948 Not Her Fault
“Let’s go.”
Jiang Ming glanced at Huang Dasheng.
“I’ll take my leave now.” Huang Dasheng retreated awkwardly.
When he left, Huang Dasheng and Zhu Asi brushed past each other. He could not help but take a second look at the other party and was shocked.
Wasn’t this the top prodigy of Zhuyan Palace? It was actually someone close to His Majesty?
It seemed that he had to invite the former elder of Zhuyan Palace.
Seeing that Zhu Asi had arrived, Jiang Ming waved his hand to disperse the crowd.
“Your Majesty,” Zhu Asi said after everyone had left. “The prime minister has colluded with many officials. He has also secretly established a gang called Black Hole. They specialize in smuggling silver.”
“Black Hole? Looks like we can’t stay idle for the next few days.”
Jiang Ming was deep in thought, and a dark look flashed across his eyes.
Cherry, the maid, ran over in a hurry. “Your Majesty!” she cried. “Please come and save the princess.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Jiang Ming raised his eyebrows.
“The princess… She wants to commit suicide!”
Cherry cried until she was out of breath.
Zhu Asi almost laughed out loud. “What?”
Jiang Ming felt that something was wrong and asked Cherry to bring him there.
There was a square stool in the middle of the bedroom. A rope had been hung on the hanging beam, leaving a noose.
Princess Qingmiao’s head was in the noose.
She closed her eyes tightly, and her feet left the stool.
Jiang Ming raised his hand, and a streak of spiritual energy cut the rope. Princess Qingmiao fell down with it. Zhu Asi went forward to catch her and placed her on the bed.
“I didn’t expect Princess Qingmiao to really want to die. What minor issue did she encounter?” Zhu Asi scoffed.
“What happened?”
Jiang Ming glanced at Cherry and went up to check on Princess Qingmiao.
There was already a red mark on her neck, and her face was purple.
“After receiving a letter, the princess entered her bedroom and dismissed everyone else,” Cherry sobbed. “No one was allowed to enter her room. I saw that the princess had not made a sound for a long time, so I barged in without permission. In the end, I discovered that the princess…”
Cherry could not finish her sentence.
Jiang Ming sat in front of the bed and took Princess Qingmiao’s pulse. However, he found that her pulse was disordered and did not seem like a normal person’s pulse at all.
Confusion gathered in his heart.
How was this possible?
“What’s wrong? Can’t she be cured?”
Noticing that Jiang Ming’s expression was not right, Zhu Asi leaned closer and became nervous.
Although he was not on good terms with Princess Qingmiao, he did not want her to die for no reason.
“Princess Qingmiao doesn’t seem to be human,” Jiang Ming coughed.
“Huh?”
Zhu Asi did not expect this answer.
“Haha, Your Majesty, are you stupid? How can this person not be human? That makes sense.”
Jiang Ming nodded in agreement and said casually, “This is not the real Princess Qingmiao.”
His palm landed on the artery on Princess Qingmiao’s neck, causing her to bleed profusely.
Zhu Asi’s expression changed immediately. “What if this Princess Qingmiao is real?” he asked. “Isn’t this killing an innocent person?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Princess Qingmiao turned into a block of wood.
“What a waste of feelings! Where is the real Princess Qingmiao?” he asked Cherry angrily.
This time, it was Cherry’s turn to panic.
Her eyes darted around, and she could not help but hold her dress tightly.
“I… I do not know…”
“This Princess Qingmiao actually dared to deceive us! To think that I was worried about her!”
Zhu Asi hammered the wood block next to him, and the wood block instantly shattered into pieces.
“Cough!” Jiang Ming coughed and pointed at Cherry. “It’s far away, but it’s right in front of us.”
“What?”
Zhu Asi did not understand.
Cherry’s heart skipped a beat. She turned around and wanted to run.
He immediately understood and went forward to grab Cherry.
“Cherry, are you Princess Qingmiao? Quickly reveal your true form!”
With this grab, Cherry revealed her true form. She was Princess Qingmiao.
She smiled awkwardly and said, “I wanted to go out and have fun, that’s why…”
“Who do you want to kill?”
Jiang Ming sized up Princess Qingmiao.
Princess Qingmiao looked nonchalant, but she was actually a little nervous.
“A disobedient servant,” she replied.
“Why would a servant girl need you to mobilize so many people, especially when the one who committed suicide was an illusion?”
Jiang Ming did not think Princess Qingmiao was telling the truth.
Not expecting to be discovered, Princess Qingmiao turned around and wanted to leave, but she was stopped by Zhu Asi.
“Princess Qingmiao, where do you plan to go?”
He winked at Princess Qingmiao.
“I accidentally killed a woman here.”
Princess Qingmiao exhaled and lowered her head.
She really could not understand. She had only gone for a walk. How could she have accidentally killed someone?
“There are women here?”
Jiang Ming and Zhu Asi could not help but be shocked. They looked at Princess Qingmiao.
“I’ll take you there now,” she said hurriedly. “But you can’t blame me. I really killed her by accident.”
“How did you accidentally kill her? Let’s go now.”
Jiang Ming was really curious.
Princess Qingmiao brought them to a spot in the rear palace.
A piece of cloth appeared in front of Jiang Ming and the others.
Princess Qingmiao mustered her courage and stepped forward to remove the cloth.
A corpse was lying there. Her face was pale, and she was wearing luxurious clothes. There was a hairpin on her head, and her body was already cold.
“How did you find this woman?”
Jiang Ming turned around and looked at Princess Qingmiao.
Princess Qingmiao pursed her lips tightly. “I was taking a walk here at that time. I accidentally tripped over someone. I fell down as well. But she rolled onto a rock. When I got up to check, she was already dead.”
“She died a long time ago.”
Jiang Ming glanced at her and signaled Zhu Asi to deal with her.
“I’m afraid this is all Li Nanchu’s fault. We don’t have to care about it.”
Princess Qingmiao nodded repeatedly and heaved a sigh of relief.
At least this did not have anything to do with her.
Zhu Asi found a jade pendant on the corpse and immediately handed it to Jiang Ming.
Jiang Ming touched the jade pendant and found the word “black” on it. He could not help but think of the Black Hole.
“Perhaps this is the Black Hole’s token. Take that token to the Black Hole. I’ll go there later.”
Zhu Asi nodded and left with the sign.
Jiang Ming changed his clothes and went to the place Zhu Asi gave him.
The Black Hole was located in a courtyard. There was a long corridor in front of the courtyard. It took Jiang Ming a long time to walk through the corridor.
At this moment, the people outside the courtyard had already been dealt with by Zhu Asi. They were all lying on the ground, their eyes wide open, but their bodies could not move.
When they saw Jiang Ming, they raised their hands, wanting him to help them.