Consort of a Thousand Faces

Yun Ruofeng's expression was gloomy, with streaks of cruelty running through his eyes. He looked towards Qin Ling and ordered sternly, "Search every street in Nanzhao's capital; don't forget to search the suburbs as well.”

 

He paused before adding in, "Pay special attention to the streets in the vicinity of the Literary Association."

 

Qin Ling didn't know what Wei Mohai’s mission had been. However, he was able to tell that it was something dangerous just by the fact that the latter’s warhorse had returned without him. Looking at Prince Yun’s expression, Qin Ling was sure that whatever Commander Wei had been looking into had to have been serious.

 

Hence, Qin Ling bowed immediately, "This subordinate will immediately gather more men to closely search every street." He then got onto the horse before cracking his whip, leaving in a hurry.

 

The carriage driver looked at Yun Ruofeng deferentially. " Prince Yun, are we heading back to the Prince Yun Residence?"

 

Yun Ruofeng narrowed his brows and waved the driver off. "No, this Prince will be personally looking into this. You can drive the carriage back to the Prince Yun Residence." Yun Ruofeng then swiftly alighted the horse carriage.

 

Wei Mohai was his right-hand man, someone who had carried out any order without fail for all these years. Could something have happened this time?

 

Wei Mohai wasn’t just his loyal subordinate, but  his sworn brother as well. The thought of something happening to him made Yun Ruofeng knit his eyebrows together, his pace quickening as he headed towards the Literary Association.

 

Just as he passed by another alley, he heard a woman's sharp shriek. "There's a dead body on the streets!"

 

Yun Ruofeng immediately traced the source of the scream and found the woman. A dead body? He asked the woman, "Where's the dead body?"

 

As it was the middle of the night, the woman couldn’t clearly see Yun Ruofeng’s face, and dismissed him as a commoner. Hence, she only pointed towards a street that was around the next corner. “A burly man is lying dead on the street ahead.”

 

Hearing her words, Yun Ruofeng immediately headed off, leaving the woman terrified. I am never leaving my house at night again.

 

Hastening his steps, Yun Ruofeng quickly arrived at the street that the woman mentioned. From his position at the entrance, he could vaguely make out a moonlit human figure lying motionlessly on the ground.

 

It strongly resembled Wei Mohai.

 

 With his brows tightly pressed together, Yun Ruofeng’s originally quick steps gradually slowed to a crawl as he walked over. When Yun Ruofeng was three steps away from the figure, his eyes widened, his chest heaved, and his hands clenched together tightly underneath his sleeves.

 

Wei Mohai. Something really happened to him. His hands are lying feebly on the ground, his eyes are closed, and his sword is laying unsheathed at his side; it’s clear that his death wasn’t natural.

 

All of a sudden, Yun Ruofeng could feel the emotions surging within him. Twenty years of brotherhood. He had no siblings or relatives to speak of, and Wei Mohai was the closest thing he had to family. It was only after enduring hardships in the military that they ended up in their positions today.

 

Originally, Yun Ruofeng had wanted to wait for Nanzhao’s political climate to stabilise before promoting Wei Mohai, allowing the latter to bring glory to his ancestors. Yet, Wei Mohai had died before it could happen.

 

Suddenly, the sound of hooves came from the street entrance. Qin Ling immediately pulled on his reins and dismounted from his horse.

 

When he saw the motionless Wei Mohai on the ground with his sword, Qin Ling’s eyes widened in disbelief. Commander Wei is actually dead...

 

Qin Ling looked at Prince Yun, not knowing what to say. He could only watch as Prince Yun walked towards Commander Wei before squatting down and examining the corpse carefully.

 

"Qin Ling, keep Commander Wei's sword." Yun Ruofeng's voice was slow and calm.

 

Qin Ling bowed and acknowledged the order, inspecting the sword carefully before pointing out, "Prince Yun, there's black blood on the sword."