The cousin is beautiful but ruthless.

Chapter 213 He is dead

After returning, Zhao Wanfu confirmed the situation and instructed people to keep a close eye on Tongzhou.

The only variable now is the fear that the real Jiang Fengxiao might come out and ruin things.

However, the weaponry issue didn't cause too much of a stir, so Jiang Fengxiao probably didn't get the news. He's been hiding for so many years, how could he come out so easily?

After learning of Li Jiangui's attitude from the Consort, Li Jing stopped asking about the matter and focused on handling official business in the Eastern Palace.

As the middleman connecting Li Jing and Zhao Wanfu, Zhao Yu was also responsible for passing messages between them at this time.

"Your Highness, the body has been arranged."

Li Jing nodded: "I trust Zhao Xiang to handle things. In short, we can't let my father see Jiang Fengxiao. If Jiang Fengxiao shows up, it won't be so easy for us to turn things around."

Zhao Yu sighed, a hint of worry in his heart: "Why didn't we kill him immediately back then?"

Zhao Yu, of course, didn't care about this brother who wasn't related to him by blood.

“The situation was complicated at that time, and Zhao Xiang and I had done everything we could to take care of.”

As for Jiang Fengxiao, he was a slippery fellow who ran away as soon as he saw an opportunity, especially when that incident happened.

The time when the 30,000 soldiers of Lizhou died is the time when Jiang Fengxiao disappeared.

It turned out to be the case.

Neither Zhao Wanfu nor Li Jing would tell her the specifics of Lizhou, so she could only rely on her own guesses.

"I heard that Princess Huaijiang has also sent people to Tongzhou. Your Highness, will Princess Huaijiang ruin our plans?"

Li Jing knew that Li Huaijiang wouldn't let this go easily, "Don't worry, she can't cause any trouble."

Seeing Li Jing's confidence, Zhao Yu said nothing more.

After everything was arranged, Li Jiangui's men arrived in Tongzhou and went to find Jiang Fengxiao at the address given by Zhao Wanfu, but they did not find Jiang Fengxiao.

"He hasn't been back for a long time, almost half a year. Is there something you need from him?"

Jiang Fengxiao's neighbor was called out and said this.

They produced a portrait: "Are you sure this is the person you're seeing?"

The neighbor looked closely and then nodded firmly: "It's him. Although he usually tries to hide his identity and looks like a thief, I've seen his face before, so it's definitely him."

The group looked at the house where Jiang Fengxiao lived. They left two people to watch over the neighbor, while the rest went inside.

The room was covered in dust; it had indeed been a long time since anyone had been there.

"No one is here."

They searched the house inside and out, practically digging a hole under it, but still couldn't find Jiang Fengxiao.

The neighbor was brought over again.

Did he say where he was going?

The neighbor shook his head in fear, seemingly realizing that these people were not ordinary individuals.

“My relationship with him isn’t that great, so of course he wouldn’t tell me.”

"Are there any people in Tongzhou who are on good terms with him?"

The neighbor shook his head again.

This means that the hard-won clues went cold in Tongzhou, which is not good news.

They relayed the message back and then went to the Tongzhou government office; that was the only way they could search for the time being.

Jiang Fengxiao's sudden disappearance seems very suspicious. Jiang Fengxiao did nothing wrong and had no enemies. It's hard not to speculate about something when a living person disappears like this.

Upon arriving at the government office, they presented the portrait, but no one remembered Jiang Fengxiao. They had no choice but to post the portrait and search for him throughout the city.

"Please wait a moment, sir. We should have news soon."

The prefect of Tongzhou knew that these people came from Chang'an, so he dared not neglect them.

Lee Geon-kyu received the news; it wasn't exactly unexpected, but he was certainly disappointed.

When she received the news, Empress Wang happened to be beside her, and upon hearing it, she loosened the handkerchief in her hand.

"Search Tongzhou thoroughly, and also look in the places I arranged. There will surely be some clues."

Empress Wang lowered her eyes. It was alright that Jiang Fengxiao was missing, but if Jiang Fengxiao died, Li Sheng would really have no chance to recover.

Seeing the Empress Wang's expression, Li Jiangui knew what she was thinking.

"If the person hasn't been found, then they're most likely still alive. Let's wait and see."

Anyway, we've waited for almost half a month, so we should be careful about these kinds of things.

However, not long after, someone from the Tongzhou government office delivered a message.

"I've seen this person before."

The governor quickly asked, "Where did you see it?"

“I took money from a family and dumped their bodies there. When I got there, I saw this person lying outside. He was already dead. If I hadn’t seen the portrait, I wouldn’t have remembered him.”

Few people go to the mass graves, and no one pays attention to the bodies left there.

They immediately got up and headed towards the mass grave.

Xiaochun, who was waiting outside, saw them move and followed them from a distance.

Xiaochun rolled her eyes. The princess's guess was right. Jiang Fengxiao could not be found in Tongzhou. Even if she were found, he would probably just be a corpse.

"Don't lose them. Have you found Zhao Xiang and his men yet?"

The person behind shook his head: "I didn't see Zhao Xiang, but that so-called neighbor does look a bit like him."

The neighbor was detained at the Tongzhou government office; they had no authority to get him out.

"Let's ignore that person for now and see what's wrong with Jiang Fengxiao."

Upon arriving at the mass grave, the person who had been pointed out earlier saw a disfigured and rotting corpse based on his memory and couldn't help but vomit.

The people behind them didn't look too happy either.

"Is this really Jiang Fengxiao?"

The face was unrecognizable; the body had been left here for far too long.

"These clothes, I remember them, they're the ones he wore."

After vomiting, the man quickly added another sentence.

"Bring back."

Regardless, let's take him back for an autopsy to see if it really is Jiang Fengxiao.

After working for more than half a month, all they brought back was a corpse.

Shen Hanyu also learned about this.

"Are you sure that the corpse is Jiang Fengxiao?"

"It's hard to say, I don't think so."

Pei Du was more inclined to believe that it wasn't Jiang Fengxiao. The body was being examined, and the results would be available tonight; many people were waiting.

"The highly decomposed corpse, with an unrecognizable face, is extremely suspicious."

Pei Du said, "Moreover, because not many people have seen Jiang Fengxiao, this time the autopsy was conducted by Prime Minister Zhao to describe Jiang Fengxiao's specific appearance and physique."

Shen Hanyu frowned. Zhao Wanfu was Li Jing's father-in-law. If the two of them were in cahoots, this matter would once again be in their hands.

"The situation is not good for us."

Pei Du smiled and said, "Don't worry, the Emperor isn't so easily fooled."

Shen Hanyu looked at Pei Du, whose eyes were firm, and she felt no longer flustered.

"You mean, the Emperor knows everything?"

"He doesn't know everything, but he knows perfectly well whether this matter is true or false."

Li Jiangui may have been biased about the Lizhou incident, but things are different now.