Wang Wu in the rear had already rescued Zhang Yin Yue, and had detained quite a number of the bandits as well.

Yet those bandits all appeared to be death warriors. Before ropes could even be produced, they bit down on the poison sacs in their mouths and killed themselves.

“How ruthless.” Chen Baoxiang pried open the mouths of two of the bandits and took a look. “What sort of person would do this?”

“Who else could it be.” Yin Yue was furious. “It’s none other than that old scoundrel Cheng Huaili — who else would specifically choose the very spot where Lu Shouhuai was killed to come after us.”

Chen Baoxiang started and looked around — and indeed, this place was ten li from the city gate, precisely the location where Lu Shouhuai had been drowned.

“So he’s thrown all pretense aside?” Ningsu narrowed her eyes.

Zhang Zhixu shook his head: “It’s precisely because he can’t throw all pretense aside that he’s resorting to underhanded means.”

No matter what happened between the Zhang and Cheng families, the Emperor would only smooth things over. Cheng Huaili had seen through this — and so he had simply chosen to strike in secret.

“We must go back and tell Magistrate Xie at once.” Yin Yue said. “This is murder in broad daylight — some investigation must be conducted, no matter what.”

With all the assassins dead without a trace, it would likely be impossible to trace anything back to Cheng Huaili. But Yin Yue had been badly shaken — even if only to put her mind at ease, Zhang Zhixu sent Jiuquan to report the case.

Chen Baoxiang escorted them back into the city, still intending to continue on to the constabulary to collect her appointment order.

Zhang Zhixu frowned at her half-dried clothing: “You should go back and clean up first. I’ll have someone send word to the main constabulary — they can deliver the appointment order to your home later.”

“I’m fine.” Chen Baoxiang waved it off without concern. “My constitution is strong. I don’t fall ill that easily.”

Zhang Zhixu clicked his tongue.

She raised her hands in surrender: “All right, I’ll go back and get cleaned up before coming to find you all.”

Shangjing had already been in a state of unease over Lu Shouhuai’s death, and now — with someone daring to attack Zhang Family members in broad daylight — the city was thrown into even greater turmoil.

The moment Xie Lanting received the news, he went directly to the mortuary to examine the bodies of the assassins. After questioning Zhao Huaizhu and the others, he turned back to find Zhang Zhixu.

“All the clues are severed, I take it.” Zhang Zhixu was entirely unsurprised.

Xie Lanting let out a long sigh. “He is too ruthless. Had I known that Lu Shouhuai’s death would send him into such a frenzy, I would have forewarned you to be on your guard.”

“Who could have foreseen this.” Zhang Zhixu shook his head. “And even if it had been foreseen — once pushed onto that road, there would have been little that could be done.”

“It was the back road outside the western city gate?”

“Yes. Ordinarily, hardly anyone uses it. The only reason I even knew there was a river there to hide in was because I’d passed that way once before when I went with you to view Lu Shouhuai’s body.”

And at that, Zhang Zhixu suddenly froze.

Right — the reason he knew there was a river nearby where one could hide was because he had been there before. But how had Chen Baoxiang navigated the area as though she were perfectly familiar with it?

Xie Lanting had just raised the very point himself: “I’m told it was Official Chen who arrived in time and rescued you all?”

“Yes.” Ningsu still felt a lingering chill at the thought. “It is thanks to Official Chen.”

“Jiuquan said the pursuing force was extremely large?”

“Yes. Official Chen didn’t have nearly as many people. If she hadn’t chosen the right direction so precisely, it may well have been impossible to rescue the master safely.”

Xie Lanting lifted his teacup and narrowed his eyes slightly.

Zhang Zhixu frowned at him: “What are you suspicious of now?”

“Not suspicious — I simply find it strange.” Xie Lanting tilted his head. “Those military constables said Chen Baoxiang went straight right, and found you with remarkable accuracy. But what made her so certain of your direction?”

“Perhaps it was a meeting of minds.”

“Enough of that.” Xie Lanting rapped the table. “We don’t deal in such things when investigating cases — only evidence.”

“Then bring me the evidence.” Zhang Zhixu said coolly. “Prove that today’s matter had anything to do with her.”

“I didn’t say today’s matter was connected to her — I only find it strange. When I questioned her during the Lu Shouhuai case, she said she wasn’t familiar with the roads near the riverbank at all. Yet now she found you with such precision.”

Xie Lanting turned the matter over and over in his mind. “— Doesn’t that suggest she was lying to me earlier?”

“No.” Zhang Zhixu thought it over. “It had rained lightly beforehand, and the footprints on the road were very clear. She didn’t need to know the roads — she could have tracked her way here just by following the footprints.”

“Then how do you explain the fork in the road?” Xie Lanting spread open a map and pointed to the branching point. “They say Chen Baoxiang didn’t even hesitate — she went straight right.”

“Simple enough.” Zhang Zhixu said. “Of those two branching roads, the left has a field of rapeseed flowers, the right has a bamboo grove. If you were coming to rescue me, which way would you go?”

“The right.” Xie Lanting nodded. “You are allergic to rapeseed flowers.”

“Yes. And furthermore, the right has a river, and I can swim — going that way, the odds of surviving were far greater.” He snapped his folding fan shut.

Going through it all in sequence, everything became perfectly reasonable.

Xie Lanting nodded with understanding, and his expression relaxed as he began to drink his tea.

But after setting the teacup down, he noticed that the expression of the man sitting across from him had grown increasingly grave.

“What is it?” Xie Lanting found it amusing. “I’ve worked it all out, and yet you’re more puzzled than ever?”

“It’s not that.” Zhang Zhixu lowered his eyes, his lashes trembling faintly. “If I were Zhang Zhixu, all of this would be perfectly easy to understand.”

But right now — in Chen Baoxiang’s eyes, he was supposed to be Daxian.

A Daxian who had cultivated habits entirely contrary to Zhang Zhixu’s — who loved rapeseed flowers, disliked bamboo, couldn’t swim.