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Chapter 361: Calculating Killer

Taking a deep breath, Zhongshan attempted to store them in his storage bracelet, but they didn\'t fit. Ninth-grade magical treasures? Such extravagant expenditure—who would go to such lengths to kill Yinging and frame Qianyou?

"Zhihuo, take care of these," Zhongshan instructed.

"Yes!" Zhihuo eagerly accepted them.

Another ninth-grade magical treasure; Zhihuo hadn\'t seen so many before, now having one in each hand. He was genuinely excited.

"All right, thank you for your assistance, General Ma. Zhihuo, let\'s go!" Zhongshan said, storing the documents into his storage bracelet.

"No need for pleasantries!" Ma Zhuirui grumbled resentfully.

Zhongshan departed the Ministry of Punishments with Zhihuo.

"General, where to next?" Zhihuo inquired.

"Yinging\'s mansion, the scene of the crime!" Zhongshan declared.

"Understood!" Zhihuo nodded promptly—

Yinging\'s mansion! The entire mansion was still immersed in profound sorrow despite more than a month having passed. Everyone entering and leaving wore mourning clothes.

"Halt!" shouted the guards at the gate.

Zhihuo stepped forward, brandishing the Sacred Sword. Similar to in front of Qianyou\'s mansion, a guard screamed in agony after clutching his head, leading everyone to bow in homage.

"Long live the Emperor!" they chanted.

Zhongshan and Zhihuo entered unhindered.

Inside, cries of mourning could still be heard. Zhongshan led Zhihuo to a distant grand hall where he could see it was the spirit hall.

Approaching the entrance, Zhongshan saw Qitian Hou sitting before a large coffin, burning joss paper. His face was filled with grief, having lost his younger sister, with whom he shared a special bond. It was a profound loss, and beside him stood a line of people, among whom Zhongshan recognized only one: Fan Yipin, the Chief Counselor of Daxuan Wang.

Zhongshan nodded lightly to Fan Yipin and proceeded forward.

"Yinging, separated by life and death, I can no longer assist you. I cannot offer spirit stones, but here is the money for the underworld, with your birth and death dates. The chief ghosts may not favor you, but it should make things easier," Qitian Hou murmured sadly.

Zhongshan frowned, but at that moment, Qitian Hou seemed to sense his presence and turned.

"What are you here for?" Qitian Hou immediately stood up, frowning.

"The deceased is paramount. Zhihuo, let\'s bow in respect together," Zhongshan ignored Qitian Hou\'s question and instructed Zhihuo.

"Yes!" Zhihuo nodded.

Approaching, they both bowed respectfully toward the coffin in the spirit hall.

Qitian Hou continued to glare.

After bowing, Zhongshan spoke up, "By the decree of the Emperor, we are to thoroughly investigate the cause of Yinging\'s death. I need to examine her body."

"Zhongshan, how dare you!" Qitian Hou exclaimed angrily.

With his outburst, everyone behind him glared fiercely at Zhongshan. Fan Yipin stood silently on the side, observing without comment.

"The Sacred Sword is here; who dares to act recklessly~~~" Zhongshan\'s voice thundered.

At Zhongshan\'s furious shout, the crowd felt a wave of pressure, but they still stared defiantly at Zhongshan.

"This is my sister\'s body, and no one can touch her! Zhongshan, if you dare to move my sister\'s corpse today, you will become an enemy of the Gu family. Even if my Gu family members die, they are not to be trifled with," Qitian Hou declared, his eyes narrowing.

"I only said I wanted to see, not to touch. Anyone who dares to stop me again, don\'t blame me for being impolite!" Zhongshan replied.

Turning his head, Zhongshan addressed Zhihuo, "Zhihuo, if anyone obstructs again, wield the Sacred Sword and cut them down~~~!"

"Yes!" Zhihuo promptly acknowledged.

Having said that, Zhongshan gave a commanding glance at everyone present.

Before the Sacred Sword, everyone could only suppress their anger. Even Qitian Hou at this moment could only glare at Zhongshan as if he wanted to devour him alive.

Approaching the coffin, Yinging\'s coffin was made from \'Ten Thousand Years Purple Wood with Yin Roots\', capable of preserving the body for ten years without decay. Even when decay began, it would proceed slowly. The coffin lid was open, allowing Zhongshan to see Yinging\'s body clearly inside.

Yinging\'s body had been dressed in beautiful clothes, cleaned and laid peacefully in the coffin. Despite her extremely pale complexion, she appeared almost as if asleep, serene and tranquil.

Using his divine sense, Zhongshan confirmed that Yinging was indeed dead. Her Purple Mansion was shattered, vitality lost, and deathly aura prevailed.

"Who has touched Yinging\'s face?" Zhongshan frowned.

"Touched? Who would dare?" Qitian Hou frowned back.

"I heard that when Yinging died, her expression was one of disbelief. Who made her look so peaceful?" Zhongshan continued to frown.

"Hmph, disbelief? Surprise? That\'s because Yinging couldn\'t believe Qianyou would strike. Surprise that her trusted sister would suddenly kill her. Who would have expected it? Yinging, of course, couldn\'t believe it. Her expression was adjusted by me. Yinging liked to look beautiful. Even in death, she must be beautiful," Qitian Hou retorted coldly.

Zhongshan raised an eyebrow but said nothing more. He turned and, with Zhihuo, walked back. Before Yinging\'s coffin, he bowed once more.

"Apologies for the disturbance. I wish to go to the scene of the crime," Zhongshan said.

"Hmph!" Qitian Hou snorted.

"I\'ll accompany Lord Dongfang," Fan Yipin interjected.

