TGCFNM -Chapter 178 Not Your Mother

Late at night.

A cool breeze stirred, and the shadows of the trees danced.

Chu Ling, Su He, and Wan Sanjin stepped lightly across the rooftops, gliding over the streets that had been bustling in the daytime, and arrived at the back gate of the Zhao residence.

Zhao Linlang had been waiting for quite some time. When she saw them descend lightly, she was startled: “Master… you can fight?”

Chu Ling nodded slightly. “For escaping.”

Zhao Linlang blinked in surprise but obeyed, leading the three through the long corridor to the temporary mortuary. Inside, it was silent—there wasn’t a single person.

The faint candlelight flickered, the spirit banners swayed slightly, and the joss paper on the altar was only half-burned, giving the room an eerie atmosphere.

“I had everyone sent away. No one is here,” Zhao Linlang said.

Chu Ling nodded. “Su He, examine the body.”

Su He looked at Wan Sanjin. “Sanjin, pry open the coffin.”

Chu Ling asked Zhao Linlang to leave the mortuary, and the two of them stepped outside together.

“Miss Zhao, you look like you have something to say?” Chu Ling asked gently.

Zhao Linlang twisted her hands nervously. “Actually, I only recently returned from the capital. The Shangguan family… they want me to… to participate in the selection…”

Chu Ling frowned immediately. “The emperor is already quite old…”

Zhao Linlang spoke fearfully, “Master… walls have ears.”

Chu Ling cleared his throat lightly. “Go on.”

Zhao Linlang let out a soft sigh. “It’s the competition for the heir’s consort, also to support my family… But recently, something seems to have changed, so they sent me back. After I returned, my mother was unhappy and wanted me to go back to the capital, while my father wanted to find me another marriage match.”

“The Nangong family,” Chu Ling said with certainty.

Zhao Linlang’s face flushed, embarrassed. “Father… father did indeed intend for the Nangong family.”

Chu Ling thought: if it’s the heir consort competition, the outcome is either becoming empress or losing one’s life.

But the Nangong family is different—they are directly under the emperor’s jurisdiction, a neutral and safe family. Marrying into the Nangong family is the safest option.

Chu Ling asked, “Your mother probably wouldn’t agree to this, right?”

After the flush faded from Zhao Linlang’s face, a wave of worry rose in her chest. “Father and mother have quarreled over this many times… even… even… mother said she wanted to kill father…”

Chu Ling asked in a firm voice, “You suspect your mother killed your father?”

Zhao Linlang thought for a long moment, then nodded heavily. “Father is usually very cautious, and everyone around him is familiar. If someone approached him without him suspecting, and poisoned him… it could only be my mother.”

Chu Ling murmured thoughtfully, “I remember your mother shouting something about dividing the estate…”

Zhao Linlang bit her lip awkwardly, but answered truthfully: “Mother only has me. So at first, father brought in a concubine when I was ten. Later he gradually elevated her, then took two more concubines, who bore a son and a daughter, both illegitimate, not under my mother’s name.”

Chu Ling nodded. “So your mother’s relationship with your father is cold, with no chance of reconciliation?”

“Yes,” Zhao Linlang said.

Chu Ling smiled. “Then it wasn’t your mother.”

Zhao Linlang asked, “Why?”

Chu Ling clasped her hands behind her back, speaking casually: “I’ve only met your mother once, but it was enough to see that she is a person who strictly follows rules. Her hair is impeccable, her collar is fastened all the way to her neck, and even when she scolds, her voice never rises too much… Someone like that doesn’t act recklessly, so it’s unlikely she would commit murder.”

“Besides, you said it yourself: your father and mother had a cold relationship. Your mother is from the Shangguan family, and your father even dared to take a concubine. That means your father was always cautious toward your mother. Even if he trusted anyone else completely, he could never fully trust her. So it couldn’t have been her.”

Zhao Linlang covered her lips lightly, a hint of frustration showing. “I see… I thought the reason my mother wouldn’t let me examine the body was… I misjudged her.”

Chu Ling nodded heavily. Not wrongly judged at all.

At that moment, Su He finished the autopsy inside, and the coffin was closed again.

After packing up his tools, Su He strode out and briefly reported to Chu Ling, “The organs had atrophied, the chest was congested, and he died of heart failure. It should be related to the medicine prescribed by My Lord.”

“What about the poison?” Chu Ling asked.

Su He explained, “The poison was likely arsenic, but the quantity was small—just enough to affect the surface. This small amount of arsenic likely acted as a catalyst, accelerating Prefect Zhao’s death.”

Chu Ling looked at Zhao Linlang directly. “Before he passed, who spent the most time with your father?”

“Concubine Zhen… she was my father An’s secondary wife. She gave birth to a son soon after entering the household,” Zhao Linlang said, frowning, hesitating. “She had her son with her. Although he’s not yet recorded in the family registry, she should have no motive.”

Chu Ling tilted her head. “I suggest you speak openly with your mother. Perhaps she knows the reason.”

Biting her lip, Zhao Linlang nodded.

With Zhao Prefect’s matter resolved, Chu Ling left through the back gate of the Zhao residence and returned to their rented quarters.

Xiao Hua had already boiled mugwort water for everyone to wash up.

Chu Ling went to her room, seated herself, and looked at Bai Su. “Why would the Bai Zhuoxing want to kill Prefect Zhao?”

Bai Su also sat down. “What do you think?”

Chu Ling pondered for a moment and then spoke softly: “I initially thought the person who killed Prefect Zhao might have had some other purpose. But after the autopsy, the reason seems simpler than I imagined. The first killer… was Bai Zhuoxing.”

“Bai Zhuoxing came to Dongle City and first killed Nangong Jue. That could be said to be about the armory. But why kill Prefect Zhao? He can’t take over the administration of Dongle City… No, he obviously can’t, but the people behind him can.”

The Ghost Scholar’s face showed satisfaction. He looked at Chu Ling and said, “Someone wants to take control of Dongle City. It’s a very powerful stronghold.”

Chu Ling understood. “Just like Prince Rui trying to seize Changzhou, installing their own people.”

“Yes. So by seeing who they’re placing, you can figure out who is behind Bai Zhuoxing,” the Ghost Scholar said.

“Bai Zhuoxing is involved in too many things: the Su He family massacre, the deaths of Lord Song Shisheng and others, the dozen corpses in the dry well, and the former crown prince’s treason case… Knowing who is behind him will reveal who is orchestrating all of this.”

Chu Ling murmured, then shook her head slightly, looking at Bai Su. “Someone as arrogant and untamable as Bai Zhuoxing… why would he obey anyone?”

Bai Su said, “It’s probably a fair exchange. The person behind him offered something tempting enough.”

Chu Ling hesitated. “Something that could tempt Bai Zhuoxing… what could it be? He’s an extraordinary physician, probably even took his own son to cultivate the blood gu. What else would he want?”

The Ghost Scholar thought for a moment before speaking solemnly, “The Imperial Preceptor.”

Chu Ling suddenly looked up at him. “If he becomes the Imperial Preceptor, then everything he insists on would become orthodox… would be considered right… He’s a madman! He’s a lunatic!”

If he becomes the Imperial Preceptor, the first group to be experimented on would certainly be ordinary civilians!

He will command the wind and rain!

And the entire Great Zhou would be soaked in blood, turning into a true purgatory!