Chapter 853: Predestined Death

“Imperial Consort Hua?” Liu Shengming was unusually perplexed. Why would they need to seek out Imperial Consort Hua again?

The streets were bustling with traffic and throngs of pedestrians. Meng Qi walked slowly with his hands clasped behind his back, as if strolling in his own courtyard, creating an unusually spacious path as people instinctively stepped aside when they approached him: “There’s definitely something suspicious about Zhang Clan of Longnan, but the circumstances are indeed quite coincidental.”

“Coincidental? They just happened to kill someone to silence him right when we were around?” Liu Shengming walked half a step behind, like a long-time attendant.

Meng Qi gazed toward the distant imperial palace as if casually commenting: “If it was truly Zhang Clan who silenced Chief Eunuch Feng Zheng, don’t you think they’ve made several mistakes?”

Although Liu Shengming had been one of the Eight Divine Constables for many years and possessed considerable case-solving experience, it still couldn’t match Meng Qi’s extensive knowledge from detective novels and comics. After a brief contemplation, he remarked: “The initial investigation had basically concluded that the emperor died from backfiring sexual cultivation. If it weren’t for the disappearance of Chief Constable Sima and the tense situation that followed, Feng Zheng would have already been released, so the surveillance on him wasn’t particularly strict. With Zhang Clan of Longnan and Cui Clan of Pingjin having infiltrated the palace for years, they had plenty of ways to kill him and then have an assassin commit suicide to sever all clues. Why go through the trouble of publicly bringing him home for interrogation?”

“Even if they insisted on interrogation, they could have taken action en route to clear their suspicion. Why specifically at their own residence, and just happened to be caught by Chief Constable?”

“Of course, we can’t rule out the possibility that Zhang Clan did the opposite, deliberately staging a botched silencing operation to demonstrate their innocence. However, when that mysterious guest who fled in a carriage was mentioned, Zhang Bailing was genuinely shaken. He even wanted to sacrifice his own life to silence the secret agent, indicating the matter’s significance. Reaching this point doesn’t resemble the conduct of a top aristocratic family unless it genuinely caught them off guard.”

Meng Qi smiled slightly: “No wonder you’re known as the Zhipeng Divine Constable for your intelligence. Zhang Clan used the excuse of arrogance to cover up why they requested to interrogate Feng Zheng. Moreover, right after they took Feng Zheng less than half an hour ago, I received crucial insights from Imperial Consort Hua, found new clues, and came knocking. Isn’t that quite a coincidence? Within half an hour, there were plenty of opportunities to silently eliminate Feng Zheng and erase all traces, yet they only acted when I arrived, forcing Cui Qingyu to personally intervene to cover it up. Isn’t that quite a coincidence?”

The time of Feng Zheng’s death could be directly determined from the corpse, approximately around the time Meng Qi arrived at the Zhang residence.

“One coincidence might be normal, but two or three are definitely arranged. Haha, the Zhang Clan of Longnan, who spent their days hunting geese, finally got their eyes pecked by a goose today. Even these top aristocratic families have their days of being framed!” In his previous role as a divine constable loyal to the emperor, Liu Shengming had endured countless indignities from aristocratic families like the Zhang Clan of Longnan. Now, he felt a sense of satisfaction.

Meng Qi chuckled: “Framed? For Zhang Bailing to instinctively ignore me, the Chief Constable standing right beside him, and even desperately try to silence the secret agent with the Flame-Sun Stealthy Light Finger, the secret involved must be no less serious than assassinating the emperor. The person who framed them likely intended to ‘manipulate’ me into exposing that mysterious guest, hence not caring about the numerous ‘coincidences’ that would raise suspicion.”

Though seemingly strolling leisurely, the two actually moved quite quickly, and their conversation had already brought them past the long street to the vicinity of the imperial palace.

After some thought, Liu Shengming said: “With your reminder, Chief Constable, I seem to grasp the general situation. From the current perspective, that mysterious guest cannot afford to be exposed. Once exposed, even if it doesn’t bring complete disaster to the Zhang Clan of Longnan and the Cui Clan of Pingjin, it would still cause severe damage, which explains why Zhang Bailing reacted that way.”

