Ning Dao Covered with Snow

Chapter 144: Old Love
He Chunzhuo and Zhou Qi gave exactly the same answers.

"We all rested in our rooms last night and did not go out."

Du Lingzhou asked: "Can anyone testify for you?"

He Chunzhuo laughed out loud: "Du Erlang's question is really interesting. It's the middle of the night and everyone is asleep. How can we find a witness?"

Du Lingzhou raised his eyebrows: "So, you were all alone in your rooms last night, and no one can testify for you?"

Zhou Qi was very dissatisfied: "What do you mean by this? Are you doubting us?"

He Chunzhuo raised his hand, signaling Zhou Qi not to be anxious, and then said to Du Lingzhou.

"We really don't have any witnesses. If Du Erlang suspects us of being the murderer, then we have nothing to say. But I also want to ask, with so many people in the villa, were there people watching them when they slept last night?"

Du Lingzhou was speechless.

At this time, Yan Ciwan finally found an opportunity to speak. She asked, "Does Fang Zhi not live here?"

He Chunzhuo looked at her and said, "He originally lived here, but he moved to Guipu Courtyard yesterday."

Du Lingzhou asked hurriedly: "Why would he move out of nowhere?"

"I don't know about that. Although he and I are friends, we haven't seen each other for many years. We are no longer as familiar with each other as we were before."

Du Lingzhou asked again: "So, you guys don't know what Fang Zhi did last night?"

He Chunzhuo nodded in the affirmative.

Du Lingzhou's eyes lit up: "Perhaps Fang Zhiyou moved to Guipuyuan to live alone just to make it easier for him to go out in the middle of the night and do some shameful things."

He felt that he had found an important clue and was about to get up and leave.

Yan Ciwan didn't move. She looked at He Chunzhuo and asked.

"How did you get to know Fang Zhiyou?"

"We were both scholars. We happened to meet on the way to take the imperial examination. We hit it off and had a great time talking to each other. We became good friends. Unfortunately, we both had our own things to do. After we separated, we never met again and our friendship gradually faded."

Speaking of this, He Chunzhuo sighed softly, with a look of regret on his face.

Yan Ciwan asked: "When and where did you meet? And in which year and where did you separate?"

He Chunzhuo smiled slightly: "It was probably in Luzhou twenty years ago. I passed by here and happened to meet Fang Zhiyou. Later, I also parted ways with him here."

"Did you, Master Chu, the Lian brothers and sisters, and Feng Wu, Sun Hu, and Huang Feng all meet in Luzhou 20 years ago?"

"Before this, I didn't know the Lian siblings, Feng Wu, Sun Hu, and Huang Feng at all. As for how I knew Master Chu, you can ask Master Chu about this." He Chunzhuo answered without any loopholes.

Yan Ciwan asked again without giving up: "Then do you know what happened in Lingdie Temple twenty years ago?"

"I heard that Lingdie Temple was hit by a fire. The entire temple was burned down and all the monks in the temple died. Many people in Luzhou City know about this."

When He Chunzhuo said these words, his expression was extremely calm, without any sign of flaws.

Yan Ciwan stared at him and asked the question from the bottom of his heart: "After you left Luzhou, have you ever been to Xizhou?"

He Chunzhuo seemed to have expected him to ask this question, and a smile slowly broke out on his face.

That smile was very strange, as if it contained a strong feeling of expectation.

"Not only have I been to Xizhou, I have also met the Princess of Xizhou and Princess Leyou."

When he said this, he stared at Yan Ciwan without blinking, his eyes were surprisingly bright. Hearing this, Yan Ciwan's heart tightened slightly. The other party not only remembered her, but also her mother. Could it be that her mother's illness suddenly worsened that year, was it really related to him?
Du Lingzhou was very surprised: "You also know the Princess of Xizhou and Princess Leyou?"

"Yes, I am an old friend of them. I met the Princess of Xizhou before she got married. We had a very deep friendship. Later, the Princess of Xizhou unfortunately passed away due to illness. I was deeply saddened and grieved for a long time."

While He Chunzhuo was answering, his eyes were always fixed on Yan Ciwan.

The light in his eyes became brighter and brighter, as if he was expecting a response from the other party.

Yan Ciwan's heart was filled with turmoil.

She still remembered the last words Yan Tingyu said to her when she was murdered by him -

"Yan Ciwan, you and your fickle mother both deserve to die. Aye can't bear to kill you, so I will clean up the mess for Aye, except for you, this evil creature!"

What Yan Tingyu meant was that the Princess of Xizhou had an affair with other men, and that she, Yan Ciwan, was the evil creature born from the affair between the Princess of Xizhou and other men.

Yan Ciwan originally thought that this matter was completely false!
My mother and father have been married for many years and have a very deep relationship. There has never been any rift between them. It is impossible for my mother to betray my father.

But now, He Chunzhuo said that he and the Princess of Xizhou were old acquaintances and they had a deep relationship.

Yan Ciwan's mind flashed back to the birthday banquet at the Xizhou Governor's Mansion many years ago, when He Chunzhuo knelt on one knee, holding a box full of jewels and presenting it with both hands.

"This is a small gift from He, please accept it, Princess."

When Princess Xizhou saw his face clearly, all the blood drained away from her face in an instant.

Yan Ciwan was sitting next to the Princess of Xizhou. She could clearly feel that her mother was extremely panicked.

It was a kind of extreme panic that occurred when a secret was about to be exposed and there was nowhere to hide.

Could it be that what Yan Tingyu said was true, that my mother had a past relationship with someone, and that person was He Chunzhuo in front of him.

At this moment, He Chunzhuo's expectant expression was completely the same as when they first met at the Xizhou Governor's Mansion. Yan Ciwan began to feel dazed. She couldn't even tell where she was at this moment?
Is she in the governor's mansion in Xizhou? Or in Mengdie Villa in Luzhou?

Who should she trust? And who is she?

"Aci."

A low call brought Yan Ciwan's thoughts back to reality from fantasy.

She came to her senses, looked in the direction of the voice, and saw Xiao Wang looking at her with concern.

Seeing her pale face and dazed expression, Xiao Wang was very worried and his voice became gentler: "What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?"

Chaolu thought Yan Ciwan was ill, and hurriedly asked, "Shall I take your pulse?"

"No need, I was a little distracted just now, I'm fine." Yan Ciwan smiled at them.

Du Lingzhou did not notice Yan Ciwan's abnormality, and he questioned He Chunzhuo's words.

"How could you, a commoner, have any relationship with the Princess of Xizhou? Don't flatter yourself. I think it's because the Princess of Xizhou has passed away and Princess Leyou is not here. No one can expose your lies, so you dare to talk nonsense like this."

He Chunzhuo was very disappointed to see that Yan Ciwan had returned to normal, as his expectations were dashed.

He lost interest in small talk and just said something perfunctorily.

"Forget it if you don't believe it."

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(End of this chapter)