Just as Pei Qianhao was going to barge his way in, Qin Ling arrived. He had heard from his subordinates that Pei Qianhao had arrived and hurried over as quickly as he could. After paying his respects, he started to speak in earnest. “Since Prince Hao is determined to enter, us guards are naturally unable to stop you.” Having said that, Qin Ling turned to the imperial guard beside him. “Let him in.”
“Imperial Guard Qin, this…”
“Prince Yun has cordoned off the streets to find out who killed Commander Wei. Do you think Prince Hao would be the murderer? Let him in immediately.” Qin Ling then carefully studied Pei Qianhao’s expression and found that the latter’s eyes were bright, his expression calm.
Pei Qianhao shot a glance at Qin Ling and entered the area, heading towards the Literary Association.
Afterwards, Qin Ling immediately commanded his subordinate by the side, “Head to the Prince Yun Residence immediately and tell Prince Yun that Prince Hao is heading towards the Literary Association.”
“Yes, this subordinate shall head over right now.” The imperial guard then mounted his horse and cracked his whip before speeding off.
Just as he watched the horse disappear into the distance, another subordinate approached Qin Ling and said softly, “This subordinate is deserving of death. The woman’s husband has been killed, but due to this subordinate’s negligence, the child has been carried away amidst the chaos.”
Even without him explicitly stating who he was talking about, Qin Ling knew who his subordinate was referring to – the woman whom Commander Wei had loved.
“What about that woman? Is she willing to guard Commander Wei’s tomb?”
“She was finally willing after being threatened with the lives of her maiden family. However… Commander Wei’s corpse was brought back to his hometown yesterday. The woman agreed to guard his tomb this morning, just to run headfirst into the wall and kill herself in front of Commander Wei’s body.”
Hearing the guard’s words, Qin Ling felt pain in his heart. Commander Wei’s soul would definitely not be at peace if he hears about this in the underworld. However, we cannot defy the orders of Prince Yun.
“Should we inform Prince Yun about this?”
Faced with his subordinate’s question, Qin Ling came to his own decision. “Don’t inform him about it. Just say that the child has been killed. Don’t inform him about the woman’s death either. This matter shall be kept a secret between me and you.”
“This subordinate will definitely keep my lips sealed.”
Qin Ling dismissed him with a wave of his hand. “Continue guarding the streets.”
His subordinate replied with an affirmative and stood guard at the edge of the street.
Meanwhile, Pei Qianhao had already arrived before the Literary Association and knocked on the front door. The old man who answered the door didn’t recognise Pei Qianhao and told him outright, ” The Literary Association is not open today. Come again another day.”
Pei Qianhao’s patience had already been running short before arriving at the Literary Association. He had to see Su Xi-er as soon as possible. As such, he raised a hand and pushed on the door with enough force to have the old man retreat.
Not knowing who the person before him was, the old man felt very anxious as he quickly locked the association’s doors and followed behind Pei Qianhao.
Entering the inner hall, the old man shouted, “Come quickly, a man has barged in!”
Instantly, many scholars appeared in the inner hall, staring at Pei Qianhao with varying degrees of caution.
Not long after, Guan Xiang appeared as well. After seeing Pei Qianhao, Guan Xiang was briefly shocked before bowing to greet him. “This peasant pays his respects to Prince Hao of Beimin.”
The shock value of the four words, ‘Prince Hao of Beimin’, was extremely high. The caution in the eyes of the scholars quickly became stunned surprise.
“Where is this Prince’s maidservant?”
Hearing the words ‘this Prince’s maidservant’, Guan Xiang’s eyes were filled with doubts. “Miss is Prince Hao’s maidservant?”
“Where is she?” Pei Qianhao’s patience was on its last legs as he directed his oppressive demeanour towards Guan Xiang.
“In the secret chamber. Prince Hao, please follow this peasant.” Guan Xiang could see the nervousness in the depths of Pei Qianhao’s eyes. Since he came here, he must have a way to save Miss!
Guan Xiang dismissed the rest of the scholars and brought Pei Qianhao into the secret chamber.
Many lit candles burned in the secret chamber, their light brightly illuminating the entire tunnel.
Pei Qianhao entered the chamber to see a petite figure lying on a wooden bed, covered by a grey blanket.
He swiftly walked towards the bed and saw that familiar face before him. Her original rosy face was now extremely pallid, without the slightest hint of pink on her lips.
Pei Qianhao wanted to lift his hand to caress her face, but he had more important things to do now. He immediately broke off a small piece of the ginseng to place in her mouth.
