Volume 3, Chapter 319 – You Call This a Suicide?

“It was really Chi Chun who did it?”

“That girl had the nerve?”

“But why would she do something like this?”

The room broke into murmurs.

Even Chi Xiyan’s eyes showed a flash of surprise.

She had some recollection of the girl named Chi Chun.

Unremarkable talent, nothing striking about her looks. She was always trailing after Chi Zhong, playing the part of a naive and sweet little sister.

It had never crossed her mind that the one who had moved against Muxue would be her.

But then again. That girl did not seem like someone with the nerve to take her own life. Was this truly suicide out of guilt?

Listening to the murmurs around him, Lu Guan’s brow furrowed. “Chi Chun. Who is that?”

Chi Jingwen replied, “Chi Chun is a girl from a branch line of the Chi family. Sixteen years of age. She came with her parents last night to attend the engagement banquet.”

As his words settled, a middle-aged couple was brought forward into the hall.

They stumbled to their knees before Chi Jingwen in a panic.

“Family Head, please, you must believe us. We truly knew nothing!”

“Last night, Chi Chun went back to her room early to sleep. I assumed she had just worn herself out from the festivities.”

“I never imagined that by morning she would be…”

Chi Chun’s mother sobbed through her tears. “Chun’er… how could she have done something like this…”

Song Shutao’s brow furrowed slightly.

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Chi Chun. Was that not the girl from that night?

So the poison in the second young miss’s room really did have something to do with her?

She was dead?

Was it truly suicide out of guilt?

Lu Guan had no patience for the weeping. He said curtly, “Family Head Chi, you haven’t just pulled a pair of people off the street to feed me a story, have you?”

“The mastermind behind all of this is a sixteen-year-old girl?”

“This is the Chi family’s answer to Lingxiao Sword Sect?”

“Or are you telling me that the great Chi family of Beihe Commandery was run circles around by a sixteen-year-old child? That with an entire household full of people, not one of them could stop a single girl?”

“Is this truly a suicide out of guilt?”

“Does a sixteen-year-old girl truly have the courage to end her own life?”

“Is it not more likely that someone wanted to bury something, and had her silenced?”

The room went quiet the moment Lu Guan finished speaking.

Chi Xiyan’s face was cold.

What Lu Guan had just said amounted to pointing at the Chi family’s nose and accusing them of shielding the real culprit.

“And what exactly does Elder Lu mean by that?” Chi Xiyan could not hold back. “That the Chi family is covering for someone?”

“Last night my own sister nearly came to harm. She is the Chi family’s legitimate second young miss.”

“What sort of culprit would be worth the Chi family going to those lengths to protect?”

“What possible reason would the Chi family have for doing such a thing?”

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“Eldest Young Miss Chi.” Lu Guan cut her off. “I must correct one point. Last night it was not only the second young miss who was nearly harmed. Our Lingxiao Sword Sect’s Young Sect Master was as well.”

“His wellbeing concerns the entire Lingxiao Sword Sect.”

“Eldest Young Miss Chi, when Lingxiao Sword Sect is involved, this is not something you can dismiss with a few breezy words.”

Chi Xiyan kept the fury in her eyes leashed.

Lingxiao Sword Sect stood at the head of the Seven Sword Sects, with Immortal Venerable Qingzhi herself as its foundation. They had always been arrogant and overbearing in their dealings.

In Lingxiao Sword Sect’s eyes, Chi Muxue’s purity did not matter half as much as the reputation of Song Shixuan, the one who had wronged her.

Chi Xiyan’s fist tightened. She drew a slow breath. “The Chi family would not do that. The Chi family has no reason to do that. Ruining Young Master Song’s reputation, sabotaging the engagement with the Song family. There is nothing in any of that for the Chi family to gain.”

“Is that so?” Lu Guan glanced sideways at Chi Jingwen. “That is not so certain.”

As the one speaking for Lingxiao Sword Sect, Lu Guan was well aware that Chi Jingwen had never been in favor of this marriage.

