Chapter 244: Going Against the Way

I coax my own slave.

If the coaxing doesn't work...

Then I'll coax again!

Du Shanü senses the mood is wrong, but knowing that doesn't mean she knows how to coax her own slave properly.

She reached out and lightly encircled her obedient slave's waist, whispering softly to coax:

"Obedient slave, you don't want to listen?"

Chinu turned away, strode forward with long legs, and in one motion broke free of her hand, walked a few steps ahead, standing opposite her across the desk, his expression dark and unfathomable.

Chen Weifang's formerly light aura faded, replaced by a stagnant, unyielding heaviness.

He raised his eyes to Du Shanü; the expression in his gaze was so complex that one dared not dwell on it.

"If the female master means to abandon Saner, I'll just take him away—why humiliate him so?"

The Young Emperor is high-born; Chinu is low-born.

The Young Emperor was born beloved by myriad people, while Chinu can only rely on himself to climb up step by step.

Those around the Young Emperor repeatedly humiliated Chinu; he gritted his teeth and swallowed the bitter blood, enduring each slight.

At last, after much waiting for Yu Lve to slip up, Leitie has moved, Ouyang Yan has been punished, and A Chou has fallen out of favor with the female master...

Just when we could finally catch a breath and straighten our backs a little, who would have thought the female master would actually hand over Cang Cheng's military authority to Yu Lve?!

Even a toe could tell: could Yu Lve possibly find Chinu pleasing to the eye?

Not to mention being pleasing to the eye; I fear they'll only cause trouble for them in the future...

Not killing Chinu would already be a good outcome!

How could the female master be so ungrateful and treacherous!

Du Shanü fears neither heaven nor earth; she most fears old acquaintances looking at her with such disappointed expressions, leaving her momentarily at a loss.

She could only weigh and weigh, weigh again, and after a long time finally steeled herself to speak:

"I only learned a few days ago that he actually has achievements, which is why he dares to be so arrogant."

"He earlier reported the internal strife in Tancheng... Actually, the Imperial Envoy who happened to pass through Tancheng was precisely the one he killed."

The Imperial Envoy—was he killed by Yu Lve?

This is hardly trivial news; saying it shocked those present to the point of their ears ringing is no exaggeration.

Chen Weifang had still been unable to settle her feelings for Chinu; upon hearing this, a hint of hesitation instantly appeared on her face.

"What does the female master say?"

Du Shanü sighed inwardly, and since her legs felt a bit weak, she went to the chair behind the desk, found a comfortable spot to sit, and sighed:

"Afang, your temperament really is......."

Chen Weifang's temperament is really too easy to guess.

As soon as she hears whether the other is addressing the Wise Lord or the female master, she knows whether they are pleased or displeased...

But this is good, so she doesn't have to keep guessing Chen Weifang's feelings.

Du Shanü gathered her thoughts and patted the empty space beside her:

"Obedient slave, come."

"Last night we made too much of a fuss; I sitting alone is uncomfortable; you come and let me lean on you just right."

Chinu hates Du Shanü.

Chinu truly hates Du Shanü.

He especially hates her giving a heavy blow then offering a sweet date—her light, breezy manner.

However, however.

When she laughs and says she wants him by her side, he eventually loses his temper.

Recalling how last night his sleeve brushed the back of her hand, the frantic pounding in his chest, the slender youth hesitated, but ultimately sat down beside her.

Du Shanü unreservedly embraced him, then planted a kiss on her obedient slave's face, then laughed and coaxed:

"... I have you in my heart, truly I have you."

Perhaps precisely for this reason, she needs to weigh everything carefully and decide slowly.

Otherwise, given Yu Lve's merits, granting him military authority over a frontier post would need no hesitation.

Chinu, after being kissed, awkwardly turned sideways to hug the chair's back, so as to let his wife master sit more comfortably.

He evidently truly took Du Shanü's words 'sitting is uncomfortable' to heart, intending to use his body as a pillow for his wife master.