“Based on this premise, many things become clear. This mysterious guest emerged from Zhang Yu’s courtyard and spent some time with Feng Zheng. The person who wanted to interrogate Feng Zheng must be him. Therefore, the Zhang Clan of Longnan took the risk of bringing Feng Zheng back to their marquis’s mansion because directly bringing the mysterious guest into the palace would be more dangerous and easier to detect.”

“Moreover, their objective was indeed interrogation, to uncover the mystery of the emperor’s sudden death, which is why they didn’t silence Feng Zheng even when the Chief Constable was about to arrive or had already arrived. Then, then, Feng Zheng really committed suicide!”

When he reached this conclusion, he looked up at Meng Qi. As an experienced divine constable, he had already vaguely suspected these things, but only now did he fully clarify his thoughts. However, the current Chief Constable Su seemed to have completely understood the situation upon encountering Cui Qingyu, even surpassing himself in grasping details and deducing the case!

Please call me Su Renjie, Comrade Liu Yuanfang… Meng Qi slightly lifted his head, coughed, and said: “This also indirectly indicates that Feng Zheng was indeed involved in the emperor’s sudden death, allowing a female expert skilled in seduction techniques to infiltrate the tightly guarded sleeping quarters, making them practically ineffective. As for why he betrayed the emperor, whose fate was tied to his own, even sacrificing his life, further investigation is needed.”

He had a vague suspicion but didn’t want to share it with Liu Shengming.

“Unexpectedly, Feng Zheng turned out to be a ‘dead spy’…” Liu Shengming sighed, “This also explains the ‘coincidental’ timing of the silencing. And the previous coincidence was triggered by a remark from Imperial Consort Hua, no wonder the Chief Constable went to seek her out.”

At this point, the two entered the imperial palace. Meng Qi’s expression was slightly gloomy as he sighed: “Upon arriving at the Zhang residence and discovering Feng Zheng had been silenced, I actually figured it out. Imperial Consort Hua was lying. No, not lying, but rather naturally exaggerating.”

So much so that her emotions deceived Yuan Xin Yin, because they were inherently normal emotions!

“Exaggerating?” Liu Shengming was somewhat puzzled.

Imperial Consort Hua remarked that Consort Mei was like a wooden block in bed, incapable of even moaning. Using this, I correlated it with the testimonies of the eunuchs and palace maids: that night, Consort Mei’s moans were soft and seductive to the bone, filled with passionate emotion, thereby exposing the inconsistency and identifying Feng Zheng, the chief eunuch in charge of palace security.” Meng Qi briefly summarized, “But if you think about it the other way, wouldn’t it be strange for someone who normally doesn’t moan at all to suddenly perform exceptionally well and enchantingly? Wouldn’t the eunuchs and palace maids who had served Consort Mei for a long time find this odd? Wouldn’t they mention it when interrogated by the Six Doors?”

“Even if they didn’t suspect anything, just saying that Mei Consort was particularly passionate that night, completely different from usual, wouldn’t the Six Doors’ group, with their wolf-like sharp senses, detect the problem?”

Liu Shengming frowned: “Imperial Consort Hua lied. No, you said she exaggerated?”

“If she had lied, could Imperial Consort Hua, whose seven orifices were enhanced by drugs, hide the abnormality from me?” Meng Qi gazed ahead. “The emperor must have said something similar to her, but only mentioned that Consort Mei’s performance in bed was lacking, her moans stiff and lifeless. Thus, her sudden proficiency would merely lead the eunuchs and palace maids to assume their mistress had gradually gained experience—nothing out of the ordinary. As a rival who desperately wished for her death, exaggerating slightly to demean her would be instinctive, without any conscious awareness of lying.”

“And her belittlement in this direction both aligned with emotions and highlighted contradictions, pointing out clues perfectly.”

Perfectly enough to “deceive” Yuan Xin Yin!

At this point, Meng Qi sighed again: “There’s a mastermind behind this.”

A mastermind who understood how to counter Yuan Xin Yin-type techniques.

This also served as a reminder to himself: before Yuan Xin Yin could truly grasp all of someone’s thoughts, he couldn’t completely rely on it or make judgments solely based on it. Otherwise, he would eventually stumble!

On the path of martial arts and life, external techniques and tools can be relied upon but not depended upon entirely. This is what the Buddhist sects call “cutting off the Dharma self,” realizing the emptiness of all techniques.

