Chapter 66: Signs Emerge
The two fallen leaves: one had a crease, the other was broken off. Moreover, the break was fresh, with sap. Clearly, it had been knocked off by a sudden external force.
And only two leaves fell, indicating the impact was also relatively small, quick and agile.
This might seem insignificant, but in a situation with no leads, it was already an unusual clue.
“A Cheng.”
Two guards who arrived behind him landed at the doorway.
The guard left behind on Yue Tang’s orders withdrew his gaze from the two fallen leaves in his hand, then looked again at the two broken vine tips above the tightly closed door, and waved his hand: “My judgment aligns with Madam’s. Leave one person here to stand guard, the rest follow me inside. The Prince instructed that no matter what, ensuring Madam’s safety comes first!”
……
At Prince Jingyang’s Mansion half a city away, Yan Bei accompanied A Li under the lamp in rolling sweet dumplings.
Hua Lin’s treatment plan for A Li also included exercises to strengthen his mobility.
He couldn’t do much else at night, and since A Li wanted to eat sweet dumplings, Hua Lin had him roll them himself.
The child chattered nonstop from his mouth, while Yan Bei flipped through a memorial from the Bureau of Military Affairs, responding absentmindedly, until Gao An walked in quickly.
“Prince, news from the guards staking out outside the Mu Family and Chu Family.”
Yan Bei took it in hand, glanced at it twice, and looked back, a flicker of hidden light passing in each other’s eyes.
“Got it.”
He tucked the two pieces of paper into his bosom.
Gao An walked out.
Inside the room, only A Li’s childish nursery rhyme voice remained, completely unaware of the change in atmosphere.
“Father, look at this, doesn’t it look like the flowers on Mother’s ears?”
A Li lifted his small face, holding up a small dough ball high that barely resembled any shape.
Yan Bei picked him up: “Rolling so many sweet dumplings, does A Li want Mother to taste them too?”
“Yes!”
A Li drew out the sound, his eyes sparkling under the lamp.
……
The residence was nestled among large swaths of civilian homes, not conspicuous. But it occupied a large area, with four courtyards deep.
There were side courtyards on both east and west sides, the walls mottled, clearly of some age, but no weeds at the corners of walls, doors, and windows, showing it was maintained daily.
However, for such a large residence, the first three courtyards had no lights under the corridors.
Only upon entering the third courtyard could one see human shadows moving under the verandas.
At this time, night was not yet very deep. Crouching on the wall top, looking out, there were still scattered lights around.
This area was unfamiliar to Yue Tang. She had never been to the residence.
But beyond the lights was the moat.
Yue Tang’s only impression of the moat was when Princess Duan was alive, one Lantern Festival when she took her to release Kongming lanterns by the river.
That was to commemorate her second brother.
Tonight there were no Kongming lanterns, only bone-chilling cold freezing the fingers crouched on the wall top.
She curled her ten fingers and continued forward.
Wei Zhang approached from behind at this moment: “Master, we’ve found traces of Du Yu. He’s leading men in ambush under the wall on the west side of this residence!”
“Got it.” She gazed at the lit room in the fourth courtyard ahead, her voice hoarse: “Cover me.”
Wei Zhang flashed into the darkness, and soon, loud wind sounds came from afar, drawing all the shadows under the corridor’s attention. Yue Tang followed the eaves and leaped into the back courtyard.
The back courtyard was brightly lit everywhere.
Only the room in the northwest corner was pitch black.
Yue Tang groped toward the corner, just about to leap through the window, when a sudden burst of firelight erupted inside the room, torches on the walls igniting in a circle!
“It’s a mechanism!” Wei Zhang landed beside her, then pried off an iron plate at the doorway, instantly covering all the torches with the flipped iron frame from the bracket. Then, a door appeared on the side wall, leading to a windowless pitch-black passageway.
“This subordinate will cover the rear here. Wei Brother, follow Madam inside!”
The guards coming from the central path had already arrived, with another companion beside him.
Yue Tang stepped into the passageway without hesitation.
The passageway was more like a veranda without windows and with a sealed roof.
There was light at the end.
And directly ahead of her, at the end of the passageway, there was another vent window about a foot square.
The vent window was open only a fist wide, a beam of faint light filtering up from below that fist-sized gap.
And along with the faint light came the familiar voice of Du Minghuan: “That’s how things are. Clearly, we erased all traces back then, but somehow the Prince found out. How to resolve the current crisis—please guide us…”
Yue Tang held her breath, gripped the window frame, her gaze gradually shifting downward.
