Champion Marquis Huo Xian said nothing. Though on the surface Consort Jing had died of illness brought on by grief, both he and Li Ruan'an had investigated the matter, and found that she had been poisoned with an extremely unusual substance.
This poison was beyond detection by ordinary means, but worked slowly over time to damage its victim's body, growing worse with every passing day, until finally no remedy could save her and she breathed her last.
As for who had administered the poison, Huo Xian and Li Ruan'an had investigated everyone around Consort Jing without turning up the culprit.
And so Li Ruan'an had turned her suspicion toward Li Zhi, and eventually found the very poison used on Consort Jing within Li Zhi's residence.
"How does Your Highness intend to act?"
Champion Marquis Huo Xian spoke up to ask, and Li Ruan'an replied in a perfectly calm voice, "Li Zhi cannot leave the imperial prison anytime soon. To kill him, I will naturally have to go inside."
At those words, Champion Marquis Huo Xian furrowed his brow slightly and offered a reminder, "Your Highness should be aware that Li Zhi appears to have a connection with the Soul Chaser Hall that is no ordinary one. And the imperial prison is guarded by powerful experts. Getting inside will not be easy."
Li Ruan'an shook her head and looked at Huo Xian, "What could be more natural than me paying him a visit in the prison?"
Huo Xian fell silent for a moment, "In that case, would the entire world not know that Your Highness killed Li Zhi?"
"Great-Uncle's identity is not yet time to reveal. I will ask Great-Uncle to disguise himself and accompany me to the prison."
Li Ruan'an spoke slowly, then narrowed her eyes, "Li Zhi is a man of extremely deep cunning and is not easily dealt with. Even though I am confident I can kill him, for safety's sake I still need Great-Uncle to be there watching."
At those words, Champion Marquis Huo Xian did not hesitate, and gave a nod, "Do not worry, Your Highness. Since it is to avenge your mother, I will naturally accompany you."
As he said this, Huo Xian suddenly seemed to think of something, and asked, "Should we tell the Eighth Prince of this matter?"
Li Ruan'an thought briefly, then shook her head, "My own younger brother clearly has no interest in any of this. From the moment he arrived in the capital, he has never once asked about the true and false prince case."
"As for Li Zhi, who stole his place and occupied his position as prince for nearly twenty years, he shows not the slightest concern for him, apparently harboring neither resentment nor hatred."
As she said this, Li Ruan'an's expression became unreadable, "I had thought that with his martial cultivation, killing Li Zhi would be the simplest thing in the world. But the princes he killed were only Li Que and Li Zhu. His mind is simply not on any of this."
At those words, Huo Xian gave a faint frown, then let out a quiet sigh and said nothing further.
...
Great Li imperial capital, Six Doors.
"It is truly hard to believe. I once met that Eighth Prince in person, and at the time thought he was nothing out of the ordinary. Who could have known that his martial cultivation was this terrifying? Even the Hidden Kill Pavilion's Kill-Saint bowed before him."
Ji Feiyun shook her head in amazement. Li Musheng destroying Falling God Peak had already been staggering enough, and now this clash with the Kill-Saint had once again dropped everyone's jaw.
In the room, both Gong Lishan and Fu Yu were silent.
They had gone outside the city themselves and witnessed that clash in person, and had felt the Kill-Saint's killing intent with their own bodies, experiencing firsthand the kind of hopeless dread that made a person's skin crawl.
And yet even an existence that powerful had ultimately been unable to defeat Li Musheng.
Fu Yu in particular had a noticeably unpleasant look on his face right now.
Ever since news of the clash spread, who in the entire capital would dare stand against that Eighth Prince?
Even Six Doors and the Hidden Intelligence Bureau, tasked with investigating the Second Prince's death, had tacitly turned perfunctory and half-hearted about the investigation, and had never once gone to question or interrogate the Eighth Prince throughout.
Which also meant that everything Fu Yu had done before, killing the Second Prince's residence manager and the other moves he had made in secret, had all come to nothing. Essentially a complete waste of effort.
"The Eighth Prince's influence is without equal right now. Word is that even the First Prince and Fifth Prince have taken refuge in the palace and have not gone back to their residences."
Gong Lishan said softly, and Fu Yu raised his head to glance at the two of them, then composed himself and narrowed his eyes, "We need to be careful about what we do from here on. Try to avoid touching anything connected to that Eighth Prince. As for the Second Prince's case, I will ask the Chief Constable to let us off from investigating it."
