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The middle-aged man next to him said, "What? The Crown Prince? Wen Yang is his brother-in-law, why would he want to kill him?"
The young man smirked and said, "Don't you know? The Crown Princess has always been displeased with her maiden family's actions and almost cut off ties with them. Do you still remember the incident with the broken hanging bridge on New Year's Day? It was the people from the Wen Family who claimed to be acting on behalf of the Crown Princess and blocked the main bridge, causing the people going to offer incense to have nowhere to go but the crowded hanging bridge, which resulted in its collapse."
Another scholar chimed in, "I remember that; the Emperor even punished the Crown Princess."
The young man continued, "Exactly. After that, the Crown Princess stopped associating with her maiden family. But who would have expected Wen Yang to remain unrepentant? He went to the palace to demand money from the Crown Princess and even insulted her, calling her a hen that can't lay eggs!"
The original words were not exactly like this, but rumors tend to become harsher when passed around.
"In a fit of rage, the Crown Prince..."
The young man made a gesture of slitting his throat.
Gu Jiao heard this news in the medical hall while Second Owner was gossiping with her.
"They say it's the Crown Prince’s doing." Second Owner said.
He had secured cooperation from major merchants through the Chamber of Commerce, suppressing Rejuvenation Hall underfoot. He felt proud and elated, strutting as he walked, not to mention when he spoke.
Gu Jiao only responded with an "Oh" and remained silent.
"Do you think it's true?" Second Owner continued gossiping.
Of course not.
Based on what she knew about the Crown Prince, he wouldn't commit such an act as killing his brother-in-law.
The real culprit was obvious.
For Ning Wang to come up with such a roundabout solution, it was truly eye-opening.
But, indeed, it wasn't easy to find a secret lover with status. On the contrary, wasn’t a blood-related elder brother readily available?
He was already equally disgraceful, so he could easily be used as a scapegoat.
However, Gu Jiao didn't expect Ning Wang to be so ruthless. After all, it was Wen Linlang's elder brother, and yet he killed him just like that.
The fierceness and decisiveness of Ning Wang were somewhat reminiscent of the rumors about the late Emperor. Even if the Crown Prince were to cultivate for another ten or eight years, he would not be as resolute as Ning Wang.
Such a character, if born in troubled times, would undoubtedly become a dominant ruler.
"Oh no! Second Owner! Young Miss Gu! Something bad happened!"
While the two were talking, Shopkeeper Wang rushed in, sweat pouring down his forehead, "There's a problem at the workshop!"
The workshop Shopkeeper Wang referred to was the medicinal factory of Miraculous Hands Hall, located in an open area in the western suburbs of the capital. It was originally a small distillery that went out of business and was taken over by Second Owner.
The largest production line in the workshop was for jinchuang medicine, which occupied two large courtyards. The next in line were cold cream and some tonics, each occupying a courtyard.
By the time Gu Jiao and Second Owner arrived at the scene, the fire had already been controlled, but the entire stock of jinchuang medicine had been burnt.
"Oh dear, that's over a thousand bottles of jinchuang medicine! We were supposed to deliver them by the end of the month!" Shopkeeper Wang said sorrowfully.
"Are there any casualties?"
This was Gu Jiao's first question.
Shopkeeper Wang called over the supervisor of the workshop, who said, "At that time, everyone was busy with their work, and no one was in the warehouse. No one was injured."
"Good." Gu Jiao looked at the burnt-down warehouse and nodded, "I will go to the military camp and tell them that the delivery will be delayed for a few days. Second Owner, you try to contact suppliers to see if we can get a new batch of medicinal materials as soon as possible."
"Okay." Second Owner agreed, then he inquired about the cause of the fire, "How did it start? Didn’t I tell you all to be careful not to bring any fire near the warehouse?"
The supervisor looked distressed and hesitant as he said, "I don't know what happened! I inspect regularly, once every hour during the day, and twice at night! I never noticed anything amiss... This fire seemed to start suddenly!"
Gu Jiao went to the ruins and examined them. The flames had been extinguished, but there was still a bit of black smoke rising from the wreckage.
She touched the ground with her fingertips, brought it to her nose, and said calmly, "It was arson, they poured brown oil in this area near the back wall.”
