flstandardbreds Chapter 353 Prince Gong
Chapter 353 Prince Gong
At the foot of a mountain outside Beijing, in a quiet courtyard, the sounds of flirting between a man and a woman came from a room. The servant guarding the door had a blank expression on his face, as if he was used to it.
At this moment, a hurried sound of footsteps came from far away.
"Mr. Mu." The servant looked at the visitor, forced a smile on his face, and greeted him respectfully.
Mu Chuan stood at the door and frowned when he heard the noise inside, but when he thought of Mu Yi's message, he gritted his teeth and knocked on the door.
"Your Majesty, I have something important to report."
The movement in the house suddenly stopped, and there was only a rustling sound, and the door was opened from the inside.
Mu Chuan lowered his head slightly, and after a moment, a pair of women's feet wearing embroidered shoes came into view.
"Humph."
The woman snorted in displeasure and walked away with her waist twisted.
After waiting for a while, a calm voice came from the room.
"come in."
Mu Chuan stepped into the room and saw the prince sitting on the high chair, drinking tea leisurely.
"Tell me, what's the urgent matter?"
The voice was calm, yet it inexplicably sent chills down one's spine.
Mu Chuan looked at Prince Gong and said solemnly, "Your Highness, Mu Yi has received news that the Tianlang Village was wiped out. The child was rescued down the mountain and has disappeared. The bodies of Bing Qing and the others were also found in a dilapidated temple on the road to Longzhou."
Just as he finished speaking, there was a "bang" and a teacup with a blue and white pattern fell at his feet and shattered into pieces in an instant.
"A bunch of trash."
Prince Gong stood up, obviously very angry, and his usually kind face was now ashen.
The servants guarding outside the door looked at each other in surprise when they heard the noise inside.
Inside the house, Mu Chuan stood with his head down. It was no wonder that the prince was so angry. This was the second time that the child had escaped their control.
However, as a subordinate, he still had to bite the bullet and continue to report.
"According to Mu Yi and others' investigation, the person who cleared out Tianlang Village was Luo Bingwen, the Yaojiang County Magistrate. He spent a lot of money to hire a young man who was passing through Yaojiang County.
It is said that this man is very skilled in martial arts, and his two followers are also very skilled. They completely wiped out all the bandits on the west mountain of Xiaoxiangling in just one day.
At noon the next day after clearing out the bandits, Luo Bingwen took the child to a restaurant to meet this man. After that, this man hurriedly left Yaojiang County with the child and headed towards Longzhou.
Following the marks left by Bing Qing and others, our people tracked them all the way to a dilapidated temple beside the official road leading to Longzhou, where they found the bodies of Bing Qing and others.
Afterwards, Mu Yi and his men continued to pursue the group in the direction of Longzhou and found traces of the group in a small town.
According to the investigation, they stayed in an inn in the town for one night and asked the innkeeper about the distance to Anxing Prefecture in Longzhou.
The next morning, they left in a hurry and have not been seen since."
After the report, the room fell into silence and Mu Chuan slowed down his breathing.
After a long time, he heard Prince Gong's cold voice.
"He was able to wipe out the Wolf Village in one day. This guy is quite capable. Luo Bingwen... humph, he is a bit nosy."
Then he changed the subject: "Have you found out who that person is? Who is behind this?"
Mu Chuan shook his head and said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, according to our investigation, this person is most likely just a gangster, and there should be no one behind it."
"Oh? How did you come to this conclusion?" Prince Gong raised his eyelids and looked at him.
Mu Chuan then told the story.
"There are two reasons. First, one of our people secretly bribed a yamen runner who participated in the bandit suppression that day. We learned from the yamen runner that the man's surname was Lin, and everyone in the county government called him Lin Shaoxia.
This person's martial arts skills are far beyond the reach of ordinary people. His words and actions are also free and unrestrained. He is definitely not someone who can be easily controlled.
Secondly, our people examined the bodies of Bing Qing and others and found that all the wounds were clean and neat, and they were all killed with one blow.
Moreover, no signs of torture were found on their bodies. This shows that the person who attacked them did not care about the identities of Bing Qing and others at all, and acted based on his personal likes and dislikes.
This style of behavior is quite consistent with the behavior of chivalrous men in the martial arts world."
"In addition, our people learned from the yamen runners that on the night Wang Gao was arrested, Luo Bingwen personally went to the dungeon to interrogate Wang Gao.
Therefore, I speculate that Wang Gao's explanation of the child's origins, coupled with Bing Qing's nighttime break-in at the county government office with the intention of abducting the child, aroused Luo Bingwen's suspicions about the child's origins, leading him to decide to hand the child over to Young Master Lin and have him take the child away."
"It's said that people in the Jianghu love to stand up for the weak and act according to their own will. I think Young Master Lin should be the same."
"Now that you put it that way, it's somewhat possible." Prince Gong stroked his chin and paced back and forth.
"but..."
A cold light flashed in his eyes, and his voice suddenly turned cold, "No matter who he is, if he dares to ruin my plan, he must pay the price.
Since we can't find that person for the time being, let's start with that nosy Yaojiang County Magistrate."
Humph, a mere seventh-rank county magistrate dares to go against me. Crushing him to death is as easy as crushing an ant.
Mu Chuan heard the rumor but did not immediately agree. Instead, he said hesitantly, "Your Highness, the Yaojiang County Magistrate Luo Bingwen is from the direct line of the Wangzhou Luo family. Lord Luo, the Prince's Junior Tutor, is his uncle. If we act rashly, we might alert the enemy and cause unnecessary trouble."
"Wangzhou Luo family?"
Prince Gong frowned, remained silent for a moment, and then said in a deep voice, "If that's the case, then put him aside for now. There will be plenty of opportunities to deal with him later."
After saying that, he turned and stared at Mu Chuan: "The most urgent task is to find that child as soon as possible. He is extremely important to this king."
Mu Chuan nodded. "After receiving the message, I have already asked Mu Yi to lead people to continue the investigation in Longzhou. I believe that in a few days, we will be able to make progress."
Prince Gong's expression eased after hearing this, and he sat back in his chair, took a sip of tea from his teacup, and said slowly, "Be sure to keep a close eye on the news from Mu Yi, and report to me immediately if there is any situation.
Also, send some people to secretly monitor Luo Bingwen to see if he's secretly interacting with anyone."
"Yes, Your Highness, I will arrange it right away." Mu Chuan bowed and left.
Prince Gong leaned back in his chair, his eyes cold, thinking to himself that the child must not fall into the hands of others, otherwise all his years of planning would be wasted.
As for that Young Master Lin, whether he did it intentionally or unintentionally, if anyone dares to ruin his plans, he will definitely pay a heavy price in the future.
Outside the yard, the breeze rustled through the treetops, as if playing a prelude to the coming storm.
In the distant Bingzhou, Lin Shuyue and his group, who were hated by Prince Gong, were walking and stopping as they went, unaware that their purpose of taking so much trouble to lead people to Longzhou had been achieved.