Chapter 87 Remembrance: Leads

Feng Luodi felt her blood turn cold. He's too sharp…why do I have a feeling that he'd done an investigation on me as well? To find out what's the difference between me and the Feng Luodi of the past.

“You…” Feng Luodi looked at Situ hesitatingly, but did not know how to voice her thoughts.

The young boy stared hard at Situ, ignoring Feng Luodi's presence completely. A man dressed in the clothes of an attendant entered the courtyard, his eyes focused on the young boy.

“How did you even get her? Don't try to escape just because the entire residence is in a mess right now – you lucked out when the Crown Prince brought you back to his residence. Even now that he's no longer with us, General An will still take care of you. Come on now, come with me and get your clothes changed! I've told you so many times to change out of your rags already!” The attendant tattered on, his eyes followed the young boy's gaze and almost bit his tongue when he saw Situ on the other side of the courtyard.

“Oh…General Situ! My apologies, I didn't know that it was you in the courtyard. I'll leave with him immediately; my apologies for the intrusion.” He grabbed the young boy by his collar and started dragging him out of the courtyard.

The boy struggled with surprising strength against the attendant's hold, his eyes fixated upon Situ. “Are you Situ Muye?” His voice was hoa.r.s.e and rough.

Situ nodded.

“I heard…that you're the King of the plains?” The boy asked again.

Situ turned to the attendant. “Who is this?”

The attendant stopped and replied. “He's an orphan taken in by the Crown Prince, abandoned because of the war. If I'm correct, he's of mix descent, with both the blood of the Xuan people and the Xianbei people running in his veins. The Crown Prince took him in seeing how he was always bullied by the others.”

Even when the others were talking about him, the boy did not bat an eyelid, his gaze burning a hole in Situ.

“You may leave.” Situ instructed them, not answering the boy's question.

“Yes, General.” The attendant quickly backed off with the young boy in tow, the latter's eyes still fixated upon Situ.

“You should get some rest. I doubt General An will send anyone here at this time.” Situ did not look at Feng Luodi, who was still reeling from the impact of his words previously. They brushed shoulders as he turned and returned to his room. He sighed quietly. Her reactions…tell me that my words had hit home.

Feng Luodi returned to her room in a daze and laid down on her bed, her head a jumble of incoherent thoughts. When light broke through the windows, she sat up, smacking her head in sudden realisation.

“What am I doing? Why do I have such a big reaction whenever such things happen?” She sighed. “I have much to learn from elder brother, starting with how he faces every situation calm and composed.” She smacked her cheeks twice to wake herself up, and got out of bed.

The winter was almost over and the first days of spring were on the horizon. The mornings in the North carried a chill that made Feng Luodi rub her hands together, trying to ward off the cold as she stepped into the courtyard. I guess that I'm fated to not see the legendary snows of the North, what with the fast approaching Spring.

The door beside her opened without a warning. A member of the Covert Guard stepped out and disappeared in front of her eyes. Following immediately was Situ who.

“‘Morning.” Feng Luodi acted as if nothing happened, trying to put the events of the previous night behind her. “Don't tell me you stayed up all night.”

“Well…not the entire night.” Situ spoke up, feeling helpless against her antics. He was unwilling to press his advantage, but did not want to pressure her any further. What a cunning woman she is…

“Let's head to the antechamber. Things are a little chaotic now, and I think it best if we secure some food in our stomachs before anything happens.”

“What? Has the killer been found already? But General An didn't send anyone, did he?”

“He did. I answered on your behalf.”

“Oh…what? Sorry about that; I guess I slept like a log.” Feng Luodi apologised half-heartedly. “So I guess the murderer is still at large, huh?”

“Perhaps.” Situ remarked off-handedly. “The attendant had died last night.”

“The attendant?” Confusion flashed across her face for a second. “Are you talking about the attendant who'd accused you of being the mastermind? Will they pin his death on you?”

“I don't know.” Situ shrugged carelessly. “The body was just recovered.”

“Can we take a look at it? We can't take everything sitting down.” Feng Luodi suggested.

“Aren't you afraid of bodies?” Situ looked at her in disbelief.

“A little.” Feng Luodi admitted her fear. “But we still have to look for any clues we can find; we can only untangle ourselves from the situation if we strike out proactively.”

