Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 232: One wave comes after another

After Dong Xian and his son and Xiahou Hong were executed by slow slicing, the capital was quiet for a while. As the weather got warmer, it was the plum rain season.

On that day, Ren Yuan and a few others were squatting under the duty room corridor, eating bayberries that had just come off the market, while watching the raindrops dripping along the eaves and landing on the blue bricks under the eaves.

"Damn it, he looks like he's covered in mold." Chen Baxian spat out a bunch of bayberry seeds and cursed in annoyance.

Although he was very careful and seldom used his magical powers, the side effects accumulated over time and still caused him to feel burned inside.

However, the one-year abstinence period was only halfway through... He could only hold it in. This made his condition increasingly unsettled.

"Third brother, hurry up, Bingxin Talisman." Chen Baxian felt a burning sensation again and quickly asked Ren Yuan for help.

Ren Yuan then drew a talisman and pasted it on his Dan Zhong. Chen Baxian finally breathed a sigh of relief. He was able to hold on until now, all thanks to Ren Yuan drawing talismans for him to reduce his internal heat every day...

"I see you set up a tent all night last night." Yang Zhong sincerely suggested, "Go put out the fire, or what if it explodes?"

"No, I have to endure it, I can do it!" Chen Baxian gritted his teeth and said, "Men should be a little harder on themselves."

"Oh, why bother?" Yang Zhong shook his head, unable to understand Chen Baxian's insistence. It was not like he couldn't get the external elixir in the Gou Chen Division, so why bother practicing the internal alchemy which was slow to progress and demanding?

"Because if you rely on mountains, the mountains will fall; if you rely on people, they will run away. Only what you get by relying on yourself is the safest!" Chen Baxian said in a deep voice.

"Well said." The fifth dimension's voice of approval sounded at the right time: "I wish I had your awareness ten years ago."

"Master Wei." Everyone hurriedly stood up to greet him.

Diwuwei has been promoted to deputy chief of Lingguang Guard because he solved many major cases this year. Nangong took over his position as chief of Chongguang Guard. But apart from their titles, nothing seems to have changed.

"Is there any mission?" Ren Yuan asked.

"Yes." The Fifth Dimension nodded and said, "There was a fire in Princess Changle's mansion last night. The princess and the young master were burned to death."

"That's tragic." Everyone was shocked.

"These cases involving the death of royal family members are all major cases and are under the jurisdiction of our Gou Chen Division." The Fifth Wei paused and said, "Come on, follow me to the scene to take a look."

Although he felt that he shouldn't be excited at this time, Ren Yuan still cheered up and stood up and said, "Yes!"

Diwuwei and Nangong led the A-team, wearing raincoats and wooden clogs, and rushed to Princess Changle's Mansion on the banks of the Qinhuai River.

On the way, Ren Yuan asked Chen Baxian: "What's the situation with Princess Changle?"

If it's news related to women, you can always ask him.

As expected, Chen Baxian said, "She is actually Xiao Hong's daughter. She was originally named Princess Changle. But later, in order to compensate for the damage caused to the Xie family by the second princess' remarriage, the emperor promoted her to a princess and married her to Xie Xi."

"She should be in her early thirties this year. She has a son with Xie Xi. But she doesn't live with her husband. Instead, she lives with her son in the princess's mansion."

"How do you know so much about it?" Nangong couldn't help but turn around and asked.

"Because my lifelong ambition is to marry a real princess!" Chen Baxian said shamelessly: "All princesses are my potential wives. Of course, I have to investigate them carefully and know what's going on."

"You think you have an idea, but I think you have no idea at all." Nangong shook his head.

"Hehe, let's wait and see." Chen Baxian was full of confidence.

~~
As they were talking, everyone arrived at Princess Changle's mansion.

The guards outside the Princess's Mansion had been replaced by the Lingguang Guards. The original guards had all become suspects and were detained.

Seeing the fifth building owner and his entourage coming, everyone quickly made way.

