Chapter 8 (1/2)

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Fu Shen's heart ju in his ears The arrow seeht towards his act like they the bones that had caused him to faint before

He hunched over, back arched harshly, in a subconscious act of self-protection Large beads of sweat ran down his te his slim cheeks to slide down his neck His tendons strain under his pale skin as if they're about to burst out of him

With a snap, the solid wooden box was unable to withstand the pressure from his hand and cracked A splinter ca into his palm

Yet this fine and acute pain was like that of an acupuncture needle, instantly penetrating his h layer after layer of hindering disorientation, a pin holding together his collapsing soul His disordereditself frohtmare as quick as the wind

He raised his head that was overfloith cold sweat He hadn't cried, but his eyes were suffused with red and densely packed with thin, red veins His thick lashes droop like feathers, the soh them like that of a bloodied, cornered beast

His line of sight pans to the split-open box, and he finds there's the tiny edge of a paper showing out of the crack — it actually had a hidden compartment

He carefully extracted the folded sheet from within

A little less than half a shi+chen later, Xiao Xun, who had been standing guard outside the door, heard Fu Shen call for him from inside the roo his brows as he got a whiff of what seemed to be the smoky scent burnt paper

“Marquis”

Fu Shen sat before his desk, looking tranquil without a hint of affectation, if a bit colder than usual He was repeatedly fiddling with a long wooden box in his hands that was stained with blood, but he seeone into the study in these past three days?” he asked, his demeanor as it usually was “Call thee up his hand first, but Fu Shen hadn't even lifted his gaze Not daring to defy hireed Just when he made to leave, Fu Shen suddenly called out to him “Hold on”

“Please instruct,” Xiao Xun replied

He huuards in”

After the disaster at Blue Sand Pass, the first thing Fu Shen called for was to find the arrow that had been lodged into the rock ith the anticipation that the search would be fruitless He had figured it had been buried under the tu stones, but to his surprise, someone had simply been a step ahead of him The assassination was very low-key; if this hadn't happened today, his peopleto hunt it down like a bunch of headless flies

But who actually has the ability to keep this ht before his eyes?

——A layer of the truth has been revealed, but what are their true intentions?

It wasn't long until servants of various sizes and ages were standing in a row before him, their heads lowered and shoulders slu desire to stick theroup ofNorthern Yan Iron Cavalrymen, the looks on their faces like blades that would come in and cut people down at any mo, red sandalwood table, being straightforward in his questioning “Who's seen this box, when did it show up in the study, and who put it in there?” His voice is slightly raspy, sounding like it has a bizarre sense of dispiritedness

The ones ere the very first to enter the study during the time fraical order All shook their heads and said they didn't recognize it, and it wasn't until the several people who had dusted the study this ue clue They said that they had seen the box on the desk when they had co that it was so of Fu Shen's

All eyes fell upon the boyservant that had who had brought a flower vase to the study the day before

He was child of about fourteen donned in dusty work clothes His parents had passed on early, so he had followed his paternal grandfather to work in the Marquis's Estate and typically hid within the kitchens, never to co not ever co swept over by Fu Shen's frost-like gaze, he i as he koed, crying out “spare ed the space between his brows His wailing made his head hurt “Shut up,” he said coldly

His voice was very light, but perhaps due to being accusto people around, every word of his was very heavy, the weight of which seeround The boy instantly silenced, though his treot even more violent “Was it you who placed this box here?”

“N-N-No…”

“Then who did?”

“This… this lowly one doesn't know…”

“I don't have the patience to watch you sit there shaking,” Fu Shen said darkly “The sooner you explain yourself, the sooner this is over with — I'll give you one chance to think over what you said again”

The boyservant bit his lower lip, both of his hands continuously twisting up in the hems of his clothes He was ulti and whispered out the truth “This… this lowly one really isn't sure, but itGou'er…” [2]

Fu Shen couldn'tGou'er?”

“H-He's a boy of the wang family in Poplar Cove, east of the city, and he often coht, Grandpa Fu toldGou'er said he also wanted to come see… see what the study of a rich fa anyways, so I'd j-just bring him with me…”

“Xiao Xun,” Fu Shen said

“This subordinate understands,” Xiao Xun responded

An outsider had trespassed into the study of a Marquis It's not any kind of important place, but it's also an enor it have uards to track down this ‘wang Gou'er' Fu Shen slowly scanned the circle of varied people standing around hiave a very soft, icy chuckle

“It certainly see that this ‘rear court' was better than having nothing, and there wasn't anyone in it who liked to cause trouble Who could have known that despite standing guard day and night, it's a traitor on the inside that can't be guarded against? The holes in these defenses are actually bigger than a sieve's Today's matter is a lesson for all of you, and forwith apprehension “Please give your orders, Marquis”

“Within ten days, diso back to wherever they came from This place will be occupied by the Northern Yan army from now on, and absolutely no other miscellaneous people are to stay here Go on, then”

Thus ca to their knees “Marquis! Please have mercy, Marquis… let us keep our livelihoods!”

“Don't ain” Fu Shen waved his hand “Go to the foreement, stepped forward, picked up the old servant by the back of his collar, and carried hi people were like quails strung together with a he back as they followed after hi the study one by one