Chapter 135: Uncovering the Truth

So at first, the man didn’t react immediately. Although his thoughts jumped around quite a bit, they were still connected overall. After a moment, he responded, “I’m usually a very diligent and honest person—I hardly ever lie.”

Yan Heru nodded slightly at his composed answer and continued, “Maybe you are usually diligent and honest, and rarely lie. But have you noticed that when you do lie, you become very flustered?”

“Huh?” The man looked puzzled at first, but after a moment’s thought, he understood what she meant. His expression grew even more nervous.

Suddenly, his speech became stammering. “N-no... no, that’s impossible... how could I be like that?”

This time, even he noticed his own stammering, which clearly showed he was nervous. Anyone could tell he was in trouble; otherwise, why would he start stuttering?

He was already scheming how to get rid of the two women before him.

But Yan Heru wasn’t about to give him any time to think.

“I’ll give you one last chance. If you don’t cherish it, then you’ll be meeting the King of Hell,” she threatened.

The man was in the middle of plotting, but those words scrambled his mind completely. He couldn’t think anymore and quickly began begging, “No, no, please! What do you want to know? I’ll tell you everything! Oh my god! I’m really unlucky!”

He collapsed weakly onto the ground, as if he had given up. “Ask whatever you want, I’ll definitely tell you this time! Ah...”

“About the question just now—you said you were following the Fourth Prince, and that’s how you saw him threatening the Third Prince, right?” Yan Heru said.

She was trying to get the man to tell the truth, racking her brain for a way, while Qi Shengsheng stood nearby with sparkling eyes, admiring her sister.

Thinking to herself: So impressive... I never expected my long-lost sister to be so formidable!

“I’ve already told you everything I know. If you don’t believe me, what else can I do?” The man seemed unwilling to confess fully.

Yan Heru shook her head in frustration. “You promised me you would tell everything you know just now. Looks like you want to back out now.”

“I’m not trying to back out, but I really don’t know more. I’ve told you everything I know. How many times do I have to say it before you believe me?” The man’s tone sounded sincere.

But Yan Heru refused to believe him completely. “Since you’re so stubborn, it seems I’ll have to take you back for a thorough interrogation before you’ll reveal everything you know.”

“I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you! Please don’t take me back!” The man looked desperate and helpless.

“I really don’t know what bad luck I had in my previous life to end up in this mess!” He sighed deeply, then started to reveal what he knew.

It turned out he had indeed purposely followed the Fourth Prince—but not for any sinister reason. It was simply because the Fourth Prince had run up a large tab at his shop.

So he followed the Fourth Prince, hoping to find a way to get him to pay his debts.

But instead of finding a way to collect the money, he stumbled upon a huge secret.

And since he was the kind who couldn’t keep things hidden, this secret weighed heavily on his heart, so he could only share it with friends.

“This time I’ve really told you everything I know. You can let me go now, right?” The man looked at Yan Heru.

But Yan Heru didn’t immediately release him. Instead, she pressed on, “Your story sounds believable, but I was very clear—I want to know the whereabouts of the Third Prince.”

The man blinked and sighed again. “I thought I could get away with it, but you still found out. Well then, I’ll tell you.”

He had continued to follow the Fourth Prince and witnessed him threatening the Third Prince. He saw the Fourth Prince knock the Third Prince unconscious and drag him into the palace. After that, he didn’t know what happened.

So the Third Prince was most likely still inside the palace.

After receiving this information, the two women stopped paying attention to the man and headed straight toward the palace.

On the way...

“Do you think that man was lying? Could he be someone sent by the Fourth Prince?” Qi Shengsheng asked.

Yan Heru shook her head. “No. If he were working for the Fourth Prince, how would he know we came to look for him? I don’t think the Fourth Prince has any precognitive abilities.”

Qi Shengsheng thought it over carefully and found that made sense. If the Fourth Prince could anticipate their visit, it would be far beyond this matter—she might have been caught by him already.

“Don’t think about other things now. Our priority is to get to the palace quickly and see what’s going on inside,” Yan Heru said.

Qi Shengsheng nodded in agreement, and the two quickened their pace to the palace outskirts.

At first glance, the palace’s perimeter seemed unchanged, but a closer look revealed the guards had been reinforced.

This wasn’t something Yan Heru noticed herself—she wasn’t from Nanyang Kingdom, so she wasn’t familiar with the usual palace military deployment.

After Yan Heru told her sister about it, Qi Shengsheng analyzed further. “The palace isn’t usually this heavily guarded. The sudden increase in security must mean something’s going on inside. It could very well be about the Fourth Prince!”

“Sis, do you think the Fourth Prince threatened the Third Prince and even the Emperor, which is why he now holds military power?” Qi Shengsheng looked at Yan Heru with curiosity.

Since reuniting with her sister after so many years apart, Qi Shengsheng didn’t want to overthink things. With such a capable sister, she was content to follow her quietly.

“That suspicion could very well be true. I want to enter the palace to investigate. Do you have any way to get me in?” Yan Heru asked.

“But if we just go in like this, it could be dangerous. Maybe we should wait outside for a while and see if anything happens first,” Qi Shengsheng suggested.