At that moment, Li Musheng reached out gently, and an object appeared in his hand as if from thin air.
Murong Xiaoya, however, had been keeping her head down the entire time and did not see this.
After his gaze swept over the thing in his hand, Li Musheng's expression shifted to one of quiet understanding, and he said suddenly, "Ah, that explains it. No wonder Miss Murong needed to keep this hidden."
The moment those words fell, Murong Xiaoya was briefly startled, and then her expression changed abruptly.
She immediately reached a hand toward her chest, felt around inside her clothing, and then her head snapped up to look at Li Musheng before her.
When her eyes landed on the jade token in his hand, she froze completely where she stood, and for a long moment she was simply unable to say a word.
"I..."
Murong Xiaoya's breathing became unsteady and shallow, her temples' loose strands of hair blown about by the breeze, stirring across her flushed cheeks in a flustered sweep.
She was clearly in a state of extreme panic right now, and had no idea whatsoever what she should say.
At this point, Hu Rui'an and the others had also noticed the unusual scene on this side, but since Li Musheng had said nothing, they naturally did not dare come over to ask.
At this moment, Li Musheng looked at Murong Xiaoya and said, "I noticed you quietly pick up this jade token just now and was curious, so I came over to take a look. Now that I see it, this token was most likely dropped here by someone from your Murong family."
As he spoke, he placed the jade token back into her hands, then said, "Miss Murong, I imagine you saw the bodies in the rear courtyard just now. Even if this was something the Murong family did, it has nothing to do with you. It would be best not to get yourself entangled in this."
With that, Li Musheng turned and walked away, while Murong Xiaoya tightened her grip on the jade token in her hand, then lowered her head and let out a quiet sigh.
Then she walked after Li Musheng and handed the jade token to Hu Rui'an.
Hu Rui'an studied the jade token for a moment, and a flash of something unusual passed through his eyes.
He glanced at Li Musheng, then turned to look at Murong Xiaoya and asked, "This token is made of uncommon material. Whoever in the Murong family would carry a jade of this quality must be of considerable standing. Miss Murong, do you know who it belongs to?"
Hearing this, Murong Xiaoya hesitated briefly, stole another glance at Li Musheng, then said with a look of quiet sorrow, "It belongs to... my brother, Murong Feng."
Having said this, her already lowered head sank even further, her heart filled with a mixture of disappointment and bitter grief.
It was plain that even now she could not bring herself to accept that her brother had committed an act of slaughter this senseless and devastating.
The horrifying sight of those hundred-odd bodies in the rear courtyard was surfacing in her mind now, and it was genuinely difficult to look at.
Seeing this, Hu Rui'an thought for a moment, then shook his head, saying, "There is no need to jump to conclusions so quickly. The fact that this jade token is here certainly makes the Murong family the most obvious suspect, but there is also the possibility that someone deliberately planted it to frame them. The truth will only be known after a proper investigation."
As he spoke, his expression became somewhat more serious, and he said in a low, steady tone, "That said, concealing evidence and shielding a criminal is a serious offense under Great Li's laws. Miss Murong, do not do something like this again."
"I... I know."
Hearing this, Murong Xiaoya did not dare raise her head, and answered in a voice barely above a whisper.
She felt a deep sense of shame for what she had done just now.
It had been nothing but excessive worry for Murong Feng and the Murong family that had caused her to act against her conscience and conceal the token.
In truth, she had been struggling with herself even before Li Musheng approached her. The problem was that Li Musheng had moved so fast. The token she had tucked away inside her clothing had appeared in his hand without a sound and without any warning, leaving her no time to hesitate.
Murong Xiaoya's thoughts churned. She was quiet for a moment, then finally moved her feet and came to stand before Li Musheng, lowering her head and saying quietly, "Your Highness, I am sorry..."
Hearing this, Li Musheng waved a hand without saying much.
No one was a saint, and everyone had moments of selfish impulse.
To speak honestly, unless one were made of iron, almost anyone in this kind of situation would find themselves hesitating and torn.
At this point, Shen Anran came over and gently patted Murong Xiaoya on the shoulder.
About two incense sticks' worth of time passed, and Cao Gaoshan came galloping back, bringing with him a group of Tianjin Guards people.
"Commissioner, the Tianjin Guards have sent people to notify Six Doors and the Sheng Province garrison. I brought them back first."
Cao Gaoshan reported to Hu Rui'an, and Hu Rui'an turned to look at the people who had come from the Tianjin Guards.
What surprised him somewhat was that the person leading the Tianjin Guards was none other than Mei Yanyu, the son of Mei Yan whom he had met the night before.
At this point, Mei Yanyu looked Hu Rui'an and Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong over, narrowed his eyes slightly, and clasped his hands, saying, "Commissioner Hu, we meet again."
Hu Rui'an gave a quiet nod, and Mei Yanyu's gaze then shifted to Li Musheng not far away. He immediately stepped quickly toward him, bowed, and said, "I pay my respects to the Eighth Prince."
Li Musheng raised his eyes slightly, gave the man a glance, then let his gaze pass over a servant following behind him.
He simply waved a hand to indicate the formality was unnecessary.
The Mei family were the Queen Consort's own kin, and strictly speaking Mei Yanyu had some degree of distant family connection to Li Musheng.
Though the Mei family belonged to the Queen Consort and the First Prince's faction, Li Musheng as a newly acknowledged prince had no conflicting interests with the First Prince for the time being, and on the contrary, the other party might well be inclined to try to draw him in.
Seeing that Li Musheng showed little inclination to engage with him, Mei Yanyu's expression remained even, and he said nothing further, accompanying Hu Rui'an into the rear courtyard of the government office to examine the situation.
During this time, the Tianjin Guards people made no move to disturb the scene. The matter was too grave, and unless all three parties were present, any single party needed to avoid even the appearance of impropriety and could not act freely.
After taking in a rough overview of the rear courtyard, however, Mei Yanyu seemed to have spotted something, and said, "Nearly half of them were killed with a single sword thrust to the throat, and the sword technique used looks somewhat familiar. If I am not mistaken, the blade art used by the killer should be the Murong family's 'Azure Dragon Thousand Swords.'"
The moment those words fell, Hu Rui'an's gaze shifted, and he glanced at Murong Xiaoya.
Mei Yanyu clearly recognized Murong Xiaoya as well. A meaningful look spread across his face as he said, "The Azure Dragon Thousand Swords is the Murong family's exclusively passed-down sword art, which is essentially common knowledge among the martial world families of the entire provincial city. Even so, very few people have actually witnessed the technique in use."
Hearing this, Murong Xiaoya opened her mouth, but could not find anything to say.
At this point, Mei Yanyu looked at her and said slowly, "Miss Xiaoya need not be alarmed. Since the fact that the Azure Dragon Thousand Swords belongs to the Murong family is common knowledge, if this were truly the Murong family's doing, and they used this sword art so openly to commit the murders, it would be no different from a direct confession."
"In my view, this is most likely a case of deliberate framing intended to bring about the Murong family's destruction."