Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

Cui Lian wanted to have a second round with his concubine, and the concubine had the same idea, but Cui Lian was weak and lacked stamina, and a hint of disappointment flashed in her eyes.

"Lian'er must be exhausted. Take a rest and have a cup of tea. You'll feel refreshed after I finish cleaning the house."

Cui Lian was humiliated and embarrassed, and in his embarrassment, he shifted the blame, saying:

"Hmm, I'm going to rest for a bit. I just got upset by that woman when I went back to my room, so I'm not really in the mood."

Chu Mingkong was too lazy to look at him anymore. If only his weapon were half as hard as his mouth. If he, Chu Mingkong, were in this situation, he would definitely take this opportunity to meditate and recuperate.

Whether or not he can recover his energy, at least his cultivation level will increase a little. Little by little, as he progresses to higher realms, this kind of physical labor will be no problem.

He returned to the Chu King's residence, summoned Lady Han to his room, and sculpted the faces of their "stand-ins" in their likeness.

"Don't be nervous, just sit down. I'm creating a double for you."

------

P.S.: Just wanted to let you know in advance that some wording will be modified later, such as "two-day weekend." I haven't decided how to change the wording yet. It might be something like "yin and yang harmony" or "integrated cultivation," but you'll understand the meaning when the time comes.

But if two days isn't possible, how about three days...?

Chapter 109 Curiosity

Creating a character's face is truly a skill, mainly because it's so easy to get distracted. Sometimes you might accidentally discover you can create a pig's nose and play with it for a while, only to realize you have to get back to your main task when a large portion of your time has already been wasted.

Choosing a hairstyle alone was a headache for Chu Mingkong. Not only were there so many hairstyles, but the hair color could also be adjusted—a uniform white hair configuration.

Although the facial features weren't finished yet, Chu Mingkong politely paid his respects upon seeing the white-haired figure.

To be honest, this is the downside of having such monotonous hair colors in this world. At most, there might be some unusual hair colors in the homeland of the Wind Shadow, but within the Heavenly Empire, almost everyone has black hair.

But to be honest, if a fairy were to stare at multicolored hair, the scene would look truly bizarre.

Chu Mingkong thought he could finish sculpting faces quickly, but by evening he still hadn't finished one person. He had no choice but to stop sculpting faces and go to fetch Shangguan Rong so she could question Madam Han.

Chu Mingkong himself wouldn't have much trouble asking questions, but he was afraid that he might miss some information and make a wrong judgment. If he then relayed the information to Shangguan Rong, she would also misjudge the information, which would be ridiculous.

In the end, it's up to her to figure it out anyway, so it's better to let her ask Madam Han from the beginning.

Traveling under the stars and moon, Chu Mingkong brought Shangguan Rong back to the palace under the cover of night. He briefly introduced them to each other:

"Han Jing, Han Bi, this is Shangguan Rong. You just need to cooperate with her in answering her questions."

Shangguan Rong nodded and politely glanced at the two women. Her gaze was calm, unlike the disdainful and contemptuous look she gave Chu Mingkong when they were playing around in private.

While she was sizing up the other woman, Han Jing and Han Bi were also observing her. They couldn't help but sigh inwardly at how beautiful she was. Her delicate and three-dimensional features were unforgettable at first glance, and her dashing and spirited demeanor was rare among women. Many pretty girls dressed normally might not look as good in men's clothing, but even in men's attire, her natural beauty couldn't be concealed; she was stunning no matter how she dressed.

What is the relationship between this woman and the young prince?

Shangguan Rong invited them to sit down, poured them a cup of tea, and asked gently:

"There's no need to be nervous. You already know what happened to Chu Mingkong, right?"

To dare address the young prince by his full name so directly, their relationship must be quite special, right? Han Bi nodded and replied:

“After the young prince brought us to his residence and settled us in during the day, my sister and I learned about the situation from the maids.”

"Then I'll save myself the trouble of explaining. You just need to tell me about your husband's family in detail, and mention anything that might be related to the confiscation of their property."

Holding the cup in both hands, Han Bi recalled the misfortunes that had happened to her family. It was not an easy task. The warmth seeping from the teacup warmed her cold hands.

“My husband’s family has ancestors who were镖师 (bodyguards/escorts). Later, they saved the life of an official in Shanxi in the wilderness. As a result, they were granted a job transporting goods for the government. After that, they basically only worked for the government.”

Chu Mingkong continued playing with the character customization feature, but his ears weren't idle. Han Bi's husband's family seemed to be the Liang family; their situation was like a private enterprise turning into a state-owned enterprise, essentially giving them a secure job.

