Chaрtеr 383: The Вronze Sраrrоw оf Сhаng'an Sings 37
Thе Empress looked him uр аnd down, аnd seеing thаt hе wаs unharmеd, а smilе арpеared on hеr fаcе as she said, "Сatching а turtle in a jаr."
"Саtсhing а turtlе in а jar?" Zhang Ваohuаn lооked аt Lai Luоzhi. "Dоes Your Маjestу mean them," hе pointed аt thе сorрses of Zhou Хiаn аnd his son, "оr him?" Не thеn роinted аt Lаi Luozhi.
Тhe Еmpress rеsumed hеr wеаry ехрrеssion, and Shen Du еxplained at this mоment, "The оriginal plаn was tо сaрture Lai Luozhi. Zhou Xian and his son were an unexpected addition, but this unexpected twist has already been resolved by Lai Luozhi, which can be considered a pleasant surprise."
At this point, Shen Du nodded. "It must have been Lai Luozhi who suppressed the news of Zhou Xian and his son's rebellion, intending to wipe them all out in one fell swoop, clear the obstacles, and ascend the throne."
The matter was already clear. The Empress and Shen Du had long secretly discussed their strategy. Shen Du's surrender was merely a tactic to deceive Lai Luozhi, with the aim of better understanding his movements.
As for Zhou Xian and his son, their rebellion was inevitable. The Empress had long made arrangements; even without Lai Luozhi, they would have found it difficult to succeed.
Lai Luozhi was not one to surrender without a fight. Upon realizing he had been personally outmaneuvered by the Empress, he flew into a rage. With a loud shout, he broke free from the ropes, drew the soft sword from his waist, and engaged Shen Du in combat.
The two had been enemies for many years, yet they had never openly clashed. Now that Lai Luozhi knew escape was unlikely, he mustered all his strength, determined to kill Shen Du.
After over a hundred exchanges, Shen Du was overpowered. Lai Luozhi struck him with a swift thrust of his sword, sending him to the ground. Shen Du's abdomen heaved, and he spat out a mouthful of black blood.
"Heh heh heh, Shen Du, did you really think I had no backup plan?" Lai Luozhi chuckled a few times, his face contorted with malice. "You've been poisoned. You can't defeat me."
Before Lai Luozhi could finish speaking, a cold arrow shot through the air, piercing his left chest. As if fearing it wasn't enough, another cold arrow followed, striking his right chest.
Lai Luozhi could no longer hold on and collapsed weakly to the ground.
The Empress was furious. "Who shot the arrows? I did not wish for him to die so easily."
Jing Lin was startled and hurried in to report, "Your Majesty, the arrows did not hit any vital spots; they were aimed off-center."
The Empress breathed a sigh of relief. The others were filled with mixed emotions, especially Chaoyang, whose eyes flickered, though she ultimately said nothing.
Shen Du acted swiftly. Lai Luozhi was taken to the inner court's dungeon. His subordinates present had long been dealt with and replaced by the inner court's rarely seen shadow guards. After bidding farewell to the Empress, Shen Du led his men directly to the Lai residence, confiscating the property and sending everyone inside to the Dali Temple.
The remaining officials closely associated with Lai Luozhi were also purged in the vast darkness of the night.
Yong'an was imprisoned in the inner court as well.
Meanwhile, Crown Prince Li Chong was released that very night. It was said he had grown emaciated. The Empress did not allow Li Chong to return to the Crown Prince's residence but instead chose another dwelling for him to recuperate, with Chaoyang continuing to oversee state affairs.
It must be said that the success of this operation was entirely due to the Unrighteous Agents organization, with their leader playing a significant role. Their intelligence network spanned the entire nation, from the highest to the lowest social strata, preventing any time gaps for Shen Du and the others.
Shen Du had privately sought out Xu Xiangren. His cold demeanor toward Zhu Yan was only to keep her from getting involved, and for this, he even fought with Xu Xiangren.
Halfway through the Si hour, Zhu Yan suddenly awoke from a nightmare, her heart pounding wildly and a cold sweat breaking out on her back.
She had dreamed of the scene in Yingzhou, where she and Shen Du were attacked by the Half-Faced Ghost at the city wall, narrowly escaping death.Wiping the sweat from her brow, Zhu Yan found herself unable to sleep. She pushed aside the bed curtains and got up, groping her way to the table to pour herself a cup of cold tea. Suddenly, she caught sight of a faint shadow by the window and jumped in fright.
