"Bingzhi means 'destroy after reading.'"
Yang Xingjian's bloodshot eyes glittered with feverish excitement. Had his leg not been broken, he would have paced endlessly around the room.
"Oh." Qiu Ren gave a distracted grunt without even looking at him.
Seeing that no one was paying attention, Yang Xingjian waved his arms and launched into a loud explanation. "Anyone who uses such obscure wording cannot be an ignorant roughneck of the Rivers and Lakes! That note must have been written to Cao Hong by someone learned and powerful, instructing him to destroy it after reading. That was why Cao Hong dared not reveal a single clue about that person even in death, preferring to swallow the note and destroy the evidence. Ninth Lady must have been abducted by this hidden mastermind!"
He had often used similar codes in his secret correspondence with Prince Shao and knew them well. Ordinary people would never handle their letters with such rigorous caution. When he had witnessed Wei Xun tear Cao Hong's belly open with his bare hands, he had been frightened out of his wits, his mind a jumble, and had failed to grasp the crucial point. Only after returning to the courtyard, calming down for a day or two, and thinking it over repeatedly had he noticed the subtle implications hidden behind those two surviving characters.
The roomful of ignorant roughnecks of the Rivers and Lakes listened quietly to Yang Xingjian's account, but not one of them truly took his words to heart. They merely went through the motions, each occupied with their own concerns.
Xu Baozhen repeated coldly, "Someone powerful, then."
Yang Xingjian nodded frantically, like a pestle pounding garlic, his voice full of ingratiation. "Exactly, immortal master! We never considered this direction before. In fact, high officials and nobles all keep