After fifteen years of cultivation, he finally reached the pinnacle of the first rank!

Chapter 171 Jade Tablet
At this moment, Li Musheng gently reached out, and an object appeared out of thin air in his hand.

However, Murong Xiaoya kept her head down and did not see this scene.

After glancing at what he held in his hand, Li Musheng suddenly looked enlightened and said:
"I see, no wonder Miss Murong needed to hide this thing."

Upon hearing this, Murong Xiaoya was slightly taken aback, but then her expression suddenly changed.

She hurriedly reached into her bosom, and after realizing something, she suddenly looked up at Li Musheng in front of her.

Upon seeing the jade pendant in the other person's hand, she froze on the spot, speechless for a moment.

"I……"

Murong Xiaoya's breathing rose and fell slightly, the wisps of hair on her forehead were ruffled by the wind, and she hurriedly swept her pink cheeks.

However, she was clearly extremely flustered at the moment and didn't know what to say.

He just stood there, stammering, looking flustered and uneasy.

At this moment, Hu Ruian and the others also noticed the strangeness here. However, since Li Musheng didn't say anything, they naturally didn't dare to come over and ask.

At this moment, Li Musheng glanced at Murong Xiaoya and said:
“I saw you quietly pick up this jade pendant just now, so I came over out of curiosity. Now it seems that this jade pendant must have been left behind by someone from your Murong family.”

With that, he handed the jade token back to the other person, saying:
"Miss Murong must have seen the corpses in the inner courtyard just now. If it was really done by the Murong family, it has nothing to do with Miss Murong. It's best not to get involved in this matter."

After saying that, Li Musheng turned and left, while Murong Xiaoya held the jade pendant in her hand, then lowered her head and sighed softly.

Then, she followed Li Musheng back and handed the jade token in her hand to Hu Ruian.

Hu Ruian examined the jade pendant in his hand for a moment, a strange light flashing in his eyes.

He glanced at Li Musheng, then looked at Murong Xiaoya in front of him and asked:

"This jade pendant is made of extraordinary material. The person in the Murong family who can wear this jade must be of high status. Does Miss Murong know who this person is?"

Upon hearing this, Murong Xiaoya hesitated for a moment, then stole a glance at Li Musheng before her eyes dimmed as she said:
"It is... my elder brother, Murong Feng."

After saying this, she lowered her head even further, feeling both disappointed and indignant.

Clearly, she still cannot accept that her brother had committed such a heinous crime.

The horrific sight of those more than one hundred corpses flashed through her mind, truly shocking.

Seeing this, Hu Ruian pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said:

"You don't need to jump to conclusions so easily. The Murong family is indeed highly suspicious of this jade pendant being found here, but we can't rule out the possibility that someone deliberately framed it. We still need to investigate to find out the truth."

As he spoke, his expression turned slightly serious, and he said in a deep voice:
"However, harboring evidence and protecting criminals are serious crimes according to the laws of Dali. Miss Murong, please don't do this in the future."

"I know...I know."

Upon hearing this, Murong Xiaoya didn't dare to look up at all, and only responded in a voice barely audible.

She felt ashamed of her previous actions.

Just now, I was so worried about Murong Feng and the Murong family that I went against my conscience and did the deed of hiding the jade pendant.

Actually, she had been struggling with her feelings before Li Musheng came to her, but Li Musheng acted too quickly. The jade pendant she had hidden in her bosom appeared in his hands without her noticing.

There was no time for her to hesitate. Murong Xiaoya's emotions surged. After a moment of silence, she finally moved to stand before Li Musheng, lowered her head, and whispered:

"Your Highness, I'm so sorry..."

Upon hearing this, Li Musheng waved his hand and did not say anything more.

No one is perfect; everyone has selfish desires at times.

To be honest, unless you're heartless, anyone would hesitate and find it hard to make a decision in this situation.

At this moment, Shen Anran walked over and gently patted Murong Xiaoya's shoulder.

About two incense sticks' worth of time passed, and Cao Gaoshan returned on horseback, bringing with him a group of Tianjin Guards.

"My lord, the Tianjin Guard has already sent people to inform the Six Doors and the Shengzhou garrison, so I will bring them back first."

Cao Gaoshan reported the situation to Hu Ruian, while Hu Ruian looked at the Tianjin Guards who had arrived.

To his surprise, the person who led the Tianjin Guards here was none other than Mei Yanyu, the young master of Mei Yan, whom he had met the night before.

At this moment, Mei Yanyu glanced at Hu Ruian and Wu Shang, his eyes narrowing slightly, and cupped his hands in greeting:

"Lord Hu, we meet again."

Hu Ruian nodded slightly, while Mei Yanyu then turned his gaze to Li Musheng not far away, and immediately walked over and bowed, saying:

"Greetings, Eighth Prince."

Li Musheng slightly raised his eyes, glanced at the other person, and then his gaze swept over a servant following behind him.

He then simply waved his hand, indicating that there was no need for formalities.

The Mei family are legitimate imperial relatives, so Mei Yanyu and Li Musheng should be related by blood.

Although the Mei family belongs to the lineage of the Queen and the eldest prince, Li Musheng is a newly recognized prince and does not currently have any conflicts of interest with the eldest prince. On the contrary, the other party may be interested in winning him over.

Seeing that Li Musheng did not pay much attention to his meaning, Mei Yanyu remained calm and said nothing more. Accompanied by Hu Ruian, he went to the inner courtyard of the government office to check on the case.

During this period, the Tianjin Guard personnel did not disturb the scene at all. This matter was too important. If none of the three parties were present, any party would have to avoid suspicion and could not act rashly.

However, after briefly surveying the inner courtyard, Mei Yanyu seemed to have discerned something and said:
"Nearly half of the people died from a single sword strike to the throat, and this sword move looks very familiar. If I'm not mistaken, the sword technique used by the killer should be the Murong family's 'Azure Dragon Thousand Swords'."

Upon hearing this, Hu Ruian's eyes flickered slightly as he glanced at Murong Xiaoya.

Mei Yanyu clearly recognized Murong Xiaoya, and a meaningful look appeared on his face as he said:

"The Azure Dragon Thousand Swords is a unique sword technique passed down in the Murong family. This is common knowledge among the martial arts families in the entire state city. However, very few people have actually seen this sword technique."

Upon hearing this, Murong Xiaoya opened her mouth, but she didn't know what to say.

At this moment, Mei Yanyu looked at the other person and slowly said:

“Miss Xiaoya, there’s no need to be anxious. It’s common knowledge that the Azure Dragon Thousand Swords belong to the Murong family. If the Murong family really did this, and even used this sword technique to kill people so openly, wouldn’t that be an admission of guilt?”

"Therefore, in my opinion, this matter is most likely a deliberate frame-up by someone who wants to put the Murong family to death."

(End of this chapter)