Chapter 537: The First Probe

"Green Lotus Temple?" Bai Bai Ziqi was startled, but immediately turned his head to say to Fushan Yue, "The confession is here; the Crown Prince can now authorize the arrest of Cen Boqing."

Fushan Yue nodded, intending to go and mobilize troops.

Bai Bai Ziqi added, "Commander Fan, you go help as well."

Fan Sheng stood up immediately and jumped out of the cellar in two strides.

Fushan Yue's gaze flickered, but he did not object.

After they had all left, Bai Bai Ziqi's gaze turned to He He Lingchuan: "You handle the rest of the interrogation."

He He Lingchuan nodded, ordered someone to bring paper and pen, and interrogated Wu Kai in detail.

Wu Kai asked for a cup of water, gulped it down in one go, wiped his mouth, and then answered He He Lingchuan's questions.

It turned out that Cen Boqing's father, Cen Cen Qiao, had long been engaged in the business of hunting demons for their pearls. After Wu Kai became his trusted aide, he became the person in charge of this business. After Cen Cen Qiao passed away, Cen Boqing inherited his father's business and still ordered Wu Kai to oversee the matter.

"Why did Cen Cen Qiao start doing this in the first place?"

"The profits were extremely lucrative." Wu Kai leaned against the wall, his body devoid of strength. "You don't know how fast a household like the Cen family burns through money in Lingxu City... That place is practically a bottomless pit; no amount of money is ever enough to cover the expenses. In the early years, the Cen family's shops even suffered huge losses. If not for these revenues to fill the gaps, the Cen family would have fallen into ruin long ago. How could they have had the glory of marrying the daughter of the Grand Minister of Agriculture later on?"

"Marrying the daughter of the Grand Minister of Agriculture—wasn't that just marrying into a money bag?" He He Lingchuan's question made even Bai Bai Ziqi, who was standing to the side, glance over. "Why did Cen Boqing still take the risk to continue?"

"He said several times that he wanted to quit, but the buyers at Green Lotus Temple wouldn't agree."

"Buyers?" He He Lingchuan sneered. "You mean, your superiors?"

Wu Kai said in a low voice, "In this kind of business, you can't just quit whenever you want."

He He Lingchuan gave a grunt of acknowledgment and wrote all the testimony down on paper.

He was very slow, and there was a long silence in the cellar.

After He He Lingchuan had been quiet for a long time, Bai Bai Ziqi had to speak up: "Who did you trade the pulp pearls with at Green Lotus Temple, and who did you collect the money from?"

"A temple attendant surnamed Hu," Wu Kai said. "Twice a year, we would meet behind the temple to exchange pearls for money. Unless the purchase price for the pulp pearls changed, we never communicated."

"You don't know any other buyers?"

Wu Kai shook his head.

"Speak, do you know them or not?"

"I don't know them."

Bai Bai Ziqi paused, then asked, "Does the Grand Minister of Agriculture know about the business you were running?"

The answer to this question had far-reaching implications.

"We kept it hidden, and the Grand Minister and his Lady never asked. Perhaps..." Wu Kai shrugged.

Bai Bai Ziqi, however, would not let him brush it off: "So, does the Grand Minister of Agriculture know, or does he not know?"

Wu Kai had no choice but to say, "I think, he probably doesn't know."

He He Lingchuan kept his head down, scribbling away, refusing to make a sound.

He would leave these deeper questions to the special envoy from Lingxu City; he had no intention of getting involved in that mess.

"Did you provide false testimony for Fu Fu Songhua?"

"Yes." Wu Kai spoke bluntly. "Three years ago, Cen Boqing accidentally discovered that the fugitive Fu Fu Songhua, who murdered the Inspector of Bingzhou, was actually living in the northwest corner of Baishaqu, not even far from the Cen residence."

"If you walk by the river often, how can you not get your shoes wet?" Wu Kai gave a bitter laugh. "Cen Boqing was also afraid that the matter would be exposed one day, so he had me prepare false evidence. If the truth ever came out, Fu Fu Songhua would take the fall."