"Thank you," Zhongshan replied.

Throughout, Qitian Hou remained indifferent.

Fan Yipin led Zhongshan slowly towards the rear courtyard of the princess\'s mansion.

"How does Mr. Fan see this case?" Zhongshan asked as they walked.

"What can I see? This is the Emperor\'s family affair. We servants shouldn\'t interfere," Fan Yipin smiled faintly.

"Mm," Zhongshan nodded, not pressing further.

After a while, they arrived at the scene of the crime. Just as Princess Qianyou had mentioned, there were no clues here, only a complex array of pavilions in the distance.

Zhongshan found nothing in the courtyard, so he moved to the pavilions. There were too many, and they were forbidden areas of the princess\'s mansion, making it easy for the culprit to evade detection.

"No leads!" Zhongshan furrowed his brow.

"Dongfang Hou, do you want to continue searching?" Fan Yipin smiled.

"No need. Thank you, Mr. Fan," Zhongshan nodded.

"Don\'t mention it!" Fan Yipin smiled.

"Excuse us for the interruption, we\'ll take our leave!" Zhongshan bid farewell.

Fan Yipin nodded with a smile.

Zhongshan, accompanied by Zhihuo, slowly walked out of Princess Yinging\'s mansion. During this time, two pairs of eyes had been watching them closely. One belonged to Fan Yipin, who observed Zhongshan\'s departing figure with a slight furrow of his wise eyes, hinting at a sense of anticipation. The other pair of eyes belonged to Qitian Hou, who watched coldly, his face inadvertently revealing a trace of a sneer.

At the scene of the crime, there were no clues whatsoever. It seemed like all traces had been meticulously wiped clean.

The saying goes, "If you don\'t want anyone to know, don\'t do it." Meaning, in any case, it\'s impossible to leave behind absolutely no clues. Yet even Zhongshan, known for his meticulousness in investigating cases, couldn\'t find a single lead. Even the area where the pavilions were located, which the culprit had apparently cleaned of dust and then deliberately covered with a new layer, had been carefully orchestrated. The perpetrator\'s thinking was too meticulous, even considering the dust content in the air.

The case was baffling!

Zhongshan\'s investigation had drawn considerable attention. At least among the ministers of the court, many were closely monitoring Zhongshan\'s whereabouts and movements. Detailed reports on where Zhongshan had been and what he had done were promptly delivered to the hands of the ministers. However, in the next ten days, Lord Dongfang Zhongshan suddenly disappeared.

At Qitian Hou\'s residence.

"Uncle, still no news of Zhongshan?" Qitian Hou asked Ma Zhuiruo.

"No, Zhongshan and Zhihuo seem to have disappeared in the Ancient Capital, gone! Could it be...?" Ma Zhuiruo frowned.

"Could it be what?" Qitian Hou looked at Ma Zhuiruo.

"Could it be that they fled with the Sacred Sword and the Wind God Bow and Arrow?" Ma Zhuiruo speculated.

Indeed, two Ninth Grade treasures were enough to drive countless people crazy. Did they escape with these treasures?

"Impossible! Continue searching!" Qitian Hou asserted decisively.

Ten days passed, enough time to create a legend.

During these ten days, the legend of Zhongshan spread wildly throughout the Ancient Capital.

"Can writing move heaven and earth? Hah, you\'re outdated. What can move heaven and earth? Do you know that writing can stir up the heavens and earth, make the natural order intolerant, and invoke thunder and lightning?"

"Two hundred thousand people, without any injuries or deaths, took down the unparalleled city of Wushuang at the border, slaughtered six to seven hundred thousand enemies, and captured tens of thousands. Who could achieve such a feat?"

"The Heaven Collapse Plan? Don\'t tell me you don\'t even know about the Heaven Collapse Plan. It\'s because of the Heaven Collapse Plan that all the royal capitals are afraid, stocking up various resources to prevent price fluctuations. Who planned it? Zhongshan, Dongfang Hou Zhongshan. With just a few economic tricks, he brought down the mighty Dayu Empire. Gone!"

"Spirit stones? What? How many spirit stones does the richest man in your city have? Haha, don\'t embarrass yourself. Dongfang Hou spent several hundred billion in the market in just a few months, even up to trillions, all high-grade spirit stones. That\'s nearly tens of trillions of low-grade spirit stones. Your top ten richest men combined can\'t match him."

"The Yufu Rotating Hall, an underworld array set up by a Feng Shui expert, was sent by the court\'s Feng Shui master to break it, but they still couldn\'t. It was solved by Dongfang Hou."

"Who is Dongfang Hou Zhongshan? Get lost, you ignorant wild person, don\'t talk to me!"

"Princess Qianyou? The one who killed her own sister? Haha, even the royal family has scum like her, and this is the fate they deserve, spit!"

"What did you say? Dongfang Hou? Are you talking about Dongfang Hou? He used all his military achievements to get the opportunity to thoroughly investigate this case? How is that possible? At that time, all the evidence pointed directly to Princess Qianyou."

"Dongfang Hou said that what you see with your own eyes may not necessarily be true."

"All his military achievements, that\'s enough to promote to Duke, to become a Ministry of War Assistant Minister. Dongfang Hou actually played such a childish trick. No, Dongfang Hou is so clever, so powerful a figure, how could he do such a stupid thing? Could it be that he already has evidence that someone framed Princess Qianyou? It must be."

In the heart of the Ancient Capital, Zhongshan\'s legend spread wildly, and because of Zhongshan, those who had originally scorned Princess Qianyou began to think deeply. At least they were no longer so subjective in their outright denial.