Chapter 1459: Doubtful Points

“General Chongwu?” Liu Wu looked up at him. “Was General Chongwu also in Zhuo'an that day?”

“Yes, he had just arrived that day. He was initially trying to get the same private room as us, but then he simply sat down and drank with us.”

“You were drinking all night?”

“No, no. We drank until dusk, when the Mustard Mountain Inn was burglarized. Several teams had their belongings stolen. General Chongwu’s tribute items were also stolen—two, no, three boxes. He lost his mood for drinking and went to pursue the thieves,” He Lingchuan replied truthfully. “After he left, we drank for another half an hour or so, then returned to our rooms to rest, waking only at dawn.”

“You slept through the night and didn’t leave your room at all?”

Fan Shuang shook his head. He Lingchuan smiled, “We slept soundly, lulled by the sound of the wind and rain outside.”

What else could one do but sleep after heavy drinking on a rainy day? If Liu Wu were to nitpick about that, at least several thousand people in Mangzhou and Zhuo'an did the same thing that night. Could he really question every single one of them?

So he didn’t press the point further, changing his line of questioning instead: “What about General Chongwu? When did he return to the inn?”

“At least after dawn, I’d say? The sun was already up.” He Lingchuan thought for a moment. “I tend to wake up later than usual after drinking, but I did have breakfast with General Chongwu.”

Liu Wu nodded. “Were his tribute items recovered?”

“They were recovered, along with those of the other teams,” He Lingchuan smiled. “Otherwise, General Chongwu wouldn’t have had the leisure to eat breakfast with me.”

“Who stole them?”

“Two petty thieves. I heard they stole the items and took them to a dilapidated village in the outskirts of Zhuo'an, where General Chongwu tracked them down by following the clues.” General Chongwu’s tracking skills are quite impressive.

Liu Wu’s eyes flashed. “Did you see these two thieves?”

“No, General Chongwu didn’t bring the two petty thieves back to the inn.”

“So, this is all according to General Chongwu himself?”

“Yes, but General Chongwu also said it was strange during breakfast. How could two petty thieves steal so many valuable items? He asked me for some analysis.”

“Oh? What did you say?”

“I said that if someone else was actually stealing the items, it might have been to create a distraction, making it easier to target the real objective in the inn,” He Lingchuan picked up the leftover tea on the table to moisten his throat. “Then, after breakfast, General Chongwu led his team and departed.”

Liu Wu thought for a moment, then asked, “Was he riding a magnificent steed?”

“Yes, it was a Boru beast named ‘Mobai,’ with a black body, white tail, and blood-red eyes. Truly a rare and excellent horse!”

Liu Wu nodded. “Island Master He, do you have any past dealings with General Xue and Manor Lord Qi?”

“Yes,” He Lingchuan replied with remarkable ease. Even King Yao was well aware of his conflict with Xue Zongwu. “Both of the sub-branches I opened in Yaoguo had problems, and I was at my wits’ end. Fortunately, someone advised me to send a gift to General Xue for assistance, and the trouble was quickly resolved.”

Liu Wu smiled. “Island Master He makes light of it, but I heard that many people died at Yangshan’s Xiancheng sub-branch.”

He Lingchuan did not shy away. “Indeed, water and fire are merciless, and those who set fires are even more so, capable of harming so many innocent people.”

“Although the matter has settled, you still harbor resentment, don’t you, Island Master He?”

“It’s impossible to say I’m not angry,” He Lingchuan said blandly. “However, am I the only one who harbors resentment? I bet there were quite a few people in Mangzhou that night who also had grievances with General Xue, weren’t there?”

Liu Wu agreed with this statement. If ranked by degree of animosity, Island Master He wouldn’t even make it into the top twenty.

“On this eastward journey, did you happen to see General Xue?”

“Yes, I did.” He Lingchuan would not conceal details that could be verified. “After crossing the Baiquan River, General Xue saw Commander Zhao and came over to greet him. He also met me. Brother Fan was nearby at the time.”

Fan Shuang nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes, I was there too.”

Knowing Liu Wu wanted to get to the bottom of things, He Lingchuan then fully disclosed his conversation with Xue Zongwu, and then asked Fan Shuang, “Brother Fan, did I miss anything?”

“That’s very detailed.” More detailed than he remembered.

A few sarcastic remarks wouldn’t constitute suspicion of murder. After all, even a clay idol has some temper. Liu Wu put away his paper and pen. “Alright, I’m just performing my routine duties. Please bear with me, Island Master He.”

“I’ll cooperate fully, absolutely.”

Liu Wu still had many people to question; two of them were in this three-stop inn. He exited He Lingchuan’s room and turned to knock on someone else’s door.

Once he and the few guards disappeared, Fan Shuang lowered his voice: “Brother He, could he be suspecting General Chong...?”

He Lingchuan placed a thumb to his lips and quietly shushed him.

Fan Shuang was startled and quickly shut his mouth. How could he have spoken without thinking, blurting it out like that? It was most likely because he was too relaxed in front of He Lingchuan.

He Lingchuan said softly, “That’s a matter for Commander Liu and the Lord to consider. We don’t need to speculate.”

Fan Shuang nodded. He absolutely couldn’t get involved in a major event like Xue Zongwu’s death. But now that he thought about it, General Chongwu benefited most from General Xue’s death. Could it be, could the murderer really be General Chongwu? Oh dear, this, this!

He Lingchuan saw his expression and knew he was lost in thought, so he patted his shoulder: “We’ve already wasted a little time. Let’s hurry to Maochun Restaurant.”

During the journey, the Soul-capturing Mirror couldn’t help but ask, “Did you foresee that this case would still lead to you?”

He Lingchuan rested his head on his hand and rubbed his temples. With Fan Shuang beside him, he couldn’t speak, but the gesture indicated an affirmative answer.

The death of Xue Zongwu, orchestrated by him, was destined to have no real suspect found. With no results from the investigation in Mangzhou, the investigators would have to expand their search, likely leading them to He Lingchuan. What he needed to do, then, was to appear completely innocent and provide a convincing alibi. This was why he took great pains to choose Zhuo'an for his stay instead of Mangzhou. To further prove his innocence, he had also arranged an alibi and witnesses.

The mirror asked again, “Did you intend to frame General Chongwu all along?!”

He Lingchuan rubbed his temples again.Of course!

“General Chongwu won’t be in trouble with just a few suspicious points.”

Fan Shuang: “Huh? Brother He, are you talking to me?”

He Lingchuan shook his head. “Nothing.”

The moment he saw General Chongwu appear that night, he prepared this fallback plan. General Chongwu possessed extraordinary martial prowess and brought his main trusted confidants from the army with him. He also rode an excellent horse; a purebred Boru beast could see in the dark, so traveling eight hundred li at night wouldn’t be excessive, would it? If Yaoguo could trace the investigation to He Lingchuan, it could naturally also trace it to General Chongwu—by all accounts, General Chongwu’s suspicion would be much greater than Island Master He’s.