The Imperial Guard's Revenge

Chapter 16 Evidence

After Wang Yanqing lost her memory, she often felt that Second Brother had changed and it became overwhelming for her. She panicked for a while, thinking that Lu Heng was making fun of her again, and said with a sullen face: “Second Brother, don’t be like this all the time.”

“Always like what?” Lu Heng looked down at her, suddenly stretched out his hand, and slid his fingertips gently along Wang Yanqing’s cheeks: “You came to the capital at the age of seven. At the age of eight, you were sick for a winter because of martial arts practice. At the age of ten, you knelt in the ancestral hall to accompany someone and almost had died of a fever. At the age of 12, you fell off your horse to save someone else. At the age of fourteen, you followed everyone to the barracks without telling them where you fell, rolled about, and crawled for a month. After you came back, you didn’t speak about any of the injuries on your body. You treat me so well, why shouldn’t I be hurt for you?”

Lu Heng talked about the past one by one, the time, place, cause, and effect were all clear. Wang Yanqing knew that this should be her own experience, but at this moment when she heard this come from Lu Heng’s mouth, she had no real sense of reality, it felt as if it was far away like someone else’s story.

Wang Yanqing’s heart softened again. She woke up and forgot everything, but Second Brother remembered the long years they had spent together. Perhaps, they had been so close before.

Wang Yanqing felt a little guilty and whispered to Lu Heng: “I’m sorry, Second Brother, I have forgotten…”

“It’s okay.” Lu Heng looked at her and smiled, and said: “It’s not a big deal. If you forgot, you just forgot.  Let’s go, we can find Liang Fu’s ‘adulterer’.”

During the entire journey, Liang Wen Shi’s maid carefully followed Lu Heng and Wang Yanqing, but in a blink of an eye, the people in front of her disappeared. She was startled and quickly ran up to look for them and she searched all over the corner of the wall, but she was stunned to see no one. She thought to herself that something strange like this couldn’t happen in broad daylight, so she hurried to the front to report to Liang Wen Shi.

In the main hall, Chen Yuxuan was still chattering and talking nonsense with the elders of the Liang family and Liang Wen Shi. At this moment, Lu Heng had unknowingly bypassed the people of the Liang family, stood in front of the gatekeeper, and asked: “On the seventeenth of last month, on the day Liang Rong disappeared, when did he go out?”

This was a big event, and the gatekeeper quickly remembered: “I, Mao Shizheng, remembered very clearly that day. As soon as I opened the door, the eldest young master went out. The eldest young master put on a cloak, covering most of his face. He lowered his head and walked to the door with a muffled voice. I reminded the eldest young master to walk slowly and not fall, but the eldest young master ignored it.”

Wang Yanqing caught the point and asked: “He was wearing a cloak?”

“Yes.” The gatekeeper replied, “A gray-black one that was very thick. I thought it looked strange. Since when did the eldest young master wear these kinds of thick clothes?”

Lu Heng hummed without a clear meaning and asked: “He lowered his head, covered his face, and didn’t speak, how do you know it was Liang Rong?”

The porter was taken aback by this sentence: “The eldest young master was wearing a new cloak made last year. If he was not the eldest young master, who else could he be?”

Lu Heng asked: “What style was that cloak?”

The gatekeeper even explained with gestures: “The fur was black and grey, and the feather lining was very thick.”

Lu Heng nodded, not asking any further, and changed the subject: “Did Liang Fu come to you that day?”

“The Miss, she came. It was also a coincidence that the eldest Miss came not long after the eldest young master left. I told Miss that she was one step late and would have met the eldest young master if she had come a little earlier. The Miss was disappointed when she heard this.”

Matching Liang Fu’s timeline, Wang Yanqing asked: “When did you see Liang Bin that day?”

The gatekeeper thought for a while, then shook his head: “I didn’t see him here, maybe the second young master left through another gate.”

When Wang Yanqing heard this, she hurriedly asked: “There is a side gate in the mansion?”

“Yes, over there.” The porter stretched out his hand, pointed in one direction, and said, “The two of you can see it when you turn the corner along the street.”

Wang Yanqing thanked the gatekeeper and walked down the street with Lu Heng. They first went to the location indicated by the gatekeeper, and sure enough, they saw a side gate in an alley. Wang Yanqing looked around and said: “This side door does not face the street, and the place is hidden. If someone pretend to be Liang Rong, took a detour back here, and entered the house through the side gate, it would not have attracted any attention.”

Lu Heng walked around the corner slowly and said: “That’s all for the Liang family, for now, let’s go and find Feng Liu.”

The Baoding Prefecture couldn’t be compared to the capital, but it was still an important town guarding the capital. It built ships, transported grain, and had a large population. Wang Yanqing thought it would take a lot of effort to find a ruffian in such a huge city, but she had underestimated the Imperial Guard’s intelligence network. In just a while, Lu Heng got Feng Liu’s household registration information.