"Who designated the source of the information regarding the White-Shouldered Eagle route that you planned to frame him with?"

"Cen Boqing."

"Why?"

Wu Kai swallowed. "I only followed orders; I don't know why."

"Now, about Lord Zhongsun Mou," Bai Bai Ziqi continued to ask. "Why did he cooperate with you to provide false testimony?"

"Lord Zhongsun Mou's grandfather was nearing the end of his lifespan and couldn't keep down any medicinal supplements. Cen Boqing instructed Lord Zhongsun Mou to go to Green Lotus Temple to seek medicine, with the code phrase 'Prolonging life and ensuring peace.' After the old man of the Lord Zhongsun family ate it, he could live for another ten to thirty years."

"This time, Cen Boqing discovered that the Inspector investigating the messenger case and the demon-hunting case was Lord Zhongsun Mou, so he used this matter to blackmail him." Wu Kai asked for another cup of water. "Purchasing and consuming the Elixir of Immortality without authorization is a grave crime in Lingxu City."

"So both the Cen and Lord Zhongsun families are involved." Bai Bai Ziqi nodded at He He Lingchuan again. "I'm done asking; the rest is up to you."

He He Lingchuan then asked Wu Kai about the whereabouts of his other demon-hunting subordinates.

Having reached this point, Wu Kai no longer hid anything and confessed the hiding spots, modus operandi, results, and contact codes for the other five groups.

Before the ink on the paper was dry, He He Lingchuan handed the file filled with testimony to Bai Bai Ziqi: "Envoy Bai, the other five groups of demon-hunting fanatics are all outside the borders of the Chiyan Kingdom."

In short, arresting them was not the task of the Chiyan Kingdom, but the duty of his special envoy.

Bai Bai Ziqi took it, put it away, stood up, and said, "I am going to the Cen residence; you come with me."

He He Lingchuan had no objections.

The inn was very close to the Cen residence, just a few hundred steps away.

He He Lingchuan walked alongside Bai Bai Ziqi, followed by several guards.

He could feel this man observing him intentionally or unintentionally, so he simply asked directly: "Envoy Bai, is there something unusual about my face?"

The youth seemed very straightforward; others wouldn't dare ask him such a thing. Bai Bai Ziqi smiled gently: "Nothing unusual, it's just that seeing you so young, your relationship with Crown Prince Yue doesn't look like that of a master and servant, but rather like friends of equal standing."

"I am not from Chiyan, nor am I a servant of the Crown Prince." There was nothing to hide about this. Since Bai Bai Ziqi had brought Fan Sheng along, he must have heard He He Lingchuan's basic background from the Deputy Commander of the Concentric Guard.

This man was meticulous and held a high position; He He Lingchuan always felt his gaze was strange, so he gathered all his focus, not daring to show any negligence.

Bai Bai Ziqi said: "I went to the Fu Kingdom in my early years. The monarchs and ministers were just so-so, but the merchants were very capable. Basically, whatever you wanted, they could get for you."

He He Lingchuan thought of the Shimen Chamber of Commerce and the Gan family, who did exclusive business with Auntie Zhu, and couldn't help but smile: "In poor mountains and treacherous waters, there are no obedient subjects; we all believe that wealth is sought amidst danger."

"In poor mountains and treacherous waters, there are no obedient subjects—well said." Bai Bai Ziqi also laughed. "Why did Crown Prince Yue designate you to handle the messenger case?"

"I am a foreigner, so I have fewer entanglements and fewer concerns." He He Lingchuan replied calmly. "Otherwise, as soon as I encountered Lord Zhongsun Mou, the Chiyan officials wouldn't have been able to continue the investigation."

"Not being an obedient subject has its advantages," Bai Bai Ziqi said leisurely. "And how did Crown Prince Yue know that this case would have such far-reaching implications?"

He He Lingchuan shrugged: "You'll have to ask him that; I'm new here and don't know much about Chiyan."

"To find a foreigner who doesn't understand the national situation to investigate a case—Crown Prince Yue's way of doing things is truly unexpected." Bai Bai Ziqi glanced at him. "How did you and Crown Prince Yue meet?"