Du Shanü sighed inwardly, feeling that saying more now would be useless, so she simply spoke bluntly:

"... Whether to say it or not, this old brat Yu Lve is truly formidable."

When she first heard the news that the other had beheaded the Imperial Envoy, she too was startled.

But upon careful listening and thought, she felt there was not the slightest fault.

Earlier, Du Shanü ordered him to go to the prefecture and pin the blame for Ouyang Wu's death on the prefect.

If it were an ordinary person, they would surely make the corpse look gruesome, then find a slope to half-bury the bones, then hire some villagers under the pretense of reclaiming land, and in the process dig up the bones from the slope—thus the deed would be done.

Thereafter, no need to deliberately spend money spreading rumors; given the superstition of Yongzhou prefecture's populace, the people themselves would say, 'A certain place actually discovered a resentful corpse, unknown what demon harmed it,' and as the story spreads wider, it will surely reach the ears of the An Nan scouts.

However, this method also has many improprieties.

First, the information is too casual, practically slapped in the faces of the An Nan scouts, directly telling them, 'The previously missing Ouyang County Magistrate died here.'

Second, although information is currently blocked, nobody is really a fool.

Moreover, the scouts' duty is to investigate.

It's not letting them verify the truth themselves; they will inevitably follow the leads to check authenticity.

Furthermore, Ouyang Wu never appeared in the prefecture or the governor's office beforehand, so it certainly won't withstand scrutiny.

If any discrepancy of three or five points is caught that doesn't match the rumors, the rumor that "Ouyang Wu died at the hands of the prefect" can easily be refuted.

However, if truth and falsehood are mixed, letting the other side infer that "Ouyang Wu disappeared at Zhoufu", then everything is completely different.

Ouyang Wu and his personal attendants are dead, and the remnant forces left in the city have also been rounded up by Du Shanü.

In other words, the fact that Ouyang Wu hastily left the city on a rainy day is now known only to a few townsfolk inside the city.

But can the townsfolk know where Ouyang Wu went?

No.

What Yu Lve did was shift the missing person's location southward, as far away from Dun Cheng as possible.

It would be even better to stay somewhat far from Zhoufu as well.

After all, who would dump a corpse right next to themselves?

Isn't that obviously framing someone?

Once the phrase "framing" takes shape in the minds of the An Nan Scouts, their gaze will turn back to Dun Cheng.

One must know that although they are now searching for Ouyang Wu, the fact that their remnant troops in Dun Cheng have been rounded up cannot be denied.

Moreover, Ouyang Wu is more important, and regardless of who comes to power, it is all too normal for the previous regime's forces to be rounded up; especially since Du Shanü then held the moral high ground, and that remnant faction's refusal to open the city gates had not yet drawn enough attention from the An Nan Scouts.

Therefore......

Therefore, Yu Lve chose to head away from Dun Cheng, even farther from Zhoufu's Tancheng, as a false location.

"This person is truly formidable."

Du Shanü clenched her wrists, recalling what the other party and she had described earlier, and couldn't help but sigh again:

"From the tear in Ouyang Wu's old clothes and the degree of water soaking, he could tell that this person had definitely been killed the day they left the city, and died from a single crossbow bolt through the heart."

"So he said, it would be best to set up checkpoints along the river, starting from Tancheng, leaving some traces of fabric on the withered branches and rotting wood on both banks downstream."

The same traces are absent upstream but present downstream.

If the An Nan Scouts search along the river, they will certainly not suspect upstream Dun Cheng, only searching downstream, focusing on the suspicion that this person was dumped near Tancheng.

And how to direct the matter toward the prefect......

Du Shanü let out a breath:

"He disguised himself, took a nondescript ring from Ouyang Wu's person to scout at the pawn shop, then left because of a price disagreement; facing the wary pawn shop assistants, he put on a nervous face and sneaked into the prefect's residence......"

"After using this trick twice, he pretended not to notice, was sacked and had his ring stolen."

Concealing and covering up, each step interlocking.

Genuine deception is not about blatantly proclaiming the truth from the start, but about stripping away all clues so that others themselves suspect the prefect.