Chapter 180 - Beacon in Troubled Times 30 (1/2)

Ch180 – Beacon in Troubled Times 30

Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou returned to Jiangzhou with Qi Fenghua while Ye Qi and Liu Qiao continued to track the second prince.

Jiangzhou happened to be at the border of Qi and Zhao. The second prince and the envoys rode fast horses late at night and quickly reached the border of the two countries. Ye Qi immediately reported what he saw and heard to Xiao Lou. “The second prince has returned to Zhao and a group of people was there to meet him. Should Liu Qiao and I continue to follow?”

Xiao Lou thought about it. “You come back first. The duration of the cloak is coming to an end. It will be a bad thing if the two of you are caught by the Zhao people.”

Ye Qi and Liu Qiao returned obediently.

Meanwhile, Yu Hanjiang interrogated Qi Fenghua. The young master was proud and calm after his capture.

Yu Hanjiang asked coldly, “Young Master, on the 15th of this month, on the day of the prince’s birthday banquet, what did you want to do when you returned to the prince’s mansion disguised as a guard?”

Qi Fenghua replied coldly, “You have the wrong person. I’m not a young master. I’m a hunter from the mountain.”

Yu Hanjiang raised his eyebrows and stared with sharp eyes. “You were in the backyard of the prince’s mansion and happened to meet Miss Qi Yiyao. She recognized you and asked why you came back. Then you actually ruthlessly poisoned your sister and hid her body. Once no one was in the backyard at night, you hung her on a tree with white cloth, disguising her death as a suicide, right?”

Qi Fenghua calmly refused to answer.

Yu Hanjiang continued, “Lin Shaobo returned to the backyard of the prince’s mansion, wanting to find the eldest young lady to give her an explanation. As a result, he saw the scene where you hung her on a tree. Lin Shaobo hurriedly fled and you immediately flew behind him, strangling him. He tore a piece of fabric off your sleeve while you were struggling and you pushed his body into the pond before leaving the prince’s mansion, right?”

Qi Fenghua’s face was even uglier and he couldn’t help sneering, “Yu daren can really make up a story. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Everything you said is just a guess. Is there any evidence?”

Yu Hanjiang replied indifferently, “The net of heaven is large and wide but it lets nothing through. Young master, do you really think that your every action was flawless and you left no clues behind?”

Qi Fenghua’s mouth twitched a bit and he seemed to be thinking about whether he left physical evidence or not.

Yu Hanjiang didn’t continue the interrogation and Qi Fenghua was secretly detained in the backyard of the prefectural magistrate’s office. He returned to the study where Xiao Lou was anxiously waiting. The moment he saw Yu Hanjiang’s expression, he knew the result of the interrogation wasn’t ideal. He stepped forward and asked, “Did Qi Fenghua refuse to speak?”

Yu Hanjiang answered softly, “He refused to say anything but his involvement in the rebellion is now well established. Ye Qi and Liu Qiao saw him make contact with the second prince of Zhao and agreed with the second prince to share the benefits. There are witnesses and material evidence. We find this medicine bottle on him. Perhaps by following the clue of the medicine bottle, we can dig out a deeper secret.”

Deeper secret?

Xiao Lou immediately responded. “You mean the serial murder crime my father investigated?”

“Did they commit suicide or were they killed?” Yu Hanjiang suddenly asked.

“This…” Xiao Lou was stunned slightly. He wasn’t sure but after thinking about it, he felt this matter wasn’t simple. “Did the two accomplices know some secrets and were killed?”

“It is likely.” Yu Hanjiang stated. “The prison of the Ministry of Justice is closely guarded and it is very difficult for prisoners to commit suicide in prison. The guards will also search the body before entering the prison. The possibility of them possessing poison is almost zero. In fact, the Ministry of Justice might have a spy who killed the two of them on the night they were caught.”

“It makes sense. Why did my father let the main culprit escape when arresting the criminals? Perhaps it was because someone in the Ministry of Justice reported the news!” Xiao Lou felt that his heart had suddenly opened it. The case that his father was involved in wasn’t simple. The main culprit escaped and the two accomplices immediately committed suicide. Eventually, it became a suspended case and his father was also poisoned!

“What is the connection between those dead people in the capital?” Yu Hanjiang pressed his thumb against his chin as he thought about it. A moment later, he wondered, “What year did your father investigate this case?”

“It seemed to be 13 years ago.” Xiao Lou took a moment to recall it. “I fled with my mother 13 years ago.”

“13 years ago?” Yu Hanjiang carefully searched his memories for what happened that year. As a child, he had served as a companion for the current emperor for a while. He thought about it and it was exactly 13 years ago!

At that time, the late emperor had just established his grandson as the crown prince and the little prince was only 10 years old. Not long ago, the queen and concubines suddenly died in the palace. All these things happened in the same year. Was it a coincidence?

Perhaps Xiao Lou’s father’s poisoning case inadvertently involved palace secrets so he was killed?

Thinking of this, Yu Hanjiang immediately became alert and stared at Xiao Lou. “Do you remember how your father died?”

Xiao Lou carefully remembered what happened. “That day, my mother took me out of the house. Once we arrived home, I saw my father had fallen on the floor of the study. My mother immediately checked his body and found that my father was poisoned to death. She guessed the murderer had come back and retaliated. She packed up the same day and took me and my brother to escape from the capital.”

It might only be a false memory given to him by the keeper but these past events were too clear in his mind. Xiao Lou thought of the scene of his father’s death and still felt sad.

“Were there any traces of things being searched at the scene?” Yu Hanjiang questioned.

“It seems to be.” Xiao Lou frowned. “The desk was a mess and the books in the bookcase were thrown to the ground. It looked like someone had entered the house to steal things.”

“Then the person should be looking for clues gathered by your father and destroying the evidence.”

“Yes, I think so as well. The case my father was involved in was very strange. The two accomplices committed suicide and the main culprit escaped. The families of the deceased strangely no longer pursued an investigation. The Ministry of Justice also gave up on the investigation and ended the case directly.” Xiao Lou looked up at Yu Hanjiang and asked softly, “Did you think of anything?”