Princess Zhaoling 8

After hearing Zhaoling's words, a simple soul among the martial artists watching the spectacle remarked, "It seems Qiao Wanmian and Xiao Zijin were joined at the hip after the Sigu Sect disbanded, weren't they? Could there have been something more to Li Xiangyi's death?"

With a swish, Zhaoling opened her folding fan and nodded with a smile. "Well said! I came here today in my capacity as commander of the Inspection Bureau because I discovered that Li Xiangyi's death was indeed the result of a plot by someone from the Hundred Rivers Courtyard.

"The Hundred Rivers Courtyard oversees punishments in the martial world and controls the One Hundred and Eighty-Eight Prisons, where many evildoers are held. If someone among its leaders really has been colluding with outside enemies and betraying their own people,

"the lesser consequence would be that the many people wronged in the martial world would have nowhere to seek justice. The greater consequence would be that the most vicious criminals imprisoned by the Hundred Rivers Courtyard would escape and continue to wreak havoc on the martial world.

"But there is no Li Xiangyi now to clean up the mess.

"Don't you agree, Yun Biqiu, Courtyard Master Yun?"

An uproar swept through the crowd. Everyone looked at Yun Biqiu and began talking among themselves. The princess's words clearly pointed at someone.

Di Feisheng, mingling with the crowd, watched the Hundred Rivers Courtyard make a spectacle of itself in high spirits. Hearing that Li Xiangyi had been plotted against by someone from the Courtyard, he gave it little thought and merely looked at Li Lianhua. "You're really pitiful."

Fang Duobing, who had originally been eager and ready to compete on the arena stage, had many questions, but he still stepped forward to defend the Hundred Rivers Courtyard. "Li Xiangyi agreed with the imperial court back then that the Inspection Bureau would manage court affairs, while the Sigu Sect would manage the affairs of the martial world. Princess, isn't it rather improper for you to question the Hundred Rivers Courtyard as commander of the Inspection Bureau with nothing but empty words?"

Zhaoling, however, fanned herself unhurriedly as she looked at Fang Duobing. "You said it yourself: the rules my Inspection Bureau agreed to were with Li Xiangyi's Sigu Sect. But where is Li Xiangyi now? And where is the Sigu Sect?

"Your Hundred Rivers Courtyard has used Li Xiangyi's name as a pretext to act as the boss of the martial world. If it could truly uphold justice in the martial world, it would have the people's support, and I would not intend to do anything about it. But from the looks of things now, it does not live up to its name.

"As a princess of Great Xi, I naturally cannot turn a blind eye. What's more, it now appears that the Hundred Rivers Courtyard has involved itself in more than just the affairs of the martial world."

At Zhaoling's signal, Yang Yunchun stepped out from behind her and spoke in a ringing voice. "In the recent First-Rank Tomb case, the grave robbers stole from the tomb of a member of the imperial family. The Hundred Rivers Courtyard clearly learned of it beforehand, yet sent only an insignificant apprentice detective undercover.

"First, it failed to inform the imperial court in time. Second, it sent no one to surround and eliminate those grave robbers. As a result, the tomb of Prince Fangji of our dynasty was desecrated. For this crime, the grave robbers' nine familial generations should be executed, and the Hundred Rivers Courtyard, which knew of it but failed to report it, cannot escape punishment either."

Zhaoling said helplessly, "I happened to learn of this myself, and to keep my great-granduncle from being dishonored, I concealed my identity and investigated. Unfortunately, there were too many villains there, and I was alone and powerless. All I could do was notify the Inspection Bureau as quickly as possible so they could surround and eliminate them, but sadly, we were still a step too late.

"Fortunately, at least my great-grandfather's burial goods were not lost in the end, and those grave robbers were all dealt with."

Fang Duobing hid behind Li Lianhua and muttered, "From how impressive she looked on all sides back then, I couldn't see a trace of anyone alone and powerless."

Though Fang Duobing kept feeling that something was wrong, events overall had unfolded much as Zhaoling described, and he had no way to refute her.

Zhaoling continued, "Of course, I did not come here today merely because of the First-Rank Tomb. More importantly, the Hundred Rivers Courtyard has sheltered a traitor who plotted against the sect master, and is no longer fit to have the final say in the martial world.

"Yang Yunchun!"

