Chapter 357: But the One Who Bought Off Jia Si Tong Was Not Little Tomb Governor Liang Wai

Yang Qin's face still held shock and fear, now shrouded by a heavy layer of doubt; his brows were tightly knit, his eyes darted between Chen Yan and Gao Bing, and his lips unconsciously pressed into a straight line.

"What do you mean by the true cause of death?!" he couldn't help murmuring softly, his voice tinged with bewilderment.

Because of the effect of Soft Sinew Powder, Yang Qin's mind was a bit glitchy, his thoughts lagging...

But he knew that whatever Chen Yan mentioned at this moment was definitely unusual!

"Just the literal meaning!" Chen Yan shrugged nonchalantly, the curve of his mouth neither deep nor shallow, with a hint of playfulness, and replied.

Yang Qin's gaze froze on Chen Yan's face for a moment, quickly recalling Yang Gong's death, muttering to himself: "Ah Gong didn't die from the snake‑entwining vines and purple monkey flower?"

"Wasn't it Liang Wai who bought off Jia Si Tong?"

Before the words finished, his pupils snapped shut, as if struck by a thunderclap, his whole body trembling violently.

The overlooked details at this moment twisted into a spear of spikes, piercing his chaotic thoughts—

"Wait!" Yang Qin staggered, lifted his head, his stare fixed on the Overseer beside him; the confusion in his eyes instantly gave way to incredulous shock, his lips trembling, almost biting his teeth as he forced out a sentence:

"Chen Yan, could this also be... your doing?!"

The last few words trembled with a cracked tone, sounding both questioning and desperately confirming.

Chen Yan regarded Yang Qin with interest, the playful curl at his mouth growing deeper, he leaned slightly, his fingertip traced a vague line in the air as if sketching the tragedy already settled in dust: "Indeed, Yang Gong died beneath the snake‑entwining vines and purple monkey flower!"

Speaking of that, the slightly mocking eyes narrowed a bit, and the look he gave Yang Qin now carried an extra layer of scrutiny, as if looking at a fool kept in the dark: "But the one who bought off Jia Si Tong wasn't the little tomb governor Liang Wai..."

"And the thing Jia Si Tong mixed into Yang Gong's food wasn't the purple monkey flower!"

Yang Gong, together with Du Gu Mi Luo, had to die!

The combination of these two, with its fate‑defying luck, made Chen Yan feel terrified...

He even went so far as to devise, at great mental cost, a convoluted hunting scheme!

"What does that mean?"

"The murderer wasn't Liang Wai, and Jia Si Tong didn't poison anyone?!"

Yang Qin's mind felt like a tangled knot, Chen Yan's words buzzing in his ears, his eyes full of doubt and astonishment.

Mid‑sentence, he suddenly stalled, as if something had struck the back of his head hard.

Yang Qin slapped the ground hard; his palm was bruised by the rough floor tiles, yet he didn't notice, his eyes first flashing with horror, then being engulfed by a bone‑deep chill, and he roared loudly: "You deliberately misled us at first?!"

Immediately, his complexion turned a shade paler, cold sweat ran down his neck along his spine, freezing him into trembling.

He stared at Chen Yan's perpetually amused face, and suddenly understood—

The poison that killed Ah Gong was still that Poison...

Jia Si Tong had also been bought off, and at the same time something was administered...

It was not Liang Wai who bought off Jia Si Tong, but the true murderer!

The purpose of doing so was to close the logic loop, directing the dirty water onto the little tomb governor.

And that Chen kid, knowing it so thoroughly, probably had already uncovered it back then...

"Exactly!"

Hearing that, Chen Yan nodded at a leisurely pace, his movements carrying a natural composure, a thin cold smile curling at his mouth.

After speaking, he leaned forward slightly, looked at Yang Qin, his voice wrapped in unabashed sarcasm, questioning word for word: "General Yang, don't you think, given our respective positions, why would the Overseer go out of his way to help you?"

"What a perfect opportunity to stir the pot, how could one not seize it?"

As everyone knows, the butt determines the head, and also decides the stance...

What reason does Chen have to help you?

Besides, he's short on silver?

Accepting a favor is merely gaining trust through greed...

An opportunity that comes to you, it's a pity not to give it one's all to stir it up!

"You damn...!"

Yang Qin looked at Chen Yan's smug face, feeling as if a raging fire burned wildly in his chest, heating his internal organs, the usually refined him couldn't help letting out a curse.

Instantly, his voice rose sharply, the veins on the back of his hand bulged like a coiled dragon, his murky eyes filled with blood vessels crawling over the whites, as if about to bleed, and he roared: "Then who the true murderer really is!"

Li Tan clasped his hands to his chest, his Xuanse Jinshen accentuated his upright figure, a smile at his mouth even more pronounced than the Overseer's, he scanned the once‑imposing Yang Qin, spoke slowly, his voice carrying a deliberately drawn‑out tone: "General Yang, the mastermind behind your son's death is far away yet right before your eyes!"

He deliberately paused, waiting for Yang Qin's fierce gaze to bore into him, then curled his lips again, the teasing in his tone almost spilling over: "Right here!"

