The Wei family was Sang Zhan’s primary target, but he still needed preparation. He hadn’t expected Quan Feitong to bring it up at this moment. His heart grew slightly wary, then he asked: “Does Chancellor Quan already have a plan?”

Quan Feitong naturally didn’t reveal that he had been corresponding with someone ever since she was still imprisoned at Huguo Temple, discussing methods to deal with the Wei family. Nor would he tell him that this person had already written to him today about the one aspect they hadn’t previously considered clearly.

Hearing his inquiry, instead of answering, he asked in return: “Do you know about the Metropolitan Judicial Commissioner?”

Sang Zhan nodded: “I’ve heard that the former Li Tixing made considerable achievements.”

Quan Feitong smiled: “This Chancellor is not speaking of Li Huaisu.”

He knew Sang Zhan harbored feelings for that person, but didn’t know how much he understood about her identity. He naturally wouldn’t say more, especially since who he mentioned today truly wasn’t her.

“Oh? I’d like to hear the details.”

Sang Zhan’s eyes showed slight surprise, his expression focused.

Seeing this, Quan Feitong said: “This Chancellor speaks of the current criminal official Du Ruoxiu. This person was promoted by the Emperor from local positions. His drive is no less than Li Huaisu in her day – it’s just his experience still needs refinement.”

“Chancellor Quan, I don’t understand these words. What connection does this Du Tixing have with Wei Wujun?”

“Indeed, to make this Master Du have some connection with Wei Wujun would take some effort…” Quan Feitong smiled again, then frowned slightly.

What the two didn’t know was that outside Quan’s residence, in a dark corner, a carriage was currently parked.

“Your Majesty, with the Emperor bedridden from assassination at such a critical juncture, I truly shouldn’t have asked you to come here. But as you can see, the connection between the Six Fans Gate and Quan’s residence is extremely close. I asked you to come so you could see with your own eyes. Otherwise, if the other party gets wind of activity later and acts more carefully, there would be no more evidence.”

Inside the carriage, a man spoke in low tones, a barely perceptible cunning gleam flashing in his eyes.

Opposite him sat a woman of dignified appearance wearing luxurious clothing.

Her expression was extremely unsightly.

Of course, what concerned her now wasn’t Sang Zhan’s comings and goings. Sang Zhan had been introduced to the palace by Quan Feitong for an imperial audience – his appearance at Quan’s residence wasn’t strange.

What was worrying was… the people from Six Fans Gate.

Two hours ago, invited by this man, she had first left the palace for Six Fans Gate, hiding in a concealed spot. Before long, she discovered Six Fans Gate constables coming and going. Following their trail, she found that people had entered the Chancellor’s residence.

The close connection between Six Fans Gate and Quan’s residence – what did this indicate?

Feng Suzhen and Quan Feitong… had close secret dealings!

“Your Majesty, there’s one matter I’m still investigating. When I’ve verified it, I’ll immediately report to Your Majesty. This old minister also doesn’t want any complications, but Your Majesty should be mentally prepared.” The man continued.

The woman’s expression grew even darker: “Marquis Wei, what exactly do you mean by these words?”

“This minister hasn’t yet verified it and dares not speak rashly. I assisted the Emperor’s ascension and made some small contributions. Like all people in the world, I hope for some fame and profit in return. But toward the Emperor and Your Majesty, from beginning to end, my loyalty has been pure, unlike others. Your Majesty need only understand this principle.”

The man bowed, speaking with utmost respect.

Seeing this, the woman didn’t press further. She understood his temperament well – knowing his deep scheming, if he wasn’t speaking, it certainly wasn’t time yet. Her urgency was useless. She said: “The Wei family’s loyalty, I am not unaware of. I will find a way to persuade the Emperor to restore Wujun’s position. I also hope Marquis Wei understands that the Emperor sometimes has the Emperor’s difficulties. This Wujun did commit offenses before. My son and I have never had thoughts of ‘when the birds are gone, the good bow is put away.’ The court cannot lose the Wei family pillar for even a day.”

The man nodded: “Speaking presumptiously, this Emperor was raised under my watch. How the Emperor treats me, I understand. Your Majesty can rest assured.”

