The Immortal Fire

Chapter 53: The Great Prize

Shi Xia walked into the room and saluted his master. Xue Hongli replied with a faint nod so Shi Xia stood up straight again.

"Young Master, the Fourth Prince has already sent a letter that he has arrived at Xiliang Jing. He also included the address of the inn," Shi Xia said giving a roll of letters that had already been opened.

Xue Hongli accepted it and read the row of words printed neatly on the surface of the paper with a single glance, he returned the thing again. "There's still two hours left. The gifts to be sent are also not finished packing, we still have two hours to discuss other matters. So what about the prime minister Huang case?"

Shi Xia replied, "After further investigation, the complexity of the case has become more widespread. The waitress you asked to arrest, she committed suicide one day before she was arrested. His case leads instead to an old case regarding the death of Gao officials, there is some evidence that corroborates this theory."

Shi Xia laid out some evidence and oddities that proved that the deaths of the two nobles were set against the backdrop of a person or group of people in common.

Xue Hongli raised next to his eyebrows, thinking some clues had something in common in the two cases that were reportedly related. Three years ago, the death of Gao officials was considered unnatural, but the case was forced to close because there was no explanation and reasonable evidence.

He was found lifeless on his bed without any external injuries, but the inside of his body was heavily injured, his internal organs were severely damaged, even his bones were smashed like a big hammer. After being traced, found a wine bottle that still contains at least half of the bottle load right under the bed.

Investigators initially thought Gao's officials were poisoned through his wine, but that was not true. No harmful ingredients were found in the remaining wine drunk by Gao officials, and it was one of the most common in the Wei empire.

Similarly, the case of prime minister Huang, found the same cause at his death. He was found lifeless in the position of the head that had fallen on his desk, his hand was also holding a bottle of wine that still filled a quarter of the bottle.

Obviously this murder was committed by the same person, but the motive is not really known. And the wine that was considered non-toxic began to be suspicious, even though Xue Hongli had already come along to inspect it in person.

"Their... Did the two arak come from one production house?" xue Hongli asked holding his chin, too many coincidences already did not look like coincidences anymore.

Shi Xia asserted, "The production house is in Yuping city, it is quite famous and has been exported to outside the empire. This wine is named 'Loving the Night', its unique flavor and unique main raw materials have made it very popular in the last ten years."

Xue Hongli nodded in understanding and tried to draw a conclusion from it. The man stood up from his position, walking towards the window of the room.

"If there is nothing in the wine, then investigate the place of production of the wine bottle."

"Bottle wine?" shi Xia asked in confusion.

"Yes. Make sure that Judge Xue Ding does not know this before we hand over the evidence of our discovery to the Emperor, he will try to rival us. When the case is solved, then we can establish the Emperor's trust and expand our access in the empire."

Xue Hongli grinned widely before returning to his words. "Do a stealthy investigation, we'll give a great gift to Father."

"Okay, Young Master. The order will be sent immediately."

Shi Xia was about to turn away, but Xue Hongli hurriedly stopped him. The young man watched his servant from top to bottom. Xue Hongli coughed softly so Shi Xia immediately bowed, thinking he had done the wrong thing.

"Gong Zi, did I make a mistake?" asked the confused Shi Xia over the attitude of his master.

Shi Xia increasingly did not understand, what did his master mean to talk about the slender waist of a man? Was the reason all this time Xue Hongli disliked women an aberration?

Shi Xia brushed aside the negative conjecture in his head, trying to think things were better than that. "Gong Zi's... What do you mean?"

"No. I mean, does a man have a slim and light waist either with *wu gong or not?" Xue Hongli who noticed his unusual expression immediately threw away his face, Shi Xia could have misunderstood.

"Regarding that..." Shi Xia said, "To my knowledge, wu gong does not affect human posture. It's just that the energy in can make a person's body heavier than not having internal energy, but the posture will not change unless influenced by gender.".

Shi Xia hesitantly, asked the question, "More precisely, what made the Young Master ask that."

Yet Xue Hongli laughed lowly at the question, he shook his head a few times before walking towards the chair and sitting on it.

"Nothing, I was just curious. My name is famous in the empire as a person who has broad insight. Merely, something like this I have never known clearly," Xue Hongli replied trying to cover up his tension.

It would be a great shame if Shi Xia were to find out, that a young master Xue was discussing a taboo matter just because of a shabby and ugly skinny man. But it was clear that Xue Hongli remembered the incident, to the point of making his heart uneasy from earlier. Shi Xia would definitely drop the prejudice that he had become a *cut arm.

Xue Hongli felt an unusual sensation while grasping Liu Ying's waist earlier, a kind of softness that radiated from that person's body making Xue Hongli startled and then let go of his grip. Xue Hongli did not accept his moved feelings, was he a masochist?

"Gong Zi." The call from Shi Xia successfully pulled Xue Hongli back from his daydream.

The man allowed his servant to leave. Xue Hongli then leaned his back tiredly, today completely draining his energy.

His days are always spent with endless busyness, free time like the present should he enjoy well before returning to do activities exhausting him again. Ridiculously he even disturbed the matter of a man's waist, it was very inappropriate.

But still the waist was unusual. While imagining the scene again, Xue Hongli seemed to have felt it firsthand.

Not to mention, the awkward aura from Liu Ying made him become interested and curious. That was why Xue Hongli provoked an atmosphere for Liu Ying to be angry and reveal his origins, in a way that lowered Liu Ying's status. It turned out that it was beyond her expectations, Liu Ying was quite smart to speak.

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*Wu Gong: Martial Arts.

*Cut Sleeves : Deviation/same-sex enthusiasts (for men).

...Nihao! Always vote and share this story to your friends, yes. Don't forget to comment a lot, I always read your comments. ...