Chapter 542: Cen Madam Arrives

# Chapter 539: Lady Cen Arrives

"He only mentioned it to me once," Cen Boqing immediately said. "Later, when Zhongsun Mou tracked the case to Baisha Jue, Uncle Wu asked me to intervene."

"What about the Grand Minister of Agriculture? How deeply is he involved?"

"It has nothing to do with my father-in-law's family!" Cen Boqing hastily replied. "Uncle Wu acted covertly and never revealed any flaws in front of them. The Grand Minister of Agriculture knew nothing about our clandestine activities!"

Fu Shanyue snorted coldly, fully expressing his disdain.

Bai Ziqi reached out to the scribe recording the confession: "Let me see it."

The confession was presented.

He quickly scanned it, seeing that the record was quite complete. He nodded slightly and handed it to Cen Boqing, saying, "Sign and affix your thumbprint."

Cen Boqing read it, signed his name, and affixed his thumbprint. During this time, the scribe quickly copied another version, which Cen Boqing then also signed and affixed his thumbprint to. Two copies were made.

As soon as this was done, Bai Ziqi's expression changed slightly: "They're here."

Immediately afterward, everyone heard hurried footsteps. At least seven or eight people were approaching.

Soon, He Lingchuan saw several people rush down the stairs, with a beautiful woman at the very front. She was over thirty, with sharp eyebrows and phoenix eyes. Though she had red lips and rosy cheeks, her gaze was piercing enough to cut, capable of intimidating petty criminals with a single look.

Judging by her aura, He Lingchuan easily guessed that this was Lady Cen, Yao Xingning, the Grand Minister of Agriculture's eldest daughter. She strode in, head held high, walking with powerful strides. Fan Sheng was less obstructing her path and more accompanying her, not daring to lay a hand on her. The others were Lady Cen's maids and attendants.

Lady Cen entered as if nobody was there. She merely frowned upon seeing Bai Ziqi and completely ignored Fu Shanyue standing nearby. As for He Lingchuan, she seemed not to have noticed his presence at all.

But the moment she spotted Cen Boqing in the cell, her expression changed dramatically. She rushed over in a few steps, grasping the cell bars and asking, "My dear, are you alright? Have you been tortured privately?"

Cen Boqing was overjoyed. He grasped her hand as if clutching a lifeline, and his eyes immediately welled up: "Xing'er, how—how did you get here!"

Bai Ziqi glanced at Fan Sheng, who scratched his head, looking quite sheepish. A moment ago, Fan Sheng had tried every means to obstruct her, even using the Governor-Envoy as a shield, but Lady Cen still charged forward, chest out, head high, directly bumping into him. Of course, she possessed cultivation, and Fan Sheng's attempts to block her were hindered by his reluctance to truly lay hands on her. In the end, Lady Cen seized an opportunity to slip past the cordon and burst into the county jail.

Yao Xingning's eyebrows shot up in anger. She turned to glare at Bai Ziqi: "Governor-Envoy Bai, my husband holds an official post; how can he be so easily imprisoned and detained!"

Hearing this, He Lingchuan felt that while Lingxu City wasn't exactly small, it wasn't large either, as everyone seemed to know each other.

Bai Ziqi smiled, shaking the confession in his hand: "Lady Cen, Cen Boqing has already confessed." He subtly exhaled, having hurried to ensure Cen Boqing signed and confessed just before Lady Cen burst in. Otherwise, this interrogation would have dragged on indefinitely.

Lady Cen looked at Cen Boqing in disbelief: "Why didn't you wait for me to arrive!"

Cen Boqing lowered his head in shame under her gaze. Although he had sent a message back to Lingxu for help, the matter was too serious for him to be confident. After so many days with no one arriving, he thought his wife wouldn't come. Moreover, the chaos in Baisha Jue had completely flustered him; otherwise, he would have remained silent.

