Red-Handed

"Lord Zhuang, please have a seat." Tang Tian forced a natural smile on his face as he led the Zhuang to his court hall. He didn't go and sit down on his throne but was standing before Zhuang Che in a respectful posture.

"Where should my father sit?" Zhuang Yin asked. 'The throne?' He was sure that his father didn't want to.

Considering the hall, Tang Tian turned to the servants and ordered, "Bring in chairs for our esteemed guests!"

The servants glanced at each other for a second before processing in bringing in chairs.

After seeing that the higher status people in front of him had sat down, Tang Tian said, "Lord Zhuang, it is my honour to have you here in person. May I be bold to ask something?"

"What is it?" Looking around the place, Zhuang Che said.

"What had made Lord Zhuang come here in person?" he inquired.

"What made me come here personally?" Zhuang Che quirked one of his brows. "It just seems like you are donating the Qianyu Kingdom to other, that's why I'm here."

"...What do you mean?" Tang Tian asked while was in a state of bewilderment.

Zhuang Che turned to his son and shot him a meaningful gaze.

Picking up on his father's signal, Zhuang Yin began to speak. "You see, Emperor. You do know that the Green Wind Kingdom is our enemy and it just happens that their supporter is a family with the surname 'Lu.'"

Tang Tian was pondering for a while before realizing what Zhuang Yin meant. "You don't mean...Tang Rue's master?"

"What do you think?"

"..." he felt like he was dreaming, it couldn't be true... 'Lu Shan is not a person of that Lu Family...is he?'

Zhuang Che parted his lips, "I'll be leaving my son and an artefact behind." Then he stood up and left the palace.

He turned his head to stare at Zhuang Yin, puzzled.

Averted his eyes to the side, Zhuang Yin started to say: "I will be here to help you investigate." Taking out a golden silver ring, he continued, "And this is the artefact Father was talking about. It would help with hiding your presence from experts."

"Pardon?"

Glancing back at Tang Tian, Zhuang Yin said, "For you to not doubt us, we want you to see the evidence if your daughter's master really is related to the Lu Family or that he would do something that is harmful to the kingdom." Pausing for a bit, he said, "Surely, your cultivation is lower than his, he can sense you if you're near."

Tang Tian was facing a dilemma as he didn't want to believe that Tang Rue's master was a spy of an enemy but he was also suspicious because of the way she acted on his birthday.

Jealous to the point of wanting to drown Song Hui Yao's sister, what could she not do about a rumoured-fiancee? If Lu Shan really is a person of that Lu Family, then Tang Rue might have been used...

But maybe...it might be a coincidence that Lu Shan had the same surname?

-----

Reading the book that was given by Ning Hai Heng, Zhu Xiao Wan found it to be quite helpful; she was gaining more knowledge.

Hearing footsteps, she rotated her head and saw Song Hui Yao was walking towards her with a middle-aged man. The middle-aged man looked a bit like Zhuang Yin and Zhuang Yang, but was older and looked sturdy instead of studious like those two.

Zhuang Che smiled at her while walking towards the grass plain she was sitting on. "I did as you told me, is there anything else?"

Zhu Xiao Wan gazed at Song Hui Yao for a second and said, "Young Master Song had sent people to watch over Tang Rue for these past weeks. It appeared like she is going to meet Lu Shan two days later. Her face should be cured then."

Her poison was not a high-quality one since she didn't want to waste them on a person like Tang Rue. Besides, the poison wore off at the right time, that was good enough. "Catching them red-handed, can you tell Zhuang Yin to do that?"

Zhuang Che's brows were lifted. "If I sent some of my excellent subordinates, catching the head of the Lu Family should be possible."