"Li Xue, Li Xue!" Dongfang Heng murmured, pulling Shen Li Xue tightly into his arms, hot tears streaming down his collar and onto her neck.
"When I arrived here... my elder brother was riddled with arrows... he was already lifeless... he was the only family I had left in the world... and he's gone forever... he'll never come back..."
When his parents passed away, he still had his older brother. Now that his older brother is gone too, he has no relatives left.
Shen Lixue held Dongfang Heng tightly, tears glistening in her eyes. Dongfang Heng was always cold and inarticulate, not good at expressing his feelings. These fragmented words, however, revealed his truest emotions: pain and helplessness. He couldn't tell anyone else, only her: "You still have me... The old prince is here too... We will never leave you..."
Upon hearing this, Dong Zhuheng's eyes welled up with even more tears, and his arms tightened unconsciously, as if he wanted to meld Shen Lixue into his very bones and never separate her again.
After an unknown amount of time, Dongfang Heng finally calmed down: "Li Xue, our wedding cannot proceed as scheduled. I cannot let my elder brother die without knowing the truth. I must avenge him and personally send the real culprit to hell!"
"Let's put the wedding aside for now and join forces to find the murderer who killed Prince Xun!" Shen Lixue gripped Dongfang Heng's hand tightly: "Do you know who the murderer is?"
"Master Zhan, besides him, no one else has arrows that fast, leaving my elder brother no chance to dodge!" Dongfang Heng's voice was filled with sorrow. Dongfang Xun's martial arts were no worse than his. If it weren't for the three arrows being fired in quick succession, the arrows would not have been able to hit him at all.
Dongfang Heng, who usually kept his emotions hidden, spoke of Dongfang Zhan with a hint of gritted teeth this time, indicating that he hated him to the extreme!
Shen Lixue frowned: "We don't have any evidence right now, and Dongfang Zhan is extremely intelligent and leaves no trace. It won't be easy to bring him down!"
Dongfang Heng's eyes narrowed, and he said slowly and deliberately, "I examined those arrows carefully just now, and some of them are from the same batch used to assassinate Ye Qianlong!"
"What?" Shen Lixue was shocked: "Dongfang Zhan sent people to assassinate Ye Qianlong?" He actually secretly trained so many black-clad assassins?
“I don’t know the specifics either, but the arrows that pierced my brother’s heart were exactly the same as the ones used to assassinate Ye Qianlong. The others were just ordinary arrows!” Dongfang Heng took out an arrow from his sleeve and handed it to Shen Lixue: “I secretly pulled one out!”
Shen Lixue stared intently at the arrow: it was ordinary black, with a sharp arrowhead stained with blood, and the fletching was made of ordinary feathers with a tiny mark carved beneath them, barely noticeable unless you looked closely.
Dongfang Heng pointed to the tip: "This arrow looks exactly like any other arrow, but upon closer inspection, its arrowhead is relatively sharp and longer, allowing it to shoot deeper and farther."
"Is there any record of where the arrows were made?" Shen Lixue raised an eyebrow.
Dongfang Heng shook his head, his gaze grave: "This batch of arrows must have been manufactured in secret. The Ministry of War has no records of it and cannot find any trace of it!"
Shen Lixue took out her dagger and gently scraped away the bloodstains on the arrow tip, revealing the tip. In the sunlight, the tip was silver, shimmering with a faint, dark black light.
Her gaze sharpened: "Dongfang Heng, look at this arrow tip!"
Dongfang Heng stared intently, his gaze sharpening: "This is... Xuan Iron!" Xuan Iron is extremely rare in the world; every Xuan Iron weapon is a treasure, priceless. It can cut iron like mud, so using it to make arrows would be a waste. Dongfang Zhan actually has such a grand gesture.
The arrows that attacked Ye Qianlong earlier were mostly fired at night, and the arrows were coated with a protective layer, so he didn't notice the difference in the arrowheads. Shen Lixue's knife scraped away the thin protective layer, revealing a different iron tip.
Shen Lixue shook her head: "It shouldn't be Xuan Tie, but something similar to Xuan Tie. Weapons made from it are extremely sharp and can easily injure people." She was a modern person and had some knowledge of various materials in nature. There were many types of iron that were inferior to Xuan Tie.
"If the arrows were indeed made by Dongfang Zhan, he must have a secret arrow-making site. As long as we find that site, it will be enough to put him to death!"
Dongfang Heng lowered his eyelids: "I have been sending people to follow him all along, but I haven't found any clues!" Dongfang Zhan is highly skilled in martial arts, has extremely high insight, and is also very cautious in his actions. Getting useful information from him is harder than climbing to heaven.
