Is Old Master Liu dead or not? No one knows.

Now, except for the Liu family members, basically no one has seen Old Master Liu’s corpse.

In the inner prison, quiet to the point of being somewhat oppressive, Yun Yang waves his hand, and all the secret agents in the room silently retreated.

He suddenly stands up and paces back and forth in the room: “Old Master Liu is not dead, it must be that we have investigated a key point, the Liu family panicked and could only use this method to force us to stop.”

Chen Ji pretends to be surprised and says: “Old Master Liu is not dead? No way, would the Liu family make a false claim on such a big matter? I see Liu Mingxian’s expression was very sad.”

Yun Yang sneers and says: “These court officials, from top to bottom, have done even more outrageous things for power and profit. What’s so strange about a ninety-plus-year-old man using a fake death to protect his family’s descendants? And also Liu Mingxian, those civil officials are accustomed to putting on a show.”

Saying that, he turns his head to look at Chen Ji: “What do you think I should do?”

Chen Ji lowers his eyes and, after a moment, answers: “Open the coffin, verify the corpse.”

Yun Yang jumps in surprise: “Old Master Liu is the biological father of the current empress. It’s no problem for me to investigate the Liu family, but opening his coffin is courting death! I’m just realizing now, boy, you have more courage than I do. What if he’s really dead?”

Chen Ji, holding the bagua lamp in both hands, lifts his head and meets Yun Yang’s eyes: “Lord Yun Yang, even if Old Master Liu is really dead, how can you be at ease if you don’t open the coffin and take a look?”

Yun Yang paces quickly in the room, rapidly considering all the possibilities after opening the coffin and verifying the corpse. Finally, he stops and says firmly, word for word: “Open the coffin, verify the corpse!”

At this time, a gust of yin wind blows from the depths of the inner prison, causing the bagua lamp in Chen Ji’s hand to sway.

Just now, Chen Ji had only collected the ice flow in the Jia and Yi cells and didn’t dare to go to the other numbered cells.

But at this moment, this yin wind sweeps, actually stirring the ice flow in the deeper inner prison’s Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, and other cells, actively surging up!

The ice flow in Chen Ji’s body actually has a faintly uncontrollable tendency!

This place is not suitable to stay long.

Chen Ji stands up and walks out: “Lord Yun Yang, I’ve been out for so long, my master will probably worry. Please send me back first.”

Yun Yang smiles sinisterly and says: “You came up with the idea, and now you want to leave? Go together. It’s not suitable to bring other coroners for this matter. Only you have some talent in verifying corpses. If Old Master Liu is in the coffin, you can also check the cause of death. If something really happens, don’t even think about running.”

Chen Ji hesitates: “Lord Yun Yang, the credit is yours and Lord Jiao Tu’s. I just provided the plan.”

“If we don’t bring you, what if your plan still kills us?” Yun Yang laughs coldly: “Hurry up, pick up Jiao Tu. We have to arrive near the Liu family ancestral grave before dark.”

Yun Yang and Jiao Tu are not skilled at catching spies, but they are skilled at self-preservation, shifting blame, and grabbing credit.

He covers Chen Ji’s eyes again and says surprisingly: “Why are you always holding this bagua lamp?”

Saying that, he chops his hand to snatch it over and puts it back in its original place.

Chen Ji lets Yun Yang pull and tug at his clothes, stumbling out of the inner prison.

In the shaking carriage, he sits upright, biting his teeth tightly. Without that bagua lamp, the ice flow is actually rampant and unrestrained.

The gray cloth curtain of the carriage window is occasionally blown up by the wind, and the outside sunset shines on his face, but he doesn’t feel any warmth.

After some time, someone lifts the carriage curtain, and a burst of cold and sharp fragrance rushes in. Jiao Tu drills into the carriage: “Eh, Yun Yang, why are you bringing this boy?”

Yun Yang is driving the carriage in front: “This boy came up with the idea, so naturally, he has to be brought.”

