Chapter 179: Unjustly Accused (1)

Yu Handan covered her chest in fear, not even daring to breathe too loudly. Su Ren also swallowed his saliva secretly, nervous and covered in a layer of sweat on his back. On the battlefield, he often witnessed the ferocity of Red Snow, but today he knew that Ice Lotus, which was usually hung on the wall, also had such power. Su Ren's heart jumped into his throat. Last time Ice Lotus and Red Snow fought, Lingyun Pavilion had to be repaired for more than a month to recover. If these three people fought, Yitian Courtyard could probably be rebuilt.

Ao Tian and Su Ling each occupied one side, refusing to give an inch. Neither was willing to restrain their aura first, and the swords in their hands creaked, showing they wouldn't stop until one of them died.

Gu Yun was furious. She stabbed the long sword in her hand into the grass beside her feet, crossed her arms over her chest, and said coldly, "You two like fighting so much, why not fight with me? If you beat me, you can fight until you die, and no one will care." The cold voice was not as fiery as just now, but it made both big men startle at the same time.

"Who is first?" Gu Yun looked at Ao Tian, then at Su Ling. Both looked away. After a long time, Ao Tian finally put down the long sword in his hand first. Gu Yun breathed a sigh of relief secretly, walked to him, and asked in a low voice, "What are you doing here?"

Ao Tian turned his back coldly and didn't pay attention to her, but his turn just happened to face Yu Handan. Yu Handan was so scared that her legs were soft, leaning against the door frame, her hands shaking constantly. Su Ren stepped forward and asked with some worry, "Miss Yu, are you okay!"

Yu Handan forced a reluctant smile and replied, "I—am fine."

Gu Yun thought for a moment, pointed at Ao Tian, and asked, "Is he the person you saw that night?"

Perhaps it was Su Ren's presence that made her feel safe, or perhaps she didn't want to lose her composure in front of Su Ren. Yu Handan took a deep breath, looked at Ao Tian again—the thin face, silver-white hair, lean body. Yu Handan nodded and replied, "It's him."

As soon as her voice fell, Ao Tian suddenly looked up at Yu Handan. Meeting those cold eyes, Yu Handan's heart jumped, and she took another step back.

Gu Yun frowned, "Are you sure?" This was impossible. She and Ao Tian had only separated for a while that night when she heard the scream. How could Ao Tian have already committed murder? Unless he could teleport! But this was impossible!

Yu Handan's heart was in turmoil, not daring to look at Ao Tian again, but after Gu Yun asked this, she also felt a little difference. The murderer's eyes were cruel and violent, and this person's eyes were also very scary, but they were cold and icy, lacking a kind of nauseating bloody smell.

"I, I..." After saying "I" for a long time, Yu Handan didn't dare to say whether it was or not. She was afraid her feeling was wrong, so she stood there, unable to say a word.

Su Ling's proud face was covered with a thick layer of frost. She trusted Ao Tian so much that he wasn't the murderer? He had already killed his way to the General's Mansion, yet she still trusted him so much!

Yu Handan didn't dare to give a positive answer. Gu Yun was even more convinced that it wasn't Ao Tian who killed the person, and that the murderer must have a relationship with Ao Tian, otherwise the two wouldn't look so similar, and Ao Tian wouldn't have gone to prison voluntarily. Gu Yun wanted to talk to Ao Tian alone. Just at this moment, a small general reported loudly outside the courtyard, "General, Magistrate Dan requests an audience."

"Invite." Su Ling didn't look at Gu Yun anymore and walked toward the courtyard. Before Su Ling walked out of the small courtyard, Dan Yulan had already brought thirty or forty Yamen Runners in, with suppressed anger on his calm face.

Dan Yulan nodded slightly to Su Ling, his eyes swept over the messy courtyard, and finally stopped on Ao Tian, with sharp light flashing in his eyes. Lifting his hand lightly, thirty or forty Yamen Runners drew their swords at the same time, rushed toward Ao Tian, and surrounded him tightly. Ao Tian stood there expressionlessly, and the soft sword in his hand had also been tucked back into his waist. He didn't need weapons to deal with these people at all.

Gu Yun's clear eyes narrowed slightly, and she asked inexplicably, "Dan Yulan, what's going on?" They had no evidence to prove that Ao Tian was the murderer, and he had entered the prison voluntarily. Even if he walked out today, Dan Yulan wouldn't need to let the Yamen Runners block him with swords, right?

Dan Yulan said in a deep voice, "Xiao Yu is dead."

Dead? Gu Yun was startled. Ao Tian escaped from prison, Xiao Yu died! A bad premonition rose in Gu Yun's heart. Sure enough, Dan Yulan said coldly, "He died half an hour after Ao Tian left the Ministry of Justice. The murderer..." Looking at the always cold and arrogant Ao Tian, Dan Yulan continued, "It was still a silver-haired man. I was worried about Miss Yu's safety, so I came to see, and I didn't expect him to really be here."

Ao Tian was not the murderer, he didn't need to kill Xiao Yu. But why was it such a coincidence that Ao Tian escaped from prison at this time? Gu Yun looked at Ao Tian, hoping to see something from his face. Unfortunately, Ao Tian was still cold, and there was no trace on his face.

Cheng Hang suddenly rushed in front of Ao Tian and forced him coldly, "Ao Tian, you pretended to go to prison to reduce your suspicion, and later found that there were still two witnesses, Xiao Yu and Miss Yu, who saw your appearance clearly, so you wanted to kill them to silence them, right?"

After a long time, Ao Tian replied in a low voice, "I didn't kill anyone."

