Chapter 760 - 455: Sealed Letter in Red Wax (Part 2)

Lu Geng sat there, staring at Ruyi, making clicking sounds with his tongue. He said, "What a beauty! Junior Brother, you certainly are lucky in love! Alas..."

Duan Rong, at this moment, was in no mood to banter with Lu Geng. He knew Lu Geng must have a reason for visiting, so he glanced at Ruyi and said, "Ruyi, serve my Senior Brother some tea!"

"No need!" Lu Geng replied, "I just had a large bowl of soup. My stomach is full." Hearing this, Ruyi stood there feeling a bit at a loss.

Lu Geng gave her a look and said, "Girl, you can leave now. I have some matters to discuss with your sweetheart."

By "sweetheart," Lu Geng naturally meant Duan Rong.

Ruyi felt both shy and embarrassed upon hearing this, but she couldn’t suppress the slight joy rising in her heart.

Ruyi lowered her head and walked past Duan Rong, heading outside.

At this moment, Zhu Zhengfu was still kneeling at the door. Lu Geng turned his head toward him and said, "Lord Zhu, you should leave too."

"Yes, my lord!"

Only then did Zhu Zhengfu rise and step out of the door.

Duan Rong sat with a grave expression not far from Lu Geng, saying nothing.

Ruyi carefully closed the door and walked toward the courtyard gate.

The moment the door closed, Duan Rong felt a sliver of divine sense being released from Lu Geng, scanning outward. Clearly, Lu Geng was uneasy about the surroundings and feared their conversation would be overheard.

Looking at Lu Geng, Duan Rong coldly said, "Senior Brother, when did you arrive? And how did you come?"

Lu Geng glanced at Duan Rong, his face now devoid of any humor. "I just arrived this morning, rode in through the East City Gate."

Duan Rong’s facial muscles twitched as he asked, "You rode in through the East City Gate and came straight to find me?"

Lu Geng replied, "Not exactly! I first went to the inn for some food, and then Wang Maochun and Chen Shanmeng visited the inn to pay their respects. I told them I was coming to see you and then came here."

"What?!" Duan Rong struggled to comprehend Lu Geng’s actions and asked, "Senior Brother, do you think I haven’t been exposed enough? Aren’t you making it obvious to the entire Divine Cloud Prefecture that I’m here?"

Lu Geng chuckled and said, "Junior Brother, you still think your stay here in this courtyard is some kind of secret? Not only Divine Cloud Prefecture, but even the Elder Hall of the sect hundreds of miles away knows you’re here!"

Duan Rong momentarily didn’t grasp Lu Geng’s meaning. In recent days, only the waiter from Taihe Building had come to investigate, and he had left without even seeing him. They might know someone is in this courtyard, but how could they guess it was him?

Suddenly turning the focus, Lu Geng asked with a somber expression, "Junior Brother, let me ask you, how did you kill Li Shensi?"

Duan Rong furrowed his brows slightly and replied, "By poison!

Lu Geng suddenly rose, pacing before Duan Rong, and asked, "Jiang Zhe has brought a pharmacist from the Sect Medicine Pavilion, and they’re on their way. Can the poison be detected?"

Maintaining his calm, Duan Rong replied, "It cannot be detected."

Lu Geng abruptly stopped, turned, and fixed his gaze on Duan Rong, asking, "Junior Brother, this matter is of great importance, not something to boast about! Are you sure it cannot be detected?"

Duan Rong nodded and said, "I’m sure." Of course, he was sure, as Li Shensi wasn’t poisoned at all, so who could detect it?

Lu Geng continued to stand there, staring blankly at Duan Rong, as if waiting for an explanation.

This was something Duan Rong had already thought through before planning the Wuji Mountain incident. So now, he calmly explained, "That kind of poison is volatile. After the victim’s death, the toxins in the body completely evaporate in about a day. Li Shensi fell from a cliff, his body mangled upon death, which accelerated the toxin’s evaporation. It probably evaporated nearly completely in just one hour!"

Lu Geng’s serious expression suddenly eased significantly. His eyes moved as he continued to ask, "Can even the sect’s pharmacist not detect it?"

Duan Rong replied, "It’s already completely evaporated, how could it be detected? Even I couldn’t."

Finally, Lu Geng let out a slight chuckle, patting Duan Rong on the shoulder and saying, "Junior Brother, I couldn’t tell! You’re quite the expert with poisons!"

Saying this, Lu Geng sat back down on his chair and said, "The Master is very pleased with your actions this time. He praised you for using your mind well and being unconventional!"

Duan Rong gave a faint smile, thinking that if the poison could have been detected, Lu Geng wouldn’t be saying such things.

Duan Rong asked, "Is Jiang Zhe coming to investigate the Li Shensi case?"

Lu Geng replied, "That’s Master Chu’s intention! Yang Yi, I, and Jiang Zhe will be presiding over the Li Shensi case at the Ministry of Justice."

Upon hearing this, Duan Rong pondered for a moment and remarked, "This arrangement seems rather unusual."

For the case of the former Minister of the Secretariat Zhu Shizhong, Duan Rong was only assisting in the investigation. The primary department handling the case was the Ministry of Justice, and the case was handled by Zhu Cheng and Zhu Peng. In other words, that case was completely handled within the secular judicial structure.

Lu Geng said, "When the events themselves are unusual, how can the arrangements be ordinary?"

In fact, when Zhu Shizhong died, first it seemed uncanny, initially thought to be a natural disaster. Secondly, he was of Zhu He’s lineage. Within the Elder Hall, others tacitly remained uninvolved, and Zhu He alone led the case.

However, the situation with Li Shensi was different. Within the Elder Hall, Zhu He and Ge Rusong were already at odds, making the arrangements naturally unusual.

Lu Geng continued, "Junior Brother, do you know? In the sect’s Elder Hall, Ge Rusong firmly insists that you killed Li Shensi."

Duan Rong remained unmoved, sighing, "Doing the dirty work and taking the blame—this is not an uncommon thing, is it?"