Chapter 61 Who Was Behind Him?

“Who is it?!”

A black figure slowly stepped out of the woods behind her.

After seeing his face, Su Muge froze for a moment.

“You … Lord Xia?”

Xia Houmo glanced over her from top to bottom with his dark eyes, as if he was determining whether she was injured.

“You’re so lucky.”

Su Muge blinked. “Ah-choo!”

She rubbed her nose, feeling that the weather was really getting cold.

After half a quarter, Su Muge and Xia Houmo sat opposite to each other by the fire.

Su Muge was still wet with water dripping down her body; the wind in the forest was so cold that she shivered.

Xia Houmo watched her frosty lips with his dark eyes lowered. He stood up, walked to her and pulled her up.

“What, what are you doing?!”

Su Muge staggered. She looked down and found that his long and slender fingers were undressing her!

“You, you don’t even let go of a girl like me. You are so out of your mind!”

Su Muge was struggling, but how could she be strong enough to become Xia Houmo’s match? In an instant, there was only a pink underwear left on her body.

With a glance at the slightly bulging hunches on her chest, Xia Houmo paused and pushed her behind a big tree.

Before Su Muge could exclaim out loud, she had been covered with a robe full of his smell.

“Take off your clothes and put it on.”

Su Muge was so angry that she pulled his robe down, threw it on the ground and trampled on it fiercely.

It was … so irritating!

How could he believe that she would do as he said!

“Ah-choo!”

A gust of wuthering wind made Su Muge shuddered; she looked down at the robe on the ground and gritted her teeth.

After that, she squatted down and grabbed it fiercely; she would not make her body suffer!

After Su Muge came out wearing Xia Houmo’s robe, she hung her underwear on a branch by the fire to dry.

The clothes by the fire formed a barrier which happened to separate Su Muge from Xia Houmo.

Sitting on the other side, Xia Houmo seemed to have no intention to come over.

Su Muge snorted in her heart, thinking that he was not a total rascal.

What happened on the barge was apparently premeditated, and she was afraid that the person who wanted to drown her was not solely aimed at her.

Having been in the capital for over a month, she had hardly gone out of Su Mansion. And she only had conflicts with Eighth Princess, An as well as her daughter, Su Jingwen.

Eighth Princess was unlikely to revenge on her at a banquet held by the princess herself, while An and her daughter could not carry out such a big plan.

At that time, people on the barge were either rich or noble, who could not be easily offended.

So this incident was not directed at her alone.

“Why are you here, Lord Xia?” Considering that Xia Houmo always appeared in inexplicable places, she wondered whether it was accidental or inevitable.

Through her clothes, Xia Houmo could faintly see Su Muge curled up.

Suddenly he felt the clothes in front of him too disturbing.

“Someone set off fireworks by Moon Lake, which alarmed the imperial guards in the capital.” Fireworks used to be prevalent in the Chu for many years; however, under the reign of the previous Emperor, an entire street was almost burned down due to fireworks, so the previous Emperor ordered to put a limit on setting off fireworks.

In other words, one might not be able to obtain fireworks even if one had money. Only a certain amount of fireworks could be sold during certain festivals.

Since it was not a festival today, a sudden firework display by the lake would certainly attract the attention of the imperial guards.

Hearing this, Su Muge suddenly realized that Xia Houmo was the commander-in-chief of the imperial guards in the capital!

Having the military power outside, he was also holding great power in the capital!

“Someone wanted to claim lives on the boat.”

“How do you know?”

“After I fell into the water, someone desperately grabbed my feet to prevent me from going ashore; that person was intended to drown me.”

After hearing that, Xia Houmo’s eyes turned dim.

“You are so lucky to have survived.”

Xia Houmo suddenly stood up and walked towards the woods behind.

And Donglin came over from the other side of the forest.

“Your Royal Highness, we’ve caught two; five had died, and one had run away.”

Xia Houmo stood with his hands behind his back. “Make the two confess, whatever it takes.”

“Yes.”

When Xia Houmo came back, Su Muge had already changed back to her clothes, which were properly dried.

“Lord Xia, thank you for your help.” She folded his robe and handed it to him. Xia Houmo gave it a glance, but did not take it.

“Keep it yourself.”

Su Muge chocked, wondering if he disliked the fact that she had worn the clothes!

“I’ll have you sent back.”

Su Muge was also worried about the situation on the other side; after all, Yueru was still waiting by the shore.

“Thank you very much, My Lord.”

Xia Houmo glanced at her with a slight smile. “No need to thank me. I’ll give you a chance to pay me back in the future.”

“…”

After getting out of the woods, Xia Houmo asked Zuoqiu to send Su Muge back to Su Mansion. But Su Muge was worried about Yueru and insisted on returning to the Moon Lake even at the risk of jumping out of the carriage.

Zuoqiu had no choice but to take her there.

The Moon Lake had been surrounded by the imperial guards. From a distance, Su Muge could sense the smell of blood.

Just as she came near, she saw corpses lined up along the shore.

“Miss! Eldest Miss! There you are at last!” As Su Muge was about to look for her, she saw Yueru running towards her with red and tearful eyes.

