Chapter 102

The Hua merchant, a wealthy businessman surnamed Hua, immediately sensed something was wrong the moment he saw the scene unfolding before him.

Rumors had it that the Du family was currently basking in the emperor's favor, but why was the reality he was witnessing with his own eyes so different?

And how on earth did the Du family get tangled up with the Xiongnu?

The Hua merchant, sharp as only a seasoned businessman could be, had a gut feeling screaming: Danger, danger, danger!

Right then and there, he publicly distanced himself from the Gao and Du households, made up a hasty excuse, and hurried to leave.

He had barely stepped out of the Du residence and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead when a pair of hands reached out to wrap both of his in their grasp.

Pei Qianhuo, who had been lying in wait there for ages, looked at him with deep, almost clingy affection in his eyes: "Brother Hua, you've only just arrived in the capital, and you've already gotten a taste of how cruel people can be. You must be feeling pretty upset right now, huh?"

"But don't worry. Today you've run into me, the future number one merchant under the sun with a boundless future. Pei... the name doesn't really matter that much."

"Team up with Pei, and I'll make sure you get to experience the warmth of a home, plus a windfall of staggering wealth!"

Just like that, the Hua merchant, completely bewildered, half-heartedly let himself be led into Pei Qianhuo's carriage.

Pei Qianhuo, on his part, was over the moon with joy inside: Thanks a ton to Gao and Du for sending me a wealthy merchant from Jiangnan free of charge! Whoo-hoo~~~

Back inside the Du residence, the few people present stared at each other in stunned silence.

Du Guanliu's face darkened with displeasure. "Director Gao, you've just slapped such a huge baseless accusation on me out of nowhere. Slandering a court official—what crime do you think that counts as?!"

The one facing him was a high-ranking minister, but Gao Chongguang did not show an ounce of fear. His mouth opened and closed rapidly as he shot back: "Lord Du, you're colluding with factions for personal gain. What crime do you think that counts as?"

Du Guanliu spoke with obvious anger in his voice: "This official was simply having a casual meal with Vice Minister Gao. What proof do you have for your claims?"

Gao Chongguang huffed coldly, lifting his chin. "I'm not falling for that trick of yours. Why should I be the one to provide proof? The one who's currently suspected of colluding with factions is you, Lord Du. It's your job to find a way to prove that you're not forming a clique for personal gain!"

Du Guanliu was so furious his voice cracked: "You! You're being completely unreasonable!"

Gao Dexiang, caught in the middle, could not get a handle on the situation no matter what he did. He wanted to scold his useless son, but then he remembered that his son was now currying favor with His Majesty. To scold him to his face would be nothing short of slapping the emperor in the face.

He could only turn to the emperor and speak respectfully: "Your Majesty, this subject was merely having a casual meal with Lord Du, discussing some Ministry of Personnel affairs, nothing more."

Yun Yaoyao did not let any emotion show on her face. Her deep, unfathomable eyes swept over Du Guanliu first, then settled on Gao Dexiang. She stared at him until he was so uncomfortable that cold sweat trickled down his back, before she finally pulled her gaze away and gave a faint smile.

She was angry. Or at least, she was pretending to be.

"Of course I know that. Director Gao, you were the one who wronged them."

"Your Majesty, please forgive me." Gao Chongguang fell silent immediately, and shrank back behind Yun Yaoyao.

Yun Yaoyao had brushed off Gao Chongguang's disrespectful behavior as lightly as a feather, leaving Du Guanliu seething with suppressed rage. But thinking back to the words Yan Qinghong had said earlier, he could only hold his temper, secretly vowing that he would send assassins later to kill that blabbermouth Gao to vent his frustration.

"Minister Yan said the leader of the Xiongnu Death Riders is hiding in the Du residence. What is the meaning of that?"

Yan Qinghong wore a smirk that looked exactly like a classic villain's grin. "It means exactly what it says. And I have solid evidence for it. If Minister Du has no objections, this official will order my men to search the Du residence right now."

"Even if you do have objections, we still have to conduct the search first. I was just being polite by asking for your opinion in the first place."

"You!" The calm Du Guanliu had barely managed to restore was shattered all over again.

He was the Minister of Personnel, the Duke of Du, for heaven's sake! The Du family was a distinguished noble clan with generations of prestige!

How dare all these people treat him with such disregard, one after another?

