Long before Lu Qingyuan and Huo Yanxing stepped into Kangpingwang Manor, they had already known that Lu Zhi had mobilized almost his entire household in search of his son.
Qian Dehai, the Magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture, was still hosting guests at Dufeng Pavilion when he was unceremoniously dragged to the magistrate’s office by Lu Zhi’s men. The news that Lu Mingzhi, the son of the esteemed Prime Minister Lu, had gone missing struck like a thunderbolt, draining the color from the magistrate’s face. He immediately ordered his bailiffs to launch a floor-by-floor search, house by house. Yet, no one expected, and no one dared to cast their investigative gaze toward Kangpingwang Manor.
Only after the guards stationed outside the cellar had been incapacitated by drugged wine did Feilian quietly push aside the waist-high bamboo hedge. Before him lay a tightly sealed cellar door. In the north, such cellars were typically used for storing ice or pickled vegetables, but this one radiated an indescribable, sinister chill. With a flick of his blade, he snapped the heavy iron lock, bent down, and slipped inside. The moment he entered, the stench of blood hit him, sharp and nauseating.
Chapter 90