Wang Yanqing looked speechless: “He is just a little street nobody, and you have it all in the records?”

Wang Yanqing could understand monitoring high-ranking officials in the capital, but Feng Liu was just a ruffian at best. The Imperial Guards even had this kind of information? Lu Heng smiled, put away the information, and took the initiative to take Wang Yanqing’s hand: “Just in case. The guards said he ran away, and now they don’t know where he is. Let’s go to his house and take a look.”

Feng Liu lived in the south of the city, where the alleys were slanted and the rooms were densely built. There was a lot of movement from people who were engaged in small businesses and crafts. After entering the area, Wang Yanqing obviously felt that she was being watched by more malicious eyes, but no one dared to come up to her because of Lu Heng who stayed beside her. The road ahead was getting narrower and narrower and Lu Heng was worried and said to Wang Yanqing: “Wait here a while, I’ll go take a look at the front.”

Lu Heng was naturally cautious, Feng Liu’s house was in front of him, but the alley was dark and narrow, and it was difficult for two people to stand side by side. It was a very suitable place for setting up an ambush. Lu Heng was not afraid, but he took Wang Yanqing with him. He couldn’t take chances with Wang Yanqing.

Lu Heng left Wang Yanqing at the intersection and went inside to check on Feng Liu’s house by himself. At that time, the Liang family brought people to rummage through Feng Liu’s house. After they found the exact same clothes, they immediately turned Feng Liu over to the officials. Seeing that the situation was wrong, Feng Liu rushed away from the crowd and ran away. His home was also sealed by the government. While Lu Heng was checking in front, Feng Liu’s neighbor’s door suddenly opened, and a tall, oily-faced man ran out and bumped head-on into Wang Yanqing.

Both Wang Yanqing and the man were taken aback, but when the man saw that it was just a weak woman, there was a vicious look in his eyes, and Wang Yanqing immediately reacted. This was mostly likely Feng Liu.

The man stepped forward and wanted to grab Wang Yanqing, but Wang Yanqing avoided him in time. Wang Yanqing’s hand was secretly moving, she was about to use a small hand when the man was kicked from behind. Lu Heng’s arm pressed against the opponent’s elbow and shoulder joint, twisting it up, and the man immediately howled in pain: “Master, spare my life, I know my wrong, Master please spare my life!  ”

Lu Heng’s movements were fast and vicious, and Wang Yanqing could hear the sound of the man’s dislocated joints. Wang Yanqing thought to herself that Second Brother’s hands were really black and quickly said: “Second Brother, it’s important to interrogate the case first.”

If she had delayed this for a while, the man’s joints would have been crushed. Lu Heng didn’t get up, he still controlled the man condescendingly, without anger or smile on his face, and looked at him coldly: “What did you want to do when you caught her just now?”

The man screamed and shouted: “I didn’t want to do anything, I just wanted to run for my life. Master, forgive me, my arm is about break…”

Wang Yanqing stepped forward, gently stroked Lu Heng’s shoulder, and whispered: “Second Brother.”

When Lu Heng heard Wang Yanqing’s words, he slowly let go of his hand. The man felt as if he had been granted amnesty, and hurried to support his arm, screaming constantly. Lu Heng stood next to him, loosened his cufflinks impatiently, and kicked the man: “Speak, what’s your name.”

The man wailed on the ground and said hurriedly: “My surname is Feng, and my family is Liu, people call me Caomin Feng Liu.”

“It really is you.”Lu Heng said, “Where have you been hiding during all this time, and why did you come out of the court next door?”

Feng Liu didn’t know the two people in front of him, but after what happened just now, he had already determined that Lu Heng was an expert in the military, and he was really frightened when he attacked. Feng Liu didn’t know what luck he had, but he provoked people in the government one after another. He shouted injustice and said: “Master, I have been wronged.” I didn’t know anything. Half a month ago, suddenly a group of people came to the door, clamoring to send Caomin to the officials, I couldn’t argue and so I could only run. I have been hiding outside for half a month, and I really can’t get by anymore, so I wanted to come back to get some life-saving money. I did not dare to enter through the main entrance. Seeing that there was no one in the neighbor’s house, I wanted to cross the wall from the neighbor’s house. Unexpectedly, I saw the Master coming when I went in. I just wanted to ask for a way to survive, not be disrespectful to you.”

Feng Liu tried to distort his behavior in grabbing Wang Yanqing. Lu Heng smiled and did not argue with him. Instead, he said: “Be honest, what were you doing on the nineteenth day of the last month?”

