Chapter 307

Li Family Manor lies in the intermediate area between Qi Sha Gu and the Fuyu Tribe, because this place is a no-man's-land, its administration is especially chaotic.

The Li family practices the Li family sword style, working as caravan guards in this area, earning money licked from the blade's edge.

Just as everyone stood by, waiting for Xiao Yin to die, the Li family intervened, with the people of Li Family Manor literally holding off the encirclement of many and sending Xiao Yin into the Fuyu Tribe.

The terrain of Fu Yu Guo is complex, with many mountains and poisonous mists, making it easy to hide a person; later Xiao Yin made contact with several senior, highly respected generals from the capital.

Several senior generals and the Li family personally escorted him, thus sending Xiao Yin back to the capital; by now he had reached Shang Jing, and the emperor had lost the initiative to act again.

Later the Li family became Xiao Yin's trusted aides, and many important tasks were entrusted to them.

This time Xiao Yin originally did not want to trouble Uncle Li with a carriage and horses to help him re-examine a matter, but he truly harbored a thought: what if the ringleader who originally created the Qi Sha Gu case was not that person?

He still harbored a sliver of luck, thinking maybe he had made a mistake.

Unfortunately, this time Uncle Li came in person, and even that sliver of hope vanished.

He felt as if all his strength had been drained, and his whole mind went blank.

Just now he even found Ying Gu a bit noisy, no longer having her former loveliness and cheerfulness.

He slumped into the chair, his face showing extreme fatigue, his whole self dazed.

He drew a deep breath, lifted his hand, and picked up the box placed on one side of the table; the box had been around for some years, and much of its red lacquer had peeled off.

Xiao Yin opened the box again; inside lay a stack of yellowed letters, each bearing a signature—Du!

He felt that character jolt his eyes; he hastily tossed the letter aside, then leaned back against the chair, waves of headache striking, forcing him to raise a hand to his forehead.

Ling Feng, standing aside, looked sympathetically at his master; who would have thought that after all their searching, the behind-the-scenes ringleader turned out to be Gu Jiu Ling's maternal grandfather, Old Master Du.

He who once built a bridge between the imperial clan and the eight great families, step by step contacting various parties to set a trap for Xiao Yin, aiding Emperor Longqing in his tyranny, utterly sending Xiao Yin to hell—the one who caused the deaths of tens of thousands of Xiao Yin's soldiers and let countless wronged souls fall into Qi Sha Gu—this mastermind is none other than the world-wealthy Old Master Du.

Who could have imagined this!

No one knows why Old Master Du did this; logically, with his vast estate and wealth that could last ten lifetimes, he shouldn't have helped Emperor Longqing commit such heaven-defying, unjust acts.

If it were for power and profit, he has only a daughter, no son at all—it's truly incomprehensible what he could be after.

In the end he took all that wealth to the western Rong borderlands, only to be ambushed midway by the Bei Di people; he could never return home, and even his corpse was never found.

This person's actions are so utterly unreasonable that his own lord never noticed him, and he hid himself deeply.

This is also a recent chance occurrence that has pulled out this thread of the Du family.

But what should we do now?

Going by the prince's usual methods, the Du family could have been exterminated by him; what about now?

Old Master Du's only daughter had already died in the Gu Xiang Fu; the only blood relatives still connected to Old Master Du are Gu Jiu Ling and her brother Gu Kang.

Good heavens! That's Gu Jiu Ling!

Gu Jiu Ling is the princess consort of the Rui Wang Fu, and the prince seems to have truly taken a liking to this woman—must it be so heart-wrenching?

Xiao Yin lifted his head, tightly shut his eyes, only his fists slightly clenched, showing his state of mind was utterly complex.

He even now regrets having investigated the past; if he hadn't, it would have been better—everyone would have lived peacefully, but now that he has found out…

Those living surviving brothers, those dead brothers—whether day or night, they are all watching him!

They are watching him as their elder brother, their commander, wondering if he can help them avenge this!

Ling Feng watched his lord torment himself these past days; in fact, over a month ago he had already uncovered this, but his lord simply refused to believe it.

He thought the intelligence was fake, yet he self-deceptively sent his most trusted Li family members to follow this lead again; the result was that both groups' investigations pointed to the Du family.

If one person says the Du family is bad, perhaps he is biased; but when so many say the Du family did it, what can he do? Choose to gouge out his own eyes and not look?

Old Master Du devoted himself wholeheartedly to serving Emperor Longqing; who knows what benefits he gained, but it allowed him to secure his position as the premier merchant of Southern Qi.

Later Old Master Du divided his estate, setting aside two portions: one as a dowry for Gu Jiu Ling, the other as a betrothal gift for Gu Kang.

Initially he also valued Gu Jiu Ling's wealth, which could help him provide cover, allowing him to undertake money-spending ventures under her protection.

Now it turns out that money was bought with the lives of his comrades-in-arms.

Xiao Yin's headache grew worse, and he involuntarily let out a muffled groan.

"Prince!" Ling Feng panicked, hurriedly stepping forward to check.

Xiao Yin waved his hand irritably at him, then slowly opened his eyes, his eyes full of pain and anger.

He doesn't know which feeling is stronger; why is he so unlucky, having finally fallen sincerely in love with someone, only to end up like this?

Ling Feng could no longer bear it, and cautiously said, "Prince, the brothers will sooner or later learn of this matter; after all, you have openly investigated it, and those brothers awaiting revenge have likely already turned their attention to the Du family."

"In that case, it's improper for the princess consort to remain by your side; perhaps she should be sent out of the capital."

"Shut up!" Xiao Yin snapped his eyes open, his gaze flashing with a hint of killing intent.

"What does the princess consort have to do with it? When that old beast of the Du surname committed his wicked deeds, Gu Jiu Ling was just a clueless little girl!"

"Don't say such things again!"

Ling Feng sighed, suddenly gave a wry smile, and slowly said, "But I, your subordinate, hate her!"

Xiao Yin abruptly lifted his gaze to Ling Feng; Ling Feng still bears scars on his neck from Qi Sha Gu, where his brother and two cousins all died in battle.

Ling Feng slowly said, "Indeed, Prince, I, your subordinate, hate her!"

"Why did my brothers die while the Du family's members live on in peace and comfort?"

"She's just a little girl—do we have no parents or kin?"

"Prince, my Jiu Yue is still a trusted aide by the princess consort's side; I can't restrain myself from hating her—what about those people?"

"What if those people learned that Old Master Du was the ringleader?"

"How would they react?"

Ling Feng stared fixedly at his master.