The palanquin swayed, and Shen Lingjue's broad shoulders felt comfortable leaning against it. The exhausted Feng Ningyan quickly fell asleep.
After returning to the Duke Palace, Shen Lingjue did not wake her up. She carried her and walked into the Linlang Pavilion, placing her on a soft eastern couch.
"Lv Ruo, prepare some soft and sweet snacks for Princess Hua-Yang and instruct the kitchen to prepare Princess Hua-Yang's favorite food immediately."
When she placed the delicious dessert in front of Feng Ningyan, she actually did not have the appetite to eat.
Just then, the servant reported that Shen Lingjue's bodyguard officer, Jing Qi, was waiting to see him.
After Shen Lingjue heard this, her eyes suddenly turned cold and ruthless.
He held Feng Ningyan's hand and said, "After this duke finishes taking care of this matter, I will go upstairs to eat with you." He hurried downstairs.
Feng Ningyan could not help but feel that it was strange, wasn't it normal for the Guard Captain to request an audience with him? Why was Shen Lingjue's expression so ruthless?
had hurriedly seen this chief guard outside the city on the day of his wedding.
She was deeply impressed by the spirited and sunny young man.
They hadn't seen this person since the wedding. Could he have gone on a long journey?
Looking at Shen Lingjue's expression, the news Jing Qi brought must be really important.
Feng Ningyan was curious. After stuffing several pieces of dessert into her mouth and drinking some tea, she couldn't help but walk down the stairs.
When Shen Lingjue walked into the study, he immediately kowtowed: "This lowly subordinate greets Master."
Shen Lingjue waved her hand, and an invisible force quietly closed the door.
"Any gains from this trip?" He turned around and sat down at the seat of honor.
Jing Qi nodded his head, "I have already found out that the female assassin who assassinated the fake wangfei in Taiping Inn is called Han Yunmeng. Although she is the top assassin in the brothel on the surface, she is actually a great thief who specializes in disguise techniques. Earlier, she had been imprisoned, waiting for the fall to end. But the day before the assassination in Taiping Inn, she escaped from prison unbeknownst to anyone. "
"No, no, no. Clearly someone helped her escape." Shen Lingjue said.
Jing Qi continued, "After the assassination was exposed, her lover also died at the unmarked cemetery. The culprit's actions were clean and did not leave behind any clues.
"Where are the other assassins?"
"The other assassins, on the other hand, were like envoys from hell that came out of the ground. They couldn't even find the person they were looking for. But when this lowly subordinate was fighting with them in Taiping Inn, he heard a few short words from the assassin, and that he was speaking in Southern States's Haocheng's dialect. "
"Southern States?" Shen Lingjue's phoenix eyes narrowed as she muttered, "Underworld Envoy... the Duan of the Southern Wilderness … "
"Master, what are you thinking about?" Jing Qi asked.
Just then, Shen Lingjue glanced at the door of the study, and unknowingly smiled.
"Open the door and invite the wangfei in."
Feng Ningyan perked up her ears and eavesdropped outside the door, feeling suspicious, she was in the middle of meditating, but she did not expect Shen Lingjue to suddenly say this.
She anxiously turned around and wanted to leave, but the door had already opened behind her. Jing Qi saw that the wangfei was indeed standing outside and smiled at her, inviting her to enter.
Feng Ningyan walked in awkwardly: "Your Highness …. "Chenqie didn't mean to eavesdrop …"
Shen Lingjue laughed, and indicated for her to sit beside him.
"This matter is related to the princess, but this king didn't call you here because I was afraid that you would be too exhausted from Consort Shu's matter."
Feng Ningyan sat down immediately: "Does Your Highness think that the killer was really sent by the Southern to kill me?"
Shen Lingjue shook her head: "It's not easy for the assassins of the Southern to sneak into the heart of the Great Yue State. Besides, it's better to kill the young miss of Feng Family and bribe the local martial artists.
"Yes!" Feng Ningyan had finally sorted out her thoughts, "So the killer was definitely not sent by the Southern."
