“Yes, this humble one speaks not a single false word. My lord, please believe me!” Lu Xiong knocked his forehead heavily against the ground with such force that it made a loud sound, shocking even himself until his vision darkened.

Lu Heng watched the person kowtowing heavily before him and couldn’t help falling into contemplation.

This person was from the Azure Sky Alliance. Who the Alliance Leader was – no one under heaven didn’t know.

Qin Yining was probably designing this for Pang Xiao’s sake, deliberately trying to frame him. Lu Heng felt an indescribable taste in his heart. The woman he cherished and loved with all his heart was wholeheartedly helping another man. He had already tasted this bitterness over and over again.

From the initial pain, to gradually becoming numb, and now that numbness had transformed into jealousy and anticipation. No one knew how much torment Lu Heng’s heart had endured.

But Lu Heng himself could taste sweetness from it. Even when Qin Yining was his enemy, what he first noticed was her intelligence and methods. That admiration only made him sink deeper, and he allowed himself to sink deeper.

So was this person before him another trap that Qin Yining had designed for Pang Xiao’s sake?

Lu Heng didn’t know, nor did he care much. No matter how capable Pang Xiao was, he didn’t have a powerful family or network of relationships to support him from behind. Though both had been banished from the capital by the Emperor, Lu Heng believed that Li Qitian’s wariness toward him was far less than toward Pang Xiao. That was already enough.

As long as the Emperor’s wariness toward Pang Xiao didn’t diminish, someday he would be able to use this point to defeat Pang Xiao!

In that instant, many thoughts flashed through Lu Heng’s mind. He even wanted to seize Lu Xiong and take him to confront Qin Yining, to see what her reaction would be, and also take the opportunity to see her.

Because their positions had gradually diverged, imagining climbing through windows to see her as before was no longer possible.

Lu Heng’s contemplative expression and probing gaze made Lu Xiong tremble like chaff with fear.

He truly regretted volunteering for this mission. If he had let Shi Fang come instead, he could have peacefully waited for news instead of putting himself in such a predicament. Everyone knew that the head of the Lu family was a ruthless character, but they hadn’t known that meeting him face to face would bring such overwhelming pressure. It was as if in his eyes, he wasn’t even a living, breathing person!

“My lord, if you don’t believe me, I can, I can take your people to investigate. Once you go and look, you’ll know this humble one hasn’t deceived you!”

“Is that so?” Lu Heng stood and slowly paced around the room, saying mockingly, “Your master certainly knows how to choose people, selecting someone like you who can both sing and act so well. You’re also quite bold, not afraid at all of angering me to the point of taking your life.”

Beads of sweat the size of beans dripped from Lu Xiong’s forehead as he repeatedly kowtowed, saying anxiously, “No, no, everything I said is true! My lord, with your background and talents, only you are worthy of possessing that Great Yan treasure. Whether you believe me or not, everything this humble one said is the truth!”

“Fine, then let me ask you – does your Alliance Leader know about this treasure’s location?”

Lu Heng suddenly approached, bending down to look at him with eyes sharp as knives, as if he wanted to slice off his flesh and see if his organs were fresh.

Lu Xiong dared not raise his head, pressing his forehead tightly against the ground. “Reporting to my lord, the Alliance Leader doesn’t know.”

“Oh? Doesn’t know?”

“Yes, the Alliance Leader truly doesn’t know!”

“You have information about treasure but don’t tell your Alliance Leader – do you think I would believe such words?”

Seeing that Lu Heng truly refused to believe him, Lu Xiong was terrified and couldn’t help but reveal everything: “My lord, our Alliance Leader actually found this treasure in the south initially. It’s just that during transportation, we secretly withheld it. At that time there was an earthquake in the south, and we racked our brains before thinking to hide the treasure in the stones for building the imperial mausoleum, thus transporting it out without anyone knowing.”

“Oh?” Lu Heng remembered being deceived by Qin Yining with a fake treasure map, running to the south only to be carelessly captured. He couldn’t help but laugh.

But his smile appeared even more terrifying in Lu Xiong’s eyes.

“It’s true! Everything this humble one said is the truth! The Alliance Leader only knows to work for the court. Her ideals completely contradict the Azure Sky Alliance’s original purpose, yet many alliance members only know to blindly worship the Alliance Leader. We couldn’t stand the Alliance Leader’s methods, which is why we secretly transported away the treasure behind her back. The Alliance Leader knows nothing about the treasure’s whereabouts!”

“Then why did you think to tell me about this?” Lu Heng asked with a smile.

Lu Xiong hurriedly said, “Because the Alliance Leader wants to kill us! Prince Zhongshun’s city-wide manhunt recently has already killed many of our brothers! Now I’m the only one left. If I don’t find someone to take refuge with, I’m afraid my life won’t be preserved either! Prince Zhongshun is a ruthless character who kills without blinking an eye. When his temper flares, he won’t even listen to explanations. In their eyes, I’m also a traitor who betrayed the Alliance Leader. Even if I told the Alliance Leader about the treasure, after they used me, they would still kill me.

