Lose My Heart to the Lovely Kitten Princess - Chapter 35

Chapter 35: A bolt from the blue
Prince Jing’s guard came to the justice department informing him that his son was involved in the murder of Deputy Minister Gu’s daughter today. Then he was told to return home and cooperate with the investigation.

It was a bolt from the blue.

Di Yangze’s head immediately burned up, and he almost fainted.

“What have I done?”

Di Yushu didn’t know why his father seemed so angry that he was about to swallow him alive.

“Hurry up and confess!” bellowed Di Yangze as he lifted a chair beside him and hurled it at Di Yushu. He wanted to kill the brat!

“No, Master!”

A woman suddenly rushed into the room. Then she lunged towards Di Yushu as she hugged him and said, “Shu’er, my son! Master, you’ll have to kill us both if you want to kill him!”

Xiaowu nimbly kicked the chair aside. If Young Master Di got struck by the chair, he would be fatally injured!

He looked up at Di Yangze. Sir Di was certainly vicious enough to his biological son.

Chu Yunshen looked at the woman as she defended Di Yushu. He suddenly remembered the way his mother protected him from his father when she was still alive. Then his hands paused before he tightened his embrace on the lion cat.

“Mom!” said Di Yushu. He was completely stunned as he hugged the woman. Then he turned to say indignantly to Di Yangze, “What have I done to make Dad want to kill me?”

“How dare you keep denying!” said Di Yangze as he attempted to throw the chair beside him at his son.

Chu Yunshen sipped some tea before putting down the teacup. Then he glanced at Xiaowu.

Xiaowu instantly caught his drift and exclaimed loudly, “Sir Di! Are you trying to kill him and destroy evidence?”

Di Yangze immediately let go of the chair. He bowed and apologized to Chu Yunshen, “That’s not what I intended!”

Chu Yunshen glanced at him. Then he looked at the mother and son who were embracing each other and kneeling on the ground and said, “Give Madam Di a seat!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Someone immediately brought a chair over and placed it behind the woman.

“Thank you, Your Highness!” said the woman quickly as she bowed.

Chu Yunshen said expressionlessly, “Di Yushu, where were you on the 26th of February?”

“I… I was at home all day?” stuttered Di Yushu as he knelt on the ground.

“Nonsense! The deputy minister of agriculture, He Yuanbai, witnessed you coming home from outside! Shall we bring him here to contest the fact?” interrupted Xiaowu sternly.

Yuanbai?

Di Yushu’s face turned pale. His shoulders trembled hard as he replied, “It… it has been too long, so I remembered wrongly. I was out on the 26th. I went to Hanshan Temple to offer incense.”

PAH!

A gleaming sword suddenly appeared by his neck.

Then Di Yushu felt a warm and wet sensation on his lower body.

“Do you want me to invite Abbott Huike from Hanshan Temple to confirm that too?” asked Xiaowu as he lifted Di Yushu’s chin with his sword and continued, “You better be honest! If you dare lie again, I can’t promise where my sword lands next! Hurry up and tell us everything you know.”

“I… I’ll tell you everything!” said Di Yushu as he kowtowed nonstop in shock, “Spare me, Your Highness!”

“Tell me, did you kill Deputy Minister Gu’s daughter?” threatened Xiaowu loudly.

Di Yushu hurriedly explained, “No! It wasn’t me! Someone had already cut off her head when I got there!”

Xiaowu glanced at Chu Yunshen.

It seemed Di Yushu had visited the scene of the crime where Gu Bixuan was slaughtered.

“Tell us everything now!”

Xiaowu’s sword inched closer to Di Yushu, and the sharp blade cut his neck.

“OW!” cried Di Yushu as he felt something nicking his neck. He touched his neck and saw blood on his hands. Then he said, “I… I was sleeping that morning when a dart suddenly flew in and lodged into my wall. There was a note on it saying they found a way to punish… Deputy… Deputy Minister Gu.”

He turned to glance at Chu Yunshen fearfully. Since there was no expression on Chu Yunshen’s face, he continued, “They wanted to help me seek revenge against him and told me to meet at Luohun Forest. But when I got to the forest’s rendezvous point, I saw Gu Bixuan’s body lying there! Someone had cut her head off!”

Then Di Yushu’s voice went higher as he spoke with fear brimming from his eyes, “I was so frightened that I immediately told the servants to push me back home.”

“Then where’s the dart and letter?” asked Xiaowu as he glared at Di Yushu.

Di Yushu immediately turned to the servant and said, “Bring the dart and letter over!”

“Yes, Young Master!” replied the servant before retrieving them from the inner room.

The moment the servant opened the box, he discovered that the items were missing.

He immediately hurried over and said, “Young Master, they are gone!”

“Impossible!” said Di Yushu in alarm. He was so shocked that he immediately propped his body up with his arms and attempted to climb into the room to search personally. Then he asked as he climbed, “Isn’t it in the box at the headboard?”

“No, it isn’t there,” replied the servant.

“But why? They were definitely there! How could they have gone missing?” asked Di Yushu as he opened the box at the headboard only to discover it completely empty.

“Young Master Di, was there no dart and letter to begin with? Were you just putting up an act with your servant? We have captured the assassin. Although he hasn’t seen his client’s face, he saw the jade pendant he was wearing. Also, he stated that he used a wheelchair!”

“What assassin? I never hired an assassin before!” retorted Di Yushu loudly to Xiaowu as he climbed back to the outer room.

