Si Lan pricked up his ears without a change in expression.
Then he heard Lu Qingwan say exasperatedly, "The smell of blood is enough to overwhelm me, and you ask how I know?
And besides, besides Li Su, all of you have sustained injuries to varying degrees. Do you think I'm blind?"
Li Yang grinned sheepishly, and Lu Qingwan's little face turned stern, "Still not confessing honestly? Are you waiting for me to bring out my tools?"
"No, no need!"
Upon hearing about the tools, Li Qing was the first to back down. He spurred his horse to catch up with Lu Qingwan, whimpering guiltily.
"Your Highness, please calm your anger. Your subordinates just didn't want to let Feng Qingheng off so easily. We just left him a little souvenir before we left. They are all minor injuries, nothing serious."
He was indeed the most perceptive. Even in his guilty state, he could pinpoint what Lu Qingwan was most concerned about.
As expected, Lu Qingwan's expression softened slightly when she heard they were only superficial wounds that didn't affect vital points.
But this did not mean Lu Qingwan would let them off the hook. She still had questions to ask.
She emerged from the carriage, looking as pale as Li Su, and sat on the carriage shaft, saying leisurely, "Then tell me, what souvenir did you leave Feng Qingheng?"
The few of them exchanged glances, pushing and nudging each other, none wanting to be the first unlucky one to bear the full brunt of Lu Qingwan's anger.
After looking around, Lu Qingwan found Li Jin and lightly pointed at him, "You tell me."
Li Yang and the others stifled their laughter with schadenfreude. Li Jin resigned himself to his fate and stepped forward. As soon as his honest mouth opened, he implicated everyone else.
He said, "Reporting to Your Highness, your subordinates acted separately last night. Ru Yue and I emptied the new emperor's private treasury. The items moved out have already been transported to Tianxuan City by Wu Ying.
As for what the others did, this subordinate does not know."
Lu Qingwan blinked, "You emptied Feng Qingheng's private treasury?"
Li Jin nodded seriously, "Except for some large items that were too difficult to move, we emptied everything else."
He paused, and fearing Lu Qingwan might misunderstand, he added, "Your Highness might not know, but Feng Qingheng's private treasury in the palace has very little.
His personal fortune is all in the underground vault of Chen Wang Fu. That vault, well, this subordinate has been to a few similar ones. It wasn't difficult to open, so then..."
Although Li Jin spoke euphemistically, Lu Qingwan understood. He hadn't left a single hair on Feng Qingheng.
Suppressing a smile that was threatening to spread, she turned to Li Yang, "And what good deeds did you all do?"
Seeing that Lu Qingwan wasn't angry, the others grew bolder.
Li Yang eagerly spoke as if seeking praise, "Your subordinate beat up Jing Chun Nan and the Minister of War."
Li Qing rubbed his nose, "Your subordinate broke Du Huihuang's leg, and also crippled the guard captain who blocked the King and Marquis Lu's coffins from entering the city gate that day."
Finally, only Li Su remained. Lu Qingwan's gaze fell on her, and she voluntarily said, "Your subordinate stole Wen Ya Yi out."
Si Lan's heart sank, sensing that something was wrong. He then heard Li Su say unethically, "Oh, and Si Lan also helped. Wen Ya Yi is in the carriage behind us. She seems to have gone a little mad."
...
Lu Qingwan had initially thought they had merely beaten Feng Qingheng to vent their anger. Upon hearing their individual confessions, she was so angry she pinched her philtrum.
"Just tell me everything you did all at once. That way, I can accept it all in one go."
Damn it, they all acted so well-behaved and honest in front of her. Who among them would do such things?
Li Jin said weakly, "Your subordinate sent the evidence, which we previously found, that Feng Qingheng drugged Consort Chen, deliberately causing her to lose composure during the late emperor's funeral and thus demote her to a concubine, to Grand Tutor Chen."
Li Yang and the others silently gave him a thumbs-up.
Lu Qingwan clutched her chest and asked them, "Is there anything else?"
The group shook their heads in unison, "No."
Lu Qingwan's health instantly returned. "Never mind anything else. Since Feng Qingheng's private treasury has been emptied, let Wu Ying build another Buye Zhou in Zhongzhou.
Let's make use of the waste and find ourselves a place to stay in Zhongzhou."
"Understood, I will inform Wu Ying immediately."
Li Jin responded excitedly, "Your Highness, I'm not very familiar with Da Qian. Could I ask Si Lan for some help?"
Lu Qingwan raised her eyebrows cheerfully, "I don't care about the process, only the result."
This was essentially giving them free rein.
Li Jin excitedly spurred his horse to catch up with Si Lan, whispering in his ear.
Lu Qingwan instructed Ru Yue, "Wen Ya Yi's life is more important than the lives of everyone in the Buye Zhou dungeon. Since she has been brought out, guard her well.
Don't let her see people she shouldn't see, and don't let her die at the wrong time."
Ru Yue didn't understand why Wen Ya Yi was so important that Li Jin had gone to such lengths to steal her out, and why Lu Qingwan was treating it as a critical situation.
However, having received Lu Qingwan's command, she had to obey.
Nonetheless, "The King and Your Highness are currently too conspicuous. It is difficult to hide someone by your side.
Could Your subordinate take Wen Ya Yi to a stronghold of the Samsara Hall in Zhongzhou for safekeeping? It would be much safer there."
All twelve knew that Lu Qingwan strongly disliked any connection to the Samsara Hall, so they rarely mentioned it in her presence.
This time, Ru Yue felt that Wen Ya Yi was indeed very important, which was why she risked angering Lu Qingwan with this suggestion.
She had prepared herself for Lu Qingwan's anger and a scolding from Duan Yue, but to her surprise, Lu Qingwan only paused for a moment before nodding.
"Remember to inform the people who can speak for the Samsara Hall. Don't just put someone on their territory without a word."
Ru Yue breathed a sigh of relief, "Your subordinate understands, Master. Your subordinate will arrange it now."
Although the group had done good deeds, they spent the entire day tiptoeing around Lu Qingwan as if they were guilty, making her feel both amused and exasperated.
"I didn't say anything to you. Do you really need to be so cautious?"
She looked at her overly cautious companions, finding them both amusing and exasperating.
Li Su sheepishly picked at his fingers, "Your Highness, you said that if I took matters into my own hands a third time, you would send me away.
They are afraid that you will be angry and won't want us anymore."
Lu Qingwan deliberately teased them, "If I don't want you, won't the King still be here?
With him here, I can't really drive you away, so why are you worried about being homeless and starving?"
"That's different!"
Li Su stamped his leg in distress on his horse. It looked like he wanted to stomp his foot, but due to the surroundings, he could only shake his leg in protest.
Li Yang also chimed in, "Yes, Your Highness, it's not the same!
When the King acknowledged you, we also acknowledged you as our master.
But no matter what, you are you, and we genuinely regard you as our master from the bottom of our hearts. Our desire to follow you is the same as our will to follow the King.
If you have to endure, despite wanting to drive us away, just for the King's sake, then we would have failed miserably."