"What? Arson? Who did it? Was it an insider?" Second Owner's face darkened. "Bring everyone here; I want to question them thoroughly!"
Gu Jiao stood up indifferently, dusting off her hands, and said, "No need to question them. It wasn't them who set the fire."
It was Ning Wang.
It seemed that Gu Jiao's visit to Ning Wangfei had angered Ning Wang.
In fact, she didn't reveal much to Ning Wangfei, only mentioning that Rui Wangfei offended someone she shouldn't have and that the other party might harm her. Gu Jiao didn't mention who that person was or what they did.
Gu Jiao had no idea whether Ning Wangfei figured out Ning Wang's involvement or not, or how she managed to save Rui Wangfei from him.
Ning Wang was clearly warning her with this incident.
Gu Jiao smirked.
She initially planned to keep this pot of leeks to be cut slowly, but who asked the other party to owe her?
The night was dark, and the wind was high.
Gu Chengfeng finally paid off all his debts and happily went to sleep.
However, to his surprise, he felt something scratching his face in the middle of the night.
Thinking it was Gu Chenglin, he turned over and went back to sleep.
But the thing directly burrowed into his blanket.
Gu Chengfeng was suddenly startled awake, and he jumped off the bed, asking, "Who are you?"
Little Nine, hiding under the blanket, looked bewildered and flapped its wings in confusion, "Chirp?"
After clearly seeing the falcon in front of him, the corner of Gu Chengfeng's mouth twitched.
After going to Bishui Alley so many times, he couldn't fail to recognize this bird.
Little Nine hopped in front of Gu Chengfeng, arrogantly extending its talons.
Gu Chengfeng took a closer look, and there was a note tied to its talons!
Gu Chengfeng untied the note and unfolded it.
There were only three words on it: “Ning Wang Residence."
There was also a drawing of a bloody little knife.
Gu Chengfeng: "..."
In this day and age, people no longer come in person to deliver messages; rather they send birds to run errands, huh?
Due to his dissatisfaction with Gu Jiao's nonchalant attitude, Gu Chengfeng overlooked the significance of the three words, “Ning Wang Residence.”
It wasn’t until he followed Little Nine and arrived at the courtyard wall of the Ning Wang Residence did Gu Chengfeng's eyes widened as if waking up from a dream!
Why did that girl ask him to come here?
Ning Wang Residence?
Gu Chengfeng turned around to leave!
Unfortunately, it was too late for Gu Chengfeng to leave as a small hand swiftly reached out and pulled him into Ning Wang Residence.
Gu Chengfeng once again: "..."
As soon as they landed, a patrol of guards passed by. Gu Chengfeng quickly used his qinggong to hide behind a big tree with her!
Once the guards were far away, Gu Chengfeng couldn't hold it in and looked at Gu Jiao in frustration, "What is going on this time? Why did you drag me into Ning Wang Residence?"
Ning Wang Residence was the largest prince's residence in the capital. Although there weren’t Dragon Shadow Guards here, it was heavily guarded with numerous mechanisms and was not a place one could easily trespass.
"Do you know there are mechanisms here?"
He gritted his teeth.
Gu Jiao replied, "Oh."
Gu Chengfeng closed his eyes. He really wished he could just die right now!
After a while, he finally calmed down his emotions and asked, "You still haven't answered my question. Why did we come to Ning Wang Residence?"
Gu Jiao confidently replied, "To rob."
Gu Chengfeng looked at her all-black attire and said coldly, "Are you sure it's not theft?"
Gu Jiao hummed, "It's more or less the same."
"How did Ning Wang offend you?" Gu Chengfeng knew this girl too well. When she steals something, it was usually not for money——
Gu Jiao: "Hurry and find out where Ning Wang hides all his gold in the mansion."
Gu Chengfeng: Was it really fine to slap someone’s face so soon?
Ning Wang was a very wealthy prince. With Gu Chengfeng's exceptional skills, he effortlessly found Ning Wang's hidden treasury.
"How much do you want to take?" Gu Chengfeng asked.
"Just as much as we two can carry." Gu Jiao took out two large sacks from her back basket and said, "Empty it."
Gu Chengfeng: "...!!!"
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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