Chapter 400 - 398: A Sudden Scapegoat (Second Update)

Chapter 400: Chapter 398: A Sudden Scapegoat (Second Update)

Xu Jing was slightly taken aback.

For Xiao Yi to specifically have Xiang You come back to tell her something, it must not be a trivial matter.

She stopped walking, returned to the small hall and sat down, saying, "What is it?"

Xiang You: "The Lord said that recently several other Military Governors of Great Chu have been acting suspiciously, seemingly mobilizing troops secretly. The troops under the Jiang Family’s control have also been making some small moves in secret. The Holy Emperor has already ordered someone to keep a close watch on the Jiang Family. The Lord wants madam to be very careful in her affairs lately and has instructed me to stay by your side these days."

Xu Jing’s heart suddenly sank.

It seems the Jiang Family can’t sit still any longer.

Knowing that the large faction behind the scenes scheming for this kingdom came from the four great families of Great Chu, the Jiang Family must have realized that Xiao Yi and his group would eventually find their way to them.

Even if they wanted to act only after thorough consideration, they had no choice now but to break out of this predicament before that veil is completely pierced.

Even though Xiao Yi and the others suspect that the faction is most likely the Jiang Family, without solid evidence they dare not make hasty moves, especially since the Jiang Family’s influence spans across the court and army of the Great Chu Dynasty, any minor action could affect the entire realm.

Not to mention, the Jiang Family also controls one of the most powerful armies of Great Chu—the Heavenly Martial Army.

No wonder Xiao Yi has been so busy of late. Before, when she was in Anping County, he even had Xiao He come to escort her.

Seeing Xu Jing’s serious expression and her long silence, Xiang You paused and said, "The Lord wants me to tell madam that the current situation is still under his and the Holy Emperor’s control, so there’s no need for madam to worry too much. Madam only needs to take good care of herself."

But Xu Jing suddenly stood up, took a deep breath, and said in a deep voice, "No!"

The people around were startled by Xu Jing, not understanding what she meant by her sudden words.

Xu Jing’s face became more tense, her lips tightly pursed. Suddenly, she said, "Cheng Xiao, quickly send someone to the Lin Family to arrest Lin Chengzhao!"

Cheng Xiao was taken aback and said, "But madam, we neither have the authority nor the reason to arrest someone..."

Arrests are the responsibility of the government office.

"The authority and reason can be discussed later!"

Xu Jing ordered coldly, "If we don’t arrest him now, he’ll escape!"

Cheng Xiao dared not say anything more, responded with a clasped fist, and quickly went out to gather people.

Xu Jing then strode towards the door, saying, "The rest of you, follow me to Shi Wenfeng’s house immediately!"

Something she had gotten wrong, very wrong!

And it was something she should have realized earlier!

However, she was still too late.

When Xu Jing arrived at Shi Wenfeng’s house, she saw Mr. Yao leading a group of people about to enter and sensed something was amiss. She immediately ran up and asked, "Mr. Yao, has something happened?"

Mr. Yao paused, looking at Xu Jing who was quickly approaching, quite surprised, "Miss Xu, why are you here?"

Xu Jing briefly said, "I’ve found out that the person most likely to have poisoned among those six is Shi Wenfeng."

Mr. Yao’s expression darkened slightly upon hearing this, and after a moment he said, "Coincidentally, I thought the same. However, when I sent people to find Shi Wenfeng for questioning, they found he was missing."

Missing?!

Xu Jing’s eyebrows furrowed.

Mr. Yao quickly explained, "Yesterday, the government officials saw Shi Wenfeng enter his own house. After that, I left two government officials to monitor him nearby, and they didn’t see him come out until noon today. So they assumed Shi Wenfeng was still at home.

Who knew that this afternoon, when I sent people to his house to ask some questions, they knocked on the door for a long time with no answer. Realizing something was wrong, they forcibly broke in, only to find that he was no longer inside!"

Xu Jing managed to calm herself and said, "Could he have escaped when the watchers weren’t paying attention?"

"That’s unlikely. The courtyard he rented is very small, with a front door leading to a narrow alley only two people wide, and similarly with the back door. This courtyard only has two doors. I left one person at each gate, and they are sure he did not leave."

Mr. Yao said in a deep voice, "Moreover, the most crucial thing is, my men just told me they found a tunnel in Shi Wenfeng’s bedroom, leading directly to a nearby abandoned earth temple."

A tunnel?!

Cheng Xiao was shocked and said, "How is that possible! I remember, Shi Wenfeng was transferred to the Western Capital in mid-October. Could it be that in less than five months he dug such a tunnel?

And did he determine early on that he wanted to commit poisoning, so he dug this tunnel in advance?"

But in mid-October, their lady had no intention of competing with the Lin Family for the right to supply medicine to the army!

