Chapter 321 - 319: A Shocking Secret (First Update)

Chapter 321: Chapter 319: A Shocking Secret (First Update)

Xu Jing was slightly taken aback.

Those prisoners were all Li Yuan’s people, what they said, how could it be related to her?

The captives were all locked in the dungeon of the government office. After Xu Jing dressed up, she hurried over with Cheng Xiao leading the way.

Xiang You was guarding outside the dungeon. Upon seeing her, he immediately said, "Madam, please wait here for a moment. I will go in and inform the Lord that Madam has arrived."

Xu Jing said, "I’ll go in directly."

Xiang You’s expression was a bit unnatural, "The environment inside is filthy and bloody. It’s the Lord’s instruction not to let Madam in, fearing it might offend you."

Xu Jing slightly raised her eyebrows, thinking of the ancient methods of interrogating criminals she had read in books before, she had no real desire to go inside.

Although she wasn’t afraid of bloody and terrifying scenes, she wasn’t interested in watching people being tortured.

Xiao Yi and Zhao Jingxuan soon came out. Both men were of noble bearing, and when they emerged from the dungeon, apart from carrying a bit of the dungeon’s coldness, it was hard to imagine what they had been doing inside.

Seeing the undeniable fatigue on Xiao Yi’s face, Xu Jing frowned slightly and quickly stepped forward, saying, "Did you not sleep well last night?"

Xiao Yi scrutinized the woman in front of him, noticing that she wore only a seemingly not-so-thick large lapelled cape over her interlocking robe and skirt. He couldn’t help but pull her to his side, softly asking, "Wearing so little, aren’t you cold?"

"This cape has a lining. Though it looks thin, it’s very warm."

Xu Jing didn’t let him change the subject, looking steadily at him and asking, "Is your wound uncomfortable? Could it be you didn’t sleep well because of it?"

She slept well last night, without any dreams.

Xiao Yi couldn’t help but laugh lightly. Under the cover of his sleeve, he gently rubbed the back of her smooth hand, whispering, "My wound is nothing serious. You don’t need to worry too much. I didn’t sleep well, it’s just... I’m not used to the bed."

The real reason, he didn’t have the face to say.

Especially not in such a public setting.

Not used to the bed? He’s been in Lingzhou for more than half a month, and still not used to the bed?

Xu Jing immediately looked at him suspiciously.

On the side, Zhao Jingxuan, who had his eyes dazzled early in the morning by this couple acting as if no one else was present, couldn’t help but grimace and said sarcastically, "You two, have you forgotten there’s someone else here? Yanci, I know you treasure your wife, but we are still in the middle of official business. If you want to flirt, do it after we finish our work."

Infuriating! Next time he goes out on business trips, he’ll bring his wife along too!

All morning showing off, as if nobody else has a spouse to care for them!

Facing Prince Zhao, who was almost like his elder brother, Xiao Yi was still respectful. He composed himself and turned to Zhao Jingxuan, saying, "I wouldn’t dare forget about Prince Zhao. This isn’t the place for talking. Let’s go to the tea room next door first."

Saying this, he took Xu Jing by the hand and, along with Zhao Jingxuan, walked into the tea room next door.

As soon as Xu Jing sat down, she couldn’t help but ask, "Where are Lord Cui and his son?"

She thought she would see them this time.

Xiao Yi poured a cup of hot tea and placed it in front of Xu Jing, saying, "Although yesterday’s turmoil didn’t last long, Lingzhou still suffered a lot of damage everywhere. Cui Han and his son are busy outside dealing with the aftermath. After all, it’s not easy for the common folks to bear such a calamity so close to the new year. It’s best to calm this harm as soon as possible."

Indeed, it’s already December now, less than a month before the New Year.

Fortunately, the people of Lingzhou have long been accustomed to turmoil. Xu Jing had glanced at them a bit after entering the city yesterday. Many have already rallied to orderly rebuild their homes.

