Investigation

Seeing this, Zhang Tao and Guo Cheng quickly rushed to the man Yang Jie had previously defeated. They saw that Yang Jie had directly tied the man's mouth with a strip of cloth, so he could neither bite his tongue to commit suicide nor take poison, and the man was still unconscious. Only then did the two breathe a sigh of relief.

"Is Lord Zhao alright?" Eunuch Deng stammered in fright. He looked up and saw Yang Jie checking on the couple, while Zhao Ruxi was being helped down from the carriage by Lu Yun.

Upon seeing Zhao Ruxi's appearance clearly, Eunuch Deng's heart sank. Zhang Tao and Guo Cheng, who were looking over, also felt their hearts skip a beat.

Zhao Ruxi's left arm had been wrapped with strips of cloth, and the blood seeping from the cloth indicated that she was seriously injured.

Yang Song had already gotten off the front of the carriage and walked to Zhao Ruxi's side, pleading repeatedly, "Miss, Miss, let's go to the clinic first."

Zhao Ruxi ignored him and instead asked Yang Jie, "How are you? Are you still breathing?"

Yang Jie shook his head. "They're all dead."

Lu Yun said regretfully, "It's all my fault, I went too far."

"Not a single one survived?" Zhao Ruxi asked again.

Yang Jie seemed to only then remember the person he had just knocked unconscious, and turned to look in the direction of Zhang Tao and the others.

Zhang Tao said, "There's one survivor. Yang Jie knocked him unconscious and tied him up. We'll interrogate him thoroughly."

Zhao Ruxi looked at Eunuch Deng.

Eunuch Deng quickly replied, "Your Highness, rest assured, this servant will report to the Emperor and investigate this matter thoroughly to find out the truth and give Your Highness an explanation."

He knew that the struggle for the throne among the princes was fierce, and the previous problems with the border's food supplies were related to these struggles. This was why Prince of Qi and Mister Kumu requested the emperor to send imperial Imperial Guards to protect Zhao Ruxi. But he really didn't expect it to come true so quickly.

The Emperor had just sent him to deliver the imperial decree, and Zhang Tao and his companion had only just arrived, yet these people followed suit. This was blatant disregard for the Emperor's orders; where did they intend to place the Emperor?

Seeing the burning anger in Eunuch Deng's eyes, Zhao Ruxi gave a grateful smile, "Thank Eunuch Xie."

"Your Highness, please go to see a doctor quickly. Leave everything here to this old servant," Eunuch Deng said again.

"Yes, young lady, you should go to the clinic quickly. Although the wound isn't deep, who knows if the knife was poisoned? What if it was poisoned..." Yunkai to mutter to himself, his face full of worry and anxiety.

"Then I'll leave this to you, Eunuch Deng." Zhao Ruxi nodded to Eunuch Deng and then instructed, "Yang Jie, you are the eyewitness, so please keep an eye on things here."

"Yes, young lady, rest assured." Yang Jie said, looking at Zhang Tao and Guo Cheng, "Since you two have been sent by the Emperor to protect my young lady, her safety is entrusted to you."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Tao and Guo Cheng both showed expressions of shame.

They were attacked along with Yang Jie, and after fighting their opponents for so long, they still managed to kill them; while Yang Jie was able to defeat his opponent quickly and even capture him alive. The difference in their abilities is just too great!

As if knowing what they were thinking, Yang Jie waved his hand and said, "My opponent was weaker than yours, which is why I was able to land a hit on him."

Hearing this, Zhang Tao and his companion felt a little better.

They were suddenly attacked and immediately faced their opponent, who was strong, so they had no time to pay attention to anything else. Yang Jie's battle ended quickly, and they didn't even notice whether Yang Jie's opponent was strong or weak.

"Don't worry, this time we will absolutely not let the girl get hurt again," Zhang Tao said.

Since they had already acknowledged Zhao Ruxi as their master, and Zhao Ruxi was still of marriageable age, it was naturally inappropriate to call her a princess, let alone Lord Zhao. Therefore, they followed Yang Jie's lead and addressed Zhao Ruxi as "Miss".

After giving her instructions, Zhao Ruxi didn't linger and, with Lu Yun's help, got back into the carriage. Yang Song quickly sat on the carriage shaft and drove off.

Zhang Tao and his companion, along with Xiang Ming, quickly rode up to catch up.

Eunuch Deng turned to Liu Hongyu and said, "Lord Liu, this is your territory. You cannot escape responsibility for such an attack. Immediately send men to surround this area, and bring all relevant individuals to the yamen for questioning."

Liu Hongyu looked as if he had lost his parents, and after agreeing, he gave the orders.

Fortunately, Zhao Ruxi had planned to treat all the clerks and runners of the yamen (except for those on duty) to a meal. Now that everyone in the yamen was here, there was no need to go back and mobilize more people. Everyone, hungry, dragged the corpses, interrogated the onlookers, and cleaned the streets, all getting to work together.

The only survivor, Eunuch Deng, dared not let anyone touch him. Instead, he had the four Imperial Guards he brought carry him back to the prefectural government office. First, they removed the poison hidden in the man's mouth, then thoroughly searched his body, and finally splashed cold water on him to wake him up before beginning the interrogation.

After waking up, the man refused to say a word, and after being tortured by the Imperial Guards in various ways, he finally uttered two words: "Crown Prince."

When Eunuch Deng heard those two words, his head spun twice.

"Keep a close watch on them and escort them to the capital," he ordered.

As he spoke, he stood up, intending to check on the interrogation of the other two Imperial Guards.

This case is of great importance. He just said he would hand it over to Liu Hongyu for investigation, but he wouldn't dare to do so. Liu Hongyu doesn't openly have any powerful backers and doesn't take sides, but who knows what he's really thinking?

So the four Imperial Guards split into two teams: two of them interrogated the only survivor, while the other two interrogated the onlookers and the child.

But he had only taken two steps when he heard a low gasp behind him. Turning around, he saw the man lying on the ground, black blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He rushed over to check on him and found that the man was already dead.

His face immediately turned as black as the bottom of a pot. "What's going on?" As he spoke, his gaze swept back and forth between the two Imperial Guards.

"He must have hidden poison somewhere. He just took advantage of our momentary lapse in concentration and shoved it into our mouths." The two Imperial Guards were so frustrated they were almost in tears.

If an important prisoner dies unnoticed, the emperor will surely suspect that they are working for one of the princes and deliberately caused the prisoner's death. Even without evidence, their suspicion cannot be cleared.

They could forget about being Imperial Guards. They had been tasked with investigating many things in the past, and knew a great deal about the secrets of the royal family and high-ranking officials. To prevent them from revealing anything, they were sent to guard the imperial mausoleum in the mountains.

Their lives are over.

Eunuch Deng was both angry and annoyed, but there was nothing he could do. He stared intently at the two Imperial Guards for a while before turning and walking out.

Upon arriving at another room, the Imperial Guards interrogating them recounted what they had discovered, adding, "The identities of these people have all been checked; they are all ordinary people passing through Nanyang, and none of them possess martial arts skills."

There weren't many pedestrians on the street at noon, but there were some too. Three people passed by in total: an old man selling candied hawthorns, a young couple visiting the wife's parents, and a shop owner who came out of his shop to see what was going on after hearing the commotion.