What Secrets Could I Possibly Know?

Cheng Yu shook his head honestly. Though he had hired the Hundred Faces Nightmare to deal with He Lingchuan, he had never known what his intended victim actually looked like. "The man you tried to kill, but failed." Cheng Yu’s eyes went wide. Bai Ziqi noticed that Cheng Yu looked at He Lingchuan not only with resentment, but also with shock and doubt. An unconscious reaction like this was always the most telling. He Lingchuan offered Cheng Yu a faint smile. Cheng Yu swallowed hard. Fu Shanyue pressed on, asking, "Confess honestly. Was it Cen Boqing who put you up to this?" Cheng Yu’s voice was faint. "Yes." His face was ghostly pale, as if he might pass out at any moment, yet his gaze remained fixed on He Lingchuan. Fu Shanyue clapped his hands together. "Good, very good! As long as you admit it! Special Envoy Bai heard that loud and clear." It was indeed a well-timed question, and Bai Ziqi was just about to follow up when He Lingchuan suddenly spoke: "Cen Boqing’s wife is heading this way." "How did you cast the curse... Wait, what did you say?" "Cen Boqing’s woman, the eldest daughter of the Minister of Agriculture—Yao Xingning!" Fu Shanyue pointed casually toward the northeast. "She just arrived in Baishaqu, brushed past Commander Lu’s men despite their attempts to stop her, and charged straight into the Cen residence. At this rate, I’d wager she’ll storm this place in barely five minutes." There was some distance between the Cen estate and the county yamen, but if Fu Shanyue could get here so quickly, Yao Xingning certainly could as well. Bai Ziqi’s brow furrowed at once. "Such a coincidence?" "Why else would I rush here in the dead of night to report it?" Fu Shanyue clicked his tongue twice. "If she breaks into the yamen and finds her husband, that Cen fellow won't be confessing his crimes nearly so easily." Time was precious. Bai Ziqi pondered for a brief moment before turning to Fan Sheng, who stood by the bedside. "Commander Fan, please take your men and guard the main gate of the yamen. While the interrogation is underway, no one is permitted to enter!" He placed heavy emphasis on the words *no one*. He Lingchuan clearly saw the reluctance on Fan Sheng’s face, yet the man still answered with a crisp "Understood" and strode out. He Lingchuan could not help feeling a spark of curiosity. What kind of formidable force of nature was this eldest daughter of the Minister of Agriculture, that she could give a headache to both the Crown Prince of Chiyan and a Duyun Emissary, while leaving the Vice Commander of the Tongxin Guard so uneasy? Bai Ziqi moved toward the door. "Let us interrogate Cen Boqing first." Fu Shanyue gladly agreed. The group made their way to the county prison. Glancing back, He Lingchuan saw two guards take up posts in the partitioned room, closing the door behind them. Just before the heavy doors swung shut, He Lingchuan thought he caught the rumbling thunder of hooves echoing from the far end of the long avenue. Only moments ago, he and Fu Shanyue had galloped here in just such a frantic rush. Bai Ziqi casually cast a soundproofing ward between the inside and outside, preventing any unnecessary noise from filtering in during the questioning. Cen Boqing was kept in the cell closest to the high barred window. Considering his special status, Magistrate Tian had assigned him a private cell on the second underground level, accessible by only a single passage. The cell was equipped with a bed and a chair, and the floor was clean, clearly swept not long ago. Food and water were provided, but remained untouched. Cen Boqing sat slumped in the chair, a picture of dejection. When the three entered, the head jailer brought over several chairs and was just about to speak when Fu Shanyue waved him off, sending him back upstairs and keeping only a scribe to record the deposition. Compared to Cheng Yu’s wretched condition, Cen Boqing had suffered no physical harm, though he looked thoroughly defeated, his eyes hollow and devoid of light. With both physical evidence and witnesses fully aligned, and with the Duyun Emissary having personally captured him, he knew his fate was sealed. Even if his father-in-law, the Minister of Agriculture, stepped in to plead for him, it would likely be of no use. The moment he saw Bai Ziqi, his head hung low in despair. "None