Chapter 0271: This Dead Man Isn’t Dead, Old Hu, What Should We Do?

Hastily pulling down the carriage curtain, Xie Chengze returned to the inn in a daze.

He completely failed to notice that the person seemed to have sensed something, glancing back at the departing carriage.

Upon returning to the inn, Xie Chengze paced anxiously in his room, his long boots tapping urgently and anxiously on the floor.

When Hu Lai pushed the door open carrying a food box, Xie Chengze rushed forward abruptly, “Hu Lai! Something terrible has happened!”

“What’s wrong, Your Highness?” Hu Lai set the food box on the table, seeing him so flustered for the first time.

“I just saw… at the county government office…” Xie Chengze took a deep breath, biting his knuckles, his lips trembling as he said, “I saw a dead man.”

Hu Lai: ?

Hu Lai looked at him with confusion, not understanding why seeing a dead man would be so frightening—dead men couldn’t rise from the grave to bite him. It wasn’t until he noticed the genuine fear radiating from Xie Chengze that he began to realize this “dead man” wasn’t actually dead.

It was someone who should have been dead.

Who was this person who should have been dead?

Hu Lai shuddered, thinking of the corpse he had stabbed dozens of times until it was thoroughly dead. His voice trembled as well, asking with a sliver of hope, “Could it just be someone who looks similar?”

“I’m not nearsighted!” Xie Chengze grabbed his hair with both hands, “The two of them look exactly alike!”

No, perhaps there were subtle differences.

But because he was afraid that if he stared directly at the other person, his hidden thoughts would be read in his eyes, he had never carefully observed the details of that person’s appearance.

Was the Sheng Shihai that night really Sheng Shihai himself?

Did Sheng Shihai truly believe his immature acting, thinking he wanted to replace the Crown Prince and ascend the throne as the new emperor?

Why didn’t he carry the explosives given by Liang Wan Da with him, to take everyone down with him before death?

If the Sheng Shihai that night was just a double, then why would the real Sheng Shihai appear in Jizhou after faking his death? What connection does he have with Jizhou?

Did Sheng Shihai have a hand in the imperial guards of Jizhou delaying their entry into the capital that night?

In the original story, was the Sheng Shihai who died really himself, and not a double he had arranged?

Did Xie Jinyu, who lived longer in the previous life, know about this?

Countless questions swirled in Xie Chengze’s mind, making him increasingly fearful.

If the person who died in the palace was really a double, then Sheng Shihai’s planning was far too thorough. He likely saw through the act between himself, Shen Yuan, and the other princes long ago, realizing he had no place left in the palace, and thus planned to withdraw from the court. As a behind-the-scenes manipulator, he would secretly contact his remaining followers and continue executing his rebellion plan.

With everyone in the palace thinking he was dead, they would naturally let their guard down. If Sheng Shihai took the opportunity to privately train soldiers elsewhere and obtain the real formula for gunpowder…

It wasn’t hard to imagine he would become a fierce tiger tearing into Jian’an.

Xie Chengze thought he held the script and could strangle the vicious tiger in its cradle, but he forgot that what makes a vicious tiger vicious is its ferocity, cruelty, and sharp instincts.

If you can’t kill the vicious tiger, then you can only wait for its counterattack.

If he hadn’t come to Zhuolu County to find Zhu Xiaobiao, if he hadn’t initially released Fang Qian as a long-term lead in order to combat drug addiction, if he hadn’t passed by the county office entrance today and lifted the carriage curtain, he would have missed the opportunity to discover this vicious tiger feigning death, allowing it to grow unchecked in the wild and poison the common people.

Xie Chengze felt a wave of fear in his heart.

Should he immediately send someone to kill him?

But was that person truly Sheng Shihai?

In that moment, the thought “better to mistakenly kill a hundred than let one escape” even flashed through his mind.

At that moment, Hu Lai also furrowed his brow.

“Speaking of which, when I delivered the finishing blow to that person, his heart was on the right side,” he said slowly. “If I hadn’t delivered that blow, he definitely could have pretended to be a corpse and survived.”

Right-sided heart?!

Xie Chengze slammed the table abruptly, confirming with absolute certainty, “Sheng Shihai’s heart is on the left!”

When he was confined to Cheng Huan Palace and drinking himself into a stupor, Sheng Shihai had brought wine to find him. At that time, he had held him by the waist and brought him up to the roof. Due to subconscious psychological resistance, his right hand had been pressed against Sheng Shihai’s chest.

For martial artists, heartbeats are always stronger than ordinary people’s. He could confirm that the beating at that time had been on the left side of the chest.

The person who died in the palace was indeed a body double!

Sheng Shihai had long detected their trap!

Ha, as expected of the sharp-witted and resourceful second antagonist from the original text…

Perhaps, after that concluded story, the second antagonist never died at all. He had been biding his time among the common people, ultimately making a comeback.

With Xie Jinyu becoming a tyrant, Sheng Shihai would have ample reason to raise an army and rebel, no longer needing to worry about reputation. Perhaps he might even succeed in his rebellion, overthrow the Jian’an Dynasty, and become the new emperor.

Xie Chengze wiped his face and sat on the wooden chair, his legs shaking restlessly.

“Old Hu… what should we do now?”

Currently, he only had Wuhen and Wuji by his side. Both he and Hu Lai were powerless scholars – how could they possibly kill the martial arts master Sheng Shihai?

Moreover, with Sheng Shihai appearing at the county office entrance at this time, was that premium incense also related to him?

Xie Chengze’s eyes flickered slightly.

Now that Sheng Shihai was no longer the Director of the Salt and Iron Commission, if he wanted money to maintain private soldiers, selling premium incense would indeed be a quick way to accumulate wealth.

He needed to first deal with the person making the incense.

“Wuji, bring Zhu Xiaobiao here, discreetly,” Xie Chengze immediately ordered.

A light sound came from the inn entrance – Wuji’s response.

Before long, Zhu Xiaobiao was brought over. Seeing Xie Chengze, he was quite surprised, “Your Highness? When did you arrive? Why didn’t you notify us in advance so I could make preparations?”

“Xiaobiao!” Xie Chengze’s expression was very serious. “I have a very important question for you. Answer truthfully.”

Zhu Xiaobiao nodded repeatedly.

“Where did the addiction drug you were given originally come from?”

Hearing this, Zhu Xiaobiao’s face changed slightly, clearly still haunted by memories of that period. But seeing Xie Chengze so serious, he answered earnestly, “I’m not sure either, but the drugs were all obtained by my stepmother.”

Xie Chengze pondered slightly, “Before she would drug you each time, did anyone new appear in the residence?”

Zhu Xiaobiao thought for a moment, then shook his head, “No, but my stepmother used to be a medicine girl. Since her family ran a medical clinic, she knows how to prepare medicines.”

Xie Chengze’s eyes instantly sharpened, “A medicine girl, you say?”

He lowered his head, lost in thought. Zhu Xiaobiao stood beside him for a while before finally speaking up, “Has Your Highness encountered some difficulty? If there’s anything this humble servant can do, please speak frankly.”

His very life belonged to the Second Prince. Though he knew the Second Prince was kind-hearted and reluctant to risk lives, he still hoped Xie Chengze wouldn’t hesitate too much. If he needed him to take risks, he could say so directly.

Xie Chengze frowned, “Among your nine familial generations, is there anyone else who knows how to make medicine? Or perhaps someone particularly fond of handling flowers and plants?”