Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 38 The Truth
The soldiers of the Qin Palace scattered and searched every house.

"Don't miss a single spot, especially bricks and stones, or under the bed, be careful to see if there are any hidden compartments."

Wang Changshi was stunned by the beating. He listened to Yue Ling's order to search everywhere. He pointed at Yue Ling angrily and said, "Yue Ling! What qualifications do you have to search the palace? Who gave you the right?"

At that moment, the soldiers from the Prince of Qin's Palace came in with another person.

The man who came was like a dragon and a tiger, with a sword hanging from his waist and a heroic look on his face. He shouted in a low voice: "This is the power given by me. If the emperor blames you, you should hold me accountable! Investigate!"

"King Qin?!"

No one expected that the King of Qin would come in person, so the soldiers in Prince Kang's palace all put down their weapons and stepped aside.

Wang Changshi was no longer arrogant. He slowly put down the hand that was pointing at Yue Ling and lowered his head.

Soldiers against soldiers, generals against generals, the King of Qin stands here, and without King Kang in King Kang's palace, who dares to offend him?

Yue Ling bowed and said, "Your Highness, I will go and inspect as well."

Seeing Yue Ling's torn robe, King Qin nodded and said, "Thank you for your hard work. Just go ahead and do it. I'll support you behind you."

As he spoke, he drew the sword from his waist, looked around, and said, "If there are those who are blind and come forward to interfere, I will kill them first."

"Yes."

……

Yue Ling went out of the second door first and came to the outer courtyard.

If a carriage enters the house, it must take the bluestone-paved road to avoid leaving traces.

A carriage loaded with weapons and armor is heavier than ordinary cargo and is difficult to move on land.

Yue Ling groped along the bluestone road, but still could not find any clues.

The Prince Kang's Mansion is the residence of a prince. The outer courtyard is extremely large and the bluestone-paved roads extend in all directions.

It leads to the backyard where the servants live and work, and one can also pass through the east and west halls and two doors into the courtyard.

At that time, a guard from the Prince of Qin's palace came and reported to Yue Ling: "General, we found a team of carriages, which should be loaded with goods, and they are all sealed."

Yue Ling nodded, "Let's go and take a look."

Yue Ling followed his personal guards to the backyard and saw that the King of Qin was already there, staring at the carriage with a frown on his face.

Yue Ling stepped forward and ordered the soldiers, "Break it open and check what's inside."

A bodyguard holding a shoulder knife stabbed into the car, and then heard the sound of a clay pot breaking inside, and the wine spilled all over the floor.

Wang Changshi said anxiously: "These are all for the banquet for the princess and others in the mansion. Where did the weapons come from? I don't know where the rumors came from to cause the Qin Palace to mobilize so many troops. I will report today's incident to His Royal Highness Prince Kang and His Majesty!"

After hearing this, the guards became anxious and chopped open several carriages. They found only fruits, vegetables, grains, spices, and not even a piece of ironware.

The guards looked embarrassed and stepped forward to report to Yue Ling: "General, all the carriages have been opened, but no iron objects have been found. Could it be that we made a mistake?"

The King of Qin also carefully observed his surroundings, wondering if there was any place where he could hide a large amount of weapons and armor.

Yue Ling thought for a moment, and then said frankly, "This is probably a false witness. The carriages in the mansion are all numbered, they don't just go in and not out, and the things delivered will not just be kept in the carriages."

Yue Ling took another step and went out to search according to his own ideas.

“Yue Ling…”

Seeing the King of Qin looking at him again, Yue Ling replied, "Your Highness, don't worry. The armor piece must still be in the palace. It would take dozens of people to load and unload it by horse-drawn carriage. It can't be moved in such a short time." The King of Qin had high hopes for Yue Ling, so he didn't give him any more instructions and waited quietly for Yue Ling to find out the truth.

Returning to the stone road, Yue Ling walked around the outer courtyard, but before passing through the second gate and entering the courtyard, he walked over with his head down, thinking.

After walking a few more steps, a servant from Prince Kang's mansion came out to stop him and said, "General Yue, the front is the inner curtain of Prince Kang's mansion. Outsiders are not allowed to enter. Don't disturb the women in the mansion."

Wang Changshi followed behind Yue Ling with a solemn expression. When he saw Yue Ling trying to go to the inner curtain but being stopped, he stepped forward and advised, "Let the women in the mansion stay away. Since General Yue wants to investigate, let him do it. Otherwise, how can we prove the innocence of our mansion?"

"General Yue, you're not going to check even Princess Kang's bed, are you?"

Yue Ling snorted coldly and said, "Of course I won't be as rude as Wang Changshi."

Hearing this, Wang Changshi was puzzled, "Hey, when was I rude?"

Yue Ling walked forward step by step, turned around the screen, and ahead were the rockery, pavilions and towers.

The reason why the rooms behind the curtains were not searched was because of the structure of the wooden building. If one had to go through the corridor and then climb the stone steps to carry a pile of armor to the room, it would take a lot of effort, and any carelessness would leave scratches, as there were too many flaws.

Yue Ling looked around and found the surroundings to be surprisingly quiet, without any signs of flaws.

There were dozens of carts of armor and weapons, how could they disappear as soon as they entered the palace?

Wang Changshi came forward proudly and said, "How about it, General Yue, are you willing to go out with me?"

Yue Ling looked at the lake in the courtyard. The breeze only caused a few ripples. In the middle of summer, there were no insects or birds singing, which was really strange.

"Could it be thrown into the lake?"

Yue Ling shook his head and dismissed his opinion.

Unless the Kang Palace spent a lot of effort to transport the weapons into the city just for one use, under the current storage conditions, no matter what material the ironware is wrapped in, once thrown into the lake, it will be contaminated by moisture, and the speed at which it will rust will be difficult to control.

Yue Ling climbed up a few more stone steps, looked down from above, and said to Wang Changshi: "Wang Changshi, is the courtyard of Prince Kang's mansion always so quiet?"

Wang Changshi snorted coldly and said, "I am not inside the inner chamber, so how can I know? I advise General Yue not to waste his energy on this. If he continues to be so stubborn, it will only embarrass everyone."

Yue Ling said provocatively, "Wang Changshi, don't panic. As soon as I came in, you tried to persuade me to leave many times. If you feel guilty, you might as well not let me in in the first place."

"I feel guilty? What should I feel guilty about? I am upright and I have nothing to fear!"

Yue Ling laughed and said, "But, the shadow under Wang Changshi's eyes is slanted, right?"

Wang Changshi was so angry that he waved his sleeves and wanted to leave. "There are only a few lanterns lighting up the courtyard. Whose shadow is straight? Isn't your shadow slanted?"

"Light? Light?"

Yue Ling suddenly came to his senses and looked at the lanterns hanging on the pavilion. They were shining brightly everywhere except the area under his feet which was dark.

Yue Ling drew the sword from his waist, and the sword emitted a faint silver light.

When Wang Changshi heard the sound of the sword, he was startled and asked, "Yue Ling, do you still want to capture me and torture me?"

Yue Ling curled his lips. His punishment was much more torturous than beating.

Without answering Wang Changshi, Yue Ling turned around and slashed at the rockery with his sword a few times. A gap was immediately made in the rock, and large pieces of armor slid out.

Under the moonlight, it was like mercury flowing on the ground...

　Mina-san, please share the light in your hands with me! Please read it again, it’s the second round!!!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)