He Lingchuan secretly gave a thumbs-up to Lady Cen. *Could she really say such things in front of the Governor-Envoy?* He definitely did not want to provoke such a formidable woman, so he quietly took a step back behind Fu Shanyue.

Lady Cen took two deep breaths, and held out her hand, saying, "Let me see the confession."

Bai Ziqi handed over the confession.

Lady Cen took it and skimmed through it quickly, her brow furrowing and her expression darkening with each line she read. She remained silent long after finishing the last word.

The confession listed hunting Lingxu City couriers and Beijia demon folk for their pearls, participating in the refinement of the elixir of immortality, assassinating the Chiyan Crown Prince's envoy, and fabricating false evidence. Just the first two items were major crimes; the others were debatable. This was far more serious than what she had heard. What's more, Cen Boqing was also connected to Mai Xuewen, who had attacked the Lingxu City Inspector.

The worst part was that Cen Boqing himself had already confessed, and in front of Bai Ziqi no less! Now, retracting the confession would be incredibly difficult. *How could her husband have been so foolish?* She hadn't expected Bai Ziqi to arrive so quickly. *If only she had arrived a day earlier, things wouldn't have come to this!* But now... She wasn't so arrogant as to grab a key Lingxu criminal and break out, especially right under the Governor-Envoy's nose.

Only then did Bai Ziqi slowly say, "Lady Cen, may I have the confession back?"

Lady Cen handed back the confession. She took a moment to steady her breathing before saying, "My husband is muddled in his affairs and was exploited by Wu Kai. If you want to uncover the mastermind, you need to interrogate Wu Kai. My husband is, at most, an accomplice!"

The sentencing for a principal offender and an accomplice is vastly different.

"Wu Kai and Cen Boqing have implicated each other, both claiming the other is the principal offender," Bai Ziqi said, shaking his head. "Logically speaking, does it make sense for an old servant to be the principal offender and the master an accomplice?"

Lady Cen snorted, "Are you no longer judging cases based on evidence, but on logic now?"

"Do you have other evidence?"

Lady Cen said coldly, "Wu Kai has worked in my mansion for years and cannot leave at will. Any intelligence he had must have been passed through other channels. I have someone who can testify that Wu Kai frequently visited the Lotus Garden to listen to music, using the pretext of drinking tea and tipping performers to exchange information." Attending operas and tipping performers was common practice. Since everyone in the audience paid for tips, Wu Kai wouldn't stand out. It was indeed a good way to conceal one's activities.

"Oh?" Bai Ziqi's spirits lifted. "Lady Cen, you have a witness?" He had been worried about the lack of new progress in the elixir of immortality case.

"Of course," Lady Cen lifted her chin slightly. "Without a witness, how would I dare to disturb your investigation? I've brought that actor here."

"Good, good, Lady Cen, you've helped me immensely!" Bai Ziqi chuckled. "How did you discover this?"

"My husband entrusted all his external affairs to Wu Kai, so this person must have implicated him! Wu Kai lived in Lingxu City for so long; how could he leave no trace at all? Although he was cautious, the people he contacted for messages were far less careful than him, and I uncovered them in just a few tries." Lady Cen glanced at Cen Boqing. "To save this foolish man, I truly went to great lengths!" While she made it sound easy to find the actor, it was anything but simple.

Cen Boqing lowered his head, not daring to meet her gaze.

Lady Cen then asked Bai Ziqi, "Are you going to keep him locked up in a place like this indefinitely?"

"Your husband is now a suspect and cannot go anywhere."

"Is that so?" Lady Cen pointed at Cen Boqing's cell. "Open the door; I'm moving in!"

Bai Ziqi frowned: "Lady Cen, you haven't committed any crime."

"I must stay with him. Otherwise, what if the real culprit behind this tries to kill him?" Lady Cen sneered, "Can you protect him completely? Zhongsun Mou is dead, after all!"

Fu Shanyue stood to the side, lowering his head and rubbing his nose, not uttering a word.

Lady Cen urged, "The rules here only state that suspects cannot leave the cell; they don't say I can't go in, right?"

