ATPnovel Chapter 1643: 23: Seventeen Years (Part 2)
Chapter 1643: 23: Seventeen Years (Part 2)
Chapter 1643: Chapter 23: Seventeen Years (Part 2)…
…
Speaking of the connection with the Shimen Li Clan, it all started with Li Longchuan.
When first meeting in the Heavenly Abode Secret Land, Jiang Wang’s attitude toward the Shimen Li Clan was actually cautious.
Mainly because of that poem— “Everywhere praises the Shimen Li, who knows of the Phoenix Immortal of Clan Zhang?”
Both are top aristocratic families and descendants of founding heroes. Why can the Shimen Li Clan remain standing while the Phoenix Immortal of Clan Zhang has fallen to this state?
While feeling regret for the Phoenix Immortal of Clan Zhang, he couldn’t help but examine the Shimen Li Clan more closely.
Later, he delivered the Qiushan Bow to Li Longchuan on behalf of Zhongxuan Sheng, with Xu Xiangqian’s assistance, the two sides officially formed a bond.
What kind of aristocratic family is the Shimen Li Clan?
The ancestors enjoyed the glory of founding contributions, establishing spiritual shrines in the Guarding the Nation Hall, placed at the forefront!
Over the years, famous generals emerged one after another, talent never ceased, always standing among Daqi’s top aristocratic families.
Jiang Wang, a country bumpkin from a remote small country, never felt an ounce of arrogance in his interactions with such noble families. Whether it was Li Longchuan, Lady Li, or Li Fengyao…
From the beginning until now, all he felt was respect.
It was so now, and it was so even before he became famous.
So why has the Shimen Li Clan enjoyed long-lasting glory?
Perhaps this is the reason.
Sitting in the carriage returning to the residence, Jiang Wang silently pondered.
A family of the Shimen Li Clan’s stature can naturally ignore many rules.
But as a member of the Green Plate System, Jiang Wang had to be cautious when participating in major cases investigated by the Green Plate.
Li Fengyao wouldn’t mention the Dao Calendar 3920 for no reason, nor speak of Gu Xing without cause.
To put it bluntly, why would a mere Outer Building-level individual be worth the Shimen Li Clan’s repeated mention?
Only Gu Xing’s later whereabouts are somewhat intriguing.
Hegemon Island is an island controlled by the Tian family overseas.
Did Gu Xing’s choice to go out to sea after being dismissed by Chasing Wind have anything to do with the Tian family?
And what role did the Qing brand catcher named Du Fang, who perished with the Ascending Dragon Realm suspect, play in the major case of that year, to be specifically mentioned by Li Fengyao?
Li Fengyao wouldn’t bring up this person for no reason.
Every additional clue brings one step closer to the truth.
Jiang Wang sensed he was not far from it.
As he was pondering, suddenly the curtain flapped, and a figure flashed inside.
Although startled, Jiang Wang remained composed, spreading his hand wide, his Path Origin surging mightily, with Divine Soul Strength even more turbulent, his left eye already turning crimson…
All this happened in an instant and disappeared in the same moment.
The five fingers reaching out stopped just before the person’s face, hesitated for a moment, and then withdrew.
“I almost killed you!” he said, frowning.
Sitting in the carriage, Lin Youxie, still with a green square scarf binding her hair and dressed in men’s clothing, said without any change in expression, “If you couldn’t control even this, it would be unworthy to call yourself the Qi Country’s foremost genius. Unless, you really want to kill me.”
To get so close with a cultivation far inferior to his… it’s no wonder she’s Lin Kuang’s daughter.
Unique secret techniques like “Dust Thought” are certainly not few…
“Master?” the carriage driver called from outside the curtain.
“It’s alright,” Jiang Wang responded aloud.
Casually silencing the sounds inside the carriage, Jiang Wang said somewhat headache-inducing, “If you want to visit me openly, you can bring a visiting card and enter through the front door. If you want to visit secretly, why sneak into my carriage on the street?”
“Because bringing a visiting card means your housekeeper must verify my background, and he has to consider your mood, see if you want to meet a guest,” Lin Youxie said matter-of-factly.
Jiang Wang: …
“Also,” Lin Youxie added, “as long as you’re calm enough, daytime is actually more concealed than night. Sneaking into your carriage suddenly on the street is much more discreet than knocking on your back door in the middle of the night…”
Facing Jiang Wang’s complicated gaze, she concluded, “A little case-handling knowledge, hopefully it helps you.”
