Chapter 215: Investigation
“I understand your meaning.”
Xiao Wu said with a start, “What you mean, Junior Brother, is that Her Majesty the Empress was likely not afflicted with the gu here, but that the gu worm only acted up here. The scene of the crime is very likely not here. We’re wasting our time.”
“That’s what I mean.”
Su Yan nodded.
Long Bing also came to her senses. Su Yan’s hypothesis was indeed very likely. But if this wasn’t the place where the culprit had committed the crime, then where could it be?
“Can’t we just search everywhere?”
Su Yan said.
“You said that your aunt rarely leaves the palace. The imperial palace is only so big. As the empress, she definitely wouldn’t just run around. There are only a few places she goes to every day. As long as we go to all these places, we might find something.”
Long Bing thought so too and nodded in agreement.
Xiao Wu looked at him with an incredulous expression.
“I’ve noticed something is wrong.”
“What’s wrong?”
“You seem to have gotten smarter. You thought of something that my junior sister and I didn’t. It’s truly incredible.”
“What do you mean by that? Did you think I was stupid before?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Hmph! Still trying to argue.”
Su Yan was about to die of anger. He had always been smart. How dare she say that about him? He had to teach her a lesson, so that she wouldn’t dare to complain about him in her heart.
At this thought, Su Yan reached out and pinched the soft flesh on her waist, and then twisted it hard.
“Hiss~”
Xiao Wu sucked in a sharp breath of cold air, tears almost streaming down her face from the pain.
“You’re being too excessive! I was just saying! You actually made a move! Be careful, or I’ll retaliate!”
“Do you dare? If you pinch me back, I won’t let you on my bed tonight!”
Hearing Su Yan’s threat, Xiao Wu was immediately dumbfounded. To live in the same room but not be allowed on his bed… what kind of hellish torture was this? But she was not without a means of counterattack.
“If you don’t let me on the bed, then don’t come to me for benefits in the future! You can’t control what I wear either!”
This time, it was Su Yan’s turn to be dumbfounded.
This was a world of reversed gender roles. Women pursued men. Didn’t she covet his body? To actually threaten him with this kind of thing… there was definitely something wrong with her!
Seeing Su Yan’s astonished expression, Xiao Wu was extremely pleased. Through these few months of deep exchange, she had already figured him out completely.
Under her junior brother’s beautiful appearance was hidden a lewd soul. He was very proper with strangers, but in front of her, he would inadvertently expose his true nature.
As much as she coveted him, he coveted her just as much. This was mutual harm.
Xiao Wu was certain that Su Yan would definitely be the first to not be able to take it, because she doted on him too much.
Whatever he requested, she would agree to, giving him whatever he wanted.
And once a person was used to rich food, how could they still like plain soup and water? Without him, he would definitely be very unaccustomed to it.
Sure enough…
“What are you talking about? To threaten me with this kind of thing… what kind of person do you take me for?”
“Just say whether you dare to do it next time or not! To just make a move on me… this kind of thing is absolutely not okay!”
Although Xiao Wu’s strength far surpassed Su Yan’s, but for Su Yan to beat her… could she beat him back?
A woman who bullied a man would be laughed at by others. And to teach Su Yan a lesson… she couldn’t bear to do it!
But if she didn’t teach him a lesson, she couldn’t let him ride on her head. This was about her dignity as a great woman, and also about her family status. If she didn’t resist, what if others laughed at her for being afraid of her husband?
“Forget it. I won’t be like this in the future. This is the last time.”
Su Yan reluctantly let go of his hand.
“At least you know what’s good for you.”
Xiao Wu breathed a sigh of relief.
Long Bing suddenly turned her head and said, “What are you two doing? You’ve been whispering since just now. What are you talking about?”
“Nothing.”
Su Yan gave a perfunctory reply.
Long Bing didn’t mind. Under her guidance, the three of them went to many places.
The first stop was the place where the empress dealt with political affairs. They didn’t find any clues here. Next was the empress’s bedchamber. There was nothing special here either. Of course, they didn’t miss the empress’s study, but the result was still the same.
“Strange. So there are no clues in any of the places. Could it be that the culprit’s crime was so perfect, that they did things flawlessly?”
Xiao Wu’s brows furrowed, feeling the trickiness of the matter.
Su Yan turned his head at this moment and asked the maid, “Does the empress usually stay in these places? Are there any other places that have been missed?”
The maid shook her head and said, “That’s all. The empress usually only goes to these places.”
“Are there no more places the empress often goes to?”
Su Yan’s brows furrowed.
Wait! Often go?
“Are there any places that the empress doesn’t often go to, but on a certain day, she will definitely go?”
Su Yan found that he had overlooked a problem. If the culprit wanted to make a move on the empress, they had to be absolutely sure. The places she often went to were very suitable for making a move, but often going did not mean she would definitely go. If there was a place she would definitely go, wouldn’t it be more suitable?
“Are you talking about the Star-Gazing Tower?”
“The Star-Gazing Tower?”
Su Yan was a little curious.
