Chapter 449 - 447: The Reason for Their Existence (First Update)

Chapter 449: Chapter 447: The Reason for Their Existence (First Update)

Nanny Lu retorted sharply, "Among the people here, the only one who has clearly had contact with the murderer is you, and the only one who has done anything for the murderer is you. You actually... you even deceived us all along, making us think the child in your belly belonged to Prince Ling!

If not you, who else could the murderer be?"

Consort Fang’s face turned red with anger, "You accuse me of lying, but... haven’t you lied too? Besides, when I came in, Princess Ling and the others were already dead, which means the murderer must be Dongyang or Shuangrui who came in earlier!

If Shuangrui is the murderer, then Dongyang also lied!"

The Mud Bodhisattva, cornered, showed a steely resolve, though no one expected Consort Fang to become so aggressive.

Governor Zhang frowned deeply and said in a stern voice, "Quiet, we will naturally find out the truth about the remaining matters!"

Having said that, he looked at Nanny Lu and asked, "Nanny Lu, why did you lie to us back then? Don’t you know this obstructs the investigation?"

Nanny Lu’s face turned pale and she quickly bowed, saying, "Please forgive me, Governor Zhang. I... I know I was foolish. I was momentarily confused and hid the truth, but I have always wanted to confess to Governor Zhang. However... I was afraid! That day, when I went in, I found that the princesses were already dead, and so tragically, that I knew the one who killed them must have gone in before me.

I worried that if I revealed this, the real murderer would turn it against me, so in my panic, I decided... to hide it first and see how things unfolded before speaking up...

In private, I asked Dongyang, and she firmly told me that the princesses were fine when she went in. I actually suspected that Consort Fang had killed the princesses, but Consort Fang was pregnant with Prince Ling’s child, so I thought a pregnant woman couldn’t possibly have the strength to kill, and therefore I never knew how to tell Governor Zhang about it..."

Upon hearing this, Governor Zhang turned to look at Dongyang, who pressed her lips together and nodded, confirming that Nanny Lu was telling the truth.

Consort Fang, on the side, turned deadly pale and shook her head vigorously, "Impossible... impossible! You’re lying! Governor Zhang, Miss Xu, I didn’t kill anyone, I even... I’ve even confessed things that would ruin my reputation, please, you must uphold justice for me!"

Governor Zhang remained silent for a moment, his eyes clouded as they swept over Dongyang, Nanny Lu, and Consort Fang’s faces.

Then, he turned to Xu Jing, giving a slight bow, "Miss Xu, these three hold different accounts, but earlier you said you already know the truth. Please enlighten us."

Xu Jing replied, "Speaking of which, isn’t there still one suspect who hasn’t been brought over yet?"

Everyone was startled; Governor Zhang responded, "Yes, didn’t I just send someone to fetch Shuangrui? Hasn’t he been found yet? Ding Er, go check."

A government official named Ding Er acknowledged the command and quickly ran off. Soon, he returned with the official that Governor Zhang had previously sent out. As soon as the official arrived, he saluted and said, "Governor Zhang, I have searched all the nearby places and still haven’t found Shuangrui.

I asked many people, and they all said, except for the very beginning, they haven’t seen Shuangrui again, and no one knows where he went."

Everyone looked at one another in surprise, unable to believe it.

Shuangrui disappeared? How could that be!

There are so many people around here; if he had been taken away by force, someone would have noticed.

Unless... he left by himself!

Consort Fang’s eyes gleamed as she spoke, "He must have fled in fear of his crime! The one who killed the princesses and Prince Ling must be him! I told you, among those who entered before me, only that inn servant and Shuangrui were men, the most likely to kill!"

Governor Zhang gave her a look, frowning deeply, and then ordered several officials, "Go search! No matter what, find Shuangrui..."

"If it’s Shuangrui that Governor Zhang is looking for, it’s very likely we won’t find him."

A cool, pleasant female voice suddenly interrupted Governor Zhang.

Governor Zhang looked at Xu Jing in surprise, "Miss Xu, what do you mean?"

Xu Jing gave a faint, cold smile, "Actually, last night I guessed there would be more deaths, and this time it would be Shuangrui, the last one left by Prince Ling’s side. So, I spoke with General Han last night, asking him to keep a close watch on Prince Ling and his people."

At this moment, General Han, who was lying on the ground enduring pain, opened his eyes to look at Xu Jing and gritted his teeth, "Correct... Miss Xu did instruct that..."

That’s why he had been personally guarding the door to Prince Ling’s room the entire time.

Yet, something still happened.

Governor Zhang looked at Xu Jing with a puzzled expression.

Could it be that Shuangrui met with misfortune? Does Miss Xu mean that Shuangrui didn’t flee in guilt, but rather something happened to him?

But they also haven’t found Shuangrui’s body.

There would be no reason for the murderer to hide Shuangrui’s body.

As he pondered, a sudden realization struck him, recalling what Xu Jing had said when she first saw Prince Ling’s body—

"How do you know that’s Prince Ling’s body?"

Governor Zhang abruptly looked at the charred body not far away, his expression full of disbelief.

Seeing Governor Zhang’s expression, Xu Jing knew he had understood her idea, and coldly said, "Yesterday, when I first saw Shuangrui, I noticed that his physique was surprisingly similar to Prince Ling’s.

At the time, I didn’t think much of it, assuming it was a coincidence.

But later, when I heard from Sanye that the eight male attendants Nanny Lu selected for Prince Ling were all similar in physique and quite handsome, my initial suspicion suddenly grew.

A coincidence for one, but if all eight were like that, it wasn’t likely to be a coincidence."

Hearing this, everyone widened their eyes slightly, and Chen Hu, beside Xu Jing, couldn’t help but murmur, "Is this about picking attendants, or choosing stand-ins..."

Stand-ins!

All eyes immediately turned to Chen Hu.

This sounded exactly like choosing stand-ins for Prince Ling!

One of the soldiers couldn’t help but say, "Speaking of which, that fellow named Shuangxi beside Prince Ling before, his physique was indeed very similar to Shuangrui’s! Because they wore similar clothes, I sometimes mistook one for the other from the back!"

Immediately, other soldiers agreed, "Yes, yes, I’ve mistaken them a few times before too!"

It’s not uncommon for a wealthy family to choose a few stand-ins that resemble their masters to help them escape danger in critical moments.

However, the question remains, why did Nanny Lu select stand-ins for Prince Ling so early on?

What was the role of the stand-in in this case?

Suddenly, everyone felt a sense of revelation. Chen Hu looked at the charred body nearby, took a deep breath, and said, "Could it be that isn’t Prince Ling’s body, but rather... Shuangrui’s!"