They had no idea what method Xue Gu had used, but in any case, half an hour later, Xue Gu had indeed returned with a woman in tow.
Now, the woman sat inside the cave cradling Consort Lian’s child, nursing the infant, while Xue Gu, Qiao Mu, and Xing Zizhou all remained outside, seated on the ground to rest.
As for the situation on Feng Jiu’er and Feng Yinan’s end, no one yet knew what was happening.
Xue Gu had originally wanted to go after them to take a look, but given Xing Zizhou’s current condition, and with Xiao Yingtao’s situation still unclear, she found herself unable to leave.
Qiao Mu had to watch over the child and could not spare much attention for Xing Zizhou. If Xue Gu were to go and something else happened in her absence, things on this end would descend into complete chaos.
For now, all they could do was hope that Jiu’er and the others would return safe and sound. As for that so-called weapons-forging base — it was likely that it had never truly existed.
“Perhaps there is a traitor within my own brothers.” Xing Zizhou gazed out over the vast dark earth beneath the night sky, his heart filled with a deep, creeping melancholy.
He could not contact his brothers at this time, and in his current condition, he ought not move around too much. In short, he had no way of knowing where the truth lay.
If there was a traitor among his people, then reaching out to them now — before he knew who the traitor was — could very likely cause all of their whereabouts to be exposed once again.
“It is not necessarily one of your brothers. Perhaps it was the First Prince who deliberately spread the false information.”
Xue Gu glanced at him. It was not that she wanted to offer comfort — she had never been skilled at comforting people — she was simply stating the facts.
Qiao Mu agreed with this assessment as well.
She gave a nod, glanced back at the cave to confirm that the woman was still nursing the child in the distance and had not come closer to eavesdrop, then lowered her voice and said: “Perhaps it truly is the First Prince’s counterattack.”
Given the First Prince’s current situation, if the Second Prince made no errors, the First Prince might genuinely be on the verge of falling from grace.
All the schemes they had arranged against him had left him nearly incapable of recovery — but only nearly.
The Muerhe Great King was not a foolish man either. With so many pieces of incriminating evidence converging all at once, whether the crimes were genuine or whether he had been framed — that question, perhaps, truly rested upon a single moment of judgement.
Yet that single moment of judgement for the Muerhe Great King carried the very real risk of causing him to trust the wrong person and suffer a complete and utter ruin.
The Muerhe Great King had long hesitated to condemn the First Prince precisely because he feared making the wrong call.
So at this juncture, if evidence were to surface of the Second Prince “colluding with outsiders,” then all the so-called “crimes” previously attributed to the First Prince could be neatly explained away as the work of someone framing him.
In such matters, there were times when no concrete proof was needed at all — everything hinged entirely upon the will of the one who sat above.
No one knew when Jiu’er would return, nor what tomorrow’s dawn would bring.
Where exactly were Jiu’er and the others right now?
“Those who came in pursuit — I suspect they were not the First Prince’s men.” Xue Gu said suddenly.
“That is right. Just as we ourselves, when seeking to uncover evidence of the First Prince forging weapons, would want the Muerhe Great King’s own trusted men to be present in person — so too, those who came to make arrests tonight should have been notified by the First Prince’s people, yet come in person as the Muerhe Great King’s own.”
Now, Consort Lian had died inside the courtyard residence, which confirmed that someone had indeed infiltrated the palace beforehand to bring her out.
Even if the child were now returned and a blood-recognition test performed before the Muerhe Great King, it would only prove Consort Lian’s innocence — and the child’s.
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However, as to whether the Second Prince was innocent — after all this commotion, that would be a far harder case to make.
The First Prince could claim that these Bei Mu nationals had colluded with the Second Prince in an act of treason against the kingdom. And now that the First Prince’s military authority far outweighed the Second Prince’s, as long as the First Prince committed no greater offense himself, everything he said would carry the advantage.
In the struggle for power at court, situations could reverse in the blink of an eye — enough to leave people completely caught off guard.
“Regardless of what comes next, first thing tomorrow morning we meet up with Xiao Yingtao. If we cannot find Xiao Yingtao…”
Xue Gu turned to look at Xing Zizhou, her expression grave: “I ask that you remain calm and keep the greater picture in mind. Go with Qiao Mu and find somewhere to lie low first, then investigate which of your brothers has turned.”
“As for me — if Jiu’er has still not returned by tomorrow, I will personally go out to search for her. She must be found before any further decisions are made.”
She could not go now. With even Xing Zizhou in this state, if an ambush were to strike tonight, Qiao Mu alone would have no chance of protecting two people.
But come morning, the residual poison in Xing Zizhou’s body should be fully purged.
Without Jiu’er’s return, no one dared make reckless decisions. Only Jiu’er’s word could command the trust of everyone.
Though anxiety gnawed at him, Xing Zizhou knew that Xue Gu’s reasoning made sense.
Xiao Yingtao’s whereabouts were still unknown. Perhaps, come early morning, they could all truly rendezvous near the courtyard residence.
The most pressing matter right now was to let his body recover first. Only once the poison was fully expelled, his body restored, and his movements unimpaired, would he have the ability to protect himself — or anyone else.
It was just that spending a quiet night here, while out there Xiao Yingtao faced heaven-knows-what — this anxious, unsettled heart of his. How could it ever find peace?
……
Crack — a long whip came down, its trailing tip dragging out a deep wound, its backward barbs hooking into the young woman’s tender flesh, splitting skin and tearing muscle in an instant.
“Speak. Who exactly instructed you to take Consort Lian away? Who has been secretly colluding with you, intending to make an attempt on the Great King’s life?”
Those conducting this interrogation were all men close to the Muerhe Great King — each and every one of them his trusted subordinates. Naturally, two others were also present: the First Prince and the Second Prince.
The First Prince had already returned. This was also the first time Xiao Yingtao had laid eyes upon the legendary, fierce and battle-hardened First Prince of Muerhe — Tuoba Keyan.
He looked nothing like she had imagined. In her imagination, Tuoba Keyan was a man with a face full of thick beard, cheeks swollen with heavy flesh, and a ferocious expression.
In truth, however, the Muerhe First Prince had a refined and gentle appearance — he was, astonishingly, a rarely seen beautiful man. The Second Prince, by comparison, fell short by more than just a few marks.
But right now, Xiao Yingtao had no mind to concern herself with any of this.
The barbed whip continued to fall upon her body, one stroke after another. The searing pain left her dizzy and disoriented, and she nearly could not hold on — nearly lost consciousness.
The long night stretched on. She had fainted more than once, yet each time she had been doused awake with cold water, and upon waking, the punishment resumed.
“Speak quickly. Who sent you here? Who is colluding with you — working from outside while you act from within — in an attempt to throw the court into chaos?”
The one wielding the whip was one of the Great King’s guards — a guard who was powerfully built and thickset, and who brought the whip down without the slightest mercy.
The sharp crack of the whip reverberated through the prison cell, deafening. The young woman, slender and fragile in appearance, had surely not a single unscathed place left on her body — yet she, a small young woman, had somehow managed to clench her teeth shut from beginning to end, without uttering a single word.