HMIME Chapter 41: Concealing the Truth

The investigation hit a bottleneck. In fact, as an ordinary guard, Bai Lu didn’t have the authority to mobilize manpower, let alone interrogate Mei Fei’s attendants one by one. He couldn’t even clarify Mei Fei’s social relationships.

Bai Lu regretted becoming a guard. If he had known earlier, he would have asked Chu Ya for a lower official position, like a patrol officer, so he could openly arrest people, which would be much cooler… no, more than that.

As expected by Chu Ya, the deterrent power of family discipline gradually weakened over the following days, and Bai Lu’s bad habits resurfaced.

As the deputy chief of the guards, Bai Lu’s patrols were mostly in the afternoon and evening, so he comfortably slept in late in the mornings.

Seeing him sleeping soundly, Chu Ya didn’t wake him up. Instead, he pulled the silk blanket over Bai Lu’s belly to keep him warm and closed the golden canopy at the head of the bed to block out the sunlight.

Finally, he called a few eunuchs to quietly replace the ice in the corner with fresh ice. The room instantly became cool, and Bai Lu seemed to feel the coolness even in his sleep. He shifted slightly, hugged the blanket closer, and continued sleeping.

The eunuchs standing by the ice chamber looked at each other: The Emperor was already up and dressed neatly, but the ‘concubine’ was still lying in bed. Wasn’t this a bit disrespectful?

Chu Ya couldn’t help but smile, lifted a corner of the canopy, and leaned down to kiss Bai Lu’s cheek tenderly. However, this gentle morning kiss was swatted away impatiently by the ungrateful little rascal, mistaking it for a mosquito bite.

Chu Ya wasn’t angry. He turned and quietly instructed the eunuchs, “Stay outside the room. When he wakes up, come in and attend to him. If he’s still asleep by midday, wake him up. Sleeping too much during the day can cause dizziness.”

The eunuchs quickly complied and bowed before escorting Chu Ya out of the room.

As expected, Bai Lu remained motionless even when it was time to wake up. The eunuchs hesitated, not daring to approach first. In the end, they had to gather their courage and approach together, pushing and shoving each other.

Bai Lu was so pampered that everyone could see it. It was well known that he was arrogant due to favoritism. Just think about how arrogant and domineering Mei Fei was when she first became a noble concubine.

The eunuchs were also nervous, afraid of offending this noble person and losing their heads.

But under the Emperor’s orders, they had no choice but to approach the bed. Standing behind the sheer canopy, they called out softly, “Young master, it’s late. Shouldn’t you get up?”

Bai Lu groggily opened his eyes, glimpsed several figures standing stiffly outside the canopy, their faces pressed against it without blinking, and was suddenly drenched in cold sweat.

A phrase flashed through his mind: “You’re awake, the sex-change surgery was successful.”

Bai Lu nervously reached down to touch himself, relieved that his little brother was unharmed.

The eunuchs outside asked again, “Your clothes are ready. Do you need help dressing, young master?”

Bai Lu subconsciously nodded, “Okay, I’ll get up now. What time is it?”

“Young Master, the bell has just chimed, it’s midday.”

“Got it. Put the clothes here and leave.”

The eunuchs were relieved by his easygoing attitude and withdrew after saluting.

After getting up, Bai Lu casually folded the blanket and put on his clothes. When he tried to style his hair, he struggled.

His skills were poor; normally, he could only tie a loose ponytail. But now that he was a guard, representing the face of the palace, appearance was important. He couldn’t just go out casually.

But Chu Ya had been helping him with his hair these past few days, and now that Chu Ya wasn’t there, Bai Lu had to find a maid to help him.

Sitting in front of the redwood dressing table, a maid used a horn comb to style his hair. Bai Lu was preoccupied and absentmindedly responded to her compliments, treating it like dealing with Tony, the hairstylist who always pushed for signing membership cards at the salon.

He stared at his reflection in the bronze mirror, lost in thought. In the past, he would never have imagined himself so delicate and weak.

In his previous life, although he wasn’t muscular or strong, he was a very fierce and powerful man who could hold his own against Chu Ya, who had received formal military training. He was like a fierce wolf; just one cold glance could silence people.

But now, even if he tried to glare, he could only evoke images of an angry little kitten, utterly lacking in intimidation.

Bai Lu closed his eyes, reminiscing about his glorious days.

Suddenly, he saw the maid in the mirror earnestly styling his hair. A thought flashed through his mind like lightning, an incredible idea emerged

.

Bai Lu’s heart skipped a beat, and he blurted out, “If you had a small knife right now, could you easily kill me?”

The maid was initially stunned, then her face turned pale with fear. She immediately knelt down and begged for mercy, “Young master, forgive me! I would never dare! How could I have such treacherous thoughts, let alone bring a sharp weapon into your chamber? Please spare me!”

“No, no, I didn’t mean it!” Bai Lu quickly helped her up and brushed off the dust from her skirt. “It’s okay, you can go now. Forget what I said.”

