kvmb Chapter 382 The one who hid the deepest was actually her!
Chapter 382 The one who hid the deepest was actually her!
When they reached the foot of the mountain, Yu Mo and the others were waiting in the woods. The group reunited, mounted their horses, and galloped away.
On the afternoon of the third day, at dusk, the group finally arrived outside the capital.
Because they were still carrying five hostages, it was not advisable for them to enter the city during the day. Therefore, they found a secluded mountain valley five miles outside the capital and waited quietly.
Gu Qingyue looked at the five people lying in a row in the distance, her eyes slightly cold.
Lin Zizhan and his two servants, the actress and her maid—these people are now of utmost importance.
Even if we can't take it to the old emperor to file a complaint, we still have to keep it in our own hands. We can't let Prince An silence it first; it will still be useful.
She looked them over and couldn't help but feel a surge of murderous intent.
"Yu Mo, don't let anyone wake up. Remember to keep them separately in the small courtyard."
"Yes, Master, rest assured, we will take them into the city when our carriage arrives at nightfall."
"I'm leaving now, I'm leaving it to you."
After saying that, Gu Qingyue led her horse away alone.
Upon arriving at the city gate, they encountered a group of guards from the Prince An's residence.
Gu Qingyue turned her body to avoid them, and as she watched them speed away, a mocking smile appeared on her face.
This must be because Mu Qingfeng sent a message back to the capital, and the Prince An's mansion sent people to pick them up or to silence them.
She was now really looking forward to seeing Prince An's face when he couldn't get a response and exploded with anger!
Back at the manor, as expected, the old Duke and his four elder brothers were all gathered in his courtyard, sitting around the stone table, with Yue Ling standing in the shadows in the distance.
There was no one else besides them.
Seeing the old Duke's solemn expression, Gu Qingyue stepped forward and asked, "Grandfather, I'm back. What happened?"
"Yue'er, come here quickly," Gu Yuanjin beckoned. Seeing that Gu Qingyue was travel-worn but still dressed as a young boy, he immediately gestured for her to sit down and talk.
"Big brother?"
When Gu Qingyue saw that the faces of the group were not good, her first thought was that something more serious than what happened to Liu Shi must have happened.
"Ah Yue, listen to me..." Gu Yuanjin began to recount what had happened in the mansion over the past few days.
Fifteen minutes later, Gu Qingyue frowned deeply.
It turned out that that night, she had Jiang Luo send a message to her elder brother, instructing him to immediately and secretly detain Liu Shi and her personal maid, Wang Mama, within the mansion. Who knew…
Two days ago, the people Jiang Luo sent back found Yue Ling and informed her of Gu Qingyue's orders. Yue Ling then delivered the message to Gu Yuanjin.
Upon hearing the whole story of what happened at the foot of Ci'en Temple, Gu Yuanjin was so shocked that he immediately rushed out of the courtyard and went to find the old Duke and the three Gu brothers.
They never expected that their little sister would do something so big without saying a word!
Thinking that Gu Qingyue's wit had saved the Qin family and the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion's century-old reputation, the old Duke did not hesitate to order Gu Yi, the commander of the secret guards, to secretly take away Liu Shi and Wang Mama.
Because it was dawn, no one else was disturbed.
The Duke of Zhenguo's mansion had been established for a hundred years, so naturally there were secret places in the capital where people were hidden. Liu Shi and Granny Wang were taken to a secret dungeon in a separate courtyard and imprisoned.
The old Duke and several others personally conducted the interrogation.
Unexpectedly, after interrogating Granny Wang, they obtained a name from her that they would never have imagined—the Third Wife, Madam Hu!
They never imagined that, behind the scenes, all of Liu's conspiracies were not only instructed by the Prince An's Mansion, but also fueled by Hu!
The Hu family originated from the Imperial Censorate. The Imperial Censor Hu was honest and conscientious throughout his life. Who would have thought that he would raise such a scheming daughter who would cause such unrest in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion!
