When Yu Shuang saw Shen Qingfeng, his complexion was extremely poor. No, it wasn't just poor; his face was an abnormal shade of blue, as if he was desperately restraining himself from something.
"Sir...?" Yu Shuang was taken aback. As Shen Qingfeng walked towards her, his whole body exuded a menacing aura. There was a red mark on his cheek, stretching from the corner of his mouth all the way to his cheekbone, as if someone had kissed him forcefully.
Shen Qingfeng stopped in front of Yu Shuang, wiped his mouth vigorously, took several deep breaths to calm himself down, and finally said, "Come with me somewhere."
At noon, Mo Yunchen had just reached the door when he sensed a strange aura inside the house. He paused with his hand in mid - air. After realizing that the person inside meant no harm, he stepped forward and slowly pushed open the door.
Inside the house, Shen Qingfeng was sitting uninvited at the table, using Mo Yunchen's teapot and teacup to pour himself a cup of tea. Standing beside him was Yu Shuang with a poker face.
Mo Yunchen cast a cold glance at the two of them and stepped in.
"Sir Mo, it's good to see you well." Shen Qingfeng gave a soft laugh, brought the teacup to his lips, and took a small sip.
"Sir Shen, you've barged into my house. Shouldn't I be the one saying 'it's good to see you well'?" Mo Yunchen sat down expressionlessly across from Shen Qingfeng, his hawk - like eyes glaring coldly at him.
Shen Qingfeng put down the teacup, took the teapot as if he were the host, poured a cup of tea for Mo Yunchen, and offered it to him, saying, "Sir Mo, don't be so formal. I've come today on a very important matter."
Mo Yunchen crossed his arms and didn't take the tea. He said coldly, "Just say what you have to say. Don't beat around the bush."
Shen Qingfeng smiled, sat up straight, and said, "Before we talk, may I ask what you were busy with from last night to this morning? Why did you just come back now?"
Mo Yunchen glared at him and said, "It's none of your business."
"Indeed, it's none of my business." Shen Qingfeng smiled and said, "But it concerns Si Yu, doesn't it?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Mo Yunchen's eyes darkened. He stared coldly at Shen Qingfeng, like a jackal eyeing its prey. A chill filled the air. Yu Shuang stepped forward first, standing in front of Shen Qingfeng, holding his long sword in his hand, assuming a defensive posture. His hand was on the hilt, as if ready to draw his sword at any moment.
Shen Qingfeng completely ignored Mo Yunchen's killing intent. He reached out and patted Yu Shuang on the shoulder, signaling him to step aside. Then he said, "Sir Mo, Si Yu is my good friend. I've come here without any ill - intent. Could you please calm down and listen to my analysis?"
Mo Yunchen stared fixedly at Shen Qingfeng without saying a word.
Regardless, Shen Qingfeng continued on his own, "Regarding this incident, although the court has kept a tight lid on it, with your capabilities, Sir Mo, you must have known about it right from the start, right?"
"I guess you rushed to the scene when the fire broke out. When you saw the sulfur and saltpeter on the statue of Xing Tian in the Golden Summit Temple, you already knew what was going on. So you quickly returned to the Eastern Palace, picked up Qi Siyu, and took him back to the Qi Mansion. You hid there for a day. The next day, when you thought the court didn't have enough evidence and were about to breathe a sigh of relief, you accidentally discovered that Xia Chuli was secretly interrogated by Gu Mingde." Shen Qingfeng said.
"Since you knew that Xia Chuli and Xia Yonglin had always been at odds, you were afraid that Xia Chuli would be forced to confess something about the Qi family. So you came to find Lu Yan and told us about the secret interrogation, asking us to go and rescue him." Shen Qingfeng paused and said, "Am I right?"
Mo Yunchen pursed his lips and said nothing, but from his eyes, it was obvious that he had admitted it.
"And you were actually afraid that I would figure it out. So when you came to find Lu Yan that night, you actually wanted to spy on me to see if I had guessed anything." Shen Qingfeng said, "Because you knew that I had once come very close to the answer."
Suddenly, Shen Qingfeng laughed and said, "When sulfur is combined with saltpeter and burned with honey, flames will rise, burning hands and faces, and even the whole house will be destroyed. Sir Mo, is my analysis correct?"
Mo Yunchen suddenly looked up, staring at Shen Qingfeng. The complex and entangled emotions in his eyes made Shen Qingfeng pause for a moment. Then his lips moved slightly, and he said, "When did you find out?"
Shen Qingfeng cleared his throat and said, "Don't worry. It was just not long ago."
Mo Yunchen was taken aback and said harshly, "Was it because I came to find you guys?"
Shen Qingfeng nodded and smiled, "Actually, I couldn't figure it out at first. There was only sulfur and saltpeter on the statue of Xing Tian. I went through all the cargo records, but I couldn't find any charcoal that was sufficient to start a fire. Without charcoal, the fire couldn't be ignited, and this was the most confusing part for me before."
"Actually, I didn't connect these things immediately after seeing you that night." Shen Qingfeng said, "It was only later when I was with A Li in the Eastern Palace - that is, last night - that I finally understood the key point. And your coming to find me that night directly gave me the hint to connect all these things together."