Du Guanliu was just about to blow up, when Yun Yaoyao flew into a rage on his behalf first: "Minister Yan, this matter concerns the Xiongnu Death Riders, and you're searching Lord Du's residence no less. If you find nothing in there, I will strip you of your position as Minister!"

Since His Majesty had already spoken, Du Guanliu could only swallow his anger again, holding the grievance deep in his chest.

Yan Qinghong had already dispatched his men to search every single courtyard in the Du residence.

In fact, the Shadow Guard had been keeping the place where the Death Riders’ leader was hiding under surveillance for ages. Why did they have to make such a big, ostentatious show out of it? Naturally, because they wanted to stir up some trouble…

Since the guests had already arrived, Du Guanliu could not very well let them sit around doing nothing. He ordered his servants to tidy up the place, and before he knew it, they were preparing a second feast…

Yun Yaoyao and Tu Shanjin had not had their dinner yet, so after the palace servants finished testing the food for poison, the two of them dug right in.

Du Guanliu and Gao Dexiang, who had just finished a full meal, had to force themselves to eat again out of etiquette. For the first time in their lives, they felt that delicious food could be such a torturous thing.

Meanwhile, the officers conducting the search kept sending back updates.

"No trace of any Xiongnu in Eldest Young Master Du's courtyard!"

"No trace of any Xiongnu in Madam Du's courtyard!"

"No trace of any Xiongnu in the Sixteenth Young Master Du's courtyard!"

One report after another came in, and the atmosphere in the hall unconsciously grew more and more tense. The suspicion in Du Guanliu's eyes deepened by the second.

They had just been about to finalize a cooperation deal with the Hua merchant when His Majesty showed up and interrupted them. How could that possibly be such a coincidence?

What on earth were Yun Yaoyao and Yan Qinghong planning to do today?

Gao Dexiang had messed up two consecutive important matters. His son was now a loyal lackey of the emperor, and his good friend had also defected to the emperor's side. Had he never once had any disloyal thoughts towards him deep down?

Or had he secretly switched sides to serve the emperor long ago, and everything that had happened was just an act? Had he deliberately lost their game yesterday, then used the Hua merchant as a bargaining chip to keep him calm, before leaking the news to let the emperor come over and snatch the merchant away at the last second?

Everything was a blur of truth and lies. Du Guanliu was now genuinely starting to doubt how much of Gao Dexiang's loyalty to him was still left.

Gao Dexiang, who had been Du Guanliu's most sycophantic, bootlicking follower for years, took one look at the expression on Du Guanliu's face and knew at once that Lord Du really did not trust him anymore!

His mind was thrown into utter chaos. He felt as if he was being placed on a burning rack, flipped over and scorched from every direction, suffering terribly.

At that moment, he just wanted to yell at the top of his lungs: Lord Du, I didn't betray you! This is all a scheme His Majesty deliberately set up to mess with me, I swear!!!

Compared to the Gao and Du pair, who were in the same camp but harboring different suspicions, Yun Yaoyao and Tu Shanjin were currently having a discussion about "food".

"I was really hungry this time, and I was planning to eat a lot more. But right now I'm borrowing your body, so if I eat too much, it'll break the persona I'm supposed to keep. So you should eat more instead, that way it'll look like I'm eating very little. Hehe."

"Alright. Is the Life and Death Book usually this easily starved? Why can't you sustain yourself with the spiritual energy between heaven and earth?"

"Back then, this Life and Death Book naturally fed on the netherworld's yin qi and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. But now I'm living in your mortal body, a man's body at that. I get hungry fast, and I get full fast, and… well, you know. I'm rather distressed about it, to be honest!"

Tu Shanjin: "..." In the end, it somehow became his fault.

Yun Yaoyao kept eating while listening to the reports coming in, mentioning the Sixteenth Young Master Du, the Ninth Miss Du, the Twelfth Concubine, one after another. She smacked her lips and said: "Good thing when we were dealing with Tushan Ze and neutering him at the Double Ninth Banquet, I took the chance to neuter Du Guanliu as well."

"Otherwise, after we overthrow the Du family in the future, we'd have countless of his descendants coming after us to seek revenge, and that'd be such a headache to deal with."

Just as Du Guanliu was growing more and more impatient, the soldier in charge of the search ran back to report: "We found traces of Xiongnu presence in the Fourth Young Master Du’s wife's courtyard!"