TPATTHU Chapter 23

Chapter 23: As Expected, The Teacher Took the Bait

“Go to hell! You pair of homosexuals!”

The man in black had harbored resentment for a long time. Taking advantage of their carelessness, he swiftly picked up the dagger and stabbed it directly at Xiao Zhinian’s back.

Xiao Zhinian reacted extremely quickly, dodging sideways, but just as he moved his foot, a bold idea popped into his mind—

In that instant, the pain of the blade cutting through flesh spread quickly from his back to his entire body.

“Xiao Zhinian!”

Shen Zhejiang’s tone was anxious, a hurriedness that even he himself didn’t notice. He struggled to free himself from Xiao Zhinian, eager to check the extent of Xiao Zhinian’s injury.

But clearly, he underestimated Xiao Zhinian’s strength.

“Are you alright? Where are you hurt? Xiao Zhinian, let go!”

When people are extremely worried, they easily lose their ability to think, even Shen Zhejiang, who was usually calm and composed.

Therefore, it was only when he heard a chuckle beside his ear that he slowly realized he had fallen into Xiao Zhinian’s trap.

“You were worried about me. I’m very happy.”

Xiao Zhinian hugged him tighter, his mood visibly cheerful, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, like the warm and gentle sun, with the air of a successful scheme.

Shen Zhejiang cared about him.

That was wonderful.

“Publicly displaying affection, disgusting!” The man in black, left aside, flew into a rage, raising his dagger high, ready to finish them off.

Xiao Zhinian’s mood soured, instantly.

He forgot about this extra person.

With only a few moves, he knocked the man in black to the ground. Xiao Zhinian said coldly, “With your measly skills, you really thought you could hurt the Emperor?”

The man in black lay sprawled on the ground like mud, watching Xiao Zhinian pick up the short blade, and then approach, terrified. “You… what are you going to do? If you dare kill me, Governor Yang Shihui won’t let you off!”

Xiao Zhinian played with his short blade, saying, “You’ve mentioned Governor Yang Shihui repeatedly. It seems your relationship with him is indeed extraordinary. Let’s see what he can do to us after killing you.”

Xiao Zhinian stepped on the man in black’s shoulder and arm, pointed the short blade at his head, and with a release, the tip of the blade fell straight down.

“Help! Don’t!”

The man in black was terrified, desperately twisting his body, trying to escape Xiao Zhinian’s clutches, but to no avail.

Just then, Shen Zhejiang cried out urgently, “Stop!”

The tip of the blade stopped half a hair’s breadth from the back of the man in black’s head.

Xiao Zhinian was puzzled, turning his head to ask, “What’s wrong?”

“His dagger,” Shen Zhejiang paused, taking a deep breath, “is inlaid with a jade stone.”

The dagger fell to the ground, reflecting a strange, ghostly green light in the moonlight.

Three years ago, the culprit behind Shen Zhejiang’s drowning was this person!

Xiao Zhinian couldn’t tolerate it at all. Murderous intent rose, and he grabbed the man in black, ripping off his mask, and demanding, “Speak! Why did you want to kill him!”

The man in black was stunned by Xiao Zhinian’s fierce gaze, trembling like a sieve, he babbled incoherently, “I… I didn’t kill anyone! Spare me! I just lost my mind, saw that she was pretty, and impulsively wanted to sleep with her. I… I definitely didn’t kill anyone! How would I dare? Spare me!”

This submissive demeanor didn’t resemble someone who dared to murder, and moreover, Shen Zhejiang didn’t recognize this person.

Xiao Zhinian continued to ask, “Three years ago, did you ever go to the Capital City?! Did you hire someone to kill?”

“I didn’t! Really didn’t!! I’ve always been in Luo City. It’s far away. How could I have gone to the Capital City!”

“Where did this dagger come from?”

Before the man in black could continue to quibble, a flurry of urgent footsteps came from afar, and a crowd of people holding torches hurried towards them.

Leading them was Governor Yang Shihui himself.

The man in black’s face lit up when he saw a familiar face, thinking that help had arrived, and he cried out, “Uncle…”

Governor Yang Shihui’s expression was stern, and he shouted, “Seize this madman for me!”

Immediately, officers stepped forward to tie up the man in black, who was stunned and struggled, saying, “What are you doing? You’ve arrested the wrong person! You should be arresting this immoral couple! Let go…”

A wad of cloth was stuffed into his noisy mouth.

