Chapter 475: Prince Qiao coming to question the crime

"The Prince is already on the way...?!" Old You's Adam's apple rolled violently, his voice hoarse as if ground by sandpaper, carrying an unbelievable trembling sound.

Staring at the ground with unfocused eyes, as if he could see a monstrous disaster from it.

"It's over... everything is over!" Old Jiang collapsed on the ground fiercely, his legs soft and unable to support his body anymore.

Being able to call the Prince's name directly meant that this Upper Pillar of State didn't put the Prince Qiao's mansion in his eyes at all...

These people, this time they were really going to be buried with them!

Jiang Rui raised his head fiercely, the messy hair on his forehead sliding to his cheeks, his pupils dilated due to extreme shock, staring fixedly at the celadon teacup in Chen Yan's hand, "Wha... what?!"

His voice was sharp and broke, carrying uncontrollable trembling, as if his throat had been strangled, "At the moment we stepped into the door, he sent someone to notify the Prince...?!"

Before the words fell, a chill rushed from his spine to the top of his head, his scalp numb, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up.

At that moment, Jiang Rui smelled a conspiracy like a poisonous snake...

This was simply Xiang Zhuang dancing with a sword, aiming at Pei Gong!

But thinking about it carefully, it was also true. How could they, these small figures, deserve such a big move from the dignified Upper Pillar of State?

And the Prince himself had a stubborn temper. Seeing this scene, he would only become more furious, and they, these people, would eventually become the first pawns to be crushed in this power calculation...

Hearing this, Chen Yan's mouth hooked into a faint smile, but that smile didn't reach his eyes, only rippling at the corners of his lips for a moment before returning to calm.

"Calculating the time, your master should be here soon!" His tone was still flat, as if talking about an irrelevant trivial matter. His fingertips pinched the celadon cup handle, shaking the warm tea soup in the cup lightly, the tea leaves stretching slowly in the water.

"Come, let's continue drinking tea!"

As he spoke, he raised his teacup.

Yuwen Ze took a sip of tea soup, his eyelids drooping slightly, covering the sharp light flashing in his eyes. When he looked up again, his gaze became deeper.

That Prince Qiao was an Imperial Uncle younger than himself...

The sound of horse hooves stopped suddenly outside the residence gate, and Yuwen Ang, carrying a body of murderous aura, stepped down.

He wore a purple four-clawed python robe, the hem embroidered with swirling python patterns, the gold thread shining coldly in the autumn sun. A white jade pendant hung from the jade belt hook at his waist. Every step was steady and powerful, yet it couldn't hide the impatience between his brows.

Behind him followed two aides. On the left was Liu Yanzhi, wearing a dark blue Confucian gown with a clear complexion; on the right was Qin Mo, wearing a gray cloth long gown with shrewd eyes.

Eight personal guards wore dark tight-fitting clothes, with horizontal blades at their waists, following closely, standing firmly on the path outside the courtyard.

Just approaching the courtyard vermilion gate, a rich bloody smell drifted over with the wind, mixed with the smell of soil and withered grass, pungent enough to make one vomit.

Yuwen Ang's brows twisted fiercely, subconsciously raising his hand to cover his mouth and nose, his knuckles turning white from force, a flash of disgust and confusion in his eyes: "What kind of ghost place is this?"

Immediately, his gaze swept over the blue stone slabs cleaned up in front of the door, his tone becoming more displeased, "Why is there such a heavy bloody smell?"

"Chen Yan invited this Prince to come, what exactly is he trying to do...?!"

Yuwen Ang stepped into the courtyard, Liu Yanzhi followed closely behind. His gaze just swept over the corner of the courtyard, and he suddenly stiffened in place, his pupils shrinking fiercely.

He retreated half a step in shock, pointing with trembling fingers, his voice out of tune: "Prince, corpses!"

"Corpses all over the ground!"