At those words, Ji Feiyun's expression shifted, and she let out a breath of relief, "That could not be better. We are better off avoiding those powerful figures. One wrong step and it could mean losing our heads. After all, killing someone like us would be no harder for him than crushing an ant."
As she said this, she glanced at Fu Yu and seemed to think of something, "Chief, that Chief Constable Cang you asked me to find, she disappeared for a while and has now returned to the Tianjin Guards headquarters. She seems to be all right."
At those words, Gong Lishan beside them looked at Fu Yu and said, "Chief, you need not worry. The Eighth Prince is enormously powerful. With Miss Cang working at his side, her safety should not be in question."
Fu Yu said nothing, but the expression in the depths of his eyes was extremely dark.
After all, what he wanted was not merely Cang Yinyue's safety. What he wanted was the person herself.
How could he allow a woman he had set his eyes on to remain at another man's side?
Even so, however unwilling he was, there was nothing he could do about it right now.
"Keep people watching the Tianjin Guards headquarters and Cang Yinyue. The Eighth Prince has no shortage of enemies at the moment, and someone may yet take the desperate step of going after those around him."
Fu Yu gave the instruction, then waved a hand and dismissed Ji Feiyun and Gong Lishan.
Watching the two of them leave, Fu Yu's expression shifted through a series of changes, and in the end he let out a sigh.
"With only my position among the Ten Famous Constables, there is very little I can do. It seems I still need to draw on the strength of the Azure Hill House."
...
Inside a tavern in one of Shangyang City's market districts, a proprietor wearing a thin felt cap stood behind the counter working an abacus, occasionally flipping through an account book.
The tavern held only a handful of patrons drinking and chatting, making the place seem rather quiet. But at that moment, two figures, one old and one young, walked in through the door.
Both were dressed in Daoist robes, one blue and one green, and they came to stand before the counter.
"Daoists looking to drink?" the tavern proprietor noticed them and looked up with a friendly smile.
The blue-robed Daoist Qingye swept a look around, then produced a token from his sleeve and dropped it on the counter, saying flatly, "I want to see your highest authority."
At those words, the proprietor behind the counter furrowed his brow, but his expression showed no other reaction. He picked up the token and examined it for a moment.
His pupils then contracted sharply, and he looked up to study the two Daoists before him carefully. Finally, with a thoroughly serious expression, he said, "Please follow me to the rear courtyard, Daoists."
As he said this, the proprietor immediately called a serving boy to watch the main hall, then led the blue-robed Daoist and his companion toward the back.
Before long, the tavern proprietor left hurriedly through the back door, clearly going to find someone.
At the same time, in a private room in the tavern's rear courtyard, the blue-robed Daoist novice sat eating the pastries on the table beside him while looking at the blue-robed Daoist drinking wine and asking, "Master, how high a position does my Master Uncle hold in this Great Li court? Why all this secrecy?"
The blue-robed Daoist took a sip of the fine wine in his hand, then curled his lip and said, "Whatever high position he holds, he is still just someone else's lackey. Everything he does is the sort of petty, underhanded work that goes along with such a role."
At those words, the Daoist novice gave an "oh" that showed only partial understanding, and did not speak further.
It was plain to see that his master seemed to hold this Master Uncle in rather low regard, though the master was now calmly drinking the man's wine, so their relationship was evidently not all that bad.
Before long, the blue-robed Daoist had worked his way through several jars of fine wine that the proprietor had kept in reserve, and the Daoist novice had finished every last piece of pastry within reach.
And at that moment, an unhurried and deliberate voice spoke within the private room, "Elder Brother, it has been nearly ten years since we last saw each other. What brings you to seek me out today?"
As those words fell, a middle-aged man with distinguished features and richly embroidered robes appeared in the room without a sound, and settled into the seat across from the blue-robed Daoist.
The blue-robed Daoist raised his head and looked at the man, his gaze resting for a moment on that well-maintained face, which looked no more than thirty or forty years old, then said in a sour tone, "You truly have not changed much. That face of yours looks about the same as it did back then."
As he said this, he opened another jar of wine and took a swig, "If your face were not marginally more handsome than this poor Daoist's, why would Elder Sister have taken a liking to you, sending you all her best treasures?"
At those words, the Daoist novice beside them went momentarily blank.
And the relatively young-looking middle-aged man across from them, whose face had been cool and indifferent throughout, suddenly broke into a smile, "Elder Brother also seems not to have changed. Still the same carefree and irreverent attitude."
As he said this, his gaze shifted briefly to look at the blue-robed Daoist novice.
