Chapter 20: Dumbfounded
Chapter 20: Dumbfounded
These days, Xu Haoran, newly married, was not sleeping well. He kept waking up in the middle of the night. It wasn’t from exhaustion, but from nightmares, haunted by evil spirits.
After breakfast, he prepared to go to the Censorate. Unexpectedly, he received a letter sent by the Seventh Prince, Xiao Rui.
Xiao Rui?
It immediately made Xu Haoran think of his wedding night. This Seventh Prince, with whom he had never had any dealings before, seemed unintentional but, upon later reflection, had been deliberately probing.
Did he know something?
Xu Haoran felt a tightness in his chest. He hurriedly asked a servant to bring him the letter. Opening the paper, three characters caught his eye.
“Wang Qingyin”!
Xu Haoran’s pupils shrank sharply. He even took a step back, almost losing his balance.
After a long moment, he asked, “What else did the messenger say?”
The servant replied, “He said to invite the young master to Cuiyun Tower for a cup of wine.”
“Prepare the carriage,” Xu Haoran exhaled and ordered.
The servant immediately went to arrange the carriage.
Arriving at Cuiyun Tower, Xu Haoran walked inside. Early in the morning, Cuiyun Tower was not yet open for business, but the tavern owner warmly escorted Xu Haoran to the third floor, to Xiao Rui’s private room.
Knocking on the door, Xiao Rui opened it himself and greeted him warmly, “Lord Xu, I asked you to come so early. I hope I didn’t disturb your rest.”
Xu Haoran cupped his hands in salute and said, “I’ve long wanted to befriend Your Highness, but never had the chance. It should be this humble official inviting Your Highness. How could I let Your Highness go to expense? I must certainly punish myself with three cups later.”
The two men sat down.
Xu Haoran proactively poured the wine. Xiao Rui picked up his cup and smiled, “Lord Xu is now serving in the Censorate? I have long heard of Lord Xu’s incorruptible conduct. Even when you served as Vice Prefect in Luzhou, you were praised by the common people. I believe your future is bright. In the future, together with your honorable father, you will surely be pillars of the Great Xia Kingdom.”
Xu Haoran also raised his cup and replied, “To dedicate myself fully to the Great Xia Kingdom is this humble official’s honor. I didn’t expect Your Highness, busy with studies, to still be concerned with this humble official’s administration during my time as Vice Prefect in Luzhou. I am flattered and nervous.”
“I am very curious about Lord Xu, so I specially sent someone to Luzhou Prefecture. Oh, and also to Tian’an County.” Xiao Rui downed the wine in his cup in one gulp.
Xu Haoran’s hand, holding his cup, froze mid-air. He then set the cup down, his gaze fixed on Xiao Rui, and asked, “Oh? Really? May I ask what the people you sent managed to find out?”
Xiao Rui met his gaze and found his eyes deep and inscrutable.
“Does Lord Xu know Wang Qingyin? She and her family came to the Capital City to see you. On their way home, they were tragically murdered. Now the whole Capital City is abuzz with the news. Why hasn’t Lord Xu proactively contacted Yingtian Prefecture? You could provide some clues to help solve the case sooner,” Xiao Rui said with a smile.
Xu Haoran narrowed his eyes and asked, “How does Your Highness know that Wang Qingyin came to the Capital to look for me? I myself didn’t even know. I’ve never met them, and I had no idea the victims in that murder case were that family. Ah, how pitiful.”
Xiao Rui asked, “Lord Xu, how do you know Wang Qingyin?”
“What? Does Your Highness suspect that I killed their whole family?” Xu Haoran retorted.
Xiao Rui sighed and said, “I don’t suspect you. I just think the brutal deaths of five people, including an infant still in swaddling clothes, is too pitiful. Since Lord Xu knows Wang Qingyin, could you reveal some clues? It might help the investigation.”
“It was a chance meeting. I became acquainted with her during an official trip to Tian’an County while I was serving in Luzhou Prefecture. So we weren’t close. Your Highness has come to the wrong person by seeking me out,” Xu Haoran said with a laugh. “Besides, I didn’t expect Your Highness to be so benevolent and compassionate, to personally involve himself tirelessly for a murder case.”
“Haha… I know a few things, so naturally, I wanted to look into it,” Xiao Rui laughed, but inwardly he felt this Xu Haoran was really difficult to deal with, his words leaving no opening.
