" You want proof ? Here's your proof, " a voice rang out, everyone turned around to see Lv Ling slowly walking over , she pushed through the crowd followed by Xinyi , Huarong and some other ladies . Lv Ling stopped infront of Yang Changtian and turned around to face the crowd.
" Sister Lv , what is the meaning of this ? " one of them questioned her.
Lv Ling just shot her a look before continuing , " You said you wanted proof, I'm here with the proof. "
Murmurs erupted throughout the crowd, " Then show us your so-called proof. Until we have solid evidence , we won't budge."
Yang Changtian all shot them a cold look , Song Lian was sweating at this point.
Lv Ling smiled and nodded , " Very well , Xinyi and Huarong , didnt you have to share something with us ?"
Xinyi ad Huarong nodded and stepped forward , " The night before you all got sick , Mianmian , Jing and Min were the ones in charge of cooking , and when we tried to help, they shooed us away and insisted on cooking themselves, they refused to eve let us near the kitchen area. Then when Huarong and I snuck in to grab some snacks , we saw Sister Mu go over and whisper something to them before handing over a small bottle."
Yang Changtian's head shot up at this , he shot Song Lian a look . Song Lian immediately understood and he waved at Kong and Ling who walked over to Sister Mu , seeing who it was , Yang Changtian broke out in a cold smile. Sister Mu was the woman who was leading this ridiculous group.
" Song…. Song Lian , what is the meaning of this ! Why are you two coming over ? Don't come over here !" she panicked.
" Sister Mu , surely you have nothing to fear if you're innocent."
" You.. you… you…." she continued to stutter pointing at Song Lian , Ling and Kong, moving onto Yang Changtian before starting the pattern again.
" You don't even have proof that the cooking was the source , " someone said , Sister Mu seeing a path out of this mess , grabbed onto that fact desperately , " Yes , that's right , how can you prove that it was the food that made us sick ? "
Lv Ling began to chuckle , " Well for starters ,only the people who ate that food , got sick Mr. Yang , Ms. Liu and myself were fine, I don't think that's a mere coincidence , and I also have this ," she nodded at Huarong who handed over a bowl to her.
Lv Ling placed the bowl on the table , everyone gathered to see what it was , in the bowl was some porridge , thin hair like structures were floating in it . " You see those hair-like things there ? They are the fungi," Lv Ling explained. " That day , Sister Huarong brought me a bowl of porridge , but seeing that I didn't want to eat it , she left it for herself , but she forgot about it . When she woke up today she found it and brought it over to me when she saw this. "
Seeing it , a few of the people began to retch . Even Jin Wei and Da Xiong felt a bit nauseous.
" Did any of you see Mianmian , Jing and Min eat this ? " Lv Ling asked them. Murmurs erupted through the group again , indeed , that day the three of them hadn't even touched a bowl of food, opting to eat some old bread , despite working hard to cook the delicious meal, more suspicious was the fact that Sister Mu herself didn't eat the porridge either. Everyone looked up to stare at Sister Mu..
Sister Mu was breaking out in a sweat , this wasn't good ! She tried to inch away secretly , but Lv Ling was holding onto her tightly.
" Sister Mu ! How could you do this to us ! " one of the screeched , you and those ungrateful ******* dared to do this , just wait and see ! " The crowd approached Sister Mu , Yang Changtian waved and immediately some disciples approached and stood in between the crowd and Sister Mu.
" They're all lying to you ! Lv Ling and this man also didn't eat the porridge , they're framing me ! " Sister Mu screeched ,still trying to get away.
" Both Mr. Yang and I were unwell that day , and the people there saw us looking nauseous," Lv Ling hissed back.
" Yes , I can testify , Mr. Yang's face turned black when he saw the food."
" Yeah ! stop lying ."
The crowd was turning against Sister Mu quickly . Yang Changtian nodded at Song Lian who immediately understood , he approached Sister Mu and dragged her off .
