Chapter 31: Misunderstanding Resolved
I want to use him. Sweet Tub excitedly: “Use… Use which part??”
Ever since the Truth Voice Message was used, Ying Xi somewhat believed that Xie Qianli wasn’t the mastermind.
But Xie Qianli wasn’t aware of the Emperor’s intelligence sources. How did Ying Xi know about Pingling Village?
In that instant, Xie Qianli could only think that the Emperor had set up detailed intelligence work around him.
And guessed that the Emperor had contact with Feng Ze in advance? Was the assassination attempt at the Flower Appreciation Banquet actually self-staged?
The more he thought, the more absurd it became.
No matter the reason, nothing could satisfactorily explain why Ying Xi appeared here.
His Swimming Dragon Glaive—he thought to lower it, then tightened his grip again.
He scanned Ying Xi’s surroundings for other imperial guards and surprisingly found only Ying Xi alone. And Ying Xi’s female disguise made it even harder for him to comprehend.
Xie Qianli was stunned.
Ying Xi was awkwardly vigilant.
Even though the silver armor and long spear contrasted with the slender, elegant figure at the two ends of the long alley, beautiful as a painting, both of them wished they had never seen each other here. Relations had slightly thawed yesterday, but today they were guarding against each other again.
But Sweet Tub came online at this moment, apologetically and inopportunely saying: “Wuwuwuwu, Your Majesty, I’m sorry! I was too scared just now. What happened? Did I miss the Big Wolf Dog heroically saving the beauty? Why is the Big Wolf Dog here?”
Sweet Tub’s cognition could only go in this direction.
Ying Xi wouldn’t humor it and interrupted, “Is the Recall function restored?”
“Restored!” Sweet Tub was apologetic. Light flashed rapidly, and Sweet Tub generously said, “This was a mistake in my work. I’ll compensate Your Majesty with 5,000 Charm Points.”
The number 5,000 rocked Ying Xi’s head.
Before he could stop it, he felt an unprecedented lightness, just as his eyes met Xie Qianli’s.
In that instant, the system effect caused endless contradictions in Xie Qianli, like a beast pacing anxiously, both fearing humans and wanting to approach them.
Sweet Tub: “I guarantee that when the Big Wolf Dog sees you, it’ll be like seeing a fragrant bone he wants to tear apart and eat.”
Ying Xi didn’t understand the implied meaning of eat.
But these 5,000 Charm Points came at the right time. At least it could ensure his personal safety and a brief peace with Xie Qianli.
Ying Xi praised, “You did well. Zhen wants to use him.”
Sweet Tub excitedly: “Use… Use which part???”
Sweet Tub likewise couldn’t comprehend Ying Xi’s meaning of use.
Ying Xi replied, “Xie Qianli is better suited to be Zhen’s guard in Pingling Village.”
Then Sweet Tub went blank, feeling deeply regretful.
Dumping 5,000 Charm Points onto a single target all at once meant that Xie Qianli’s suspicion of Ying Xi was now mingled with being tormented by Ying Xi’s peerless beauty.
This wasn’t the first time Xie Qianli had seen Ying Xi in women’s clothing.
The day they first met, the times they met again, the many times they spent alone hiding from everyone in the palace… In childhood, Xie Qianli had once mistaken Ying Xi for a girl. Because of this misunderstanding, a connection of several years was forged between them.
He had always thought the mistake was due to Ying Xi’s childhood gender characteristics being indistinct, and more so due to Ying Xi hiding it from him, even deliberately deepening the misunderstanding.
Now he discovered he was wrong. Dead wrong.
Seeing Ying Xi dressed like this again, appearing before him in that posture that seemed so fragile it needed protection, Xie Qianli clearly realized that his resistance was actually stronger back in childhood.
The other person was androgynous, of a status difficult to reach, with beauty that startled the heart.
It made him clearly aware that this person might be an enemy, a bad person who had deceived him, the one person in this world he shouldn’t easily approach—yet he still had the impulse to disarm and surrender, to abandon his principles.
Ying Xi was claiming his life!
Xie Qianli was powerless.
Ying Xi deliberately blurred the source of his intelligence and counter-attacked: “The Duke of Ying has the latest developments on the Feng Ze case. Knowing but not reporting, forcing Zhen to investigate personally—what is the meaning of this?”
The interrogation from the monarch in high position gave Ying Xi an air of unfathomable depth.
The restoration of the Recall function made Ying Xi fearless.
Ying Xi made up his mind: tonight he would force Xie Qianli to accompany him in investigating the case, using both the whip and the sugar.