"Who's there?"
The shadow moved, drawing closer to the window. "It's me."
It was Shen Du.
Zhu Yan wondered if she was dreaming. She pinched herself hard, wincing at the pain, then hurried over to open the window. Sure enough, Shen Du stood facing her, his back to the moonlight. Outside, heavy snow fell thickly, even though the first month of the year was already halfway over.
Zhu Yan noticed at once the layer of snowflakes covering Shen Du's shoulders. He brushed them off, climbed through the window, closed it firmly behind him, and turned to face her.
He radiated a chilling cold, his breath forming white puffs in the air. Yet when he looked at her, his eyes—dark pools filled with countless thoughts—held a gentle warmth and concern.
"What are you doing here at this hour? Did anyone see you?"
When Shen Du didn’t answer, Zhu Yan stamped her foot in frustration. She quickly pulled him over to sit near the heated floor, removed his cloak to hang it on the screen, and pressed a warming pot into his hands.
Only after the warmth of the floor had driven away the chill did Shen Du’s eyes finally soften with a smile. "I missed you, so I came."
Zhu Yan flushed, then realized something was off. "Why aren’t you wearing your mask?"
Shen Du touched his face and smiled faintly. "The scabs have fallen off, so I didn’t feel like wearing it anymore. Is the scarring too ugly?"
To be honest, the crisscrossing pink scars across his face were indeed unsightly, but that wasn’t what bothered Zhu Yan. She glanced out the window, remembering the divorce letter, and said with a tinge of bitterness, "You’ve already decided to divorce me. Isn’t it inappropriate for you to come see me now?"
Shen Du was taken aback. He had clearly forgotten about that. Stung by her remark, he found himself at a loss for words.
Seeing that Shen Du offered no words of comfort, Zhu Yan felt a pang of disappointment. She opened the door and gestured for him to leave, showing no mercy.
Shen Du lingered at the doorway for a moment before finally saying, "Take care of yourself."
With that, he put his cloak back on and vanished into the snowy night.
Zhu Yan was so angry she couldn’t sleep all night. That man came and went as he pleased, relying on his martial skills, yet he wanted a divorce and still sought her out.
As soon as he returned to the inner chamber, Shen Du could no longer suppress the blood rising in his throat. Jing Lin hurried over with a medicinal pill, his face filled with worry. "Commander, your poison..."
Shen Du forced down the discomfort and spoke slowly, "I’m aware of the poison he gave me. I induced vomiting each time after taking it, so the poisoning isn’t severe. Has the antidote been found?"
"It has. It was sent to the imperial physicians to check for any hidden toxins. His Majesty has ordered the Imperial Medical Bureau to prepare a new antidote for you. Please remain patient for now. This is a detoxifying pill to suppress the poison. Please take it."
Without another word, Shen Du swallowed the pill and finally felt a little better. The hem of his qilin-patterned robe swirled as he turned. "Let’s go. We’ll interrogate through the night."
Jing Lin nodded and quickly followed.
Tonight was bound to be a sleepless night.
After a night of interrogation, every torture device had been used on Lai Luozhi, yet nothing substantial was revealed. But Shen Du didn’t mind.
All he wanted to see was the fire moth tattoo on Lai Luozhi’s body. Everything else was secondary.
Shen Du worked through the night to draft an official report, detailing Lai Luozhi’s painstaking efforts over more than a decade to build the Fire Moth Party and its deeply entrenched influence.
This included the distribution of the Fire Moth Party across the Great Zhou, its membership, the crimes committed, and the connection between the fire moth tattoo on Lai Luozhi’s body and the Fire Moth Party.
It also exposed Lai’s faction’s decades of embezzlement, selling official positions, and framing loyal officials.The key points explained how Lai Luozhi abducted Daisy, the Holy Maiden of the Wusun Kingdom, hypnotized her into a second personality named Lai Luofu, and faked her death and resurrection. He also created countless Lai Luofu duplicates to wreak havoc in the world.
Meanwhile, they searched the Lai residence overnight. Relying on the information previously gathered by Shen Du's defection, they quickly discovered the underground passage beneath the Lai residence. Inside, they found partially consumed corpses and the long-missing human hearts, many of which had also been made into Human Preserves.
Consequently, the Grand Secretariat issued an official document, which was delivered to the Ministry of Justice before dawn, summoning Ninth-rank Clerk Zhu Yan to conduct the autopsy.
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