The crowd was still being rowdy so the others were trying to calm them down, Yang Changtian's face continued to grow darker , they were causing too much noise , disturbing everyone , Liu Ying needed to rest. Li Cheng noticed his foul mood , so inched closer to Song Lian and pinched him. " Do something , or he'll blow up , " he whispered.
Song Lian rubbed the place Li Cheng pinched and nodded , " You take him away , I'll take care of this."
Li Cheng nodded and he walked over to Yang Changtian and grabbed him by the arm , " Brother Yang , now that it's resolved , I have something to discuss with you."
Yang Changtian looked at him, an eyebrow raised, " Resolved ? Do you see this ? " he said nodding towards the crowd.
" Mr. Yang , I'll take care of this ," Song Lian cut in.
Yang Changtian looked conflicted, but ultimately he agreed. He knew that he wouldn't be able to stop himself from exploding again. So he let Li Cheng drag him off . While he was being dragged off , Yang Changtian stopped infront of Lv Ling and thanked her. Lv Ling simply replied with a nod.
Li Cheng and Yang Changtian walked over to the river bank , and they sat down on some rocks .
" Looks like this case is only getting worse by the second , " Li Cheng exhaled.
Yang Changtian nodded , " There's a lot of hidden details in this case , I wonder if we'll be able to uncover everything. "
" They had the guts to sneak in and do this , the people behind them must be quite powerful."
Yang Changtian sighed , " Actually , Li Cheng , I'm here for another reason too . "
Li Cheng turned to face him , " What do you mean brother Yang ? " he asked, tilting his head.
Seeing this Yang Changtian smiled , Hei Jingyou had the exact habit , when they're confused about something , both Li Cheng and Hei Jingyou would tilt their heads slightly.
" When Prince Jinlong gave me this mission , his scouts also found something, " He reached out inside his robe and pulled out the tiger token. He handed it to Li Cheng , Li Cheng had never seen this token before , and he was absent on the day Yang Changtian informed the Bihou sect about the attack, so he had no idea about what this was.
" That token was found in the cave by the Prince's scouts. It was the exact one left at the entrance of the cave where Jingyou and Martial Uncle went missing. "
Hearing this , Li Cheng's eyes dilated , he gripped the token hard. " How dare they ! " Li Cheng growled , his voice extremely low.
Yang Changtian patted his shoulder . Li Cheng closed his eyes and he focused on doing some breathing exercises to calm himself down.
" Li Cheng ,if you don't mind , please keep this a secret for now."
Li Cheng opened his eyes and looked at Yang Changtian , tilting his head again.
Yang Changtian sighed and explained , " That day , the only people who knew about Jingyou's and Martial Uncle's locations were the main disciples of our sects , so it's possible that we have a mole."
Li Cheng nodded thoughtfully, " I understand Brother Yang , I'll keep this a secret for now."
" You won't let the others know ? " Yang Changtian asked him, surprised.
" Well , they already know she's alive , they don't have to know about this too , knowing Baicheng , he's going to make a big scene, and I presume ,secrecy would be the best way to tackle these people."
Yang Changtian nodded , " Thank you Li Cheng."
Li Cheng hummed in response.
Yang Changtian stood up and pated his robe , " Let's go back now , it's getting darker."
Li Cheng nodded and followed him back to camp.
" Master , they failed ," a man said , his voice was shaking , he was wearing all black , his face covered with scars , we kneeling in front of a figure who had his back to him.
" Useless idiots ! This is exactly why I told you all to take that bi*** Liu Ying out , she messed up everything ! " The figure yelled , he grabbed a dagger from his table and threw it at the kneeling man , the dagger embedded itself right on the man's forehead, and he immediately collapsed , blood pooling around his head. His eyes were still open.
" You ! come and clean this dirty thing up ! " the man bellowed , suddenly multiple people rushed inside, seeing this scene they all inhaled sharply , but they didn't dare do anything , they quickly got to work cleaning up the dead body.
Two of them carried the body out , and when they exited the building , they could breathe easily again , " Senior Xuan is very angry again , " one of them whispered.