Bai Ziqi thought to himself that the jail's rules prohibited unauthorized persons from freely entering, exiting, or lingering. But he didn't want to debate the definition of "unauthorized persons" with Lady Cen, so he simply said, "Lady Cen, please do as you wish." He then gave a look to the jailer. The jailer came over and opened the cell door, and Lady Cen walked in, head held high.

Bai Ziqi once again admonished the couple: "If Cen Boqing escapes again, whether on his own or with assistance, the Grand Minister of Agriculture's family will not be absolved of responsibility. Do you both understand?" Cen Boqing was shackled and could not use his martial arts, but Yao Xingning had no restraints.

Cen Boqing nodded, while Lady Cen sneered silently.

Bai Ziqi turned and walked out, to fetch the "human evidence" Lady Cen had brought. Fu Shanyue also headed out.

He had observed the entire interaction without saying a word, but Lady Cen called out to him: "Fu Shanyue, I hear you're the one who sent people to relentlessly pursue my husband?"

Fu Shanyue spread his hands: "Official matters must be handled officially. I must provide an explanation to the victimized citizens."

Lady Cen sneered: "Don't think I don't know what schemes you and your son are up to, you hypocrites!"

Fu Shanyue bit his tongue and did not argue with her, quickly leaving the county jail.

As he walked through the county office courtyard, Fu Shanyue suddenly called out to Bai Ziqi, who was ahead of him: "Governor-Envoy Bai, that person named Cheng hasn't been interrogated yet."

Bai Ziqi realized: "Right, let's go interrogate him now." With that, he ordered his men to escort the new prisoner Yao Xingning had brought into the county jail.

When they returned to the partitioned room, they saw Cheng Yu with his eyes tightly closed, as if he had fallen asleep again.

"What's going on?"

The guard nearby reported: "Governor-Envoy, he drank a few sips of water, but his injuries were too severe, and he fell unconscious again."

Bai Ziqi pressed Cheng Yu's neck pulse, then nodded: "It would be improper to wake him again. The best way to recover from injuries is to sleep. Let's interrogate him tomorrow afternoon. He should be awake by then." He had kept Cheng Yu to investigate another case; otherwise, he wouldn't care if the man died afterward, and would have simply woken him up for direct interrogation.

He Lingchuan felt a slight sense of relief, glancing at the candles in the four corners of the room. He knew that Cheng Yu's soul injury was likely far from healed. The more powerful the Hundred-Faced Nightmare was, the more severe the retaliatory soul damage it inflicted on Cheng Yu. If not for this man's formidable cultivation, any other spellcaster might have simply died on the spot.

Soul injuries were already the most difficult to heal. Just now, Cheng Yu had been completely overwhelmed by the Lantern Spirit, and his body had also suffered heavy damage. With injuries piled upon injuries, even if Bai Ziqi possessed spiritual medicines, how could Cheng Yu recover so easily in a short period?

Fu Shanyue crossed his arms: "So, Governor-Envoy Bai, what will you do now?"

"Interrogate others."

Fu Shanyue walked deeper into the county office, asking, "Who?"

"The second-class guard from Cen's mansion."

"What's special about this guard?"

"Just follow me."

Bai Ziqi found another partitioned room. Soon, the guard from Cen's mansion was brought in.

"Xue San, did you just say Cen Boqing sent you to guard Cheng Yu's room?"

"Yes, yes," the guard mumbled. "About ten days ago, Uncle Wu assigned me to look after someone, Mr. Cheng Yu. When I saw him, he was also unconscious. It was called caring for him, but in reality, I just sat in the room guarding him, regularly feeding him water, and at the same time observing the bottle on the table and the rope-and-bell formation outside the room."

"What kind of things were the bottle and the rope-and-bell formation?"

The guard described the appearance of both items, then said, "Uncle Wu instructed that if the rope-and-bells rang, I should notify him; if the red lantern in the bottle went out, I should open the cork."

(End of Chapter)