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Chapter 113: Father and Daughter
Chapter 113: Father and Daughter
Not another word was exchanged between the two until they had finished buying the sugar hawthorn sticks.
Holding the two sticks, Meng Qianqian returned to Fengshui Hutong.
He still hadn't given her a definite answer about whether he would help her deal with Consort Li.
"Then why did you ask?" Meng Qianqian had her pride too.
However, her life was at stake.
The next day, while Tan'er accompanied the elderly madam to the theater, Meng Qianqian went to the library.
Surprisingly, the door to the corridor leading to the fourth floor was open.
Even if the lock had been picked, she would still want to go in. Now that the door was wide open, she naturally didn't hesitate.
Meng Qianqian walked through the corridor and entered the library on the fourth floor.
All the windows were propped open, allowing the warm spring breeze and sunlight to stream in and illuminate the rows of ancient and silent bookshelves.
Meng Qianqian guessed that since the weather was nice today, Cen, the manager, had specifically come upstairs to air out the fourth floor.
This floor didn't contain ordinary books but rather case files from various government offices. Given the magnitude of the Chu family's case, it shouldn't be difficult to find.
True enough, Meng Qianqian found the Chu family's case file on the third bookshelf.
"Seventeenth year of Emperor Chong'an..."
This case file was incomplete, with the interrogation portion missing, but the autopsy report was extremely detailed.
The King of Chu had originally been a leader of a righteous rebel army. He neither surrendered to the court nor opposed it, choosing only to defend the border against the Northern Liang enemy. After being recruited by the court, he was bestowed the title of a king of non-imperial descent.
The King of Chu had been seriously injured in a major battle and could no longer lead troops in battle. It was assumed that the Chu family would decline from then on, but his son had surpassed him, perfectly inheriting his legacy and even establishing the Black Armored Army and conquering the Twelve Guards. He was invincible in battle and was bestowed the title of Grand Marshal of the Empire by the court.
This autopsy report belonged to the Grand Marshal of Chu.
Poisoned and with a penetrating wound on the lower left abdomen, the murder weapon was a single-edged dagger confirmed to belong to the Grand Marshal of Chu. Judging from the amount of blood at the scene, the Grand Marshal of Chu had bled profusely, but the fatal blow was a silver needle to the heart, which belonged to the Lady of Chu.
Meng Qianqian frowned.
There were too many loopholes. As the Grand Marshal of Chu's intimate partner, Lady Chu could easily kill him. Why would she also poison and stab him?
Unless the Grand Marshal of Chu had already suspected Lady Chu, making it difficult for her to succeed, forcing her to use some means, but even that didn't hold up to scrutiny.
After he was poisoned, Lady Chu could easily have used the Ghost's Thirteen Needles to end his life. Why bother with the extra step of stabbing him with a dagger? In Meng Qianqian's opinion, it seemed more like someone had stolen Lady Chu's silver needle, killed the Grand Marshal of Chu, and framed Lady Chu.
"Even I can see so many loopholes. Why did the court hastily conclude the case?"
"Could the real culprit be someone in the court?"
"Someone with a high position and great authority, able to control all the officials handling this case."
When it came to high-ranking and powerful individuals, the first person Meng Qianqian thought of was Lu Yuan.
"No, it's not him."
Back then, Lu Yuan's wings were not yet fully developed. He had not yet assisted the young emperor in ascending the throne, nor had he taken over the Embroidered Uniform Guard, so he didn't have that much power.
Meng Qianqian carefully read through the autopsy report again, word for word.
Soon, she discovered a second problem.
The person who poisoned the Grand Marshal of Chu and stabbed him could only be someone close to him, and they would also have to be able to get their hands on Lady Chu's silver needle.
The only possibility that met these conditions was the Twelve Guards.
There was a traitor among the Twelve Guards!
If even the Twelve Guards couldn't be trusted, who could she trust...
"Grand Commandant!"
Afu's voice rang out from the first floor.
Meng Qianqian suddenly came back to her senses and quickly organized the case file, putting it back exactly as she had found it.
Meng Qianqian quickly descended the stairs, her footsteps light.
