In the room where Ye Lingfeng and Hai Ling were staying, there were still a few people sitting there, including Ji Shaocheng, Shen Ruoxuan, Feng Qian, and others. The people who assassinated Jiang Batian last night had all gone to rest, and the few of them were sitting here discussing what to do next.
Hai Ling glanced at the people in the room, and instead of being angry, she smiled. The cold and stiff atmosphere eased because of her smile, and everyone looked at her.
I saw her turn pale with anger just now, why is she laughing now?
Hai Ling spoke softly: "Actually, we knew all along that Jiang Batian was no ordinary person, so this was to be expected. I suppose we couldn't believe it when we heard that he had been captured, but now that we think about it, isn't this exactly who he is?"
"That's right."
Feng Qian nodded. When she first heard that Jiang Batian had been captured, she found it hard to believe. Who was Jiang Batian? How could he be captured so easily? Now that she thought about it, it was bound to be true. If Jiang Batian were so easy to capture, he would have died ten or eight times over. So it was expected.
However, he now knew that someone was hiding in the capital trying to assassinate him, making it even more difficult to kill him.
"So how do we find him and catch him?"
Feng Qian was very worried. If they didn't get rid of Jiang Batian, how could they reclaim the throne?
"Finding Jiang Batian right now won't be easy, but could we lure him out?"
Ye Lingfeng raised an eyebrow and spoke in a deep, magnetic voice that echoed in the room. Everyone looked at him and saw that his eyes were unfathomable, as if they contained a huge vortex.
"Luring the snake out of its hole?"
The others didn't quite understand how to lure the snake out of its hole, but Hai Ling seemed to have a clue. She explained to the group, "We can't touch Jiang Batian right now, but isn't there a Liu Shi in the Jiang residence? We can find a way to capture Liu Shi and then use her to capture Jiang Batian."
"How could that be? Jiang Batian is a very selfish person. He wouldn't show himself for the sake of the Liu family. Even if he did show himself, it would be a fake Jiang Batian. What use would it be if we arrested him?"
Nalan Mingzhu chimed in, saying that she knew Jiang Batian quite well. He wasn't the kind of person who would hesitate to do anything for his family. Even if Jiang Feixue were in their hands today, let alone Liu Shi, Jiang Batian might not show up. So, the method of luring the snake out of its hole might not work.
Hai Ling laughed: "Luring the snake out of its hole is just a metaphor. It means we need to make a move and see what Jiang Batian does. Even if it's a fake, he'll still send someone out. If we don't move, we won't be able to figure out his situation. Right now, not only is there him, but there are also nine fake doubles moving around. If we don't move, even if we secretly gather information, it might not be the real him. So this is the worst strategy. Even if it doesn't work, we can not only take the opportunity to get rid of Liu Shi, but also follow the fake Jiang Batian and see how they make contact. Maybe we'll get some clues."
Besides, getting rid of Liu was also something Hailing had to do. This woman was too vicious. She had harmed her mother's own daughter before, and later she made things difficult for her mother in every way. When she thought of the suffering and pain her mother, Du Caiyue, had endured, it was not only from Jiang Batian, but also from this wicked woman, Liu.
Hai Ling's face darkened. Even if Jiang Batian didn't appear, she would still kill Liu Shi.
If they capture Liu Shi and Jiang Batian remains unmoved, then if Jiang Feixue returns alive, she certainly won't remain unmoved. Their move is intended to cause internal strife within the Jiang family.
"Let's just consider killing Liu Shi as a test. We don't have any other way out in the short term, but maybe we'll find another way out because of Liu Shi. Besides, even if a fake Jiang Batian comes out, we can follow him and maybe we'll find some clues."
"Let's do it this way. Once the commotion from the government troops' search has passed, we'll send men into the Jiang residence to abduct Liu. Of course, Liu may not be easy to find, so we need to be even more careful from now on."
Inside the room, Ye Lingfeng spoke calmly, and no one protested.
Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Shi Zhu spoke from outside.
"Sir, the soldiers have searched the West Mansion and have all left."
"Oh, come in."
Shi Zhu pushed open the door and respectfully reported, "The entire street is filled with soldiers searching, checking house to house. Not only that, they are also checking people at the city gate. The whole capital is in a state of panic. Nobody knows what the soldiers are searching for."
Although Jiang Batian ordered the garrison of the capital to search, because he did not know who it was, he arrested anyone who was suspicious. Now the entire capital is shrouded in an atmosphere of death, and the streets are filled with cries and screams.