Seeing that the Duke and Princess were singing the same tune, Jing Qi laughed, "Master and Princess Hua-Yang are indeed the same."
Shen Lingjue looked coldly at Jing Qi, scaring him stiff.
"So, you, Jing Qi, only need to bring back the question. What does This King want you to do? "
Jing Qi coughed dryly, and hurriedly said: "This lowly one has discovered something else! "That Han Yunmeng died from being hit by a concealed weapon. This lowly servant was able to saw through her head and found the concealed weapon."
After saying that, he took out a small wooden box and handed it over.
Feng Ningyan was also shocked when she saw it, "What kind of weapon is this … It seems like there's a mechanism … "
Shen Lingjue glanced at it, and could not help but be moved: "What an exquisite mechanism!"
Although this projectile was only the size of a soybean, it was divided into three layers with hidden mechanisms.
When it closes, it is like a jujube nucleus, sharp on both sides, round in the middle.
Once it hit the target, it would suddenly open the first mechanism and turn into a lotus flower. It would continue to spin, destroying the internal structure of the wound and causing massive internal bleeding.
However, if the location of the wound was wrong and the wound was on the hand and foot, the wound wouldn't be too big. Thus, it still had a third layer of design.
The third level was a black poison sac. In the second step, the poison sac would also open.
Listening to his explanation, Feng Ningyan was shocked.
"I can't believe that such a big concealed weapon like the Jujube core actually has such a complicated mechanism …"
Although this was a very important discovery, it remained a mystery as to exactly who created this concealed weapon and who possessed it.
Just then, the food was already prepared, and Jing Qi left the Linlang Pavilion, then accompanied Feng Ningyan up to eat.
Looking at the table full of food, Feng Ningyan remembered that Consort Shu had also not eaten lunch before. She had no idea what was happening right now, but she had a hard time swallowing the food.
Thinking about it again, since the internal supervision and the Taiyuan Hospital were both under the Empress's jurisdiction, their investigation might not be reliable. If they wanted to find out the truth, the key was to pry open Li Yu's mouth and make him speak the truth.
Thinking of this, she knew that she had to eat a good meal and recuperate in order to have the strength to investigate this matter personally.
Seeing that her appetite was not bad, Shen Lingjue was at ease.
In the evening, he had some official matters to attend to, so he moved to his study to sleep, telling her to rest early.
Feng Ningyan thought that this would make it easier for her to sneak out at night to investigate the case and rest up early.
At night, she got out of bed quietly, found her old men's clothes in the closet and changed into them, picked up her sword, and opened the window.
At this time, the sound of a zither suddenly came from outside the window. It was the same as the day Maid Xu forced them to round their rooms, it was ethereal and hard to determine directions.
When she hesitated, she saw a figure rushing out from below. His body was as light as a feather and he disappeared into the shadows of the trees on the bridge after a few leaps on the surface of the water.
"That is …" She could not believe how familiar that person was, "Shen Lingjue?"
Could it be that the zither music was calling him?
No wonder on that "round room" night, she couldn't find Shen Lingjue when she came out later.
Later, when Shen Lingjue said that he had been waiting for her on the bed, she became confused by the medicinal effects and really believed him a little.
However, it turned out that this fellow was lying! As soon as the zither rang out, he flew away like a butterfly looking for a flower.
Feng Ningyan blew her hair gloomily, using her veil to cover her face tightly: "He went to look for trouble, no one blocked me from going to investigate!"
After saying that, she jumped out of the window as well, avoiding the guards' watch as she flipped over a tall tree, creating a high wall.
Arriving at Li Yu's home, she hid himself behind the roof with his sword in hand. Looking at Li Yu's room in the backyard, he had already extinguished the lights and was about to go in.
Unexpectedly, the door to the room was opened. A person quietly walked out, walked around the corridor, and headed towards the small door in the backyard.
This guy didn't sleep in the middle of the night. Where was he going?