Qin Mo looked in the direction of the sound, only to see dark red blood stains soaked in the gaps of the blue stone slabs, dozens of corpses lying horizontally and vertically in the courtyard, with hideous wounds on their necks or chests, fresh blood flowing slowly along the texture of the slabs, gathering into small blood puddles on the ground, the smell even worse than outside the gate, adding deeply: "And these corpses, they all died not long ago, the blood is still flowing..."

"No!"

Yuwen Ang's gaze nailed fixedly on the lapels of the corpses. He only felt the fabric looked familiar just now, but looking closely now, it was the attire of the guards of his Detai Money Shop. His whole body shook, and he staggered forward two steps, his voice changing due to extreme shock: "These are all people from my Detai Money Shop?!"

In an instant, this young Prince Qiao guessed the reason for being called over...

Liu Yanzhi's gaze crossed the corpses all over the ground and landed by the white marble stone table in the center of the courtyard, his pupils condensing slightly.

He narrowed his eyes to identify carefully for a moment, confirming that the figure dressed in ordinary merchant robes with a graceful bearing was indeed Chen Yan. He immediately pointed in that direction, his voice lowered but exceptionally clear: "Prince, the Duke of Wei is sitting at the stone table in the center of the courtyard!"

Yuwen Ang looked in the direction pointed, and sure enough, saw Chen Yan sitting calmly by the stone table, the steaming tea soup in front of him still bubbling, as if turning a blind eye to the mountain of corpses and sea of blood and the sword-drawn tension around him.

A nameless fire rushed to his heart again. He took a deep breath, bit his back molars fiercely, forcibly suppressed the surging anger in his chest, and gritted his teeth word by word: "Go, follow this Prince to meet this Duke of Wei who has such a big shelf!"

Chen Yan caught a glimpse of movement at the entrance of the courtyard from the corner of his eye. A purple python robe, accompanied by an aura of hostility, approached step by step. His fingertips were nonchalantly rubbing the rim of his cup, and a faint, elusive smile hung on the corners of his lips.

Waiting until Yuwen Ang and his party were only a few feet away from the stone table, he slowly raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the murderous personal guards, finally landing on the trembling backs of Old You and the other two, his voice flat yet carrying penetrating power: "Stop shaking..."

"Your master is here!"

Old You and the other two turned their heads following Chen Yan's indication, seeing Yuwen Ang standing a few steps away in a python robe at a glance.

A glimmer of hope ignited in their eyes instantly, but they were too scared by the corpses all over the ground and Chen Yan's calmness to act rashly. Their faces were full of complex expressions of fear and joy, their lips moving, and it took a long while to squeeze out a trembling call: "Pri... Prince!"

Yuwen Ang stopped suddenly in front of the stone table, the hem of the python robe swaying slightly due to inertia, his gaze piercing the kneeling Jiang Rui like a sharp sword, loudly: "Jiang Rui, why are you kneeling on the ground!"

"Stand up for this Prince!"

Jiang Rui, Old You, and Old Jiang exchanged a look, seeing the joy of surviving the disaster in each other's eyes. The previous despair and panic were swept away, and they instantly had confidence, responding in unison: "Obey... obey!"

Before the words fell, they stood up supporting the ground without hesitation.

Although their legs were still a bit soft, they straightened their backs and subconsciously moved behind their master.

The displeasure on Yuwen Ang's face almost condensed into substance, his brows twisted into a deep "Chuan" character, his sharp gaze sweeping over Chen Yan behind the stone table, carrying undisguised hostility, then turned fiercely to look at Jiang Rui, scolding sharply: "What exactly is going on here?"

"Why are you here?"

Immediately, he raised his hand fiercely, pointing to the corpses lying horizontally and vertically all around, his fingertips trembling slightly from anger, his tone becoming more severe: "Why are they lying here dead?"

Jiang Rui had words on his lips, but hesitated, his voice stuttering out of shape: "It... it is..."

He didn't know whether to tell the truth.