Jiao Tu pulls off Chen Ji’s blindfold cloth and removes the cotton from his ears, asking curiously: “Yun Yang, I heard you banished all the inner prison guards in Luocheng to Lingnan? Won’t Prisoner Rat be angry that you acted on your own? After all, the inner prison is her territory.”

Yun Yang shows sarcasm: “She should be thinking about how to face the anger of the Inner Minister. The inner prison has been infiltrated like a sieve, and intelligence leaks freely. I must impeach her with a memorial regarding this matter.”

Jiao Tu says thoughtfully: “But banishing to Lingnan is very harsh. They have to walk a very long road, and I heard malaria is rampant there. If they get it, they’ll suffer for some days before dying.”

Yun Yang is slightly startled: “Ah… then what should be done?”

“Just kill them off in Luocheng, why run so far?” Jiao Tu says seriously.

“That makes sense.”

Saying that, Jiao Tu looks at Chen Ji and says seriously again: “You shouldn’t betray us, right? If you do, you’ll die.”

Chen Ji smiles: “Lord Jiao Tu, if I betray you and Lord Yun Yang, whose money will I earn?”

“Good to know!” Jiao Tu says with a giggle, and she raises her wrist close to Chen Ji’s nose: “Smell it. I just bought incense at the Daughter’s Pavilion. Is it fragrant? It’s very expensive.”

Yun Yang frowns: “Why are you letting him smell it!?”

Jiao Tu glances at him: “Drive your carriage properly and mind your own business.”

Yun Yang sullenly shuts up.

Along the way, Chen Ji saw white paper money scattered everywhere on both sides. That was what the Liu family members scattered into the sky on the day of great mourning, on the funeral road.

Yun Yang says disdainfully: “Living in brocade clothes and jade food, and after death still scattering so much paper money, wanting to continue glory and wealth on the other side, yet not seeing poor scholars who can’t even afford paper.”

Jiao Tu laughs playfully: “Looking at your appearance of hating evil as an enemy, you should be transferred to the Ministry of Justice by the Inner Minister. They investigate corrupt officials every day.”

“I won’t go. The Ministry of Justice is a bunch of old pedants, boring to death.”

……

……

At dusk, Yun Yang and Jiao Tu switch to driving the carriage. He drills into the carriage to guard Chen Ji.

“Right,” Yun Yang looks directly into Chen Ji’s eyes: “During the interrogation, a Liu family disciple once said that Liu Shiyu had a very good relationship with a certain important figure in Jing Wangfu. I suspect Jing Wangfu is also involved, and even has Jing Dynasty spies active in the Wangfu… Have you discovered any clues in the Wangfu?”

Chen Ji’s heart tightens: “Lord Yun Yang, are you sure there are spies in the Wangfu?”

The air in the carriage suddenly solidifies, as if an invisible hand is pulling between them.

Yun Yang asks thoughtfully: “Do you think it’s possible that Imperial Physician Yao is a Jing Dynasty spy? He is highly respected in the capital’s Imperial Medical Bureau, and a large number of high-ranking officials and nobles want him to diagnose them. Even the emperor wants to summon him to reside in the palace. But he is simply unwilling and three years ago ran to Luocheng to be the Imperial Physician in Jing Wangfu… Don’t you think it’s strange?”

“Strange,” Chen Ji asks curiously: “Have there been any changes in my master these years?”

“Imperial Physician Yao was famous for being strict in the capital, but the Inner Minister once said that he wasn’t like that in his early years. At that time, Imperial Physician Yao was benevolent and charitable, even willing to diagnose people for free.”

Chen Ji thinks for a moment: “I don’t think my master is very much like a spy. Previously, someone in the Wangfu asked him for a diagnosis, but he wasn’t willing to go. If he were a spy, how could he give up the opportunity to interact with important figures in the Wangfu?”

“That makes sense,” Yun Yang touches his chin: “Then what about your two senior brothers? I checked them. Liu Quxing is from a collateral branch of the Liu family. Is it possible for him?”

