Chapter 504: Severed Ties

Chapter 504: Chapter 504: Severed Ties

Bang!

An exquisite teacup smashed onto the floor and shattered, scattering shards right in front of Shen Hao.

"..."

A long, heavy silence followed in the study. Shen Hao tried to keep even his own breathing as quiet as possible, not daring to provoke the already furious Jiang Cheng.

Even though Jiang Cheng hadn’t uttered a single curse, the heaving of his chest and the rage contorted on his face showed clearly his state of mind. It was only the identity of the other party that kept him from lashing out with words.

"Can you be certain?"

"That day, my men saw Qin Xiuyuan return home without going out again. They also did not see Prince Shou’s carriage enter. Later, it was discovered that Prince Shou arrived at Qin Xiuyuan’s residence last night and never left, which led to us missing this piece of information. The rear of Qin Xiuyuan’s mansion was under constant surveillance—the only possible way to escape was to sneak out with Prince Shou’s party."

"That’s just your conjecture!"

"But I am eighty percent certain, sir. Also, it seems the Qin Family realized Qin Xiuyuan’s oversight, so they invited Prince Shou over; otherwise there is no explanation for why Prince Shou would arrive at the Qin residence a day early and keep watch there."

Indeed, Prince Shou’s movements were truly odd. By all rights, he should not have spent the night at the Qin household, nor was there any reason for him to do so. But if Shen Hao’s theory held, it all made sense: Prince Shou had been called in advance as protection because the Qin Family sensed possible trouble.

Jiang Cheng suddenly felt a stabbing headache. His mood had been riding a roller coaster all day—first frightened by Pang Ban, then reassured by Shen Hao’s report, only for Prince Shou to suddenly disrupt everything, leaving them utterly adrift.

After a long silence, Jiang Cheng finally said, "Are your people still watching Prince Shou’s Mansion?"

Shen Hao quickly replied, "I don’t dare, sir; I only have people watching all the roads leading to and from Prince Shou’s Mansion." He wasn’t foolish—staking out a prince’s residence would be inviting disaster, possibly even a death sentence, so it was wise to take an indirect approach.

Hearing Shen Hao’s response, Jiang Cheng nodded. This kind of circumspection was appropriate; even if Prince Shou was displeased, he couldn’t accuse the Xuanqing Guard of "spying on him."

Jiang Cheng walked to the table and picked up the report Shen Hao had brought, which detailed the situation at the Qin household that night.

"I’ll keep this here. Go back now, organize the confessions of those thugs you arrested before, and bring them to me as soon as possible. Hurry. Preferably before the Upper Emissary arrives."

"Understood, sir. I’ll go prepare it at once."

What should have been a simple matter had grown complicated. Shen Hao understood that Jiang Cheng was now preparing to report up the chain. With Prince Shou involved, this was out of the Jingxi Governor’s Office’s hands—the authority needed to be handed over to Pang Ban, and time was of the essence.

Though it left a bitter taste, Shen Hao knew he could no longer control how events developed. All he could do was keep a close watch and adapt when he received new instructions from above.

He rushed back to Fengri City, sorted through the earlier confessions together with the situation in the Qin Xiuyuan household, assembled them into a fresh dossier, made stamped copies for the record, and then—without pause—delivered them to the Jingxi Town Governor’s Office before dawn and handed them personally to Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng was clearly exhausted as well, his eyes bloodshot, but he did not let Shen Hao—who thought he’d be sent home to wait for word—leave.

"You’re coming with me to see the Lord Commander."

"Ah? Yes, sir."

Jiang Cheng had not sought Shen Hao’s opinion—it was an order. He himself felt uneasy about meeting Pang Ban, and thought having Shen Hao along would be better. First, Shen Hao was the chief investigator and best informed; second, he could observe Pang Ban’s true attitude toward Shen Hao face-to-face.

In fact, Jiang Cheng had been pondering that second point for some time. He suspected Pang Ban harbored other intentions toward his own disciple.

That feeling had existed for a while, though Jiang Cheng hadn’t voiced it, he was well aware of it inside. He just couldn’t yet guess what Pang Ban’s aim might be; this time, he was determined to probe further.

The two of them rode away from the Jingxi Town Governor’s Office, sped straight to the Commander’s Office on the edge of the Imperial Palace, and declared their business as "urgent."

Pang Ban had only just arrived at the Public Office himself, and was surprised to hear Jiang Cheng and Shen Hao seeking an "urgent" audience; he waved for them to be brought in at once.

"My lord, Prince Shou has intervened in the case..." After saluting, Jiang Cheng cut straight to the point, briefly recounting the previous night’s events to Pang Ban, and had Shen Hao hand over the prepared dossier.

Pang Ban showed no reaction, only took the dossier from Shen Hao and read it carefully. Not until Jiang Cheng finished speaking did Pang Ban mark a moment’s silence before saying, "The Qin Family is pushing this story out, trying to use the Xuanqing Guard as a target, and then pulling in Prince Shou for support—and Prince Shou really agreed. That’s it, isn’t it?"

"Yes, my lord. From Prince Shou’s current attitude, he is already standing together with the Qin Family."

As for what private deals existed between Prince Shou and the Qin Family, Pang Ban didn’t care. With the evidence in this report, he held the key proof he needed.

"And those people? Where are they now?" Pang Ban asked, waving the dossier in his hand.

"My lord, all those offenders are currently detained in the Black Banner Battalion in Fengri City."

"In a while, bring them to the Commander’s Office. I’ll send people to handle the handover with you. Understood?"

Shen Hao immediately bowed and agreed, then stood quietly behind Jiang Cheng, not daring to speak. He felt a chill—he kept sensing Pang Ban’s gaze settle on him, making his whole body uneasy.

"Shen Hao, I had Jiang Cheng tell you earlier: if you couldn’t resolve this matter, you’d have to choose a way to die. So, what did you choose?"

Shen Hao cupped his hands and replied, "I did not choose, my lord, because I found the thread that could unravel this case."

"A thread? You mean this confession, yes? Tell me your reasoning."

Shen Hao was startled—he didn’t expect Pang Ban to call him out directly. He glanced at Jiang Cheng, who nodded slightly, before replying with a bow: "My lord, with this confession and the serial numbers on the silver notes, we now have solid evidence and can fling all the mud the Qin Family slung at us right back at them.

Even if those directly involved—Qin Xiuyuan, for example—have been shielded by Prince Shou’s intervention, as long as this confession is made public, there will be plenty of people who will demand that Prince Shou hand him over for interrogation. Once we do, we’ll know what really started this whole affair."

Pang Ban seemed interested, beckoned for him to continue, and asked: "So in your view, if I put this evidence before the court, who will step forward to force Prince Shou to turn the man over? After all, whether or not Qin Xiuyuan is really in Prince Shou’s hands is still speculation. Are you so sure someone will come out to help us with this?"

"My lord, I believe the one who will help us is none other than His Majesty."