PC Chapter 47

The man who entered was clad in full armor, with a fierce presence, and his purple beard stood like spikes. His commanding aura was palpable as he cracked the whip down on Su Cen’s hand, which was reaching for the door.

The whip, made of animal hide, stung like a clap of thunder. Su Cen was forced back several steps, hissing in pain as blood began to seep from the pale skin of his hand where he had been struck.

Indeed, like father, like son—they both had a habit of using whips to beat people.

Before anyone could respond, the man shouted again, “Which one of you is Su Cen? Get out here now!”

“Prince, Prince…” Zhang Jun hurriedly arrived, stepping in front of Su Cen. “Prince, you’ve just arrived. Why don’t you come to the main hall for some tea?”

“To hell with your tea! Bring Su Cen to me right now!” Xiao Yan cracked his whip again, this time against the door. “I want to see who the hell dared to bully my Chen’er! If you don’t hand over that Su, none of you will leave today!”

Su Cen frowned and was about to step forward when Zhang Jun discreetly held him back, trying to appease Xiao Yan. “Your Highness may not know, but we’ve already closed for the day. Su Cen has likely left. Tomorrow, I will personally bring him to your residence. Will that be acceptable?”

“Don’t give me that crap! I’ve already been to his house. There was only a servant and a little brat there. He never went back!”

Su Cen’s heart skipped a beat, and he immediately stepped forward. “What did you do to them?!”

Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes. “So you’re Su Cen?”

Zhang Jun quickly intervened. “Your Highness, he’s not—”

Before Zhang Jun could finish, Su Cen bowed and introduced himself. “I am Su Cen, and I greet Your Highness.”

A chilling glint flashed in Xiao Yan’s eyes. “You filthy thing! How dare you slander my Chen’er!”

Whether it was slander or not, Su Cen couldn’t say for certain. But this case was significant, and until it was fully investigated, he dared not jump to conclusions. However, even if Xiao Yuancheng wasn’t the one who killed them, he was still responsible for whipping the victims and forcing them into the ditch. That alone implicated him deeply.

Suppressing the burning pain in his arm, Su Cen felt a surge of anger. He boldly declared, “Xiao Yuancheng beat innocent civilians, causing the tragic death of a widow and her orphaned child. He admitted it himself. The trial records are in black and white. I neither coerced nor tricked him. I simply reported the facts to the court. The decree was issued by the Emperor himself. I’m just an investigator. If you want to overturn the case, go to the Emperor. If you want to discipline your son, go to the prison. What reason do you have to come here and corner me?”

“You arrogant little brat!” Xiao Yan raised his whip, about to strike again. But Su Cen wasn’t a fool—he wasn’t about to stand there and let himself be whipped just to soothe Xiao Yan’s anger. The moment Xiao Yan moved, Su Cen stepped back several paces. The whip sliced through the air, barely grazing the front of his robes.

Still unwilling to yield, Su Cen grew even bolder, pointing toward the ice cellar behind him. “If Your Highness doesn’t believe me, the bodies of the mother and child are still there. Why don’t you go see for yourself what your son did?

“Or perhaps you’d prefer to ask around the streets about what kind of reputation your precious son has here in Chang’an. Maybe you’ve been at the border too long and forgotten what manners are. As for you, Your Highness, if you can’t teach your own son, don’t bother trying to teach others. If you want to act tough, go back to Liangzhou. This is the Dali Temple, and we won’t let you act wild here!”

Zhang Jun listened, growing more alarmed with each sentence. He kept wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. Who was Xiao Yan? A man who had guarded Liangzhou for so many years, with more blood on his hands than the number of cases Zhang Jun had seen. Killing people for him was as simple as chopping vegetables. How could Su Cen dare to provoke him like this?

As expected, Xiao Yan’s face was flushed with fury, and with a twitch of his mustache, he raised his whip, ready to strike.

Seeing things go south, Su Cen, having had enough of his verbal tirade, quickly darted behind Zhang Jun, hiding his slender figure behind Zhang Jun’s more generously-sized body.

Zhang Jun felt as if all the fat on his body had fallen away from fear. He hadn’t even caught his breath when Su Cen whispered from behind him, “Lord Zhang, didn’t the Prince invite me to visit him tonight? What do you think…”

“Enough!” Zhang Jun suddenly shouted, startling everyone present.

The usually diplomatic and smooth-talking Zhang Jun took a step forward, brimming with authority. “If Your Highness has grievances, feel free to bring them up tomorrow in the court. Forgive the Dali Temple for any lack of hospitality. Guards, escort the Prince out!”

Whether Xiao Yan was Prince Ning or the King of Northern Liang, Zhang Jun knew the difference in power well enough.

Immediately, the yamen runners surrounded Xiao Yan. Though their martial prowess might not have been high, they had strength in numbers. Armed with heavy batons, creating an imposing atmosphere.

Xiao Yan scanned the room, his eyes blazing, but eventually suppressed his anger and lowered his hand. He shot Su Cen a furious glare before storming out.

