Chapter 853: Doomed To Die
Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
“The Imperial Consort Hua?” Liu Shengming was very puzzled. Why do we need to find her again?
Meng Qi was strolling down the street with his hands clasped behind his back. Although it was a busy street, it was as though he was walking in his own courtyard. The people who walked toward him would unconsciously stay away from him to avoid blocking his way, “It’s true that there’s something wrong with the Zhang Family of Long Nan, but there seemed to be a lot of coincidences.”
“Coincidence? Did we happen to be at their mansion when they killed Feng Zheng?” Liu Shengming was following one step behind Meng Qi.
Meng Qi looked at the palace from afar and said casually, “If it really was the Zhang Family who killed the general director in charge of palace affairs, Feng Zheng, don’t you think they have made several mistakes?”
Being ranked as one of the Eight Great Detectives for many years, Liu Shengming was experienced in cracking cases although the cases he had gone through were not as much as that of Meng Qi who had read a lot of detective stories and comics. Liu Shengming pondered for a while and said, “Through the first round of investigation, we’ve basically concluded that the emperor had a sudden death due to a rebound in the absorption process. If only the Chief Sima didn’t go missing and the situation wasn’t so tense, Feng Zheng would have been released long ago. As a result, Feng Zheng wasn’t put under a tight surveillance. Given the fact that the Zhang Family of Long Nan and the Cui Family of Pingjin have been expanding influences into the imperial palace year after year, they actually have many ways to kill him. They can even order the a.s.sa.s.sins to commit suicide after completing the a.s.sa.s.sination so as to cut off all clues. Therefore, is it worth the trouble to bring Feng Zheng home for interrogation?”
“Well, actually it’s fine to use the excuse of interrogating Feng Zheng to cover up their real intentions. But they might as well kill him along the way so that they wouldn’t appear suspicious. Why did they insist to bring him home and bear the risk of being discovered by you?”
“Of course, we can’t rule out the possibility of the Zhang Family intentionally acting in a way that went against everyone’s expectations. Since it’s obvious that they could have used a better strategy, they might have deliberately used a flawed strategy of doing away with Feng Zheng to deceive people that they are innocent. However, when it comes to the mysterious guest who escaped by carriage, Zhang Baili was really shocked. Apparently, the guest is of great importance because Zhang Baili had even risked his life to kill the secret agent. People of the top-tiered families don’t usually do this unless they’ve really met something out of their expectations.”
Meng Qi smiled, “Indeed, you have a well-deserved reputation of having a sharp mind. The Zhang Family has used the bossy and domineering youngster as an excuse to cover up why they have brought Feng Zheng home for interrogation. In less than an hour after they took Feng Zheng back, it so happened that I’ve discovered an important clue from the Imperial Consort Hua and made a visit to the mansion. What a coincidence! Within an hour, they had so many chances to kill Feng Zheng without leaving any traces behind. Nonetheless, they only did away with him after I arrived at the mansion, and they used Cui Qingyu as a cover-up. What a coincidence!”
The time of Feng Zheng’s death, judging from the condition of the corpse, was probably around the time when Meng Qi arrived at the mansion of Zhang.
“It’s common to have one coincidence. But when there are two or three coincidences altogether, it must have been arranged. Heh, the Zhang Family of Long Nan has been acting imperiously all the while, so it’s good to see them having a setback now. Finally, it’s their turn to be incriminated!” In the past, Liu Shengming, who was a loyal Great Detective to the emperor, had always been bullied by the top-tiered families such as the Zhang Family of Long Nan. Therefore, he was glad to see them getting in trouble.
Meng Qi laughed and said, “Being incriminated? It’s definitely not that simple – the matters involved might be as complicated as the case of the emperor’s sudden death. It had pushed Zhang Baili to the point of disregarding my ident.i.ty as a chief of detectives and attempted to kill the secret agent with the Dark Glow of the Sun right in front of me. He was behaving like the famous saying, ‘A cornered dog will leap over a wall in desperation.’ The one who incriminated the Zhang Family was most probably thinking of driving me to reveal the ident.i.ty of the mysterious guest. Hence, he doesn’t mind raising our suspicion for arranging so many coincidences.”
Although both of them were seemingly strolling down the street leisurely, they were actually quite fast. While talking to each other, they had already left the street and got nearer to the palace.
Liu Shengming thought about the words of Meng Qi and said, “I’ve got a general idea about the situation after being reminded by you, chief. At present, the ident.i.ty of the mysterious guest cannot be exposed. Once exposed, the Zhang Family of Long Nan and the Cui Family of Pingjin will suffer serious losses. That’s why Zhang Baili behaved that way.”
