Chapter 525: Foreign Aid Has Arrived

Lord Zhongsun Mou took the mirror and examined it over and over, getting egg fluid on his hands, which marked him as a target for the Snail Toad. He He Lingchuan was also marked, of course, but he had quickly washed his hands and the mirror clean after leaving the tower, then slipped away in a small boat.

So, it is very important to wash your hands after doing things.

As a double insurance, He He Lingchuan had already made contact with Mai Xuewen yesterday.

He took out the Snail Toad egg in front of Mai Xuewen's puppet, and both sides confirmed one thing:

He He Lingchuan confirmed that Mai Xuewen and the Snail Toad were still in Baishaqu.

And Mai Xuewen confirmed that He He Lingchuan knew exactly what would happen if the Snail Toad egg were crushed, because this special envoy had certainly interrogated Wan Song.

Then, if the Snail Toad made any unusual moves this morning, Mai Xuewen would likely be able to guess who was summoning it.

Under his intentional control, the Snail Toad would not eat the wrong person.

It could be said that ever since the two sides met last night, Lord Zhongsun Mou's fate was basically sealed.

He He Lingchuan was very happy to trade his life to regain the initiative in this case. Having stayed by He He Chunhua's side for so long, he had long understood one principle: evidence shown to others must be open and aboveboard, and able to withstand scrutiny.

But the process and means of obtaining the evidence, not necessarily.

As for the fact that killing Lord Zhongsun Mou could also vent some anger, he certainly would not admit to that.

Young Master He was magnanimous and broad-minded; how could he possibly care about such a small grievance?

The only trouble here was that he might also be suspected. After all, Lord Zhongsun Mou's death was to his advantage.

But He He Lingchuan had an alibi, and the witnesses even included Fan Sheng, the Deputy Commander of the Concentric Guard.

This was the most powerful human testimony.

Furthermore, He He Lingchuan had another motive for luring Fan Sheng to the Hegong: to draw away this guy with explosive combat power and increase the Snail Toad's success rate.

Otherwise, with Fan Sheng at his side, could the Snail Toad have escaped successfully? He He Lingchuan could not know for sure, but it was always a good thing that Fan Sheng was not at the scene.

One must know that the Snail Toad had been badly blasted by He He Lingchuan earlier, and only a few days had passed; its injuries had likely not yet healed.

Therefore, the greatest difficulty in this plan lay with Fan Sheng.

He He Lingchuan had to survive Fan Sheng's axe first, otherwise everything that followed would be in vain.

For this battle of just over ten breaths, he had truly racked his brains and spent two full days and nights running simulations.

Fan Sheng's martial power was formidable, and he had primordial power to assist him; the key to He He Lingchuan's battle this time was to avoid direct confrontation with him as much as possible.

The three spiders just now were Blood Tooth Guards summoned using the essence blood gifted by Zhu Zhu Xiuer, integrating offense, defense, and healing.

In this environment, they were perfect meat shields and cannon fodder, attracting Fan Sheng's attention and restraining his movements.

Besides, he had also quietly learned from Xiang Yan that Fan Sheng's swimming ability seemed very mediocre, because two years ago when a woman fell into the water, Fan Sheng went down to save her, but after getting ashore, he vomited water for a long time and nearly choked to death.

So the Hegong was indeed a good place to face Fan Sheng.

He believed that the moment Fan Sheng jumped down from the Chaohu Tower to pursue him, he had never calculated so much.

He He Lingchuan had even made several sets of plans and prepared several backup moves. But Fan Sheng hadn't used any magic treasures from beginning to end, and by the time he was bound by the spider web, he couldn't use them anyway—who could he blame for that?

About two quarter-hours later, the door was knocked upon.

"Carriages are lining up at the back door of the Cen residence, and boxes are being piled up," Commander Lu said as soon as he arrived, getting straight to the point. "Cen Boqing is going to flee!"

"Can't you stop him?"

