CH 61

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Zhang Cheng left the area where the Orfield family was located and took a taxi back to his own home. After repeatedly confirming that no one was following him, he underwent a crude but functional cross-dressing, especially wearing a bulky and ill-fitting dress. Zhang Cheng walked out of the back door of his residential building wearing sunglasses and a wig.

On the way to the palace, he didn’t plan to take a taxi. Over the past few years, relying on his hard work for the Orfield family, Zhang Cheng earned a lot of money and was paid a lot of hush money. Therefore, he could still afford a house in the main urban area near the central urban area, and it wouldn’t take him much time to walk there.

Zhang Cheng vaguely felt as if he was once again caught up in some sinister conspiracy that could make people panic if he said it out loud. Considering the power that the Orfield family possessed as an old aristocrat, Zhang Cheng thought for a while but still chose not to contact the people in the palace directly, nor did he express his intention to the patrol officer who was right in front of him, but turned around and walked another way.

He needs to thank Bisnar Orfield for giving him a detailed map of every street yesterday.

After dodging the patrol teams formed by the Security Department and the Public Security Bureau, Zhang Cheng smoothly entered the palace again.

Squatting on a tree with luxuriant branches and leaves and looking at the building before him, he couldn’t help but get lost in thought.

Should I look for them in the bedroom, which I already know well, or in the study, which I don’t really remember? ……

After last night’s incident, even though it was not to guard against him, Clarice still re-arranged the patrol teams in the palace. Looking at the different patrol teams passing under the tree every five minutes, Zhang Cheng silently shrunk himself into the canopy again.

The leaves were rustled by his movements. Chen Man, who happened to be leading the team members passing by, looked up strangely and then led the vigilant team members to continue walking along the prescribed route with the same expression.

“Phew…”

“Wait, that’s not right…”

After heaving a sigh of relief, Zhang Cheng realized belatedly: he avoided the police and the patrol team in order not to startle the enemy. But he wasn’t really a thief; why was he so nervous?!

Even if he was discovered, at worst he would check to see if there’s anything wrong with the other party’s performance and then consider whether to explain clearly or just knock him out.

After figuring this out, Zhang Cheng shuddered when he thought of Ji Mingjiang’s inhuman behavior of hammering him to the ground and carrying him to the sky last night, and he quickly removed the route to the bedroom from his mind. With such a violent existence, he dares not seek him out on his own.

However, after he walked several forked roads before reaching the door of the study he had seen yesterday, a figure that he avoided especially and that he didn’t want to see no matter what came into view.

“Zhang Cheng?” Ji Mingjiang tilted his book in his hand and looked out the door. After careful identification, he was a little surprised. “Why are you here again so soon and still dressed like this?”

“…… I also want to know.” Taking off his sunglasses, Zhang Cheng took an uncontrollable half-step back, pulled the corner of his mouth, and spoke.

This is all thanks to the two of you.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Clarice, who was sitting behind the desk and approving documents. Zhang Cheng took a final look at the situation in the corridor. After confirming that he was not discovered by others, he tried his best to overcome the fear in his heart and walked into the study, then closed the door.

“Bisnar Orfield called me over just now. He hasn’t told me about his new plan, but…”

Speaking of this, Zhang Cheng, whose brain had been in an accelerated state of tightness since he discovered the trace of blood, calmed down a bit, and he was somewhat hesitant.

Although there’s indeed blood, he was uncertain whether it’s the blood of the mermaid, other beastmen, or simply the blood of the servants of Orfield’s house. If he just said that and didn’t find out anything when the time came, these two wouldn’t think that he was cooperating with Bisnar Orfield, would they?

“But what?” Ji Mingjiang put down the book in his hand and asked in bewilderment as he saw Zhang Cheng standing at the door, cowering and shy away from speaking.

He admitted that some of his actions last night might be unacceptable, but he shouldn’t be so afraid of him. Isn’t it too much to be so afraid that he can’t even utter a complete sentence?

Leaving aside Clarice, even Rowlett quickly accepted the fact that he changed into a living person last night!

The two people in the study looked at Zhang Cheng at the same time. Although he knew it wasn’t a provocative gesture, a cold sweat slowly seeped out of Zhang Cheng’s forehead. “But I saw traces of blood on Bisnar Orfield’s feet and wrist. It’s pretty fresh.”

After saying what he had originally planned to say, Zhang Cheng expressed his other thoughts and then breathed a sigh of relief.

It’s up to these two people to decide which direction to speculate, and it’s not his fault if they guess wrong.

After Ji Mingjiang heard this, he exchanged glances with Clarice; both of them had solemn expressions.

Like Zhang Cheng, they directly thought of the inexplicably missing mermaid, but it was also true that they had little justifiable reason to launch an investigation without concrete evidence.

So……

Ji Mingjiang once again turned his head to look at Zhang Cheng, who wanted to run away after explaining the situation, “Then I’ll trouble you to continue to lurk for a while longer. In the end, if you have performed meritorious deeds, you will be given a reduced sentence as appropriate.”