Warming her hands with the tea cup, she said, "Chunyang said, when you interrogated those prisoners this morning, you found out some things related to me?"

As she said this, Xiao Yi and Zhao Jingxuan couldn’t help but exchange a glance. Ultimately, it was Xiao Yi who said, "It’s not exactly related to you, but we thought you might want to know about this matter.

Currently, in the government office’s dungeon, besides the few generals we captured yesterday, there’s also Li Yuan. When we return to the capital, I’ll escort them back together.

Earlier, we had already deduced that Cui Han probably held something against Li Yuan, for Li Yuan to want to completely eradicate him. Last night, Prince Zhao and Cui Han’s father and son talked deeply and confirmed that the reason Li Yuan was targeting them was that they knew one of Li Yuan’s secrets."

Xu Jing couldn’t help but look towards Zhao Jingxuan, who took a light sip of his hot tea before saying, "About a month and a half ago, on Li Yuan’s fortieth birthday, he held a grand banquet in Yuanzhou. Because Yuanzhou, where Li Yuan is stationed, is next to Lingzhou, Cui Han personally went to Yuanzhou to deliver a gift to Li Yuan. But inadvertently, he stumbled upon a concubine in Li Yuan’s household causing a scene out of jealousy, who shouted about Li Yuan’s conspiracy with people in the court to rebel.

Although Cui Han immediately retreated and pretended not to hear the concubine’s words, Li Yuan was naturally suspicious, and preferred to kill wrongly rather than let it be."

Li Yuan collaborating with the court?

Xu Jing’s eyes darkened slightly, and she asked, "Could it be that Li Yuan is also part of Prince Xing’s faction?"

As far as she knew, the most rebellious in the court today was Prince Xing.

Zhao Jingxuan shook his head, "Things are far from that simple."

Xu Jing was slightly startled, and beside her, Xiao Yi said, "Jing, do you remember, when you were investigating the murder of the Zhao Family’s Steward Liao, I said that Prince Xing might just be a pawn of a larger power? That power started laying its plans as early as during the rebellion of King Wu twelve years ago, with the intention of overthrowing Great Chu?"

Xu Jing naturally remembered, taking a light breath and saying, "You mean, the person Li Yuan obeys is not Prince Xing, but... the greater power behind Prince Xing?"

"That’s right."

Zhao Jingxuan’s face became solemn, "The reason why Li Yuan went to such lengths to eradicate Cui Han is not just because Cui Han knew of his intent to rebel, but also because, back then, that concubine accidentally revealed a... world-shattering secret capable of overthrowing Great Chu.

She said the forces Li Yuan colluded with in the court were one of the four noble families of Great Chu...

However, before she could say which family specifically, she was caught by Li Yuan’s people."

Xu Jing was slightly shocked.

The four noble families of Great Chu—Zhao, Xiao, Jiang, and Wang—Prince Xing’s backing, unexpectedly... was one of these four!

These four families, each possessing enough power to influence half of Great Chu, if one of them had been lurking behind the scenes, it certainly matched the characteristics of the one behind the scenes!

And the two people sitting here belonged to two of these families.

Seeing Xu Jing unconsciously glance at them, Zhao Jingxuan smiled wryly and said, "Although I’m the heir of the Zhao family, the Zhao family has many members. Before thoroughly investigating everyone, I dare not say our family has no problems at all."

What he was sure of was that their own branch had no issues, but among the countless members of the Zhao family, any one of them could claim to represent the Zhao family. Whether any of them harbored ambitions they shouldn’t, he truly didn’t know.

But the one who could conspire with Li Yuan, and has always been orchestrating Prince Xing from behind, must not be a minor figure. It must either be someone in high office at court or someone with considerable military power, making them not difficult to trace.

As he spoke, he looked at Xiao Yi, "And Yanci, since you were ten years old, you’ve been away from the Xiao family. You probably don’t know too well what it’s like now."