"I have already sent men to surround and block him, but Cen Boqing led over a dozen guards to charge on horseback, even drawing swords and brandishing whips; my men dare not strike back."

After all, the other party was an official from Lingxu City; if there were any mishaps in the confrontation, no common soldier in the Chi Yan Kingdom would dare take the responsibility.

Just as He He Lingchuan was pondering, there was a fluttering sound at the windowsill.

The two turned to look, and it was the goshawk landing, mouth agape and breathing rapidly; it seemed it had flown both fast and urgently just now.

"He's coming, he's coming!" it said to He He Lingchuan. "He has passed the center of the street, hurry to meet him!"

"He's come just in time, what is there to meet!" He He Lingchuan's heart finally settled, and he laughed heartily. "Tell him to go to the back door of the Cen residence immediately to meet me!"

"..." The goshawk couldn't help but roll its eyes; never mind catching its breath, it hadn't even had a sip of water, and now it had to rush off to deliver the message.

￥￥￥￥￥

The soldiers brought by Commander Lu surrounded the Cen residence until not even water could leak through.

Cen Boqing led people to clear the way in front, and the Chi Yan soldiers dared not strike, so they could only form a human wall to block them.

The Cen residence's guards and servants pushed desperately, throwing sucker punches, and finally were about to squeeze out of the human wall.

As long as he left Baishaqu, no one behind would be able to hold him accountable.

Cen Boqing was already sneering in his heart, calculating how to deal with these people after returning to Lingxu City. The one surnamed He certainly could not be spared, nor could the tactless Commander Lu or the double-dealing County Magistrate Tian.

Just then, over a hundred riders charged out from the street corner, galloping toward the Cen residence.

They shouted all the way, as if no one else were present.

Civilians who couldn't dodge in time were flicked aside by invisible energy, and those with bad luck would hit the wall with their faces.

Even the wealthy young masters from the families of high officials in Lingxu City rarely had this kind of air or were this arrogant in Baishaqu.

The one galloping in the very front arrived with his voice before his person, a long laugh: "Cen Boqing, where are you going!"

Cen Boqing also recognized him, and in his great alarm, his heart sank to the bottom.

The newly promoted Crown Prince of the Chi Yan Kingdom, Fushan Yue!

Shouldn't he be in the Chi Yan capital winning over hearts and minds? How could he suddenly appear in Baishaqu?

But this doubt lasted only a brief moment; seeing He Xiao riding alongside Fushan Yue, he immediately understood.

It's over.

Fushan Yue pulled on the reins, and his mount reared up.

"You owed me a drink last year, and now I've come to your door to collect; are you still trying to welch?"

Cen Boqing said with a dark face: "I have urgent business to return to Lingxu City; why don't you come back to the Bai Yu Pavilion with me for a drink?" The Bai Yu Pavilion was a famous restaurant in Lingxu City.

"What urgent business could make you unable to stay even for the Lotus Festival, forcing you to rush back overnight?" Fushan Yue smiled, but cold light flickered in his eyes. "Could it be you're rushing to destroy the evidence and silence the witnesses?"

"Crown Prince, watch your words!" Cen Boqing shouted. "These subordinates of yours are desperately splashing dirty water on me, yet you can't produce a shred of real evidence."

"Can't produce real evidence?" Fushan Yue wanted exactly those words from him. "Come, bring him up!"

His subordinates immediately pushed forward a man, square-faced, thick-browed, in his early thirties.

He was tied up like a dumpling and bruised all over, clearly having suffered quite a bit, his expression somewhat timid.

"Who is this?" Cen Boqing didn't recognize him.

Commander Lu gave the man a shove: "They're asking you, speak!"

"The small one, the small one..."

Commander Lu backhanded him across the forehead: "Louder, did you not eat lunch?"

"Yes, yes... the small one is named Pang Denian, and I have worked under Wu Kai of the Cen residence for seven years." The man lowered his head, not daring to look at Cen Boqing, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Ten days ago, Wu Kai ordered me to take the prepared confession to the county jail to collude with Fu Fu Songhua, forcing him to admit that he was the mastermind of the messenger case!"

