The night at Huichun Hall was disrupted by Li Zhao's sudden illness. Seven miles away at Liuxiang Tower, the tranquility was shattered by the sound of carriages and horses.
The carriage slowly stopped outside Liuxiang Tower. The curtain was lifted, and Xiao Wuchen stepped out.
He had been handling the case of the assassination of the crown prince in Tianyuan County for the past few days.
After a period of searching and arresting, all the water bandits and mountain bandits who had assassinated the crown prince after he left Ningzhou had been captured and were now imprisoned in Tianyuan County Prison.
After interrogation, the water bandits and mountain bandits finally revealed their true motives.
Sure enough, they had been motivated by the crown prince's investigation into the illegal salt trade in Ningzhou. Their interests had been affected, so they had taken the risk to assassinate the crown prince.
They had planned to use the pretext of the bandit rebellion to keep the crown prince in Ningzhou permanently. Then they would intercept the prisoners and rescue the salt merchants and officials investigated by the crown prince. It was an extremely audacious plan.
The official salt was expensive, and ordinary people couldn't afford it. So the officials and merchants in Ningzhou came up with a despicable scheme. They stole official salt and mixed it with unrefined coarse salt, selling it as fine salt.
The illegal salt was priced the same as coarse rice, making it extremely popular among the common people. Although the price was low, the accumulated wealth was quite substantial.
To transport the illegal salt to various places, the officials and salt merchants in Ningzhou bribed the nearby water bandits and mountain bandits, opening up water and land transportation channels. Their interests were deeply intertwined.
The crown prince's investigation not only shook up the officialdom in Ningzhou but also completely cut off the source of income for the water bandits and mountain bandits. Naturally, they harbored murderous intent.
Although unrefined coarse salt was salty, it contained many toxic substances. Consuming too much of it could be fatal. However, the profits from this illegal business were so huge that no one seemed to realize this. They only thought the crown prince was too harsh and wanted to get rid of him. It was truly insane.
After getting the results of the trial, Xiao Wuchen immediately drove back to Dongli Town overnight.
"Greetings, Your Highness, the Prince of Ning." The guards outside the tower saluted him when they saw him. Xiao Wuchen nodded slightly and casually asked, "Where is the Second Brother?"
The guard replied, "His Highness, the Prince of Xuan, should be asleep by now."
Xiao Wuchen nodded and slowly climbed the stairs, holding a dossier in the hand behind his back.
His biological mother was just a maid beside the imperial concubine. After he was born, he was sent to the imperial concubine and raised under her care.
All along, he had been like a shadow beside Xiao Yixuan. He ran errands for him, helped him with his studies, and even did some things that no one else knew about.
After reaching adulthood, although he was granted the title of prince and given the name "Ning", he had almost no presence in the court.
With this dossier bearing his name, once he presented it to the emperor in the capital, his father would surely recognize his abilities.
He originally planned to go back to his own room first with the dossier. But he had to pass by Xiao Yixuan's room on the way. Seeing the light still on in the window, Xiao Wuchen's heart sank, and he unconsciously tightened his grip on the dossier.
Sure enough, as he passed by Xiao Yixuan's door, a familiar voice came from inside: "Since the Third Brother is back, come in and have a cup of tea with me."
Xiao Wuchen had no choice but to stop and push the door open.
Xiao Yixuan wasn't asleep as the guard had said. On the contrary, he was neatly dressed and sitting upright, looking through a book in his hand. There were also several stacks of books on the table beside him.
"Brother, you're still awake so late?" Xiao Wuchen asked calmly, hiding the hand holding the dossier behind his back.
Xiao Yixuan looked up. "You've been busy with the crown prince's case. I can't just sit back and do nothing. You've returned to Dongli Town at this hour. Have you found out anything about the case?"
His gaze fell on Xiao Wuchen's arm behind his back. "What's in your hand?"
Since he couldn't avoid it, Xiao Wuchen had to lower his hand and present the dossier. "The case is making progress. This is the dossier. I rushed back from Tianyuan County overnight just for this."
"I thought Brother was already asleep and planned to present it tomorrow. I didn't expect you to still be working at this hour."
Xiao Yixuan took it from him, unfolded the dossier, and nodded in approval. "Well done. With this, the cause of the crown prince's death has been completely investigated. It can console his soul in heaven."
Looking at the three characters "Xiao Wuchen" at the end of the dossier, Xiao Yixuan closed it and handed it back to Xiao Wuchen. "This dossier needs to be rewritten. You should know what to do, Third Brother."
Xiao Wuchen unconsciously clenched his fists and gritted his teeth to keep his expression unchanged.
Of course, he knew what Xiao Yixuan meant. He wanted him to copy the dossier in Xiao Yixuan's handwriting and change the signature from "Xiao Wuchen" to "Xiao Yixuan".
Xiao Yixuan's sharp gaze pierced through him like an arrow. Xiao Wuchen raised his stiff arm, bent slightly as he always did, took the dossier in his hand, and said calmly,
"I understand. Don't worry, Brother."
Xiao Yixuan carefully observed Xiao Wuchen's expression and found no sign of resentment. Then he waved his hand. "All right, go back and rest."
Xiao Wuchen didn't leave immediately. Instead, he said, "Now that the case of the crown prince's assassination has been investigated, when shall we continue our journey south? Although the crown prince is no longer with us, the imperial uncle said we should carry on what he left unfinished to stabilize the country."
Xiao Yixuan said, "What's the rush? Am I not looking at the harvest and expenditure of Tianyuan County Government in the past few years?"
This not only explained why he was still awake and looking through the books but also subtly told Xiao Wuchen that he didn't plan to leave Dongli Town for the time being.
Xiao Wuchen had no choice but to say, "If Brother needs my help, just let me know."
Xiao Yixuan didn't respond. Only then did Xiao Wuchen leave the room. Back in his own room, Xiao Wuchen threw the dossier angrily onto the bed with a gloomy face.
The bedding on the bed only made a dull sound, covering up his pent - up anger.
It was always like this!
As long as he followed Xiao Yixuan, he would always be suppressed and have no chance to shine!
However, fortunately, he had made preparations. If that was the case, he couldn't be blamed.
After his chest heaved violently for a while, Xiao Wuchen finally calmed down. He walked expressionlessly to the bedside, picked up the dossier, sat down at the table, and started to copy it on another piece of paper.
On the other side, Xiao Yixuan closed the book in his hand and angrily threw it aside.
If Xiao Wuchen had taken one more step forward, he would have seen that what Xiao Yixuan was holding wasn't an account book at all but a medical record from an ordinary medical clinic.
All the books on the table were medical records from medical clinics in Tianyuan County and the surrounding villages and towns, collected by his subordinates for Xiao Yixuan.
He had almost gone through all these medical records but still hadn't found any useful clues.
Whose hands had Xiao Jingcheng's body fallen into, and where had it been transferred?