Chapter 362 Innocence (Please Subscribe)
The alarm bells of the Capital Commandant's office rang out in the middle of the night, prompting the many members who had already dispersed to rush back upon receiving a colleague's notification.
Deputy Commander Sun Shicheng had an inkling of his two trusted subordinates' scheming; to avoid suspicion, he specially ran out of the city on official duty tonight.
Therefore, when Sun Shicheng received the news, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat from head to toe, and he had no choice but to turn around and hurry back.
He was almost the last to arrive at the Capital Commandant's office. Upon entering, he saw over a dozen disheveled clerks, all of whom were scribes serving in the archives.
These people were all pale, trembling, and clearly aware of the situation at the archives.
The fire that broke out today on the third floor of the archives implicated them greatly.
Sun Shicheng paid no mind to them and hurried into the Capital Commandant's main hall.
The courtyard outside the main hall was already filled with people; nearly all the martial officers above the rank of Capital Commandant had gathered here.
Sun Shicheng scanned the crowd, then strode towards the interior of the hall.
Sun Shicheng didn't notice that his connection, the 'Trial Martial Capital Commandant' Jin Tianchen, was also squeezed among the crowd.
Jin Tianchen gave a wry smile. When he was a martial arts star, he had been the center of attention, with fans gathered around him wherever he went, but now he was squeezed among a bunch of rough men.
Jin Tianchen then stood on tiptoe and peeked into the hall.
He saw a young man, not yet in his twenties, sitting behind the official desk; he was around 2.4 meters tall, wearing heavy armor, well-built with a handsome face, high nose bridge, sitting majestically, with a stern countenance and an imposing presence.
——This was Lin Hao, a supreme talent who at nineteen became the Divine Envoy's Commander and the head of the thousands in the office.
Jin Tianchen knew he could never reach the position that this man occupied; to become the leader of the twenty-four monitors was already quite an accomplishment.
The people beside him were whispering.
"Xie Yong and Pan Dongfan are done for. I just saw their hands and feet were chopped off when they were dragged here."
"The Commander's martial prowess is amazing. Xie Yong is twenty-six and Pan Dongfan twenty-eight. Even without their dragon armor, they are both above the fifth realm, and yet neither was a match for him. I heard they didn't last a single move."
"How could he be the Commander otherwise? They say that in his dragon armor, he's a sixth realm emperor, and when he joins forces, he's beyond an emperor."
"Are you still in the mood to talk about that? Did you see the state of the archives? The third floor was completely burned down."
"How could I not see it? Luckily, the Commander's trusted aides suppressed it, or the consequences would be unimaginable. Those two overseers are done for, and those clerks from the archives as well; it's just a shame for that supervising aide."
"The aide is still alright; clearly, he was lured away by someone's plot, but those clerks will not escape without losing a layer of skin. And Xie Yong and Pan Dongfan really had the guts to do such a thing."
Deputy Commander Sun Shicheng had already stepped into the hall to his designated place.
As he walked, he observed that all three deputy commanders, including himself, were present, and nineteen out of the twenty-four overseers—two lay on the ground.
Their limbs were severed, covered in blood.
Among them, Deputy Commander Tan Xiangsheng was flushed with excitement.
He had been appointed by Lin Hao to lead the investigation into the old case of Prince Han, and before they could even start, the results had already emerged.
Sun Shicheng felt a chilling premonition and realized the gravity of the situation.
They were people of the Second Divine Envoy, and Lin Hao, along with Tan Xiangsheng, would surely make relentless pursuit seizing this opportunity.
At this moment, atop the dais in the hall, Lin Rui let out a cold laugh, "Interesting, so you say that when you entered the archives, the shelves and documents were already emptied? You were framed by someone else?"
"Exactly!" The Overseer of the Ninth Monitor Xie Yong was pinned to the ground, his voice hoarse and rough, "We entered the archives to check on some case files. Because no one was on duty inside, we became impatient and so entered without permission.
But as soon as we got in, we found that most of the shelves were empty, and someone had poured fire oil around the place. The fire was not started by us; it was ignited by someone else's magic."
Sun Shicheng felt a hint of surprise at their words, not expecting that the two men, with solid evidence against them, still had an excuse.
However, Xie Yong's words could hardly convince the crowd. Why would the archives' aide request leave? Why would those clerks go to Qinghua Building? And why did they stay there without returning? Also, who lured away the three last standing clerks from the archives? It was clear to any discerning person what had happened.
"Interesting."
After listening, Lin Rui snickered, "But how do you explain the fire oil pouch you carried? It contained high combustible oil nonetheless, and I have already ordered a thorough investigation into the sickness of the archive aide's mother and the relationship between Qinghua Building and you two. The results will be out within half a day. Do you still intend to resist and stick to your testimony?"
At this moment, a group of clerks from the archives knelt at the bottom of the hall. They all looked at the two men inside the hall with their fierce, blood-red eyes.
Pale from blood loss, Xie Yong responded, "My lord, the truth is just as it appears! The pouch of fire oil was meant to be used for the flame projectiles of my dragon armor. It is true we were unrightfully framed and set up!"
He knew he must not admit to it. Only by holding out until Prince Han intervened could they have a chance at survival.
He certainly couldn't remain an overseer, but at the very least, he could save his life.
Pan Dongfan, his hair and face covered in blood, was even more disheveled than Xie Yong, glaring at Lin Hao as he said with a hoarse voice, "The two of us entered the archives without orders; indeed, that was against the rules. However, the book burning was truly the act of another, and the pouches of fire oil on Xie Yong were all intact; we never opened them!" Your next read is at My Virtual Library Empire