Su Muge breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her safe and sound.

“I was rescued by the imperial guards. I’m fine. You were on the shore at the time, so did you see what happened?”

Yueru wiped her tears and said, “At that time, I saw the barge was on fire and wanted to find you. But there was no more boat, so I could only wait by the shore. After hearing that someone had died, I was so panicked that I asked Xinche to go back and inform Madam while I kept looking for you by the shore.”

Su Muge looked at the corpses and found that many of them were well-dressed. They must be the ladies or masters of some noble families.

“Let’s go back first.”

“Yes.”

After Su Muge returned to Su Mansion, she learned that Su Jingwen had been sent back already. But she seemed to have been quite frightened, so An invited a doctor over.

The fire was so serious that Zhao was surely shocked. She held Su Muge’s hands as soon as she returned and won’t let go.

“I heard that there was an accident on Moon Lake. Seeing that you haven’t been back, I was so worried about you.”

“It was really dangerous at that time. I was almost killed in the water; but fortunately, I returned safely.” Now that they were in the capital, Su Muge didn’t plan to spare Zhao from bad news because she thought that Zhao should have a certain capacity to bear bad news.

Sure enough, Zhao changed her expression as soon as she heard it.

“So dangerous! Amitabha, Buddha please bless my Mumu. Mumu, follow me to burn incense in front of Buddha later.”

Su Muge managed to give a smile.

…

In the Imperial Study, Imperial Palace.

Xia Hourui was sitting on the dragon throne, with one hand supporting his forehead and his white brows frowning.

Xia Houkun slightly bowed. “Father, a total of fifteen people died in the Moon Lake case. Eight of them were family members of major officials of the imperial court, and the rest were accompanying servants.”

After he finished speaking, Xia Houkun glanced at Xia Hourui, and saw that he had no intention to speak. He could only continue. “These people are too bold to cause violence in the capital in broad daylight! If I remember correctly, Ninth Brother’s imperial guards should have sent additional staff to patrol along Moon Lake today.”

After he finished, Xia Hourui finally opened his eyes. “Are you indicating that the catastrophe is due to your Ninth Brother’s dereliction of duty?”

Xia Houkun instantly lowered his head. “I am just telling the truth. It requires your wise inspection and perception, Father.”

At this time, Eunuch Yi entered the room.

“Your Majesty, the King of Jin is here.”

“Let him in.”

“Yes.”

In a while, Xia Houmo walked into the room.

“I pay my respects to you, Father.”

“Have you interrogated all the people arrested on Moon Lake?”

“I found a mark on their soles while interrogating the men in black.” Xia Houmo took out a drawing from him, and Eunuch Yi stepped forward to take the drawing and put it on the dragon table.

Xia Hourui opened his eyes and saw a crescent mark on the paper.

With a touch of anger appearing on his face, Xia Hourui threw the drawing in front of Xia Houkun. “Tell me, what is it?!”

Xia Houkun was a little confused at first. He squatted down to pick it up and had a close inspection, then his pupils shrank sharply.

“Father, it … I …”

“Sometimes I turn a blind eye on something, but it doesn’t mean I don’t know what you have done!”

Xia Houkun knelt down immediately.

The mark on that drawing was exactly the mark of his secret guards!

“Father, please further inspect into this. I am wronged! What benefits can I get to kill the ladies and masters? It is clear that someone has been framing me up!”

While speaking, Xia Houkun stared at Xia Houmo. It must be him!

Xia Hourui narrowed his eyes and snorted before turning to Xia Houmo. “What have you got from the interrogation?”

Xia Houmo looked down. “They only said that the people behind them wanted to kill all the young masters and misses on the barge.”

“Bang!”

“Presumptuous!”

Xia Hourui struck the desk heavily, making a deep and muffled sound.

Hearing this, Xia Houkun was even more nervous; he gritted his teeth and said, “Father, although those people have the mark of my secret guards, it is still possible that someone is framing me up. Father, please trust me and give me a chance to prove my innocence.”

Xia Hourui gave Xia Houkun a deep look.

“Alright, I’ll give you this opportunity. If you can’t prove your innocence, don’t come to see me again.”

“!!”

“Yes, roger that.” Xia Houkun clenched his fists.

“You may retreat.”

“Excuse me.”

Xia Houkun left with great anger. Only Xia Houmo and Xia Hourui remained in the study.

“Tell me about your thoughts.”

“That imprint is too obvious.” Many families in the capital would also cultivate secret guards. All the secret guards would have unique marks on them, which would absolutely be erased temporarily when they were on a mission, so that they would leave no trace of their master making orders behind them.

What’s more, it did no good to Xia Houkun indeed. Under the close inspection of the Emperor, he was not too stupid to do so.

“You mean, it’s not your Second Brother who did this?”

“I don’t dare to make a conclusion before it is clarified.”

Xia Hourui seemed to have chuckled. “I know, you’ve always been calm and steady. This time, just stand by and let your Second Brother find a way to prove his innocence.”

“Copy that.” Xia Houmo kept his countenance.