The street outside Nanman Residence was one of the busiest parts of Prefecture City.
Merchants gathered here, and rare goods and treasures abounded. Whether they were influential officials and nobles from the city or wealthy gentlemen from nearby, they all liked to stroll around here.
But now, the entire street lay deserted. Soldiers in the Prince's guards' uniforms rushed over and sealed off the whole area.
Many shopkeepers and passersby fled in haste.
The assassination of Prince Su had already caused an uproar throughout Nanzhou Prefecture.
The city gates had been sealed for five days.
Everyone was suffering, especially the merchants coming and going. Many of their goods had been stuck here, unable to leave.
In private, they were also curious about what sort of person would dare assassinate a prince.
At that moment, the Prince's forces had Nanman Residence tightly surrounded.
The killer was probably hiding there.
More and more guards from the Prince's residence and constables from the local office arrived.
Just then, in a room at the teahouse opposite Nanman Residence, Xiao Jingyuan sat with a cup of tea in his hand.
Beside him stood Lu Wanyu, an adviser to the Prince's residence.
Lu Wanyu held a folding fan and looked every inch the elegant gentleman.
He was fanning Xiao Jingyuan, who sat in a chair. "Your Highness, we've located the killer, Jiang Yun. We can take him down at any time."
Xiao Jingyuan took a sip of tea, his gaze cold and stern. "This man killed my father. There's no need to take him alive. Kill him as soon as possible, so my father can rest in peace and be laid to rest."
"Yes, yes." Lu Wanyu smiled broadly.
Xiao Jingyuan turned to look at him. "If you agree, why aren't you acting?"
Lu Wanyu's heart gave a sudden lurch. "Your Highness, Jiang Yun won't be hard to deal with. He's no match for me."
"But Xu Suwen is still in that room. If she's hurt, Your Highness may have trouble explaining yourself."
At this, Xiao Jingyuan's brows drew tightly together. He snorted. "She's an Imperial Guard who's sheltering the killer who murdered my father. Even if this matter reaches the capital, we'll be in the right."
Lu Wanyu's eyelids twitched. He couldn't help thinking that the Prince Su household had been far from the capital for centuries and relied on little more than its imperial kinship and the lingering glory of its ancestors.
When it came to connections in the capital, it couldn't compare with Miss Xu's family.
Of course, he couldn't say that aloud. He forced a smile and said respectfully, "Your Highness, it's not that simple. Miss Xu was only misled by Jiang Yun. She doesn't know the truth. Perhaps Jiang Yun is even holding her hostage, right?"
Lu Wanyu had clearly earned his place as an adviser to the Prince's residence.
With a single sentence, he'd distanced Xu Suwen from the whole affair.
Hearing this, Xiao Jingyuan's furrowed brows relaxed slightly. He nodded. "That's a fair point. I'll have to trouble you all to take Jiang Yun down."
"As for Miss Xu, I'll speak with her in person. I'm sure she'll show me some consideration."
Xiao Jingyuan was confident. He straightened his clothes. The imperial decree had yet to arrive, but it was obvious that he would be the next Prince Su.
The Great Zhou dynasty had been founded three hundred and seventy years ago.
In all that time, there had only been eight princes.
And he would undoubtedly become the youngest prince yet.
Xiao Jingyuan walked to the room where Jiang Yun was staying, on the floor above Nanman Residence.
He called out loudly, "I am Xiao Jingyuan, Heir Apparent of the Prince Su household."
"Miss Xu, Jiang Yun is the culprit who murdered the prince. This has nothing to do with you. I ask you to judge right from wrong and come down at once."
"Otherwise, blades have no eyes. I wouldn't want you to get hurt."
Xu Suwen came to the window and looked down at Xiao Jingyuan. In a cold voice, she said, "You and I both know whether Jiang Yun killed him."
"There's no need to waste your breath on me. If you're going to attack, then get on with it."
Xiao Jingyuan glanced around, making sure many people had heard him, then turned and left.
He hadn't expected those words to actually persuade Xu Suwen to come down.
They were more like a disclaimer.
In front of everyone, he'd tried to talk her down, and everyone had seen it.
If Xu Suwen got hurt, then when the Xu family came looking for him, he'd have an excuse ready.
After Xiao Jingyuan turned and left, a hearty laugh rang out.
"Ha ha ha ha..."
Holding his folding fan, Lu Wanyu leaped from the teahouse's second floor and landed on the street.
He fanned himself and said slowly, "Miss Xu, since you've been deceived by a villain, we can only help you get free!"
At the same time, two more figures emerged one after the other.
They landed beside Lu Wanyu.
Jiang Yun looked down from the window.
One was a monk in a yellow Kasaya, apparently in his fifties. He was fat-headed and big-eared; he clearly hadn't gone without meat.
The other was a Daoist in blue robes, apparently in his early thirties. He carried a long steel sword on his back and wore his hair in a topknot.
"Why is there a Daoist too?" Jiang Yun turned around in surprise and asked. "Didn't you say Daoists can't leave the capital whenever they want?"
Xu Suwen rolled her eyes at Jiang Yun. "Daoists can't leave the capital without permission from the court."
"That doesn't mean they can't leave at all."
Then Xu Suwen watched the monk and Daoist for a moment before speaking.
"That Daoist is Daoist Yunbao of Qingfeng Temple. His strength should be at the Daoist Sect's seventh-grade Grain Abstinence Realm."
"Unfortunately, his Daoist heart isn't steadfast. He was caught having an affair with Abbess Chen Yun from a nunnery in the capital. He had no face left to show there, so he left the capital and went to the Prince Su household."
"The monk's surname is Chen, and his given name is Hu. He used to be a butcher. Later, he came across a Buddha statue while traveling, and suddenly it radiated holy light."
"Unfortunately, he doesn't follow Buddhist School precepts. He indulges in wine, sex, wealth, and anger—every vice there is. His cultivation stalled at the Buddhist School's seventh-grade Worldly Dust Realm, and he can advance no further."
Jiang Yun listened in surprise, then looked at Xu Suwen. "You know all this in such detail?"
"What do you think I do?" Xu Suwen rolled her eyes at Jiang Yun. "There's very little the Imperial Guards don't know, and that includes everything about you."
Jiang Yun looked down at the three seventh-grade experts. "Miss Xu, is this really all the Prince's household has? Just these three seventh-grade experts?"
It was a prince's household, after all.
Xu Suwen smiled faintly. "It's precisely because it's a prince's household that it can't have too many experts."
"Why?" Jiang Yun asked, taken aback.
Xu Suwen said, "Three seventh-grade experts are more than enough to keep the family safe and suppress disasters. Ordinary Evil Haunts wouldn't dare come near, and that's all they need."
"If they invited a sixth-grade expert, a fifth-grade one, or even a fourth-grade powerhouse, what would that imply?"
"His Majesty especially dislikes princes who've been granted fiefs outside the capital raising too many experts."
Hearing this, Jiang Yun understood at once.
Monk Chen Hu patted his belly lightly and laughed. "Daoist Yunbao, Brother Lu, taking Jiang Yun down will earn the first credit. I won't hold back!"
With that, Monk Chen Hu started forward.
Beside him, Daoist Yunbao raised a hand to stop him. "Hold on, Monk Chen. That's not how you do things. This fellow knows a few little Daoist tricks."
"Since he's one of the Daoist Sect, naturally I should be the one to deal with him."
I'm picking up my kid from school right now. I'll write once I get home.
Before you continue