Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 203 Hemp Rope
Inside the yellow cloth bag was only a stone, on which were engraved the following words: "Sixth Prince Jing, has betrayed the teachings of his sovereign and father, violated the principles of human relations, deceived the emperor's ears, and secretly colluded with the Khitans. He is a morally corrupt person and should not inherit the throne!"
"This..." The guards looked at each other, at a loss for what to do.

"What is written?" The sixth prince saw the ugly expressions on the faces of his personal guards, so he took a few steps forward, snatched the stone away, and became angrier the more he read it, his shoulders shaking violently.

"Sixth Prince, spare our lives!" Several guards knelt down, begging for mercy. The lower one's rank, the more one knows who is truly kind and compassionate, and who is a wolf in sheep's clothing.

To everyone's surprise, the Sixth Prince remained calm, meticulously scanning each of their faces with a venomous gaze and a murderous tone: "This matter is clearly the work of the Khitan people. You must not speak recklessly and fall into their trap. If I find out that anyone else knows about this, your lives will be in danger..."

The Sixth Prince then smiled warmly and said, "You've all worked hard these past few days. Why don't you all go home and rest for a few days?"

The guards were momentarily stunned. When they realized what the Sixth Prince had said, they kowtowed in gratitude, their backs soaked with cold sweat.

When the guards left, the sixth prince casually glanced back at his attendant, who understood and silently left.

This scene was witnessed by Yan Mingzhang. Oh no, the Sixth Prince was probably going to kill them to silence them. Yan Mingzhang quickly glanced at Mo Yun and Chang Feng, whispered a few words to them, and Mo Yun and Chang Feng also quietly left.
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The guards, in two boats and with nets in hand, searched almost the entire moat, inside and out. But apart from the yellow cloth bundle and red clothes they had just pulled up, there was nothing—no body, no imperial seal. Where had the seal and the person gone? How could they have simply vanished like that? Had they really encountered a ghost? Darkness was slowly falling, and everyone was exhausted.

Rong Wanyin looked around but couldn't find Rong Junye. She grabbed a passing soldier and asked, "Young man, do you know where my elder brother is? He's General Rong..."

"Oh, General Rong has gone up to the palace wall; he's been up there for quite a while now," the guard replied.

Rong Wanyin was a little worried, so she pulled Yan Mingzhang up to check on things.

Rong Junye stood atop the palace wall, his figure appearing forlorn in the night. Seeing Rong Wanyin and Yan Ming arrive, he gave a bitter smile: "I'm sorry, I can't quite accept it right now. I know her; she shouldn't be the kind of person to give up her life so easily. Something just feels off..."

"Brother, how did you two meet?" Rong Wanyin felt a little uneasy. Did her brother know that Miss Yu had feelings for him? If not, should she tell him?

Rong Junye calmed himself down and began to recount what had happened before: "Do you know Yu Yanzhou, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue?"

“I know him. I’ve met him a few times, but we’re not very close. I’ve heard he’s quite accomplished in calligraphy and painting.” Yan Mingzhang nodded. After all, they were officials in the same court, so they had some interaction. He knew that Yu Nishang’s surname was Yu, which was quite rare. He guessed that she must be a female relative of Lord Yu Yanzhou.

"Lord Yu is an upright man, but he didn't want to offend the Second Prince. The Sixth Prince took the opportunity to save Lord Yu and help him out of trouble. Because of this incident, the Second Prince concluded that Lord Yu was one of the Sixth Prince's men. In fact, he didn't choose sides at all; he was just doing his duty. You all know what happened later. When the Sixth Prince went to Medicine King Valley, the Second Prince took the opportunity to make trouble, and the entire Yu family fell into misfortune, leaving only her and her five-year-old sister." Rong Junye sighed, deeply moved.

“I heard from my third brother that Lord Yu has two daughters, the eldest named Yu Nishang. Everyone says that Nishang is beautiful, skilled in music, calligraphy and painting, and good at singing and dancing, so she is known as a talented woman.” Rong Wanyin pondered for a moment and said, “I never expected her to end up like this.” “When I first met her, she was in trouble and had been sold to a brothel. But even in that situation, she tried to save herself and her younger sister.” Rong Junye seemed to recall the past, his lips slightly raised, his eyes softening. “I don’t believe that she would commit suicide because of a little entanglement between the Sixth Prince and the Khitan princess, just because someone stirred things up. That’s not her.”

Rong Wanyin thought for a moment: "Could it be because she was desperate? I saw that her arms were covered in wounds. Could it be that the Sixth Prince attacked her?"

Rong Junye shook his head: "She is a very resilient person. She always finds a way to survive even in dire situations. Not to mention, her situation at the time should have been better than that of a brothel."

Yan Mingzhang nodded in agreement: "If what you say is true, then it really shouldn't be like this. She had no motive to commit suicide."

Yan Mingzhang and Rong Wanyin understood this perfectly. If one were to be so desperate as to commit suicide, that would be understandable. But would Yu Nishang commit suicide for someone she didn't love? Obviously, it didn't make logical sense.

"Moreover, the clothes that were just retrieved were intact," Yan Mingzhang added.

Rong Junye instantly understood—he had torn off a corner of Yu Nishang's dress! And the dress that was pulled up was intact! Apart from the supernatural explanation, there was only one possibility: this dress was not the one Yu Nishang was wearing! Was it really Yu Nishang who fell into the water back then?
Rong Junye took out the piece of cloth from his pocket and handed it to Yan Mingzhang: "Are you sure the clothes are intact?"

“Confirmed! Actually, we all saw it, but no one really saw it either.” Yan Mingzhang continued to deduce, “Strictly speaking, we didn’t see Yu Nishang fall into the water. All we saw was Yu Nishang jumping off the palace wall and then hearing the splash. It was too dark at night; if it had been a stone that fell into the water, we wouldn’t have been able to tell. Sometimes the eyes can deceive us.”

Rong Junye's eyes lit up after hearing this: "But if she didn't die, how did she escape?"

"This is our mission today!" Yan Mingzhang said with increasing certainty. "Let's search; we're sure to find some clues."

The three of them started searching immediately, thoroughly searching every inch of the palace walls.

“Look, there’s a white mark here!” Rong Junye called out to the other two people.

Rong Wanyin and Yan Mingzhang gathered around and examined it carefully: "There are indeed friction marks on this blue brick. And it's not just this one, look, these other bricks have them too!"

“It’s the mark of hemp rope rubbing against the blue bricks! And the mark is very deep!” Yan Mingzhang judged after looking at the size and thickness of the mark.

“A hemp rope…I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before…” Rong Wanyin pondered, then suddenly ran toward the corner tower.