Chapter 529: The Traitor Within

Chapter 529: Chapter 529: The Traitor Within

Shen Hao finally grasped the true essence of Lechi Tea House the second time he visited, and understood why it was named "Lechi."

Whether it was zither, drums, flute or pipe, as long as it was a musical instrument, most could be found here, with performances so beautiful even a half-baked scholar like Shen Hao could get utterly absorbed.

According to Prince Shou, if you truly want to listen to music seriously, you must come to Lechi: sipping tea while listening to tunes is absolutely the best place to cultivate one’s character and nourish the mind.

To this, Shen Hao responded with a smiling face, though he felt nothing of the sort inside.

The so-called cultivation of character is just ethereal nonsense, a spiritual pursuit at best; most ordinary folk are too busy worrying about their stomachs to give a damn about "character." Entertainment is just entertainment—pretending it’s spiritual cultivation is self-aggrandizing trickery, only fools take it seriously.

"The best musician here is the Binding Princess; she sometimes comes to play a couple tunes, but she’s not here today. Still, the musicians here today aren’t bad at all." Prince Shou lounged back in his chair, looking thoroughly relaxed. As soon as he got Shen Hao’s message, he booked this place for a face-to-face talk.

"This lowly official is crude and uncultured, not fond of music—just listens for the excitement at best."

"Crude? Shen Hao, your reputation in the Imperial City’s scholarly circles is already thunderous—you wrote a few poems that are sung across the land, who doesn’t know you? Saying you’re ignorant of music—aren’t you just being evasive?"

"...Your Highness is mistaken." How could Shen Hao explain this? There was no way to introduce it.

"Enough, I can see you’re unwilling to discuss music. The situation is not really suitable either." Yang Lin sat up straight and waved his hand, and several zither masters in the tea room filed out. Soon, only Shen Hao and Yang Lin were left in the room.

After everyone left and the music faded, silence lingered for a moment before Shen Hao spoke: "Your Highness, the matter you mentioned before, I reported it to Governor Jiang as soon as I returned, and afterward, Lord Jiang reported it up to Commander Pang. Today word has come back: Lord Pang accepts all your previous proposals and has assigned me to handle the implementation."

"Excellent!" A smile broke over Yang Lin’s face; this was the only piece of good news he’d heard in quite some time.

"If Your Highness has no objections, I’ll go back and spread the word that you ’assisted the Xuanqing Guard in capturing the fugitive.’"

Yang Lin nodded. That was exactly what he hoped; only once the message was out would he bring out the rest of the letters.

"That’s best. I’ll wait for your news."

"The letters?"

"Of course—you’ll have them in your hands immediately once you deliver on your end." With that, Yang Lin raised his teacup, as if to drink tea in place of wine.

Shen Hao raised his cup to clink it, a hint of severity in his tone: "Please, Your Highness, don’t delay. Once the message goes out, you can still change the story; do not let a mistake slip through."

"I know."

"Then I’ll take my leave." With that, Shen Hao drained his cup and rose to depart.

Half an hour later, Yang Lin received a report from his subordinate in the tea room at Lechi: Shen Hao had personally delivered the report to the Local Government Office, emphatically noting "Prince Shou assisted the Xuanqing Guard in capturing the criminal Qin Xiuyuan."

Why report directly to the Local Government Office, and not the Ministry of Justice?

Because previously, the Local Government Office had issued a sea arrest warrant for Qin Xiuyuan, and then the Ministry of Justice announced the case of Qin Xiuyuan’s death—where Prince Shou was also involved. But the case involving Prince Shou was a separate matter: "harboring a fugitive." Unless an imperial order transferred the case to the Ministry of Justice for special handling, "harboring a fugitive" remained under the Local Government Office’s jurisdiction. So the Xuanqing Guard, citing this jurisdiction, bypassed the Ministry of Justice and brazenly delivered the report straight to the Local Government Office.

How did the Local Government Office feel? About as happy as swallowing a fly.

How did the Ministry of Justice feel? Like taking a hard hit to the back of the head—completely stunned.

As for Yang Lin, upon reading this news, he burst out laughing, clearing away days of gloom. With this news, the Xuanqing Guard gave him a calming pill: at least their attitude was clear. The "harboring a fugitive" hat was instantly removed from his head, and putting it back on would be nearly impossible.

But Yang Lin never intended to renege on the Xuanqing Guard. Besides, cheating the Xuanqing Guard was far too risky—a bad deal.

"Find two more people, and hand this item to Shen Hao yourself. Got it? Yourself!"

"Understood."

A copper rod, activated only by the fluctuation of Shen Hao’s True Qi, was handed down by Yang Lin, escorted by three Royal Guards over to the Jingxi Town Governor’s Office for Shen Hao.

All along the way, the three Inner Guards even overheard street vendors gossiping that Prince Shou helped catch thieves. They glanced at each other and smiled, happy that their Prince had passed another test.

When they arrived at the Jingxi Town Governor’s Office, they delivered the item after clearance, handing the copper rod directly to Shen Hao.

After receiving it, Shen Hao immediately closed the door, opened the copper rod and examined it. His expression was extraordinarily complex, showing both "so that’s how it is" and "just as expected."

He didn’t just keep it to himself either; Shen Hao stamped a copy and went to find Jiang Cheng, handing the copy to him.

"Just as anticipated—it’s an inside traitor from the Qin Family!"

"Sir, and you’re surely familiar with this person’s name, aren’t you?" Shen Hao smiled radiantly, finally finding his opportunity. While not concrete evidence, it was more than enough to accelerate the investigation, and it confirmed the direction—backing up his previous theories with proof.

"Naturally. Qin Yurou, Qin Wenhe’s eldest daughter, who married as the main wife into the Cultivation Race’s Wen Family. When the Wen Family and Jingbei Army colluded in smuggling arms, the Wen Family was destroyed; Qin Yurou ran back to the Imperial City and hid in the Qin Family, never brought to justice thanks to the Empress’s protection. By the way, didn’t you suspect Qin Yurou was involved in the case where the Li City prison was attacked?"

"Yes, sir. This woman is extraordinary; I’ve been keeping an eye on her. The day the Qin Family abruptly headed to Fengri City for business, the target they chose was someone I met when the Wen Family got into a feud with me—Lin Xin’Er. I found the coincidence strange. Now it seems, it was probably all Qin Yurou’s scheme."

Shen Hao continued: "She set up her own junior, had them approach Lin Xin’Er. Lin Xin’Er worked in the brokerage, her background is questionable, and Qin Yurou wanted to use that. She meant to get Qin Xiangyu, who hated slave girls, to cause trouble for Lin Xin’Er, dragging me into the mess. Because my family’s relationship with Lin Xin’Er has always been good—if she got bullied or suffered, she’d come looking for me.

But the odd thing is, the Qin Family had only just arrived in Fengri City, and Lin Xin’Er didn’t run into them—she met me directly instead."