Chapter 1956: Blind Elder! (2/2)

For various reasons, these residences would be left vacant for long periods of time and slowly abandoned. The Zhou Residence was one of these.

There were many estates like this in the capital. The majority of them were just empty shells with almost nothing inside.

”Oh, I'm going to buy some steamed buns!”

As the party inspected the estate, the main gate opened. A young child with a paper pinwheel in hand skipped out of the door, several copper coins in his other hand. He passed the group and quickly vanished into the distance.

The astonished party followed the boy with their eyes as he ran off.

”I'll go in first,” Wang Chong suddenly said. ”Qiqin, come with me. The rest of you, wait here.”

”No. I'll stay with them and wait for you.”

Surprisingly, Xu Qiqin remained standing with the others, softly smiling as she refused.

After a momentary daze, Wang Chong understood. ”Okay!” He stepped over the threshold.

Xu Qiqin watched as Wang Chong vanished into the estate, a faint smile on her lips.

The investigation had reached its final stage, and they were finally close to the core of the matter. The Sage Emperor, Eunuch Gao, Duke Jiu, Minister Yao, Old Master Yan… all of these people were powerful individuals, forming the highest echelon of the empire, and all of them had been conspiring together over this single incident.

For some matters, she could assist Wang Chong and help him find the answer he needed, but when the time came for the answer to be revealed, it was enough for him to go alone.

She simply needed to wait on the side and provide support.

As a woman, she considered it an essential skill to know when to go and when to stop!

……

The light in the residence was not very good. Even though it was daytime, the insides were gloomy, and besides that, the air was very humid. Wang Chong could even see moss growing in a few corners.

One could understand from this why the original owner had abandoned the place.

Before Wang Chong could go very far, an elderly voice called out, ”What honored lordship has come from the palace to visit? This old man's feet are not strong, so forgive me for not coming out to welcome you!”

Wang Chong followed the voice, and in one of the rooms of the residence, he saw the speaker.

This was an elder of seventy-some years, and while he resided in this rather dark, shabby, and humid residence, the old man was very neat and tidy, not a strand of his long hair out of place.

His back was straight and the way he bore himself did not make him seem like an ordinary old man. He stood out like a sore thumb in this place.

But when Wang Chong saw his eyes, he felt his heart leap.

Where the man's eyes should have been were two large and gruesome cavities.

This man was blind. He could see nothing!

Wang Chong quickly got ahold of himself.

Wang Chong glanced at the man's black clothes and realized something.

While there seemed nothing special at first glance, there were a few golden threads on the brim of his sleeves.

These clothes could only be worn by those from the palace.

Wang Chong suddenly stopped and asked, ”How did you know I was from the palace?”

This old man gave off a very unique feeling. His bearing and tone were not those of an ordinary person. Moreover, Wang Chong had already restrained his energy, and this blind elder should not have been able to see him, but he had somehow been able to guess that he was from the palace.

”Heheh, this old man's eyes are blind, but his mind is not. Ordinary people do not walk like Milord, without any sound. This old man once served in the palace, so he knows that only those lordships of very high status walk similarly to Milord. But Milord seems to be of higher status than any of those other lordships,” the blind elder calmly said, giving off an all-knowing feeling.

”This one is Wang Chong. I have come over an incident from thirty years ago!” Wang Chong said, not hiding his status.

”It is Your Highness the King of Foreign Lands?!”

The blind elder showed a hint of shock on his face. Although he had asked the question, he seemed certain of Wang Chong's status.

”I did not think that the honored King of Foreign Lands of Lingyan Pavilion would honor my humble abode. This old man is honored! Your presence truly brings light to my home!”

”Venerable Sir once worked in the palace's Compassionate Virtue Hall?” Wang Chong said.

”Yes! This old man had no abilities, so he could only do a few miscellaneous tasks in the palace. It was an unimportant and unnoticed life!” the blind elder freely admitted, smiling.

”The only person in the empire responsible for burning all the discussion and memorials of the sovereign, Prime Minister, and the officials is not some unimportant person, nor is the job one that anyone can do!” Wang Chong sternly said.

After following Zhang Tianlin's clue and investigating the people Gao Lishi had taken with him into the library, Wang Chong had discovered to his surprise that the person who held the highest secrets of the empire, the Sage Emperor's life before his enthronement, was this blind elder.

Gao Lishi did not personally destroy the books, nor did he privately burn them. Rather, he went through the proper channels. In the middle of the night, when no one else was around, he had brought the palace records to the Compassionate Virtue Hall, where they were all burned to ash in the open.

These palace records had been mixed in with the other memorials to be burned.