"Yes, this servant will report at once..."
Ma Shunde kowtowed, then gave the Emperor a simple yet thorough account of how he and Huo Wuyong had searched the city and Prince Dai's Residence.
A long account was condensed and delivered within moments. Once he had finished, Ma Shunde knelt on the ground and waited.
"Mm..." After hearing him out, the Emperor fell silent and said nothing for a time. The entire room was left with only the sound of breathing; one could have heard a needle drop.
After a while, the Emperor finally frowned and asked, "What do you think?"
Yet it did not sound as though he were asking him. Ma Shunde's heart sank. Was he asking Eunuch Zhao?
The next moment, a voice sounded beside him. "Your Majesty, what this subject has seen and heard differs not at all from what Eunuch Ma has said."
"There is no trace of the great thief within the city or Prince Dai's Residence."
Even before the Emperor, and with outsiders present, Huo Wuyong did not directly mention the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart. The Emperor sought immortality by using human hearts as medicine—this was a tremendous scandal, and best left unspoken if possible.
Huo Wuyong?
Ma Shunde restrained himself from looking over, inwardly alarmed. When had Huo Wuyong returned?
Right—when Prince Qi had been attacked, everyone had been thrown into chaos. At first, Huo Wuyong could still be seen, but afterward he had vanished. Things had been such a mess then, and his own mind had been in turmoil, so he had not thought further of it. Now that he considered it, Huo Wuyong had likely returned to the palace then and reported to the Emperor first.
Had he dared to answer with falsehoods, he would have committed the crime of deceiving the