Chapter 165 - Childe Ma

“Ah!!”

Qu Lu closed her eyes in horror. She shouldn’t have been so miserable with her cultivation, but Fang Yuan was so ruthless and powerful that he dominated her at first.

The sword whistled past her face. Although her face wasn’t scratched, it was really painful.

But now, Qu Lu didn’t care about the pain on her face. She curled herself up in the corner and pressed her heaved chest. She was still in a state of shock.

“He did... not kill me?!”

She really thought that Mr. Li ordered Fang Yuan to kill her just now. At this moment, Qu Lu didn’t dare to hide anything from Fang Yuan.

“Don’t you want to tell me the truth?”

Fang Yuan asked coldly. Qu Lu was so frightened that she trembled and replied instantly, “I will tell you everything. I really hide something from you, but I don’t have any bad intentions. I just doubt.”

At this moment, Qu Lu couldn’t wait to tell Fang Yuan everything in order to save her life.

“What do you doubt?”

Fang Yuan asked and sneered, “You doubt if you should betray the plan to Hehuan Sect and still stay in the Sect. You doubt why Mr. Li doesn’t contact you for so long? Or...you want to cooperate with the First Prince to get high position and great wealth?”

Hearing that, Qu Lu fell to the ground on her knees immediately and said, “I don’t dare to do that.”

“Why don’t you dare? I see that you have been doing that!”

Fang Yuan pretended to know everything. His acting skills seemed to be improved under the influence of Qu Qingning. “Do you think Mr. Li asked you to be a spy for her, and there is no need to test you, so, you can a member of us?”

Qu Lu was shocked. From Fang Yuan’s words, she knew what was wrong. The fact was that all her actions were observed by Mr. Li. It’s no wonder that he never contacted her!

“What do I do these days?!”

Qu Lu tried her best to remember what she had done during this time. She focused on the things Mr. Li ordered and didn’t expose him when she contacted with the Hehuan Sect. Only the First Prince...

Thinking of the First Prince’s stupid performance that night and the young inborn senior who suddenly appeared under Mr. Li, Qu Lu already knew whom she should depend on. At this intense situation, she calmed herself down suddenly and looked up, saying.

“I begin to contact with the First Prince half a year ago. On the surface, the First Prince cooperates with Hehuan Sect. Actually, I have a deeper cooperation with him. For example, I will tell the First Prince the whereabouts of Hehuan Sect if necessary...”

Fang Yuan could sense the slight tremor in Qu Lu’s sound. Qu Lu told him the secret, which meant that she had no other choices and could only rely on Su Li’s side. Otherwise, if Su Li release the news that Qu Lu betrayed the First Prince, she would die miserably!

Now, Qu Lu took the initiative and told Fang Yuan everything. That meant that she was loyal to them totally. At least, she met half of Su Li’s needs.

Fang Yuan was a little relieved and said in a soft tone, “Stand up, Miss Qu. You are quite smart and can see the situation clearly. Mr. Li won’t treat you shabbily in the future. As long as you don’t betray Mr. Li, you will be safe.”

Qu Lu nodded. She looked into Fang Yuan’s calm eyes and then took her eyes off him instantly. Finally, she stood up slowly. As Fang Yuan ordered, she took the file about the First Prince and was going to give it to the First Prince.

After putting the file away, Qu Lu consciously told Fang Yuan what Su Li ordered her before. “Su Zipei does nothing every day except going out to buy medicine every seven days. But the spy told me that she contacted with a person who wore a bamboo hat, but...”

Qu Lu frowned and continued, “There are seniors at the person’s side, so my spy didn’t dare to approach them and didn’t know what they talked about.”

Fang Yuan answered in a gentle voice, “I will report what you said to Mr. Li truthfully. The first thing is done. Now let’s talk about the second one.”

“The second one?”

Qu Lu opened her eyes wide. She was already scared so much just now and didn’t want to take the risk of being pointed by his sword.

“Just ordinary questions and answers.”

Fang Yuan said in a careless tone, but what he asked really shocked Qu Lu. “About the Deadly Powder that killed Ma Ling, can you tell me the truth?” Qu Lu looked pale as once.

How could it be impossible?!

Only three or four people in the Hehuan Sect in Yunjing knew that. Except for her, others pledged to be loyal to the Hehuan Sect! It was impossible for them to expose the message!

“Don’t guess. Mr. Li is proficient in medical circle and poison circle. She can help you detoxify the Hongchen Powder in your body. Do you think that he can’t detect the trivial Deadly Powder?”

Fang Yuan said with a distained and scornful expression as if the Hehuan Sect’s secret recipe was rubbish.

Qu Lu gulped and thought, “The poison circle of the Hehuan Sect is the highest in the continent near the sea. The Deadly Powder is even more horrifying. If it is rubbish, all the poisons near the sea are not as good as rubbish.”

“Miss Qu Lu, it seems that you don’t want to tell me?” Fang Yuan frowned and asked coldly.

