Chapter 314: Chapter 274: Find Someone to Replace You
Fu Zhen’s mind momentarily paused.
After the bloody incident in Baiyu Lane was traced to Prince Rong’s Mansion, the investigation essentially halted, because their main purpose in investigating the case was to determine how deeply Prince Rong’s Mansion was involved, and whether Xu Yin and Yongping’s union had anything to do with the case.
So far, these aspects are clear, but the identity of the deceased remains a mystery. Without any clues, fixating on this point is undoubtedly futile.
Thus, Fu Zhen later primarily targeted Xu Yin and the people of Prince Rong’s Mansion.
Because of Liang Ning’s death at that time, they were either the main culprit or the accomplice who indirectly pushed the outcome.
The identity of the deceased can only be found through them after this group of murderers is dealt with.
So, during these past days, Fu Zhen hasn’t entangled with this matter again. Upon suddenly hearing Mrs. Ning bring it up at this critical juncture, she felt a sense of broken thoughts.
"Grandfather passed away before the blood incident in Baiyu Lane, didn’t he? What is the connection between the two events?"
The deceased father and son, although their exact identities were unknown, were the people Mr. Ning had told Mrs. Ning to wait for that night.
So Fu Zhen didn’t expect Mr. Ning’s death to be related to this matter, but she knew these two people were related to the Ning Family.
Mrs. Ning said, "When your grandfather wrote to me, he mentioned that those two had a phoenix mark on them. Coincidentally, before your grandfather fell ill, during that drowning incident, the black-clad men fighting at the dock both mentioned a phoenix pendant."
"Phoenix?!"
Immediately, Fu Zhen’s mind flashed back to that night under the eaves of the Xu Family when Xu Yin mentioned that fan.
"How could it be such a coincidence, again with the phoenix?"
"Where have you seen it?" Upon hearing this, Mrs. Ning raised her head.
Fu Zhen took a deep breath and told her the story. "Recently, I haven’t been back much because I’ve been busy with matters concerning the Zhe Family. But to this day, I still don’t know what secret that fan holds. Only after Zhe Yu recovers and returns to Prince Rong’s Mansion can we see if we can find any results."
Immediately, Mrs. Ning straightened up. "What kind of phoenix? Did Xu Yin ever mention it?"
"No." Fu Zhen shook her head and pointed to the letter in her mother’s hand. "Is the letter in your hand the one Grandfather entrusted to you to properly receive those two individuals?"
A long time ago, Fu Zhen had asked Mrs. Ning about the whereabouts of this letter, but Mrs. Ning said she had long lost it.
Mrs. Ning took a deep breath and handed her the opened letter, saying, "Yes, this letter was delivered just before your grandfather passed away."
Fu Zhen quickly took it in her hands.
The content of the letter matched Mrs. Ning’s words—it did not mention the origins of those two, but the later part roughly described their age and appearance, also noting the red phoenix head mark the man had behind his ear, the size of a copper coin, and included a rough drawing.
"When I received this letter, I didn’t think too much of it, as I had never met this person. Since there is a birthmark as a confirming mark, your grandfather informing me in the letter was quite reasonable.
"But who would have known that such a thing would happen right under my nose that night? It was impossible for me to confirm they were the ones I was waiting for due to the darkness and the distance between floors, and of course, with the murderer’s methods, I had no way of rescuing them either."
"What later caused you to keep silent about the matter, mother?"
"It was the Mr. Feng I mentioned to you during the day." Mrs. Ning looked at her deeply. "Mr. Feng and your grandfather were close friends. During your grandfather’s illness, he helped manage the Ning Family’s inheritance, and after your grandfather passed away, he also assisted in sorting through his belongings.
"About three or four months after the incident, he came to the capital and handed me those accounts, and we met at Baihe Temple.
"After the accounts were cleared, he mentioned the dock where your grandfather had his accident."
"What did he say?"
"He said that on the night of the accident, someone was looking for a phoenix pendant. He suspected that your grandfather was implicated in the incident because of this and advised me to investigate the matter."
Upon speaking to this point, Mrs. Ning took a calming breath and continued, "Since it pertains to my father’s life and death, I couldn’t take it lightly. Although I was in deep trouble with the Fu Family at the time, it really wasn’t convenient to trouble the Fengs further.