The Deposed Crown Prince had Three Lifelong Regrets - Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Lu Fengmian, who had rushed out earlier, intending to achieve a quick resolution, was no better off.

Following the shouts, she saw five or six bodyguards who had been properly assigned running out, their expressions reaching a new peak of panic.

Several clusters of guihuo (ghost fire) darted around, emitting a faint green glow in the night.

Lu Fengmian leaped over, striking the ghost fires with continuous palms, scattering them.

The dispersed ghost fires looked like branches of a wildly blossoming flower.

It was true that after all the journey’s disruptions, some people were prone to panic, but their courage should have been tempered by now. Lu Fengmian was even grateful that they hadn’t immediately fainted or soiled their pants, which would have leaked their yang energy.

Seeing that the men, although extremely disheveled, were without a single scratch and the talismans on their backs were untouched, she instinctively assumed that, like Zhao Pan’er, they had panicked and abandoned their posts against advice.

Although this situation clearly demanded her attention, she needed to return to the large house to find out what was going on.

Since she knew that Su Wushuang’s sister had suffered at the hands of a demon Daoist, she absolutely had to hear the account from the victim’s family.

Furthermore, the mastermind controlling the paper effigy was in the shadows, while she was in the open. If the two were accomplices, a murderous attempt to silence the witnesses was highly likely.

This matter was pressing and could not be delayed.

“Do you know where Su Wushuang is?” Lu Fengmian frowned.

“Ah… er…”

She waited for a long time but received no answer.

Lu Fengmian’s sense of unease intensified. She didn’t intend to waste any more time with them and rushed directly in the opposite direction. “Don’t worry. Although the ghosts can scare you, the talismans on you mean they can’t actually harm you. I also placed a magical item inside the house to ward them off. As long as you don’t run around…”

After tossing out this sentence, she disappeared, leaving the others to wail incessantly, crying that they had been wronged.

Numerous conjectures were confirmed the moment she saw the large house.

“Fire! Fire!”

The entire Zhang family, young and old, ran out screaming. The fire had just started, and no flames were visible yet. But thick smoke billowed from the house behind them, even gathering into a small dark cloud overhead.

One beautiful woman stumbled right as she was crossing the threshold, falling directly to the ground. Thanks to her husband, who was by her side, she was able to escape from the house behind her.

A closer look revealed a strange detail: when the wife was about to fall, the husband’s hand clearly reached out, but then retracted midway.

It wasn’t until his wife and child fell that he, having already run two steps away, seemed to have a pang of conscience and turned back to help them up.

The crowd of people who had escaped pointed fingers at Lu Fengmian upon seeing her.

Each person’s expression was different—some were extremely angry and regretted their actions. Others had dark looks, their disgust clearly visible. But none of them believed her enough to tell her what had actually happened.

Seeing the situation escalate to this point, Lu Fengmian knew that although she was unaware, she should take full responsibility. Ashamed to face the crowd, she had no choice but to seek a way out in the sea of fire.

Lu Fengmian was stunned for a few seconds before rushing into the smoke and fire.

Exclamations rose around her. She abandoned the crowd and traversed the burning house. At this point, everyone who could run had already fled, and the interior was completely empty.

Just as she took a deep breath, preparing to investigate, the faces of everyone in the large house inexplicably flashed through her mind.

The Zhang family’s Old Madam, the eldest son, the second son, the third son, and their respective spouses and children.

Wait.

The old woman had asked her to stay to exorcise the wife of the youngest son, Jiang Yu Le.

And the woman who had stumbled over the threshold earlier was the one who was possessed!

A sharp pang gripped Lu Fengmian’s heart, and she changed her mind.

She thought she might as well casually check if anyone was trapped here. If not, she would immediately go out and inquire about Jiang Yu Le’s condition.

As she meticulously searched the house, she fleetingly caught sight of someone dressed like a bodyguard still lingering in a corner.

The person was disheveled, their back to Lu Fengmian, stooping as they moved in and out of a room. The rolling smoke could not conceal the figure’s blood-stained appearance.

When faced with two evils, one chooses the lesser.

As things stood, the scene before her was far more bizarre.

Since she had come in, she was committed to seeing the impossible through, unwilling to retreat at this crucial moment.

Lu Fengmian tiptoed closer and discovered two shriveled, sallow corpses hidden in the corner. The fire hadn’t yet reached a temperature capable of burning people to death, so these corpses looked more like they had been drained dry and dumped in the fire.

The stooping figure seemed to sense the intrusion and slowly turned around.