The maid’s complexion improved slightly, but she still looked frightened as she hurriedly left.

In fact, Bai Lu didn’t mean to scare her. He just suddenly realized that the most likely suspect behind Mei Fei’s death was someone close to her.

Standing behind her while styling her hair, with both hands busy near her head, it wouldn’t be difficult to discreetly pull out a golden needle from a sleeve and swiftly insert it into Mei Fei’s Baihui acupoint. It seemed entirely plausible.

Furthermore, Mei Fei was so fond of her appearance that she wouldn’t allow anyone in before her hair was styled, reducing the chances of being seen. If Bai Lu were the culprit, he would surely choose this method.

Bai Lu scratched his chin, pondering. Could it be Bi Tao? That weak little girl wouldn’t have the strength to kill someone, would she? And the technique didn’t seem amateurish; it must have been someone trained for many years.

It happened that he was going to revise the guard duty roster with Geng Qing this morning, so he mentioned his speculation to him.

Geng Qing was writing the duty roster, and he looked at Bai Lu strangely when he heard him. “Hasn’t Mei Fei’s case been closed?”

Bai Lu widened his eyes slightly. “What? The real culprit hasn’t been found, and they closed the case?”

“The Ministry of Justice has already issued a closure document. I briefly asked about it. It seems they said Mei Fei was dissatisfied with being confined, sneaked out of the palace at night, hid in the artificial mountain to avoid the patrolling guards, and accidentally fell, hitting her head and dying on the spot.”

Bai Lu furrowed his brows, unconsciously biting his lower lip.

Fell and died on the spot? Were they really shamelessly trying to pass that off as the truth? Was there conveniently a golden needle sticking out of the fake mountain, and Mei Fei fell straight onto it, inserting it into her head? No, looking at the position of the needle, unless Mei Fei fell straight down like a planted leek, it wouldn’t have had that effect.

They were clearly lying through their teeth, trying to deceive everyone!

But this closure document seemed riddled with loopholes yet perfect, as every aspect seemed plausible.

Mei Fei had isolated herself in her room, and the palace servants dared not disturb her. This was understandable. Mei Fei pretended to hide in her room but actually sneaked out of the palace, which also made sense. With Mei Fei’s body in such a state, further examination was impossible.

Without concrete evidence, they couldn’t overturn this closure document.

Bai Lu wanted to ask Shen Chu Yun for the golden needle, but before he could take a step, he suddenly remembered the things Shen Chu Yun said that day. He immediately understood and felt a chill run down his spine.

Bai Lu gritted his teeth and cursed, “Damn it! They’re all in cahoots!”

They were all birds of a feather!

The situation was very clear now. Someone above wanted to suppress the case, burying Mei Fei’s cause of death along with her body. And this person was high-ranking, leaving no room for others to intervene.

Besides Chu Ya, who else could it be?

This wasn’t just deceiving everyone; it was downright concealing the truth.

So, should he listen to Shen Chu Yun’s advice, be an obedient dog, and keep quiet when he shouldn’t, or should he continue risking his life to investigate?

Seeing his gloomy expression, Geng Qing was extremely puzzled. “What’s wrong with you? You look so terrifying.”

Bai Lu shook his head. “Nothing.”

In both reason and emotion, Mei Fei was his enemy, and Chu Ya was his beloved. Perhaps Chu Ya killed Mei Fei to avenge him, but this time, Bai Lu’s mind was unusually sharp, or rather, as a boxer, his instinct to sense danger made him feel that there was more to the story.

If it was just revenge, there was no need for such elaborate schemes. Bi Tao had only been by Mei Fei’s side for half a year, and Bai Lu hadn’t even transmigrated here yet. Why would Chu Ya deploy an assassin beside Mei Fei?

Chu Ya must be hiding something from him, and Bai Lu hated that.

He glanced at Geng Qing and whispered, “I think Chu Ya killed Mei Fei.”

Geng Qing was so shocked he fell off his chair and sat on the ground. “Wait, wait! Brother, you know what you just said?!”

Bai Lu retorted, not too pleased, “I didn’t say anything wrong. I’m serious.”

Geng Qing quickly got up from the ground, covered Bai Lu’s mouth, then glanced out the window to see if anyone was there before urgently whispering, “The case is closed, big brother! Do you know what that means? It means they’re not allowing any further investigation!”

“But that’s not the truth…”

Geng Qing was bewildered. “Isn’t Mei Fei your enemy? Why do you care so much about the truth?”

Bai Lu hesitated with a doubtful look. “No… I just…”

He just didn’t like that Chu Ya was hiding things from him and underestimated him.

And while he was worried sick about Chu Ya’s safety and eager to catch the assassin, Chu Ya clearly knew everything but didn’t say a word, just coldly watched from the sidelines. Perhaps he even secretly mocked Bai Lu’s useless efforts.

The thought made Bai Lu very uncomfortable.

If you love what Abyss is doing, then consider showing your support by sponsoring a cup of ko-fi for them and get a special mention!