After all, his master had a violent temper, and when he was impulsive, he often spoke without thinking...

It was easy to cause opposition between the two sides and further intensify the contradiction.

"What is it?!" Yuwen Ang saw him stuttering, the anger in his heart grew stronger, urging sharply, "With this Prince here, you just tell the truth. Could it be that you are still afraid of Chen Yan?!"

Just as Jiang Rui was still hesitating, someone didn't care about that.

Only seeing Old You change his face fiercely, "thud" falling to his knees, gripping Yuwen Ang's python robe trousers tightly with both hands, his nails almost embedded in the fabric.

Turbid tears mixed with nasal mucus flowed down, covering his face, his crying voice hoarse as if ground by a broken gong: "Prince! You must make the decision for the small ones! It is Chen Yan, that bastard! He disguised himself, took fake land deeds to cheat our Detai Money Shop of ninety-six thousand taels of silver!"

He beat his chest and stamped his feet, his forehead hitting the blue stone slabs heavily, making "thud thud" dull sounds, blood beads instantly seeping out: "The small ones noticed being cheated, went to the door to reason, but he designed to lure us here, and directed his subordinates to kill!"

"You see—these brothers, they were all innocently killed by him! Prince, please avenge the dead brothers and seek justice for the money shop!"

Seeing this, Old Jiang also hurriedly knelt down, kowtowing side by side with Old You, his voice carrying a crying tone and echoing: "Prince! Steward You's words are all true! The Duke of Wei relies on his power and bullies people too much!"

"You must make the decision for us, don't let the brothers die in vain, don't let the money shop's silver go down the drain!"

"Yes!" Old You cried until his whole body twitched, his hands gripping Yuwen Ang's trousers tightly and refusing to let go, his turbid eyeballs full of bloodshot, his voice shrill as if a cuckoo crying blood: "They died so miserably!"

He turned his head fiercely, pointing to the corpses all over the ground, the blood stains on his forehead mixed with tears flowing down, adding a bit of misery: "Prince, if you don't make the decision for them, they really died in vain!"

Jiang Rui witnessed this scene, but his whole person was stunned: "You..."

But before he finished speaking, Yuwen Ang's anger was completely ignited, as if magma was rolling in his chest, and he could no longer hold it back.

He kicked away Old You who was entangled in his trouser legs fiercely, the purple python robe swaying violently due to rage, the python patterns embroidered with gold thread seeming to come alive, revealing ferocious murderous aura.

Immediately, he raised his hand and pointed to the three people sitting steadily like mountains by the stone table, his voice like a thunderclap exploding over the courtyard, making the fallen leaves rustle: "Chen Yan! Yuwen Ze! Yuwen Xiang! You three have such big guts!"

"In Chang'an City, at the feet of the Son of Heaven, you actually dare to slaughter so unscrupulously!"

Chen Yan stood up slowly, raising his hand to smooth the wrinkles on his cuffs, his tone flat as a waveless lake: "Is Prince Qiao here to question the crime?"

Yuwen Ze and Yuwen Xiang had also stood up.

"That's right!"

Yuwen Ang laughed out of extreme anger, his chest heaving violently: "You had better give this Prince a reasonable explanation!"

Chen Yan put one hand behind his back, his posture becoming more upright like a pine, looking up to meet the angry gaze, his pupils deep as cold pools, his voice unhurried, yet carrying the power of a thousand catties: "It is this mansion that should come to question you, Prince Qiao, for the crime of using an underground money shop to force usury and harm the people of Chang'an, right?"

Hearing this, Yuwen Ang's mouth hooked into a smile of extreme contempt, his eyes full of disdain, as if he had heard a huge joke, sneering: "Just lowly people, what crime does this Prince have?"

He raised his hand to smooth the jade belt in front of his python robe, his tone becoming more arrogant, speaking with justification: "Being able to borrow this Prince's silver and return this Prince's monthly interest is the blessing of these lowly people!" ===== CHAPTER 476 =====