Xiao Rui decided to add some stronger bait.
“But Lord Xu, how is it that I heard the child Wang Qingyin held was yours?” Xiao Rui asked.
“Impossible!” Xu Haoran frowned and snapped angrily, “I have always maintained a clean reputation. How could I have any connection with someone like Wang Qingyin, a defiled and loose woman, easy for anyone to bully?”
After his angry outburst, Xu Haoran realized he had lost his composure. He took a deep breath and smiled, “Your Highness, I’m still busy. I need to report to the Censorate and have a lot of official duties. If you have nothing else, this humble official will take his leave.”
With that, Xu Haoran stood up and made to leave.
Xiao Rui rose and stopped him, saying seriously, “Wait, there’s one more thing I must tell Lord Xu.”
“Your Highness, please speak!” Xu Haoran asked.
“The Coroner from Yingtian Prefecture examined the body and said that Wang Qingyin was still a chaste maiden, not a defiled woman. I ask Lord Xu to watch his words and show some respect,” Xiao Rui’s tone became heavier.
“What?”
Unexpectedly, Xu Haoran suddenly started, staring at Xiao Rui with a dumbfounded look.
Xiao Rui suddenly realized he seemed to have touched upon an important clue.
“What did you say?” Xu Haoran asked again.
Xiao Rui said, “I said Wang Qingyin was a chaste woman, not defiled. Lord Xu should not slander the deceased. We must respect the dead.”
“How is that possible! She gave birth to a child,” Xu Haoran growled lowly, his eyes slightly reddening.
This time it was Xiao Rui’s turn to be dumbfounded: “You didn’t know the child in her arms belonged to her twin sister?”
Xu Haoran staggered, putting a hand on the door for support.
“Sister? She has a sister?” Xu Haoran muttered to himself.
“Yes, the two of them looked almost exactly alike,” Xiao Rui said.
Xu Haoran’s expression turned strange. Suddenly, he let out a mournful cry and rushed out.
Xiao Rui tried to stop him, but it was too late.
“Could it be that Xu Haoran always thought the child was Wang Qingyin’s, so he believed she was dirty, a defiled woman, and didn’t know about her sister? So, this was the root cause of the Wang Qingyin family’s tragic deaths?” Xiao Rui pondered.
“Ding dong… Mission completed. Advent Points +10.”
Damn!
Xiao Rui was even more dumbfounded.
Xu Haoran did not return to his own residence. Instead, he went back to his family home.
He charged into the house where his mother lived and pushed the door open.
“Haoran, aren’t you on duty? Why do you look so lost and frantic?” Mother Xu asked.
Xu Haoran, red-faced, growled, “You and father deliberately hid it from me! That child was never Wang Qingyin’s! The promiscuous woman I saw back then was her sister, not her!”
Mother Xu was stunned for a moment, then sighed and said, “Haoran, don’t be angry. All of this was for your sake. You know how hard your father worked to arrange your marriage to the beloved daughter of the Prince of Ruyang. Yet you fell for a commoner girl.”
Xu Haoran stumbled back, his eyes welling with tears, and said angrily, “So you had Xu Ming seduce Wang Qingyin’s sister, deliberately made me see their intimacy, and even hid it from me, saying the child was Wang Qingyin’s? You made me think she was dirty, that it was some bastard child of unknown father, and that she shamelessly claimed it was mine?”
“Ah, your father and I just wanted you to give up. We just didn’t expect you to be so stubborn,” Mother Xu sighed.
Bang…
Xu Haoran flung the door open and immediately ran out, ignoring his mother’s calls from behind, not listening to her pleas.
Helpless, Mother Xu could only send someone to inform Xu Xianyang.
Xu Xianyang was at the Grand Secretariat reviewing memorials when he suddenly received a message from home, urging him to return quickly.
If it wasn’t a major matter, they wouldn’t be so urgent. So he asked for leave from the Grand Secretary of the Inner Court, Li Mingchong, and hurried home.
Once home, Mother Xu explained the situation to him.
Xu Xianyang comforted his wife, saying, “Don’t worry. Now that Haoran knows, he knows. He would have had to face it sooner or later. What I’m worried about now is who told him. Someone, go investigate. He didn’t go to the Censorate this morning. Find out who he met.”
“Yes, master,” the attendant immediately went to investigate.
Very soon, it led to Xiao Rui.