Chapter 1466

"General Zhongwu?" Liu Wu looked up at him. "General Zhongwu was also in Zhuo'an that day?" "Yes, he arrived that day; he originally wanted to compete with us for a private room, but later he simply sat down and drank with us."

"You were drinking all night?"

"No, no, we drank until evening, and the Jieshan Inn was robbed by thieves, and several teams were robbed. The tribute General Zhongwu was escorting was also stolen—no, three boxes. He wasn't in the mood to drink anymore, so he went to chase the thieves." He He Lingchuan answered truthfully. "After he left, we drank for another half an hour, then went back to our rooms to rest, and didn't get up until dawn."

"You slept all night and didn't leave the guest room halfway?"

Fan Shuang shook his head, and He He Lingchuan laughed: "Sleeping to the sound of wind and rain outside, it was very fragrant."

What else could one do after drinking heavily on a rainy day but sleep? This was the normal reaction of a normal person. If Liu Wu wanted to quibble about this, at least several thousand people in Mang Prefecture and Zhuo'an had done the same that night; could he quibble with them one by one?

So he didn't dwell on it, changed direction, and asked again: "What about General Zhongwu, when did he return to the inn?"

"At least after dawn, right? The sun had already risen." He He Lingchuan thought for a while. "I got up later than usual after drinking, but I even had breakfast with General Zhongwu."

Liu Wu nodded: "Was his tribute recovered?"

"It was recovered, and the others' teams were also recovered together." He He Lingchuan laughed. "Otherwise, how would General Zhongwu have the leisure to have breakfast with me?"

"Who stole it?"

"Two petty thieves. I heard they stole the things to a broken village in the wild outskirts of Zhuo'an, but General Zhongwu followed the clues and found them." General Zhongwu's ability to track prey was still quite good.

Liu Wu's eyes flashed: "Have you seen these two petty thieves?"

"No, General Zhongwu didn't bring these two petty thieves back to the inn."

"So, it was all said by General Zhongwu himself?"

"Yes, but General Zhongwu also said at breakfast that this matter was strange; how could two petty thieves steal so many valuable items? He asked me for an analysis."

"Oh? What did you say?"

"I said, if someone else stole the property, perhaps it was to confuse the public, so that they could make a move on the real target in the inn." He He Lingchuan picked up the leftover tea on the table to moisten his throat. "Then General Zhongwu finished breakfast and led his team on the road."

Liu Wu thought for a while and asked again: "Was he riding a divine steed?"

"Yes, it was a Bo beast, called 'Mobai', black body with a white tail, blood-red eyes, truly a rare good horse!"

Liu Wu nodded: "Island Master He, have you had any dealings with General Xue and Villa Master Qi?"

"Yes." He He Lingchuan answered exceptionally naturally. His conflict with Xue Zongwu was known even to the Yao King. "The two branch offices I opened in the Yao Nation both had problems, and I was in a state of anxiety, but thanks to someone's guidance, I went to General Xue to send gifts and smooth things over, and the trouble was settled very quickly."

Liu Wu smiled: "Island Master He is downplaying it, but I heard that the Assistant County Magistrate branch of Yangshan had many people die."

He He Lingchuan didn't avoid it at all: "Yes, water and fire are ruthless, and the people who set the fire are even more ruthless, being able to make a move on so many innocent people."

"Although this matter has subsided, Island Master He must still harbor resentment, right?"

"To say I'm not angry would be impossible." He He Lingchuan said lightly. "However, am I the only one harboring resentment? I bet there are quite a few people who were in Mang Prefecture that night and had conflicts with General Xue, right?"

Liu Wu agreed with this statement. If ranked by degree of hatred, this Island Master He in front of him wouldn't even make the top twenty.

"On this trip east, did you see General Xue?"

"I did." For details that could be verified, He He Lingchuan wouldn't hide anything. "After crossing the Baixian River, General Xue saw Commander Zhao and came over to greet him, and also had a face-to-face meeting with me. Brother Fan was also on the side at the time."

Fan Shuang nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, I was there too."

Knowing Liu Wu wanted to get to the bottom of it, He He Lingchuan then poured out the conversation he had with Xue Zongwu, and then asked Fan Shuang: "Brother Fan, did I miss anything?"

"It's very detailed." More detailed than what he remembered.

It was just a few sarcastic remarks, which couldn't be used as suspicion of murder. After all, even a mud statue has three parts of temper. Liu Wu put away the paper and pen: "Alright, I'm just doing my routine duty, please forgive me, Island Master He."

"I will definitely cooperate, cooperate earnestly."

There were many other people Liu Wu wanted to question; there were two in this Sanmentou Post House alone. He walked out of He He Lingchuan's guest room and turned to knock on someone else's door.

After his figure and those of several guards disappeared, Fan Shuang lowered his voice: "Brother He, could it be that he suspects..."

He He Lingchuan held a thumb to his lips and gave a light "Shh".

Fan Shuang was startled and quickly shut his mouth. How could he have said that without thinking? It was mostly because he was too relaxed in front of He Xiao.

He He Lingchuan said softly: "That is a matter for Commander Liu and the monarch; we don't need to speculate."

Fan Shuang nodded. With such a major event as Xue Zongwu's death, he must not get involved in the slightest.

But thinking about it now, General Zhongwu benefited the most from General Xue's death. Could it be, could it be that the culprit really is General Zhongwu? Oh my, this, this!

He He Lingchuan saw his expression and knew he had fallen into reverie, so he patted him on the shoulder:

"We've already been delayed for a while, let's hurry to Maochun Tavern."

On the way, the Soul-Sucking Mirror couldn't help but ask: "Did you anticipate that this case would still be investigated to you?"

He He Lingchuan propped up his head and rubbed his temples.

With Fan Shuang on the side, it was inconvenient for him to speak, but this action represented an affirmative answer: Yes! Xue Zongwu's death under his manipulation was destined to have no real suspects. With no results in Mang Prefecture, the investigators could only expand the search scope, which would very likely lead to He He Lingchuan.

So what he had to do was make himself look clean and provide a convincing alibi.

This was the reason he didn't stay in Mang Prefecture but went to great lengths to choose Zhuo'an. To further prove his innocence, he arranged an alibi and arranged witnesses.

The mirror asked again: "Did you intend to frame General Zhongwu from the beginning?!"

He He Lingchuan rubbed his temples again:

Nonsense!

"Just based on a few suspicious points, General Zhongwu won't have any trouble."

Fan Shuang: "Ah? Brother He, are you talking to me?"

He He Lingchuan shook his head: "Nothing."

That night, as soon as he saw General Zhongwu appear, he prepared this backup plan.

General Zhongwu was not only formidable in martial arts but also brought his main confidants from the army with him.

He was also riding a good horse; a pure-blooded Bo beast could see at night, so traveling eight hundred li at night wasn't excessive, right?

If the Yao Nation could investigate He He Lingchuan, they could naturally investigate General Zhongwu—no matter how you looked at it, General Zhongwu's suspicion was much greater than Island Master He's.