Li Mingju's face turned deathly pale with fright, and his whole body shook like a sieve. Only after a long while did he manage to regain some composure. "Why would anyone want to kill me...?" he asked in a trembling voice. Still badly shaken, he stared at Hu Xiaotian. Of course, he understood that Hu Xiaotian was not the one who wanted him dead. Someone else was behind it.
Hu Xiaotian's expression grew exceptionally grave. Saving Li Mingju from that arrow had been sheer luck. The assassin sent to kill him had to be an expert from the Falling Cherry Palace, perhaps even Tang Jingyu himself. He patted Li Mingju's shoulder. "Don't worry. As long as I'm here, nothing will happen to you." His gaze shifted toward the upper floor of the Sea-Rhyme Restaurant, and he asked quietly, "Who invited you to dinner tonight?"
"Gu Jiayuan..." Li Mingju said.
"Take me to him!"
Li Mingju led Hu Xiaotian to the room they had arranged to meet in. Hu Xiaotian pushed the door open and saw Gu Jiayuan lying there, his head lolling to one side, an arrow buried deep in his chest, straight through his heart. Hu Xiaotian shook his head and signaled for Li Mingju to wait outside, then ordered his attendants to guard him closely before cautiously approaching Gu Jiayuan. There was a hole in the window lattice opposite the dead man. Someone must have fired an arrow from the rooftop across the way, shooting straight through the lattice and killing him.
Hu Xiaotian searched inside Gu Jiayuan's robes and found a banknote worth ten thousand taels of silver. From what he knew of Gu Jiayuan, the fellow had very little money; otherwise, he would never have sunk to borrowing from Yu Wanli at usurious rates. It seemed