dognovel Chapter 2292 A Very Surprising Face
Chapter 2292 A Very Surprising Face
The head guard stepped forward, bowed, and replied.
"We are the prince's secret guards, sent by the prince and princess to Chongzhou to investigate the Zhou family's affairs."
"The fake Zhou Zhenghang was executed, but the real Zhou Zhenghang's clansman, Zhou Lao Er, is still in Youcheng."
A few days ago, he personally went to the Prince's Mansion to request an audience with the Princess, saying that the Zhou family had recently been plagued by one mishap after another, with people in the mansion either falling ill inexplicably or disappearing without cause.
In a short period of time, the young man was utterly exhausted.
He paused, then continued, "The princess believes this is no accident."
Perhaps it holds clues to Mr. Mo's whereabouts, so I discussed it with the Prince and decided to send three subordinates to Chongzhou to secretly investigate and see if the Zhou family's affair was an accident or something deliberately orchestrated.
Princess Mingzhao's heart stirred upon hearing this.
Although she was not in Youcheng these days, she had kept in touch with Youcheng through letters and knew some of the situation.
This trip wasn't just for fun; she also wanted to investigate whether there were any traces of Mr. Mo.
Mr. Mo's whereabouts have always been mysterious. He had previously plotted to cause trouble in Youcheng, and now he may have even extended his reach to Chongzhou, which confirms her suspicions.
She turned her head and pointed to the patch of freshly turned soil behind her, raising an eyebrow and saying, "What a coincidence, you've come at just the right time. I was just about to dig up this coffin."
I just saw a funeral procession burying a coffin late at night, without even setting up a grave mound. Their actions are very strange; there must be something fishy going on.
"Digging up the coffin?" The three men were all taken aback, exchanged glances for a moment, and then immediately cupped their hands in response, "In that case, we will lend the princess a hand and dig it up as soon as possible so that we can find out the reason."
After saying that, the three of them stepped forward and took hands.
Before long, a black lacquered coffin was revealed, lying quietly in the pit.
Previously, due to the distance and dim lighting, Princess Mingzhao hadn't been able to see clearly. Now, looking closer, she used the small flashlight Yan Ruyu had given her to illuminate the light and examine it carefully.
Only then did they discover that the coffin was tightly bound with thick black hemp rope, the knots tied in an unusual way.
Around the coffin lid, there were more than a dozen yellow talismans pasted crookedly.
The patterns on the talisman were blurry and indistinct, and it exuded a strong, pungent smell of blood, mixed with the rotten smell of the coffin and the stench of the earth. The smell was particularly pungent.
Princess Mingzhao bent down to examine it closely, her fingertips lightly touching one of the talismans, leaving a dark red mark on her fingertip.
She brought it to her nose and smelled it, her brows furrowing sharply. Her voice was filled with astonishment: "It was written in blood!"
Upon hearing this, the three guards' expressions darkened. Burying a coffin in the dead of night was already unusual, and to wrap the coffin with black rope and attach blood talismans was clearly not a normal burial; it was obviously hiding an unspeakable secret.
The lead guard immediately drew his sword from his waist, the blade flashing a cold light in the lamplight.
He raised his hand and swung his knife. Several swift blades swept across the coffin, severing the black hemp ropes binding it and scattering them into the pit.
Then Mu Chen and three guards bent down together, grabbed the edge of the coffin lid, and the four of them lifted it up together, and the heavy coffin lid was opened.
The guards nearby immediately brought a tinderbox to the front of the coffin.
The dim firelight and the beam of a flashlight illuminated the scene inside the coffin clearly.
Inside the coffin lay a woman dressed in plain white clothes of ordinary material, stained with mud and dark red dirt.
The woman looked slender, but her lower abdomen was swollen, indicating that she was about to give birth and was a pregnant woman about to give birth!
Seeing this, Princess Mingzhao felt a pang of regret and sighed softly, "A perfectly healthy person, pregnant with a child, just died like that. What a terrible tragedy."
She was about to bend down to examine the woman's body for any other injuries and to find out the cause of her death.
Mu Chen, who was beside him, suddenly let out a soft cry.
His voice was filled with undisguised shock as he pointed to the woman's face: "Princess, look!"
Princess Mingzhao and her three bodyguards all looked at the woman's face.
The light fell on the woman's eyebrows and eyes, outlining her features. Everyone froze, even their breathing seemed to slow down.
The woman's face looked exactly like Yan Ruyu's!
The arch of her eyebrows, the slight upturn of her eyes, the delicate bridge of her nose, the shape of her lips, and even the faint cinnabar mole under her nose were exactly the same as those of the princess in Youcheng.
If she weren't lying in a cold coffin, heavily pregnant, lifeless, and pale, everyone would probably think that this was Yan Ruyu, who had personally sent them to Chongzhou to investigate the case.
Princess Mingzhao's gaze was fixed on the woman's face, unable to look away for even a moment, and she was speechless with astonishment.
She and Yan Ruyu were very close friends and spent a lot of time together. She could picture Yan Ruyu's appearance with her eyes closed. It was too strange that this woman looked so much like Yan Ruyu.
The three guards were also stunned, incredulous.
The head guard's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice hoarse: "This... how could this be? The princess is clearly in the Youcheng Prince's Mansion, how could there be someone who looks exactly like her, and in such a state?"
Mu Chen stood frozen. He had lost an arm, and if the princess hadn't personally taken it off for him, he would have been crippled long ago.
He was all too familiar with Yan Ruyu's appearance, but looking at the woman's face in the coffin now, he felt a strange feeling in his heart that was hard to describe.
The wind blew through the woods again, swirling up fallen leaves that pattered softly against the coffin.
The torch flames flickered, illuminating the face of the woman in the coffin, which was identical to Yan Ruyu's. The heavy smell of blood and decay became even more pungent, making the scene before them indescribably eerie.
Princess Mingzhao composed herself, bent down to look again, and she was certain that this was definitely not Yan Ruyu.
But the similar appearance was no coincidence. Coupled with the bizarre burial method of the coffin wrapped in blood talisman, and the strange occurrences of the Zhou family, the waters of Chongzhou were clearly much deeper than she had anticipated.
"Put it back first, bury it, and go back to your residence. I need to write a letter immediately to inform the Princess of this matter."
Princess Mingzhao made a quick decision, and the group worked together to bury the coffin.
The three guards stayed at an inn in Chongzhou. Princess Mingzhao said, "Inns are inconvenient. Since we've met, why don't we act together and look out for each other?"
The three guards nodded, having no objections.
They could have helped and left, but now that they saw the woman's face inside the coffin was just like the princess's, they couldn't just abandon her like that.
“I’ve rented a small house in Chongzhou. Perfect timing, you can move in too.”
The five returned to the small courtyard in Chongzhou. Princess Mingzhao immediately wrote a letter, one by carrier pigeon with brief words, and the other a long letter with detailed contents. She sent it back to Youcheng by fast horse.
After finishing these tasks, it was past midnight. She thought to herself that she had been startled by that face earlier, and that she should go back and take another look.
Tomorrow, we'll send someone to find out who that woman really is.
Unbeknownst to her, several people were already standing in the woods where the bodies were buried.