At that time, they didn’t even know that the force behind the scenes was the Jiang Family!

Xu Jing was silent for a moment, then suddenly curled her lips and said, "What if the tunnel was in the house from the beginning?"

And Shi Wenfeng’s choice to rent this courtyard was no accident.

Cheng Xiao couldn’t help but look at his lady in a daze.

Does the lady mean that Shi Wenfeng has accomplices?

And that he and his accomplices planned to harm their Xinglin Hall long ago?

Xu Jing didn’t say much, and said, "Let’s go look at the tunnel first."

The tunnel was indeed in the bedroom of the house, hidden under a bookshelf, and the passage could only allow one person to enter and exit. It took about two quarters of an hour to reach the exit.

Mr. Yao dispatched several government officials to walk the entire length, and after they emerged, a government official frowned deeply and said, "There are many wooden boards and strips used as supports in the tunnel. It seems that many of them are quite old; this tunnel wasn’t dug recently, it’s been here for at least two or three years."

After hearing this, everyone present was incredulous, except for Xu Jing, whose face darkened further, clearly unsurprised by this result.

Mr. Yao couldn’t help but say, "Could it be... could it be the landlord of this courtyard dug it?"

He was about to call someone to bring the landlord for questioning, but Xu Jing chuckled softly and said, "I can probably guess who dug this tunnel and who is behind Shi Wenfeng."

Mr. Yao turned sharply to look at Xu Jing, his face full of surprise.

Xu Jing didn’t look at him but turned to Cheng Xiao and said, "Did you catch the person I asked you to apprehend?"

Cheng Xiao froze slightly, then quickly said, "I will send someone to check the situation now."

"Hmm."

Xu Jing said indifferently, "If the person has been captured, there’s no need to bring them to me. Take them directly to the Western Capital Prefecture Yamen."

About half an hour later, Mr. Yao and Xu Jing stood in the Western Capital Prefecture Yamen, looking at Lin Chengzhao, who was brought before them in a sorry state. Mr. Yao couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise, "Miss Xu, what... what is happening?!"

Xu Jing didn’t answer his question but said to the guards holding Lin Chengzhao, "Take the cloth out of his mouth."

As soon as the cloth was removed, Lin Chengzhao, whose eyes were full of bloodshot tears, gritted his teeth and shouted, "Xu, Jing! Who do you think you are! What right do you have to arrest me! Do you believe that I..."

Before he could finish his harsh words, Xu Jing assertively said, "I didn’t arrest you; you couldn’t have not known about the poisoning incident in the medicine soup distributed to the refugees by Xinglin Hall yesterday. Bringing you here is to have you assist in the investigation."

Saying this, she gave Mr. Yao a meaningful glance.

Mr. Yao: "..."

Fortunately, he was quick-witted enough to smoothly accept this unexpected responsibility, cleared his throat, and said, "That’s right, the one who brought you here is me. However, I was overwhelmed with work earlier and couldn’t spare the time, so I asked Miss Xu to help apprehend you."

Lin Chengzhao’s eyes widened fiercely, never expecting that it was the people from the Western Capital Prefecture Yamen who wanted to arrest him.

Mr. Yao, fearing he might change his mind, cleared his throat again and sternly said, "Master Lin, at noon today, Shi Wenfeng, who was the prime suspect in the poisoning, suddenly disappeared. We found a long-dug tunnel in his bedroom. If I’m not mistaken, Shi Wenfeng... is your man, right?"

He knew Miss Xu had been competing with the Lin Family’s Guangming Hall for the right to supply medicine to the army.

Even though he didn’t know the grievances between the Lin Family and the Zhou Family, or why Shi Wenfeng happened to reside in a courtyard with a tunnel,

it didn’t prevent him from understanding that Xu Jing’s intent behind presenting Lin Chengzhao to him was that he was connected to this poisoning case.

Lin Chengzhao’s body trembled violently, glaring at Xu Jing with newfound hatred in his eyes, realizing he could no longer hide it, he shouted, "I admit, Shi Wenfeng... is indeed my man. I bribed him two years ago. That guy hated his father and wanted to make a name for himself and earn his father’s respect. Bribing him was not difficult. You think I didn’t know that Zhou brat planted many people in our Guangming Hall? I was merely reciprocating in kind!

Having Shi Wenfeng move into that courtyard was also my idea. Our Lin Family has been entrenched in the Western Capital for many years, and we have some life-saving methods and tricks. When the Zhou Family suddenly reopened the Tianyi Hall branch in the Western Capital, it was meant to irritate me. I had Shi Wenfeng move into that courtyard just in case, thinking it might come in handy someday!

But I swear I knew nothing about this poisoning! I didn’t instruct him to poison. I also don’t know what came over him to suddenly do such a thing!"