This time, Governor Yang Shihui finally secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and bowed to Xiao Zhinian, “Your subject’s rescue is late. Your Majesty has been severely injured. Your subject deserves to die! Please return to the guesthouse as soon as possible, and I will order someone to summon a doctor.”

Xiao Zhinian glanced at him, “What’s going on?”

“Recently, murder cases have been occurring frequently in the city, causing widespread panic. Your subject has been investigating for many days, but has not been able to catch the culprit. Today, I finally caught one in the act! I never expected this villain to be so bold as to offend Your Majesty! I will take him down for a good interrogation!”

The man in black mumbled incoherently, and Governor Yang Shihui frowned, signaling the constables to quickly take him away.

Xiao Zhinian had been investigating Shen Zhejiang’s case for several years, but the clues always broke off at crucial moments. Now that he had found a breakthrough, how could he easily let it go? So he blocked them, “Wait, I want to interrogate him myself.”

Governor Yang Shihui was apprehensive, saying repeatedly, “Your Majesty is injured and should seek treatment as soon as possible, lest it leave lasting health problems. The rest should be handled by your subject, and I wouldn’t dare trouble Your Majesty.”

After saying this, he turned his head and shouted, “Why haven’t you taken him away yet? What are you waiting for?!”

Xiao Zhinian said in a deep voice, “Does the Emperor’s word not hold sway in Luo City?”

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Governor Yang Shihui lifted his official robe and knelt down before Xiao Zhinian, followed by the crowd behind him, who all did the same. Xiao Zhinian looked indifferently over their heads, the night wind rose suddenly, and the situation was deadlocked.

Governor Yang Shihui carefully argued, “Within the realm, all are subjects of the Emperor. Yan Country is Your Majesty’s land. How dare we disobey Your Majesty? Just now, your subject was worried about Your Majesty’s injuries and lost his sense of propriety. It’s not that I’m unwilling for Your Majesty to hear the case. You were injured in Luo City, which is originally my fault. If Your Majesty is unwell, how can I explain to the colleagues in the court, to the people of the world?”

What a load of clichés.

“You…”

Xiao Zhinian was about to rebuke him.

Shen Zhejiang tugged at Xiao Zhinian’s sleeve from behind, his tone leaving no room for doubt, “Treat the wound first.”

The ruffled fur was smoothed down easily.

Originally fierce towards Governor Yang Shihui and the others, but when he turned his face, he retracted his fangs and immediately became obedient and cute. Xiao Zhinian said to Shen Zhejiang in a low voice, “I’ll listen to you.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

Shen Zhejiang responded faintly.

“Alright, you can all leave. Keep a close watch on this villain for me. Tomorrow, I will personally interrogate him. If you let him escape, I will take Yang Shihui’s head! Do you understand!”

Governor Yang Shihui kowtowed, “Your subject obeys.”

“All of you, withdraw!”

“Yes!”

The crowd escorted the prisoner back the way they came, and the jade dagger was also taken away as evidence.

Everything quieted down.

Xiao Zhinian, afraid that Shen Zhejiang would disappear again, reached out to take his hand, but before he could touch it, Shen Zhejiang avoided him without any courtesy. He tried several more times, but still met resistance.

“Why won’t you let me hold it? There’s no one here…”

He muttered aggrievedly.

Shen Zhejiang was still angry that he had joked with his own body, and was now acting cute. He was sulking, ignoring him, and turning to walk along the alley.

“Teacher, your house is that way.”

Xiao Zhinian pointed in the opposite direction.

Shen Zhejiang glared at him, “To the guesthouse.”

“Oh…”

Xiao Zhinian knew that he had made Shen Zhejiang angry as soon as they met, like a wolfhound who had made a mistake and was being scolded, he followed Shen Zhejiang with his head lowered, thinking of a solution.

However, Shen Zhejiang’s pace was getting faster and faster, not intending to wait for him. Xiao Zhinian’s mind raced, and he put on an extremely painful expression, “Hiss! It hurts so much!”

Shen Zhejiang slowed down as expected.

“Now you know it hurts? Why didn’t you dodge earlier? You’re quite good at using the self-inflicted wound trick.”

“As expected, the teacher took the bait.”

“…”