Chapter 1635

But he might not have paid much attention at the time, so he couldn't remember it now. Liu Wu didn't know what he meant and didn't dare to speak up and disturb him.

Finally, Bai Ziqi interrupted his own train of thought and asked again: "Was Qi Yunsheng poisoned?"

"Tested, no."

Bai Ziqi let people continue to seal the corpse and turned to walk out of the cellar: "After the incident, how did Mangzhou handle it?"

"Seal the city, and at the same time activate the escape-prevention array." Liu Wu followed, "After three days of searching without results, the scope was expanded to a radius of fifty miles."

"Correct. It cannot be ruled out that they used escape techniques to flee before the city was sealed." Bai Ziqi asked him, "After expanding the scope, did you find any more suitable suspects?"

"No."

When Liu Wu said this, he hesitated slightly, which was noticed by Bai Ziqi: "Speak your mind."

"Because Mangzhou was really crowded at the time, some officials and wealthy merchants would also choose to stay in Zhuo'an. The straight-line distance from there to Mangzhou is only ten miles or so, but in reality, the mountain road is more rugged, probably dozens of miles." Liu Wu said, "After the investigation, many people identified that General Zhongwu suddenly went out in the evening and didn't return until dawn the next day."

"Oh?" Speaking of General Zhongwu, Bai Ziqi was not very interested, "What was the reason for leaving suddenly?"

"It was said that the tribute being escorted was stolen, and six or seven other teams in the same inn were also robbed. General Zhongwu took his men and chased after them, and finally caught two local petty thieves in a nearby deserted village and brought them back."

"Hmm—" Bai Ziqi thought for a moment, "You also suspected him?"

The questions from this Lord Bai were all very difficult to answer. Liu Wu coughed lightly: "It is my duty."

"This testimony is problematic, right?"

"This..."

"Just say it, I will keep it confidential."

"General Zhongwu was away from the inn for too long, leaving in the evening and not returning until dawn; and the two petty thieves he caught only admitted that they stole money in the inn, but flatly denied stealing the tribute and supplies."

"What exactly did the petty thieves say?"

"They fell asleep as soon as they returned to the deserted village, and when they woke up, there was a pile of boxes stacked beside them, and in front of them was the angry General Zhongwu. Oh yes, it was later discovered that one of them was wearing an iron ring on his finger, which was a storage ring, and its capacity was not small."

Otherwise, how could two people and two horses move more than a dozen boxes?

"You think these two petty thieves told the truth, and they were framed?"

Liu Wu said: "I wanted to go to the prison to interrogate them, but was told that these two prisoners had vanished into thin air. About two nights before I arrived in Mangzhou, they suddenly disappeared from the county prison. The jailer on duty that night was knocked unconscious, and no one knows what happened."

Only then did Bai Ziqi become interested: "Was it a jailbreak or were they abducted?"

"The county couldn't judge either, so they only issued a wanted notice, but they never caught these two people again."

"In other words, their life or death is unknown?"

"Yes... you could say that." Facing Bai Ziqi's questioning, Liu Wu was so nervous he licked his lips, "General Zhongwu insisted that someone was trying to frame him."

Bai Ziqi asked while pondering: "Where is General Zhongwu now?"

"More than two months ago, he already rushed to the northern front to take up his post."

Bai Ziqi was curious: "General Zhongwu hasn't cleared his name, why was he able to rush to the northern front to take up his post?"

Liu Wu explained: "After General Xue was murdered, the northern front was vacant, and the Monarch and the Regent agreed to dispatch General Zhongwu and General Yuwen to the northern front to fill the vacancies."

Bai Ziqi gave a long "Oh": "So that's how it is, no wonder you all suspect General Zhongwu."

It seems General Zhongwu is the direct beneficiary of Xue Zongwu's death.

Liu Wu rubbed his nose awkwardly: "This..."

He wasn't the only one who suspected Zhongwu. As far as he knew, the Monarch was so angry he couldn't eat for several days.

Bai Ziqi continued: "In summary, the Great Emperor of Nine Serenities' actions in the Yao Nation are not as free as in the Flash Gold Plain, so he streamlined his manpower to enter the country, used a legitimate and proper identity in the Yao Nation as a cover, and followed Xue Zongwu all the way to Mangzhou. So his path in the Yao Nation is basically the same as Xue Zongwu's; have you checked along this line?"

"Checked. But to be honest, there are too many teams entering from the northwestern border and taking the same route to Mangzhou, making it difficult to search one by one."

"Among them, is there no team that possesses extremely formidable martial power?" Although he didn't hold out hope for this direction, because the Great Emperor of Nine Serenities must be good at disguising, Bai Ziqi still asked as a matter of routine.

"Teams escorting officials to the capital generally have some skills. Extremely formidable? Uh..." Liu Wu thought for a moment and shook his head himself.

"Thought of someone else? It doesn't matter, even the most outrageous can be said. Sometimes, intuition is more reliable than anything else."

Liu Wu recited six or seven names in a row, then said: "These are all people with high cultivation and great fame, and they were all in the vicinity of Mangzhou when the incident occurred."

One of the names sounded particularly familiar. Bai Ziqi said "Wait," interrupting Liu Wu's name-calling.

"He Xiao?" He confirmed with Liu Wu again, "He Xiao was also near Mangzhou that night?!"

"Yes." Liu Wu nodded, "He was invited by my King to enter the country to observe the ceremony, and that night he stayed in Zhuo'an with the special envoy and the imperial guards, in the same inn as General Zhongwu."

