TGCFNM -Chapter 206 As Expected

As soon as Chu Ling returned to the rear office, before she even had a chance to remove her official hat, Su He hurried over, his face grim:

“Ma Zhao’s remains are gone.”

Chu Ling sighed. “As expected.” The Xuanyuan family couldn’t possibly be unaware of their actions. Stealing the remains was nothing more than a way to obstruct the investigation.

“However, luckily we already have the autopsy report. Even if the remains are missing, it shouldn’t be a major problem,” Chu Ling said.

Su He frowned, his deadpan expression filled with displeasure. “I was worried that the remains, once taken out, would attract wild dogs. So after putting them back, I sprinkled some powder on both the bones and the coffin.”

Chu Ling froze for a moment. “Huh?”

What did that mean? Did he add another layer of poison?

“The wild dogs should scatter when they smell the powder, but humans can’t detect it. If they touch it… well, their hands will rot,” Su He explained, frowning.

Chu Ling was shocked. “Rot their hands? That’s that poisonous?”

“It’s itching powder. It won’t kill anyone, but as soon as you touch it, you’ll itch non-stop. Keep scratching and you’ll eventually ruin your hands,” Su He shrugged.

Chu Ling swallowed hard and widened her eyes. “So… they’d have to come themselves to get the antidote?”

Su He looked puzzled. “Would they come?”

Chu Ling thought for a moment. “Not necessarily. Unless it involves someone important in the Xuanyuan family, forcing them to come for the antidote.”

So, they could just wait and see, for that one unlikely chance.

“By the way, sir, I opened the bamboo tube,” Su He said in a low voice.

Chu Ling’s eyes widened. “Opened it? What’s inside?”

Su He handed over an item with a serious expression. “Sir, you’d better see it yourself.”

Chu Ling took the paper that Su He had handled and slowly unfolded it, examining it carefully.

“Total tax silver: three million five hundred thousand taels, delivered to the Yuanzhou garrison, with ample provisions and sufficient weapons… The Crown Prince rebels, like an arrow loosed from a bow, seizing the kingdom is imminent…”

Chu Ling slowly raised her head toward Ghost Scholar, disbelief in her voice. “The former Crown Prince really intends to rebel?”

Su He exhaled, a little anxious. “Sir, this secret letter confirms the Crown Prince’s rebellion.”

Ghost Scholar looked at the paper and pointed with his fan. “The most important thing about this letter isn’t its content, but the handwritten date: Spring of the 23rd year, third month, day seven.”

“The former Crown Prince was found hanged in the palace on the ninth day of the third month, but he actually died on the sixth. The exact time of the Crown Prince’s death was known to only a few people in the palace.”

Suddenly, Ma Zhao stepped forward and grabbed Chu Ling’s hand, clutching her wrist tightly. He opened his mouth silently, shaking his head frantically, his expression twisted with agony.

Chu Ling spoke slowly. “This secret letter doesn’t say that the Crown Prince wanted to rebel. Someone used him to send false messages, but the discrepancy in the date or content revealed the irregularity.”

Ma Zhao gestured urgently, his expression growing more and more intense.

Chu Ling guessed at Ma Zhao’s meaning as she spoke. “It seems Ma Zhao realized something was wrong, so he disguised himself as a city guard to try to clear the Crown Prince’s name. But he feared that if he died, no one would be left to do so, so he told the letter’s contents to his wife.”

“His wife had endured enough hardships with him, so she conspired with the Xuanyuan family to interrogate him about the letter’s whereabouts. Even under severe torture, Ma Zhao didn’t reveal a word, so they simply sentenced him to death in the coffin, unable to find peace in the afterlife.”

Ma Zhao suddenly stopped his gestures, his whole body radiating an intense sorrow, painfully clutching his head.

Su He looked at Chu Ling’s suddenly reddened wrist. “My lord, your hand?”

Chu Ling shook back her sleeve, covering her wrist. “I hit the case table during the investigation. It’s only now that it’s showing.”

The Ghost Scholar looked at Ma Zhao with a touch of sadness and softly said, “It’s not just the former crown prince who died unjustly. The garrison in Yuanzhou… that’s a full hundred thousand soldiers, all executed under accusations of rebellion. And all their families became criminals, condemned for life to the lowest social status, with no hope of exoneration.”

Chu Ling looked down at the paper in her hand again. There was a seal on it—surely the crown prince’s seal.

Whoever could take the crown prince’s seal must have been a trusted aide. Everything—everything—was nothing more than a trap, a death trap.

“Why was the Xuanyuan family involved? As a noble family, could they have been drawn into this trap as well?” Chu Ling murmured, then suddenly thought of the general who had committed suicide.

And what about General Chu? Back then, had he also been involved?

“My lord!” The Ghost Scholar suddenly called out.

Chu Ling was startled, snapping back to attention.

Ma Zhao had suddenly knelt to the ground, deeply kowtowing to Chu Ling, hands pressed together, eyes pleading.

Chu Ling felt as if she’d been struck by something and instinctively opened her mouth. “Ma Zhao left this message hoping that we could exonerate the former crown prince, to bring justice for those wronged spirits who died.”

“My lord,” the Ghost Scholar sighed helplessly, shaking his head. “We have no power to right these wrongs, unless Prince Rui is willing to help. But anything involving the old court affairs… no one can come out unscathed. It could even cost one’s life.”

Chu Ling closed her mouth, unsure what to do.

Su He spoke calmly, “Then let’s just exonerate him.”

Chu Ling turned to Su He, slightly surprised. “You want to continue the investigation?”

“My lord, whether it’s Lord Song, or the scroll we found, or this secret message before us, all point to the former crown prince’s innocence. If he’s so innocent, surely someone will exonerate him eventually. When that happens, we step forward with the evidence to help—that’s all we need to do,” Su He said.

Chu Ling clapped her hands. “Exactly!”

The Ghost Scholar pinched the bridge of his nose. Even though he hated to shatter their illusions, he couldn’t help but speak. “Who would dare exonerate the former crown prince? Not afraid of losing their head?”

Moreover, the crown prince’s own brothers are all scheming for the throne. Who cares about the former crown prince?

Chu Ling added, “We can remain anonymous. We organize the clues into evidence, then pay someone well-known to circulate it. Even if the emperor refuses to acknowledge it, the truth remains the truth.”

Su He replied earnestly, “My lord, I think it’s feasible.”

Chu Ling also felt it was feasible.

The Ghost Scholar seemed to understand. Chu Ling and the friends he had chosen lacked reverence for the royal family and the noble houses. That’s why their actions were so unexpected and unconventional.

But perhaps that was a good thing.

Maybe one day, the former crown prince’s case could truly be exonerated. And those innocent people who suffered for it could finally shed their low status and live as normal citizens again.

After bowing deeply to Chu Ling once more, Ma Zhao’s figure gradually dissipated.

Chu Ling carefully rolled up the paper and handed it to Su He in a low voice. “Keep these together, add some poison just in case. One day, we might need them.”

Su He nodded and put it away.

“Since Ma Zhao’s remains can’t be retrieved, let’s consider this a grand gift to the Xuanyuan family. I wonder how long they’ll be able to endure it,” Chu Ling said, clenching her fists.