417 The Previous King? [Bonus chapter]


    In the middle of the deep night, a silhouette appeared in the hut. The man had a dagger in his hand. He looked over at the bed, where Lóng Wei was sleeping soundly. With quiet steps, he moved forward and stabbed the Prince. The blood spattered on the nket that had covered him. After that, the man left the hut. He put the dagger into the sheath and walked as fast as he could.


    After fifteen minutes of walking, the man reached his ce. He got into the hut and bowed his head at the man with the burned scar on his face.


    “I did the work. Meng Ru is dead, Master.”


    The man with the burned scar turned to look and threw a pouch full of gold coins toward him. “Let’s leave. You will not live in the town today,” he ordered. As he stepped up to go out of the hut, the door opened with a bang, and Lóng Wei walked in.


    “It is not good to leave in the middle of the night. I heard that wild boar roams around here at night. I do not want you both to be the food of the wild boar,” Lóng Wei asserted. He found the shocked expressions on both the men’s faces. However, one weird thing he noticed was that the man with the burned face did not look terrified. He was calm.


    The other man attacked Lóng Wei with the same dagger when Lóng Wei caught his wrist, and hit it. The dagger fell from his hand, which Lóng Wei grabbed, and he pierced it into the abdomen of the man, not deeply. He didn’t want him to die, only to be hurt.


    The man fell to the floor and ced his hand on his stomach to prevent the blood flow. “Don’t you dare to move from your ce, or else you will be dead,” Lóng Wei threatened him.


    “The hut is surrounded by the soldiers. If any of you attempted to flee, you will both perish,” Lóng Wei stated.


    “Isn’t that better?” The man with the burned scar asked. “I do not fear death,” he proimed.


    .....


    Lóng Wei threw the dagger at him, and it stopped near his feet. “Then, take it and kill yourself. Show me how brave you are!” Lóng Wei challenged him. Xiaoming and Bai Juchen also walked in.


    “Wen Yazhu?” Bai Juchen immediately recognized the man with the burned scar. “Why did you do it?” He asked.


    “Who are you?” Wen Yazhu asked Lóng Wei because all the time he took him for Meng Ru, but now that he had seen Xiaoming, the Crown Prince, he started to understand the matter. Qiu Zedong had sent the princes from the capital to look into this matter.


    “Is my identity this important to you? Just answer the question, why did you kill Wu Zihao? You created a good coverup story,” Lóng Wei stated.


    “Can I solely talk to you in private?” Wen Yazhu asked Lóng Wei as he picked up the dagger from the floor. “I will not kill myself if the Crown Prince lets me speak to the Prince privately,” he said, looking at Lóng Wei.


    “Fine. However, the hut will be checked first,” Xiaoming asserted and nced at Bai Juchen. He summoned the four soldiers and began searching the things that were kept in the hut.


    Bai Juchen walked to him and took the dagger from Wen Yazhu. After he checked his clothes well, he informed Xiaoming that he found nothing except the fake identities that they had with them. The search was soon over. They did not find any weapon in the hut except two daggers. Xiaoming handed one to Lóng Wei for safety purposes, which Wen Yazhu did not oppose.


    Two soldiers dragged the injured man out of the hut. Now, there was no one except Lóng Wei and Wen Yazhu in the hut. They both looked at each other when Wen Yazhu again asked him.


    “I am Qiu Lóng Wei, the youngest of all the princes and princesses,” Lóng Wei introduced himself. “Why did you kill Wu Zihao?” He directly jumped to the question.


    “It was necessary,” Wen Yazhu gave a vague answer to Lóng Wei.


    “How did you get that scar?” Lóng Wei questioned him.


    “When I was a kid, my house was put on fire. Wu Zihao did that,” Wen Yazhu replied. “I managed to save my life, but the others in my family died,” he told Lóng Wei.


    “That does not justify the killing of Wu Zihao. The report said that Wu Zihao killed a tribesman from the other side of the border. You should not fool me. Your man is outside. Do not lie before you are hung to death. This is the least you should do,” Lóng Wei opined.


    “Why would I lie? Wu Zihao did not kill anyone from the border side. That was a lie. He was supplying explosives to the North, and a few men from the town saw him. He was nning a rebellion to separate Qijiang from Qinping. I had waited for a chance to kill him for more than thirty years, which I finally received. I killed him and kept his lie intact,” Wen Yazhu exined to Lóng Wei.


    “Howe he set fire to your house?” Lóng Wei asked.


    “Because my father was loyal to the previous King,” Wen Yazhu asserted.


    Lóng Wei drew his brows together when he heard that statement.


    Lóng Wei took a step towards Wen Yazhu. “The previous king?” He eximed. To his knowledge, everyone who was loyal to Qizhen was killed. How did he get a job with the government? Did he change his name? That was the only possibility left.


    “Why did you tell me all this in private? You could have told this in front of the Crown Prince too,” Lóng Wei stated.


    “Because I believe that the Prince will save me,” Wen Yazhu stated. “I will take you to Qizhen if you help me,” he affirmed.


    Lóng Wei was astonished to hear his words. “How do you know that I am searching for Qizhen?” He kept his voice as low as possible.