His words seemed to anger Cheng Hang. Cheng Hang glared at Ao Tian and roared sternly, "Can't answer, right! How did you get out if you didn't kill the Yamen Runner on duty tonight? What are you doing in the General's Mansion in the middle of the night?"

Ao Tian killed the Yamen Runner? Gu Yun finally understood why Dan Yulan was full of anger and why Cheng Hang was so irritable. Gu Yun didn't quite believe Ao Tian would do this. With his martial arts, did he need to kill to leave the Ministry of Justice? If he didn't kill him, who would it be? What did Ao Tian want to do in the General's Mansion? A series of questions made Gu Yun close her mouth, waiting quietly for his response. However, Ao Tian just stood there proudly, not saying a word.

Ao Tian didn't speak, and Cheng Hang thought this was an admission. He roared with rage, "Still daring to quibble! You killed Xiao Yu first, then sneaked into the General's Mansion, wanting to kill Miss Yu together, right?"

"I didn't kill anyone." Ao Tian repeated a sentence, and he could only say this. From the beginning, he had guessed that they were deliberately provoking him to come out of prison. Even if he knew, he couldn't help but come out. If Qing

"You still dare to quibble!" A brother who had been through life and death together to solve cases had died just like that; no one could accept it. Cheng Hang wished he could give him a sound beating.

"Take him away first." Dan Yulan's low voice stopped Cheng Hang's fist.

Lowering his hand in anger, Cheng Hang escorted Ao Tian out of the small courtyard. Ao Tian did not resist, but before leaving, his black eyes swept over Gu Yun, so deep that one could not tell what he was thinking. Gu Yun only felt that Ao Tian was very strange tonight.

As the group exited Yitian Courtyard, Dan Yulan bowed to Su Ling and said, "General Su, sorry for the disturbance."

Su Ling nodded slightly, saying nothing. Everything that happened tonight seemed to have pushed Ao Tian completely into the position of the killer, but after clashing with Ao Tian just now, he felt that Ao Tian did not look much like a killer. Everyone who used a sword knew that the sword was like the person; he had a flexible and cold sword, and even if his moves were strange, he would absolutely disdain to commit acts of rape and plunder.

The two walked toward the courtyard gate together when a small general ran over in a panic, his forehead covered in beads of sweat. Upon seeing Su Ling, he immediately reported: "General! Something terrible has happened!"

At the same time, a yamen runner also hurried over and whispered in Dan Yulan's ear: "My Lord! Something has happened!"

Su Ling asked coldly: "What is it that has you so panicked?"

"An explosion occurred at the Haoyue Kingdom's post house a stick of incense ago."

Dan Yulan and Su Ling both shouted almost simultaneously: "What?" From the start, both had guessed that something major must have happened, but they never expected that an explosion would actually occur at the post house!

Dan Yulan asked urgently: "What is the situation now?" The soldier looked at Su Ling, and only after seeing Su Ling nod did he continue: "One Haoyue envoy and official died, three were seriously injured, and five others were slightly injured."

Before the celebration, an explosion actually occurred at the post house, and envoys were killed or injured because of it; for Qiongyue, this was simply a great humiliation. Tomorrow morning, the Emperor would surely be furious. The two looked at each other, said nothing, and left the General's Mansion together.

Gu Yun had already heard their conversation in the courtyard, but she was not in a hurry to chase after them. When Qing got married, she had been to that Haoyue post house and knew how to get there. Sitting on the steps of the small house, Gu Yun closed her eyes slightly, sorting through everything that had happened tonight. Suddenly, she opened her eyes abruptly and said urgently to Su Ren, who was about to leave: "Su Ren, quickly mobilize men to check the post houses of other countries to see if there are any more explosives. Also, station guards at the post houses for twelve hours; do not allow anyone to approach!" The bombing case came too suspiciously, and before the celebration, such a terrorist attack could not possibly happen only once!

"Understood." Su Ren was startled; seeing Gu Yun's grave expression, he already knew her concerns. If it were truly as she thought, the consequences would be unimaginable!

Su Ren hurriedly ran out of the small courtyard. Gu Yun stood up nimbly and said to Yu Handan, who had been terrified enough for one night: "Stay in Yitian Courtyard and do not wander around." After saying this, she also walked toward the outside of the courtyard. Yu Handan came to her senses and asked urgently: "Where are you going?"

"The crime scene." Leaving behind this sentence, the slender and petite figure had already disappeared from the courtyard.

Watching that gracefully departing back, Yu Handan suddenly felt some envy for her. Such remarkable skills, such freedom to come and go, such free-spiritedness—if she could have half of her ability, could she perhaps not be at the mercy of her father's arrangements?

With a bitter smile, Yu Handan picked up the jade zither from the ground and sat down on the messy grass. Her plain hands lifted lightly, and the zither music flowed, bringing a trace of tranquility to this night destined to be restless.

Haoyue Yiguan.

This was Gu Yun's second time at the Haoyue post house; the last time was for Qing's wedding, accompanying her to wait for Lou Xiyan to come for the bride. At that time, it was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, magnificent and gorgeous, but now it was a different scene. Su family soldiers had surrounded the post house tightly, and there were chaotic footsteps inside the courtyard. A thick smell of gunpowder permeated the air. The guards were from the Su Family Army; seeing Gu Yun arrive, they not only did not stop her but also respectfully cupped their hands in salute. Some of the Ministry of Justice yamen runners had also seen Gu Yun discussing the case with Lord Dan, and now that General Su's men did not stop her, they dared even less to do so.

(End of chapter)