"That's right. The murder took place on the Gongfen Army Commander's turf. Who would believe Yelü Qi knew nothing about it?" The crowd chimed in agreement.
Bing Xue'er could not help asking softly, "Was it really Yelü Qi who did it?"
"Probably not." Xia Qingqing frowned. She knew Yelü Qi and knew him to be a modest gentleman. She truly could not believe he was the sort of wildly ambitious man who would stop at nothing.
Song Qingshu nodded as well. "It probably wasn't him." He recalled the conversation he had overheard between Yelü Yixin and Xiao Xiamo. Back then, Yelü Yixin seemed to have been plotting to make Xiao Xiamo disgrace himself in order to bring down Yelü Qi. He had not expected Yelü Yixin to seize upon his son's death so quickly and use it to make a fuss. Ruthless indeed—no wonder he was remembered as a traitor of the Liao Country for all eternity.
"By the way, who is this Imperial Father-in-law Xiao Banhe?" someone asked curiously.
"You don't even know the Imperial Father-in-law?" Quite a few people around him filled him in. "Xiao Banhe used to be the renowned Jin Yang the Great Hero of the martial world. Later, people said he came from the Xiao family of the Imperial Uncle's Fifth Branch. When the Emperor was choosing an Empress, his daughter was famed far and wide for her beauty and entered the palace to compete as well. Although she was not chosen as Empress in the end, she was granted an Imperial Edict of Appointment as Consort Wen and greatly favored by the Emperor. Thanks to his daughter's status, he too was named Imperial Father-in-law."
"Imperial Uncle's Fifth Branch?" Song Qingshu was secretly startled. The power of the Liao Country was jointly held by the