Chapter 168: The Dehumanizing Crime
Half an hour later, the Duke of Zhenguo took Wen Ruqing away from the Xishan Villa.
Before leaving, he glanced at the prince.
Thinking that his daughter's current situation was also caused by the prince, the Duke of Zhenguo felt that all his sincere protection of her over the years had been in vain.
But what's the point of complaining now that things have come to this?
He said, "I don't want anyone to know about Qing'er's affairs. Your Highness the Crown Prince should know what to do, right?"
The prince responded, "Don't worry, my lord. I will handle it cleanly."
"Better so."
The Duke of Zhenguo waved his sleeves and got on the carriage.
The prince looked gloomy and watched the carriage go away.
Wei Yin, who was standing behind him, asked with some concern: "Did the Duke of Zhenguo know about the conspiracy between His Highness and Shen Linchuan?"
The prince said: "The Duke of Zhenguo is an old fox and it is not easy to deceive him.
But he didn't break up with me, which means he had to accept it!"
The reason why he agreed to Shen Linchuan was that he wanted to drag the Duke of Zhenguo into the water.
Now they are tied to the same rope. Even though they are no longer related by marriage, their lives and deaths are tied together.
Presumably, the Duke of Zhenguo should want to kill Shen Linchuan more than he does, but he doesn't know what leverage Shen Linchuan has on him?
The prince waved his hand and said, "Go, leave no servants behind, and clean them up!"
"Yes."
Wei Yin took the order and turned around and walked in.
The door was closed, and only screams were heard from inside. Soon the air was filled with a strong smell of blood.
The prince stood outside the door and covered his nose with his hand. Suddenly, the door behind him opened. He frowned and asked, "Is everything settled?"
Wei Yin knelt on the ground, looking shocked and said: "I failed in my duty and one of my subordinates escaped!"
The prince was stunned for a moment: "What do you mean one ran away?"
Wei Yin said: "There was a maidservant who was skilled in martial arts, and I was not careful enough and let her escape.
But my subordinate shot her with a hidden weapon, which was poisoned, so she probably won't survive."
The prince frowned, feeling somewhat uneasy. He asked, "Why is there a maid with martial arts skills in this courtyard?"
Could it be possible that someone had planted spies here? In that case, what he and Shen Linchuan had done would no longer be concealed.
Thinking of this possibility, the prince's face changed drastically. He shouted angrily, "Why are you still kneeling here? Hurry up and find this spy for me. I must find him alive or dead!"
"Yes."
Wei Yin immediately took his men and chased in the direction the maid had escaped.
The prince was extremely anxious. He paced back and forth continuously, with all sorts of random thoughts in his mind.
If he is really a spy planted by someone else, who is he?
The first person he suspected was Jamel Xiao.
How long had this person been hiding here, and how many secrets did he know? He was careless and thought he was careful enough.
In the end, it was exposed.
When Shen Linchuan rushed over, he saw that the prince looked at a loss.
He was also surprised that there were spies planted in this villa.
When the prince saw him coming, he asked, "You have lived here for so long, and you didn't find anything suspicious?"
Shen Linchuan shook his head: "There are not many servants in the other courtyard. They usually do their job well and there is nothing suspicious. As for the maid who escaped, it seems that she is just a servant."
The bodies of the servants were all placed in the yard. He took a look before he came and found that the maid who escaped was not one of them who served closely.
That is why it is more easily overlooked.
The prince said: "If it is an ordinary maid, it is impossible for her to have martial arts skills. She must be a spy planted by someone else.
The hateful thing is that we don’t know when she was planted, how much information she passed on, and who is the master behind it? "
He slammed his fist on the table and gritted his teeth, "It's abominable."
The two waited for about an hour before Wei Yin came back.
He clasped his fists and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, I led my men to chase her all the way to the mountains, and when the maid saw she couldn't escape, she jumped off the cliff.
I have already sent people to search the cliff, I think it is very dangerous."
The prince secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. It is better for someone to die than to escape alive.
He said to Shen Linchuan: "It's not safe here anymore. Go pack up and leave with me."
Shen Linchuan nodded, then went back to his yard to pack up his things.
He had nothing to take with him except his sister's body and his father's spirit tablet.
However, there is still one person to deal with.
He came to the next room where Song Mingzhu was imprisoned.
The once noble and bright daughter of Marquis Cheng En is now like a withered flower.
Because she was disobedient, Shen Linchuan made a pair of chains to restrict her freedom and locked her in this room, turning her into a thing that was neither human nor ghost. She had already been tortured to the point of insanity.
When Shen Linchuan came in, Song Mingzhu was curled up on the bed.
When she saw him come in, she couldn't stop shaking all over. The fear of him was deeply engraved in her mind, even though she was not fully conscious.
Shen Linchuan came over and looked at her, who looked like a beggar. His eyes fell on Song Mingzhu's belly and said, "You are really useless. I have been watering your belly day and night but there is no movement at all.
If you could really leave a descendant for my Shen family, I could spare your life, what a pity! "
He leaned over and gently touched Song Mingzhu's face and said, "If you want to blame someone, blame Song Shiwei. It was she who sent your father and mother to the guillotine.
"You took the Song family's wealth for yourself, which prevented me from becoming the son-in-law of the Cheng'en Marquis's mansion, and also caused you to die here!"
Now that Cheng Enbo is dead, Song Mingzhu has become useless as a chess piece.
It’s just that Shen Linchuan took into consideration that she was his first woman, so he showed mercy and kept her until now.
Now this villa is not safe, and he can't take her with him, so he can only leave her here.
Shen Linchuan took out the golden hairpin left by his sister from his arms and asked, "Look, is it beautiful?"
Song Mingzhu hadn't seen women's jewelry for a long time. Her eyes lit up and she stared at the hairpin in Shen Linchuan's hand and said, "It looks good. Give it to me."
"Then I'll give it to you."
Shen Linchuan held the hairpin and stabbed it into Song Mingzhu's chest with the sharp end, but he did not pull the hairpin out.
After all, Song Mingzhu had been his woman for a while, so he had to leave her something decent to be buried with.
He stood up and looked at Song Mingzhu lying on the bed, her clothes stained with blood.
He said, "My sister has just walked a short distance. You should be able to catch up with her now. You two can keep each other company."
After leaving these words, he walked out without looking back.
Lying on the bed, Song Mingzhu stared at Shen Linchuan's back until she could no longer see him.
Gradually, a raging fire was reflected in her eyes, and she saw a fire outside the house.
In an instant, the entire Xishan Villa was engulfed in fire, attempting to cover up this inhumane crime!