Only after Xiao Yan had left did Zhang Jun finally breathe a sigh of relief. He patted his chest and turned around, only to be greeted by Su Cen’s grinning face. Su Cen flattered him, “Lord Zhang, how mighty you were!”

“And you,” Zhang Jun pointed at him, “leave! Go wherever you want, just stay as far from the Dali Temple as possible.”

Under Zhang Jun’s stern gaze, Su Cen begrudgingly left the Dali Temple. As soon as he stepped outside the gate, he noticed a sneaky figure hiding behind a stone lion.

Su Cen stopped and sighed, “Qu Ling’er.”

Qu Ling’er immediately beamed and rushed over. “Brother Su, you’re finally out! Are you alright? You won’t believe it, but some big bearded guy came to your house today, whipping people left and right… Wait, Brother Su, are you hurt?”

Su Cen shook his head and asked, “Is everything at home alright?”

Qu Ling’er patted his chest. “With me there, how could anything go wrong? But that guy was so fierce! Did you steal his wife or kill his son? He kicked down the door like he owned the place. He’s even worse than that obnoxious young heir!”

Su Cen nodded. “That’s his father.”

Qu Ling’er: “…”

As they walked, Su Cen asked, “Why are you here?”

“I was worried about you! What if you got ambushed and someone threw a sack over your head and carried you off?” Qu Ling’er suddenly looked at Su Cen in realization. “Did he already find you? Is this his doing?!”

Stomping his foot, he gritted his teeth. “I’m going to settle the score with him.”

“Ling’er, forget it,” Su Cen pulled him back and shook his head. “Thank you, though.”

Qu Ling’er scratched his head awkwardly. “Brother Su, why are you being so distant all of a sudden? What’s there to thank me for?”

Su Cen smiled faintly. There were indeed many people he owed thanks to today: Xiao Sun, who had warned him; Lord Zhang, who had protected him; the bailiffs who had stood by him; and Qu Ling’er, who had come to meet him. But in that moment of panic, someone else had surfaced in his mind.

Could it be that that person was truly so preoccupied with countless affairs that he hadn’t thought of him in time? Despite careful planning, he hadn’t considered that after he handled Xiao Yuancheng, Xiao Yan would come looking for him as soon as he entered the capital.

In the end, it was misplaced affection and unrealistic expectations.

“Ling’er, do you know if there’s anyone who can pierce a person’s Baihui acupoint with just two fingers, causing instant death?”

Qu Ling’er furrowed his brows in thought. “That depends on who it is. A child has a thinner skull, while an adult’s is thicker, so the required force is different.”

“One adult, one child.”

“Then it would depend on the person. If it’s a master, they could concentrate their force at their fingertips and it shouldn’t be difficult to hit the right acupoint.”

Su Cen stopped and looked at Qu Ling’er. “What about Qi Lin? Could he do it?”

Qu Ling’er was momentarily taken aback and stopped as well. “Brother Su, is something wrong?”

Su Cen sighed lightly. “I found new clues regarding that mother and child today. I suspect someone deliberately killed them to frame Xiao Yuancheng.”

After hearing this, Qu Ling’er actually relaxed and smiled at Su Cen. “It can’t be him. Although that person is usually cold and unyielding, he wouldn’t stoop so low as to kill a pair of innocent people.”

Su Cen lowered his gaze, his expression somber. “But what if his master ordered him to do it?”

Qu Ling’er looked at Su Cen, frowning. “Brother Su…”

“I don’t know where his bottom line is. After all, he’s fighting for the future of the Great Zhou. I don’t know if those two lives hold any meaning in his eyes. At that time, Qi Lin told me that regardless of whether Xiao Yuancheng was the killer, it would have to be framed as if he was. Did he know all along that those two weren’t actually killed by Xiao Yuancheng?”

The pain reflected in Su Cen’s eyes was as deep and heavy as the impenetrable night, sending chills to those who saw it.

He could tolerate the way he maneuvered through political schemes, but he couldn’t stand the fact that he viewed human lives as mere fodder, using any means necessary to consolidate his position.

The earlier confrontation with Xiao Yan wasn’t just about that whip strike. Since he saw the wound on the corpse, he had been holding back a breath, unable to exhale or swallow, feeling suffocated.

Ultimately, it was fear—fear of his inability to resist the urge to seek the truth, fear of hearing an ambiguous answer from him again.

As night fell, in the Dali Temple’s prison.

The weak candlelight outside the cell was suddenly extinguished by a gust of wind. Xiao Yuancheng abruptly raised his head and saw a tall shadow looming before the prison door, coldly staring at him.

Xiao Yuancheng stood up excitedly, “Did the Prince send you? Has the Prince come to rescue me?”

The man opened the prison door, his long shadow stretching before Xiao Yuancheng as he stopped in front of him. A cold glint flashed in his eyes. “The Prince asked me to send you on your way.”

 

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