Tianliangyuan

Chapter 174 Cheng Yuan's Power Severely Devastated

As Cheng Yuan and her old servant stepped out of the second gate, they were stopped by a maid.

Cheng Yuan turned around and saw that the other person was holding a small box. She said respectfully, "Miss Cheng, please wait a moment. This was specially given to you by Madam Jiang. She also said that if you have time in the future, please come to the mansion more often to keep Madam Jiang company."

Cheng Yuan's face lit up with joy; she knew Jiang Ning would be tempted.

Moreover, this was specially ordered to be delivered after I left. Perhaps the prince was hiding in the shadows at the time, and only after he saw the jade Buddha with his own eyes did he think of returning the favor.

Cheng Yuan left with a beaming smile.

Madam Jiang gave her a box of pearls, which were very large and looked like something that ordinary wealthy families couldn't afford; they seemed to have come from the palace.

Thinking about the identity of the Prince of Zhong, Cheng Yuan felt more and more confident that she could achieve her goal.

To Cheng Yuan's surprise, Xu Zhaozhao showed up uninvited again the next day.

Having learned her lesson from last time, Cheng Yuan dared not provoke her again this time, but she shouldn't expect Xu Zhaozhao to give her a friendly look either.

This time, Xu Zhaozhao wanted to know how many of Cheng Yuan's assassins were still alive. Cheng Yuan was a person with impure intentions, and if there was a chance, she should kill them all.

Xu Zhaozhao came over to chat with an old friend, and Cheng Yuan took this opportunity to actually find out several hiding places of Cheng family assassins.

She just wanted to come and give it a try, but little did she know that Cheng Yuan actually knew.

Since that's the case, then we won't hold back. After all, Cheng Yuan dared to get in touch with the Prince of Zhong.

Xu Zhaozhao and Prince Zhong are mortal enemies. Just because of Jiang Ning in the middle, Xu Zhaozhao and Prince Zhong's mansion have an irreconcilable relationship.

However, this was only what Xu Zhaozhao saw clearly. The Prince of Zhong was completely unaware that there were already people outside the imperial power who regarded him as someone who had to be eliminated.

Xu Zhaozhao handed the task over to Maidong and Zisu. Since these two were sent by Xie Sanlang, she had to find them something to do, otherwise they might think she didn't trust them.

Cheng Yuan was still asleep, unaware that there was already commotion outside. Before dawn, the yamen runners from the county government had already begun to take action, some to investigate the case, others to transport the body, and so on.

Overnight, a private house caught fire, killing a family of eight. Fortunately, there was no wind last night, so when the fire was extinguished, it did not affect other houses.

In another house, a total of three people were found dead from poisoning. It was confirmed that the three were not a family, but they had rented the place together to rest. All three were strong men, no more than thirty years old.

But what's strange is that when the county constable was halfway through the investigation, he discovered that the dead people had no household registration at all; they seemed to be either hidden households or household slaves.

Even when they found out that the few merchants with registered residences were actually registered, they discovered that those residences were forged. In short, everything seemed strange.

This is only what is visible.

There were also unseen bodies, several of which had already been transported out of the city and dumped in the deep mountains to feed the wolves.

Cheng Yuan only learned of the news in the afternoon.

She was already severely short-handed in the capital, otherwise she wouldn't have wanted to use Xie Sanlang and Qi Yunze.

But who could have imagined that overnight, she would lose another group of people, and now there are less than ten people left who can still work for her.

Cheng Yuan felt a chill run down her spine.

She didn't know who the other party was, nor did she know how they found out the whereabouts of these assassins. Now, she didn't even dare to leave the house.

"Who is it? Who could be so ruthless? They're after me!"

The old servant vaguely guessed what had happened, but she dared not ask or think too deeply about it. She could only comfort her, saying, "Miss, please calm down and don't be afraid. Let's think about who knows you are in the capital and who might be worried that you have really made friends with powerful people."

These words were a direct reminder to Cheng Yuan.

But she can't calm down right now. Although she is ruthless, she is still just a teenage girl, and she has always been the one plotting against others. She never thought that one day she would be plotted against by others.

When Cheng Yuan first acquired this force, she was quite arrogant.

She once thought she was invincible.

Especially when she could use those people to influence the military camp, she felt that as long as she wanted, she could make the entire Ji Province obey her orders!

Of course, that was just initial arrogance and ignorance.

Later, after Xie Sanlang thoroughly investigated the spies in the army and finally removed the three spies planted by the Cheng family, she was no longer able to learn about the movements of the army camp.

Therefore, what she thought was just what she thought.

It was that time that made Cheng Yuan truly realize the gap between herself and Xie Sanlang, and even more so that in the face of absolute power and authority, saying anything was futile.

That's why she desperately wanted to marry into a powerful family; she wanted power, lots and lots of power.

Cheng Yuan believes she is different from women who only know needlework and talent; she feels she can live a life that they wouldn't even dare to dream of.

But to my surprise, I am becoming more and more of a failure.

Her confidence is being eroded little by little, and soon she will lose all her trump cards.

"No, this can't be! I must pull myself together! I still have Prince Zhong. Yes, I can definitely marry Xie Sanlang. When that time comes, who in the entire capital won't envy me? Even princes will want to win over the Xie family. Then, who will dare to look down on me!"

As soon as Xu Zhaozhao made her move, Xie Zheng noticed something was different.

Because Mai Dong used a little bit of Xie family connections when transporting the body.

Therefore, this matter could not be kept from Xie Zheng.

In fact, this was also Xu Zhaozhao's arrangement, deliberately letting Mai Dong alarm Xie Zheng, because she needed to know Xie Zheng's attitude.

"Are you sure those people are Cheng Yuan's assassins?"

Xu Zhaozhao slowly put down her teacup: "I'm sure. And I also know that Cheng Yuan has accomplices in the capital. On the surface, she's allied with the Prince Zhong's mansion, but in reality, she has assassins. They're just hidden too well, so I haven't dug them out yet. After this, I believe Cheng Yuan will definitely not dare to touch those assassins again for a while."

Xie Zheng felt that his values ​​were being reshaped.

It wasn't because Xu Zhaozhao would arrange the murder, but because the seemingly delicate and willful Cheng Yuan had already taken control of the Cheng family's assassins.

"If I'm not mistaken, she must have had this idea back in Jizhou, and even used spies from the military camp, right?"

Xie Zheng's expression froze, and then he thought of the people he had investigated, and anger welled up inside him.

"How dare she!"

Faced with Xie Zheng's anger, Xu Zhaozhao remained calm: "She is inherently a greedy person, and she will stop at nothing to achieve her goals. Sanlang, you should be glad that you didn't let her into the Duke's mansion."