The other hurriedly shushed him , " Don't say anything , just act like nothing happened. "
The remaining people quickly cleaned up the blood and bowed to the man before leaving.
The man walked over and sat down behind this table, after sometime , the door slammed open. A man strode in playfully , he had a teasing look , " Brother Xuan, I heard you failed again , what a shame ! You keep showing Master how useless you are, you couldn't even handle a small fish like Liu Ying , then to make matters worse you couldn't even do the simple task of infecting them all ," the sickly sweet voice kept provoking him.
The man smirked , " Small fish ? That bi*** is a monster . Fa Lang doesn't think you're some big shot because Master praised you last time, you haven't dealt with people like Liu Ying before. "
" Pfft.. " the other man bursts into laughter , " Senior , just admit it , you've become rusty now."
" You- " Xuan Xie stood up slamming his hand down on the table.
The door slammed open again , and both Xuan Xie and Fa Lang whipped around to see two people standing outside , recognising them , the two of them immediately bowed.
" Master , " the both of them greeted the newcomers.
One man , tall and imposing , dressed in a red robe stepped inside following him was another bigger man.
" Xuan Xie .." his voice rang out , sending chills down Xuan Xie's spine, he immediately kneeled down.
" Master , please forgive me , " he pleaded.
The man just stared at him , sweat began to roll down Xuan Xie's face.
Fa Lang saw his chance so he immediately cut in, " Master allow me to take over this mission."
The bigger man turned to look at him and sneered, but the man in red didn't even bother , he was still looking at Xuan Xie , " Xuan Xie , get up , and tell me what happened, " he finally spoke up.
Xuan Xie felt somewhat relieved, he bowed again before standing up , and he explained the whole thing to the man.
The man listened thoughtfully, stroking his long beard. " Looks like we underestimated the King's people too much," he stated, " Mo Huan , go and investigate them thoroughly, don't leave any stones unturned. "
" Yes Brother ! " the man behind him bowed before rushing off.
The man remained , Fa Lang and Xuan Xie didn't dare look directly at him , " Abort this mission now , going further will only disadvantage us. Xuan Xie , call your people back, we can't afford any more losses. "
" Yes Master , I shall do as you ordered ! " Xuan Xie bowed.
Fa Lang waited , hopeful that Master had a task for him , but Master didn't even spare him a glance before leaving . Xuan Xie turned to look at him with a mocking expression.
Xuan Xie moved closer to Fa Lang and whispered into his ears , " Don't jump too high, know your place."
Fa Lang's expression got darker and he whipped sound and left.
Mo Huan rode out that same day to investigate the detectives the King sent, his first stop was the house of the Minister of Personnel. He dismounted his horse and knocked on the door. A butler cracked the door open to see who it was , seeing Mo Huan , he immediately opened the door and bowed , " Minister Mo I apologise for my blindness."
Mo Huan waved him off , " Where is your Master ? " he asked.
" Answering Minister Mo , Master is out with the Second Mistress, " he replied apologetically , " But considering the time , he will likely return soon."
Mo Huan nodded ," Good then I'll wait for him."
The butler bowed and led him to the main hall, he hurriedly informed the First Lady about Minister Mo's arrival , and then he rushed to the kitchen to prepare some refreshments for him.
Hearing that her brother was here , the First Lady rushed out to welcome him.
When she entered the Main Hall , Mo Huan stood up to greet her , " Sister ! " he greeted her.
Mo Xing rushed up to her older brother , " Brother what brings you here ? "
" I'm here to see your husband , but apparently he's very busy."
Mo Xing just looked down , ever since her husband took in a concubine, he's been spending a lot of time with her, " I failed my duty Brother , he had to take in a concubine , " she whispered.
Mo Huan just sighed exasperatedly, " He should be glad you love him , " he sneered.
Mo Xing nodded happily and she began to chat with Mo Huan.
After an hour or so , Cheng Fang finally returned home , he walked inside , the concubine was hanging onto him. Cheng Fang spotted the Butler waiting for him .
" Master ! Minister Mo is here ," Cheng Fang's eyes almost popped out , he immediately shrugged the concubine off, and he rushed towards the butler.