He Xiao's background was a mystery; Fan Sheng didn't know, and Fushan Yue hadn't mentioned it in his reports.

"A while ago, when the Imperial Flowing Pulp descended, we were both in the wilderness and got into a big fight over a piece of pulp paste." He He Lingchuan gave a very brief account. "Neither of us wanted to suffer mutual destruction, so we became friends through the fight."

"That sounds exactly like something Crown Prince Yue would do." What Bai Bai Ziqi was paying attention to, of course, was the implication behind "becoming friends through a fight."

What kind of temperament and methods did Fushan Yue have? He even killed his own younger brother!

Even Bai Bai Ziqi felt he was cold-blooded and cruel.

Only if Fushan Yue couldn't kill the youth before him would he possibly become friends with him.

But the fact that he could fight Fushan Yue to a draw was clearly something glorious, so why did the youth downplay it? "I have one more thing to ask." Bai Bai Ziqi thought for a moment and decided to get straight to the point. "Fan Sheng said that Cen Boqing hired the curse-master Cheng Yu to plot against you, but he returned in defeat and suffered a backlash, vomiting blood. I have heard of this Cheng Yu; he truly has some skills. How did you defeat him?"

He He Lingchuan said indifferently: "I have a few means of self-preservation. But I didn't have the ability to counterattack Cheng Yu; he was injured by the backlash of his own magic."

"What kind of magic did he use?"

He He Lingchuan spread his hands: "He is a curse-master, so it must have been some kind of evil curse, right? Unfortunately, I am not skilled in that."

Before Bai Bai Ziqi could ask again, he went on the offensive: "You just said, 'That sounds exactly like something Crown Prince Yue would do.' It seems you know the Crown Prince very well."

He He Lingchuan had his own secrets and could not be questioned endlessly.

"I've dealt with him a few times." Bai Bai Ziqi smiled. "As a prince of Chiyan, he studied in Lingxu City for over ten years; as for me, I was selected for the Star-Plucking Tower at a young age, and since we are of similar age, we had a few interactions."

Similar age... He He Lingchuan scratched his nose.

That's right, that scoundrel Fushan Yue only looked young, but he was actually over forty, making him a contemporary of Bai Bai Ziqi.

Demons do have some heaven-sent advantages.

"Although the Crown Prince's temperament is a bit... straightforward." He He Lingchuan weighed his words, but both knew he meant "cruel." "But for a monarch, this is not a flaw. On the contrary, he is shrewd, alert, flexible, and sensible. Why doesn't the King of Chiyan like him?"

The King of Chiyan had always favored Fushan Ji and had no intention of making his eldest son the Crown Prince.

He would likely find it hard to get an answer from anyone else, except for Bai Bai Ziqi. Even the fierce tiger Jiao Yu, who had been with him for a long time, would change the subject whenever he heard about this.

Avoiding the taboo of the superior—this was the basic conduct of all officials.

Bai Bai Ziqi was uncharacteristically silent, as if in thought.

After a long while, he said: "It should be fine to tell you; many people in Lingxu City know."

Of course, the "many people" he spoke of were likely all in the top-tier circles.

He said slowly: "When Crown Prince Yue was young, he ate his own biological mother!"

He He Lingchuan was shocked.

But he did not ask, because there was surely more to the story.

Sure enough, Bai Bai Ziqi turned his head to observe his expression while continuing: "The two brothers, the Crown Prince and his brother, were born to the same mother, a commoner woman. Later, the King of Chiyan sent guards to bring them and their mother back to the palace, but there was an accident on the way, a terrible accident..."

He did not elaborate further, only saying: "Crown Prince Yue eating his mother was a last resort, but the King of Chiyan cherished that consort dearly, and ever since then, he has held a grudge and disliked him upon seeing him."

He He Lingchuan muttered: "He probably dislikes him even more now."

Fushan Yue had recently killed his own younger brother. When the old King saw this eldest son, did the hatred for the murder of his wife and son come flooding back?

Thanks to @Qian Dai Qi Xiu for the enthusiastic sponsorship; we have gained another alliance leader ^_^

(End of chapter)