MTLNOVEL Chapter 496: The Mysterious Study
Chapter 496: The Mysterious Study
Lin Fengmian’s gaze slowly swept across the room, and everyone who met his eyes couldn’t help but lower their heads.
“I will count to three. If you don’t come out voluntarily and I have to drag you out, you know what will happen!”
Hearing his words, some people turned pale but still tried to maintain their composure.
“One!”
“Two!”
“Three!”
Still, no one stepped forward. Lin Fengmian sighed and said, “It seems like you prefer the hard way to the easy way.”
“Chen Ruiming, Yi Xingyan, Kui Ziming!”
He called out three names in a row. One person collapsed on the spot, another turned deathly pale as their legs gave way, while the third cried out in protest, claiming innocence.
Lin Fengmian waved his hand dismissively. “Since I’ve named you, I have solid evidence. Why do you pretend to be ignorant?”
His tone was calm but cold. “Point out your respective lovers, and I’ll grant you a quick death without implicating your families.”
The three exchanged glances, and finally the captain of the guard, Kui Ziming, pointed tremblingly at Chunmei, who turned pale with fear.
Terrified, Chunmei immediately denied the accusation. “Your Highness, this is a misunderstanding!”
Lin Fengmian didn’t waste words and said to Elder Ming, “Soul Search!”
This was one of the advantages of the demon path. As long as one wasn’t afraid of damaging one’s mind or triggering fatal restrictions, one could directly search a person’s soul!
With a grim expression, Elder Ming placed his hand on Kui Ziming’s head and performed the soul search.
His face darkened as he reported to Lin Fengmian, “Your Highness, the information is accurate. Moreover, it seems that Chunmei has other lovers as well.”
Lin Fengmian chuckled self-deprecatingly. “Pulling out a weed will only bring up more dirt. Continue the soul search and root out everyone involved.”
Jun Wuxie returned only once a year and rarely involved himself in the affairs of the estate. As time passed, some people couldn’t resist their impulses.
The Han sisters had been in the compound for several years and had witnessed most of the unsavory deeds.
As the lady of the house, Chunmei had grown accustomed to throwing her weight around and was far from innocent.
Lin Fengmian, afraid that these secrets might leak out through the pillow talk, decided to clean house thoroughly.
Elder Ming ignored Chunmei’s pleas for mercy and performed a soul search on her, uncovering several men who had been involved with her.
“Your Highness, how should we deal with them?”
Lin Fengmian casually waved his folding fan. “Kill them all.”
“Your Highness, we are ready to confess!”
The remaining two, knowing they were doomed, pointed trembling fingers at four or five beauties in the mansion, begging only that their families be spared.
Some of the women wept and denied the accusations, while others pointed fingers at each other, trying to drag more people down with them, hoping that the punishment wouldn’t be too severe if many were involved.
As more and more people were implicated, the scene descended into chaos, leaving Lin Fengmian completely stunned.
“The noble circle is truly a mess!” he thought.
One of the beauties, weeping, threw herself at Lin Fengmian. “Your Highness, I was forced! You must uphold justice for me!”
Lin Fengmian’s eyes turned icy and his voice was cold as he said, “If you were forced, why didn’t you commit suicide to prove your innocence? Why didn’t you come forward before? I gave you a chance to confess!”
He pushed the woman away and said coldly, “Whatever the reason, willing or not, betrayal means death.”
“Kill them!”
Elder Ming stepped forward, his aura murderous, and began to mercilessly execute the women. Screams filled the air, and the stench of blood was overwhelming.
When Elder Ming finally stopped, half of the people in the room were gone, and the floor was littered with corpses and pools of blood.
Lin Fengmian looked at the remaining dozen or so beauties who were huddled together in fear and said quietly, “Yuling, Yuping.”
The Han sisters stepped forward. “Your servant is here.”
Lin Fengmian lightly tapped his folding fan against his palm and coldly said, “Take them away and verify their virginity. Those who are no longer virgins will be expelled from the estate.”
One of the beauties, pale with fear, cried out, “Your Highness, I have lost my virginity to you! You can’t do this!”
“So what? Can you prove your innocence?” Lin Fengmian’s eyes were dark, and his voice was icy. “The thought of having cheaters in my estate disgusts me.”
“Even if a soul search could prove your innocence, what good would you be to me if you ended up mentally damaged?”
Ignoring the women’s cries and pleas for mercy, he ordered them to be given enough spirit stones and sent away.
In the end, out of the original thirty or so beauties in the compound, some were killed and others were expelled, leaving only eight.
These virgins were either meant to be given to others or kept by Jun Wuxie for later enjoyment, but now they all fell into Lin Fengmian’s hands.
However, since Lin Fengmian had become accustomed to delicacies, he had no interest in these ordinary beauties.
He still had to find a way to get Shangguan Yuqiong to send Liu Mei and the others to him!
Looking at the trembling women, Lin Fengmian found no more reason to expel anyone and decided to let the matter rest.
“Congratulations on passing the test. I hope you will behave well and not follow in their footsteps.”
“Since Chunmei is no longer here, Yuling and Yuping will take care of the estate’s affairs from now on. Understood?”
The guards and beauties nodded repeatedly. Lin Fengmian waved his folding fan and said, “Alright, everyone, disperse.”
Fearing that he might find another reason to punish them, the crowd scattered like frightened birds.
Yuping stepped forward and asked, “Your Highness, should we buy some new maids?”
“You handle it. I need some rest. Don’t disturb me unless it’s important.”
With a snap, Lin Fengmian opened his folding fan and gently fanned himself as he walked toward the study that Jun Wuxie frequented.
This was something the Han sisters had specifically warned him about. Even though they didn’t know what was in the study, Jun Wuxie loved to spend time there alone.
Every time he returned, the first thing he would do was to spend a night in the study, forbidding anyone from disturbing him.
If Lin Fengmian didn’t go there tonight, it would surely raise suspicion.
As Lin Fengmian approached the study, a place shrouded in secrecy within the entire estate, his curiosity grew.
It was said that Jun Wuxie allowed no one near the study, not even for cleaning, which he did himself.
Although Lin Fengmian had specifically asked Jun Wuxie about it, he had only managed to learn the spell to open the door, not the reason behind the secrecy.
Jun Wuxie had sworn an oath not to reveal the secrets of the study to anyone.
What was even stranger was that when Lin Fengmian entered the study, not only did Elder Ming not stop him, but even You Yao didn’t intervene!
This was highly unusual.
Lin Fengmian used the spell to open the study door, closed it behind him, and began to examine the room carefully.
The study was clean and bright, with a special dust-repelling array, but there seemed to be nothing particularly special about it.
His mind scanned the room, but found nothing out of the ordinary. However, he knew that where there was smoke, there was also fire.
Lin Fengmian slowly walked around the room, inspecting each item one by one.
Finally, as he placed a scattered brush back onto its stand, the bookshelf on the side of the room slid open, revealing what was hidden behind it.
Behind the bookshelf was a portrait of a woman standing alone on a mountaintop.
The woman bore a resemblance to Nangong Xiu, whom Lin Fengmian had seen earlier in the day. Next to the portrait, there was an inscription: “To Nangong Qiao, from Sima Qingchuan.”
In front of the portrait, there was an incense burner filled with the remains of burnt incense sticks and ashes.
This portrait was clearly a gift from Nangong Xiu to Jun Wuxie.
“So he really did keep it,” Lin Fengmian thought.