Shen Qingfeng filled his teacup again and said slowly, "Honey will turn into charcoal after long - term burning. When charcoal meets saltpeter and sulfur, a bright flame will appear. This is why I saw some black charcoal marks on the broken statue of Xing Tian. I always thought that the charcoal marks were painted on, but in fact, they were the remains after the honey burned. And that honey came from the tribute that Qi Siyu stole to eat at the Qi Mansion on the day of the sacrifice. The reason why I couldn't find it no matter how I checked the cargo is that the tribute followed King Xia Jie's carriage and was not recorded. Am I wrong?"
Mo Yunchen looked at Shen Qingfeng. He didn't say a word, but his lips were pursed into a straight line. After a long while, he finally said, "You're right. Well, what are you going to do now, Sir Shen? Are you going to report the Qi family to the king directly?"
Shen Qingfeng squinted his eyes and said, "What if I do?"
There was a bone - chilling killing intent in Mo Yunchen's words. He reached for the hilt of his sword and said in a deep voice, "I won't allow anyone to have any chance to hurt Xiao Yu. Anyone who comes within three steps will be covered in blood!"
Yu Shuang drew his sword with a clang and rushed in front of Shen Qingfeng, pointing his sword at Mo Yunchen.
Mo Yunchen sneered and mocked, "You're no match for me."
Yu Shuang didn't back down. His keen intuition as a killer told him that he had little chance of winning against the man in front of him. Although his martial arts skills far exceeded those of ordinary people, Mo Yunchen's strength was far above his, and his skills were unfathomable.
Yu Shuang exhaled a breath of turbid air. Under the tense stand - off with Mo Yunchen, he felt an unprecedented sense of oppression.
"You're really no match for him." Shen Qingfeng suddenly said. He reached out and put his hand on Yu Shuang's shoulder, slowly stood up, and ignored the killing intent in Mo Yunchen's eyes as he said, "I've said that I came here without any ill - intent, so you can rest assured. I won't report this matter to King Xia Jie."
Mo Yunchen sneered and said, "If you don't tell the king, how can you save the crown prince?"
"A Li and Xia Yonglin have been fighting openly and secretly for so many years. Do you really think I haven't made any preparations?" Shen Qingfeng said, "Take this incident for example. From the very beginning, I didn't believe in the so - called divine punishment. The moment the statue of Xing Tian caught fire, I knew it was a conspiracy of the Qi family."
Mo Yunchen stared at Shen Qingfeng, as if waiting for him to continue.
"Do you think that if I tell the king about this, A Li will be saved?" Shen Qingfeng laughed self - deprecatingly and said, "You're too naive. The secrets of the court are much more complicated than you think. You think it's the Qi family who is trying to harm A Li, but in fact, the one who really wants the crown prince to lose power is King Xia Jie himself!"
Mo Yunchen was stunned on the spot and looked at Shen Qingfeng in disbelief. "What did you say...?"
"Sir Mo, you're highly skilled in martial arts and can easily find out about worldly affairs. But people's hearts are hard to fathom. How can you be sure that what you see is the truth?" Shen Qingfeng sighed softly. "Now the power struggle in the court has gradually moved from the shadows to the open. Think carefully. Without the king's permission, how much power would a mere Qi family have to set fire to the statue of Xing Tian? You should know that it's the faith of the entire Li Xia!"
Mo Yunchen was taken aback. He lowered his head and thought carefully for a while, then said in a deep voice, "So what do you want to talk to me about today?"
"Evidence." Shen Qingfeng got straight to the point. "I need evidence. But I've already said that Qi Siyu is my friend, and I don't want him to be implicated by the Qi family. But Xia Chuli is the crown prince I'm loyal to. I need evidence to negotiate with Xia Yonglin."
Mo Yunchen raised his eyebrows. "You want to use the evidence to threaten Xia Yonglin into confessing?"
"Exactly."
"Then won't the source of the evidence involve Xiao Yu?!" Mo Yunchen shouted.
Shen Qingfeng pointed at Yu Shuang beside him and said, "That's why I brought him here."
Mo Yunchen was taken aback and said, "What?"
Shen Qingfeng said, "I'm sure you've heard of 'Wuchen'. Then you should know his name - Yu Shuang. It's not surprising that the evidence was discovered by him, right?"
Mo Yunchen was surprised for a moment, and then he regained his cold expression and said, "One last question. Why should I help you?"
Shen Qingfeng said, "For the sake of Qi Siyu. Now there are only two choices. Either follow the Qi family to support Xia Yonglin, or follow the crown prince... Do you really want Si Yu to continue being used by Qi Shuhuan as a tool to help Xia Yonglin ascend to the throne?"
Mo Yunchen was shocked all over. His eyes were fixed on Shen Qingfeng, as if he wanted to pierce Shen Qingfeng with his cold gaze.
I don't know how long it had passed. When the temperature in the whole house dropped to freezing point because of the menacing aura around Mo Yunchen, he finally slowly nodded.