The posture was grotesque, like someone performing a bizarre, contorted dance.

In an instant, a supporting beam collapsed, creating a wall of fire between Lu Fengmian and the corpses. The rumbling sound was deafening.

This effectively isolated her from the shadowy figure inside. The only passage disappeared, forcing her to leave.

A wave of heat swept over her, nearly scorching her to the point of disintegration.

The inside and outside of the house were two different worlds.

The fire could not be ignored. The accumulation of thick smoke was immense and rapidly rising. Lu Fengmian had no time to calm her turbulent inner self and had to react.

To traverse the Jianghu (martial world), one’s qinggong (lightness skill) must be proficient. Although Lu Fengmian hadn’t mastered it to perfection, she could move lightly and swiftly on flat ground and utilize external forces to escape danger.

However, the house was so large that she couldn’t find a suitable foothold. She expected that even if she saved her life, she wouldn’t avoid suffering burns on her feet, and a moment of carelessness could affect her progress tomorrow.

Ordinarily, she would think, I must not leave any permanent injuries, or it will be difficult to leave home without escorts in the future. But having just heard such a tragic story, her heart was restless, and she couldn’t focus on such minor matters.

She forced down her surging emotions. Just as she was about to take off using her internal energy, her foot lightly tapping the ground.

A flurry of footsteps sounded behind her, chaotic and hurried.

As she turned to look, seven or eight Jinyiwei clad in embroidered uniforms were not far from her.

The one lagging behind held up his waist token and said clearly, “By order of the Eastern Palace, we are here to thoroughly investigate Tuo Liang Mountain. Esteemed Lady Lu, please cooperate.”

The two parties faced each other in the flickering firelight, the thick smoke stinging their eyes.

Lu Fengmian couldn’t clearly see the waist token, but she had seen the Jinyiwei twice in the capital and, out of curiosity, had paid extra attention. She could find no flaw in their current attire.

Even though the edges of their clothes were singed and covered in soot, the intricate, subtly shimmering patterns were still discernible. This was something that no ordinary household could counterfeit or weave.

Despite this, Lu Fengmian was overwhelmed with shock and disbelief.

I just stepped out casually, and I ran into the Emperor’s personal investigators?

The Jinyiwei reported directly to the Emperor and the Crown Prince, making them even fiercer than typical assassins. Rushing in like this, they seemed unafraid of the fire, stomping out some areas that hadn’t fully ignited through their reckless charge.

Lu Fengmian hesitated for a moment and was immediately apprehended, roughly dragged back the way she came.

Silence was golden. She was hesitant and didn’t dare to act rashly.

The speed of their movement was so fast that they were out of the sea of fire in a few breaths.

The obstacles along the way were blocked by the people leading the charge, but this didn’t mean Lu Fengmian was unscathed.

Her face was so blackened that it was hard to recognize, and her clothes had several large tears. Her entire body was subtly aching from the smoke, and her calves still had a burning sensation even after leaving the fire—she was likely burned this time.

Once out of the house, the Jinyiwei released her and stripped an outer garment from one of the men detained on the ground, handing it to Lu Fengmian.

Lu Fengmian still had embers smoldering on her, and after being released, she immediately patted herself up and down to put them out.

Unexpectedly, after patting out the fire and putting on the outer garment, she was not ordered to crouch down and hold her head like the Zhang family. The leader merely instructed her not to leave his line of sight.

In her surprise, Lu Fengmian quickly touched the hair on her head. Clearly, her beautiful hair hadn’t been saved. Her once lovely hair was now uneven, the left side as short as if a dog had gnawed it off. The right side, apart from the charred ends, was still mostly intact.

She was fortunate that she hadn’t been wearing luxurious silk clothes.

The attire she was wearing was primarily made of mercerized cotton, which was naturally fire-resistant. Otherwise, she would have been almost naked right now.

The skin on her burned calves was throbbing with pain. She could have avoided this embarrassment. It was only because a group of thugs suddenly descended that she had to suffer all this hardship.

Lu Fengmian was indignant but decided not to provoke them further. She looked back, and the towering flames were reflected in her eyes. The common people who had been cowering in their homes saw that the fire would not subside and spontaneously ran out of their courtyards to fetch water and fight the fire.

The other Jinyiwei only detained the Zhang family faction. The spare hands helped guard the well and draw water.

A few others were circulating outside the fire zone, rapidly checking the situation in every household, as if searching for something.

