PCA Chapter 136

“The deceased died from a strike that severed his meridians. With all energy channels broken, blood rushed upward, causing bleeding from all seven orifices. When you discovered him, he had just breathed his last. What a pity—so young, yet already dead.”

 

There was no coroner in the temporary palace, so in the confusion, they could only find an elderly Chinese medicine doctor who was dragged in to perform the autopsy.

 

Su Cen nodded after listening, “The work of a master.”

 

Compared to the last time when he was frightened out of his wits by a mere skull, Huang Mian showed improvement this time. Still, his only progress was not collapsing on the ground; his mouth still trembled as he repeated, “How could this happen?”

 

The official who went to gather information from refugees returned to report: “People nearby say they didn’t see anyone enter the forest. From beginning to end, they only saw that one person go in.”

 

“A chance encounter?” Su Cen frowned in contemplation. “Or a deliberate ambush?”

 

Su Cen looked up and asked, “How is it up there?”

 

Qu Ling’er poked his head through the gaps in the leaves, then leaped down to Su Cen’s side and said, “It’s very clean up there, no clues left behind. To be able to throw someone into such a high tree and kill with a single strike that severs meridians—this killer’s inner strength is unfathomable.”

 

“The man arrived and was killed shortly after. The killer was lurking nearby all along but didn’t act until now, willing to expose himself to kill a yamen runner who escorted official silver. This means these runners must know something… or could recognize a face.” Su Cen turned to look at Huang Mian. “Can we find any others who escorted the official silver that day?”

 

Huang Mian pressed his brow, shifting his gaze away from the corpse. “No one else can be found. Some have resigned, others have been transferred. This one was only found after great effort from a small border town.”

 

Su Cen frowned slightly. The runner was killed because he posed a threat to whoever received the official silver. This aligned with what Huang Mian had said, suggesting that the Ministry of Revenue had indeed allocated the funds, and the silver only disappeared after reaching Xuzhou territory.

 

Huang Mian asked, “If he wanted to silence witnesses, why didn’t he kill everyone when the silver was first handed over? Why wait until now?”

 

“Because initially, he didn’t know the embankment would breach. He planned to swap the real for the fake and continue the deception.” Su Cen narrowed his eyes at Liang Fang, who had arrived at some point and was now comforting the refugees. He stepped forward with a smile and said, “Lord Liang truly loves the people as his own children, to have received the news so quickly.”

 

Liang Fang turned around, wiping sweat from his forehead, and sighed, “These disaster victims have only just settled down. This incident will surely frighten them again. As their official, I naturally have the responsibility to comfort them.”

 

“Lord Liang speaks truly,”

 

Su Cen smiled lightly. “May I ask, where were you just now?”

 

“I was taking my midday rest,” Liang Fang suddenly frowned. “Are you suspecting me?”

 

“Lord Liang is overthinking this. It’s just routine questioning,” Su Cen said. “Is there anyone who can verify this?”

 

Liang Fang’s expression had already soured: “I need witnesses for my afternoon nap?”

 

“The situation is this,” Su Cen pointed at Huang Mian and said: “This is Huang Mian, the eldest son of Deputy Minister of Revenue Lord Huang. He’s come on behalf of Lord Huang to assist us in the investigation. The person who just died was the yamen runner who escorted those five hundred thousand taels.”

 

Liang Fang snorted coldly: “What does that have to do with me? I’ve never even seen that person.”

 

“But that person was silenced,” Su Cen narrowed his eyes. “May I ask Lord Liang, do you usually carry your official seal with you?”

 

“The official seal represents my identity, of course I carry it with me!”

 

“You’ve never lost it?”

 

Liang Fang hesitated slightly, then immediately said: “Never!”

 

Su Cen’s gaze suddenly became sharp: “But your official seal is on the document for the transfer of official silver. How does Lord Liang explain this?”

 

“Impossible, nonsense!” Liang Fang flew into a rage. “Don’t think you can arbitrarily distort facts just because someone is backing you. I am, after all, an official of the fourth rank appointed by the imperial court. If you want to arrest me, please produce real evidence!”

 

Su Cen wasn’t angered and cupped his hands in response: “Lord Liang’s instruction is well taken.”

 

Liang Fang flicked his sleeve and left angrily.

 

Seeing Su Cen rebuffed, Huang Mian stepped forward and said: “What a temper.”

 

Su Cen rubbed his nose and smiled: “Indeed.”

 

“With the official seal and documents, you still can’t convict him?”

 

“Documents can be forged, seals can be lost. Without iron-clad evidence, we really can’t move against Lord Liang.”

 

Huang Mian frowned: “What’s this person’s background?”