Long Bing said, “I know about this. The Star-Gazing Tower is the highest place in the Dragon Kingdom. If she wants to divine the fortune of the wind and rain for the coming year, my mother will go to the Star-Gazing Tower to personally preside over this ceremony.”
The date of the divination ceremony was fixed, which meant that the time the empress had to go was also fixed. A major factor for the culprit to succeed was already in place. But the next…
“If it’s some grand ceremony, there must be a lot of people present. That seems unlikely.”
“If someone wanted to make a move on the empress, they would definitely choose a place with few people and where it’s not easy to be discovered. The day of the ceremony seems unlikely.”
However…
“The main ceremony is impossible, but what about after the ceremony? At that time, most of the people will have left. My mother will stay there to pray, hoping for favorable weather in the coming year.”
Hearing Long Bing say this, Su Yan’s eyes immediately lit up. If this was the case after the ceremony, and the empress would stay there after the ceremony, then it was very likely that it was the scene of the crime.
At this thought, the three of them hurried towards the Star-Gazing Tower.
As the tallest building in this city, Su Yan saw this building from a long distance away.
“It’s really tall!”
Su Yan looked up and couldn’t see the top. If he were to just judge by eye, this Star-Gazing Tower was probably several hundred meters high. In this world that was similar to ancient times, it was simply a miracle.
But thinking that this world had spiritual energy and that cultivators were almost omnipotent, Su Yan no longer felt strange.
As they got closer and closer, before they had even reached the Star-Gazing Tower, Su Yan felt the special nature of this building. There was a faint spiritual energy fluctuation around it, and the runes engraved on the walls seemed to be a technique for calculating the secrets of the heavens. No wonder the Star-Gazing Tower could predict the wind and rain. This had a cultivation basis. The person who had built this building at that time was definitely a cultivator who was proficient in the art of calculation.
“This building was built hundreds of years ago by the founding emperor of the Dragon Kingdom. She is also my ancestor.”
Seeing Su Yan’s curious expression, Long Bing introduced it to him.
The three of them pushed open the door. After walking up who knows how many steps, they finally arrived at the top of the Star-Gazing Tower.
This was a spacious place with a large space. Besides the place in the center for the ceremony, there were only a few rooms for resting.
Su Yan was very curious about the specific structure of this Star-Gazing Tower. Because the art of calculation was mysterious and unpredictable, with his current realm, he had never even seen it. Now was a good time.
But thinking of Long Bing’s mother, he still forcefully endured this impulse. Now, the proper business was more important.
“Let’s look around.”
Xiao Wu used her eyes and divine sense to search carefully here.
Su Yan and Long Bing also followed suit. Before long, they had finished searching.
“You found it, right?”
“You found it too?”
“Mm.”
Long Bing’s expression was very unpleasant at this moment. Unlike the previous few times, this time, they had finally found a clue. In the place where her mother rested, they had found traces of a worm crawling.
These traces could not be seen with the naked eye, but with divine sense, they had still found some clues. And this was very troublesome.
One had to know, for the annual Star-Gazing ceremony, those who could come here were all people of distinguished status. It was not simple to investigate them. If they did it with a big fanfare, it was very likely to cause everyone to feel insecure, and the Dragon Kingdom would be in great turmoil.
“We can only investigate in secret.”
Long Bing gritted her teeth and said.
Su Yan looked at her with a sympathetic expression. The status of a princess was very distinguished, but this was not good. A slight carelessness would lead to being caught in the vortex of power struggles. This was a very serious crisis.
“I’ll help you.”
Xiao Wu’s expression was serious.
Su Yan also nodded, and the unpleasant expression on Long Bing’s face eased a little.
…
And so, the three of them found some clues, but they were just clues.
Although they had narrowed down the target of the crime to a certain range, these people had special statuses, and it was impossible to investigate them openly.
“I’ll leave this to you.”
Xiao Wu squeezed Su Yan’s hand and said.
This was the Dragon Kingdom, and Long Bing was most familiar with this place. Her status as a princess was very convenient, and it was most appropriate for her to investigate.
By using legitimate means to rule out the suspicion of these people, if someone did not cooperate, then it would be Xiao Wu’s turn to make a move. With her Nascent Soul stage strength, it was a very easy matter to sneak in and investigate.
Of course, while the two of them were busy, Su Yan was not idle. He came to the Dragon Kingdom’s library, wanting to find out if there were any clues about this unknown gu worm by reading the materials.
“Although it’s very likely to be a waste of effort, what if I find a clue?”
With this thought, Su Yan searched very seriously.
As a country that had been passed down for hundreds of years, the Dragon Kingdom’s library had a large number of books. Su Yan really did find records about gu worms here, but they were all unverified unofficial histories and common gu worms. None of these matched the empress’s situation.
“It’s really useless!”
Su Yan stretched. Because of the long period of reading, his eyes felt a little sore. It was better to rest for a while before continuing. He couldn’t force himself too much.
At this thought, Su Yan walked out of the library. Looking at the blue sky and white clouds outside, he wanted to rest and get some fresh air.