Qu Lu brought her thoughts back immediately. After a moment’s silence, she began to explain. She knew clearly that she couldn’t make mistakes again in front of “Mr. Li”. This time, she not only couldn’t hide anything from him but should explain clearly to satisfy him.

“It is Master Wu Jin not the Hehuan Sect who plotted Ma Ling’s death. Master Wu Jin support the First Prince secretly, but Ma Ling is loyal to the Ma Family. I don’t know clearly which prince the Ma Family support secretly, but I am sure that they don’t support the First Prince.”

Qu Lu wasn’t nervous and she even spoke out her own thoughts, “The Baiwei Building is Su Qingtan’s property and he is labeled as the supporter of Third Prince because of Ling Qinglan. Therefore, Master Wu Jin thought about the perfect idea to induce the person behind the Ma Family to take actions. As for Su Li...they killed her in order to win Su Zipei’s favor.”

Hearing these things, Fang Yuan frowned. The situation was more complicated than he imagined. Su Li told the people under her nothing. Did she burden these things all by herself?

Fang Yuan was both angry and distressed. He hated that their identities couldn’t be known by others and they had no strong power to rely on. They couldn’t help Su Li and Su Li also realized that. This time, if it’s not because that things happened suddenly, he didn’t even have this opportunity to do something for her.

“Continue to observe Su Zipei. Don’t look down upon her! At the same time, leak the clues secretly to Chen Gong in the Ministry of Penalty. Don’t let people under you know that.”

Then Fang Yuan jumped off the window resolutely and disappeared in Qu Lu’s sight.

Oops!

Finally, Qu Lu totally paralyzed and gasped for a few breaths. She found that her back was wet with cold sweat. For Qu Lu, the First Prince, the Hehuan Sect and the mysterious Mr. Li were all dangerous, but...she had to cooperate with them to save her life.

“Mo, where are you...I...I need your help...”

Qu Lu murmured to herself.

It was very cold at night, Su Li sat alone at the table in the room and stared at the sky. She was waiting for a moment when the guards of the Ministry of Penalty were not vigilant.

It was Chen Gong’s room. The layout of the room was full of cold and strict atmosphere, just like Chen Gong. Ministry of Penalty was a safe place, but he shouldn’t be so intimate with Su Li. In order to prevent Su Li from misunderstanding him, Chen Gong planned to sleep at home these days. So, it was quite convenient for Su Li to take actions.

Until the period of 1am to 3am, Su Li went to meet Fang Yuan who waited there for a long time and got the files Fang Yuan sorted out.

Then Su Li returned to the room. After reading the file, Su Li kept silent for a long time. She didn’t sweep the burned ash of the file on the ground until it was dawn. Then, she continued investigating the case with Chen Gong.

Chen Gong wore a suit of tidy official uniform. He looked different because he never wore so official before. It’s obvious that he just finished the morning session in the imperial court. Chen Gong looked calm, but Su Li could feel that he wasn’t in a good mood.

“The Majesty ordered me to find the murderer of the case before August 15!”

Chen Gong hammered the table with his fist, which made a sound just as heavy as his feelings.

Su Li squinted and thought, “Today is August 7 and there are only eight days left. Why is the emperor so worried?”

At this moment, she vaguely realized that the invitation of that eunuch before perhaps was more dangerous than she imagined.

“Gosh! Lord Chen is really idle. Why are you staring at the desk in a daze instead of investigating the case?”

Suddenly, a lazy voice came from the outside. Su Li looked up and frowned when she saw the appearance of the man clearly.

It was a young and pretty man in a magnificent golden robe with the Dahan embroidery and his bun was combed meticulously.

From his way of walking and the expression of looking down at everybody, Su Li knew that the man wasn’t a brilliant talent but an arrogant playboy.

Shouldn’t this kind of playboy give a wide berth to the Ministry of Penalty?

But why didn’t the man be afraid of Chen Gong? He even sneered at Chen Gong.

Chen Gong stood up and kept Su Li behind him immediately. He said coldly, “Childe Ma, the Ministry of Penalty is not your home, so, you can’t behave atrociously here. Even you are the son of Prime Minister Ma, you don’t have the privilege here. Get out, now!”

Hearing that, Childe Ma laughed and said in an ironical voice.

“Don’t be angry, Lord Chen. I just come here to see how the case is. After all, Ma Ling is under me. If you can’t find the murderer, I really feel ashamed. In addition, the Majesty said that you must find out the murderer within 8 days. Don’t you have any clues? Can you tell me one or two?”

Chen Gong didn’t show any emotions. He pointed at the entrance and shouted, “Get out! If you still stay here, I will let you out myself.”

The smile on Childe Ma’s face faded away gradually. He stamped his foot and spat. Then he said hatefully, “I don’t want to stay here yet! Now that you have confidence, I will see how you report to the Majesty 8 days later!”

Chen Gong frowned and said in a low voice, “Send him away!”

Then, Childe Ma said viciously as he ran towards the entrance in panic, “Chen Gong, you can be arrogant for only a few days. You will be regret!”

Su Li hid behind Chen Gong and Childe Ma didn’t see her. Looking at the back of the young man, Su Li thought of something suddenly.