They all went into the foyer, handed their wet raincoats to the eldest, and followed the ghostwriter who had arrived first, walking along the corridor toward the inner house.

As soon as they passed through the side door that separated the front hall and the back house, they saw the main bedroom that had been burned to ruins.

Many of the elders were searching the ruins for the charred bodies, and then carried them to the corridor, lining them up in a long row. "How could such a big fire start in this weather?" Zuan looked at the completely burned-down palace and said in disbelief, "I remember it rained last night."

"If the fire starts from the inside, rain won't be of much use." The Fifth Dimension silently counted the number of bodies and replied, "But it's been rainy days for several days, and if there are a handful of water droplets in the house, it's really not easy to catch fire."

"Yes, there have been few fires in the entire capital city recently, and one as serious as this is extremely rare." Nangong nodded.

"Since you interrupted me, I forgot how many times I had counted." Diwu Weibai glanced at Zuan.

“Nangong also said it, why is he blaming only me?” Zuan curled his lips.

"Thirty-six corpses." Nangong told the Fifth Dimension the answer.

"There are thirty-six dead bodies, except for one child, and they are all women." The head of the upper chapter, Song Jingxiu, came forward and said, "That's about it."

"Has the body of Her Royal Highness the Princess been found?" asked the Fifth Dimension in a deep voice.

"We've found it, I guess, but we're not sure." Song Jingxiu led Diwuwei and the others to a corpse that was placed alone, and lifted the sheet covering it.

Everyone saw that the corpse was about six feet four inches tall, with a small frame, and the clothes on his body were burnt along with his flesh. Only the jade bracelets on his arms and the luxurious gold necklace inlaid with gems on his neck showed that this person was extraordinary.

Next to the corpse was the body of a child, which had also been burned beyond recognition and nothing could be seen.

"The body was burnt so the face couldn't be seen at all. We can only judge it is a princess from these gold and jade jewelry." Song Jingxiu said.

"Have you asked someone in the mansion to identify it?" asked the Fifth Dimension.

"All the palace maids and old women in the back house were burned to death. There is no way to identify them for the time being." Song Jingxiu replied.

"They were all burned to death?" The Fifth Dimension said in disbelief, "Not a single one escaped?"

"Yes." Song Jingxiu nodded and said, "Maybe it was because the fire happened in the middle of the night, and everyone in the palace was asleep."

"What about the night watchmen?" Fifth Dimension asked, "Are they all asleep too?"

"I guess so." Song Jingxiu smiled bitterly, "Otherwise, how could no one escape?"

"Why doesn't Lord Wei use his magical powers to directly take a look at what happened last night?" Chen Baxian asked in a low voice.

"This is the princess's residence," Zuan explained, "just like the prince's residence, it cannot be pried into."

After a pause, he said the truth again: "Besides, even if the past can be recreated, the Lord of Guards will never use it in a place like this. Otherwise, he will become a thorn in the eyes of the princes and nobles."

"I understand." Chen Baxian nodded and stopped talking.

"Has the prince consort come yet?" Nangong asked at this time.

"He's already here, and he fainted when he saw this scene." Song Jingxiu replied: "I asked someone to send him to rest."

"I'm fine." A voice filled with grief sounded behind everyone.

A big man came over, supporting a pale-faced man.

"My condolences, Prince Consort." After everyone saluted, Diwu Wei said in a gentle voice, "We are here, you just need to rest assured."

"Alas, how can I rest without finding the princess and my son?" The man sighed. He was Princess Changle's consort Xie Xi. "Have you found their bodies?"

"At the moment, these two bodies are the most likely." The fifth dimension stepped aside to make way.

Xie Xi stared at the two corpses with eyes wide open, tears streaming down his face. He threw himself on them and burst into tears. Everyone hurriedly pulled him back.

ps. I'm back. I have no more drafts saved, so I'll save some quickly. Stable updates are more important. So I won't update any more for now.

According to the old rules, three updates will be sent every day at 7:30 in the morning.

(End of this chapter)