Ji Feihua slowly lowered the memorial in his hand. His phoenix eyes gleamed with an uncanny, sinister charm in the candlelight as he fixed his gaze on Hu Xiaotian's face and said softly, "Raise your head!"
Hu Xiaotian raised his head. Although he felt somewhat uneasy, his gaze remained perfectly candid. Tonight's events had nothing whatsoever to do with him. He cupped his hands toward Ji Feihua and said, "Lord Commander, when this happened tonight, your humble servant was drinking at the Directorate of Imperial Cuisine." His first priority was to clear himself of any involvement.
Ji Feihua nodded slowly.
Hu Xiaotian recounted everything about Zhang Fuquan inviting him to his quarters for drinks, from beginning to end. There was no need to conceal such a thing. He even suspected that Zhang Fuquan had something to do with the incident. How could there be such a coincidence, with Zhang Fuquan choosing precisely that moment to take him away? Yet there were far too many aspects of tonight's events that Hu Xiaotian could not see through.
After hearing him out, Ji Feihua said quietly, "Zhang Fuquan is Quan Dean's man, and Quan Dean and Wen Chenghuan are of one mind. He has no reason to harm Wen Ya."
Hu Xiaotian knew Ji Feihua possessed extraordinary intelligence. Such simple reasoning could hardly have escaped him. "A headless corpse was found at the scene," Hu Xiaotian said. "It has been confirmed as Chen Chengqiang." Then he added, "He was a Fourth-Rank Saber-Bearing Guard under Murong Zhan."
"I knew him," Ji Feihua said. He rose and walked toward Hu Xiaotian, who hastily lowered his head again.
Ji Feihua said, "He should not have died like this. His sacrifice was utterly worthless!"
Hu Xiaotian's heart sank at those words. *Could Chen Chengqiang actually have been