Hanging Corpses

"Shen Xiaozhang, calm down!!!!" Shen Bofeng roared at his son.

Shen Xiaozhang looked at his father and seeing the anger on his face, he stopped. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Only when he was calm did he open his eyes but he dared not look at his father. Realizing his mistake and his loss of composure, Shen Xiaozhang bowed his head in shame. He was ashamed of himself and of the words that were uttered from his mouth. "I am sorry, father. I shouldn't have raised my voice on you," he apologized sincerely.

"Are you calm enough?"

"Yes, Father."

Shen Bofeng looked at his son and sighed, "I know what happened today wasn't fair to you. I know you didn't do all of those things. But, we have no proof, Ah Zhang. What's the use of getting angry at these people? They are not the ones who started all of this. They are just mere accomplices in that plan. What we have to do is to find the main culprit, the main mastermind who is trying to ruin your reputation. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Father." Shen Xiaozhang nodded.

"Do you have doubts about anyone? Who do you think wants to destroy your reputation?" Shen Bofeng inquired.

Shen Xiaozhang thought about it but he couldn't think of anyone else. Usually, when he is out, mingling with all the young masters and the young misses, he didn't see anyone who hated him. Nor did he have any fights or arguments with anybody. He was capable of maintaining a good relationship with everyone. On top of it, being related to General Jiang gave him a lot of benefits and hence, nobody dared to say anything wrong about him or treat him wrongly.

So, who was this new enemy?

Why was he trying to destroy my reputation?

Who was so capable of doing all of this?

Shen Xiaozhang couldn't think of anybody. "No, father," he answered his father's question. "I can't think of anybody."

"Has someone seen you with Jiang Muxun?" Shen Bofeng asked next.

"No, father." Immediately, Shen Xiaozhang shook his head. "I have been very discreet about my relationship with Muxun. There is no chance that anybody can find out about us. After all, I never met her in public alone. Even if I did, then that fool would also tag along with us."

"Okay, you don't worry." Shen Bofeng comforted. "I will personally look into this matter."

"Yes, Father." Shen Xiaozhang nodded. "But what about all those gossips? Our reputation?"

"Don't think about that. People will gossip about it for a few days before they will all forget about it," Shen Bofeng explained calmly. "What you need to do is care about what the Jiang family thinks about this matter? We can't afford for General Jiang to believe in these gossips and rumors and find out about your affair with Jiang Muxun. We can't let him break this marriage alliance. For your future and for our Shen Family, your marriage alliance with Shen Family is very important."

"For the next few days, don't meet Jiang Muxun. Build your image in the Jiang Mansion and try to get close to Jiang Yuyu, you finance. It all depends on her words whether your marriage alliance stays or not. Understand?"

Shen Xiaozhang nodded. "Yes, Father. I know what I should do."

If it was before, then he might be disgusted or repelled by the thoughts of being close to Jiang Yuyu. He hated that girl tremendously and didn't want to be close to her. However, what he saw today in the Jiang Mansion, inspired a spark within him. Today's Jiang Yuyu was so different from the usual her. The way she dealt with their plan was so smart, so attractive and so charming. Here every more seemed kind of cute in his eyes. And, if he gets to see more of that, then he wouldn't mind being close to her.

###

Next morning.

"Ahh!!!!!!!!!!!!" An high-pitched womanly scream echoed through the entire palace. "Get all of them away from me!!!!!!!!"

Hearing that scream, all the maids, the guards rushed towards Noble Consort Ying's Palace. Entering her bedroom, everyone was shocked to see the scene inside. It was too terrifying and at the same time, it was disgusting. Many of the faint-hearted maids had already fainted while some of them couldn't control themselves and rushed outside to puke their guts out. Even some of the guards were terrified of the scene inside. Noble Consort Ying was standing on her bed, with a horrified look on her face.

There was a pungent smell of blood in the entire room. While several corpses were hung on the ceiling, with their eyes removed and blood dripping down into the room from several parts of their body. This room purely looked like somebody's worst nightmare. All the guards looked at each other and did not know what to do. Even without saying, everyone knew who was behind hanging these corpses in the Noble Consort's room. After all, there was only one person in the entire palace who had the hobby of hanging corpses on the roof.

Standing on the bed, Noble Consort Ying narrowed her eyes. She looked closely at the corpses hung in her room and by their clothes she could tell that these were the same people she had hired from that famous mercenary to kill Murong Jingzhi. However, it was quite clear that these people not only failed in their task but were also hunged up as a warning in her room.

"Dammit!!!!" Noble Consort Ying gritted her teeth in anger. "Murong Jinzhi, you evil spawn or that evil maid. Why don't you simply die???"

All of the guards and the maids bowed their heads and pretended to not hear those words. Noble Consort Ying took a deep breath and composed herself and glared at all the guards standing in her room. "What are you all waiting for? Do you want me to do the job? Remove all of these from my room!!!!" she barked.

"Noble Consort Ying," One of the maids called out in fear. "Should I call the emperor?"

"No need," Noble Consort Ying glared at her. "Just clean my room and purify it. If I smell even a little smell of blood in my room then I will have your heads cut off. Do you all understand?"

"Yes, Noble Consort Ying!"