THE YILING MATRIARCH

Chapter 42: Silver-tongued Liars

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay! Still trying to find a routine to keep this story updated. I actually got a new job recently and still not used to the work hours. Hope you enjoy this one even though it's a little short in my opinion and stay safe!

Nothing on earth or in heaven could stop Wei Meifeng and Lan Wangji as they moved through anyone that stood in their way. Jin Guangyao had obviously trained his sect disciples well, but these ordinary men were nowhere close to the higher level that the two were at, Wei Meifeng especially as she tore through the men like a violent storm on a warpath. Just as they had made it to the Fragrant Palace, they saw Jin Ling with his sword already unsheathed at the intruders even though his posture told a different story that he was perplexed at their sudden aggressiveness and wanted to know why.

"What are you two doing here? This is my uncle's bedchamber; you both couldn't possibly be lost." Jin Ling growled, mostly at Meifeng, as more people bled into the tower and saw what was going on. They were all equally curious as to what had started the commotion and alerts still ringing from warning bells of fighting inside the sect. Due to Jin Ling's presence, Meifeng couldn't go inside and get what she came for from Guangyao.

Nie Mingjue's head.

As if her thoughts had summoned the wryly snake himself and seemed to appear out of thin air, Jin Guangyao calmly walked into the crowd, his voice echoing in the hall loud and clear, matching the gentle smile on his lips. "What's wrong? Is it that the reception during the day wasn't good enough, and everyone wants to host an evening banquet here at my place?" 

The snake's audacity to look innocent caused Meifeng to feel her blood come to a boiling point after watching the former Nie clan leader's memories of the man's true colors revealed for her to see; he had been such a good actor that he had deceived everyone for years. However, now and it was high time that veil was torn from him, and everyone see him for the monster he was.

Stepping out from behind Wangji for the man to see her plainly, she looked at him directly in the eye as she spoke. If she was going to die tonight for what she saw, Guangyao had to know she wasn't afraid to die a second time if it meant revealing his crimes. "Jin Guangyao, what a good timing. If you came a bit later, then we wouldn't be able to see what's in the secret room of the Fragrant Palace." 

To his credit, the flash of annoyance only passed through his gaze once before returning to his calm demeanor, trying to diffuse the situation without having to answer too many questions. Wei Meifeng had been known as an excellent conversationist, and thus had learned how to wiggle information out of those she spoke with either through tricking them into spilling the details or... other means.

In the end, she and the others present found themselves in front of the bronze mirror Meifeng had just seen, and there was no hesitation from Guangyao that he feared his work being found. There was no way he could've hidden her manuscripts and other items in so little time without appearing more frazzled. Qin Su's agitation was also something the man couldn't hide, even with that sleeping incense he put her under to recover from her bout of sickness, and if she were dead then he wouldn't have had enough time to hide Qin Su's body.

Alive or dead, either way Jin Guangyao was in a tight corner, yet the bastard kept on smiling so innocently. Meifeng wanted to punch him in his stupid face for his father ultimately setting up her death and for everything else that had gone wrong since her reincarnation.

Walking through the now open door into the secret room Meifeng had just been in, she saw nothing out of place save for a small mess on a table that could be taken as Guangyao not remembering to clean it before... and the unconscious form of Qin Su passed out against one of the bookshelves, prompting Lan Xichen to hurry to her side and check what is wrong. "All of our possessions are shared. A-Su often comes in here to look at things as well." Every great liar had to have some sort of excuse for everything, as Meifeng herself had come to know, but Qin Su's appearance inside the secret room had confused her seeing how the incense she had seen Guangyao use on her was quite strong, but the Lady of Jin must've had more strength than Meifeng gave her credit for.

Turning away from the collapsed form of Madam Qin Su, she turned her head towards the red curtain that hid the treasure cabinet beneath it, but when she went to move it and reveal the head beneath it.... 

There was no sign Nie Mingjue's head had ever been there at all. In its place was a dagger that Meifeng sadly recognized as having belonged to Wen Ruohan that still emitted a strong killing intent. The weapon's design was swift and agile, with a single red gem in the pommel of the handle and intricate carvings in the blade; it was the perfect weapon for a flashy tyrant like Wen Ruohan. 

Another twinge of annoyance flooded Meifeng's mind as her investigation was appearing more and more unjustified. Jin Guangyao thought himself to be untouchable indeed, cleverly hiding his tracks behind his fake charismatic smiles and putting away the evidence where it could never be found. He had definitely expected that one day somebody might discover the secret room and had thus, aside from Nie Mingjue's head, placed a number of other treasures here such as swords, talismans, stone tablets, spiritual weapons in the room. 

The secret treasury looked exactly like the average place where a Cultivating sect leader would place dangerous and rare items he picked up over the years. The dagger, as he had said, was a rare item that held intense dark energy, and many sects had the habit of collecting such weapons. A war trophy from killing the leader of the Qishan Wen Sect was not an exception to this, so it created no surprise to be in the possession of another person.

Everything looked as normal as ever....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That is, until Qin Su, the gentle and good Lady of Jin, suddenly acted out of character and killed herself by stabbing into her stomach with the long dagger they had found. Meifeng had found herself shocked at the woman's actions, taking a few steps back as Lan Xichen and the others tried to save Qin Su's life from the obvious fatal wound; the scent of iron was strong in the air as red pooled around the body. While her hearing had also seemed to vanish in this instant, she could still hear Guangyao's voice desperately calling for his wife.

However sad this moment was, it also baffled everyone else there enough to want to know what was being withheld from them. Seeing how even Jin Guangyao was desperate for answers, Lan Xichen spoke up for all to hear, and the cries of disbelief echoed his words; when Mo Village was being visited by the Disciples of Lan Sect, they had been met by a dismembered left arm heavy with ill intent. When Lan Wangji had focused an investigation into gathering the rest of the body, the identity of that person was shockingly that of Nie Mingjue.

Hearing that the corpse's identity was the former head of Nie, Huisang's older brother, the man collapsed to his knees while Xichen managed to catch him in time. Guangyao, still playing as if he was innocent in Mingjue's dismemberment, pondered aloud who could have done such a thing to his brother. "I don't know," answered Xichen, "The trail was suddenly broken while we searched for where our brother's head was."

"So, you suspected it might be here." Guangyao said, slowly rising to his feet as he turned to face the crowd before him. "I understand your reasoning when the trail suddenly went cold, but why would you think it was here?" His golden gaze flitted from one face to another, going from left to right in order to look each person in the eye: first Xichen, then Lan Wangji, the newest head of a small clan, and then finally Meifeng herself. If Guangyao were to suddenly ask more questions, she would have to find a way to answer them without drawing too much negative attention to herself. Then again, she already had some reason to feel aggressive towards him as Mo Xiemei since it was him who kicked the girl out of the clan even though both of them had been their father's bastard children.

With this thought in mind, Meifeng could only hold her breath, hope an opening would appear to her that they could use as proof of the Jin leader's crimes, both against Nie Mingjue and against her, and pray that the traitorous Jin Sect leader didn't have anything else up his sleeve.

From this moment and back when Guangyao had been the bastard son of a prostitute, the man had killed to better his status in the world that put priority to such things and lied to those he was supposed to trust as his brothers and friends. Now there was no telling what he would do next to keep Wei Meifeng from clearing her name once and for all.