PFC Chapter 10 The Death of Dong Feng
Chapter 10 The Death of Dong Feng
When Xie Yan and Chu Ling arrived at Dong Feng's residence, it was already engulfed in flames.
The flames roared, like a menacing demon, their crimson light reflecting off everyone's faces. Servants from the manor kept bringing water to sprinkle on the flames, but to no avail.
Xie Yan turned her gaze and saw that Su Shi was outside the courtyard at some point, and had fainted from crying in the arms of her maid.
The next moment, to everyone's astonishment, two figures carrying a bundle of objects burst out of the flames.
The two men were still on fire, and they rolled on the ground several times before the flames went out.
Yu Bai and Xuan Feng got up, covered in soot, and dragged the things they had brought out to Chu Ling. "Your Highness, when we arrived, the fire had already broken out. We could only rush in and bring out Dong Feng's body."
The thing they were dragging was Dong Feng's charred corpse.
Dong Feng's body was still steaming. Xie Yan looked at the almost burnt corpse for a moment, then squatted down and began to feel around with her hands.
Yu Bai's handsome face was smeared black with cigarette smoke as he stared blankly at Xie Yan's actions. "Young Master Xie can perform autopsies?"
Xie Yan, who was multitasking, humbly replied, "Practice makes perfect, practice makes perfect."
The guard who had mistakenly kowtowed also came over, exclaiming in shock, "Ah? Isn't she the princess?"
With a single, forceful pull, Xie Yan ripped Dong Feng's charred head off.
I don't understand why the topic jumped so quickly. And does this guy have bad eyesight? How did he figure out that he and Chu Ling had that kind of relationship?
Seeing Yu Bai's utterly horrified expression, Meng Lan awkwardly scratched her head and said, "Uh, I thought he was a woman, and that he even spent the night with the prince, so..."
Yu Bai quickly apologized to Xie Yan on his behalf: "I'm sorry, Young Master Xie, this guy's eyesight isn't very good; he can't distinguish between humans and animals within half a meter."
Meng Lan turned around and said, "Yes, yes. Actually, I've never been able to see very clearly since I was little. I'm so sorry!"
Xie Yan coldly replied: "...You really have bad eyesight, and you turned your head away."
When Chu Ling returned after asking Xuan Feng his question, he happened to see Meng Lan bowing to him and asked with slight confusion, "...What does this mean?"
Meng Lan: "...Your Highness? Ah, I misread it again!"
Xie Yan exclaimed in amazement, "The Prince truly has a wealth of talented people under his command!"
As dawn broke, the fire gradually subsided. During this time, Su woke up briefly, glanced at Dong Feng's headless corpse, and then fainted again.
Footsteps approached from afar. Chu Ling turned his head and saw the limping butler and a group of people behind him.
The steward, his face contorted with rage, dragged his leg over and grabbed a servant, demanding, "Where is the master? How is he?!"
The servant's legs trembled, and with a mournful face, he pointed in Xie Yan's direction: "My lord, my lord is over there!"
The butler followed the gaze and saw Xie Yan examining a dark, indistinct object closely. His blood boiled, and he could barely speak: "What...what did you say? You said that thing is...is..."
The servant cried out in a shrill voice, "The master has been burned to death! That...that maid was still molesting him!"
"..."
How the tables have turned! One second he was saying Chu Ling had molested him, and the next second someone else was saying he had molested Dong Feng.
Xie Yan's side fell into a mysterious silence, and upon closer inspection, several people were lowering their heads and suppressing laughter.
Even Chu Ling turned his face away and coughed lightly.
"My lord! My lord!" The steward crawled over on his knees and rushed to Dong Feng's side, wailing and crying.
"What's the noise?"
Before he could cry for long, a woman's voice stopped him, and the housekeeper immediately shrank back and remained silent.
The crowd that had been following the butler dispersed, and a plump woman who looked a bit older walked out from the middle.
The woman was of average appearance, but her eyes held a sharp glint, and she looked capable and poised. She was none other than Dong Feng's first wife, Madam Lü.
It turned out that the steward had been absent for so long because he had gone to invite her. Chu Ling remained calm and composed, accepting Lü Shi's subtle scrutiny.
After yelling at the steward, Lady Lü added, "The prince is here, no noise allowed!"
She stepped forward and curtsied, saying, "Your Highness, please forgive me. The steward mentioned it to me briefly before. However, the situation is urgent, so I had no choice but to reveal Your Highness's identity. I beg Your Highness to do me the right thing for my husband."
Chu Ling remained silent, watching as Madam Lü bowed and greeted him until her legs ached and her body began to sway uncontrollably before allowing her to stand up.
"Rest assured, my lady, if there is any injustice, I will certainly seek justice for you."
Lady Lü looked grateful, then glanced at Lady Su who had fainted to the side, and said in a flat tone, "Someone, take Lady Su away and let her rest."
Su was helped down, and Lü continued, "I heard months ago that an assassin was trying to kill my husband, so he hired many guards to protect him. But I never expected that the assassin would be so audacious last night, daring to attack my husband even with His Highness here!"
Chu Ling remained calm and asked in return, "What does Madam mean?"
Lady Lü was filled with rage, clutching her handkerchief in anger: "It must have been that assassin! My husband, Dong Feng, was an upright and honest official. I never imagined he would suffer such a fate! Your Highness, you must find the mastermind behind this and avenge my husband!"
She became more and more agitated as she spoke, and collapsed to the ground, clutching her handkerchief and sobbing uncontrollably.
Xie Yan was still squatting there, looking at her from his angle. When Madam Lü softened, she deliberately adjusted her sitting posture to be elegant, and although her crying was miserable, she didn't shed a single tear.
This acting skill is truly on par with his.
Chu Ling still wore that ambiguous smile, and he nodded seriously: "What you say makes sense, Madam. I have also heard about this matter."
He glanced at Xie Yan as he spoke, then continued, "It's said that the assassin was formerly the number one assassin of the Fengyun Tower."
Xie Yan: "..."
"What?" Madam Lü exclaimed in shock, then nodded in murmurs after a moment: "So, so such a person... No wonder my husband died so tragically..."
Xie Yan: "..." If you want to find fault, you can always find a reason!
"Your Majesty——"
Chu Ling deftly dodged Lu Shi's outstretched hand, interrupting her at the same time: "I will report to the court immediately and do everything in my power to capture that assassin. Madam, you can rest assured and take care of Lord Dong's funeral arrangements."
Lady Lü showed no embarrassment. She quickly stood up and bowed gracefully again, saying, "This humble woman thanks you in advance, sir."
Immediately, in front of Chu Ling, she ordered the servants: "Men, take away the master's body for burial, and demolish this courtyard. Now that the master is gone, we must cut costs here. Dismiss all the servants in this mansion..."
The men brought by the Lü family approached Dong Feng's corpse, looked at the object in Xie Yan's hand with horrified eyes, and trembled as they snatched Dong Feng's head from his hand with their eyes closed.
Only then did Madam Lü have the mood to look at him, her face showing displeasure: "Who is this person again?"
The butler leaned in and whispered something in her ear.
Lu's gaze shifted instantly from displeasure to shock to deathly stillness, almost revealing a hint of indifference, a touch of surprise, and a dash of nonchalance.
She remained silent for a moment, processing her thoughts, before taking a deep breath and saying to Chu Ling, "Your Highness, I apologize for my rudeness. May I ask if you wish to take away the maid who violated my husband's body?"