She watched for a long time until her eyes began to hurt, and then she withdrew her gaze. Taking a breath, she feigned anger, stamping her foot hard a few times, ignoring the surge of pain. Her face was black with rage as she demanded to see the Jinyiwei’s waist token again.

No matter how distorted her expression was, it was concealed by a layer of black soot, making her face utterly unrecognizable. Only her bright, moist eyes remained, their shifting gaze captivating.

Her anger ironically made her look lovable.

The Commander, with a heart of stone, was completely unmoved. Having received clear orders earlier, he did not make things difficult for her and presented the token with both hands. “Esteemed Lady Lu, please look.”

The token was gilded, covered with auspicious cloud patterns.

Since they were acting officially, Lu Fengmian couldn’t press her luck with a spoiled lady’s tantrum. She knew the other party might lose patience and treat her like a criminal. She didn’t want to forfeit the minimal courtesy she was receiving.

After puffing her cheeks and taking a few more prolonged looks at the equally disheveled man, she seemed slightly appeased. She calmed her breath and suppressed her temper. Finally, she awkwardly threw out a sentence, “The First Wife of this family is possessed. A few hours ago, she took my Baohun Dan (Soul-Keeping Pill). I hope you, Sir, will pay more attention to her.”

The Commander nodded politely, gave an order, and continued to maintain his intimidating stance.

Lu Fengmian was helpless. Although the Jinyiwei didn’t usually blame young ladies for petty acts of willfulness, these people were not open to conversation and were impervious to both soft and hard tactics.

If she openly questioned them, they would see her as being sober and rational and would instead verbally abuse her.

Despite numerous doubts swirling in her mind, Lu Fengmian had no choice but to shift her focus.

A group of over twenty “high officials” from the capital had arrived.

When did they arrive? How did they know her name? And how did they know she was inside the burning house?

The first question was unanswerable. The second, however, offered some clues. Tuo Liang Mountain was located within Pingshan County, Shijiazhuang, Jizhou. One could get a list by checking the records of people entering the city gate these past few days…

Midway through her reasoning, Lu Fengmian found a flaw and fell into deep thought again. Her legs were burned, so she simply sat on the ground, surveying her surroundings.

The murderous aura of the Jinyiwei was overwhelming. The entire Zhang family was detained, from a five-year-old child to a sixty-year-old mother.

She seemed to be extremely lucky. She was not within the scope of the arrest, and due to her prominent family background, she received a slight concession.

Since the Jinyiwei were involved with the royal family, Lu Fengmian dared not act spoiled or probe further. She had to continue brainstorming with the limited information she had.

She rubbed her aching arms, looked down at her soot-blackened boots, and then wiped her face with her hand. She couldn’t tell which was blacker, her face or her hand.

For now, she could only use the information she had heard about Su Wushuang as a starting point for speculation.

After bringing her out, the Jinyiwei showed no further interest in what had happened inside. They didn’t interrogate her or anyone else, simply detaining people.

Imperial authority could not be violated. When others cried, asking what crime they had committed, they were met only with kicks.

Then… then…

She had no clue whatsoever!

Every time she thought hard, a blurry face stained with blood and tears would flash in her mind during the momentary break in her thoughts. It felt as if a venomous snake was closely accompanying her, its mournful presence raising the hair on her arms in the chilling wind.

Lu Fengmian felt ashamed and, yet again, changed her direction of thinking.

The firework Zhao Pan’er had set off earlier seemed to have a deeper meaning. Since its display was no different from those mass-produced in Luoyang, and given the crisis, setting off one or two fireworks for distant help was not unusual.

Now, upon closer consideration, she couldn’t help but feel that the Jinyiwei’s arrival was too coincidental. Could they have followed the firework?

She quickly dismissed that guess herself. It was more plausible that the Jinyiwei had been ambushed nearby and acted when the opportunity arose.

With no fruitful thoughts, she belatedly remembered that Zhao Pan’er was still at Zhiyun’s house. Knowing that numerous Jinyiwei were breaking down doors house by house, she hurriedly stood up, dragging her injured legs, and moved to the Commander’s side, quickly recounting the events and pleading for leniency.

The Commander’s face momentarily collapsed, but he left so quickly that Lu Fengmian couldn’t discern what kind of emotion that was.

“Esteemed Lady Lu, that is Li Qinghuai, His Highness the Crown Prince,” the Commander tossed out a sentence before leaving, leaving her to fret and repent alone.

A series of thunderbolts struck, and Lu Fengmian thoroughly experienced what it meant to be utterly stunned.

Li Qinghuai, His Highness the Crown Prince?