Shen Lixue frowned: "We won't find anything by directly investigating the arrow-making workshop. However, this kind of iron is very special. It can cut through iron like mud. Dongfang Zhan's mansion should have weapons made of this kind of iron!" Whether it's one or two, as long as it exists, we can find it.
Dongfang Heng nodded, his gaze deepening: "As long as we find an iron weapon similar to this arrow, the Emperor will become suspicious. At that time, he will definitely send people to find the arrow-making workshop." Once the arrow-making workshop is found, Dongfang Zhan's death will be imminent.
"We shouldn't delay. While Dongfang Zhan is in the palace to see off the Empress Dowager, let's hurry to Zhan Wang's residence to find evidence!" Shen Lixue, holding a feathered arrow, pulled Dongfang Heng forward quickly.
"Thud!" A box rolled out of Dongfang Heng's sleeve and gently fell to the ground.
"What is this?" Shen Lixue squatted down and picked up the box before Dongfang Heng could. His sleeves were soaked with blood, and the box was also stained with blood in various directions. The blood had dried and turned into a light blackish-purple, like a layer of black dust on a sandalwood box.
"This is a coming-of-age gift for you!" Dongfang Heng looked at the box, his eyes flickering with a mixture of anticipation and embarrassment.
What exactly is inside? What makes Dongfang Heng so uneasy?
Shen Lixue opened the lid with a puzzled look, and a pair of wooden figures came into view. The man was tall and handsome, while the woman was stunningly beautiful. She gently held the man's arm and smiled sweetly: "This is... you and me?"
Dongfang Heng nodded: "I carved it myself, do you like it?" He had only recently started learning carving, and he put his heart and soul into every cut, but his technique was still a bit rough and not as skillful as Ye Qianlong's.
"Thank you, I really like it!" The wooden figure had been carefully polished many times; Dongfang Heng's gift was very thoughtful.
Shen Lixue closed the wooden box and carefully placed it in her sleeve. Looking at the bloodstains on the ground, she gripped Dongfang Heng's hand tightly: "Let's go to the Zhan Prince's Mansion to find weapons!"
Chapter 158: Finding the Murderer
The Prince Zhan's Mansion is located in a bustling part of the capital. It is majestic and solemn, with strict guards. There are sentries every three steps and guards every five steps. However, Dongfang Heng, as if entering an empty place, led Shen Lixue and skillfully avoided the obvious and hidden guards in the mansion, sneaking into the inner courtyard.
Dongfang Zhan had not yet married his principal wife, nor were there any concubines, maids, or other female relatives. The entire inner courtyard was quiet and deserted. Shen Lixue followed Dongfang Heng along a secluded path, looking at the rows of tightly closed doors, and lowered her voice:
"Dongfang Heng, where do you think Dongfang Zhan would keep those privately made arrows? In the armory?"
Both the Holy King's Mansion and the War King's Mansion have armories containing various weapons such as knives, swords, daggers, and arrows. Shen Lixue thought that the weapons of the Zhan King's Mansion should also be stored in an armory.
The winding bluestone path ahead reflected a cold glint in the sunlight. Dongfang Heng's gaze sharpened: "Dongfang Zhan is very clever; he won't leave his privately made arrows out in the open!"
People frequently come and go in the armory, and the arrows left there are easily spotted.
Shen Lixue frowned: "Then where would he put the arrow?"
“Of course, it’s a place that only he can enter and exit!” Dongfang Heng’s sharp gaze swept over the crisscrossing roads, and he slowly walked into a long corridor, his elegant and composed demeanor as if he were taking a stroll.
Shen Lixue's eyes lit up: "His room!"
Dongfang Heng nodded, stopped in front of a house, listened carefully for a moment, and after confirming that no one was around, pushed open the door and went inside!
The outer room is furnished with a set of rosewood tables, chairs, and benches, which are precious, elegant, noble, and grand. The inner room door is a green bamboo curtain, which is fresh and elegant, and exudes a faint bamboo fragrance.
Inside, a large rosewood bed occupied almost half the room. The dark blue curtains, pillows, sheets, and quilt gave the room a dignified and composed feel, indicating that this was entirely a man's room.
Dongfang Heng's sharp gaze swept over the large bed, pillows, and curtains, finally landing on the desk by the window. He walked over slowly, looked at the writing brush, inkstone, and blank sheets of paper on the desk, frowned slightly, and carefully looked around, but saw no arrows or weapons.
"Li Xue, be careful and try not to touch anything in the room, lest arrows shoot out from the hidden compartment!"