After he finished these diplomatic words, he glanced at the young man beside him. The young man’s lips curved slightly – having obtained the Empress Dowager’s promise, the day of returning to court… wasn’t far off.

The next day, he came to inspect a residential area in the capital, sweeping away the dejection of recent days.

Called a residential area, it actually housed sixty to seventy households. This place wasn’t located on the capital’s main thoroughfare, but the Wei family, with their high position and power, naturally knew that top wealthy merchants in the capital would soon build a street of taverns and eateries nearby. They had bought this area, and when the other party expanded in the future, they could hold it for a premium price.

But nearly half the households refused to cooperate, dissatisfied with compensation, and wouldn’t move no matter what. Wei Wujun had negotiated unsuccessfully for a long time, until a few days ago his anger was thoroughly ignited.

He had secretly brought people to kill three of those who refused to compromise, throwing their corpses outside their doors in the dead of night.

The next few days had indeed been much quieter.

Though this was reported to the authorities, no one dared take the case. Even the newly appointed criminal official Du Ruoxiu, who was said to judge cases fairly and had some reputation locally, hadn’t made any moves.

Coming today could be said to be inspecting the results.

But everywhere seemed excessively quiet. There were no people walking on the streets in front of houses, and knocking on several doors yielded no response. He found this somewhat strange and had his attendants go farther to find people and inquire. Upon asking, they learned that with the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, nearby wealthy households were distributing grain and gifts – quite generously – so everyone had gone out to receive things.

He was just about to find a place to sit and wait for people to return when someone emerged from a small alley in the middle, seemingly heading toward him.

“Young Master Wei, you certainly keep close watch over us common folk – look, you’re here again.”

As the person emerged from the alley entrance, he could see clearly it was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man of forty or fifty years.

Wearing coarse cloth clothing, his eyes carried anger. From his tone, he should be a local resident.

“I come to deliver silver to you people – isn’t this a good thing?” Wei Wujun laughed mockingly.

The man also suddenly laughed: “Silver? That pittance you’re offering wouldn’t even be enough for us to buy land in the capital and rebuild houses, let alone live in remote areas! The Wei family has high position and power, but don’t think we can only be slaughtered by you. I have a distant relative working in the palace who learned an incredible secret.”

Wei Wujun had already decided not to listen to his nonsense, but hearing this, he grew slightly wary and said coolly: “Nonsense! How could palace secrets be discovered by small people like you, and what connection could they have to you!”

“Nonsense? I’ll tell you, then you’ll know whether I’m talking nonsense! The current Noble Consort Shu is the former Li Tixing – am I right or not! She was originally a woman who disguised herself as a man to enter court as an official. Throughout her life, she never feared the powerful. In Minzhou before, she handled cases of corrupt officials seizing land. The former Emperor was killed by your Wei family – he was a wise ruler who had shown kindness to this Li Tixing. Now Noble Consort Shu must hate your Wei family to the bone. And there’s Chancellor Quan, who they say can match your Wei family in court. If we petition them, perhaps they’ll manage this matter and speak a few words before the Emperor!”

“When the neighbors return, I’ll tell them. My son and those two families’ children were all killed by you. Don’t think you can cover the sky with one hand – I’ll fight you to the end!”

The man stared at him, his face twisted with hatred, becoming extremely fierce. The cold light in his eyes seemed to say he would never rest until death.

Wei Wujun’s heart sank. Feng Suzhen and Quan Feitong were currently the Wei family’s greatest enemies!

Though this matter differed from the previous major military power division that affected the Son of Heaven’s interests, and he had previously handled things cleanly without leaving any traceable evidence, the Emperor wouldn’t make a big fuss over this. But if the matter reached the Emperor, especially around the time of his reinstatement, even if the Wei family wasn’t afraid, it certainly wasn’t good!

The wealthy household’s grain distribution meant no one was around now – truly heaven’s help! A fierce light flashed in his eyes!

This person couldn’t be left alive.

That man seemed to also see the murderous intent that flashed in his eyes. Regretting greatly, he realized he shouldn’t have come to reveal information to his enemy in a moment of anger. He turned and fled.

“Catch him!” His tone was gentle yet sinister.

Watching the other flee toward the deep alley like a startled prey, he curved his lips.