Shangguan Rong didn't glean any useful information and continued to ask:

"Later, did your husband ever mention what he was transporting, what the most common items he transported for the Jin government were, or what the most valuable items he had ever transported were?"

After recalling for a while, Han Bi said:

"The most common items are provisions and fodder. They help deliver provisions from nearby areas to military camps or distribute them to granaries throughout Jin. My husband doesn't handle these things himself; it's the servants below who are in charge. The items my husband usually escorts are things that officials ask him to transport. These goods are sometimes herbs, elixirs, and silks, and sometimes weapons that are offered up by his subordinates."

"These things are all being transported to the military camp, right?"

"No," Han Bi denied. "Most of the time, they were transported to the wilderness. Once, my husband even hunted two rabbits and brought them back to eat. I asked him where they came from, and he said he hunted them by the roadside during the transport. After asking him more closely, I found out that they had gone to the wilderness. However, he said he didn't know who they were given to. The government said that the sect would go and pick them up."

This is a normal exchange between local prefectures and external sects. The sects will provide resources to the local prefectures, and the locals will occasionally send some talented people or send back some spiritual treasures.

It's not a strange thing. As for why they sent it to the desolate wilderness instead of directly to the sect's holy land, it's simply because it's far away. The escort convoy can't go that far, but they still have to show their sincerity, so they have someone send it further out of the city. It's a matter of saving face, and it's very common.

What were their reasons for confiscating the property?

Han Bi shook his head bitterly:

"I asked the jailers who imprisoned us, and they only knew a little bit about it. They were only responsible for guarding us and didn't know anything else. But I heard them say that before us, two small families who were responsible for escorting goods for the government had their homes confiscated. The jailers and their colleagues were puzzled about what these people had done. One of them said that someone had secretly opened up the goods that Prince Jin was escorting, and a medicine that was supposed to save the lives of the sect elders was missing. They suspected that it was stolen from the escort team, but since they couldn't find out, they were implicated."

"If the Prince of Jin used this reason, it is definitely just a pretext. Since it is medicine to save the lives of the sect elders, it is something that is extremely urgent. How could the escort team be allowed to transport it slowly? The disciples of the sect have already gone to Jin to get the medicine themselves."

Shangguan Rong frowned, her mind racing. Even after asking so many questions, she hadn't been able to get any valuable clues, but it couldn't be said that she had gained nothing.

The fact that these families, who transported goods for the Jin government, had their property confiscated is not normal. Furthermore, considering what Chu Mingkong mentioned, someone sent a puppeteer to secretly eliminate the Han family woman and try to create the illusion that the two died from a cultivation error.

This is an attempt to conceal some secret.

What could possibly warrant such a cover-up in Jindi, that they wouldn't even spare Han Jing, a girl who only occasionally visited her cousin's husband's family for a short stay?

Shangguan Rong took out a map, spread it out on the table, located the Jin region, and then asked:

"Since your husband's family is in this line of work, they should have maps at home. Do you remember what routes were marked on their maps?"

Based on her vague memory, Han Bi drew a few routes that she remembered most clearly, and suddenly remembered something:

"By the way, Miss Shangguan, my husband recently came back and complained that his brother's child is being unreasonable and likes to uncover everything, which almost caused a disaster."

"What happened?"

"He said there was a cartload of goods, and the seals were on. The boy was curious, and it seemed he had a habit of peeking at goods before, wanting to see the rare treasures of wealthy families. This time, when he peeled off the seals, a chilling and eerie atmosphere rushed out. Fortunately, he put the seals back on and everything was fine."

Chapter 110 You won't even spare a corpse? (9/17)

If there are no other circumstances, the problem most likely stems from the relative's child's careless eyeing of the goods.

The seal isn't something you can just put back on and call it off.

The restrictions on the goods can be used to conceal their presence and to detect if they have been opened.

However, it's probably hard to say anything about a relative's child like this. If you say something too harsh, you'll offend the relative, but if you say something too mild, it could leave behind a future problem, which is why their home has been raided.

Shangguan Rong examined the routes drawn by Han Bi. Most of them connected to local county towns and were mostly for delivering grain to granaries. However, it was hard to say who the routes that connected to the border wilderness and forests were for.

Shangguan Rong was still wondering if any of these routes were for smuggling goods to the Xiling border, but unfortunately there weren't any.

"If I'm not mistaken, your husband's family was harmed by this curious young man. Did your husband say anything specific about what that aura might be?"

