Inside the dilapidated temple.
Half of the temple was drenched by the heavy rain. People were coming and going inside, and the ground was soaked and muddy from being trampled on.
When Xie Yan arrived, there were a bunch of people lying on the ground. His heart skipped a beat, and he immediately stepped forward to check their breaths.
A few were still alive.
He immediately ordered, "Fuyun! Have those who are still alive sent back to the capital first!"
He only checked those who looked like they were from the capital. He didn't even glance at those in black clothes and simply ordered them to be dragged away and sent to the Supreme Court.
He looked around and seemed to have seen something. His gaze suddenly froze there.
His heart gave a violent jolt, and he immediately rushed to the corner.
General Mao was lying quietly there, with a large wound on his neck. Blood had soaked half of his body.
He suddenly opened his eyes wide and reached out to feel.
Cold.
General Mao was really dead!
He felt dizzy.
Wasn't this just a ruse?!
How could he really be dead!
Xie Guang came after him. He stood there and glanced at the people on the ground. Seeing Xie Yan looking rather distraught, he sneered inwardly.
"General Mao...," he sighed. "Second brother, please accept my condolences."
Xie Yan suddenly stood up. Condolences my ass!
"If big brother can't speak properly, then just shut up," Xie Yan said coldly. The hostility emanating from him made Xie Guang startled.
This was the first time he had seen Xie Yan so angry.
It seemed... General Mao was really dead for sure.
Seeing this, he didn't think further. He just stepped forward and patted Xie Yan on the shoulder, but Xie Yan dodged him.
Xie Guang wasn't annoyed. His face still showed the look of sorrow and grief. "Anyway, let's send General Mao back first."
Just as the two were arguing, there suddenly came the neighing of a horse from the door.
Xie Yan looked up and saw Chen Tingfeng walking in, wrapped in a cloak and completely soaked. He immediately perked up. Just as he was about to say something, Xie Guang took the words out of his mouth.
Xie Guang raised his eyebrows. A gloomy air came over him, filled with strong suspicion. "Heir of the Marquis of Wuan? Why are you here?"
Damn Jin Yuanzhou. No one had told him that Chen Tingfeng was also involved!
With him around, could those secret guards really get away unscathed?
Xie Yan did keenly sense something and silently held back his words.
The reason sounded reasonable to outsiders, but he just knew it was an excuse.
If Xie Guang had a clear conscience, he might have sensed something strange. Unfortunately, all his attention was now focused on the enemy.
A faint smile appeared on Chen Tingfeng's face, but there was no trace of pleasure in it. It just made people feel that he was smiling enigmatically. "Your Highness, I don't know either. I just thought they looked a bit like these black-clothed men on the ground. I chased them all the way to Wutong County. There were too many people there, and I didn't dare to cause a big stir. I could only watch them blend into the village and escape."
Xie Guang felt relieved but frowned and said, "Killing court officials is really lawless!"
Not to mention how to deal with it.
Chen Tingfeng didn't want to talk to him anymore. He just glanced at General Mao on the ground, was silent for a moment, and then said, "Send General Mao... to the Supreme Court."
This meant an autopsy would be conducted.
Xie Yan frowned. "General Mao was once a high-ranking court official. It might cause public outrage if we conduct an autopsy on him now that he died an unnatural death."
Seeing that Chen Tingfeng also suspected the truth behind General Mao's death, a hint of pride flashed in Xie Guang's eyes. But on his face, he pretended to stop them. "Yes, second brother is right. I don't think an autopsy is necessary. We should just send him back to the Mao family for burial."
"Although General Mao was a high-ranking official, he lost three cities in a row. He is guilty after all. I think we should keep him in the Supreme Court first," Chen Tingfeng said calmly. "These are troubled times. We should still keep General Mao's death a secret for the time being."
Xie Guang nodded in agreement. "You're right."
Xie Yan fell completely silent on the side.
Since Chen Tingfeng had appeared, the situation was no longer under his control. Chen Tingfeng and Xie Guang had directly decided the matter of General Mao's death in just a few words, and they were also subtly pushing Xie Guang to publicize General Mao's death.
Looking at the situation now, Xie Yan finally understood. Chen Tingfeng had been waiting for this moment.
It was probably a ruse when he said he went out to chase the enemy at first. He was just waiting for Xie Guang to come and set a trap for him.
General Mao must not be dead.
He glanced at the "General Mao" on the ground and suddenly understood. They must have used some secret technique to change the person's face. The real General Mao should have been transferred to another place.
As for where...
Xie Yan guessed in his heart that it was probably Wutong County, the place he had just mentioned.
The black-clothed men were sent by Xie Guang. Now that the task was completed and they almost got caught by Chen Tingfeng, he probably hoped that those people could escape as far as possible, preferably disappear completely.
Only the missing people wouldn't talk.
Since that was the case, he definitely wouldn't send anyone to check in Wutong County.
Xie Yan couldn't help but glance at Chen Tingfeng. He didn't know if this person had anticipated today's event and started planning a long time ago or if he had suddenly received the news and improvised this trap.
Anyway, both sides had achieved their goals today. It was truly something to celebrate.
The rain outside gradually stopped, but the sky was slowly getting dark.
They had wasted a lot of time going back and forth. By the time Chen Tingfeng returned to the mansion, the candles had already been lit inside.
Fu Zhen was having dinner with Mrs. Bai in the main courtyard. Both of them were a bit distracted today. They simply sat together and chatted. It made them feel more at ease with someone by their side.
Now seeing Chen Tingfeng walking in, Mrs. Bai didn't even blink and told him to come over.
"Tell me. What did you do when you went out today?" Mrs. Bai covered her mouth with a handkerchief and told the maid to remove the food from the table.
Chen Tingfeng was still wearing that black cloak. Hearing this, he smiled. Yuanbao stepped forward to help him take off his clothes, revealing the silver-gray robe inside. There were faint wet marks on the ground by his feet.
"Son hasn't had dinner yet. Can I have dinner first and then talk?"
Mrs. Bai sneered. "If you don't explain clearly, you'll starve for the whole night."
"Mother, don't be angry. I'll tell you now." Seeing that Mrs. Bai was a bit angry, Chen Tingfeng then straightened his expression and told her what had happened today.
"I received a letter at noon saying that Qian Tong was going back to the capital. I guessed something would happen this afternoon, so I took people out," he said. Then he glanced at Fu Zhen, who was silent beside him. He felt a bit guilty in his heart. He quietly reached out and held her hand, patting it soothingly.
Fu Zhen glanced at him and pinched his hand.
The vein on Chen Tingfeng's forehead twitched, and he silently withdrew his hand.
"I didn't mean to hide it on purpose," he explained. "It was just that you were both asleep at noon. I could handle this small matter, so I thought I didn't need to bother you. Who would have thought..."
Who would have thought that as soon as he rushed over, he saw people trying to kill General Mao.
Seeing how ruthless those people were in their attacks, he immediately guessed that they were secret guards. So he didn't hold back from the very beginning.
No matter who raised these secret guards, they must be related to Xie Guang. It didn't matter if he killed them.
But later, looking at the unconscious General Mao, he suddenly thought of the emperor.
The emperor had once used a ruse to outwit the queen and the Song family. Now, why couldn't he stage a similar play?
He wanted to see if Xie Guang would fall for the same trick again after experiencing such a setback.