Masquerade in Bridal Attire and Marry the Prince

119. Another Case

Translator: asassin

Manlou’s purpose was still a mystery to be figured out. At least for now, Du Chuxuan and Yuxing Tianrui had no idea what its next step would be.

Jiu Dengdan didn’t think their concerns were necessary. Before he left, he threw Du Chuxuan a leaflet. “There are so many master hands here, you’ll probably end up with nothing if you don’t work hard.”

Ending up with nothing was the less bad result.

He gave Du Chuxuan a look, the meaning behind which they both knew.

Du Chuxuan compressed his lips slightly. He had hidden his last injury from Jiu Dengdan on purpose. Yet it wasn’t anything one couldn’t know through a bit of asking about. It seemed that Jiu Dengdan already learned about it.

After Jiu Dengdan left, Du Chuxuan touched the leaflet.

Yuxing Tianrui darted a glance at him. “I’m going for a walk.”

For the past two days, Yuxing Tianrui would practice martial arts in the yard when he had the time, an effort to enhance his skills. Du Chuxuan, on the other hand, was used to lying around as if he was part of the bed.

Staring at the leaflet for a good while, he suddenly got up to his feet and put his arms around Yuxing Tianrui from behind. “I’m going with you this time.

Yuxing Tianrui was a bit surprised.

It had to be said that Jiu Dengdan’s judgment was sharp. Du Chuxuan was a perfect martial arts material, like he was born to do it. He could memorize many movements after watching them once, grasp 80% the first time he used them, and get better the more he practiced.

A person like him would have been groomed to take over a sect if he had been discovered by other sects. However, Du Chuxuan was born with a backbone, and just didn’t want to learn martial arts. So, his good martial arts skills depended mostly on his talent, otherwise, he wouldn’t even be half as good as Yuxing Tianrui.

Slightly amused, Yuxing Tianrui didn’t think he was charismatic enough to get Du Chuxuan to practice, so he asked, “Why do you want to go today?”

Du Chuxuan rested his head on Yuxing Tianrui’s shoulder. He slightly cocked his head and bit his ear, grinding his teeth softly against it. “Consider me provoked. By the way, how are things going in the palace?” Noticing Yuxing Tianrui’s faint blush, Du Chuxuan stopping teasing him.

Yuxing Tianrui only calmed down after taking in some air. “Father has sent a few people to East Palace, to guard it, nominally. He’s probably worried about any unrest during this period. It’s also a protection for me.”

Du Chuxuan raised his eyebrow slightly, having been in the palace for so long, he didn’t believe the emperor would just assign someone to Yuxing Tianrui without any reasons. “Has there been any problems? Have you personally taken care of everything in court?”

The fake crown prince, besides going everywhere as Yuxing Tianrui, was needed in court as well as various events. Since that man wasn’t Yuxing Tianrui after all, no matter how good he was at playing Yuxing Tianrui, mistakes were inevitable. Therefore, Du Chuxuan had been worried about it.

“Don’t worry.” Yuxing Tianrui shook his head, and pulled Du Chuxuan by the sleeve as he headed out. He wondered why Du Chuxuan suddenly wanted to go out. Anyway, it was a good opportunity for them to practice together. If he stayed here for a little longer, he was afraid that he would be convinced by Du Chuxuan’s sliver tongue.

“Ying Zhen has gone through a lot of pain in order to become me. I can say that in Sect Luo, I trust Luo Yi, Luo Er, and Luo San the most. As for my close subordinates, I trust Ada and Aer the most. Among the shadow guards that I’ve trained, I trust him the most.”

Du Chu Xuan smacked his lips quietly. He had heard of mystical practices that could transform a person’s appearance. Yet the pain was like skinning oneself and pulling out one’s tendons. Very few people were actually willing to do so. Even criminals guilty of terrible crimes feared such pain. In this way, Ying Zhen was truly trustworthy.

Time flew past. The two had already gone through several movements in the courtyard.

Chang Guangqing, on the other hand, arrived at this time. “Brothers, you seem to have a good time. Something has happened.”

By all accounts, with the Wulin Assembly held outside Xiangyang, Chang Guangqing’s father, as the Commissioner, and Chang Guangqing should have attended. They should be standing next to the Third Prince, at the very least.

Du Chuxuan was already surprised when he didn’t see Chang Guangqing at the assembly. Now, as he watched him come in haste, he knew it was something bad.

“A girl from a tailor’s shop in the west of town was taken away last night.” Chang Guangqing did not keep them in suspense and told them directly.

Knowing that this was really not the place to talk, Du Chuxuan pulled them towards the room.

“Girls have gone missing before, haven’t they? Is there anything different this time?” Du Chuxuan asked as he poured him a cup of tea.

“You guessed it.” Chang Guangqing gave him a meaningful stare as he replied and took out a letter. “Usually, the kidnappers go for unassuming girls. This time, they took a girl in front of people and left a threatening letter.”

Du Chuxuan turned to Yuxing Tianrui, who returned with a confusing look, then opened the letter at once.

It was brief, with time and location, as well as a bloody red palm print.

“At first the fellow at the tailor’s didn’t understand what happened. He thought it was just a trick played by kids nearby so he didn’t take it seriously. Only at night, when the kidnappers came, did he and the girl realize the severity of the situation.”

Chang Guangqing downed the tea in one gulp, clearly thirsty. “There came the problem. Neither of the two knew martial arts so they couldn’t do anything about it.”

Du Chuxuan handed the letter to Yuxing Tianrui, who had the case secretly looked into when they first learned about it. However, he didn’t know more about it than Chang Guangqing.

“Do you still think people of Wulin did it?” Du Chuxuan asked.

Chang Guangqing suddenly turned quiet as he stared at Du Chuxuan directly.

The two looked at each other for a long time.

Had Du Chuxuan had a guilty conscience, he would have seen inquiry in Chang Guangqing’s eyes.