In the brightly candle-lit secret room, after Du Minghuan finished speaking, he cleared his parched throat, then looked at the fully furnished room with table and chairs, and then at the large eight-panel screen opposite.
Behind the translucent silk-embroidered screen, half of a huanghuali lamp stand was visible, along with several vague figures.
The vent window was not tightly closed, and the candle lights in the four corners of the room had no shades, but somehow wind still squeezed in, making the flames flicker, and the shadow of the person sitting behind the screen on the wall shifted accordingly.
But the air in the room was as stagnant as ice.
Until Du Minghuan held his breath until sweat beaded on his forehead, then a clink of cup came from behind the screen, followed by a young male voice: “You discovered something wrong in the He Family blood case long ago, yet you only tell me now.”
Du Minghuan looked terrified at the ground: “I, at that time I didn’t have concrete evidence either, just suspected someone behind it. Until, until Zhang Shaode was stabbed, my son noticed something off.
“But the real culprit is extremely cunning, with one incident after another following…”
The light and shadow behind the screen flickered again, followed by the rustle of clothes, and light, slow footsteps stepped out from behind the screen. On a pair of exquisitely sewn cloud shoes was a moon-white brocade robe edged with silver thread.
The person stood under the candlelight, the contours of the mask on his face reflecting the light, but his features and face were completely obscured.
Wei Zhang glanced at Yue Tang in the dark, saw her brows tightly furrowed, and turned his gaze back to the secret room below.
The mask covered almost the entire face, no features visible from the outline.
The voice was even less identifiable; there was an echo in the secret room, and they who lived outside the capital year-round had seen countless strangers. Even if glimpsed once or twice before, no one could remember voices.
In this situation, they could only listen carefully to their conversation.
“So have you found her trace now?”
“…No!” Du Minghuan’s vague response.
The person chuckled lightly: “Then what have you been doing this time?”
Du Minghuan’s face flushed with embarrassment, his head drooping lower, not daring to reply.
The person paced slowly, lifting his left hand to peel off the candle wax stuck on the stand, then casually drawing on the table with his forefinger: “Three years! If the He Family hadn’t died, you and I would still be in the dark.
“I gave you silver and promised you the position of Imperial City Department Envoy, but now, three years into the seal-holding period is almost here, and at this crucial moment you tell me there’s still a real culprit. And this person isn’t Wei Zhang, but someone else!”
Cold seeped from Yue Tang’s fingertips into her bones.
Her nails dug into the gap.
“Let me ask you again: back then, really only Wei Zhang escaped?” The person who had been speaking lightly and smiling moments ago suddenly turned to cold interrogation.
Du Minghuan trembled uncontrollably, his lips under his beard opening several times before a sound came: “Yes, yes! Impossible for anyone else…”
He didn’t quite believe Du Yu’s guess, and even if he did, he couldn’t admit it now.
Yue Tang turned sideways, her back against the wall.
Beneath her tightly locked brows were eyes surging with rapid waves.
She clenched her fist until her nails cut the flesh of her palm again, then turned back, staring at the mask.
“Then you’d better tell the truth.” Though his build wasn’t as sturdy as Du Minghuan’s, his straight, ramrod posture exuded even more intimidation.
“I heard the Shen Family also went to the Supreme Court. Now even Prince Jingyang has abandoned you. Since you want me to resolve your crisis, don’t think of deceiving me.”
Yue Tang’s breathing sank further.
Wei Zhang already sensed her abnormality, but he stayed silent.
He had heard Huo Yun say that earlier, when they had Liu Shi release the rumor in prison, Yue Tang was wary of whether it would alert the person behind the scenes.
But back then, her suspected target was Yan Bei.
From these words now, after the He Family incident, this person had indeed noticed the unusual behind it, but chose to hold still at the time.
When the He Family fell, perhaps they couldn’t confirm the mastermind behind was Yue Tang, whom they “saw die with their own eyes,” but at least suspicion had arisen in that direction, at minimum suspecting him, Wei Zhang.
After all, back then they had the determination to kill every last one, and since He Jianzhong didn’t find his corpse at the scene, even if he posed no threat, he was still a thorn in their hearts.
So the first person they would suspect was definitely him, Wei Zhang.
Yet he knew everything about court affairs, Du Family matters, and could easily access the He Family case, enough to show his great power and high status.