" What , why didn't you send a message ! I would have returned immediately. Where is he ? "
" Minister Mo is chatting with the First Lady in the Main Hall. Also Master you yourself asked me nt to disturb your outing," the butler replied somewhat aggrieved.
Cheng Fang's eyes almost popped out , if Mo Xing complained to the Mo family about his recent coldness , he would be done for. Ignoring all manners he ran over to the Main Hall.
He spotted his First wife Mo Xing chatting happily with her brother , " Brother-in-law ! I do apologise , no one informed me about your arrival , " he entered and apologised.
Mo Xing stood and bowed to him , " Brother , now that Fang is here , I'll leave you two to it , " she bowed at the both of them again before leaving.
Cheng Fang was sweating , he sat down in front of Mo Huan , he folded his hands and placed them on his lap , appearing very meek, " Brother-in-law , how can I help you ? " he stuttered.
" Oh ,nothin huge , I just need your approval to access the list of government servants."
Cheng Fang thought that he was here for something huge , turns out , he just needed a small favour. He relaxed visibly , " Certainly Brother-in-law ! Please just show them this token and they'll escort you to the archives, " he waved to the butler who disappeared and came back with a token.
Mo Huan stood up and patted Cheng Fang on the shoulder , he walked over to the butler and grabbed the token before striding out the door. When he left , Cheng Fang almost collapsed , the butler rushed over to assist him , " You , the next time anyone from the Mo family comes , it doesn't matter what I told you before , you have to send me a message ."
Mo Huan headed straight to the Ministry of Personnel , people greeted him on the way , when he reached the ministry , he asked a man working in the Ministry to escort him over to the Assistant Minister's office. Mo Huan found Assistant Minister Ning playing with a cricket..
'Minister Ning saw who it was and he hurriedly stood up to greet him , " Minister Mo , what brings you here ? "
" Assistant Minister Ning , please forgive my intrusion , I am here to go through the records of the current government personnel."
" Minister Mo , you need the token from the Minister to access these files , " the Assistant minister explained.
Mo Huan handed over the token and after verifying that it was indeed real , the Assistant Minister asked someone to take Minister Mo to the archives.
" Then Assistant Minister Ning , I won't disturb you much longer , please carry on with your work. "
Minster Ning smiled and nodded before resuming his 'work'. When Mo Huan left , Ning quickly write a small note , he concealed it inside his sleeve walking out towards the kitchen. He had a feeling that he was being watched , but he didn't panic, he slowly made his way over to a pavilion and sat down , waving someone over. He asked them to bring him some refreshments , " Please ask the Chef to give me some Lotus pastries ."
The attendant nodded before leaving to get his refreshments. When the Chef heard the Assistant Minister's request he nodded at the attendant , " I'll have Lan serve it , you can go back to your work." The attendant nodded and left , and the Chef quickly made Assistant Ning his refreshments , " Lan , go deliver these lotus pastries to Assistant Minister Ning."
Lan , a young girl, quickly did as she was told , hurrying towards the pavilion.
Ministr Ning lifted his head and saw Lan , so he smiled and nodded at her . The girl quickly grabbed a small plate and placed two pastries on it , seeing this Minister Ning immediately understood , 2 people were observing them from the shadows .
He slowly grabbed the pastries and ate them , looking blissfully clueless.
" Brother this , useless idiot's just eating pastries over here , " a masked man hidden in a tree nearby whispered to his partner.
" Shushhhh, he possibly can't be that carefree and idiotic , let's observe for a while more, " the other hissed back.
So they continued to watch, only getting more annoyed at the minutes ticked by. Minister Ning took his time , enjoying the pastries and tea , while Lan kept refilling his plate and cup.
Minister Ning was on his final pastry , hs robe was now littered with pastry crumbs , he wolfed the pastry down and gulped his tea , he noticed the crumbs and he reached inside his robe to pull a napkin up , when he didn't find he , he looked up at Lan meekly , " I suppose you don't have a napkin ? "
Lan handed him a napkin emotionlessly , Minister Ning was notorious for his sloppiness , so Lan made sure she brought napkins along. Minister Ning accepted the napkin and wiped the crumbs off, he placed the used napkin on the table and stood up, waddling back to his office .
