Situ Lin’s eyes widened when he heard that. “What?! Su Xi-er?!” His heart felt stifled. If it’s Su Xi-er, then it’s all over for me! The Imperial Household Department will investigate the death of a court lady, and my Imperial Uncle will find out that I left the imperial palace to play. Commandery Prince Xie’s protection won’t mean anything if someone has died!
The civilians reported to the authorities that someone had fallen into the water, and that their body had yet to be found. Shortly after, the bailiff runner arrived and ordered the crowd to disperse before diving into the water to search for the body.
Situ Lin was still stunned, and didn’t even realise when a bailiff runner walked up to instruct him to leave the area.
The bailiff runner thought that he was just a young master who liked to have fun, so he spoke louder, “Young Gentleman, please leave and stop obstructing our investigation.”
“No, I have to see if it was Su Xi-er!” Situ Lin raised his voice with determination in his eyes.
When the bailiff runner heard his pleas, he immediately understood that the woman who fell into the water was linked to the young master in front of him. “Alright then, you stay here and don’t hinder us from fishing out the corpse.”
Situ Lin’s legs trembled when he heard the word ‘corpse,’ praying that it wouldn’t be Su Xi-er.
Situ Lin, Tan Ge and the imperial guard waited by the lake and watched as the bailiff runners fished for the corpse. They continued until the County Magistrate had arrived, but still didn’t find anything.
He had been waiting in the County Magistrate Office for a report, but when nobody had come back even after an hour, he had decided to come over himself. When he saw Situ Lin, his body trembled. Isn’t that His Majesty?
As the County Magistrate of the capital, he had been invited as a guest to last year’s New Year’s banquet. There, he had been fortunate enough to catch sight of the Emperor.
The County Magistrate immediately walked towards Situ Lin and bowed. “This humble official pays his respects to Your Majesty.”
Situ Lin’s expression changed. Someone recognised me! Will they tell my Imperial Uncle? He shuddered when he thought of this, but his expression didn’t change. He raised his hand slightly to signal for the County Magistrate to get up. “Those subordinates under you are so slow at fishing out the body.”
The County Magistrate didn’t dare to be careless and hastily replied, “This humble official will go and urge them to hurry.” After that, he immediately got up and began to personally instruct the bailiff runners by the lake.
All of the bailiff runners became more meticulous in searching; some even started using fishing nets.
“When this humble official heard that it was a woman who fell into the water, I thought that it may have been a woman troubled by love who decided to commit suicide.”
Situ Lin’s expression became solemn. “It wouldn’t be such a big deal if it was just a regular civilian!”
When the County Magistrate heard this, he felt as if there was a rock weighing on his heart. Could it be a woman from the imperial palace?
“Quickly find the body; this Emperor is waiting for an answer. If it is Su Xi-er, this Emperor will be in trouble.”
I can’t believe there is a woman who would be able to get His Majesty into trouble. The County Magistrate’s brows tightly furrowed together. He turned around and watched as his subordinates continued to look for the body.
At this moment, the commoners who stood further away from the lake started shouting, “The soldiers are here!”
Situ Lin heard them clearly. The civilians didn’t yell ‘imperial guards’ or ‘bailiff runners’; they said ‘soldiers’! The only ones who can be called soldiers are people from the army! Has Imperial Uncle left the army barracks? Is he passing by this place?
Tan Ge also became anxious. I hope that nothing happened to Su Xi-er, but that woman just said that the woman who fell into the water wore a similar dress as me. Suddenly, she felt anxiety gnawing at her heart.
