Ning Dao Covered with Snow

Chapter 87 The thief shouts to catch the thief
Yan Ciwan asked: "After you were rescued, did you see the surrounding scenery clearly?"

Zhaolu shook her head. "No, it was too dark, and there were no lanterns around, so I couldn't see anything clearly. After I was taken out, I was immediately stuffed into a carriage. I was very scared, but the inner guards warned me not to talk too much, so I didn't dare to ask anything."

Li Chengge couldn't help but interrupt again: "How did the internal guards know where you were?"

Chaolu still shook her head, indicating that she didn't know either.

She smiled bitterly, "I still don't understand why I was knocked unconscious and kidnapped. Who kidnapped me? I feel like a fool. I don't know anything."

Yan Ciwan suddenly asked, "During the three days you were imprisoned, has anyone ever asked you anything?"

Chaolu nodded immediately: "Yes! On the first day I was locked up, someone asked me two questions through the door."

Li Chengge was very interested: "What did he ask you?"

"He first asked me if my mother had told me anything before I left home. Then he asked me if my father had any secret friends. I wanted to hide the fact that Fang was murdered, but the other party was very powerful and found out that I was hiding something. He threatened my mother's life and said that if I didn't tell the truth, they would kill my mother. I had no choice but to tell the truth that Fang might have been murdered by my father, but I really didn't know anything about my father's secret friends. My father never told me his private affairs. After listening to him, the man left and never showed up again."

Hearing this, Yan Ciwan's doubts were resolved, and she told the truth: "The person who knocked you out and kidnapped you should be an internal guard."

Chaolu was shocked: "How is it possible? It was clearly the inner guards who saved me just now. They are my benefactors."

Li Chengge leaned on the soft pillow like a boneless person, and said lazily: "Is it rare for the thief to cry thief in this world? They knocked you out and kidnapped you first, and then pretended to be a good person to rescue you. In this way, no one would think that they kidnapped you. It's a very good way to whitewash yourself."

At this point he yawned, confusion clouding his brows.

"But why would the Inner Guards go to such great lengths to deal with you? Was it just to ask you those two questions?"

Chaolu was also extremely confused.

Xiao Wang looked at Yan Ci Wan quietly, recalling that just now in the banquet hall of Caiquetai, Yan Ci Wan repeatedly asked Si Buping to help find Chao Lu. Her behavior at that time was very strange, as if she had already determined that Si Buping knew where Chao Lu was.

The result was just as Yan Ciwan said, the Internal Guard Bureau really found Chaolu.

It only took a cup of tea.

Even if the Inner Guard had great powers, it would be impossible for them to find the person so accurately and quickly from the vast crowd and send the person to Yan Ci Wan.

Unless, Chaolu has always been in the hands of the Internal Guards.

Yan Ciwan had already guessed this.

Xiao Wang thought that she was not only sharp but also very intelligent, a very outstanding girl.

Chaolu immediately turned to look at Yan Ciwan beside her. Seeing that she looked calm and composed, as if she knew everything, she hurriedly asked, "Is what they said true? Did the inner guards really kidnap me? Why did they do this?"

Yan Ciwan smiled helplessly, "I am just guessing. The palace soldiers have searched the entire Xiangzhou City for the past three days but have not been able to find any trace of you. The court has also posted a missing person notice with a large reward, but there has been no response. There are very few people who can hide from the palace soldiers' search and have no interest in the high reward. The leader of the Great Pavilion is one of them."

"But even so, we can't be sure that it was the inner guards who kidnapped me, right?" Yan Ciwan continued slowly, "I said it was just a guess, and I can't be sure whether my guess is right or wrong, until tonight's Mid-Autumn Festival Moon Viewing Banquet, I heard the Grand Chamberlain mention Fang's death. Xiao Liulang and the other three and I had previously discussed our suspicions about Fang's death, but I had not mentioned this to outsiders, and Xiao Liulang and the others would not casually reveal my suspicions to outsiders. How did the Grand Chamberlain know that there was something fishy about Fang's death?"

Zhaolu suddenly realized: "Because I once told the inner guards that Fang was probably killed by my father, so the Grand Chamberlain knew this secret!"

Yan Ciwan nodded and said, "Yes."

She told her analysis. Liu's illness was strange and very similar to Fang's death that year. Chaolu was proficient in medicine and could find out that there was something wrong with Liu's illness with just a little attention.

Since it concerns her mother's safety, Chaolu will certainly get to the bottom of it and find out the real reason for Liu's illness, and then discover the truth about Fang's murder.

Yan Ciwan, Xiao Liulang and others had never revealed the truth about Fang's death to the Grand Lord. As the murderer and accomplice, the father and son of the Chao family would certainly not confess voluntarily. Liu had been closely watched by Chao Yuanzhi and had no chance to tell the truth to outsiders.

After eliminating all possibilities, only Chaolu, whose whereabouts are unknown, could reveal the truth about Fang's murder.

Therefore, when Yan Ciwan heard Si Buping mention Fang's death, he immediately guessed that Chaolu was most likely in Si Buping's hands.

Afterwards, Yan Ciwan dragged Xiao Wang to ask Si Buping for help in finding someone. In fact, she just wanted him to release Chao Lu as soon as possible for the sake of the Xiao family.

Si Buping must have seen through her little thoughts.

Now that the truth has been revealed and the father and son of the Chao family have been arrested, Chao Lu is no longer of any use, so Si Buping goes with the flow and gives face to the Xiao family and agrees to release the people.

Chaolu looked at her with shining eyes, as if she was looking at some rare treasure.

"Aci, you are so smart. You actually guessed everything!"

Li Chengge stroked his chin and said thoughtfully, "There's still one thing I don't understand. Why would a great leader be so interested in the death of a woman in the harem?"

Chaolu speculated: "Could it be that the Grand Chamberlain had some kind of relationship with the Fang family? Or did the Fang family's relatives or friends ask the Grand Chamberlain to help investigate the case?"

"Then what was he doing? Fang has been dead for eighteen years, and he has never asked about this matter in these eighteen years. Why is he suddenly suspicious of Fang's death now?"

Chaolu couldn't answer.

Yan Ciwan and Xiao Wang looked at each other, and they both remembered that Chao Yuanzhi had shouted "Saint" before he was knocked unconscious and taken away by the inner guards.

It seemed that he had had an encounter with a saint before, and he had long anticipated that this day might come to him.

Could it be that the person who was truly interested in Fang’s murder was not Si Buping, but the saint far away in Chang’an?
This thought lingered in the minds of the two, but no one said it out loud.

Perhaps suppressing bandits, investigating cases, and arresting murderers are all pretenses.

There is a huge whirlpool hidden beneath the calm surface, and perhaps there is a ferocious beast lurking in it, which is far beyond the reach of small shrimps like them.

(End of this chapter)