Few people come into contact with the extreme yin energy, but many have heard of it. Those who travel all over the country to transport goods have extensive experience and would not fail to recognize it.

Upon learning the root cause of her family's misfortune, Han Bi felt a wave of helplessness and regret. Her husband had previously confided in her that the children these relatives had asked her to look after were too disobedient, but out of consideration for their elders and to save face, they couldn't refuse, and so...

"They didn't say, because I didn't ask in detail..."

Shangguan Rong pointed out the route on the map that was closest to Xiling. This route was near a county town, and there was a road from this county town to Xiling, but the Liang family's escort route did not continue.

"Has your husband ever transported anything to Xiling along this route?"

Han Bi was too upset to speak. Han Jing, who knew about her sister's family situation, spoke on her behalf:

“No, our Han family is actually located at the border of Xiling and Jinzhou. If Brother Liang’s escort route goes to Xiling, my sister will go with him, so she can visit her family home.”

At this point, Han Bi's mood had calmed down a bit, and she brought up another matter:

“My husband once said a year or two before the incident that some goods were transported there, but were not handed over to the soldiers to transport midway.”

Shangguan Rong stopped asking questions. These two women had limited knowledge, which was understandable. Their status limited their access to information to this level. If she were to reveal everything she wanted to know, Shangguan Rong would suspect that it was a ruse, a deliberate attempt to mislead them by having the two women release information.

"You should rest first. Don't worry too much about your husband's family. Be wary of anyone you might come into contact with later. If anything happens, tell Chu Mingkong first."

"Alright!" Madam Han expressed her gratitude to Chu Mingkong for redeeming her, then timidly asked, "Young Prince, do you know the whereabouts of my husband's family? Are they alive or dead? I also want to know the truth..."

Shangguan Rong hadn't investigated her husband's family's intelligence, but it was obvious that even two unrelated women like them could be sent to kill, so wasn't the fate of the Liang family obvious?

Tonight's questioning could not yield a definitive result. Shangguan Rong disliked relying on guesswork, but for now, she could only roughly focus her attention on Prince Jin.

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Shangguan Rong followed Chu Mingkong into his room and saw that he collapsed onto the bed and didn't move as soon as he entered the room.

She recalled that Chu Mingkong had just been in Madam Han's room, and he seemed to have been sitting there in a daze without moving much, which was quite unlike him.

She naturally couldn't guess that Chu Mingkong was so engrossed in tinkering with character creation that he had already finished creating the faces of the two stand-ins while listening to Shangguan Rong's questions. But since he had nothing to do and didn't want to get involved in Shangguan Rong's questions to avoid interrupting her train of thought, he continued playing with character creation.

Now we've almost finished creating the "forging material" for Shangguan Rong.

I just don't know how well it performs in practice!

Shangguan Rong stood there for a while, and when she noticed that Chu Mingkong really wasn't moving, she worried that he might be feeling unwell, so she went over and asked:

"Mingkong, is your injury hurting again?"

Chu Mingkong ignored her, because the project was almost finished.

Shangguan Rong leaned down, her cheek pressed against his heart, her full breasts inevitably pressing against Chu Mingkong's arm. But suddenly, with a sudden turn of events, Chu Mingkong pulled her onto the bed.

The woman, whose beauty was undeniable even in men's clothing, was somewhat angry. Knowing he was alright and had only been deliberately ignoring her, Shangguan Rong glared at him and said angrily:

"Chu Mingkong, what's wrong with you? I was worried about you, and you're joking about something like this!"

This rebuke was even more furious than when Chu Mingkong first forced his way through her back door.

Chu Mingkong laughed to ease his embarrassment and quickly explained to prevent her emotions from escalating further.

"You misunderstood. I was thinking about some things, and it was almost over. I couldn't be distracted, so I didn't reply to you for the time being. I was listening to everything you said."

Shangguan Rong was skeptical about the idea that "Chu Mingkong would seriously think things through on his own." These days, all he thought about was how to mess with her, and he would just dump any important matter on her to figure out.

"Then what are you thinking? Tell me." Shangguan Rong gave him a chance to make an excuse.

Chu Mingkong first took out the "doll" of the Han family woman that he had sculpted. Shangguan Rong was surprised. At first glance, she subconsciously wondered how Chu Mingkong had killed them and when he had done it. Wasn't he with her the whole time after they left the room?

However, upon closer inspection after carrying the lamp over, it was discovered that there were some differences. They did not look exactly like the two elegant women, but rather very similar. The facial features of the two "corpses" were actually somewhat unnatural.