When n.o.body came forward as the body lay p.r.o.ne on the street, Ning Fu and Zhou Sheng got off their own hiding place and went towards the injured man. When Zhou Sheng pulled off the mask, the other person didn"t have any defining features on his face and looked like a very common, everyday person whom no one would have paid attention to in a crowd.
Just as Ning Fu was about to question the injured man, he saw the other person swallow the poison that must have been hidden in one of his molars and froth could be seen gus.h.i.+ng out of his mouth.
Ning Fu was so incensed at his failure that he viciously kicked the p.r.o.ne body but his rage simmered down somewhat when Zhou Sheng pulled on his sleeves, "Big Brother, the paper slip."
Ning Fu bent down to pick up the paper slip and when he opened it, the slip only had one line written on it - " The relation between the new calf and the dragon is strong."
It didn"t take much for either of them to realise what the words meant.
The new calf was clearly pointing towards Zhou Sheng - the Ning Clan"s coat of arms had a s.h.i.+eld and a calf as their symbol and only one person could be linked to Dragons in the entire dynasty - the monarch.
As soon as Zhou Sheng read those words over Ning Fu"s shoulder, he raised his lips in a mirthless smile. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.
He had hoped that this time around, maybe, they could have lived in peaceful times and that nothing untoward would occur, but it seemed that the vultures flying overhead couldn"t keep their eyes off the seat of power.
Well, if a war is what they wanted, war is what they will get.
n.o.body dared to provoke him in the previous world and if anybody dared to get to Princess through him, he would show them why he was feared and revered by one and all in the last world.
Just as his thoughts were running a mile a minute, Zhou Sheng saw that Ning Fu was on the verge of losing his cool. Before the other person could stalk back to the Ning Manor and question the culprit, Zhou Sheng stopped him.
"Why are you asking me to stop? Don"t you know those people are trying to pull down His Majesty through you?"
He calmly replied, "I know that big brother, but if we do things this way, we will alert the enemy. For now, we are in the open and the other part is in the dark, so your actions might just give them more ammunition to speed up their plans."
His words seemed to bring the other person to a standstill, "Then what do you want to do?"
"Let"s go back home first and talk to Old Master," Zhou Sheng suggested.
Now, Ning Fu might act rashly in some circ.u.mstances and he also knew that he was slow on the uptake, but that didn"t mean he couldn"t see through things.
He hated the backstabbing that was prevalent in the Imperial Court but that didn"t mean he couldn"t plan and plot his own way out of a deadlock.
After all, when he waged war, the enemies tried all sorts of methods and tricks and one had to be ever vigilant in those time.
So, if anybody was planning on using him or his clan members, they should also recall clearly that he was a military man and swords in the battlefield didn"t have eyes, so if it fell on their necks, they would only have themselves to blame.
Unknowingly, Zhou Sheng and Ning Fu had the same thought on their way back to the Ning Manor.
As soon as they reached the manor, Ning Fu called one of his subordinates and ordered them to keep a tight lockdown on the manor and to not let a single fly inside or out without his personal permission.
Though the subordinate didn"t understand the reason behind Unit Commander"s orders, he didn"t dare question him when he saw the rage and anger in Unit Commander"s eyes and simply left after receiving the order.
Both of them went towards Old Master Ning"s study and entered.
When Old Master Ning saw both of his sons asking for an audience at such an unG.o.dly hour, he felt the first pinp.r.i.c.ks of worry.
After all, on normal days, both his sons were like water and oil - staying together but not mixing at all.
So, for both of them to come to him so late at night heralded that something must have happened outside and it was big and problematic enough that they couldn"t solve it on their own.
When he entered the study, he went straight to point, "What happened?"
Zhou Sheng also didn"t beat around the bush and explained how he had felt people following his every move inside and outside the manor for the past few days and how he had felt that he was being particularly targeted.
Then he explained that since he couldn"t tackle the unknown on his own, he brought Ning Fu along with him and what they had found.
When Old Master Ning saw the slip he furrowed his brows and looked at Ning Fu who understood his unspoken words.
Ning Fu went out of the study and a few minutes later, a bound and gagged Xie Chu was brought inside.
With a vicious kick on the backside of his knees, Ning Fu dropped Xie Chu on the floor unceremoniously.
From his actions, it was clear that had it been not for the quelling look in his father"s eyes, Ning Fu would have taken a sword to Xie Chu"s neck by now - no questions asked.
Meanwhile, the Old Master wondered where had it gone all wrong?
He had always tried and made sure that the young Xie Chu didn"t have to worry about any materialistic things - a roof over his head, a generous salary and no strenuous work.
But for the same person to throw his care back at his face and plot behind his back was unfathomable.
He gestured to Ning Fu and he removed the cloth that had been stuffed into Xie Chu"s mouth.
Xie Chu already knew that since he had been caught, the Ning"s must have hard evidence against him.
Still, he had already hardened his heart to resist and deny everything till the last moment and see if he could get out of the sticky situation with his life intact.
As soon as the gag was removed from his mouth, he repeatedly kowtowed to the Ning patriarch and said, "Old Master, what has this servant done to receive such a punishment?"
Meanwhile, Zhou Sheng didn"t want any theatrics - he knew these ancient people sometimes could be swayed by the play enacted by the culprits and that this could lead to another slew of troubles.
Therefore, before anybody else could speak, he slapped Xie Chu hard on the face and observed, "Stop with the theatrics, Xie Chu. I was the one who saw you trying to bite the hand that feeds you, so no need to question father or anybody else. Tell me why did you do something that is so abhorrent?"
When no reply was forthcoming, Zhou Sheng crouched down to the same level as Xie Chu and questioned, "You don"t want to speak? No problem. Let"s see if some other incentive might help loosen that firm tongue of yours."