But perhaps driven by survival instinct, the man ran extremely fast.

Seeing the Wei family servants falling behind, he frowned, leaped up, and personally pursued into the alley using lightness skills.

There was a pile of bamboo poles against the wall in the alley. The man pushed them backward as he ran. Wei Wujun nimbly avoided them, and in the gap when items clattered down, he saw the man had escaped from the alley entrance and temporarily disappeared from sight. But the man, in extreme panic, was heard to fall with a “thud.”

He laughed coldly. No matter how fast the man ran, he could catch up! Now…

He gathered his energy and leaped again, his figure instantly landing at the exit. Indeed, he saw the man collapsed on the ground. His gaze darkened as he grabbed the man’s collar and lifted him up, but felt something was wrong. The man seemed boneless, soft with no substance to grasp. A putrid stench immediately assaulted his nostrils. Startled, he loosened his grip and the person fell to the ground.

His shock was so great that he drew his sword with one hand and turned the person over with the other, about to stab at the chest. When his gaze fell on the face, he was shocked again.

This wasn’t the man from before at all, but a corpse! Several large holes in the body, bloodstains, the color already congealed to purple-black.

Though it was autumn coolness, it was clear the person had been dead for some time – the corpse had already begun to decay.

Moreover, he recognized this person.

“Murder! Someone’s been murdered!”

A deafening voice rang out ahead. His mind slightly disturbed, he looked up to see a crowd suddenly surge forward, most carrying rice, grain, and cloth – apparently residents who had just returned from receiving goods.

“It’s the Wei family’s second young master! Could it be he killed someone in a rage because we wouldn’t comply?” Someone cried out in alarm.

Wei Wujun knew these people were cowardly and would never normally have such courage, but now, convinced he had killed someone at their doorstep, their anger was ignited!

Then several scholarly-looking people called loudly: “Quickly find Master Du. He and the benefactor are good friends and just came to distribute grain and goods.”

The crowd stirred, visibly both shocked and angry. At this time, a voice said calmly: “This official is here.”

Soon, two people emerged from behind the crowd – one a slightly plump, fair-faced man in his fifties, the other a tall, thin young man with sparse facial hair.

The speaker was the latter.

“Young Master Wei, what’s this about? No matter what, you shouldn’t kill people at will!” He frowned, his voice quite serious.

Wei Wujun wasn’t stupid. Ahead, turning left led to the main street, turning right to another alley. On both sides of the alley were several low houses extending to the end.

He had been calculated against!

The man earlier had deliberately lured him here. This corpse was prepared beforehand! The bamboo was meant to obscure his vision. In his moment of unpreparedness, they placed the corpse on the ground, while the people hiding behind the alley and that middle-aged man took the opportunity to hide in the houses on the right.

But this corpse was too old!

This Du Ruoxiu had distinguished achievements locally and was a respected local official, personally promoted by Li Zhaoting and transferred to the capital to fill the long-vacant criminal official position.

Since he had recently taken office and hadn’t much participated in government affairs, there was no relationship between them – they had only met once or twice in passing. But unless he wanted his career to end here, he wouldn’t force involvement. Otherwise, the previous cases would have been investigated long ago!

He threw down the corpse, pointing his sword at the remains on the ground and laughing: “Master Du comes at just the right time. I was chasing a thieving scoundrel here, only to have him deliberately frame me for murder. Not to mention Master Du’s years of handling cases – even a foolish commoner could see at a glance this is an old corpse.”

At this time, his several attendants had also arrived, drawing their swords, but he calmly stopped them.

“You’re lying! You want to speak nonsense and point at a deer and call it a horse!”

“Master Du, don’t believe him! He has… killed people before!”

On that side, the people were also in an uproar. Du Ruoxiu frowned slightly and raised his hand.

“Neighbors, please remain calm. This official will go examine the situation first. Murderers can’t escape, and the innocent can’t be wrongly accused.”

He quickly approached, half-crouched down, and soon stood up again, his expression strange.

“Young Master Wei, in this official’s opinion, this is not an old corpse,” he said.

His expression was extremely serious, not seeming to deceive. Wei Wujun felt cold air shoot through his chest and abdomen, then flew into a rage. Good! This matter probably involved even Du Ruoxiu as an accomplice!