Three years ago, Prince Duan died, the Former Emperor passed, and the biggest power in court was Empress Dowager Shen.
But Empress Dowager Shen was ultimately suppressed by Yan Bei, followed by the Mu Family that supported the Second Prince to power, and the Chu Family that already held great authority and rose with the wind.
If someone else carried out the murder, they must have emerged in that chaos back then.
Even if they didn’t seize the chance then, over the past three years, they had no reason to stay hidden.
Otherwise, spending so much effort setting up this trap and wiping out Prince Duan’s Mansion—wouldn’t it all just make wedding clothes for others?
No one would be content with that.
So, the original mastermind was absolutely someone who profited from that upheaval.
Now that the Shen Family’s suspicion was ruled out, only the Mu Family and Chu Family remained.
The Mu Family was Empress Mu’s maternal home; when Empress Mu passed, Yue Tang had returned and inevitably met Mu Family members face-to-face.
The Chu Family was Princess Consort Chu’s maternal home. After Princess Consort Chu married in, Yue Tang wasn’t required to meet Chu Family members. But Yue Tang was close to Princess Consort Chu since childhood, and the Chu Family had seen Yue Tang before she was six.
With a glance’s impression and childhood features, identifying Yue Tang in the returning procession that night would be effortless.
So who exactly was the person below, one of the two?
Wei Zhang didn’t know.
But Yue Tang’s face, pale as cold moonlight, and her bluish knuckles gripping the window frame, already revealed she had seen through the clues.
The atmosphere in the room was heavy.
Du Minghuan looked down at the ground, then slowly raised his head moments later, his left hand lightly on his knife sheath, staring straight at the person: “The assassination order came from you. I was just following orders.
“Du has no other requests, just wants to survive.
“Back then you provided the money, I handled it—originally a clean transaction.
“But who knew after three years, this mess would arise.
“No one wanted this.
“Forgive my bluntness: if this is dug deeper, naturally I Du will die, but the real culprit hides in the shadows. If you abandon my Du Family, can you truly emerge unscathed in the end?
“Can you guarantee she hasn’t traced it back to you yet?”
The air instantly froze.
The person stood fixed before Du Minghuan, then sneered coldly: “Such gall! Daring to threaten me now.”
Du Minghuan’s hand on the knife sheath unconsciously tightened. “How would I dare threaten? It’s just that now, with no way out, I only hope we can tide over the crisis together.”
Though his words were tough, his shifting feet and erratic gaze revealed his inner unease.
At this tense standoff, the person chuckled again, then spoke in a lazy tone: “I never said I wouldn’t help. Why so anxious?”
He paced slowly to the desk and stopped: “The Three Judicial Offices are still investigating the He Family case. I’ll find a way to delay progress.
“But you must quickly track down the real culprit’s whereabouts.”
His gaze fixed straight on Du Minghuan: “I don’t care if really only Wei Zhang escaped. Within half a month, sort everything out and find the person for me!
“I know you have leads.
“Just like I know you came prepared tonight.”
At this point, he suddenly slid a dagger from his sleeve, then hurled it forward with a whoosh toward the wall!
The knife embedded straight into the wall crack, immediately followed by a thud outside, as if someone had fallen from a height!
Du Minghuan instantly retreated two steps, his previously tense face now stunned!
Such a refined person, yet his move so swift!
More crucially, he had detected the ambush!
……
Yue Tang outside the window now stared fixedly at the person’s left hand.
“Master,” Wei Zhang finally couldn’t hold back and leaned to her side, whispering in her ear: “He’s left-handed!”
The dagger just now was also thrown with his left hand.
“Exactly.”
Yue Tang said.
Then she pursed her lips tightly, turned around, and gazed at the stars in the sky through the side wall’s vent window.
Moments later, she removed a pearl hairpin from her head, rubbed it briefly on her fingertip, and placed it on the window frame.
“Let’s go.”
The two in the secret room had also dispersed.
Du Minghuan stayed in place, while the masked person pressed a mechanism under the wall with his left hand and exited through the revealed hidden door.
Wei Zhang withdrew his gaze: “Not tracking him?”
“No need.” Yue Tang turned her head again, her gaze sliding over the pearl hairpin, then deeply at the now-empty secret room below. “They have more people. No need to take risks.
“Besides revenge, I want the truth.
“Let’s get out first!”
With that, she turned and dashed up the passageway.
Last night while writing, guests suddenly arrived, didn’t leave until dawn, hastily posted the update, just made minor edits now
