Chapter 456 - 454: Heavy and Terrifying Love (Second Update)

Chapter 456: Chapter 454: Heavy and Terrifying Love (Second Update)

Early the next morning, Xu Jing got up, packed her things, and prepared to return to Anping County.

Little Point was still there, so she naturally couldn’t return directly to the Western Capital.

Moreover, the war at the front line hadn’t ended yet, and the court could at any time ask them to make medicines again. Xu Jing planned to stay in Anping County until the war stabilized.

Prince Ling and his party had left before them; the guards outside said they had set off before dawn.

When Xu Jing went downstairs intending to have breakfast in the main hall, she was surprised to find that Xiao He was still there, currently sitting at a table with Song Qingyun. Judging by the several empty bowls and plates on the table, they had clearly finished eating and were chatting leisurely after breakfast.

Song Qingyun’s eyes sparkled as she talked with Xiao He, occasionally stretching out her fingers to sketch on the table, seemingly illustrating the room’s layout with a seriousness that couldn’t be ignored.

Xiao He leaned back in the chair opposite her, watching the lady quietly, as if he was listening intently to her words.

The clean and gentle morning sun shone on them. The two were well-matched in both looks and temperament, making them a perfect pair.

Chen Hu, following beside Xu Jing, immediately got excited.

Oh, he loved watching such eye-pleasing scenes!

Chunyang, however, was slightly taken aback, "Why is Xiao Erlang... still here?"

She thought he had left with Prince Ling and his entourage!

Moreover, when did he and Song Erniang become so harmonious?

Xu Jing couldn’t help but laugh softly, slowly walking over. As she got closer, she finally heard Song Qingyun discussing the case situation with Xiao He.

Earlier, she had been outlining the layout of the room where Princess Ling was murdered.

Without a trace of consideration for their need for alone time, Xu Jing rudely said, "Xiao He, Prince Ling and the others have already left, are you okay with not following them personally?"

Song Qingyun’s voice stopped abruptly.

Xiao He looked up, slightly raising his eyebrows, not annoyed by Xu Jing’s interruption. He smiled slightly and said, "You all expected I would surely be by Prince Ling’s side, the Jiang Family surely thought so too. It’s not a good thing for me to follow.

Because I’m still here, most of the Jiang Family people are still in Xinzhou."

Since last night, he had sent several teams of soldiers out, pretending to escort Prince Ling and the others away.

The real group of Prince Ling was hidden among one of these teams.

As he spoke, he picked up a clean cup, placed it in front of an empty spot, filled it with tea, and said with a chuckle, "Song Erniang was just talking about you to me. Since you’ve come down now, why not sit with us and have a bit of breakfast?

However, it might trouble you to stay here with me a little longer.

I’ll escort you back to Anping County first, then return to the Western Capital."

Understanding his intention, Xu Jing couldn’t help but laugh, "When the Jiang Family realizes you stayed here just to contain them, and that the real Prince Ling has long since left, they’ll be infuriated by you.

However, considering the damage they’ve done to the country and its people, they deserve the frustration."

Seeing the hint of coldness in Xu Jing’s eyes when she mentioned the Jiang Family, Xiao He paused in silence and said, "Don’t worry, the war will end soon, and Yanci will be back soon."

Xu Jing was slightly taken aback, glanced at Xiao He, then smiled faintly, "Let’s hope so."

After that, Xiao He escorted them all the way back to Anping County.

Sitting in the carriage, Xu Jing looked at Song Qingyun and said with a smile, "Originally, it should have been me discussing the case details with Xiao He, but you’ve taken care of it for me."

Song Qingyun’s face turned slightly red, "My understanding of the case isn’t as deep as yours, Jing. I couldn’t explain some things properly. If you need, you should still discuss it with Xiao Erlang."

"No need."

Xu Jing shook her head, "Xiao He is learning about the case to better complete the task of escorting Prince Ling. As long as he knows who the murderer is, why they did it, and the role Prince Ling played, that’s enough."

Knowing the purpose behind Princess Consort Ling’s actions was to help Prince Ling escape the Jiang Family and the court, he could then make some preparations accordingly.

Although the truth is now revealed, who can guarantee that Princess Consort Ling has given up on letting Prince Ling leave?

Necessary precautions still need to be taken.

If it’s just these things, she’s already explained clearly enough.

Song Qingyun nodded, somewhat understanding, then suddenly asked, "Oh, Jing, there are still a few things in this case I haven’t figured out. If Princess Consort Ling did all this to help Prince Ling leave, why did she go to such lengths to chop off the victims’ heads and make Consort Fang hide two of them?"

Chunyang immediately said, "That part I also don’t quite understand."

Xu Jing smiled, "Princess Consort Ling had two purposes. First, to create confusion, focusing everyone’s attention on the missing heads, further hiding the true culprit’s identity and increasing the difficulty for us to solve the case.

Second, to instill a habitual mindset. The heads of the first few victims were chopped off, including Princess Ling’s. Two victims’ heads were even missing, which made us think that the murderer had a peculiar obsession with the victims’ heads. Thus, when we saw the charred, disfigured body of Shuangrui, disguised as Prince Ling, our first thought was that even Prince Ling’s head was destroyed, rather than suspecting the body might not be his."

Song Qingyun was stunned and recalled her own reaction when she saw Shuangrui’s corpse.

The most severely burnt area of Shuangrui’s body was his head, and the only relatively intact part was his feet.

Without the context of previous cases, encountering such a body would certainly confuse everyone about why the victim’s head was particularly damaged.

Moreover, the part bearing identifiable features of Prince Ling, the feet, was the only intact area?

Given Prince Ling’s sensitive identity, it shouldn’t be difficult to suspect that the perpetrator intentionally destroyed the victim’s face, attempting something with it.

Yet, due to the previous cases, no one thought that way—they all felt that the head being most damaged was normal! As Jing said, everyone was ensnared by Princess Consort Ling’s little trick!

So, that’s what habitual thinking is!

Song Qingyun’s eyes brightened, taking out her notebook to jot down these four characters with quick strokes.

Watching her, Xu Jing couldn’t help but laugh softly.

Could it be that years later, the people of Great Chu might all start using modern phrases?

After finishing her notes, Song Qingyun added, "Another thing, wasn’t Princess Consort Ling originally intending to frame Consort Fang?"

Xu Jing nodded, then shook her head, "Princess Consort Ling was thorough in her planning—she prepared two scapegoats, one being Consort Fang, the other being the ’missing’ Shuangrui at that time. If we hadn’t identified the true culprit as Dongyang, no one would have suspected Princess Consort Ling."

Hearing this, Song Qingyun sighed inwardly, "Who knows how long Princess Consort Ling had been plotting this scheme. Such love is too heavy, and too frightening."

All of this, planted by the Jiang Family.

Who knows when their sins will finally disappear from this land.

Anping County wasn’t far from Xinzhou.

The carriage moved along leisurely for a day and finally stopped before the sun set.

At last, they were home in Anping County.