Chapter 157: A Murder

Night fell, and Wangchuan City plunged into silence almost all at once, forming a stark contrast to the bustling commotion of the day.

The peddlers on the streets packed up early, then hurried home with their necks shriveled into their collars. Once the sun lost its warm glow, the weather here would turn bitterly cold, breeding such a habit among the locals.

Night descended with unusual swiftness in the northern frontier. Everyone preferred to hide indoors and stoke their warm stoves, with hardly anyone venturing outside. Only a few taverns still flickered with dim lanterns.

After strolling around for a while, Jiang Chen headed toward the front of a courtyard with high walls once the appointed hour arrived.

"Knock, knock..."

Before he had even struck twice, the door swung open with a rattle from within. A maidservant greeted him, looking Jiang Chen up and down a few times to confirm the identity of the visitor.

"My master has given instructions. If Master Jiang arrives, please proceed directly to the western courtyard's study. The master is accustomed to receiving guests there."

Nodding, Jiang Chen was led all the way to the study by the maid, who tapped lightly on the door a few times, announced his arrival inside, and then departed on her own.

As he walked deeper into the inner courtyard of the residence, Jiang Chen felt a strange sense of unease. Why was there not a single soul to be seen along the way in such a massive estate, aside from the maidservant who had just left? Could everyone else be hiding in their rooms?

At the same time, he noticed that none of the visible rooms had candles lit. The entire estate was dead silent. In such an unfamiliar and excessively quiet environment, a person could not help but feel a creeping sense of unease.

Isn't this place just a bit too quiet?

Just as doubt arose in his heart, a chaotic flurry of noises suddenly burst from inside the study, instantly heightening Jiang Chen's vigilance.

When he pushed open the door and stepped inside to take a look, he saw that all the furnishings in the room—tables, chairs, and bookshelves—had been overturned. The official documents, inkstones, and tea cups that originally rested on the desk were scattered messily across the floor, and black ink continued to ooze out, leaving barely any space to set foot inside the room.

Sensing that something was profoundly unusual, Jiang Chen pulled back the foot he had just stepped forward in time. A strong intuition warned him that he must not advance any further, or something terrible would likely happen.

Just as he intended to turn around and leave, a figure stood stiffly right in front of him, and their gazes locked unexpectedly.

This person was none other than the maidservant who should have already left. Somehow, she had returned, but now she stared silently at Jiang Chen, her entire body seemingly tensed up with great effort—a sight that appeared utterly bizarre.

Jiang Chen said, "The study is a mess. I haven't seen your master."

The maid gave no response, so Jiang Chen simply strode forward. When he was still two paces away from her, he suddenly came to a halt.

To his shock, he realized that the maidservant had already been dead for some time. A wooden stick was propping up her body from behind, creating the illusion that had tricked Jiang Chen into thinking she was still alive.

The maid had died with her eyes open, her remains macabrely toyed with and mocked by the killer in such a manner.

Making a prompt decision, Jiang Chen resolved not to linger any longer. This place had become a zone of peril, and he needed to leave as quickly as possible; otherwise, a monstrous crime would be pinned upon him.

This was the residence of the Governor of Jizhou. The death of a maid was not the most fatal part. Based on his deductions from what he had seen and heard so far, Jiang Chen believed that the Governor of Jizhou had already met a foul end as well.

Although he had not yet discovered any other corpses, the air was thick with the scent of conspiracy. He had clearly been framed by Shen Yinglong.

Jiang Chen's intuition was spot on, but he failed to escape the scene in time. Just as he was searching for a way out, the sound of dense footsteps began to echo around him. Judging by the commotion, at least several dozen people were rushing toward his location.

A trap, naturally, was interlocking. The moment a disturbance occurred inside, the men lying in ambush outside would swiftly spring into action, requiring seamless coordination between the two.

"Halt!"

"Wretch! You murdered the Governor! Your crimes are unforgivable! Men, seize him!"

A squad of guards poured in from all directions, surrounding Jiang Chen tightly in the blink of an eye. At this point, even if he wanted to break through by force, no path of retreat remained open to him.

Since it was a trap from the start, words were useless. While Jiang Chen possessed extraordinary martial prowess and could certainly fight his way out, the price to pay for doing so would be exceptionally heavy.

On one hand, the accusation of him murdering the Governor of Jizhou would be set in stone, plunging him into endless wanted lists and manhunts. On the other hand, he would lose any chance to clear his name, while Shen Yinglong would be free to exploit the situation to the fullest.

"Think carefully. What kind of end awaits you if you stubbornly resist in this situation?"

Brilliant, uniform blades pointed directly at Jiang Chen. Any slight movement on his part would cause these men to swarm him all at once, and it was not hard to imagine what kind of scene would ensue.

The armored military officer further warned Jiang Chen, "Do not attempt to resist. Honestly put down the weapon in your hand, and you shall be escorted into the dungeon. A fair trial will be delivered to you in due course."

Clearly a frame-up, yet they were acting out a solemn drama of impartiality. Jiang Chen found the officer's words rather humorous.

Holding out his empty hands, he said calmly, "Does it look like I have a weapon on me?"

"I haven't killed anyone, nor have I looted anything. Resist your grandmother's head!"

Regardless, half an hour later, Jiang Chen was dragged down into the dungeons of Wangchuan City. After a brief search by two jailers, he was locked away alone in a cell, and no one came to bother him for the rest of the night.

It was said that in a corner of the study, these men had discovered the corpse of the Governor of Jizhou, hidden beneath a pile of books. The time of his murder coincided precisely with the moment Jiang Chen had walked in.

To be exact, the moment the killer finished the deed, Jiang Chen walked into the study, providing the mastermind with the most perfect timing to frame him as the murderer.

By the next day, when the news of the Governor being killed within his own study spread, the entire Wangchuan City would surely be shaken to its core.

Jiang Chen sat quietly inside his cell, carefully recalling the entire sequence of events from start to finish. He had to admit that the perpetrators had executed their plan exquisitely; almost every flaw he could think of at the moment had been anticipated in advance.

"Shen Yinglong, so this is the way you chose to entertain me. How fascinating."

Jiang Chen silently praised Shen Yinglong. From the very beginning, he had known clearly that the mastermind behind this setup was none other than the eldest young master of the Shen family.

Had Shen Yinglong not provided the time and location, luring Jiang Chen to that estate at just the right moment, this conspiracy could never have been set into motion.

Right, and then there was the innocent maidservant who had been killed, becoming a tragic victim of this conspiracy as well.