073

073

"Have you heard? A huge fire burned down the Princess's residence, and I heard that the Princess herself..."

"Of course, the people were all burned to ashes."

The rest of the words were hidden in her eyes. It was a peaceful day, but it seemed that the fire had not been completely extinguished. The embers blew into the people, and everyone said that the princess had died in the fire.

It wasn't until Jiang Chaoyu woke up that she heard about this from Cuicui.

"Madam, I heard from others that the fire was quite strange. It seemed to have blown directly into the Princess's room, and she was burned to death."

Seeing the horrified expression on Cui Cui's face, Jiang Chaoyu still felt something was wrong. No matter how strong the wind was last night, it couldn't have blown only on one side. It seemed that someone had planned this.

"I'm afraid this gust of wind is specifically targeting the eldest princess."

Cui Cui didn't quite understand Jiang Chaoyu's meaning, since the rumors had been spread like wildfire among the people outside.

"Madam, what do you mean by that?"

Jiang Chaoyu didn't explain, but simply asked, "Are people outside saying the eldest princess is dead?"

Since the lady wouldn't say anything, Cui Cui didn't ask any more questions and honestly told her everything she had heard.

The person is gone, and it's said that an announcement will be made, but Zeng Chenhua was summoned to the palace early this morning, presumably to discuss the matter. He hadn't thought the princess's illness was strange before, but considering the previous poison, the more he thought about it, the more something seemed amiss.

There must be people from the Crescent Moon Sect helping her behind the scenes. The symptoms of her illness are too similar to the medicine that the Crescent Moon Sect used to have. However, she doesn't have many people she trusts. Perhaps it is someone she trusts who is causing trouble.

Thinking of this, Jiang Chaoyu was still a little worried. Ignoring everything else, she used her supernatural ability to teleport to the Crescent Moon Gate.

She went to her master's former room. Since her master left, she had been cleaning the room every now and then. The room was spotless, without a speck of dust.

When I stepped into the room again, I looked at my master's bed and remembered that every time I came to the room, my master would always be lying on it. Now, stepping into the room again, I felt as if I could see my master's shadow again.

"Master~" Jiang Chaoyu called softly, but only the empty room answered her.

Before she knew it, she had walked to her master's bed. When she came to her senses, she noticed that one corner of her master's bed was a little messy. Jiang Chaoyu frowned, her eyes filled with suspicion.

Logically speaking, no one else should enter the master's room except himself, but now the quilt is in disarray.

She knelt down to smooth out the mess, and the moment her knees touched the ground, she triggered a switch, revealing a secret room before her.

Jiang Chaoyu walked down slowly with curiosity. It was a small space, but there was a table inside. The letter from before was still on the table, and several medicine bottles were scattered on the table.

Jiang Chaoyu immediately understood. It turned out that with the secret room, that person could easily avoid being discovered by the Crescent Moon Sect. But even she didn't know about this place, so how did that person know?

She figured that person must be from the Crescent Moon Sect. She had guessed it was him before, but she just didn't have any evidence. It seemed like it was time to test him out.

Jiang Chaoyu placed the medicine she had previously prepared in the secret room. She had only tested the medicine once before setting it aside, and no one knew that she had this medicine.

She scattered fireflies on the ground. As long as the person stepped on them, the fireflies would fly to where he went. Moreover, the powder was colorless and odorless, so no one would notice it.

Of course, she had to summon the fireflies herself, so if someone stepped on them, it would be easy for her to find their trail. She wanted to see who it was.

After completing these actions, she slowly left her master's room. Turning around, she saw Xu Ninghui downstairs, about to return to his own room.

Jiang Chaoyu felt something was off and called out to him directly.

"Junior brother!"

Xu Ninghui yawned, slowly turned around, and looked at Jiang Chaoyu with a sleepy expression.

After seeing who was upstairs, she widened her eyes in surprise and said, "Senior Sister, why are you cleaning Headmaster Zeng's room so early?"

Jiang Chaoyu walked quickly to Xu Ninghui, looking at the dark circles under his eyes with great curiosity, "Junior brother, where are you going?"

Xu Ninghui didn't react for a moment and blurted out, "A mission has been assigned."

"Task?"

Jiang Chaoyu was curious about what the mission was, but Xu Ninghui only mentioned the mission without specifying what it was.

"Are you aware that the Princess's residence caught fire last night?"

Xu Ninghui nodded and then revealed something that surprised Jiang Chaoyu even more, "I know, I was the one who lit the fire."

Jiang Chaoyu's eyes were filled with shock and disbelief. "When did you answer that call?"

The Crescent Moon Sect also has a secret chamber where quests are accepted. It was there that we accepted the quest to retrieve the Midsummer Painting. The Crescent Moon Sect never questions the people who issue quests, otherwise they wouldn't be able to make any money.

However, the Dark Pavilion has a prohibition against accepting missions involving members of the royal family. Why would Xu Ninghui accept such a mission?

"Junior brother, are you crazy? We can't accept missions from the royal family!"

Hearing this, Xu Ninghui smiled slightly. "But senior sister, have you forgotten how the royal family treated us? It's just a fire. I can't control which way the wind blows."

Xu Ninghui's casual remark made Jiang Chaoyu feel that the person in front of her was somewhat unfamiliar.

She looked up, trying to see what Xu Ninghui was thinking, but his hatred left her helpless, and she could only sigh.

"Is the eldest princess really dead?"

"He's not dead."

Rumors are circulating that Xu Huanong is dead, but the arsonist claims she is not. Whom should she believe?

