The Prime Minister's Darling novel Chapter 1427

Chapter 1427: 694 National Master Returns (Two Parts)_3

The Minister of Justice, Dong Wei, said, "The man is already dead; talking about it now is pointless."

Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice were both located in the outer Court near the Duan Sect, except that Dali Temple was on the west side while the Ministry of Justice was on the east side.

Seeing that it would soon be daylight, returning to his residence to rest was out of the question. He could only go to the government office to change his clothes, before preparing to attend Court and report the situation of the case to the sovereign.

Just as they were about to go their separate ways, Yang Chang saw that Minister Dong had a thoughtful look on his face and couldn’t help but ask, "What are you thinking about?"

Minister Dong said, "I’m wondering who killed Nangong Li. To have killed him inside the Imperial Palace... it feels as if..."

"As if what?" Yang Chang asked.

Minister Dong shook his head, "I don’t have any concrete evidence, but standing at the crime scene, looking at Nangong Li’s body and the branch that was left there, I felt a sense of vengeful killing intent."

This was one of Minister Dong’s abilities— he had a keen intuition for cases. In most cases, his hunches were correct.

They once caught a serial killer with no leads, but during an encounter on the Avenue, with just one glance, Minister Dong pointed at the man and said, "He’s the murderer."

So when Minister Dong spoke of revenge, Yang Chang did not immediately dismiss his claim.

Yang Chang said thoughtfully, "Who had Nangong Li offended?"

Minister Dong said, "You should ask, among the people Nangong Li offended, who could have easily killed him? Have you observed carefully the shape of that branch? Doesn’t it remind you of a long spear?"

Yang Chang recalled the details, nodding, "Yes, the tip was sharpened, and it was almost the length of a spear."

Minister Dong said, "As far as I know, the only Spear Technique that possesses such power without using internal energy belongs to the Xuanyuan Family."

Yang Chang furrowed his brows, "You mean to say... Nangong Li was killed by someone from the Xuanyuan Family? Everyone from the Xuanyuan Family is dead, with the only exception being the former Princess, who has also been stripped of her martial abilities. Your deduction doesn’t hold."

Minister Dong pondered for a moment and then said, "What if... there was someone who miraculously survived?"

Yang Chang said emphatically, "There’s no what if. Don’t forget, all the bodies from the Xuanyuan Family were examined one by one; it was only after their coffins were secured that the then Jing World’s Son and his brother were permitted to carry them away."

Minister Dong’s expression grew intense as he said, "Xuanyuan Sheng, when I saw the murder weapon during the day, I couldn’t help but think of him."

Yang Chang chuckled, "He’d be even less likely as the murderer. Out of all the men in the Xuanyuan Family, his death was the most tragic, nailed to the City Tower with his own Red-Tasseled Spear, killed by a thousand arrows piercing his heart, his body hung from the tower for a full month. The Jing World’s Son nearly depleted his family’s wealth to retrieve the bodies of the Xuanyuan men. If there were any survivors, he wouldn’t have had to go to such lengths."

The Jing World’s Son, now known as the Duke of Peace.

Yang Chang stopped in his tracks, patted Minister Dong’s shoulder, and spoke with heartfelt sincerity, "Old Dong, I understand that the Xuanyuan Family once promoted you in your early days, and you’ve always been troubled by the fact that you didn’t plead for them back then. However, you should understand, you personally took on the case; the Xuanyuan Family truly committed treason. As officials of the imperial Court, we must not associate with great traitors and we can’t forsake our principle of righteousness for minor compassion. Today you mentioned the Xuanyuan Family in front of me, I’ll pretend I heard nothing. But once we are before His Majesty, you must hold your tongue and not provoke His Majesty’s displeasure."

"Old Yang." Minister Dong called after him as he started to head in the direction of Dali Temple.

Yang Chang looked back at him, "What is it?"

Minister Dong’s expression was complex, "That incident back then... did we really do the right thing?"

Yang Chang asked, "Which incident are you referring to?"

Minister Dong said, "You know which one."

Yang Chang’s gaze darkened and he spoke earnestly, "Old Dong, just remember, what the ten great noble families did... was for justice!"

...

The death of Nangong Li caused a great stir among the noble families. Although Nangong Li was not the eldest son of the Nangong Family head, he was more outstanding than his elder brother and had been raised as the heir apparent by the Family head.