Xie Qianli was first hit head-on by the Emperor’s whip. Justification turned into fault. He explained, “This subject was not concealing reports, but simply did not know if Pingling Village was related to the assassination incident.”
Ying Xi sneered noncommittally.
Xie Qianli: “This subject is terrified.”
One must stand firm on the moral high ground; once there, do not come down.
Ying Xi knew this principle well. Thus, with full confidence, he dusted off his sleeves and pressed on the brushwood gate at the end of the alley behind him. “The village children said Feng Ze once lingered here. Since your investigation direction overlaps with Zhen‘s, follow Zhen inside to look. If you handle things effectively, Zhen will spare you this time.”
Ying Xi issued a command for cooperation.
Xie Qianli naturally obeyed, unaware that this was swallowing the sugar after the whip.
Ying Xi wasn’t afraid he wouldn’t do his best: “Open the path.”
Xie Qianli used the hand not holding the Swimming Dragon Glaive to knock on the door: “I am Feng Ze’s comrade-in-arms. Is there anyone inside?”
He knocked three times, stating his identity each time.
Receiving no response from inside, a look of doubt appeared on his heroic face. He said “Excuse the offense” from outside.
Then—
With a loud boom, dust drifted down, and the Swimming Dragon Glaive smashed open the door panels!
A small courtyard was revealed before Ying Xi’s eyes.
In the center of the courtyard was a black and red “Double Happiness” (囍) character.
The offering table was split in two, broken porcelain scattered on the ground. The red cloth on the table was tattered, and the floor was covered in withered red dates and longans.
These few rooms—who knew how many times they had been looted! All the windows had holes in them.
But one could tell this was once a wedding scene.
Ying Xi suddenly remembered Feng Ze had rejected a marriage proposal. Could it be that he came to Pingling Village not to meet a contact, but because his heart belonged to someone else, and he came to see his beloved?
Xie Qianli obviously had the same thought.
Xie Qianli in front, Ying Xi behind; they tacitly searched the rooms one by one.
The result was that every room was in chaos. The utensils that could be vaguely identified—shattered cups, bowls in the kitchen—were all in pairs, proving that two masters once lived in this house.
So Feng Ze had actually taken a wife in Pingling Village!
“But how is this possible,” Xie Qianli whispered.
Ying Xi found it equally incredible.
Because Feng Ze was, after all, a Vice General of the Duke of Ying. He had no parents to obstruct him, no family entanglements, and he wasn’t marrying some noble daughter of high status. Why would he suffer such trouble to pledge his life to someone in private?
For a moment, the thought that a widow might be hiding in the house triggered associations far beyond anything else.
Such a guess was thoroughly confirmed in the bedroom.
In the piles of ruins, Xie Qianli poked around with his spear tip and found half an ivory comb.
Xie Qianli’s brow twitched. He crouched down to pick the comb up from the ruins. The ivory displayed a cold, jade-like luster in the night light.
Ying Xi: “Recognize it?”
Xie Qianli gazed at his palm and said hoarsely, “Feng Ze won it at the night market.”
He stopped speaking.
If Feng Ze hid a wife in Pingling Village, and if the wife had given birth to children, then they were about to be accomplices guilty by association in the assassination case.
Xie Qianli’s steps became heavy as lead, his searching movements slowing down.
His thoughts did not escape Ying Xi’s eyes in the slightest.
Ying Xi said, “Minister Xie, Zhen’s trip here is to investigate Feng Ze thoroughly.”
“If he has a wife, perhaps his wife knows the inside story. If he has children, you should also know whether Zhen would leave behind a root of trouble.”
No Emperor did not covet a general like Xie Qianli.
He had indulged the man because Xie Qianli was still considered loyal and could still contribute to the Great Qin empire.
But if he dared to pity rebels and waver in his allegiance… that would be seeking his own death!
Xie Qianli pressed his lips together tightly!
How could he not understand the Emperor’s warning?
Xie Qianli answered hoarsely, “This subject knows.”
Ying Xi nodded. The two then left the bedroom to search the next room.
But looking at the back of the person in front of him, Ying Xi sensed an indescribable loneliness. It made his heart heavy and his steps slow, thinking of how Xie Qianli had once held nothing back, telling him many trivial matters of the Duke of Ying’s residence.
He knew Feng Ze and Xie Qianli were like brothers.
He also remembered, in childhood, Xie Qianli used a silver helmet to hold water and brought two small goldfish to visit him. But the goldfish died for no reason. They held a funeral for the goldfish and buried them under the magnolia tree, and both were sad for several days.
Back then, they even pitied goldfish; how much more so Feng Ze’s children?
After all, his heart was not wood or stone. Ying Xi coldly made the biggest concession: “If not over two years old, send them far away.”