Lan bowed at him and cleaned up before leaving too.
The two people spying on them turned to look at each other unimpressed , " I told you Brother , it can't be him , that guy's a total slob."
The other shook his head helplessly , " Who's next on our list ? "
" It's the Head Scribe he should be over at the library ."
" Let's go over there ! "
The two of them silently leopard from tree to tree heading towards the library finally leaping onto a roof and disappearing.
When they left Lan looked back and smirked , she returned to the kitchen and handed the napkin to the chef , the chef opens the napkin ;
Mo Huan is heading to the Archives .
The chef folded the napkin , " Lan'er go bring some lotus pastries to Eunuch Su, " he instructed Lan while stuffing the napkin into a small pastry package.
" Yes teacher , " Lan replied and grabbed the package heading over to the main palace.
She arrived at the Eunuch Su's office , " Eunuch Su , it's Lan , my Master naked me to bring some lotus pastries over, " she announced her presence.
Seconds later the door sung open and an Eunuch came outside , Lan recognised him to be Eunuch Su's godson , little Eunuch Su , " Ms. Lan , Godfather is over at the palace , allow me to bring it to him." Lan nodded and handed it to him.
He quickly headed over to the Royal Office where his Godfather was attending the King.
He walked over to a maid and whispered something into her ear and he handed the package to her. The maid bowed before moving forward to pass the package to Eunuch Su.
" Eunuch Su , it's such a wonderful day today , yet here I am , stuck in my office, " His Majesty the King was grumbling, " When I'm done with this , I wish to go out on a walk."
" Your Majesty , it is indeed a wonderful day , it would be this humble servant's fortune to join Your Majesty on a walk, " Eunuch Su responded, he spotted a movement from the corner of his eyes , and when he looked he saw a eunuch signaling him , " Please excuse this humble servant for a while Your Majesty ," he excused himself bowing.
The King just waved him off.
Eunuch Su walked over to the Eunuch , " What's the matter ? "
" Head Eunuch , you're godson delivered some lotus pastries to you," the eunuch whispered.
Eunuch Su's face darkened , and he took the package before dismissing the eunuch.
He slowly entered the Royal office again , this time carrying some plates and a teapot , he placed the plates on a table and arranged the pastries on it , and walked over presenting it to the King.
The King, seeing the pastries immediately looked up , " What happened ? " he demanded.
" Your Majesty, we got intel that Minister Mo Huan entered the archives of the Ministry of Personnel today."
The King's face got darker , " Looks like something happened again , he must be investigating Liu Ying and the others. Eunuch Su you know what to do."
Eunuch Su bowed , " Yes Your Majesty , I am fully prepared , it will be impossible for them to find anything else out ."
The King nodded , he then pulled out a small piece of paper and wrote a message on it , he rolled it up and handed it over to Eunuch Su , send this to Liu Ying , send it through the Detective department's birds ."
" I will follow your orders, Your Majesty , " Eunuch Su bowed and exited the office, he rushed over to the Imperial Detective Department . Seeing his arrival , a detective led him to Lu Lin , Lu Lin was the founder and head of the Detective Department.
Seeing Eunuch Su , he stood up to greet him , " Eunuch Su , what brings you here ? "
Eunuch quickly explained the situation to him , " Worry not Eunuch Su , they won't be able to find anything out , " Lu Lin guaranteed ," But just in case , I'll inform the Feng family too , please tell His Majesty not to worry."
Eunuch Su nodded his head , " Also Detective Lu , I need to borrow a pigeon , His Majesty wants me to deliver this message to Lady Liu ."
Lu Lin nodded and led him to the place where they kept their messenger birds , Lu Lin took the message from Eunuch Su and he sealed it in a tube before tying it to a hawk's foot . Lu Lin set the bird free and it soared high up before disappearing.