On the first floor, she encountered Lu Yuan, his face cold and menacing as he sat on the spotless floor, leaning against the wall. One of his long legs was stretched out, while the other was casually bent, exuding an air of nonchalance yet endless elegance and untamed spirit.
Baoshu sat listlessly beside him.
Meng Qianqian was surprised. Baoshu was usually full of energy, chirping and squealing with excitement whenever she came to visit. This was the first time she had seen her looking so dejected.
"Greetings, Grand Commandant." Meng Qianqian gave Lu Yuan a polite bow and asked curiously, "What's wrong with Zhaozhao?"
Lu Yuan's face remained cold, and he didn't reply.
Well, the Grand Commandant was clearly in a foul mood, and she knew better than to provoke him.
Meng Qianqian approached Baoshu and stood before her.
Baoshu shot an aggrieved glance at her cheap father, and Lu Yuan returned her look.
In unison, the older and the younger huffed and turned their faces away from each other.
Meng Qianqian paused, taken aback. Had the father and daughter... had a falling out?
She didn't dare to try and placate the older one, nor did she think she could, so she decided to focus on comforting the younger one instead.
Since Baoshu often came to visit, the library kept a collection of her favorite toys. Meng Qianqian took a bright red rattle drum from Baoshu's dedicated shelf and tried to amuse her with it.
Lu Yuan let out a cold huff.
Baoshu grabbed the rattle drum and, using both her hands and feet, crawled over to Lu Yuan's side. She wobbled as she pulled herself up, holding onto Lu Yuan's arm for support.
Meng Qianqian smiled in relief, understanding that Baoshu wanted to get close to her father. What a good, obedient child...
Baoshu pulled on her father's shoulder with one hand while raising the rattle drum high with the other. With all her might, she brought it down on Lu Yuan's head!
Lu Yuan: "You're asking to die!"
When an evil minister gets angry, millions of corpses will litter the ground!
Baoshu's face turned ashen with fear, and she dropped the rattle drum, scurrying towards Meng Qianqian with a series of squeaks.
Meng Qianqian hadn't expected the little one to be so fierce, not even sparing her own father from a beating.
She was truly afraid that Lu Yuan would squeeze the life out of the little one, so she quickly scooped up Baoshu. With a backflip, she landed on one knee, ten steps away from Lu Yuan.
"Grand Commandant, I'll take Baoshu out for now and come back later to tidy up the library!"
If she didn't leave now, she feared he would squeeze the life out of her along with the little one.
Only after running back to Tinglan Garden did Meng Qianqian finally breathe a sigh of relief.
She looked at the aggrieved little one in her arms and couldn't help but laugh bitterly. "You beat someone up, and now you're the one feeling wronged?"
Baoshu pointed towards the study.
Meng Qianqian carried her inside and followed as Baoshu pointed towards the table.
As she drew closer, Meng Qianqian was surprised to find three portraits of Miaojiang maidens displayed on the table.
Turning to the wastepaper basket beside it, she saw it was filled with torn pieces of what seemed to be more portraits.
Baoshu started squealing and squeaking, clearly trying to tell her something.
Meng Qianqian was confused, but then Qing Shuang appeared, her expressionless face as she explained, "These are unmarried women that the Madam has chosen for the Grand Commandant as potential wives. Miss Baoshu tore up their portraits, so the Madam sent another hundred."
Baoshu looked utterly miserable, faced with an endless task of tearing up portraits.
Meng Qianqian had an epiphany. The "Madam" who could interfere in Lu Yuan's marital affairs must be his mother. The group she had seen yesterday must have been sent by her, and the elderly woman must have been the nanny.
She just hadn't expected their visit to be regarding Lu Yuan's marriage.
Could Lu Yuan's foul mood last night and his cold aura this morning be because of this marriage matter?
Qing Shuang continued, "The Grand Commandant doesn't want to marry any of them, and Miss Baoshu doesn't want them as her mother either."
Meng Qianqian whispered, "I can tell."
That's odd. With such a united front against these potential wives, they should be working together. How did they end up at odds with each other?
Qing Shuang: "Miss Baoshu wants Miss Meng to be her mother."
Meng Qianqian: "..."
Qing Shuang, a master of baby talk, level 10.
(End of Chapter)
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