“Then what about the dart and letter?” asked Xiaowu as he placed his sword on Di Yushu’s neck again, “Young Master Di, do you think His Highness would trust someone who was full of lies to begin with? You hated Deputy Minister Gu, so you killed his daughter and sent her head home!”

“No! I didn’t! I’m innocent! I have no vendetta against Deputy Minister Gu’s daughter! Why would I do something as cruel as this?” said Di Yushu hoarsely as he glanced at Di Yangze. Then he climbed up before Di Yangze and grabbed his leg as he begged, “Dad! Dad! Save me! I didn’t kill her!”

“Get lost!” shouted Di Yangze as he kicked Di Yushu aside. His fists clenched tightly by his sides as he shouted, “You unfilial son! One day you’re going to be the death of me!”

“Mom! Mom! Save me! I didn’t kill anyone! I really haven’t!” said Di Yushu as he climbed in front of the woman.

The woman instantly hugged Di Yushu heartbrokenly and said, “Your Highness, I swear on my life that Shu’er wouldn’t kill anyone! Although he’s disobedient, he knows his boundaries! I believe he wouldn’t break the law!”

“Madam Gu, your son was present at the scene of the crime and attempted to hide the truth. Also, based on the assassin’s statement about the jade pendant and wheelchair, there’s iron-clad evidence, so he can’t deny it!” said Xiaowu. Then he glanced at Chu Yunshen, who nodded.

Xiaowu received Chu Yunshen’s order and swiftly said, “Put Di Yushu in jail!”

Two jailors came in from outside on Xiaowu’s order. Then they walked up to Di Yushu’s sides and pushed him out.

Di Yushu struggled and shouted as he got dragged out, “I’m innocent! I really didn’t kill her! Dad, save me! Mom, save me!”

“Shu’er! Shu’er!” the woman instantly went running after him, but a jailor stopped her. Then she continued, “Shu’er isn’t a murderer! He was wronged, Master!”

The woman hastily turned and lunged onto Di Yangze, and said, “Master! Save Shu’er! I know him the best! He can’t even kill an ant! Although he makes trouble all the time, he would never commit a crime like this! Master, say something! Aren’t you going to help him plead for mercy?”

Just as Chu Yunshen was about to leave the residence with his cat, Di Yangze said, “Your Highness, although my son is disobedient, like my wife said, he has never done anything as cruel as this!”

“I hope Your Highness can…” choked Di Yangze a little before he finished his sentence.

Di Yangze kept acting like the disciplinarian father when Di Yushu was around. But how could Di Yangze keep up the façade now that his son was gone?

After all, he was his only precious son. No matter the crime, he was his flesh and blood!

No matter what happened, they were family!

Chu Yunshen’s horse carriage left the Di residence and gradually drove through the streets towards Hanshan Temple.

Then Xiaowu’s voice suddenly came from outside, “Your Highness, I heard the cherry blossoms at Hanshan Temple have already bloomed!”

“Meow.”

Cherry blossoms!

Cheng Xiaoxiao stuck her head out from Chu Yunshen’s arms immediately and meowed.

Chu Yunshen lowered his head to glance at the lion cat in his arms. The little fellow had been low-spirited for days. Why did she get so energetic after hearing about the cherry blossoms? Did she want to see them?

Chu Yunshen’s lips curved slightly at the thought. As he stroked her head, he told Xiaowu, “Take the little fellow for a look when we get to the temple.”

“Yes, Master!” acknowledged Xiaowu happily from outside as he leaned against the carriage.

Hanshan Temple.

Cheng Xiaoxiao curled up into Xiaowu’s arms as he brought her to Hanshan Temple’s backyard.

Chu Yunshen drank tea and played chess with Abbott Huike on their own in a pavilion.

Before they left, Cheng Xiaoxiao looked resentfully at the two cups of tea and plate of osmanthus cake placed on the table in the pavilion.

Did the guy know that she gave up the chance to be human to save him?

If not for her, he wouldn’t have lived to have the chance to sit around leisurely to sip tea and play chess.

But Chu Yunshen and Abbott Huike were happily chatting and failed to detect the resentful look Cheng Xiaoxiao cast upon the osmanthus cake.

Before they reached the cherry blossom forest, a lovely fragrance came wafting over with the wind.

Cheng Xiaoxiao raised her head to see the sea of flowers and felt somewhat touched by the sight.

From a distance, the vast expanse of cherry blossoms appeared like neverending white clouds.

Their stamens were slightly pink.

The cherry blossom trees appeared like graceful young girls at a closer look.

And the blossoms on the trees seemed like their headwear.

“Little fellow!” said Xiaowu as he bent over to put the lion cat down when they reached Hanshan Temple’s backyard. Then he patted her on the head and said loudly, “Go on and run! Run as much as you like! I’ll chase you from behind!”

Cheng Xiaoxiao looked sideways at Xiaowu. Was he nuts?

Xiaowu seemed to sense condescension from the cat.

“Go on and run then. Don’t you adore running?” asked Xiaowu as he glanced at her paw. Since it had healed, she ought to have started darting wildly all over the mountain the moment she regained her freedom. But why did she curl up here this time?

Cheng Xiaoxiao’s ears slumped, and she ignored Xiaowu’s chattering.

She looked at the sea of beautiful cherry blossoms blooming and recalled that the cherry blossoms back home must be blooming too.