The commotion at the Cen residence was too loud and had long since attracted countless passersby and residents to watch. With Pang Denian's shout, the crowd exploded with a buzz.

Really? Is it possible? Because the Lingxu City Inspector and the Crown Prince's special envoy were both handling cases in Baishaqu, the White-Shouldered Eagle messenger case had long been the talk of the town, with countless versions of conspiracy theories.

Now the Crown Prince himself had arrived, and a servant of the Cen residence was accusing his master of being the mastermind?

Oh my, the big shots have all arrived. This melon is big enough and juicy enough!

Pang Denian continued to shout: "The Crown Prince's special envoy came to investigate the case..."

Cen Boqing was so angry he laughed: "Spitting blood! How could my residence have such filth!"

Commander Lu elbowed Pang Denian, and he immediately shouted again: "I bribed the jailer Pi Pi Linhai with fifteen silver taels, and he let me in. Later, when the Crown Prince's special envoy came to investigate, Pi Pi Linhai disappeared."

Fushan Yue squinted at Cen Boqing and said: "The bribed jailer is dead; you thought this lead was broken, and Pang Denian was sent by Wu Kai to Hou Family Village in the southwest of Baishaqu to lie low."

Cen Boqing said coldly: "You find some random villager and dare to frame me like this? Go ask around Baishaqu, who can say this man has any connection to my residence!"

"What about Wu Kai? Have him come out for a confrontation," Fushan Yue laughed. "Four years ago, his grandson fell into the water in the dead of winter, and Pang Denian jumped into the ice hole to help him fish the grandson out. Afterward, Wu Kai gave him two small gold bars. This matter has long spread in Pang Denian's hometown of Boxiang; just ask any household and you'll know."

Cen Boqing kept a straight face throughout: "I've never heard of such a thing. How the people of Boxiang spread rumors is not something I can control."

He He Lingchuan suddenly asked: "Where exactly is Wu Kai?"

He scanned the scene of the conflict but did not find Wu Kai. This man was Cen Boqing's confidant and had always been by his side; why was he missing at such an important moment?

Furthermore, whenever Fushan Yue asked about Wu Kai, Cen Boqing would either change the subject or avoid answering.

Cen Boqing sneered: "Just an old servant, not worth the Crown Prince's concern."

Fushan Yue cleared his throat and said: "Now that Magistrate Lord Zhongsun has also been abducted, the two cases are combined into one; it has become a major, important, and serious case! I, the Crown Prince, will investigate it personally and will certainly get to the bottom of it. I also hope Magistrate Cen will cooperate well. Come, help Magistrate Cen move his bedding back to the residence!"

This was refusing to let Cen Boqing leave no matter what. During the time they were talking, one team after another of fully armed soldiers rushed over, surrounding the Cen residence layer upon layer.

County Magistrate Tian also arrived; Fushan Yue crooked his finger, and he hurriedly stepped forward, nodding while listening to instructions.

With the Crown Prince here, what concerns could the soldiers have? They stepped forward to lead the horses and move the boxes, looking like a completely different army from the hesitant one just moments ago.

Those who had suffered when forming the human wall earlier even dared to sneak a few kicks at the other side to vent their anger.

Anyone could see that the Crown Prince was determined to deal with the Cen family this time.

Cen Boqing's face was livid, and he flicked his sleeves to return to the residence. He had been one step too slow after all and had not escaped Baishaqu.

Commander Lu, County Magistrate Tian, and the others were afraid of damaging the china while catching the rat and couldn't stop him at all, but Fushan Yue was different. This guy was notoriously reckless; he didn't care if the Son of Heaven himself came, he would dare to knock them down first and talk later.

At this time, County Magistrate Tian stepped forward half a pace, coughed, and said: "Detain Wu Kai, take him into custody to await trial."

Continuing to ask for monthly tickets~

(End of chapter)