Chapter 78: Deterrence

The next day.

Bai Huan officially assumed authority over the household. At dawn, the steward gathered all the estate’s managers in the Zhaixiang Pavilion of the front courtyard to await instructions and attend to daily affairs. Below, a dense throng stood nervously, whispering among themselves. Bai Huan arrived at Zhaixiang Pavilion accompanied by two family guards and Chen Xiang. The guards carried a cane chair with a brocade cushion and set it under the veranda. Bai Huan walked over briskly, sat down, and swept a gentle, smiling glance across the crowd.

The group of youthful detectives who had been running back and forth failed to uncover any useful clues, but they seemed to be enjoying the game nonetheless. As for Conan, he remained frowning, deep in thought; Kihara Yasu had no intention of approaching him for idle conversation.

With the final performance concluded smoothly, Li Wei at last endured to the very end, and all the cast and crew took the stage for their curtain call. The leaders then announced the rankings on the spot and handed out certificates of merit. Thus, the gala came to a successful close.

Luo Feng was dumbfounded—a man with brawn but without wit could still serve the Chen family? Luo Feng felt he’d overestimated the Chens! Judging by their employment choices, whoever was in charge of this affair must be equally lacking in sense.

That night, Jiang Qian lay in bed, unable to help recalling the scene in Gao Tiancheng’s office earlier that day. Though merely a bystander, he had witnessed the entire episode and now tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Why hadn’t she thought of it sooner? The matter wasn’t difficult at all; it was nothing more than the ordinary etiquette of reciprocity and hardly worth worrying about.

Indeed, I am the last person who could have come into contact with the coffin, and also the last who might have removed the body. Of course, that presumes there truly is a ‘body’ in that coffin.

It was Tang Shiyun who had taken the initiative to end things. As long as she stayed in control, it no longer felt so painful. She turned away and threw herself wholeheartedly into her work, her energy undiminished in everything she did. When Li Wei once again invited her to dine at the Li family home, Tang Shiyun declined.

“My loyal subject, allow me to introduce you. This is the mightiest warrior in our kingdom of Loulan, and also our great general—Luo Kai,” the king said with a smile.

When winter came, Chen Si would climb the city walls every day. His anxiety only grew, for the scouts brought word that Chagel and the others were constantly moving their troops. Was this an attempt to copy Wang Chen’s surprise attack on Yarkand? The intent was obvious, but their imitation was so poor—the essence entirely lost.

Today, Jialan Nord still did not wear his signature white wizard’s hat, letting his jet-black, silky hair dance in the wind.

He had taken in the killer of the three Chris clan elders without authorization; if the Chris family came seeking vengeance, he would be doomed.

Zhang Qing saw the gift list and understood immediately. Regarding what Helian Tuo had written in his letter about sentencing Princess Jielan’s parents, King Jiang and the Queen, to death, Zhang Qing readily agreed and wrote a reply for Helian Jinyan to take back.

He had meant to speak to her, but when Xia Yuqing actually appeared, Xiao Yixuan found himself at a loss for words.

Lin Qianxue nodded, as if something had come to mind, and gently leaned against my shoulder. “Brother Yunzhi said he was supposed to go to Suzhou and Hangzhou tomorrow, but when he heard you’d returned, he was overjoyed!” At this, her voice faded, and she began to weep silently once more.

Yan Zhen tossed a healing pill and then a mana-restoring elixir into his mouth, sat cross-legged, and began circulating the Pure Yang Sutra. After a while, he felt his wounds much improved and his energy almost restored—now at eighty or ninety percent of his usual strength.

Hatred flashed—a stab, a withdrawal—a sword of blood shot into the sky. For an instant, Black Ma was lucid; his eyes bulged in shock and disbelief, his left hand instinctively clutching the wound at his throat.