Situ looked up for a moment, and a member of the Covert Guard appeared in front of him. He pointed in a certain direction. “General, the attendant's body was discovered in a small courtyard at the end of this alley.” He disappeared again as soon as the message was delivered.

Feng Luodi looked at him enviously. “It must make everything really easy when you have so many Covert Guards working for you.”

“Cough cough.” Situ coughed lightly and ignored her question. “Let's go.”

When they reached the courtyard, General An came out to greet them, his face tired and weary. “The rate at which you gather information is rather formidable, General Situ.” His words were playful, but his tone was without a hint of a smile. He stepped aside and invited them into the courtyard.

“Any developments?” Situ asked stoically.

General An sighed. “We have questioned every guest at the banquet, but there have been no leads so far. The amount of possibilities to entertain are just too overwhelming, and we are completely unable to spot the lies. Everyone had an alibi during the time of the a.s.sa.s.sination. What a tough investigation!”

“I don't see the other princes here today?” Situ approached the body of the attendant while Feng Luodi watched carefully from a few steps away.

General An sighed again. “The king was upset today morning, seeing the other princes starting their fight for power even before their brother's death was avenged. That's what they're all busy with right now.”

“Any suspects for the death of the attendant yet? Other than me, of course.” Situ examined the body closely.

“Nope. We did not see it coming.” General An shook his head. “The attendant was held in a place far from here, and I'd already taken over the security in the residence yesterday. I believe there to be a mole in the residence.”

General An undid the attendant's clothing. “There's a clue right here, but I'm not really sure what it means.”

“Turn around.” Situ commanded Feng Luodi.

“Oh…okay.” Feng Luodi turned away from the body. d.a.m.n…what would he say if he knew that I'd already seen so the bodies of so many boys during swimming lessons in school?

“Look, General Situ. Do you know what this symbol means?” General An pointed at a tattoo on the abdomen of the attendant. It was the shape of an eagle, but with the eyes of a snake.

Situ shook his head. “I've never seen it before.” He snapped his fingers, and Two appeared in front of him.

“Have you seen this before?” Situ asked him, knowing that he was the most knowledgeable out of all the Covert Guards.

Two moved closer for a better look. “If I remember so correctly, it's the mark of a spy, one used by the royal family of the Huns. I've seen it on the body of a spy of the First Prince.”

“The Huns?” General An rubbed his chin. “Are you referring to the Third Prince, who is of mixed blood?”

“That, or it may be a red herring.” Situ waited until the attendant was properly dressed again before he called out to Feng Luodi. “What do you think about this?”

Feng Luodi turned around, her face a mask of calm. “About what? I didn't see a thing.”

“Cough, cough.” General An avoided the tension between the two.

“If we cannot decipher the riddle behind the clue, why don't we invite someone who loves to speak in riddles as well to decide for us instead?” Feng Luodi quickly moved on.

“Li Hengba.” Situ looked at General An, who quickly sent for Li Hengba.

“Why is he even here in the first place, seeing as how tensions are rising within the kingdom of the Huns?” General An was perplexed.

“What do you think? Surely, you know him well enough.”

“I think…he wants to gain something out of the chaos.” General An jumped to a conclusion.

Just as Feng Luodi was getting confused by the conversation between the two men regarding politics, Li Hengba arrived.

“You called for me, General An?” Li Hengba smiled as he entered the courtyard, nodding to Situ. “h.e.l.lo there, General Situ.” His eyes roamed across the courtyard and landed on the body on the floor.

Surprised cross his face. “Why, isn't this the attendant who'd accused General Situ of being the mastermind of the a.s.sa.s.sination? Is he dead?”

General An spoke up. “We've done our investigations, and cleared General Situ of the accusation. General Situ has a very solid alibi during the times the attendant said he had contact with him. He will be treated equally with the rest of the guests.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Li Hengba smiled lightly.

“We called you here to ask a favour of you, Third Prince. Please tell us what this means.” General An lifted the s.h.i.+rt of the attendant, pointing at the tattoo underneath.

Feng Luodi turned around quickly, before Situ had a chance to bark at her again.

“Do you recognise this symbol, Third Prince?” General An questioned, his eyes trained on Li Hengba's face.

Without breaking a beat, Li Hengba replied confidently. “Of course I do, it's a symbol used by the spies of the royal family of the Huns. The spies of the King are tattooed with an eagle with green eyes, but the tattoos of eagles with snake eyes belong to spies of the princes.”