"After all this, I'm afraid the capital of the Great Zhou will become even more chaotic. This matter must be resolved quickly, otherwise the people will suffer terribly."
Ye Lingfeng spoke with a heavy heart. Although he was the emperor of Beilu, he had served as prime minister in the Great Zhou Dynasty for two years. Therefore, he did not want the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty to suffer undeserved disasters. Moreover, with such a big commotion by Jiang Batian, he was afraid that many people would die unjustly. In any case, he did not care about the lives of the people. He would do anything insane to arrest people.
"Yes, now that the soldiers have searched the West Mansion, let's go out and investigate the Jiang Residence. We must be careful this time and find out where Liu is, then secretly send someone to arrest her."
Feng Qian spoke anxiously, her heart breaking at the thought of the Feng family's empire being ruined by that scoundrel Jiang Batian. She was filled with immense worry and despair.
Hai Ling, who had been silent until now, slowly spoke up: "As expected, this Liu Shi is not in the Jiang residence. The Jiang residence must have laid a trap for us. This time, we will disappoint Jiang Batian. You should avoid the Jiang residence, either the Jiang family's villa or the old house, or the Liu residence. The most likely place for Liu Shi to hide is her maternal family's Liu residence."
After Hailing finished speaking, everyone's eyes lit up, they nodded in agreement, and got up to leave the underground secret room of the West Mansion.
Dozens of people split into several groups and went out of the West Mansion to inquire about Liu's whereabouts. In the evening, they returned and gathered the information they had obtained. After repeated confirmation, they locked onto the Liu Mansion. Liu must be hiding in the Liu family and not in any of the Jiang family's residences.
This time, we must be extremely careful in our kidnapping attempt and make sure we capture this Lady Liu.
After discussion, everyone decided that Shi Zhu and Shi Mei would lead several Feather Guards to arrest the person. Both of them were knowledgeable in both poison and medicine. If they were discovered, they could give the people of the Liu family a drugging incense, which would make it less likely to be detected.
In the end, Shen Ruoxuan was worried about Shi Mei, so he insisted on going with her, while the others waited for news in the West Mansion.
Thinking about capturing Liu Shi, Hai Ling was extremely excited and couldn't sleep. She kept waiting. Finally, Ye Lingfeng coaxed, persuaded, and threatened her until he finally tricked her into bed. But even in bed, her eyes were wide open and she couldn't close them. Thinking about seeing Liu Shi, countless images flashed through her mind: would he skin her alive, hang her up and beat her, or cut her apart piece by piece to avenge the suffering her mother had endured? Thinking about this made it even harder for her to sleep.
In the end, Ye Lingfeng had no choice but to talk to her until the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), when Shizhu and the others brought back Liu Shi.
Someone reported it, and Hai Ling immediately got dressed, got out of bed, and rushed outside, which terrified Ye Lingfeng, who couldn't help but scream.
"Ling'er, slow down," he said, getting dressed and following closely behind.
In a secret room in the West Mansion, the room was filled with people, all staring with hatred at the woman who was tightly bound and whose face was covered with a black cloth. Although her mouth was stuffed with something, she was still making muffled noises, clearly terrified.
As soon as Hai Ling rushed in, she ran to Liu Shi, reached out and removed the black cloth from Liu Shi's face, taking the contents out of her mouth as well. Then she looked her over and confirmed that the pale woman in front of her was indeed Liu Shi. Her eyes widened in horror as she looked at the people in the room, and when she saw Feng Zixiao, she couldn't help but cry out.
"Feng Zixiao, you're here! Where is my Xue'er? Where is my Xue'er?"
Feng Zixiao's face was gloomy as he glared at her without saying a word. However, Feng Qian, who was standing beside Feng Zixiao, sneered and said, "She's dead."
Upon hearing her words, Liu's face lost even more color, and she shook her head desperately, tears streaming down her face, in great pain.
"No, no, you're lying to me, you're lying to me, aren't you? Feng Zixiao, I, Xue'er, saved you, and you actually killed her, you heartless bastard, you actually killed her."
Liu started screaming and struggling frantically to stand up and crash into Feng Zixiao. Unfortunately, she struggled for a long time but still couldn't stand up. Hailing kicked her over and then stepped hard on Liu's hand, making her gasp and scream in pain.
"Who are you? Who are you?"
Hai Ling found her words amusing, stomped on her foot again, then squatted down and stared at her menacingly: "Who do you think I am?"