Yang Yunchun obeyed and listed the Hundred Rivers Courtyard's crimes one by one:

"First crime: Yun Biqiu, a courtyard master of the Hundred Rivers Courtyard, was bewitched by Jiao Liqiao of the Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance. Not only did he poison Sect Master Li Xiangyi with Bicha, causing his death in the Eastern Sea, but he also leaked Sigu Sect intelligence, leading to the brutal deaths of a great many Sigu Sect members at the Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance's headquarters."

When Li Lianhua heard this, the voices of the people talking around him faded into the distance. Only one thought remained in his mind: Did Yun Biqiu harm those fifty-eight brothers as well? If so, wasn't my so-called letting go all these years helping a tyrant do evil?

The more he thought about it, the worse his expression became. If it was true, Yun Biqiu had to die!

Yang Yunchun's voice continued:

"Second crime: the other three courtyard masters all knew what Yun Biqiu had done. Rather than bring him to justice, they helped conceal his crimes and allowed him to keep his position as courtyard master. The Inspection Bureau's investigation found that over the years, Yun Biqiu repeatedly used his position to leak secrets to the Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance. Not long ago, he even leaked a map of the One Hundred and Eighty-Eight Prisons.

"Third crime: drawing their salaries while neglecting their duties. In the ten years since the battle at the Eastern Sea, many cases reported to the Hundred Rivers Courtyard remain unsolved to this day, while others were closed arbitrarily.

"The Inspection Bureau has verified that in those ten years, there were dozens of cases of missing women alone, and they remain unsolved to this day.

"Of course, reports were also made to the imperial authorities, who were likewise guilty of failing in their duties. In every verified instance, the Inspection Bureau reported the matter to His Majesty the emperor, and those responsible were punished according to their crimes.

"The Inspection Bureau has now taken over these cases and will certainly solve them as soon as possible.

"As for the other cases in which the Inspection Bureau has found irregularities, we will not disclose them here for fear of beating the grass and startling the snake. Once the cases have been reopened, we will surely announce the results to the world!"

At this, a smile tugged at Zhaoling's lips. Yu Lou Chun really was useful. Before, he had merely been a place where she could farm treasure at a fixed location. Now, through the matter of Yu Lou Chun's Women's Residence, Zhaoling had followed the vine to find the melon, discovering that the families of these missing women had also reported them missing in multiple places. This had now established the Hundred Rivers Courtyard's dereliction of duty.

Yu Lou Chun really was a tool every bit as useful as Feng Qing.

As Yang Yunchun's words fell, a large contingent of Inspection Bureau guards surrounded the Hundred Rivers Courtyard. Zhaoling's two maids swiftly and decisively crippled Yun Biqiu's martial arts and took him into custody.

Yang Yunchun stood where the four courtyard masters had stood and spoke sternly. "To avoid disrupting order in the martial world, everything will continue as before for the Hundred Rivers Courtyard's detectives. However, the Inspection Bureau will take up residence here today, review all of the Courtyard's old cases, and supervise all its affairs. We will see that justice is done for the martial world!"

Zhaoling leaped onto the arena stage and looked at the Shaoshi Sword. She tapped it lightly with the tip of her fan, and the sword shattered at once. Zhaoling chuckled. "What a fine Hundred Rivers Courtyard, what a fine sword-viewing assembly. Never mind that you sheltered the culprit who secretly harmed Li Xiangyi, yet still remembered to feast on the bread soaked in his blood.

"Just look at this Shaoshi Sword. You actually brought out a fake to fool people. Do you take all the heroes under heaven for fools? Ridiculous!"

As she spoke, Zhaoling had already leaped into the air and vanished. Only one sentence reached Yang Yunchun through a secret voice transmission: "Yang Yunchun, you have only this one chance. I'll be watching how you perform."

Li Lianhua looked at the people who had come to the sword-viewing assembly and were now whispering among themselves. Though people of the martial world looked down on the imperial court, none of them seemed particularly resistant to the Inspection Bureau taking over the Hundred Rivers Courtyard. He sighed helplessly. "The Hundred Rivers Courtyard is finished."

All four courtyard masters had already been taken away and locked up by the Inspection Bureau. Yang Yunchun had followed Zhaoling long enough to know how ruthless she was, and no longer dared show Shi Shui much favor on account of their personal ties.

Only Qiao Wanmian and Xiao Zijin remained, looking on in bewilderment at the busy members of the Hundred Rivers Courtyard and the Inspection Bureau.

After a while, seeing the young heroes' expressions of contempt toward them, Qiao Wanmian could not help shedding tears again. "It was me. I'm the one who wronged Xiangyi."

She waved Xiao Zijin away and left with her face buried in her hands.