CH 54.2

Chapter 54.2 – Sudden Changes (2)

Xie Hongyi had a very high status. Although he was only the son of a princess, his father held great power in the country. In the Rong State of today, his status was even higher than that of some royal princes and royal grandsons. This was also the reason he was able to follow the lead envoy to Liang, and the lead envoy even had to indulge him when he willfully asked to compete with Lu Qipei.

But now, the young man of high status had died. He died at the prime of his life, at just around thirteen or fourteen, as an envoy in the lands of an enemy country. And he died under such a clear conspiracy!

There was no need to say anything else, and there was no need for evidence. The people of Rong had already determined that it was the people of Liang who plotted against Xie Hongyi. The envoys immediately burst into fury and drove out the useless royal physician, and sent people to buy a coffin. They wanted to take his body back home immediately!

After this matter, the two countries would definitely become hostile with each other, and a big war would be inevitable.

The Crown Prince was very upset by this matter. The Rong State envoys’ reaction was something that he expected, but it was also not appropriate to let them return to their country like this. Even if the two sides were destined to have a big war, it could not be Liang who made a mistake first and give others reason to blame them.

So after Xie Hongyi’s death, the Crown Prince dispatched the royal guards to surround the Four-Sided Pavilion under the guise of protecting the remaining envoys. A clash between the two sides was a matter of course, as the Rong State delegation did not lack people who were brave, not to mention full of resentment.

When the people from the Court of Judicial Review arrived at the Four-Sided Pavilion, they saw that it was surrounded by the royal guards, and the situation was full of chaos. Their group waited outside for a whole day and never even got to see the Rong State envoys, let alone do an autopsy on Xie Hongyi’s body.

They returned bitterly when the day turned dark, planning to return tomorrow once the Rong State envoys had calmed down a little. But the news that came from the Four-Sided Pavilion the next day was even more astounding – the Rong State envoys had managed to break through the siege and run away with Xie Hongyi’s body!

How did they break through the royal guards? Unknown.

How did they run away with Xie Hongyi’s body? Also unknown.

The fighting at the Four-Sided Pavilion yesterday lasted the entire day, and it was not until midnight that it temporarily calmed down. The royal guards continued surrounding the building and stood guard while the Rong State people to rest and heal their wounds.

The next day, the manager of the Four-Sided Pavilion had no choice but to see the Rong State envoys to make arrangements for their daily necessities. Only when he stepped into the courtyard they were staying at did he find that the place had long been emptied, and even Xie Hongyi’s body had been taken away!

Bad news reached the Emperor for several consecutive days. Although he didn’t care about the peace talks, he still finally became furious. The whole city was searched under martial law, and the Crown Prince who was in charge of receiving the Rong State envoys was naturally not in a good position. He was reprimanded, allowing the Third Prince and others to enjoy a good show.

Things were changing very suddenly, and no one expected such a development.

The Cavalry Battalion, Jingzhao Mansion, Court of Judicial Review and all the other relevant government offices were busy working overtime to find those people and solve the case. Only Lu Qipei who was excluded from the investigation had a rare free time in the Court of Judicial Review.

In front of her was the thick <Laws of Great Liang> book. She was staring at the book as if she were studying it attentively, but if someone watched her for a long time, they would find that she had been looking at the same page for nearly half an hour.

Rather than studying, it was more like she was trying to drill a hole into the book with her gaze – obviously, her mind was not on the book of law in front of her.

Right now, she was in a complicated mood. Being the Court of Judicial Review, even though she did not participate in the investigation herself, she could always hear about important news such as the Rong State envoys’ disappearance case on the same day.

This matter had nothing to do with her, but what if the successful “disappearance” of the Rong State envoys ended up being linked to her!?

After Lu Qicheng’s death, Qi Bo planned to train her to take over, and more or less gave her some power. Among those, the first ones she were given were the stores, and they were also the most straightforward ones. Lu Qipei also made some achievements in the past few months. Aside from making a lot of money, she also recruited some people to man the various shops.

It was said that you could tell a leopard from its spots. Even though these stores were just the tip of the iceberg of the forces behind Qi Bo, as part of the iceberg, they were still inevitably linked with the forces behind him.

It took Lu Qipei a lot of time to figure out this clue. Now when there was a big movement on Qi Bo’s side, she could vaguely notice it from these stores. Qi Bo did not seem to have switched sides to Xie Hongyi, but he did help the Rong people escape. Hints of his attitude could be vaguely seen.

This made her very anxious – could it be that even after being reborn, she and Qi Yang would be forced to stand on opposing sides!?