"Senior sister, if there's nothing else, I'll go and rest. We can talk another day."

After Xu Ninghui finished speaking, he pushed the door open and went in. Even after the door closed, Jiang Chaoyu was still standing in front of Xu Ninghui's door. She kept thinking about who was telling the truth, but she felt that Xu Ninghui might be right. Xu Huanong was not dead.

Since the arsonist claims he is not dead, then he is not dead.

But where will people go then?

"Xiaoyu, what are you doing here?" Li Yuanxiu appeared out of nowhere and called out to the leisurely Jiang Chaoyu.

Jiang Chaoyu turned around and saw that Li Yuanxiu still had a carrier pigeon in his hand, but the pigeon's leg seemed to be injured.

Looking at the carrier pigeon in her hand, Jiang Chaoyu asked with some doubt, "Senior sister, what's wrong with this carrier pigeon?"

Following Jiang Chaoyu's gaze to the injured leg, which had already been bandaged, she said, "When I woke up today, I saw it in front of my window. Its leg was burned, so after a simple bandage, I planned to give it to my junior brother to treat."

Burns?!

Jiang Chaoyu found it even stranger. Only the Princess's residence was hit by fire yesterday, so the carrier pigeon couldn't have gone anywhere.

"I heard that the Princess's residence was on fire, so I came to ask if you know anything about the situation, but I just fell asleep, so I'm afraid I'll have to wait a while."

However, Li Yuanxiu was completely unaware of the fire at the Princess's residence. "What fire?"

Jiang Chaoyu frowned. "Senior sister, did you go to bed early yesterday?"

Yesterday, Li Yuanxiu felt unusually sleepy and went to bed early, so much so that she didn't even know about the fire at the Princess's residence.

"Yesterday, for some reason, I was a little sleepy, and I fell asleep as soon as I lay down."

"Zeng Chenhua was summoned to the palace early this morning, and we don't know what the outcome will be."

The fire at the Princess's residence has been extinguished, but the fate of the Princess is still unknown. However, rumors are circulating that the Princess has passed away, but it is unclear whether this is true or false.

"Second brother, what do you think about this?"

Zeng Chenhua noticed that the emperor's attitude was relatively mild at this moment, but if one did not look directly at his angry expression, one would think that he was just asking about something trivial.

"Your subject left the Princess's residence with Imperial Physician Yan. As for what happened afterward, your subject did not expect it." While seemingly unexpected, this statement also implies that there is a witness present, and that witness is your own person, so it is impossible for me to have done this.

"Oh, do you know how the eldest princess is doing now?"

Zeng Chenhua wouldn't speculate. "Your subject doesn't know. I hope Father Emperor can tell me."

"Boss, what do you think?"

The emperor shifted the topic to Zeng Yiyang, who was standing to the side. Zeng Yiyang was a wise man, and he even pretended to cough a few times when he answered.

"Your Majesty, cough cough cough~ Your son cough cough cough I don't know either."

He covered his face with his sleeve, and was so unsteady from coughing that Zeng Chenhua could only pat his back gently. He was having trouble breathing from coughing, and when he looked up, his face was already flushed.

Below the stage, one son was coughing so badly he looked like he was about to die, another had a broken leg, and yet another was still in the palace, too young to understand anything. How could he possibly inherit the throne?

However, I've heard that the elixir of immortality is almost complete, and at that time, these sons will probably become stumbling blocks.

Royal families have no feelings, only interests.

Seeing that the emperor's gaze had shifted from one of menacing hostility to one of relaxation, as if they were no longer an obstacle, Zeng Chenhua must be thinking about something else.

"Since you don't know, then I will tell you."

"I have received a report today that the people in the manor have discovered that the Princess's body has been burned beyond recognition. As for the arsonist, he has not yet been caught. I wonder which of you two brothers will take charge of arresting him?"

The emperor is setting a trap. If they can't catch them, it means their subordinates are incompetent. But if they do catch them, it might suggest there's a hidden power force underneath them, which would arouse suspicion. Catching them is one thing, not catching them is another.

Zeng Chenhua and Zeng Yiyang exchanged glances during the brief moment of helping each other up. The elixir of immortality was just a smokescreen. The people researching the elixir had all been replaced by their own people. As long as they said so, the elixir could be completed by tomorrow.

This old emperor is incredibly suspicious. Even with his two brothers so badly injured, he's still testing them to see if they'll take his throne.

"Father~" Before Zeng Chenhua could finish speaking, someone outside announced that an envoy from a neighboring country had come to pay his respects.

"Alright, you may all go back first. If anyone can catch the arsonist, I will reward him with ten thousand taels of gold."

"Thank you, Father Emperor!"

As Zeng Chenhua brushed past the envoy from the neighboring country, he felt for a moment that the person looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place who it was.

In this life, many things seem to have been brought forward, but he also knows that people cannot be easily changed, otherwise they will suffer the consequences of their past life. He just needs to protect his wife, Jiang Chaoyu.

"Your Majesty, I have heard of the fire at the Princess's residence and have come to inquire whether the marriage between her and our country is still feasible?"

The emperor hadn't expected this man to value profit even more than he did, but the decree had already been issued and had to be carried out.

The emperor could only respond simply, "Our country has always valued keeping its promises, and we will certainly fulfill what we have promised our neighbors."

Upon hearing this, the envoy asked another question, "Thank you, Your Majesty. However, I am curious which princess Your Majesty will choose for the marriage alliance?"

The emperor didn't say it directly, but he was thinking about the prime minister's eldest unmarried daughter.