 

Su Cen sighed: “Back when the late Emperor was weak and hadn’t attended to court affairs for a long time, relatives of the imperial family and court eunuchs colluded to wreak havoc. When officials from outside the capital entered the city, they didn’t first pay respects to the Emperor but went to the powerful eunuch Cao Gui’s residence to present gifts and calling cards. Our Lord Liang refused to do so, which resulted in him being thrown into prison and severely tortured, nearly losing his life. The day he was released, he dragged his injured leg to Cao Gui’s gate, spat on it, and cursed for half a day, frightening Cao Gui so much he didn’t dare leave his house. Compared to that, he’s being polite to me.”

 

Since the case implicated Liang Fang, Su Cen had specifically looked into that incident to understand it better, following the principle of knowing both oneself and one’s enemy.

 

Huang Mian asked: “Do you think he’s the murderer?”

 

Su Cen gazed at Liang Fang’s retreating figure and said softly: “I hope he’s not.”

 

Later, he learned that the relative who colluded with Cao Gui was the Empress Dowager Chu’s brother, and it was only after Li Shi returned from the border that Liang Fang’s case was overturned, leading to his appointment as governor of Xuzhou. If not for Li Shi’s consideration, given Lord Liang’s temperament, he likely would have already clashed with Su Cen. Privately, Su Cen also hoped Liang Fang wasn’t the culprit, to avoid disheartening both the people of Xuzhou and Li Shi.

 

Just then, Qi Lin came over. Su Cen gathered his thoughts and asked: “Has everything been arranged for the Prince?”

 

Qi Lin nodded: “The three guards of Tuoduo are taking turns to stand watch. Not even a fly could get in.”

 

Su Cen felt relieved. With an assassin appearing, his greatest concern was Li Shi’s safety. This wasn’t Chang’an city with the impregnable Xingqing Palace; if someone wanted to take advantage of the situation to attack Prince Ning, it would be hard to guard against. Fortunately, Li Shi had brought the three guards of Tuoduo with him when he traveled, which added an extra layer of security.

 

Qi Lin asked: “Any discoveries here?”

 

Su Cen shook his head: “The work of a master. No clues found yet.”

 

Qi Lin asked: “A sword master?”

 

Seeing Qi Lin arrive, Qu Ling’er immediately stepped forward: “No, that person was…”

 

Su Cen raised his hand to interrupt Qu Ling’er and asked Qi Lin: “What makes you say that?”

 

Qi Lin reached toward Qu Ling’er’s face. Qu Ling’er thought his Brother Qi wanted to touch him and immediately put on a coy, feigning-resistance demeanor.

 

But Qi Lin calmly took a leaf from Qu Ling’er’s shoulder and presented it to Su Cen.

 

Qu Ling’er: “…”

 

Su Cen took the still-fresh leaf that had been sliced in half by a sharp blade. After examining it for a moment, he asked Qi Lin: “What does this indicate?”

 

“A very swift sword.”

 

“But there are no sword marks around, and no sword wounds on the deceased,” Qu Ling’er added. “This means there’s another sword master hiding in the shadows.”

 

Su Cen asked: “Is it possible that the swordsman and the killer are the same person?”

 

“Brother Su, you don’t understand. Martial artists specialize in specific disciplines. Someone who uses a knife wouldn’t practice Iron Sand Palm, and someone who practices fist techniques wouldn’t learn archery. Like Brother Qi—he used to use a knife, and at most he might switch to a sword, but he wouldn’t start learning empty-handed blade-catching techniques because that would contradict his previous martial arts principles,” Qu Ling’er pointed at the corpse being carried away. “Obviously, this person was killed by palm force, which couldn’t have been done by a sword master.”

 

Qi Lin remained silent, which was as good as confirmation.

 

Su Cen frowned: “Then who is this swordsman? The only person I know who is skilled with a sword and connected to this case is that one person.”

 

Qu Ling’er and Huang Mian said in unison: “Song Fan!”

 

Huang Mian had witnessed Song Fan’s skills, while Qu Ling’er had directly crossed swords with him. When it came to swordsmanship, both thought of Song Fan almost without hesitation.

 

Huang Mian struck his palm: “No wonder this person had to die. He must have seen that the person who received the official silver was in collusion with Song Fan, which is why he was silenced!”

 

As they spoke, faint crying could be heard from somewhere. Su Cen followed the sound and saw two heads peering out from the forest—Huzi holding Er Ya’s hand, with Er Ya already in tears.

 

Su Cen hurried forward: “What happened?”

 

“We saw everything…” Huzi trembled. “We were catching cicadas in the forest, and we saw everything…”

 

Su Cen’s heart quivered, “What did you see?!”

 

Huzi tried to appear calm as he looked at Su Cen, his lips trembling, “Someone and a big brother who was always smiling, they killed that person together!”

 

A big brother who was always smiling—that must be Song Fan! Su Cen asked urgently: “Did you see clearly who it was?”

 

“It was…” Huzi’s hand trembled as he pointed behind him, “that official who stopped us at the foot of the mountain.”

 

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