Before the words finished, Li Tan suddenly raised his hand, his slender finger pointed straight at the Chen beside him, the Chief Overseer.

"What?!"

Yang Qin's eyes widened to full circles, following the direction of the finger, his sight slammed into Chen Yan's ever‑smirking face, and for a moment he forgot to breathe, hysterically exclaiming: "You also killed Ah Gong?!"

At that moment, it felt like five thunders striking his head...

The surprise was not so surprising.

It was what a scheming, ruthless person with a belly full of conspiracies could do.

"The true murderer was Chen Yan?!" Zhao Qian and Yan Zhi Tui on the ground were also stunned.

"You...."

Yang Qin suddenly raised his hand, his knuckles twisted from over‑exertion, his fingertips trembling violently, yet they locked onto Chen Yan.

"Ha... haha... hahaha!"

A burst of coarse, harsh laughter erupted from his throat, like a broken gong being struck hard, echoing shrill in the dead silence of the hall.

That laughter was laced with blood‑foam, with despair, and with a heart‑rending self‑mockery.

Yang Qin laughed, his whole body trembling, tears mixing with cold sweat blurred his vision, yet he kept staring straight at Chen Yan.

"What a perfect example—far away yet right before your eyes... good, good indeed!" He pounded the ground, each laugh hurting his chest as if hammered by a heavy weight, "I, Yang Qin, boasted of my cleverness, only to let the murderer investigate the murderer?!"

Who could have imagined that a highly decorated, invincible battlefield general would be toyed with by a kid not yet of age, like a dog?

In the end, he turned out to be a blind‑hearted, foolish idiot!

Poor A Gong.....

Chen Yan looked at Yang Qin's expression, a pain that pierced his heart yet self‑mocking madness, clicked his tongue, and sighed, "Your decision back then also surprised the Chief quite a bit....."

He paused, then shifted his tone with a half‑smile, "But thanks to that decision, the Chief finally got so much room to act freely!"

He still recalled that day: the moment he heard Yang Qin arrive, Chen Yan almost thought he'd been exposed, that they'd come to raise an army and prosecute.....

Only the devil knows it was a divine assist sent by the deceased's own father!

There was no choice but to accept it with a smile!

Handing the investigative authority to the murderer, he eagerly waited for the truth to surface.....

Interesting.

Yang Qin forced his body upright, his chest heaving violently, a low growl issuing from his throat; his blood‑spattered eyes fixed on Chen Yan as he barked, "Chen Yan, how exactly did you poison them!"

If it wasn't through Jia Si Tong's hand, then I can't fathom it any more.....

After all, he had examined every link back then.

"It's actually simple....."

Chen Yan heard that, gave a calm smile, and said, "The wine Yang Gong and the others drank contained Snake‑Coiling Vine, and the Purple Monkey Flower was also administered on the spot!"

"On the spot?!"

Yang Qin startled, his fierce expression freezing, replaced by deep bewilderment; suddenly his mind rang loudly, the details snapping back, as if he realized something: "Wait....."

"That's it!"

"How did the Marquis let him slip through!"

At that, Yang Qin sneered repeatedly, a bone‑chilling cold in his voice, his pupils contracted from the utmost rage.

A fierce murderous intent flared instantly in his eyes.

"It seems General Yang guessed who the Chief had sent to act....." Chen Yan heard that, a slight lift at the corner of his mouth, and laughed calmly.

"Like father, like son!"

Yang Qin's temples bulged with blue veins like earthworms, his gaze locked on Gao Bing, and he snarled, "It's that little bastard Gao Jiong!"

On the day A Gong died, only those few were present.....

And the only one with both opportunity and motive to use Purple Monkey Flower was him!

"Thank you, Uncle Yang, for the praise!"

"Your nephew feels unworthy!"

Before the words finished, among the embroidered‑clad envoys behind Chen Yan, a young man in dark embroidered robes stepped forward, smiling broadly, bowing and clasping his fists toward Yang Qin.

"You… you little wolf cub also showed up!"

Yang Qin recognized him at a glance; the youth was Gao Jiong.

He hadn't expected that scoundrel to be hiding among those embroidered envoys, watching silently from the side.

He paused, suppressed the anger in his chest, and asked, "A Gong always regarded you as a brother!"

"Brother?"

"Still a brother?"

Gao Jiong laughed, chuckling, and mocked, "Your Yang Gong is nothing but treating his little nephew like a handy dog for commands....."

"Using Yang Gong's life as a Letter of Allegiance for his little nephew, he indeed died where he belonged!"

"You… you scoundrel!" Yang Qin glared at the self‑righteous Gao Jiong, spitting out his hatred.

Before the insult finished, he suddenly seemed to be tripped hard by something, his expression snapping to a halt.

The mind, just moments ago clouded by rage, now twisted with that hatred, "Wouldn't that mean Liang Wai was wronged....."

He still recalled Liang Wai's expression that night.....

It truly wasn't a fake!

Chen Yan heard that, gave a calm smile, raised his hand leisurely, offered a hollow clasped fist to Yang Qin, and thanked, "We must also thank General Yang for his righteous strike, removing Liang Wai, that treacherous rebel, for the Grand Tomb Governor!"