“Based on this a.s.sumption, a lot of things have become clear. Since the mysterious guest was coming out from Zhang Yu’s courtyard, and he had spent some time with Feng Zheng, he must be the one who wanted to interrogate Feng Zheng. Thus, the Zhang Family of Long Nan had taken the risk of bringing Feng Zheng back to their own mansion, simply because it posed a greater danger for the mysterious guest to sneak into the palace.”
“And, their purpose was really to interrogate Feng Zheng in order to solve the mystery of the emperor’s sudden death. That’s why they didn’t kill him even after the chief of detectives had arrived. So… so, it might be true that Feng Zheng had committed suicide!”
After making a conclusion, Liu Shengming looked at Meng Qi. As an experienced Great Detective, although he already had some guesses about these things, it was until then that he was able to sort out his thoughts. In contrast, the Chief Su in front of him seemed to have understood the situation thoroughly at the moment of seeing Cui Qingyu. He was surprised by the fact that Meng Qi was better in grasping the details and making inferences about the case!
Please call me Su Renjie, Comrade Liu Yuanfang… thought Meng Qi jokingly. Then, he raised his head slightly and coughed, “It also indirectly shows that Feng Zheng was indeed involved in the case of the emperor’s sudden death, and he was the one who let the strict defense of the dormitory be in vain. As a result, the strong female martial artist who was skilled in the Spell of Temptation was able to go near to the emperor’s dormitory. As for why Feng Zheng risked his own life to betray the emperor who could give him power and wealth, further investigation is needed.”
Meng Qi had actually made a guess, but he did not want to tell Liu Shengming.
“Unexpectedly, Feng Zheng seemed to be a spy…” Liu Shengming sighed. “This also explains one of the coincidences, which is the timing of Feng Zheng’s death. Since the former coincidence was triggered by the words of the Imperial Consort Hua, no wonder you’ve decided to find her.”
Just then, both of them had stepped into the palace. Meng Qi looked a little gloomy while he sighed, “When we arrived at the mansion of Zhang and found that Feng Zheng was killed, I already understood one thing – the Imperial Consort Hua was lying. No, not lying, but she was exaggerating things.”
As for why the Yuan Xin Seal did not detect anything wrong in her emotions, it was because she was showing authentic emotions!
“Exaggeration?” Liu Shengming was somewhat puzzled.
“The Imperial Consort Hua said that Concubine Mei was like a piece of wood in bed because she did not know how to moan no matter how much she enjoyed it. With these words, she deliberately guided me to think of the testimony of the eunuchs and maids, ‘At that night, Concubine Mei’s moaning was soft, charming and pa.s.sionate.’ I had therefore found something wrong and thought of Feng Zheng who was responsible for the defense of the emperor’s dormitory,” Meng Qi summarized in a simple way. “But if we think the other way round, Concubine Mei was turning from not knowing how to moan to suddenly moaning skillfully and charmingly. How could the eunuchs and maids – who have served Concubine Mei for a long time – not feel strange? Why didn’t they mention anything about it when being asked by the Sect of Six-Fans?”
“Even if they didn’t doubt anything, they could have just said that Concubine Mei was being unusually pa.s.sionate that night, which was totally different from the past. How could the people in the Sect of Six-Fans who are as alert as wolves and tigers not notice something wrong?”
Liu Shengming frowned, “The Imperial Consort Hua has lied. No, chief, did you say that she was exaggerating?”
“The Imperial Consort Hua has raised her power of the seven orifices through medicines. If she was lying, do you think I can’t notice it?” Meng Qi looked ahead. “The emperor should have said something about Concubine Mei in front of the Imperial Consort Hua. However, I think he merely complained about how Concubine Mei wasn’t catering to his needs well, and that she was moaning in a boring way. If that’s so, even if she suddenly became better at moaning, the eunuchs and maids would only think that their master was slowly gaining mastery, and hence it wasn’t something surprising. On the other hand, as the Imperial Consort Hua actually sees Concubine Mei as a rival in love, belittling Concubine Mei by exaggerating her poor performance in bed is almost an instinctive action. As a result, even the Imperial Consort Hua herself didn’t think that she was lying.”
“Belittling Concubine Mei’s skills in bed was consistent to her own emotions, at the same time it highlighted the contradictions between them and pointed out a clue. It was indeed a perfect strategy.”
It had even deceived the Yuan Xin Seal perfectly!
Speaking of this, Meng Qi sighed again, “Someone very smart must be giving instructions to her behind the scenes.”
The person obviously knew how to counter a magical art like the Yuan Xin Seal.
This incident had also served as a good reminder for Meng Qi. Before he was able to get a good grasp of his opponents’ thoughts using the Yuan Xin Seal, he should not rely on it completely when making a judgment. Otherwise, he would suffer a setback sooner or later!
