As soon as He Jiulin arrived at the Wu residence, he saw the mansion surrounded by soldiers.
From the armor and weapons the soldiers wore, Chang An’s expression immediately changed.
“They’re from General Anyuan’s residence!”
Chang Sui spoke with a face full of regret: “Qingjue really did go back to report! Otherwise, they wouldn’t have come this quickly! Master, it’s my poor lightness skill that held you back. I’ll definitely practice diligently when we return!”
“Hmm.”
He Jiulin’s indifferent expression showed no fluctuation.
Just as the group reached the Colonel’s residence, Qingjue walked out from inside.
“Marquis, the General knew you would come and had me wait for you at the entrance.”
He Jiulin glanced at him.
“Lead the way!”
At this moment, the entire Colonel’s residence had already been taken control of. The servants were gathered in a corner of the courtyard, their faces showing panic, fear, and confused bewilderment.
They still didn’t know what had happened.
He Jiulin was led by Qingjue through two moon gates, past a rockery garden, and into the Jade Pavilion, where he immediately saw Wu Yong with his hands tied.
Wu Yong also saw He Jiulin and became even more self-righteous:
“General, you’ve forcibly broken into my residence, confined my servants, and tied me up without any explanation – what exactly are you trying to do?! If you don’t give me a convincing reason, I will definitely bring this to court and file a complaint against you!”
Standing before him was a man in black, heroic and vigorous, carrying an unshakable, cold hardness about him that even mountains couldn’t rival. One could sense a storm-like killing intent from his every movement.
Yet within this killing intent, there was also a careless roguishness.
“You want to report me? You’ve got some nerve!”
“Come on, come on! Get up! Go ahead, go report me right now!”The black-robed man kicked out with his long leg, his tone gloomy: “Damn you!” If we fish out Pei Xuanlang’s daughter’s bones from that well, I’ll definitely try every torture device on you before personally skinning you alive!”
Wu Yong was sent tumbling two rolls from the kick, broke two ribs, and directly passed out.
“You’re no different from the tyrants and treacherous ministers written about in storybooks.”
Xue Yanzhou turned his head.
As if only now noticing He Jiulin’s approach.
He raised an eyebrow.
“You’re here?”
He Jiulin walked over with an indifferent expression and sat down at the stone table.
Chang An and Chang Sui had already seen the soldiers dredging the well under a distant osmanthus tree and hurried over to join them.
Xue Yanzhou lifted his foot and kicked Wu Yong again. Finding no reaction from Wu Yong, he stepped over him and sat down opposite the stone table.
“What’s with the cold face? It’s not like I owe you money!”
He Jiulin frowned: “Must you speak like that?”
Xue Yanzhou casually bent one leg and placed his foot on the stone stool: “And must you be so arrogant? I just lowered myself to greet you, and what did you do? You came and sat at this stone table.”
He Jiulin: “I’ve always been like this.”
Xue Yanzhou rolled his eyes and made a ‘tsk’ sound: “Well I’ve never liked you anyway.”
Just after saying this, Xue Yanzhou noticed the case files He Jiulin had casually placed to the side.
He unceremoniously picked them up, but had only flipped through a couple of pages when voices came from the well under the osmanthus tree.
“We got it! It’s coming up!!”
“The General is amazing – he actually knew there would be bones in this well.”
Qingjue came forward to report.
“General, the corpse has decomposed to the point where only the skeleton remains. The bones are slender and smooth with relatively light density, but the pelvis is wide, confirming it is undoubtedly a female corpse, approximately 17 years old. Additionally, the skull is shattered, consistent with the Madam’s account—death was caused by a heavy blunt force trauma!”
“Ah Hai also retrieved three gold hairpins with inlaid jewels, a pair of red jadeite earrings, and a pink crystal longevity bracelet from the bottom of the well…”
While Qingjue was reporting, Chang An and Chang Sui also returned, standing properly behind He Jiulin.
After hearing the report, Xue Yanzhou glanced over but didn’t immediately approach.
“I’ve already sent someone to fetch Pei Xuanlang. If the skeleton is confirmed to be his daughter, then this credit belongs to me! Because I was the one who first surrounded the Colonel’s residence, and my men recovered the skeleton…”
He Jiulin sat quietly on the stone stool. “Your terms!”
Xue Yanzhou said smugly, “I can publicly state that the Ministry of War dispatched troops at your request, and I can also claim that you recovered the skeleton, allowing you to smoothly close the case. After all, you’ve just joined the Prison Warden Office and need these achievements.”
He Jiulin, dressed in brocade and fox fur, sat with innate elegance.
Xue Yanzhou leaned casually against the stone table, tapping his fingers twice. “I have only one condition: erase the remaining 14 days of her time with you this month. She should return with me!”
He Jiulin immediately refused.
“Name another condition!”
“No!”
Xue Yanzhou’s sharp eyebrows seemed to pierce through his temples as he declared domineeringly, “This is the only one!”
He Jiulin raised his eyes, staring intently at Xue Yanzhou, enunciating each word, “She is my wife!”
Xue Yanzhou slammed the case file he had been toying with onto the table with a dull thud.
He straightened his bent leg, stood up, placed his hands on the stone table, and leaned slowly toward He Jiulin, his imposing aura pressing forward.
“She is also mine! And the wife of the other four! The Empress originally decreed the selection of six husbands for her! Don’t forget, you are just one of them…”
Xue Yanzhou tilted his head slightly, a trace of wild arrogance flashing in his dark eyes. “Don’t even think about monopolizing her!”
The tension between the two was palpable, making Chang An and Chang Sui tense their muscles.
But He Jiulin leisurely adjusted his cloak.
“Keep the credit if you want it. Chang An, gather our men, let’s go!”
Xue Yanzhou didn’t seem surprised by his choice. He circled out from behind the stone table and reached toward He Jiulin’s retreating back—
“Hey, hey, hey, aren’t we negotiating? How about erasing just 13 days? Or even 12 days! He Jiulin, your poison may be suppressed, but mine isn’t! Can’t you have some sympathy for my constant anxiety?”
“Hey, don’t walk away! What about erasing 11 days? 10 days is fine too!”
He Jiulin walked off without looking back.
Xue Yanzhou grumbled curses as he walked to a lilac tree and began frantically plucking its leaves.
Seeing this, Qingjue stepped forward and bowed.
“Master, should I return to the Madam now?”
Xue Yanzhou grabbed a branch, stripped a handful of leaves, rolled them into a ball, and threw it. “Didn’t you say a new maid has arrived by the Madam’s side? Can we find a way to use her to persuade the Madam to divorce the Marquis of Zhaoping?!”
Qingjue: “That might be difficult.”
“Why?”
“That maid firmly believes every word the lady says and worships her deeply. Now she thinks she’s a Magic weapon, and mere humans like us can’t possibly command her!”
Xue Yanzhou: ?
What nonsense?
Did he have too much earwax in his ears and mishear just now?
Since when is a great general who dominates the battlefield some cheap, worthless thing?