Volume One: The Youngest Among Three Hundred Chapter Ten: Astonishment

Li Shu...
Hua Mulan...
The beast-faced man...

All three pairs of eyes turned simultaneously toward Chen Chang'an, their pupils dilating so widely it seemed they would burst from their sockets. Li Shu and Hua Mulan inwardly exclaimed: Is he truly blind?

"Why have the sounds of fighting stopped? Keep going! Save them!"

The lethal strike of the bamboo skewer took a life, but it also drained Chen Chang'an's vitality to its core. Cold sweat poured from him as he shouted with all his strength, then his head drooped and he fainted.

"Oh!" Hua Mulan snapped back to herself, withdrawing her secret arts and reclaiming the thin, razor-sharp blade into her palm. It shimmered through the air with a metallic resonance, cutting forth brilliant arcs of blade-light.

The beast-faced man, with no time to think, reached out, drawing a dozen black-clad men before him. He struck out, using their flesh and blood as shields against Hua Mulan's assault.

The sound of tearing bodies echoed ceaselessly. The black-clad men, thrust forward as meat shields, were shredded by the crisscrossing blades, their blood spraying wildly, filling the air with a crimson mist that blurred vision and choked the senses.

Even as Li Shu and Hua Mulan channeled their energies to disperse the bloody haze, they failed to catch sight of the beast-faced man.

With a sigh, he flashed at the fastest speed to appear before Princess Changning, knelt with one knee and raised his blade: "Forgive me, Your Highness, for my delayed rescue."

"Bad guy! Kick you, kick you!" Princess Changning kept kicking the dead body of the Western woman, You Ruo. One careless step and she nearly stumbled, then gave up, swinging her left hand as she turned: "It's fine, Sister Mulan. You arrived just in time, though that masked bastard got away—so hateful!"

"Rest assured, Your Highness. I shall spare no effort to capture the villain."

Li Shu and Hua Mulan spoke in unison, exchanging wry smiles at the princess's carefree temperament.

Meanwhile, Princess Changning noticed Chen Chang'an lying at the cave entrance and bounced over: "Hey, hey, hey! Who is he? I've never seen him before. He just saved me!"

Li Shu bent and began: "Reporting to Your Highness, he..."

Halfway through, Hua Mulan abruptly interjected: "Your Highness, he is a newly appointed officer of the Crime Division. Due to urgency, he hasn't received his official uniform yet."

Li Shu stared at her in surprise.

She replied with a look.

This answer dampened Princess Changning's earlier inexplicable interest. She simply nodded, shaking herself: "Let's go, let's go—it's too gloomy here."

"Back to the palace!"

She spread her arms in an exuberant embrace of nature, skipping joyously toward the cave's mouth. No one noticed, but at the moment she turned, a faint sorrow flickered across her bright, delicate face, vanishing in an instant.

"Hey, Your Highness, be careful! Don't run off—there may still be villains nearby," Hua Mulan called anxiously, hurrying after her.

"Ugh, you little brat!"

Li Shu kicked the dead You Ruo twice, his fingers trembling as he slowly pulled the bamboo skewer, stained with blood dried by mysterious powers, from her crown, studying the runes etched upon it.

"Ha, what nonsense is written here? The characters are all crooked, like crawling maggots."

Li Shu didn't understand, grumbled a bit, then went to the unconscious Chen Chang'an, replacing the bamboo skewer for him: "I didn't expect he had real skill, hiding his abilities well. But thinking about it, with the Su family having a prodigy brought to Bashan by an immortal in childhood, it's not surprising the son-in-law has a magical artifact."

"Outstanding investigative skill and some cultivation—he's a promising seedling. It's a pity he's blind; otherwise, he would be a fine recruit for the Crime Division."

He shook his head in disappointment, signaling two officers: "Come, carry him back!"

...

Two hours later, Li Shu, dressed in white with fine brows, Wu Yuanheng, barrel-waisted, and Hua Mulan, twin blades at her side, gathered outside the Crime Division's prison.

Li Shu asked with concern, "So, Princess Changning has been safely returned? And at the scene, did you find anything unusual during your follow-up investigation? The enemy's goal surely wasn't just kidnapping the princess."

Hua Mulan tapped her blade rhythmically, replying: "The princess is safely back in the palace. Her Majesty said to write a detailed case report and tomorrow Lord Wen will present it personally."

"As for Sanyuan Monastery, the follow-up revealed no clues useful for the investigation. However, in the firewood room, we found piles of robes covering human bones—they were likely the original Daoist priests."

"It shows that the princess met only imposters when she went to fulfill her vow. Judging by the time of death of the real priests, the kidnapping plan began at least half a month ago."

This conclusion brought a professional worry to their brows. If the enemy had other motives, then even after rescuing Princess Changning, she remained unsafe and could be targeted again.

Yet with the Longevity Festival—Her Majesty's birthday—approaching, officials must maintain order and virtue, the people must display enduring peace, and all public duties are suspended or the Censorate's scribes will seize any excuse to attack.

Wu Yuanheng rubbed his brow: "Let's assign people to protect the princess in secret. The pursuit of the criminals can wait until after the festival."

He paused, then changed the subject: "And the Su family?"

Hua Mulan, for reasons unknown, eyed Wu Yuanheng up and down before replying: "The Su family had some luck. Her Majesty spared them from death, but expelled them from the inner city of Chang'an, demoting them to outer city commoners."

Before anyone could speak, Li Shu interjected with a laugh: "That's for the best. That boy's luck is incredible, saving himself just in time."

