Do Not Offend the Reborn Wicked Wife-Chapter 469: So You’ve Come!

Li Qingmu stepped out of the room, his steps much lighter, but with a certain coldness in his eyes.

Duanmu Nan had rendered great kindness to him and his wife, saving his life multiple times and assisting Long Yue in recuperating, allowing her to conceive.

Such kindness was indeed overwhelmingly heavy.

When all the evidence pointed to him, Li Qingmu’s heart was tormented.

In the face of loyalty, filial piety, and righteousness, how should he choose?

During those few days, he was on the verge of madness, his state of mind undergoing unprecedented turmoil.

And now, with a letter from Long Yue, someone intended to frame him.

Then, did something happen on her side as well?

Ha!

He chuckled softly, the true mastermind behind it all was indeed formidable; this was not merely framing, it was a complete attack on one’s heart!

Attacking the hearts of him and his wife!

Thinking of this, a glint of murderous intent surfaced on Li Qingmu’s body, but as he approached Wang Qi’s room, it subsided.

"Mr. Wang!"

Wang Qi was just about to sleep when he heard Li Qingmu calling him, quickly scrambling up to open the door: "Mr. Li, do you have any instructions?"

"This is the memorial regarding this incident, take it to the Capital City for His Majesty the Emperor to review!"

Wang Qi was taken aback: "And you..."

Isn’t this an accomplishment? Why send me?

You’ve been in charge of this from start to finish, I just helped out; shouldn’t the credit be yours?

Li Qingmu said: "I may still need to handle some trivial matters here, so this task can only trouble Mr. Wang. The cause and details are clearly written in the memorial, Mr. Wang can see for yourself."

Li Qingmu handed the memorial over.

Wang Qi received it with both hands, showing respect, but didn’t open it on the spot, as that would be disrespectful; the ways of an official are indeed difficult.

After Li Qingmu left, Wang Qi quickly opened the memorial; with just a glance, he breathed a sigh of relief.

There was no involvement of other officials, only a few lower-ranking ones, like Fan Yongchang.

Moreover, the person behind the scenes turned out to be someone named Duanmu Nan.

Huh? Wang Qi was surprised, the name sounded very familiar, where had he heard it before? He scratched his head blankly, suddenly shivering as he recalled who it was.

He looked at Li Qingmu with a complicated gaze.

Duanmu Nan, he had vaguely heard of this person, supposedly the one who saved Li Qingmu when he was severely injured while saving the royal carriage.

Also, it’s said this person was the master of Lady Jiao.

This...

Wang Qi sensed something amiss; if Duanmu Nan were proven to be the mastermind behind this incident, then Li Qingmu and his wife would also suffer.

No wonder he’d felt Li Qingmu seemed absent-minded these past few days.

Turns out he was worried about his future?

At this point, others would likely seize the chance to ridicule or step on Li Qingmu, but Wang Qi, being smart, realized things weren’t clear yet, and caution was necessary.

So early the next morning, when he set out to return, he specifically went to bid farewell to Li Qingmu, still very politely.

Watching their departing figures, Li Qingmu smiled faintly; Wang Qi was clever, a good official, and adept at maneuvering.

Fortunately, he knew how to do things properly. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

A person like him is hard to judge as either good or bad.

"Your Highness, next should we..."

Nan Haitang was beside him, thinking Li Qingmu must have something else planned after sending Wang Qi away, admiring his master’s meticulous mind yet blurted out his thoughts carelessly.

He quickly stopped himself, but it was too late.

Li Qingmu looked at him coolly and said, "Who allowed you to address me like that?"

"My subordinate acknowledges my mistake."

Acknowledging a mistake rather than a fault, he swallowed back the "Your Highness" he had just uttered.

Acknowledging a fault would imply a grave error, which requires addressing towards the Emperor or princes; acknowledging a mistake seemed softer, merely a small error to admit and move on.

Li Qingmu couldn’t be bothered with this; he handed him another batch of documents, saying, "I suspect there’s something fishy here; investigate again, especially interrogate Fan Yongchang and others thoroughly! Remember, by any means necessary!"

"Yes!"

Nan Haitang understood clearly, the "by any means necessary" meant employing all methods to make them speak the truth.

As for whether this would become coercion?

Coercion involves forcing someone to implicate others or compel admission of non-existent things, that’s coercion. Right now, they were certain Fan Yongchang and others had issues, so special methods were necessary for questioning.

This line of work, the Yulong Pavilion’s spies excelled; with various methods, even the staunchest could be made to spill their innermost secrets.

Within just half a day, Nan Haitang returned to Li Qingmu, reporting the findings from his inquiry.

"Following someone’s orders?"

Seeing the confession, Li Qingmu’s eyes turned colder.

Turns out, everyone in the Liu Lin Slope cave incident was unaware, but he did benefit from others, secretly doing a lot of work directing blame towards Duanmu Nan.

No wonder, no matter how Li Qingmu investigated, all evidence pointed unfavorably towards Duanmu Nan.

"Truth and falsehood intertwined, truly masterful!"

Li Qingmu finished reading the documents and coldly remarked.

Nan Haitang asked, "What does Mr. Li mean by this?"

"The downfall of the Duanmu Family in Guyang County is true, Duanmu Nan being its orphan is true. But this altar incident is false! Yet, mixed with truths, who would pay attention to the false?"

Nan Haitang was stunned instantly.

He hadn’t thought of this; various wrongful cases over the ages resulted from this.

When some reports are true, the truly significant ones become overlooked.

If not for Li Qingmu noticing something amiss and instructing him to investigate Fan Yongchang and others, innocent people could have been wronged, letting the real culprit get away.

"Lord Nan, accompany me to a village."

"Alright!"

After half an hour, the two arrived in front of the village where the old man who mentioned "Duanmu" lived.

In the village, not many people remained; most had left, only the elderly, women, and children remained.

"Quite the calculation, leaving behind the old, weak, women, and children thinking we couldn’t do anything, right?"

Li Qingmu sneered disdainfully, walking towards the village with Nan Haitang.

But as they reached the village entrance, they stopped.

Under the big elm tree, beside a stone table, an old man sat with his back to them, seemingly waiting for them.

Hearing movement behind him, the old man slowly stood, turned around: "Ah, you’ve come..."

His voice was hoarse, and he was short of breath; his cloudy eyes glanced at Li Qingmu, then Nan Haitang, chuckling twice.

Li Qingmu unceremoniously asked, "Who instructed you?"

"Instructed?" The old man chuckled, "No one, I only spoke the truth!"

Li Qingmu stared at him, his voice eerie, as if a ghost from the netherworld: "You think, by saying nothing, letting them flee their homes, they can survive?"

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