Chapter 254: Who is the Murderer?
This surprise raid ended unexpectedly quickly.
So much so that the vast majority of people had no idea what had actually happened.
But the smoke of war does not simply dissipate just because the fighting has stopped.
The flames of conflict spread from the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace throughout the entire Heaven Dou City.
Emperor Xue Ye, who had finally regained his senses, was utterly enraged. He mobilized almost the entire military of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family to lock down the city.
Furthermore, he requested aid from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, which shared a very friendly relationship with the empire.
Even with their swift efficiency, it took a full day to thoroughly investigate everyone within Heaven Dou City.
In the imperial court of the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.
At this moment, Emperor Xue Ye sat high upon his dragon throne with a frigid expression. Below him to the left, Qin Mu was also seated on a yellow chair.
"So, this is the extent of our casualties?!"
Emperor Xue Ye looked at the memorial in his hand, unable to hide his fury.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, this is only because we had the assistance of the experts brought by Pope Qin Mu, which significantly reduced our losses."
"Otherwise, our casualties would have been at least three times as high!"
One of the elderly officials standing near the front answered respectfully.
"Furthermore, the objective of these people was very clear—it was His Highness Xue Qinghe!"
Hearing this, Emperor Xue Ye slammed the memorial down in front of the man.
"What do I pay you for? So many powerful experts infiltrated my palace, and you didn't notice a thing?"
"After an extensive search, we eventually found some clues."
The old man paused slightly before speaking carefully.
"Additionally, not far from the Crown Prince's Mansion, we found two bodies that were mostly incinerated."
"Their facial features and physiques are no longer distinguishable."
"However, on one of the bodies, we found material identical to that of the Crown Prince's clothing..."
"The Crown Prince most likely..."
The old man did not continue, but everyone already knew what he intended to say.
The Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire had suddenly disappeared during this incident, and now a body had been found with the same clothing material as Xue Qinghe.
Currently, there was a high probability that Xue Qinghe had met with misfortune.
"Have Elder Lin perform the examination! You must clarify the identities of those two bodies!"
Emperor Xue Ye's eyes were nearly splitting with rage.
He only had four sons in total; two had died young for no reason, and now the Crown Prince he favored most had suddenly vanished.
How could he accept being told now that his Crown Prince might already be dead?
"Pope Qin Mu, is there anything else you wish to say?"
No matter how furious Emperor Xue Ye was, he did not forget for a moment who was sitting beside him.
"Emperor Xue Ye, I express my deepest sympathies regarding this tragedy."
"However, the matters that follow involve the internal affairs of your Heaven Dou Empire. It is somewhat inconvenient for me to continue listening."
"If you have any needs, you can find me at any time."
"The Heaven Dou Empire is an ally of our Spirit Hall. If there are difficulties, our Spirit Hall will naturally not sit idly by."
After saying this, Qin Mu stood up, took his leave of Emperor Xue Ye, and left the court.
Afterward, Emperor Xue Ye did not say much more and hurriedly ended the court session.
Once everyone had left, Emperor Xue Ye immediately clapped his hands.
Instantly, several figures appeared in the previously empty palace.
"What do you all think of this matter?"
Hearing Emperor Xue Ye's inquiry, the figures looked at each other.
After a short while, one of them bowed and spoke.
"The matter is very strange. Why were they so intent on hunting down the Crown Prince?"
"At this point, I'm afraid the answer can only be found by finding any survivors who went to protect the Crown Prince's Mansion at the time."
As soon as he finished speaking, another old man shook his head.
"It's useless. I've already investigated; every single person who participated in the rescue of the Crown Prince that night perished without exception!"
Hearing this, everyone present took a sharp breath, and Emperor Xue Ye, sitting on his throne, felt his lips tremble.
"Elder Lin, you should have examined all the bodies by now, correct? What are the results?"
For a moment, everyone's gaze turned toward another elderly man.
The man known as Elder Lin was also an eight-ring Soul Douluo with a Skeleton Martial Soul.
Because of his Martial Soul, he was extremely sensitive to bones and could glean information about a person from their skeletal remains.
Elder Lin's face was bitter as he pulled a memorial from his robes and handed it to Emperor Xue Ye, speaking with some difficulty.
"I have finished investigating everyone, and all identity information has been verified."
"Among them, the two bodies near the Crown Prince's Mansion were so thoroughly incinerated that I cannot identify their specific identities before death."
"However, I am certain that the aura of one of the bodies is a 99% match with Emperor Xue Ye's!"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present showed expressions of resentment. Emperor Xue Ye himself slammed his palm onto the dragon throne, shattering it into fine powder.
What did a 99% match mean? It was as good as saying plainly that one of the bodies was Emperor Xue Ye's blood relative!
Judging from the known conditions, this person was very likely the missing Xue Qinghe!
Facing the enraged Emperor Xue Ye, the people present were not particularly afraid; clearly, their status within the Heaven Dou Empire was quite special.
"Elder Lin, what about the other body? Was it Elder Chen, who was escorting the Crown Prince?"
Facing the inquiry, Elder Lin frowned and shook his head.
"That is exactly the strange part."
"One body is certainly Xue Qinghe, but the other is not Elder Chen."
"Currently, the only two whose identities or whereabouts cannot be accounted for in the entire Heaven Dou Empire are this mysterious corpse and Elder Chen."
"They clearly came prepared, so the incineration was very thorough. We simply cannot find any clues from the bodies!"
After he finished, the scene fell into a deathly silence.
Everyone present frowned deeply, connecting the known clues one by one.
After a long time, the oldest-looking man turned to look at Emperor Xue Ye.
"Your Majesty, I believe the matter is already quite clear."
"Because the Clear Sky Sect is currently weak, they wanted to use infiltration methods to start with the Crown Prince, intending to hollow out our Imperial Family and seize control of the Heaven Dou Empire."
"But because Pope Qin Mu intervened, their plan to poison you failed."
"For the sake of their subsequent plans, they did not hesitate to start this riot, killing the Crown Prince, while Elder Chen took the opportunity to flee in the chaos!"
The old man's words seemed to make sense, but there were still many flaws.
"Chancellor Qin, by saying this, aren't you thinking a bit too highly of the people from Spirit Hall?"
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