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Chapter 172
The residence was close to Xiao Changyou's so they temporarily borrowed Xiao Changyou's house as their base. At night, the two changed clothes and sneaked into their hunter friend's home, only to find it empty. The three of them searched but couldn't find any useful evidence. As they were leaving through the back door, they ran into Lu XuanNing and Li Xia.
As for the two people who had been tailing them, their identity was unknown. Luo Shan walked in and said, "Those two are die-hard loyalists, they won't talk."
"Your method is wrong, let me handle this," Li Xia said with a cold smile, getting up to interrogate the prisoners.
"I'll do it," Zhou Heng stepped forward, blocking Li Xia from taking action.
Lu XuanNing stood up and held Li Xia back, "Let Zhou Heng handle it, don't dirty your hands."
Zhou Heng rolled his eyes at Lu XuanNing, then went with Luo Shan to question the two men.
Li Xia turned to Li Hui with a cold face, "Brother, you've always been calm and rational. Why are you being so reckless lately?" Li Xia's words were not polite, and Li Hui's face darkened.
"Xia Xia," Lu XuanNing tugged at Li Xia's sleeve again.
"Oh, I just remembered, I have something to do," Xiao Changyou suddenly wore an expression as if he'd forgotten something important and quickly slipped away. As he left, he gave Lu XuanNing a meaningful look, warning him not to get involved with the Li siblings, as neither was easy to deal with.
Lu XuanNing pretended not to see Li Xia's glare and stood behind her in support.
"Xia Xia, I'm sorry. I was rash in this matter. It won't happen again," Li Hui apologized without explaining further.
"You promised me just a few days ago that it wouldn't happen again, and now you're saying it won't happen next time." Li Xia was angry, but this was her beloved older brother, so she couldn't lash out. Not wanting to talk to him anymore, she turned and left.
After Li Xia left, Lu XuanNing approached and asked, "Is this related to Xia Xia?" He knew how much Li Hui valued his family, and only family matters could make him lose his composure like this. Not telling Li Xia meant it must be something concerning her.
"Nothing gets past you," Li Hui's words confirmed Lu XuanNing's guess.
"How is this connected to Xia Xia?" Lu XuanNing's tone was filled with urgency.
Li Hui revealed the truth. While investigating Liu Yuanchang's case, through acquaintances' descriptions of a beautiful woman, Li Hui discovered that the woman's appearance was 60% similar to Xu Xinyue's. This made Li Hui wonder how they could look so alike.
Li Hui suspected that Xu Xinyue's mother and sister-in-law might not have died back then. He sent Zhang Hu to Dashang County to investigate. It was discovered that years ago, Xu Xinyue's mother and sister-in-law had committed suicide by hanging themselves and were thrown into a mass grave. Xu Youshan was a good official, and the common people couldn't bear to see his wife and daughter exposed in the wilderness. They secretly organized to bury the remains of the Xu family. Unexpectedly, Mrs. Xu still had a faint breath.
Fearing discovery by Prince YongKang, the leader of the group sent Mrs. Xu to hide with relatives in a neighboring county. These people mutually agreed to keep this matter secret.
When Prince YongKang fell from power, Zhang Hu brought people to Dashang County, claiming to be descendants of the Xu family looking for their relatives. Only then did an elder reveal that Mrs. Xu hadn't died. Zhang Hu found the family that had taken in Mrs. Xu.
That family said that when Mrs. Xu had recovered and was preparing to leave for the frontier, she discovered she was pregnant. She stayed and gave birth to a girl, then entrusted the child to a childless family in the village to raise. She then left for the frontier to find the Xu brothers. The Xu brothers never saw Mrs. Xu, and her fate remains unknown.
The family that adopted the little girl later left the village to stay with relatives. After much inquiry, Zhang Hu confirmed that the beautiful woman was indeed Xu Xinyue's younger sister, Li Xia's biological aunt.
When Li Hui uncovered this information, he knew he couldn't let Li Xia know. fr𝑜m freewebnøvel.com.
In Li Xia's heart, Xu Xinyue ranked first. For Xu Xinyue's sake, she could create incidents like The Righteous Hero's name list affair. Although Li Xia hadn't mentioned this, the more Li Hui learned about his sister, the more certain he became that The Righteous Hero was Li Xia.
If Li Xia found out about this, given her temperament, the Liu family might not survive the night. Despite Li Xia's martial prowess, she was just one person. Against the entire court, Li Xia stood no chance. freewёbnoνel.com
For his sister's sake, Li Hui needed to bring down the Liu family quickly, to prevent Li Xia from doing anything rash.
"What do you plan to do about this?" Concerned for Li Xia, Lu XuanNing wouldn't stand idly by.
"Your injury hasn't healed yet," Li Hui didn't want Lu XuanNing to get involved, as his leg hadn't fully recovered.
"Zi Hou, Xia Xia is your sister and my fiancée. We share the same wish: for her to be happy," Lu XuanNing's words left Li Hui unable to refuse.
Zhou Heng came out of the interrogation room and saw Li Xia sitting not far away, exuding a murderous aura.
"They confessed. It was Liu Jie who asked their master to send them. As for who their master is, these two are too low-ranking to have seen him," Zhou Heng's words made Li Xia retract her menacing aura.
"How about we kill the Second Prince?" Li Xia's words made Luo Shan, who was following behind Zhou Heng, stumble.
Zhou Heng was alarmed but maintained a calm expression. "Itching for a fight? I'll have Luo Shan spar with you."
"I have things to do," Luo Shan said and quickly left. With Li Xia in a bad mood, he didn't want to risk being bedridden for half a month after sparring with her.
Li Xia glanced at Zhou Heng, "Look how scared you've made him."
Zhou Heng sat down opposite Li Xia, "Was it you who scared him, or me?"
Li Xia remained silent, looking at Zhou Heng, "What do you think?"
"It was me, it was me," Zhou Heng said, looking as if he had no way to deal with Li Xia.
"Brother, you must have discovered the same information. Why didn't you tell me?" Li Xia's words made Zhou Heng's smile fade.
"I only found out this morning, and your brother arrived right after. There was no time," Zhou Heng explained, but Li Xia didn't believe him. If he had wanted to inform her, he had countless ways to do so.
Zhou Heng's expression turned serious as he looked at Li Xia, "Little devil, have you ever considered why Li Hui didn't tell you?" Although Li Xia usually appeared lazy and indifferent to most things, for the family and friends she acknowledged, she would show more than 100% care. She would worry about everything for them and secretly clear all obstacles.
"Little devil, I understand your desire to protect your family. But as a friend, I advise you to let go and allow them to handle things themselves," Zhou Heng's words made Li Xia fall silent.
"Three months. If you can't resolve it, I'll handle it my way," Li Xia said, then got up and left.
Li Hui and Lu XuanNing emerged from the shadows nearby. Zhou Heng looked at them, "Did you hear? Three months."
Li Hui bowed to Zhou Heng, "Thank you."
Li Xia found Mrs. Lu and Li Ming admiring lanterns on the street.
"Why are you alone?" Li Xia had been with Lu XuanNing earlier, so how had she ended up by herself?
"Uncle, Aunt," Lu XuanNing emerged from the side, carrying a revolving lantern in his hand. He handed it to Li Xia.
Seeing Lu XuanNing's thoughtful care for Li Xia, Li Ming was very pleased, though his words were reproachful: "How could you let XuanNing go buy a lantern for you?"
"Uncle, it's because I wanted to. I insisted on buying it for Xia Xia," Lu XuanNing stepped forward to stand beside Li Xia.