That old fox seemed to have caught wind of what Lingxiao Sword Sect was planning.

Sacrifice an inconsequential second daughter, ruin Song Shixuan’s name, and walk away from the engagement with the Song family on perfectly righteous grounds.

That was exactly the kind of move that old fox would make.

A pity he had not counted on them happening to be nearby that room, arriving just in time to pull Song Shixuan out.

And he had Chi Zhong to thank for that.

Chi Xiyan bit down on the tip of her tongue. “So, Elder Lu, are you accusing the Chi family?”

“You believe all of this was a trap the Chi family deliberately set?”

“That the Chi family intentionally sacrificed their own young miss’s purity to cast a shadow over Lingxiao Sword Sect?”

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“Eldest Young Miss Chi, I said no such thing,” Lu Guan replied. “I simply feel that last night, when you flew into a rage and laid charges at the Young Sect Master’s feet without so much as asking what had happened… that was rather telling, wouldn’t you say.”

Chi Xiyan nearly laughed from sheer anger.

Lingxiao Sword Sect. Utterly unreasonable.

“Senior Brother Lu, the Chi family wouldn’t do something like that…”

Lu Guan paused, turning back in surprise toward the one who had just spoken. Song Shixuan.

Song Shutao’s gaze was complicated. Her lips moved and she said quietly to Lu Guan, “Trust me. The Chi family would sacrifice anyone before they sacrificed Chi Muxue…”

“Junior Brother Song, what are you…” Lu Guan’s expression cooled.

He had of course long heard about Song Shixuan’s habits.

But he had not expected Song Shixuan to stand up and speak in the Chi family’s defense at a moment like this.

All because he had slept with that girl last night?

Unbelievable. Was he not afraid of dying in some woman’s bed one day?

Just as the atmosphere was growing stranger by the moment, Wei Qingyu rose from her seat and offered Lu Guan a small smile.

“Elder Lu, I don’t think any amount of arguing like this will bring us to any conclusion.”

At the sight of Wei Qingyu, some of the edge went out of Lu Guan’s manner.

The Demon Suppression Bureau spoke for the Human Empress. Lingxiao Sword Sect had not yet grown so bold as to throw its weight around in front of the Empress’s people.

“What does Inspector Wei suggest?”

Wei Qingyu said lightly, “The reason Elder Lu has doubts about the Chi family’s account is that everything from start to finish has been nothing but Family Head Chi’s word alone.”

“The family head has not produced a single piece of evidence.”

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“We do not even know for certain whether this Miss Chi Chun is actually dead.”

“Honestly, if I were in Elder Lu’s position, I would have the same doubts.”

“After all, Lingxiao Sword Sect’s name is known throughout the world. How could they simply suffer an injustice without cause or explanation.”

Lu Guan looked mildly surprised. He had assumed Wei Qingyu had been invited by Chi Jingwen and would naturally take the Chi family’s side.

Wei Qingyu had the Human Empress behind her. If she spoke up for the Chi family, that would not bode well for Lingxiao Sword Sect at all.

He had not expected her to stay neutral.

“Inspector Wei makes a fair point.” Lu Guan looked toward Chi Jingwen. “Family Head Chi, if you want me to believe what you have just said, you will need to produce evidence that can convince this room.”

Chi Jingwen’s face was still. “What kind of evidence does Elder Lu want?”

Wei Qingyu added from the side, “For a start, let us see this Miss Chi Chun. Let us determine whether she truly died by her own hand.”

Chi Jingwen’s brow furrowed slightly, then he gave a nod. “Very well.”

He raised a hand. “Bring her in.”

At his word, several Chi family guards carried a cold body into the hall.

Lu Guan looked once, and his pupils contracted sharply.

There on the girl’s chest was a gaping wound, torn open by something.

As a sword cultivator, he recognized it in an instant. That wound had been made by sword qi.

The murmurs around the room started up again.

“This is what the family head called… a suicide?”