A trap? Xiao Man furrowed her brow. The person who asked her father out must have been someone her father knew. Her father always traveled with escorts, and they were all experts, yet not a single one escaped. This showed the perpetrator had specifically set a trap for her father, knowing even how many hidden guards he had.
But after killing her father, why would they clean up the scene and hide the bodies of the hidden guards? Were they meeting someone else? Or were they trying to frame someone?
Dongfang Wei picked up the autopsy report from the table and carefully flipped through it. The more he read, the more confused he became. "Xiao Man, don't you find the wounds on the Great General a bit strange?"
"The wounds don't look like they were inflicted by a single person."
"Right, the wounds look like they were caused by many people!" Dongfang Wei suddenly understood. "Look, since the perpetrator could shatter the Great General's chest bone, they are clearly a martial arts master. A martial arts master would disdain using hidden weapons. Yet, the Great General has wounds from hidden weapons. And it says here that the Great General has two stab wounds on his chest and one on his abdomen. Even the abdominal wound isn't deep. Why?" Su Dan Novel Network
"It indicates the assailant lacked strength, either severely injured or a woman!"
"Did your father offend some paramour outside and get murdered by hired assassins?"
"Is my father a man who obsesses over women?" Xiao Man's gaze fell on the incense burner. "The person who asked my father out must be the one who poisoned him. To have made my father let his guard down, this person must be someone my father trusted immensely."
"Could it be someone from your father's entourage?"
"This person must be someone both my father and I know." Xiao Man picked up the teacup. "The scent of Ten Mile Fragrance is similar to the She Lan tea my father likes to drink."
"Do you have any suspects?"
Xiao Man shook her head. She didn't know many people around her father. Perhaps she would have to ask Steward Lu.
"Miss, the National Preceptor has arrived."
Xiao Man immediately rose and went out. Indeed, Feng Tianlan stood at the courtyard gate, still looking as if he desired nothing, felt no joy or sorrow, like a Buddha who had seen through the mortal world.
"Master." Xiao Man's eyes reddened, and she threw herself into Feng Tianlan's embrace. "I don't have a father anymore. I will never have a father again."
Feng Tianlan raised his hand and gently patted Xiao Man's back. Though he had many comforting words, he couldn't utter a single one.
Xiao Man hugged Feng Tianlan's neck. Her hand inadvertently rested on Feng Tianlan's carotid artery. Feng Tianlan's pulse was steady, with no trace of injury.
"Master, I'm so sad. My chest feels so heavy, as if someone punched me in the chest..."
"It's alright. I'm here. No one can harm you."
Xiao Man just sobbed. Feng Tianlan was her primary suspect. Even though she had warned her father to be wary of him, with his abilities, it wasn't difficult for him to lure her father out of the city. Moreover, he was someone capable of shattering her father's chest bone and yet leaving him alive!
"Master, I will definitely find the murderer who killed my father!" Xiao Man looked up at Feng Tianlan and said word by word, "No matter who the murderer is, I will not rest until they are dead!"
Feng Tianlan's hand subconsciously tightened on Xiao Man's hem, but his expression remained flawless. "We will catch the murderer."
Xiao Man nodded with certainty. "No matter how deeply hidden or how powerful the murderer is, I will dig them out from three feet underground and chop them into a thousand pieces!"
Feng Tianlan nodded slowly. "Alright. Your elder brother is far away at the border, and Madam Xiao's foundation is still shallow. She cannot control the people of the Xiao family. You must take good care of yourself. If you fall, who will avenge your father? Who will catch the murderer?"
Xiao Man fiercely wiped the tears from her face. "The murderer hasn't been caught yet, so I can't cry."
Feng Tianlan gently stroked Xiao Man's head. "Don't be too sad. The General is gone, but you still have me. I will always be with you."
"Thank you, National Preceptor, for your concern for Man'er." Wen Mohan entered from outside, supporting Xiao Man's shoulders and pulling her into his embrace. "As Man'er's fiancé, I will always be by her side, no matter when."
Feng Tianlan's expression remained unchanged. "Then I will trouble Lord Wen to take good care of her. I will go to the mourning hall to chant scriptures for the General's soul."
"Thank you, National Preceptor."
"Are you looking for me at this time because something happened outside?" Wen Mohan sighed as he looked at Xiao Man's swollen, tear-filled eyes. "Go get two boiled eggs. Have Miss roll them on her eyes; they've swollen up so much."
Yinzhu hurried to the kitchen and brought two eggs. Wen Mohan peeled them, wrapped them in a handkerchief, and rolled them on Xiao Man's eyes. Xiao Man closed her eyes, holding back her tears.
"Prince Qi and his wife are coming to pay their respects. If you look like this, how will you face the guests?" Wen Mohan said softly. "The murderer will be caught."
"I will not let the murderer go!"
Wen Mohan knew that Xiao Man would not let the murderer go, but he needed to give her a reason, a reason to pull herself together. "The General promised to be the officiant for Xue Meng's wedding, but he suddenly changed his mind and went outside the city. He must have received some news."
Xiao Man's eyes fluttered open. When she left the General's mansion yesterday, her father was still happily saying he would wear new clothes to be Xue Meng's officiant. He must have received the news after she left.
"Go to my father's study." Xiao Man immediately got up and walked out.
Wen Mohan looked at the eggs in his hand and helplessly followed her.
Xiao Zhen's study. Xiao Man had been here countless times. She could enter and exit Xiao Zhen's study freely. There were no secrets for her here.
Wen Mohan watched Xiao Man rummaging through Xiao Zhen's study with such familiarity, as if she had done it countless times before. "You often come to your father's study?"
"When I was little, we played hide-and-seek. If I hid in my father's study, no one dared to come in and look for me," Xiao Man said as she searched for clues. "Although this is my father's study, I can come and go as I please. The guards never stop me. There are many things that are not in my study that I can always find here."
"You have incomplete books in your study?" Wen Mohan asked with surprise. He had seen Xiao Man's study, which was filled with all sorts of books, demonstrating Xiao Zhen's deep affection for Xiao Man.
"In the past, my father prepared all sorts of books for me, such as the Four Books and Five Classics, military strategy, and national policies. Later, at my strong insistence, he prepared storybooks, miscellaneous notes, and other books. However, there was one type of book he absolutely refused to prepare for me."
"What kind of book?" Wen Mohan asked like a curious baby.
"Erotic books."
Wen Mohan looked up at Xiao Man in astonishment. Seeing Xiao Man's serious expression, he blushed and quickly lowered his head to hide his embarrassment.
"What do you want erotic books for?"
"Nangong Yi always said they were good things, but he wouldn't let me see them, so I asked my father for them," Xiao Man said without looking up. "Then my father took people and beat up Nangong Yi."