Chapter 53: So It Was A Bluff!
Du Yu knew what it meant for the study to be breached.
He summoned all the hidden sentries for a check, and sure enough, the problem was with the defense at the corner of the garden. Before the banquet started, the person on sentry post had switched out temporarily due to abdominal pain.
It was only a fleeting moment, but for an experienced veteran, that was enough.
“It must be the person who killed He Jianzhong. It must be them! How did they sneak in? With so many people guarding the mansion walls, no one noticed?!”
The Marquis of Guangling was both anxious and irritable, sweeping all the scrolls from the desk to the floor.
The guards knelt on the ground before him: “We dare not make any mistakes on pain of death. There was no place where anyone could take advantage. But with so many guests today, it’s possible some slipped in amid the chaos.”
The Marquis of Guangling, in his agitation, was suddenly enlightened, but half his soul flew away: “Could they have mixed in with the guests?!”
Du Yu hurriedly said: “Quickly go investigate. Among all the people who arrived today, find out who doesn’t check out!”
He had just finished issuing orders when someone from the Prince’s Mansion came with a message.
Both father and son felt it strange, after all, Yan Bei had left from here just two hours ago.
But Yan Bei had never meddled in Du Family affairs, at most just sternly questioning when the censors pressed hard. The Marquis of Guangling figured it had nothing to do with the study being breached, so he quickly composed himself and went to the Prince’s Mansion.
When led to Yangrong Zhai, Yan Bei was waiting for him in the study.
The widower’s study also exuded a bleak air, with bookshelves or weapons on all four sides, not even a potted flower in sight.
Yan Bei had changed into a casual wide robe, sitting cross-legged on the brocade couch by the window, holding a scroll in his hand.
Twilight light streamed in from outside the window, covering the face of he, whose upper body was turned away from the window, in shadow.
The Marquis of Guangling, relying on their kinship, usually seized chances to cheekily chat about family matters, but seeing him like this, he unconsciously held his breath and focused.
“Prince, your subject has arrived.”
Yan Bei rolled the scroll in his hand, eyelids slightly lowered: “Du Minghuan, do you know your crime?”
The Marquis of Guangling’s heart skipped a beat, but he still held firm: “Your subject does not know what crime.”
Yan Bei gave a cold laugh, tossing two files onto his knees: “This prince has already investigated the He Family case clearly. On the seventh day of the seventh month three years ago, the night the Former Emperor passed away, He Jianzhong and his son, along with Zhang Shaode and his son, were both absent from their mansions.
“So where did they go?”
The Marquis of Guangling’s vision went black!
Yan Bei had suddenly deigned to attend the banquet today, and he was overjoyed, forgetting all about this matter!
He dropped to his knees with a thud: “Prince! This, I don’t know!”
“You don’t know?” Yan Bei snorted coldly again, throwing out an account book that Gao An had just delivered to him that morning. “Then this prince will remind you again: three years ago, your Du Family was so poor you couldn’t even afford to hire many servants.
“How did you suddenly get rich right after taking over the Imperial City Department?”
The account book landed right in front of the Marquis of Guangling, and it happened to be open, with every entry recorded being estate deeds he had personally handled!
The Marquis of Guangling’s hands grew cold, and his upper and lower lips trembled several times before he made a sound: “P-Prince, what is the meaning of this?”
Both his temples itched and stung, as if thousands of ants were crawling there.
“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?” Yan Bei was still sitting cross-legged but leaned slightly forward from the couch, his cold face only a foot away from his. “You always boast outside that Prince Jingyang is your cousin, yet behind my back you engage in these decapitating schemes!
“Du Minghuan, if you want to die, don’t drag me down with you!
“That night the Former Emperor passed away, He Jianzhong and Zhang Shaode both left the city—they are both your confidantes.
“From that night on, these two became even more your left and right arms.
“They got rich along with you, and now I’ve uncovered all their foundations, and you tell me you don’t know?”
The Marquis of Guangling tried to open his mouth several times but made no sound.
Yan Bei got down and walked in front of him: “I heard from the Supreme Court people that Princess Yongjia died miserably. The murderer didn’t even spare her three-month-old child, and killed every one of her followers.
“And she herself was surrounded and assassinated by around a hundred assassins, and in the end, not even a complete corpse was left. Did you hear about that?”
“Mercy, Prince!”
The Marquis of Guangling threw himself to the ground and kowtowed with a thud!
If earlier he could still resist to the death, now that he even knew about the hundred assassins, he naturally guessed everything!
He wailed to heaven and earth: “This matter truly has nothing to do with me. I really don’t know what He Jianzhong and the others went to do. Please investigate clearly, Prince!”
Last time after sending over the case files for the He and Zhang families, he had clearly made proper arrangements with Du Yu.
The family fortune being traceable by Yan Bei wasn’t too strange, after all, with Prince Jingyang’s abilities, a little effort would get it.
But how did Yan Bei know about He Jianzhong and Zhang Shaode’s whereabouts?
And how did he connect these two to Princess Yongjia’s death?
From the time the He Family incident started, the Marquis of Guangling’s greatest fear had finally come true.
The key was he never dreamed that in just a few days, Yan Bei could gather so much evidence!
So that meant the person who secretly entered his study was obvious, right?
Crying to this point, his face twitched.
If things fell into others’ hands, he might still use the Imperial City Department’s power to seize them back.
But in Prince Jingyang’s hands, even three more of him couldn’t take them back!
Three years had passed, and the people behind had long erased all traces in secret. No one had ever suspected He Jianzhong or Zhang Shaode. Just because the He Family had a few deaths, Yan Bei actually uncovered so much!
Even immortals aren’t as capable as him!
The Marquis of Guangling was both shocked and panicked, crawling forward on his knees: “Prince, you know me. Though I make small mistakes on ordinary days, how could I dare to do something like murdering imperial clan members?
“I swear to heaven, I have absolutely no relation to Princess Yongjia!”
Yan Bei glanced toward the direction of the rear courtyard where Hua Lin was examining A Li, his throat sinking, then he withdrew his gaze and kicked the Marquis of Guangling squarely in the chest!
“Then you had better be.
“If after this I find any other evidence—Du Minghuan, I’ve counted: your Du Family has forty-three people from top to bottom. The execution ground’s guillotines won’t stop at just forty-two!”
With that, he drew back and strode toward the inner room behind the screen.
The Marquis of Guangling sat stunned in place, and only after a long while did his eyes shift downward to look at the account book on the ground.
Then he lifted his sleeve to wipe the sweat beads trickling from his temples, and when bending to pick up the account book, he glanced toward the screen again.
A sharp glint flashed in the depths of his eyes.
He hadn’t misheard: just now Yan Bei said he would act after finding evidence.
Since he still needed to find evidence, that meant it was just suspicion for now—he had been bluffing him earlier!
He pushed himself up from the ground. Midway through standing, the corner of his mouth twitched imperceptibly. He brushed off his robe and walked out the door.
Facing the wind, his back straightened again.
No solid evidence was good!
Even if that stack of evidence of crimes was lost, it was nothing serious. With the Imperial City Department token, he would always find a way to collect it back.
The only pity was that string of beads!
Those beads were the bargaining chip he had left for himself, and yet—they were taken by him too!
