Actually, Ye Wanmian still had many questions to ask. For example, whether there was a handsome man hiding in the mansion of Magistrate Chen, or whether Magistrate Chen had any grudges against the royal family.
But for Xiao Jingcheng, it was already enough that Ye Wanmian had found out this much.
Although he could control the dogs in the town to gather information and keep watch for him, there was a drawback to this method. Not every dog could obtain the clues he wanted. For example, it had always been difficult to sneak into Magistrate Chen's mansion.
To this day, he still didn't know how Zongmao had been detected that night, or which of the three princes was in contact with Magistrate Chen.
Of course, they owed a lot to that honest man surnamed Zhou. Since he answered every question Ye Wanmian asked without any defense, they were able to gather so many clues.
He guessed that the deceased youngest son of Magistrate Chen was probably just a smokescreen.
After the imperial uncle left the capital with that "corpse", the Chen Mansion would use the pretext of holding a funeral for the "youngest son" to transfer the real "Crown Prince", Xiao Jingcheng, out of Dongli Town so that they could act more conveniently later.
As for which of the three princes, Prince Mu, Prince Xuan, or Prince Ning, had designed this "attack in the east while feigning in the west" strategy, it would probably become clear after the fake corpse was sent out of Dongli Town.
Tomorrow, he would see what tricks the so - called Taoist Master Yuanqi, invited by Xiao Wuchen, was up to!
...
Ye Wanmian didn't know that while she was trying every means to get close to Zhou Wang and extract information from him, inside the Chen Mansion, Magistrate Chen led his men to bow to the suddenly appeared figure.
"We pay our respects to Your Majesty."
The other person nodded slightly and said indifferently, "Take me to the mourning hall."
Magistrate Chen nodded repeatedly and led the way in front, taking the person to the mourning hall set up inside the Chen Mansion.
On the way, they passed by a lake enclosed by wooden fences. The refreshing fragrance of lotus flowers wafted over with the wind, invigorating one's spirit.
At the same time, there was a faint growl of fierce dogs from outside, as if they were very close to the mansion. The "Your Majesty" frowned slightly.
"There are too many dogs in Dongli Town."
Magistrate Chen echoed, "Who says it isn't? It's just been a while since spring, and there are many more stray dogs in the town. They're really annoying. I'll have someone go outside to drive them away."
The "Your Majesty" said indifferently, "There's no need. As long as they're not allowed to come in, there's no need to waste such effort."
After a while, they arrived at a certain room.
If it weren't for the coffin placed inside, one would never have guessed that this was a mourning hall.
Lamps were lit inside the room, illuminating the surroundings.
The "Your Majesty" walked forward. Looking down, he saw the corpse placed in the coffin. It was a child about twelve or thirteen years old. Because of the sudden death, there was still a look of terror on his face, as if he had seen something terrifying.
The "Your Majesty" smiled with satisfaction, looked back at Magistrate Chen, and said, "I didn't expect that Magistrate Chen would really be willing."
Magistrate Chen replied calmly, "This child was just a bastard. My Chen Mansion has fed and clothed him well for so many years. That's enough. It's his honor and his duty to relieve 'Your Majesty' of his worries."
The "Your Majesty" wasn't interested in the affairs of the Chen Mansion. He said, "Tomorrow, that corpse will be sent out of Dongli Town. By then, the number of guards in the town will be reduced by more than half. You all should make preparations and ensure that his body is transferred out silently and without any mistakes."
"If anything goes wrong on the way, Magistrate Chen, you know the consequences."
Magistrate Chen quickly said, "I know my limits. I will surely not disappoint Your Majesty!"
After saying this, the "Your Majesty" quietly left under the cover of night.
...
That night, Ye Wanmian was worried about the affairs of the Chen Mansion and couldn't sleep well. The next day was the day when Doctor Wang would leave with Prince Mu. She woke up before dawn.
After washing up, she went to the kitchen to start a fire and cook. She prepared a lot of breakfast and dry rations for Doctor Wang, filling the food box to the brim.
At 5:30 a.m., Ye Wanmian carried Doctor Wang's luggage, took the yellow dog, and went with Qi Wen to send Doctor Wang to Liuxiang Tower.
Xiao Jingcheng lagged behind them a little. His steps seemed leisurely, but in fact, he had already secretly ordered Sang Biao to lead the pack of dogs to lie in ambush in the dark.
When they arrived at Liuxiang Tower, several carriages were already parked there, waiting early.
Before long, Prince Mu was escorted out of Liuxiang Tower by Eunuch Wang and Prince Ning. Prince Xuan was nowhere to be seen.
Prince Mu still had to go to the morgue and watch the "Crown Prince's" corpse being sealed in an ice coffin before he could set off. So after Prince Mu got into the carriage, Doctor Wang also got into the carriage specially prepared for him behind. He didn't expect that Ye Wanmian would climb in with her yellow dog.
"Hehe, I want to see Master off out of the city." Ye Wanmian sat upright in the carriage, smiling at Doctor Wang. She raised her hand and swore, "I promise I won't cause any trouble for Master. I'll get off at the city gate!"
Doctor Wang knew that she just wanted to go to the morgue to watch the excitement. He didn't drive her out. He just stroked his beard and said, "You'd better keep your promise."
After confirming last night that the corpse was related to the Chen Mansion, Ye Wanmian was even more puzzled.
After confirming that everything was ready, Prince Xuan ordered the convoy to set off and go to the town's morgue first.
Ye Wanmian leaned against the window, slightly opened the window lattice, and looked out through the crack.
The Pei family's army and the guards brought by the Crown Prince when he went south formed a team and escorted the convoy on both sides respectively. Prince Mu would take away more than half of the troops when he left. After today, the defense of Dongli Town would be much looser than before.
It could even be said that since the Crown Prince had been found, Dongli Town no longer needed to seal the exits and set up checkpoints for questioning when people entered and left. She could also go up the mountain to collect herbs at will.
Xiao Jingcheng lay on the door and was also looking out through the crack in the curtain, secretly observing everything.
He couldn't stop thinking about what Zhou Wang had said about the young master of the Chen family who had died of shock.
There was no such coincidence in the world. At the same time that the "Crown Prince's" corpse was found, the Chen family had just "lost" someone. The Chen family had kept the corpse at home secretly. Their purpose was probably not to quietly replace the corpse in the morgue.
Because Zhou Wang had also mentioned that after the "Crown Prince's" corpse left Dongli Town, the Chen family would send the young master of the Chen family for burial.
He thought that the ritual held by Taoist Master Yuanqi in the morgue today should further confirm the "identity" of the corpse so that the imperial uncle could leave without any worries.
This was the intention of the person behind all this who deliberately threw out a fake corpse.
There were soldiers of the Pei family's army guarding outside the morgue. But at this moment, besides the guards of the Pei family's army, there was also a man wearing a Taoist robe, holding a whisk, and with a goatee on his face.
Because of his different attire from others, Ye Wanmian couldn't help but look at him a few more times when she noticed him.
The man seemed to sense her gaze and looked in Ye Wanmian's direction.
Ye Wanmian was startled. She stepped back, put down the window lattice in her hand, covering her face. Her heart was still pounding because of that look.
That Taoist priest seemed very capable, but his eyes made people feel uncomfortable.