No matter whether he was in the journey of martial arts or the journey of life, he could be aided by the magical arts and other external items, but he should never depend on them completely. This idea was similar to the Buddhist concept of Cutting Off Obsessions that emphasized on the understanding that no magical arts would be everlasting.
While having self-reflection, Meng Qi had gained some insights.
Liu Shengming was about to say something when he suddenly frowned, “But there is another coincidence. In less than an hour after Feng Zheng was taken home by Zhang Yu, how did the Imperial Consort Hua know that it was the right timing to meet you and tell you those things? If there was a delay in telling you the clue, Feng Zheng might have been sent back to the palace already.”
“So, they couldn’t really control the occurrence of this coincidence, because it depended on the decision you made, chief. What if you choose to deal with other affairs in the Zhu Yi Pavilion first and talk to Concubine Mei three hours after Zhang Yu brought Feng Zheng home?”
They can’t manipulate the decision of the chief of detectives, right?
“They can’t manipulate me, but they can manipulate the Zhang Family of Long Nan!” Meng Qi said a startling statement.
“What?” Liu Shengming was in shock.
Meng Qi smiled and said, “Have you ever wondered, why did the Zhang Family of Long Nan interrogate Feng Zheng today, but not on any other days?”
“It’s because before today, they didn’t suspect Feng Zheng at all!”
“After confirming that I would be going to the palace, the person behind the Imperial Consort Hua had most probably pa.s.sed the clue to the Zhang Family of Longnan in some way, or perhaps he had pa.s.sed it directly to the mysterious guest to attract his interest. Therefore, the mysterious guest had sent Zhang Yu to bring Feng Zheng back. In this way, the timing would be just right.”
Liu Shengming took a deep breath, “No wonder…”
He took time to understand everything even though he was an experienced Great Detective.
Suddenly, his countenance changed, “Oh no, the Imperial Consort Hua!”
Will the Imperial Consort Hua be killed?
But why isn’t the chief of detectives in a hurry?
Meng Qi stopped at the door of the Imperial Consort Hua’s palace and sighed, “Being involved in this matter, she is doomed to die. She was most probably killed long ago, so it’s already too late to save her.”
The two guards listened with a confused look. They watched the chief of detectives and the Great Detective Liu blink into the hall, and arrive at the door of the Imperial Consort Hua’s bedroom in a split second.
“Open the door,” Meng Qi took out the token of the chief of detectives.
The two maids dared not resist and opened the door with trepidation.
Along with the squeaky sound of door, the two maids made a scream and almost fainted to the ground.
There was a corpse hanging in the room. The Imperial Consort Hua ended her life with a ten-feet white cloth. Although her tongue was spitting out, she had a gentle smile on her face. She covered her stomach with both hands as if she were pacifying the fetus.
Leave the world with your mother, alright? There are too many miseries and filth in the human world, so only death can bring us eternal peace.
“Ah,” Liu Shengming sighed with regret.
Meng Qi looked at the corpse of the Imperial Consort Hua and calmly said, “They still have to deal with the mysterious guest of the Zhang Family of Long Nan. The more people they kill, the more traces they will leave. They can always be traced down step by step.”
…
After that, Meng Qi did not get to see Zhao Jings.h.i.+ – the King of Qin, but he did meet with Zhao Laowu. Zhao Jings.h.i.+ was in a critical point of his Isolated Practice, hence the death of an insignificant person like the Imperial Consort Hua did not bother him at all.
In a silent night, Meng Qi returned to the mansion of Su. Since he was already at Shen Du, he should go home and take a look – not to mention that Su Ziyue was also there.
“The Second Young Master…” At the door, the eyes of the guard were glowing with excitement when he saw Meng Qi. He immediately showed respect to him by kowtowing, “It’s my pleasure to see you, the chief of detectives!”
What a great honor for the Su Family!
“Don’t disturb others. I’ll rest first,” Meng Qi gave a command.
“Yes, the Second Young Master,” the guard led Meng Qi to the room he stayed last time. He opened the door and laughed, “Miss Ziyue knows that the you’ve returned to Shen Du, so she has specially cleaned this room and replaced the mattress for you.”
Feeling heart-warming, Meng Qi waved the guard away and entered the room. As soon as he approached the bedding, he could smell a faint fragrance that was elegant and soothing. He was very familiar with the fragrance, but it did not belong to Su Ziyue.
“Gu Xiaosang!” Meng Qi’s eyes squinted suddenly.
She’s been here!
Is she trying to tell me that she is able to enter the mansion of Su freely without anyone knowing?