of this has anything to do with the Minister of Agriculture. My wife... my wife knows nothing about it either." "At least you're man enough to say that," Bai Ziqi sighed. "If you knew this day would come, why did you ever begin?" Fu Shanyue crossed his arms. "Looking at this pathetic display, you hardly seem like the mastermind anyway. Is there someone above you pulling the strings? Confess! If you're not the principal offender, your sentence will naturally be lighter!" Cen Boqing kept his head lowered. "Collecting and selling the pulp beads was entirely Uncle Wu’s responsibility. I... I rarely meddled in it. If you want to investigate, start with Qingfu Temple. Uncle Wu sold all the beads there. I know the temple also sells the elixir of immortality to outsiders." "And Zhongsun Mou bought the elixir at Qingfu Temple because you recommended it to him?" Cen Boqing nodded. "Have you ever met the person who refines the medicine, other than that temple keeper named Hu at Qingfu Temple?" "Never," Cen Boqing said hurriedly. "If you seize that Hu fellow, you can definitely trace it further..." Bai Ziqi cut him off. "Just a few days ago, a fire broke out at Qingfu Temple. The flames raged out of control, and within half an hour, it was burned to ashes. Not a single one of the more than one hundred people inside escaped." Cen Boqing opened his mouth, all color draining from his face. Every... everyone was silenced? "Quite a coincidence, wasn't it? Just the day after the Ruler of Chiyan submitted his memorial to Lingxu City." Bai Ziqi glanced at Fu Shanyue. Had his royal father not been so hasty to expose the case with such a complete lack of finesse, Qingfu Temple would probably still be standing intact right now. Startling the snake before striking—what a blunder. "So the trail hits a dead end with you," Bai Ziqi said patiently to Cen Boqing. "Do you understand what that means?" It meant every ounce of blame and punishment would fall upon him alone. Cen Boqing froze for a long moment, then shook his head so violently it looked ready to tumble off his shoulders. "No, no! I really am not the mastermind! I’ve barely touched the pulp beads more than a handful of times! All these matters were handled by Uncle Wu! Interrogate him, interrogate him! You're bound to get something from him!" "Oh?" Bai Ziqi prodded gently. "Uncle Wu already claimed that he was only acting under orders." "Even if he acted under orders, he wasn't necessarily taking them only from me!" Cen Boqing pleaded desperately. "I took over the pulp bead business from my father, and back then Uncle Wu already had full authority over it. After I took over, it... it stayed that way! I never had to worry about anything; he handled all the contacts. What—what inside details could I possibly know?" Fearing Bai Ziqi would not believe him, he raised a hand to swear an oath to heaven. Bai Ziqi fell into contemplative silence. At that moment, one of Fan Sheng’s guards came down from above and whispered a few words into Bai Ziqi’s ear. Bai Ziqi’s brow twitched slightly. "Understood. A quarter of an hour." The guard departed briskly. He Lingchuan and Fu Shanyue exchanged a look, knowing this was likely word sent down by Fan Sheng outside. Bai Ziqi was telling him to hold the line for at least another quarter of an hour. Fu Shanyue took up the thread: "Given Cen Boqing’s temperament, he truly doesn't look like the one calling the shots..." Cen Boqing nodded like a pestle pounding garlic. "...In contrast, Wu Kai acted with meticulous cunning, controlling the entire board. It seems more like he used father and son as a front to carry out these illicit deeds. If Mai Xuewen could plot against Wu Kai, why couldn't Wu Kai scheme against his own master?" Fu Shanyue asked Cen Boqing, "How did Wu Kai come to the Cen household in the first place?" "My father told me that over twenty years ago, when the old steward took ill and retired to his hometown, he recommended Uncle Wu, saying he was capable and trustworthy." Fu Shanyue sneered. "Capable and trustworthy indeed—so much so that you never had to lift a finger, only to march blindly to your death in the end." He Lingchuan then asked, "Did the Cen family go from poverty back to wealth only after Uncle Wu arrived?" Cen Boqing thought it over and nodded. "In other words, your father entrusted this..." He Lingchuan almost