Feng Liuyi had a bitter face when he heard this day: “Master, I really don’t know anything. That day I drank too much and fell asleep at home. Suddenly, a group of people rushed in outside, saying that I had scorned the Miss of the Liang family. My Master, you know this clearly. I am just a little peasant, how could I dare provoke the young lady of a Thousand Households.  I hadn’t even touched the door of the Liang family. It was really wrong to say that I had committed adultery with Miss Liang.”

When the crime of adultery came crashing down, Liang Fu, who had humiliated her family, would die, as would Feng Liu, who had stained the chamber lady. The Liang family was entitled and powerful in the Baoding Prefecture, and if Feng Liu went to jail, he would undoubtedly die. He didn’t want to die, so he could only run.

As a result, his luck was terrible. He specifically picked a time when no one was there to come back to get his money, but unexpectedly bumped into a strange man who was handsome but ruthless. Feng Liu didn’t dare to offend Lu Heng and spilled the beans, saying everything about himself during this period of time.

Wang Yanqing nodded slightly to Feng Heng, indicating that Feng Liu was not lying. Lu Heng was expressionless, and he asked again: “The Liang family found the red scarf in your room at the time of the crime. The human and physical evidence was all there. Do you dare deny it?”

When Feng Liu heard this, his voice of grievance grew louder: “Master, that piece of clothing is indeed mine. I don’t know since when, but I couldn’t find that piece anywhere, so I ignored it for the time being. I didn’t know how that dress came back suddenly and appeared in Thousand Households Liang’s house. If Master doesn’t believe me, they can ask the neighbors in the neighborhood. When I couldn’t find my clothes last time, I asked them.”

Lu Heng looked at him quietly for a while, then walked out without saying anything. Feng Liu breathed a sigh of relief. He thought he was okay and got up from the ground laboriously. As soon as he stood up, Imperial Guards ran in from outside the alley and pushed Feng Liu to the ground. Feng Liu was startled, and hurriedly looked forward, where there were still the two figures.

Wang Yanqing walked out of the alley and said to Lu Heng: “Second Brother, he didn’t lie. Why did you take him into custody?”

“I know it’s not him.”Lu Heng said lightly, “With his height and weight, climbing the tree from the Liang residence would definitely break the branch.” It would not be him who appeared in the embroidery building that day and escaped.”

Wang Yanqing was startled, and slowly realized why Lu Heng let her go to the tree instead of going by himself: “So, you asked me to climb the tree in front of Liang Fu’s window just to verify the murderer’s size?”

Lu Heng nodded and admitted. When he saw the branches outside, he felt that they were too thin. After all, Liang Wei was an Imperial Guard. How could he let his daughter grow a tree in front of the embroidery building, leading directly outside the wall. The tree had been pruned, and the branch leading to the outside of the wall was newly grown, not stout. A person of Wang Yanqing’s weight would float slightly when she walked up. If an adult man of Feng Liu’s size climbed up, he would break the branch in two steps.

Later, Lu Heng heard Liang Fu’s testimony and became more speechless. Are you afraid that you will not be conspicuous when you wear red clothes during an affair? Therefore, the clothes were just a cover-up, and it was the purpose of the people behind the scenes to use clothes to frame Feng Liu. Only women or undeveloped teenagers meet the conditions for going up the tree, and there were very few women who could jump such a long distance. Therefore, most likely, the person who escaped from the tree that day was a slender and light-bodied teenager with good athletic ability.

There were few people who met all these conditions, and less who were close at hand.

Wang Yanqing’s face was heavy, and she raised her eyebrows and said: “It was Liang Bin?”

Perhaps more than that, Liang Rong went out as soon as dawn peaked on the seventeenth and didn’t talk to anyone along the way, but many people could see his clothes and that he was going out clearly. This behavior was abnormal and almost planned as if it was deliberately creating the illusion that Liang Rong was still alive. Liang Bin is thin, but he was no different from an adult. If he put on his brother’s cloak and covered half of his face with a hat, he should have been able to be disguised as Liang Rong at first glance.

Wang Yanqing guessed that Liang Rong died that night. The next morning, Liang Bin wore Liang Rong’s clothes and walked out of the main entrance quickly. Then he took off his cloak and quietly came back from the side door. Unknowingly, he forged Liang Rong’s timeline. But he didn’t expect Liang Fu to come too. Liang Bin and Liang Rong both lived in the outer courtyard. The two rooms were opposite. Liang Bin deliberately avoided the concierge and came back from the side door. He didn’t expect anyone at the door and bumped into Liang Fu.

Liang Fu was here last night and picked up the beads this morning. Liang Bin mistakenly thought that Liang Fu knew something, so he became murderous and brought out the subsequent adultery case.

Lu Heng didn’t express his opinions and said: “The person who planted Liang Fu’s adultery may not be the same as the person who killed Liang Rong. Let’s go find the owner of the bead first.”