Chapter 509: Fallen Little Spy

In the evening, He Lingchuan and Menghu finally returned to the inn, accompanied by Commander Lu.

They had been working together on the case for the past few days, seeing each other often, and had just spent over an hour drinking at a restaurant, so their relationship was quite good. He Lingchuan shrewdly noticed that while others feared Lingxu City's influence, Commander Lu, despite appearing simple and honest, had little room for promotion on his own. Instead, he hoped to seize this opportunity for a chance to advance. The five hundred soldiers under his command were a crucial asset for He Lingchuan.

Cen Boqing wouldn't wait idly; he had already left. However, the inn's exterior was, of course, teeming with Cen family informants.

The moment He Lingchuan entered his room, he frowned. The room was somewhat disarrayed. While it wasn't completely ransacked as if a storm had passed through, there were signs everywhere that things had been rummaged through. The person who came that morning had found nothing, but they still brazenly announced their presence, taking the opportunity to humiliate the Crown Prince's special envoy. Jiao Yu was right; these nobles from Lingxu City were truly audacious. He immediately called an attendant to tidy the room and bring hot water. Before the hot water arrived, however, Cen Boqing appeared.

He wondered where Cen Boqing had been earlier, to have arrived so quickly. This time, he didn't bring such a large retinue, only two attendants, and knocked on He Lingchuan's door.

"He Xiao?" he said indifferently, standing with his hands clasped behind his back. "I am Cen Boqing."

He Lingchuan smiled. "Lord Cen, please come in."

As if by tacit agreement, neither of them brought up the events of that morning. Commander Lu was also present and rose to salute Cen Boqing. Cen Boqing waved his hand, then sat down with an imposing air, getting straight to the point with his first sentence: "You wrongly arrested my household guards; I've come to retrieve them."

"Wrongly arrested?" He Lingchuan frowned. "I set a trap to catch a wanted criminal. No one else came; why did they jump right in?"

"The wanted criminal's portraits were posted all over the streets and alleys. They recognized him near Chaohu Tower and wanted to act heroically," Cen Boqing said without blinking. "Is there anything wrong with that?"

"Their orders were to bring the person back, and if they couldn't, to execute him on the spot," He Lingchuan said, stroking his chin. "Who gave that order?"

His gaze shifted to behind Cen Boqing, where he saw a familiar face. He Lingchuan recognized him immediately: it was indeed the wealthy merchant from Chaohu Tower, one of the guests at those three tables. Was this Uncle Wu?

"This is just a misunderstanding," Cen Boqing said nonchalantly. "Their orders were to apprehend him to the best of their ability and to be mindful of self-defense. After all, he's a habitual murderer; the guards couldn't be expected to act timidly."

"Oh? And who gave those orders?"

Cen Boqing grew a little impatient. "This is what actually happened. My people assisted the officers and enthusiastically apprehended the suspect, yet Special Envoy He detained them. Isn't that unreasonable?"

"Lord Cen is truly thorough; I have nothing to say," He Lingchuan said, nodding to Commander Lu. The latter then declared loudly, "Bring him in!"

Two soldiers brought in one captive and released him on the spot. Cen Boqing's gaze darkened slightly. "Why only one person?"

"The other one was requested by the Crown Prince," He Lingchuan said, spreading his hands. "He's already on his way to the capital under escort. Lord Cen will probably have to write a letter to the Crown Prince to get him back. My apologies."

Fu Shanyue wasn't here anyway, so He Lingchuan could make any excuse he pleased. Zhongsūn Mou was right; this kid was truly a slippery character. Cen Boqing gave a slight sneer. "Special Envoy He handles cases with such swift efficiency. I will certainly write to the Monarch of Chiyan and Lingxu City to commend you."

Cen Boqing's words were, of course, sarcastic, but He Lingchuan pretended to take them as genuine praise, laughing. "I'm unworthy of such commendation."

Do he and Zhongsūn Mou use the same intimidation tactics, always invoking Lingxu City to pressure people? Cen Boqing stood up. "Then I wish the special envoy a smooth investigation and swift success." With that, he took his people and left.

Only after his figure disappeared around the street corner did Jiao Yu fret impatiently, "He took all the human witnesses back!"

No wonder He Lingchuan had avoided meeting them that morning.

"With insufficient evidence, releasing them was only a matter of time. Keeping even one, Fu Songhua, is already my limit."

Commander Lu didn't understand. "Isn't this all for naught?" To be frank, the other side had already turned the tables. Zhongsūn Mou and Cen Boqing had immediately retaliated for He Lingchuan taking Fu Songhua.

He Lingchuan shook his head. "When I set the trap at Chaohu Tower, I never hoped for immediate success. My main goal was to identify my opponent behind the scenes. Otherwise, with them hidden and me exposed, I'd be too passive." This was more important than anything. "Now that I know, these two captives are useless."

Once inside his carriage, with the door closed, Cen Boqing sat with a sullen face, saying nothing, and lit an incense burner. Uncle Wu and the recently rescued guard dared not utter a sound. After a long silence, Cen Boqing finally spoke to the guard: "What did you tell them after you were captured?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the guard fell to his knees with a thud. "This humble one didn't say a single word! It was Wu Fang who had his mind enchanted by them and confessed everything, plain as day." He then recounted He Lingchuan's interrogation process. Upon hearing it, Uncle Wu felt half of his worries dissipate. The two men knew very little, so the clues they could provide were minimal, utterly unrelated to Mr. Mai or the messenger case.

