xing, hug!"
Chief of Staff Xing picked up the little one in his arms, grinning from ear to ear. "What brings Bao Shu here?"
"Ca to see Grandpa Xing," Bao Shu said, rubbing her small hands together with a helpless sigh, "and to bail out my dad."
Once there was Su Zhe rescuing his brother; now there’s Zhaozhao bailing out her dad.
Lu Yuan: "..."
You little rascal. Say that again? Go on, say it again!
Chief of Staff Xing was thoroughly amused, bursting into hearty laughter.
Steward Hu poked his head out, looking utterly confused.
The unyielding and impartial Master Xing... so, you *can* laugh? Are you sure you weren’t driven mad by the Chu Family case?
Chief of Staff Xing smiled at the little one in his arms. "Alright then, just this once, we’ll give Zhaozhao a favor and bail your father out!"
Lu Yuan’s face darkened. "Chief Xing, I have not been detained."
ng Qianqian stepped forward and offered a junior’s respectful bow. "Chief Xing."
Chief of Staff Xing nodded slightly, his gaze holding a kind, elder’s affection toward ng Qianqian.
Lu Yuan’s lips twitched. Really, so I’m the only outsider here, huh?
Bao Shu pointed at a potted plant in the courtyard. "Grandpa Xing, what’s that?"
"Grandpa Xing will take you to see!"
Chief of Staff Xing carried Bao Shu off cheerfully.
Lu Yuan asked in a strange tone, "Since when did she get so close to the Xing family?"
ng Qianqian smiled with pride. "Your daughter has quite the network of connections."
Lu Yuan snorted coldly. "How vast could they possibly be? Does she know Luo San?"
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