Chen Ji takes a deep breath and shows doubt: “Lord Yun Yang, are you implicitly suspecting me?”

Yun Yang laughs: “How could it be you? I have absolute trust in you. I’m just admonishing you to be careful of the people around you.”

Jiao Tu suddenly says: “Stop the carriage by the side in the woods. We’re about to reach the Liu family ancestral grave. We’ll cross this mountain and walk there.”

The three people get off and climb up the mountain path along the side of the official road, all the way to the top of Zhuangyuan Mountain.

Yun Yang and Jiao Tu are very fast. Chen Ji originally thought he would be out of breath from exhaustion, but he didn’t expect to sweat much when he reached the top.

He lies on the mountain panting heavily, saying extremely tiredly: “Can we see the Liu family ancestral grave from here?”

Yun Yang points forward: “There it is, the highest place of Bei Mang.”

Chen Ji props himself up to look into the distance and sees that the highest place of Bei Mang Mountain has continuous stone tablets and tombs made of stone materials, actually stretching over dozens of mu. The Liu family ancestral grave is very imposing.

In front of those tombs, there are stone figures, stone sheep, stone tigers, and stone watch pillars. Some tombs are as high as over ten feet!

It should be known that the Ning Dynasty had strict grades. Common people were not allowed to ride in sedans, commoners were not allowed to wear boots, and non-officials were not allowed to wear conical hats. These explicit laws marked the rites and grades.

Like these several tombs of the Liu family, which are as high as over ten feet, they were not allowed for those below the third rank during their lifetime.

Yun Yang looks at that area of ancestral graves and tombs and sighs: “The families of civil officials in my Ning Dynasty have accumulated generations of high officials for a thousand years, riding on the heads of the common people to drink blood, accumulating a lot of family property, and only then can they have this kind of splendor.”

Chen Ji subconsciously feels that something is wrong. Has the Ning Dynasty’s national destiny actually continued for over a thousand years? This is originally an unbelievable thing. According to historical rules, it should be impossible to happen.

Unless there is an external force.

At this time, Jiao Tu says: “There is indeed a problem with the death of the Liu family’s old master. Look at the ancestral graves and tombs inside. There are actually over a hundred private soldiers stationed there, and possibly even patrol officials guarding it. The last time secret agents were sent to Luocheng to investigate, they once investigated here. At that time, there were only over ten people guarding the Liu family ancestral grave.”

“Then we can’t force our way in,” Yun Yang frowns and looks at Jiao Tu: “Are you going to make a move? It’s not good for me to go and open the coffin.”

Jiao Tu glances at Chen Ji: “Let him cover his eyes and turn his back to me. You guard me.”

Chen Ji actively turns back. He understands that the cultivation methods of patrol officials are not allowed to be known by others.

After he covers his eyes, he sees Jiao Tu sitting cross-legged on the mountaintop, drawing out the short knife from her waist to cut her brow.

Yun Yang cuts his finger and dots the eyes of over ten shadow puppets, guarding tightly beside Jiao Tu.

The next moment, a group of shadows suddenly drills out from Jiao Tu’s brow, like a molting crab, detaching from her body.

That shadow stands firm, looking the same as Jiao Tu, but wearing black light armor and holding a Green Dragon Crescent Moon Knife taller than a person!

Jiao Tu’s true body does not move, while that shadow spirit looks at Yun Yang and says: “I’m going.”

Saying that, he sees that shadow spirit walks to the cliff and jumps down, landing on the treetop as light as nothing. Each jump can easily cross over more than ten big trees, rushing straight to the Liu family ancestral grave!

Gradually, the sky completely darkens, and that shadow spirit also merges with the night.

When Jiao Tu’s shadow spirit arrives in front of Old Master Liu’s tomb, taking advantage of everyone not noticing, it crashes straight into the stone piled tomb!

That stone wall is as if it doesn’t exist!

After a long time, the shadow spirit quickly withdraws, drills into Jiao Tu’s brow and disappears. She suddenly opens her eyes and says in surprise: “There’s really no one in the coffin!”