“I don’t want to die, so I thought to come to your lordship’s place to take a gamble. Your lordship comes from a distinguished family, is resourceful and wise, and has always had a reputation for benevolence. I came to inform you of the treasure’s location, only asking for your lordship’s protection. Moreover, if there’s anyone in this world who can preserve my life from Prince Zhongshun’s blade, only your lordship has this ability.”

Lu Xiong spoke while repeatedly kowtowing. “I beg your lordship to send people to verify – this humble one absolutely hasn’t spoken a single false word!”

Lu Heng smiled and sat back in his original seat, leisurely taking a sip of tea.

“Then tell me, where roughly is this treasure located? I’ll have people investigate and verify.”

“It’s, it’s in the stone quarry, in the northwest direction near the middle area. Based on the days when we originally transported the treasure, it should be there! It’s just that this humble one is alone, and that stone quarry has people guarding it. This humble one alone cannot get close, let alone think of keeping the treasure for myself. If Prince Zhongshun caught this humble one, I would lose my life.”

Lu Xiong explained incoherently. He didn’t mention Shi Fang and the Sitong Trading Company, not entirely out of loyalty, but because the more people behind him he revealed at this time, the more Lu Heng would investigate, and the greater his danger would become. Even his contact with Boss Qiu of the Sitong Trading Company wasn’t based on complete mutual trust – he also feared that the man surnamed Qiu would stab him in the back.

Lu Heng listened to Lu Xiong’s words and slowly nodded. “I understand. Someone come.”

Lu Wenru quickly approached and bowed his head. “My lord.”

“Take him down to rest.”

Lu Wenru looked up at Lu Heng’s expression and immediately understood his meaning, bowing his head. “Yes.”

By this time, Lu Xiong’s legs had gone weak from fear. Seeing Lu Wenru about to take him out, he exerted great effort to crawl up from the ground, hunching his body and walking unsteadily behind Lu Wenru as they left. He was placed anxiously in a side room in the outer courtyard.

Lu Wenru knew that Lu Heng didn’t intend to mistreat Lu Xiong in terms of food, clothing, and necessities. This person was still useful for now, so he arranged for personal attendants to serve him – actually to monitor him.

Seeing that they didn’t intend to kill him, Lu Xiong quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

When Lu Wenru returned to the front hall, Lu Heng still maintained the same sitting posture as before, unmoved.

“My lord.”

“Is the person settled?”

“Yes, I’ve arranged for people to closely monitor his every move.”

“Mm. Wenru, how credible do you think this person’s words are?”

Lu Wenru lowered his eyes, really not wanting to answer this question, afraid that his words would influence Lu Heng’s judgment. If he was wrong by even the slightest bit in the future, his life would be forfeit.

But since Lu Heng had asked, he couldn’t not answer. “Reporting to my lord, this person is not particularly bold.”

Lu Heng smiled. “You’re becoming more and more slippery.”

Lu Heng seemed to quite like Lu Wenru’s manner of not speaking directly even when he had something to say, being cautious and careful in everything, and speaking ambiguously about everything. He said with amusement, “Forget it, I won’t make it difficult for you. This matter still needs verification – you arrange for people to handle it.”

“Yes.” Seeing that Lu Heng wasn’t angry with him, Lu Wenru quietly breathed a sigh of relief, then said, “My lord, there’s another matter.”

“What?”

“Madam went out early this morning and hasn’t returned yet. Should we send people to look for her?”

Lu Heng’s brow involuntarily furrowed. Bian Ruohan was far too annoying to him.

“No need to look. She has quite a few people following her, and she’s not a child.”

“Yes.” Lu Wenru nodded.

Just as he was about to withdraw, footsteps sounded from outside. “My lord, my lord!”

Someone quickly entered. “My lord, something has happened to Madam!”

Lu Heng’s eyes slightly narrowed, concealing the flash of light in his pupils.

“What happened?”

“The maids and old women who were following Madam just ran back in great distress, saying that Madam has disappeared!”

Upon hearing this, Lu Heng showed no panic whatsoever. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Have them come in to report.”

Soon, Lu Wenru brought in all the maids and old women who had been following Bian Ruohan.

These people looked as if they had just rolled in mud, every one of them in a sorry state.

Seeing Lu Heng, they all kowtowed together and spoke in a jumbled chorus: “My lord, we servants were following Madam out for a stroll, when halfway through we passed a narrow alley. We happened to encounter a woman dressed as a man with guards changing carriages in the alley. When Madam saw this, she immediately urged the coachman to pursue them. We servants followed behind running, but were quickly left behind. When we chased in the direction of Madam’s carriage, we only saw an empty carriage – Madam and the coachman had already disappeared! We servants searched the area for a long time but saw no one, so we had no choice but to return and report to my lord!”

Lu Heng raised an eyebrow as he listened. “A woman dressed as a man?”

“…Yes.” Perhaps not expecting Lu Heng’s focus to be on this point, the several maids and old women all answered with some hesitation.

Lu Heng said, “What did this person look like?”

“She was very striking in appearance. Though she was dressed as a man somewhat inappropriately, we’d never seen such a beautiful woman. Judging by her status, she must also be wealthy or noble, with quite a few people around her.”

Lu Heng blinked. Someone this striking who appeared in Huichuan County – the first person he thought of was Qin Yining. Besides Qin Yining, no one else could match the description of “never seen such a beautiful woman.”