While reflecting, Meng Qi had a subtle sense of enlightenment.

Liu Shengming was about to say something when he suddenly frowned: “But there’s still another ‘coincidence’—why, within half an hour of Zhang Yu taking Feng Zheng, could Imperial Consort Hua find the opportunity to meet the Chief Constable exactly at that moment and say those words? If she had waited too long, Feng Zheng might have already been returned.”

“And this coincidence doesn’t depend on them but only relates to you, the Chief Constable. What if you had dealt with other matters from the Crimson Robe Hall first and only questioned Mei Consort six hours after Zhang Yu took Feng Zheng?”

Could they manipulate the Chief Constable?

“They can’t control me, but they can manipulate the Zhang Clan of Longnan!” Meng Qi’s words were startling.

“What?” Liu Shengming was greatly shocked.

Meng Qi smiled: “You wonder why the Zhang Clan of Longnan didn’t act earlier or later, but specifically chose today to interrogate Feng Zheng?”

“Because before today, they hadn’t suspected Feng Zheng of any wrongdoing!”

“As long as they confirmed my movement toward the palace, the person behind Imperial Consort Hua would pass the clues to the Zhang Clan of Longnan or directly to that mysterious guest in some way, thus piquing his interest and sending Zhang Yu to retrieve Feng Zheng. This would make the timing just right.”

Liu Shengming took a deep breath: “No wonder…”

As an experienced divine constable, he almost couldn’t wrap his head around it.

Suddenly, his expression changed: “Trouble, Imperial Consort Hua!”

Could Imperial Consort Hua be silenced!

And the Chief Constable hadn’t seemed at all hurried!

Meng Qi stopped at the entrance of Imperial Consort Hua’s palace and remarked with feeling: “Once involved in this matter, she was destined not to be spared. She was probably silenced long ago, too late to save unless I could spot the flaw on the spot.”

Two guards listened in confusion as they watched Chief Constable Su and Divine Constable Liu swiftly enter the palace and directly approach Imperial Consort Hua’s bedroom door.

“Open the door.” Meng Qi directly took out the Six Doors Chief Constable’s badge.

The two palace maids dared not resist and nervously turned to open the door.

With a creaking sound, the two palace maids screamed and nearly fainted.

Inside the room hung a corpse. Imperial Consort Hua had ended her life with a white silk ribbon one zhang long. Her tongue protruded, showing extreme pain, yet a gentle smile lingered on her face. Her hands cradled her belly, as if soothing the fetus.

Go with your mother, child. The human world holds too much suffering and filth. Only death brings eternal peace.

“Ai.” Liu Shengming sighed deeply, filled with regret.

Meng Qi looked at Imperial Consort Hua’s corpse calmly: “They still need to deal with the ‘mysterious guest’ from the Zhang Clan of Longnan, so they will definitely act again. And the more they do, the more traces they will leave. Step by step, we will eventually track them down.”

…

Later, Meng Qi didn’t meet with Prince Qin Zhao Jingshi but only saw Old Fifth Zhao because the former was at a certain critical juncture, and the death of a minor figure like Imperial Consort Hua couldn’t possibly reach him.

Late at night, Meng Qi returned to the Su residence. Now that he was in the capital, he should go home for a visit, especially since Su Zi Yue was still there.

“Second Young Master…” The gate guard’s eyes lit up upon seeing him, then he suddenly realized and bowed deeply, “Honoring the Chief Constable!”

This truly brought pride to the entire Su family!

“There’s no need to disturb others. I’ll rest first,” Meng Qi instructed.

“Yes, Second Young Master.” The guard led Meng Qi back to his previous residence, opening the door while smiling: “Miss Zi Yue knew the young master had returned to the capital and specially cleaned this place, replacing the bedding.”

Feeling warmth in his heart, Meng Qi waved the guard away and entered the room. As he approached the bedding, he suddenly detected a faint lingering fragrance, subtly soothing, like a virtuous wife waiting for her husband. This familiar scent definitely wasn’t Su Zi Yue’s.

“Gu Xiao Sang!” Meng Qi’s eyes suddenly narrowed.

She had actually been here!

Was she declaring that entering the Su residence was as easy as entering an unguarded place?