“Did you come today just to teach me?” Jiang Wang asked wistfully.
Lin Youxie was silent for a moment, then said, “I already know who the murderer is.”
Jiang Wang’s expression became serious: “The murderer of Concubine Lei’s case?”
“Actually, Feng Gu left many clues,” Lin Youxie said, “right in front of us.”
“Such as?”
“Feng Gu hanged himself in the mourning hall, facing northeast when he died. At the Eleventh Palace’s funeral, on the first day’s mourning hall standing position, who was standing there… do you remember?”
Jiang Wang thought for a moment and said earnestly, “At first it was Lord Huaying, then it was… Her Majesty the Queen.”
“This is the first clue Feng Gu gave, facing the Queen!” Lin Youxie said, “This is a clue for those who were present at the time, obviously including you, Lord Jiang.”
“This is too far-fetched,” Jiang Wang shook his head, “The funeral lasted for three days, countless people entered the mourning hall to pay respects.”
“But the number of people who could stand at that position is very few, almost no one else.”
“How could the direction the deceased is facing be taken as a clue?”
“Feng Gu’s was a suicide. It’s a meticulously planned suicide, every detail was considered. Normally, one hangs facing the door, or faces the direction they wish to see. Feng Gu obviously chose the latter.”
As someone present on the first day of the funeral, Jiang Wang actually had a faint belief.
Because he always wondered what clue Feng Gu left for him!
But he still said, “This can’t convince people.”
“So there’s a second clue,” Lin Youxie asked, “Do you remember the Eleventh Palace’s bowl of medicinal soup?”
Jiang Wang looked at her.
Lin Youxie said, “I’ve already told you the ingredients in that bowl of medicinal soup. Apart from me in Beiyaduwei, there was another pharmacist who examined it, and the ingredients matched exactly. But I didn’t mention the timing.”
“Timing?”
“One of the medicines was added. It was added after the soup had been cold for at least one to two days. Other than Feng Gu, I can’t think of anyone else who would do this. This medicine is the red-bellied spider’s foot.”
Jiang Wang fell silent.
He usually feigned understanding only in front of Zhongxuan Pang, but he truly didn’t understand the red-bellied spider’s foot.
If there was an issue with this medicine, why didn’t Zheng Shi react when he heard of the soup’s ingredients that day?
“It’s also a spiritual medicine to resist cold poison, so it’s not out of place in that bowl of medicinal soup. But the red-bellied spider itself is peculiar,” Lin Youxie continued, “It has a nickname, ‘Child-Eating Spider’. This spider lays ten eggs at a time, eats nine offspring and leaves one.”
“Why did Feng Gu specifically add such a medicine? The Eleventh Prince is no more, this bowl of soup wasn’t meant for drinking, but for seeing. For whom to see? Maybe me, maybe you. The birth mother of the Eleventh Prince is dead, the child-eating spider points to whom… I think, it’s self-explanatory.”
Jiang Wang was suddenly moved!
If Feng Gu truly intended to hint at something, then these hints combined together are indeed sufficient…
So, in Yuan Feng’s thirty-eighth year, the murderer in Concubine Lei’s assassination case was actually the current Queen?
If the person behind this was indeed the Queen, then the case being tightly suppressed would make perfect sense.
If it was the current Queen casting this shadow, Feng Gu, as the chief eunuch of the Long Life Palace, could indeed only move the case by dying!
But…
Jiang Wang quickly extracted himself from the shock, calmly saying, “But all this can at most demonstrate Feng Gu’s animosity. He could believe the current Queen was the murderer of Concubine Lei, but his suspicion is not evidence.”
Jiang Wang intended to express a simple point—
These alone are far from enough to uncover the Concubine Lei assassination case.
To put it bluntly, Feng Gu was merely a dog of the Long Life Palace, compared to the Queen, what was he?
If he bites, it won’t hurt or itch.
His suspicion is trivial.
Not just Feng Gu?
How is the suspicion of Jiang Qingyang and Lin Youxie any different from Feng Gu?
Only solid evidence provides a glimmer of shaking the Queen’s authority.
Otherwise…
If they rashly voice suspicion, it would only lead to death!
He hoped Lin Youxie crashing into the carriage today was to discuss this with evidence,
But Lin Youxie shook her head: “How could there be evidence?”
Her voice was extremely bitter: “So many years have passed. How could someone capable of carrying out such a major case leave evidence until now?”
Time leaves nothing preserved for anyone.
Thus, there’s a deep despair spanning these seventeen years.