Cen Boqing, however, frowned and asked, "Wu Fang implicated Uncle Wu?"

"Yes, yes."

Cen Boqing then glanced at Uncle Wu. "This He fellow asked many questions, all related to you. He might be targeting you."

Uncle Wu's heart skipped a beat. Without a second thought, he bowed and said, "This old servant should return to Lingxu City first. Staying here, I fear I'll be exploited by the enemy!"

Cen Boqing waved his hand. "You're handling so many matters and coordinating so many people. If you return to Lingxu City, who will manage these affairs for me?"

Uncle Wu mumbled.

Cen Boqing said indifferently, "Just stay. It's safest by my side right now. No matter how sharp-tongued that He fellow is, the Chiyan people wouldn't dare touch me."

"Yes, my lord."

Cen Boqing smiled. "Alright, has the reply from Lingxu arrived?"

"Not yet—" Before Uncle Wu could finish his reply, Cen Boqing's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly drew his short sword, thrusting it straight ahead! Uncle Wu suddenly saw a cold flash before his eyes and instinctively tried to dodge, but Cen Boqing's movements were too swift. The sword tip grazed his chest, aiming directly for his armpit.

"Don't move!"

Something jumped away from Uncle Wu's armpit. It was very small and highly mobile. But that wasn't all. Cen Boqing flicked his wrist and threw, and with a *thud*, the sword tip pinned something to the carriage wall, its hilt still trembling. Both Uncle Wu and the guard looked intently, only then realizing that the sword tip had pinned a fingernail-sized object.

Was this... a spider?

"As expected, that He fellow has some eavesdropping tricks," Cen Boqing said, pulling out his sword and examining it. "This thing is truly hard to detect. Fortunately, Zhongsūn Mou had warned me about it." He extinguished the incense. He had just visited He Lingchuan, and the other party had already, without a trace, sent a spy over. "That fellow took a loss, so he immediately sought payback." Even with Zhongsūn Mou's warning, it had taken him a long time to check before he finally spotted the spider. Fortunately, nothing useful had been said just now.

Cen Boqing added, "Oh, by the way, I heard your grandson is also here in Baisha Que. I had the kitchen prepare some pastries. You can go pick them up later."

Uncle Wu responded, "Yes, young master. Thank you."

Suddenly, He Lingchuan cried out, "Ah!" and clutched his eyes. Even Menghu and Jiao Yu were startled by him, and Commander Lu repeatedly asked, "What's wrong!"

He Lingchuan rubbed his eyes hard and gave a wry smile. "My eyes just hurt a bit, nothing serious." Commander Lu let out a sound of surprise. "Could those people have harmed you secretly?"

"It's fine," He Lingchuan said, feeling a pang of regret. At that moment, he was sharing vision with the eyeball spider, so Cen Boqing's sword thrust felt as if it had stabbed directly into his own eye. This was also the last thing the poor spider saw. This little creature was incredibly useful. Although he had another one, he couldn't send it out to eavesdrop on Cen Boqing and Zhongsūn Mou anymore.

Commander Lu still had matters to attend to, so he soon took his leave. Soon after, there was a thumping sound on the stairs as a six or seven-year-old child ran up and peeked around He Lingchuan's doorway.

"What is it?"

The child handed him a note. He Lingchuan didn't even need to take it to see clearly what was written, as there were only two characters: Wu Kai. The Uncle Wu by Cen Boqing's side, his real name was Wu Kai.

He Lingchuan tossed a few copper coins, which the child caught, and then happily ran off. Menghu, who was nearby, also saw it and asked curiously, "What does that mean?"

He Lingchuan chuckled. "Someone was afraid I'd miss the important clue of Uncle Wu, so they specifically wrote a note to remind me."

"Someone?" Jiao Yu shifted from lying down to standing, stretching languidly. "Do we have other allies?"

"We came to Baisha Que following clues, and their direction was very clear, do you remember?"

Jiao Yu was slightly startled. "Wait, are you saying this note was sent by that Mr. Mai—Mai Xuewen?"

"If he could send us the *Records of Reverencing Gods*, then sending a note isn't a big deal," He Lingchuan said slowly. "If it really was from him, he might be a third party in this case."

"Mai Xuewen won't confront them himself, but he insists on using our strength?"

"As you've seen, Cen Boqing is difficult to deal with," He Lingchuan said. "Even with the title of Crown Prince's special envoy, I feel constrained and encounter heavy resistance when investigating this case, especially against Cen Boqing, where I have no deterrent power whatsoever." He said the opposite; it was clearly Cen Boqing who posed a threat to the Chiyan officials. "The clues he left in Shuanglu Town were ample. But no matter how clever he is, he couldn't have foreseen that two groups would visit his residence: me, and Zhongsūn Mou. And Zhongsūn Mou not only took most of the materials and clues but also interfered, insisting on categorizing this as a spy case."

"Now he sees that I'm making no progress, and I even returned a captive to Cen Boqing, so he's a bit anxious."

Jiao Yu gazed intently. "So, it seems Mai Xuewen is also in Baisha Que?"

"He's an instigator, so of course he'd be in Baisha Que; otherwise, how could he witness what happens next?" He Lingchuan sighed. "But finding someone here is much harder than in Shuanglu Town."

"He's acting furtively, yet he wants to tell us how to do our jobs?" Jiao Yu snorted. "Does he think we don't know to keep a close eye on the clue about Wu Kai?"