According to Wang Mama's confession, she was the one who contacted the steward of the Prince An's mansion on behalf of Liu Shi, and she was the one who knew about any requests from the Prince An's mansion beforehand.
Several years ago, when she was secretly meeting with the steward of the Prince An's mansion, she was caught by Madam Hu. Madam Hu did not use this as leverage to threaten her, but instead gave her a thousand taels of silver.
From then on, whenever there was any movement from Liu's side, she would secretly inform Hu.
In Wang Mama's opinion, Hu Shi was just jealous of Qin Shi.
She was jealous that even though her husband was gone, her second wife was still valued by the old Duke, and her sons were all successful, especially Gu Yuanming, who had climbed step by step to the position of general.
Therefore, Madam Hu often gave Wang Mama some ideas, instructing Wang Mama to secretly encourage Liu Shi, making Liu Shi even more unscrupulous when she took action!
Liu had tried to harm Qin several times, but by some twist of fate, she failed each time.
So, more than half a year ago, Liu decided to use a Gu poison on Qin, and the Gu worm was provided by the Prince An's mansion.
The old woman who successfully cast the curse appeared to be Liu's person, but in reality, she was just like Liu, having been bought off by Hu and was Hu's person!
"Bang!"
Gu Qingyue slammed her palm heavily on the stone table.
Her feelings at this moment could no longer be described as mere anger!
She had previously thought that although Hu seemed to be without desires, there were always emotions in her eyes that she couldn't see through. She just wanted to keep her distance and think that it would be fine to have less contact with her.
Unexpectedly, the one who hid the deepest was actually her!
Sure enough, a dog that bites doesn't bark!
Who would have thought that Hu, who always treated Qin with courtesy and seemed to be indifferent to worldly affairs, would also want Qin's life?
When her hatred reached its peak, Gu Qingyue calmed down.
She turned to look at the old Duke, "Grandfather, what did you say? That Lady Hu..."
"Ah Yue, the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion must not be thrown into chaos from within. Let's take it one step at a time. First, deal with Liu Shi and cut off the Prince of An's mansion's escape route, then we'll deal with Hu Shi's matter. I'll have someone secretly monitor her so that she can't cause any trouble for the time being. What do you think?"
Looking at Gu Qingyue's tired face, the old Duke spoke carefully.
Gu Qingyue and her four brothers exchanged glances. Well then, they would follow their grandfather's ideas step by step.
Even if Madam Hu is vicious, it's still just jealousy and framing within the household. But if Madam Liu's actions succeed, Madam Qin will surely die! The Duke of Zhenguo's mansion will also be doomed!
It must not be tolerated!
Gu Qingyue and the others originally planned to wait until they had investigated the events of that year and produced concrete evidence, including witnesses and physical evidence, before finally killing Liu Shi.
Now that such a big thing has happened, we should just deal with it directly.
The group discussed the matter for a long time until the moon was high in the sky before they dispersed.
Gu Qingyue, dragging her weary body, called Yue Ling into the room, "Where's that Liu San? The one who's by Liu Shi's side?"
"Reporting to my lord, we have captured him. We caught him this afternoon in the mountains outside the city. However, that man is extremely skilled. We injured two of our brothers before we were able to capture him. Please forgive our incompetence," Yue Ling said, kneeling on one knee and lowering her head in shame.
"Get up quickly," Gu Qingyue said, rubbing her aching back. She was exhausted from riding horses for too long.
"Are the brothers badly injured? Have you called a doctor?"
Gu Qingyue was somewhat alarmed. Since the establishment of Moon Shadow Pavilion, everyone had undergone two body tempering sessions in Lizhou and had continuously taken on various missions to hone their skills in actual combat. Yet, they were still defeated by a guard from the Liu family.
What is the background of this guard? Where did Lady Liu find him?
But none of that matters right now; what matters is that our brothers are injured.
"Don't worry, Master. One of them suffered a knife wound to the waist, but the doctor has already bandaged it, and he's much better now. The other one has a minor injury."
Yue Ling lowered his voice, trying to be as tactful as possible so as not to worry his master.
"That's good. I'll have time to go and take a look tomorrow."