In an instant, the Daoist novice felt as though a pair of eyes capable of seeing directly into his very soul were looking at him, and his heart gave an immediate tremor. He quickly stood up in a formal and respectful posture and bowed, saying, "Your... your nephew pays his respects to Master Uncle."
At those words, the middle-aged man withdrew his gaze and gave a mild nod, "A decent level of natural aptitude."
Then he looked at the blue-robed Daoist across from him who was still drinking on his own, "What this Junior Brother did not expect is that someone as free-spirited as Elder Brother, at such an advanced age, would take on such a young disciple."
At those words, the blue-robed Daoist's face immediately fell, and he narrowed his eyes at the man, "You said I was old?"
He then let out a scoffing laugh, "You are not much younger than me. Pretending to be young, what is there to show off about?"
The richly-dressed middle-aged man shook his head, and did not take the bait, "Elder Brother surely does not make a call without a reason. Best to just say what you have come here looking for."
The blue-robed Daoist glanced at the man, then slowly let the expression on his face settle, and set down the wine jar in his hand, "Since you speak so plainly, I will come straight to the point."
As he said this, the blue-robed Daoist fixed his eyes on the middle-aged man and said, "I want to borrow Great Li's Imperial Dragon Divine Sword."
At those words, the middle-aged man's expression remained completely unchanged, but he refused directly and immediately, "Impossible."
"The Imperial Dragon Divine Sword is Great Li's national divine weapon. Only the Great Li emperor, His Majesty himself, is permitted to use it. It is absolutely impossible to lend it to anyone else."
The blue-robed Daoist kept his eyes fixed on the middle-aged man, and even in the face of refusal, his gaze did not waver, "Do not think that because you have become the Director of Great Li's Hidden Intelligence Bureau, you have truly turned into one of the Great Li court's dogs. You would do well to think about who taught you everything you know. When you were wandering the streets half-starved, who took you in and saved your life?"
At those words, the middle-aged man's face remained unmoved. He was quiet for a moment, then let out a sigh, "I have never forgotten the kindness of the temple and Elder Sister toward me. But what you are asking of me, Elder Brother, is truly too much. There is no way..."
But before the middle-aged man could finish, the blue-robed Daoist said in a sharp voice, "This poor Daoist does not want the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword for himself. It is for Elder Sister."
"Elder Sister?"
The middle-aged man furrowed his brow slightly, then shook his head, "As far as I know, Elder Sister has always held the temple in order, and has kept herself far from all martial world conflicts. What reason would she have to need the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword?"
As he said this, the middle-aged man's expression shifted, "Has something happened at the temple?"
The blue-robed Daoist let out a cold snort, pulled his gaze from the man, and said, "For the head of Great Li's top intelligence organization, your information is really not all that reliable."
Then he said in a measured voice, "About half a year ago, the Great Xuan court suddenly joined forces with a group of martial world experts and launched a night attack on the Azure Cloud Temple, taking Elder Sister captive and imprisoning her in the Great Xuan imperial palace."
"At the time I was not at the temple, and the moment I received the urgent message from the temple's disciples, I made my way directly to the Great Xuan imperial palace, intending to demand an explanation from the Great Xuan emperor and get Elder Sister out."
"But the Great Xuan imperial palace is a true dragon's den and tiger's lair, full of powerful martial experts and protected by its national divine weapon to a degree that is nearly impenetrable. Working alone, I could not even get through the palace gates."
At those words, the middle-aged man looked at the blue-robed Daoist with a furrowed brow, "That is impossible. The Hidden Intelligence Bureau has a considerable number of agents stationed in the Great Xuan capital. If what Elder Brother describes truly happened, the Hidden Intelligence Bureau would have known about the Great Xuan palace's attack on the Azure Cloud Temple."
The blue-robed Daoist shook his head, "Do you truly believe your Great Li Hidden Intelligence Bureau knows everything?"
"The Great Xuan palace's seizure of Elder Sister was conducted with extreme secrecy, and beyond taking her, those experts made no move against anyone else at the Azure Cloud Temple."
"And for the Azure Cloud Temple, this is not an affair that reflects well on them, so it was not made public. Naturally your Hidden Intelligence Bureau would not have caught wind of it."
The middle-aged man said nothing, simply watching the blue-robed Daoist, as though trying to determine whether the man was lying.
After all, knowing this elder brother of his as he did, deceiving him was something the man was entirely capable of doing.
At that moment, the Daoist novice standing to the side looked at the middle-aged man and carefully said, "Master Uncle, this is true. Master is not deceiving you."