Zhang Cheng: “…”

Damn it. Working for the emperor made him almost forget that he was a criminal who had done all kinds of evil before.

“What do you think?”

After Zhang Cheng left, Ji Mingjiang pinched the bridge of his nose, frowned, and asked Clarice.

“If it’s really Kiro, where would he be locked up?” A normal room was definitely out of the question. If Clarice hadn’t turned all the rooms of those nobles’ houses upside down when he was looking for the fish, he would be running in front of Bernie and Linnan with his registered name right now.

“The basement? But didn’t you say before that you specifically used the detector developed by the Research Institute to thoroughly check the basements of those houses….”

At the end of his words, Ji Mingjiang suddenly realized something and jerked his head up to look at Clarice. “The Research Institute?”

Wasn’t it the Research Institute that had come up with the tube of potion that induced Clarice’s manic period in advance? !

It was explained by Menguse Hollimawi himself last night!

Leiden looked at him and nodded. It was clear that they had both thought of the same thing. “At that time, the detector was given to me by the dean himself, but Hollimawi didn’t know who made the potion.”

After recalling for a while, Leiden said.

So now they still need to figure out the complex network of relationships behind this small employee called Hollimawi.

“I’ll go to the institute tomorrow and bring out the one that Hollimawi mentioned first. We’ll find more clues after interrogating him.” Without too much hesitation, Leiden directly sent Rowlett a message, asking him to adjust his schedule for tomorrow. After sending the message, he began to investigate the background and resume of the researchers and the director of the research institute who were connected with Hollimawi.

Ji Mingjiang couldn’t help him much now, so he could only sit on his seat with one hand on his chin and watch Clarice work. His other hand was stuck on the pages of the book and flipped through it from time to time.

“No matter how many times I’ve witnessed this, I still want to sigh… Clarice, you’re a little too miserable as an emperor.”

Hearing Ji Mingjiang’s leisurely words, Leiden paused, turned his head, and looked at him with a forced smile before returning his gaze to the running light brain. However, the action of clicking on the light brain afterwards seemed so irritable, no matter how you looked at it.

Wang Weiming received a temporary message from Rowlett saying that Clarice was coming to the research institute. When the light brain notification sounded, he was fusing the newly discovered materials in his own independent research room.

“Rowlett: Dean Wang, His Majesty plans to visit the research institute to discuss something with you. A spur-of-the moment decision. He will arrive at the door in about ten minutes. It may be a little sudden. I hope it won’t disturb you.”

To be honest, it was indeed sudden news, and it would actually seem quite polite if the words weren’t so nonchalant.

“Click”

The reagent tube in his hand, which had not yet been filled with anything, was cracked by Wang Weiming’s grip. His pupils dilated slightly, and his heart suddenly beat violently, as if he had a bad premonition of something.

But soon Wang Weiming calmed down and casually threw the cracked reagent tube into the trash can beside him. He tidied up his white coat and walked briskly towards the gate of the research institute.

While walking, he was brainstorming. How did Clarice, who usually didn’t come to the research institute in person for eight hundred years “on the spur of the moment”? Did he find something?

No, no, no. As soon as this idea came to mind, Wang Weiming quickly refuted himself, saying that the problem with the instrument was not as easily exposed as it was in the past.

So it’s because of something else?

It’s not impossible. Recently, the mermaid brought back to the palace by Clarice has caused a lot of noise. Many people in the research institute suggested that they want to take some samples and organize them for research. Although they were stopped by him, it’s normal for some rumors to spread. But is Clarice the kind of person who suddenly disrupts his schedule because of a mermaid?

Along the way, Wang Weiming’s mind flashed with many ideas, but the restless emotions caused by various speculations were not reflected in his face at all. His well-maintained face remained as calm and composed as ever. One can’t help but be convinced.

He thought so too, at the beginning.

Seeing Wang Weiming approaching steadily, Leiden first took a look at his almost unchanged face, then took a few steps forward and stretched out his hand. The platinum cufflinks reflected starry light in the sunlight.

“I didn’t bother you, did I?” The two hands shook lightly and then quickly parted. Leiden’s expression was as usual; as if mentioning an insignificant matter, he said, “The suddenness of today’s arrival is mainly due to the fact that I came across something two days ago, and in the follow-up investigation, I found that it had something to do with the Research Institute.”

Although separated by a distance, Wang Weiming’s suddenly sluggish footsteps and slightly tense muscles didn’t escape Leiden’s eyes.

“…”

Was he so easy to deceive? Great, he will definitely be laughed at by Ji Mingjiang again when he goes back.

Strangely enough, after realizing that he was surrounded by wolves, the first thing that came to his mind was, surprisingly, Ji Mingjiang’s reaction afterward.

After a moment of trance, before Wang Weiming noticed something was wrong, Leiden quickly gathered himself and continued: “My manic phase was artificially induced ahead of schedule. The person I caught the night before yesterday explained that they obtained the drug from a researcher. So I need to take that certain researcher away directly today. Do you have any objections?”