"Did you know he had formidable martial power at the time?" Bai Ziqi had fought He Lingchuan before; if he hadn't recalled his lamp spirit at the time, this "Chi Yan Special Envoy" would have suffered a loss.

At that time, He Xiao's cultivation was good, but it didn't reach the word "formidable."

"I didn't know when I asked him. But not long after, he signed a life-and-death contract on the martial arts arena of my King's birthday celebration and killed He Yang, the leader of the Green Guards of the Qingyang Regent, on the spot."

Bai Ziqi stood still: "I only heard a little about this, but I don't know the process. Was it really in front of the Qingyang Regent?"

"Yes, in front of my King, the Qingyang Regent, and the civil and military officials; I was also at the scene at the time."

"This is a bit unbelievable." As far as Bai Ziqi knew, Qingyang was extremely protective of her own. What effect did the life-and-death contract at the Yao King's birthday celebration have on her? "With the Qingyang Regent's ability, how could she not have been able to rescue him in time?"

The former Chief Grand Preceptor of Beijia, unable to save her own subordinate at the Yao King's birthday celebration? This didn't sound like the Qingyang he knew.

"This, actually..." Liu Wu coughed lightly, "The magic treasure that killed Commander He was brought out by himself; it didn't hit He Xiao, but instead backfired on its master. The accident happened too fast, even if the Qingyang Regent had acted, it would have been too—too late."

He didn't know if there was any connection between Bai Ziqi and Qingyang, only that both of these people came from Beijia, and he couldn't afford to offend either.

"As expected of He Xiao, making Qingyang suffer another loss." Qingyang traveled far to the Flash Gold Plain, and those she brought with her were no ordinary people. He Xiao being able to defeat He Yang in a head-on duel, regardless of the means used, indeed proved that this person's cultivation was powerful.

Not seen for a few years, and he has improved to this extent? Liu Wu smiled awkwardly.

"Back to Xue Zongwu's murder, did He Xiao stay in the inn all night?"

"Yes." Liu Wu nodded, "The special envoy sent by my King to receive him, as well as the imperial guards, all testified to it."

"How did they testify? Were they drinking together all night?"

"No, they returned to their rooms to rest for a few hours at night." Liu Wu looked troubled, "When General Zhongwu rushed back in the morning, he even had breakfast with He Xiao."

Bai Ziqi accurately grasped the loophole: "In other words, during those few hours at night, no one in the inn saw He Xiao."

"You could say that." Liu Wu hesitated before saying, "Are you suspecting He Xiao?"

"No, I only question, I don't infer." Bai Ziqi smiled, "He Xiao is now doing very well in Tianshui City, quite comfortably."

"The number one favorite in front of my King, the most popular foreign merchant in the Yao Nation." Liu Wu listed them like family treasures, "Not long ago, he presided over the construction of the Youhu Villa, and is currently serving as a member of the Upper Council in the eastern expansion of the capital."

Bai Ziqi already knew all of this.

As everyone planned to leave Xiaotao Villa by carriage, Bai Ziqi said to Liu Wu: "I am also an old acquaintance of He Xiao. Tell me in detail what he has done in Tianshui City over the past few months."

The carriage traveled the whole way, and Bai Ziqi listened the whole way.

By the time they reached the inn where he was staying, it was already dark, and Bai Ziqi waved Liu Wu away and sat by the window, lost in thought.

In the small courtyard outside the guest room, a night-blooming cereus was quietly blooming, its fragrance overflowing.

There were no lanterns under the eaves, but the moonlight was like water, pouring gently onto the white flowers, creating a pearlescent texture.

That beauty was too stunning to last for two hours.

With a cup of tea in his hand, Bai Ziqi drank for more than a quarter of an hour.

Bai Qi brought boiling water up to refill his cup, but Bai Ziqi asked him: "What do you think?"

"My lord, what are you referring to?"

"Qingyang, Zhongwu, He Xiao, and the Great Emperor of Nine Serenities."

Bai Qi had been by his side for a long time and understood Bai Ziqi's way of speaking, so he said: "They all seem to have some suspicion, but..."

He was also in the carriage and heard Bai Ziqi's interest in General Zhongwu and He Xiao. Every time the Lord Envoy dug so deeply into someone, that person was about to have bad luck.

Bai Qi also knew that the Lord Envoy might not really want to ask for his answer, but just needed to broaden his thinking in conversation.

Bai Ziqi asked: "But what?"

"They cannot be strung together to form strong evidence." Bai Qi whispered, "Just a few points of suspicion."

"If it were so easy to string together, the Great Emperor of Nine Serenities would have been caught by the Yao Nation long ago; why would we need to come here?" Bai Ziqi tapped his temple, "I told you, what to do when you can't clear your head?"

The attendant answered: "Trust your spiritual sense."

"How long has He Xiao been in the Yao Nation?"

"More than two months."

"How long has Qingyang been in the Yao Nation?"

"Uh, more than a year."

Bai Ziqi asked again: "How long has the Great Emperor of Nine Serenities been missing?"

"... Almost three months."

"I said earlier that after killing Xue Zongwu, the Great Emperor of Nine Serenities himself stopped committing crimes. Could this be because he has things to do in Tianshui City, and thus is unable to attend to other matters?"

The attendant nodded. But he and Bai Qi also knew that there were countless strong people who entered Tianshui City at that time, and He Xiao and Zhongwu were just one or two of them.