Xie Qianli suddenly stopped. Like a frost-white statue, he froze. Beneath the snowy helmet, his eyes flickered.
However, the strange hesitation lasted only a moment, and Xie Qianli continued to clear the way.
Ying Xi didn’t know why he stopped abruptly and nearly crashed into Xie Qianli’s back. Fortunately, he stopped in time; otherwise, hitting a wall of metal wouldn’t have been a pleasant sensation.
After searching the last room, they found no one.
Logically, since they checked carefully, either Feng Ze’s family died of the plague, or they were taken and killed by bandits. Or perhaps they were hiding in a more secret place, temporarily safe.
None of these were the answers Ying Xi wanted!
He had already seen the dawn of the Feng Ze case clearing up. How could he endure the clues breaking off, leaving him confused once more?
Ying Xi stood in the courtyard, annoyed, his eyes full of the ruins of the wedding site.
He vaguely felt something wasn’t quite right.
Thinking carefully, he couldn’t put his finger on it, but his chest felt blocked.
At this moment, Xie Qianli used the Swimming Dragon Glaive to poke at the base of the small courtyard wall. He searched inch by inch, tapping with the spear tip, as if listening for a hollow sound inside.
Ying Xi restrained himself from asking.
He knew if Xie Qianli was doing this, he would inevitably find something.
Sure enough, when knocking on the corner wall, silver light flashed rapidly, and the Swimming Dragon Glaive’s tip knocked aside a pile of debris!
After a crashing sound, the pile of broken junk revealed a low, small door hole that had been tightly blocked, slightly larger than a dog hole. Ying Xi didn’t recognize it at all and thought it was a secret chamber.
Sweet Tub had a bit of common sense, having seen it in rural romance dramas: “It’s a cellar, hey.”
Only upon hearing the scientific name did Ying Xi react: For storing vegetables.
Weiyang Palace didn’t have a cellar.
Prince Yongning’s manor might have one, but in his childhood, spoiled by his parents and busy with studies, he had never seen one with his own eyes.
Xie Qianli was somewhat knowledgeable.
It was just that a flash of thought inexplicably crossed Ying Xi’s mind regarding the Xie family’s finances—
Just how difficult was it, that the Grand Princess Huining did needlework herself, Xie Ji couldn’t bear to part with a fire poker, and the heir of the Duke of Ying… did he personally go down to the cellar to stack Chinese cabbage and build potato walls!?
Ying Xi didn’t think it was shabby.
He had downsized the Imperial Music Bureau to the point of almost abolishing it, so he wasn’t much better than this family.
There was a ladder inside the cellar, close against the earthen wall. Xie Qianli straightened the Swimming Dragon Glaive and went down first carrying it; Ying Xi followed closely.
Ying Xi stumbled for a moment upon landing.
His body touched the armor; the metal shell was very cold.
Suddenly, he was supported by Xie Qianli, a palm holding up his wrist. But Ying Xi didn’t like that the other’s palm had too much power, hot and hard; he instinctively felt a disparate threat.
So he neatly pulled away his dragon sleeve and stood straight on his own.
—It turned out this cellar was much more spacious than he imagined!
Although it was pitch black inside and his eyes couldn’t yet adapt to the light, he could sense the vast space around him. This place must be a shelter deliberately carved out by Feng Ze. He already had a premonition revealing the motives behind Feng Ze’s actions.
Xie Qianli fished out a fire stick. He blew on it, and with a pfft, a flame lit up.
The orange-red firelight illuminated the interior of the cellar. The first thing seen was actually an offering table, pressed against the wall, with two spirit tablets on it, one large and one small.
“Spirit Tablet of Duke of Ying, Xie Ji — Loyal and Heroic for a Thousand Autumns”
“Spirit Tablet of Vice General Feng Ze — Brave and Resolute Forever Exists”
Inside from the offering table was a bed. A person lay on the bed, too thin, almost unrecognizable under the quilt, face unclear.
Pots and jars of food were piled by the bed, the smell of medicine heavy.
Xie Qianli blocked Ying Xi behind him, intending to approach the person on the bed to check the situation. At that moment, he keenly sensed a living thing in the cellar. He struck out, subdued the person, and pinned them against the earthen wall to demand their identity.
—”Who is lying there? What is your relationship with Feng Ze?”
However, the latter didn’t resist at all.
Ying Xi looked closely. It was a young servant boy. Although he was gripped in severe pain, he only gave a few muffled groans and didn’t struggle. He said sorrowfully:
“Are you the General sent by the Duke of Ying’s residence?”
“This lowly one has been guarding this corpse, waiting for you for a long time.”
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