said 'operation,' but corrected himself, "business to Uncle Wu right from the very beginning. As soon as he arrived at the Cen household." A business of slaying Beijia demon citizens, extracting pulp beads, and refining the elixir of immortality. This was like a major enterprise hiring a new recruit who, on his very first day, was handed the core company secrets and put in charge of tens of millions in commerce. What was more, hunting demons for their beads carried colossal risks alongside its staggering profits. For Cen Boqing’s father to hand it straight to a stranger, he couldn't possibly have been out of his mind, could he? Mai Xuewen had saved Uncle Wu’s life, yet Uncle Wu had still tested him for three whole years before daring to recruit him as a core confidant. "So your father knew very well where Uncle Wu came from." Bai Ziqi gave He Lingchuan an appreciative glance. "A sharp deduction." With just a few words, he had peeled back the core discrepancy. If a youth could spot this flaw with a casual look, how could Cen Boqing, a man well into his adult years, have been kept entirely in the dark? "I..." Cen Boqing stammered, "That is all old history. Whenever I tried to ask, my father would scold me for meddling, saying it was better for me not to know. And then... then he died so suddenly, without ever clearing up the mystery for me." "You claim the business of hunting demons for pulp beads was handled solely by Uncle Wu," Bai Ziqi said. "Yet yesterday evening, when it came to striking Uncle Wu down with a curse, you were certainly decisive enough. Even without him, you managed quite well on your own." To their surprise, Cen Boqing stared blankly. "What curse yesterday evening? That wasn't me!" Huh? "Yesterday evening..." Bai Ziqi had seen Uncle Wu’s curse erupt with his own eyes, only for Fu Shanyue to snatch the man back from the brink of death. "Cheng Yu told me we only had one chance, and that striking at night would be most effective!" Cen Boqing shook his head like a rattle-drum. "It definitely wasn't us who cast the spell yesterday evening! Uncle Wu must have had other enemies!" "..." Bai Ziqi appeared deep in thought, his eyes flicking toward Fu Shanyue beside him. Thinking back carefully, the timing of Uncle Wu being struck by the curse the previous evening was almost too coincidental. The envoy from Lingxu City had barely caught up with Crown Prince Yue to investigate when Wu Kai suddenly took a turn for the worse, blurting out his confession right in front of the Duyun Emissary. Bai Ziqi had originally intended to visit the Cen estate merely to look into the situation. Instead, it had turned directly into an armed raid to arrest suspects, sparking the grand manhunt that followed. So who had planted the curse on Wu Kai? Meeting Bai Ziqi’s gaze, Fu Shanyue adopted a look of profound contemplation. "If it wasn't Cheng Yu, who else could it be?" He Lingchuan gave him a mental thumbs-up. Convincing. Truly convincing. The spellcasters under Fu Shanyue knew a bit of curse-craft as well. While their skills could not rival Cheng Yu's, cursing Wu Kai while he was already captive had been child's play. Waiting around for Cen Boqing and Cheng Yu to act would have taken far too long, so they had simply taken matters into their own hands. As long as the timing was right, they had had no fear that Wu Kai would fail to confess. He Lingchuan spoke up to ask Cen Boqing, "When I captured Wu Kai, several protective talismans on his person were already shattered. It seems he was being targeted by covert curses all along; Cheng Yu, the true master, simply made his move last night." He Lingchuan continued, "After Wu Kai was arrested, his cultivation was sealed. Anyone could have cast a curse on him." Bai Ziqi turned back to Cen Boqing. "Why didn't you have Cheng Yu act earlier?" Had Cheng Yu struck sooner, the key witness would have dropped dead long ago. How would they have ended up in this state? In Bai Ziqi's eyes, Cen Boqing’s indecisiveness had been his own undoing. Cen Boqing gave a bitter smile. "Cheng Yu claimed his soul was too severely wounded; even if he came out of seclusion early, he wouldn't have been able to help me." It was all a cascade of unfortunate twists. Bai Ziqi felt a trace of rueful irony, then asked, "Was framing Fu Songhua also Uncle Wu’s doing?" "Yes, entirely his initiative!"