Hua Mulan puffed her cheeks and put her hands on her hips: "I suspect Chen Chang'an isn't blind. Otherwise..."

She still struggled to accept that a case without a single clue, stumping all three divisions, was solved by a so-called blind man. This was why she deliberately minimized Chen Chang'an's presence before the princess.

Li Shu laughed, waving his pen and paper: "We need to record a statement. Let's hear how he cracked the case."

Hua Mulan turned away: "Enough! I'm not interested. Must have been dumb luck—nothing worth hearing."

"Fine, then Wu and I will go." Li Shu patted Wu Yuanheng's shoulder.

Wu Yuanheng said nothing, took the paper and pen, and entered the cell. Li Shu glanced at the side profile of the petite beauty, then followed.

Hua Mulan remained proud and unmoving. Only when the prison door shut did she look around, then dash to the wall, pressing her right ear tightly against it, as if merging with the stone.

Inside, Li Shu and Wu Yuanheng had just entered when they heard loud singing.

"Pure porcelain, traced in blue, brush strokes fading from dark to light, the vase painted with peonies, just as you emerge..."

"Master Chen, you seem in high spirits!" Li Shu sat down, greeting him.

Wu Yuanheng looked between the fragile wooden stool and his own large backside, wisely deciding not to sit—better to stand than break the furniture!

Having swallowed the antidote to dispel the lethal poison, Chen Chang'an, feeling much better, suppressed his envy of Andy Lau and shock at JJ Lin, urgently asked: "Well, Lord Li, what did Her Majesty say?"

"Will I be released without charge?"

"Lord Li!"

Li Shu coughed awkwardly: "I'm behind you."

"Oh, sorry, I'm blind." Chen Chang'an turned toward him, waiting quietly for an answer.

Li Shu rustled the papers in his hand: "Her Majesty decrees you are released without charge, but your father-in-law is stripped of office and your family expelled from the inner city."

"From now on, you're residents of Chang'an's outer city."

"Good! That's perfect." Chen Chang'an clapped happily.

Li Shu's veins bulged on his forehead, forcing a laugh: "But before you leave, you must make a statement detailing your entire investigative process for Lord Wen to report tomorrow."

Wu Yuanheng added succinctly, "In other words, how you found the clues."

"I..."

After gathering his words, Chen Chang'an replied: "I happened to hear from—my father-in-law's soldiers that Princess Changning lifted the carriage curtain with her right hand when she returned that day."

"So I deduced her initial disappearance took place at Sanyuan Monastery's True Purity Hall."

His explanation was pure fabrication. He couldn't mention the Fragrant Pavilion, after all. Since crossing over, he had to protect his cheat from discovery—basic practice.

Li Shu finished jotting down the statement, then asked, "We know this part. The key is, how did you determine the princess was at the bottom of the well?"

Because she was indeed a frog at the bottom of the well, Chen Chang'an replied earnestly: "At first, I was confused by this point. It was truly the crux of the case, and fortunately, the culprit was relentless..."

"Get to the point!" Wu Yuanheng barked.

"Oh!" Chen Chang'an switched tone: "The point is, on my way to Sanyuan Monastery, I heard street vendors shouting. One stall owner called out that Princess Changning liked spicy tiger-skin peppers."

Li Shu and Wu Yuanheng nodded—it was true.

"Also, passing the City God Temple, I heard the priest shout, 'Today is the Day of Wu; the temple is closed. Everyone's gone to the opera.'"

"Is there a connection?" Li Shu frowned, suspecting trickery.

Wu Yuanheng leaned forward slightly.

Though I've drunk Sanlu milk powder, my IQ clearly surpasses the ancients, Chen Chang'an said confidently: "Of course there's a connection. Daoist tradition dictates that on the Day of Wu, all rituals are canceled."

"But when I entered Sanyuan Monastery, a Daoist novice told me he was going to recite scriptures in the hall—a clear sign he's a fake. No real novice would make such a basic mistake."

It was like skipping tomb-sweeping during Qingming to go to work—utter madness.

He continued: "Since they'd succeeded, why not leave? Why keep someone impersonating a novice? There's only one reason—the princess was still there."

"Moreover, the novice carried a bowl with thick chili oil. Considering the princess likes spicy food, I guessed he was delivering her meal."

"Most crucially, I smelled rouge on his hands—high-quality rouge. Princess Changning had been missing for three days. With the summer sun, the scent should've dissipated."

"Unless she was held in a cellar or well, somewhere damp and dark. So I tested him by asking if there was a well in the monastery. Sure enough, his attitude changed and he hurried me out."

Tilting his head, Chen Chang'an shrugged: "So the answer was obvious."

One minute...

Two minutes...

Three minutes...

Chen Chang'an waited anxiously: "Hey, Lords, I'm done. Can I go now?"

No response.

"Lords?"

Still no reply.

Across from him, Wu Yuanheng and Li Shu were stunned, eyes wide, staring at the young man who could see nothing, their faces filled with shock. He had combined a few street shouts and cries to crack a case that had left the three divisions utterly clueless.

Such meticulousness and insight—it was terrifying!

Wu Yuanheng's cheek twitched, his legs going weak. He sat, crushing the little stool to splinters.

Li Shu shuddered, lips trembling: "Ye... yes... you can go. But Su Qingtang must stay until he wakes and makes his own statement."

Outside the cell, separated by a wall, Hua Mulan drew her thin, gleaming blade, using its edge as a mirror to reflect her sparkling eyes.

"What use are these eyes to me?"