Chapter 19 — The Poor Bridegroom Is the Supreme One

After receiving a small piece of information from the kind sailor, Bạt Sương immediately implemented a plan to search for A Loc in the direction of the riverbank area east of the capital that Khinh Vy had pointed out. He divided his force into several groups, disguised himself as traders, fishermen, and street vendors, and crept around the riverside villages without attracting attention.

After three days of persistent investigation, an important clue finally appeared. An old fisherman, after being cleverly provoked by Bạt Sương and given a large sum of money, revealed that, about half a month ago, he had seen a group of strangers secretly put a bound and gagged man on a small boat, rowing towards a deserted island not far from the shore, which was only used by local fishermen as a place to store fishing nets.

"This is it," Bạt Sương thought, his heart pounding with excitement. He immediately rented a small boat, along with two trusted subordinates, and quietly rowed out to that deserted island at night to avoid being discovered.

On the island, after a while of searching, they discovered an old hut built temporarily among the dense bushes. Inside, a thin man with ragged clothes and tied hands and feet was lying huddled in the corner of the tent, his face haggard from hunger, thirst and fear.

"Are you A Loc?" Bạt Sương asked, quickly untying the man's rope.

The man nodded tremblingly, his voice hoarse from not drinking enough water for a long time. "Yes... that's right, who are you? Are you here to kill me?"

"We are the ones who came to save you," Bạt Sương reassured, handing him a bottle of water. "Do you know who kidnapped and held you here?"

A Loc took a long drink, regained some strength, then began recounting the whole incident with tears in his eyes. "Half a month ago, when I was on my way home after working in the seal storage room, a group of masked people suddenly rushed out, controlled me and brought me here. They told me that, if I wanted to keep my life, I had to wait quietly, not protest or try to escape. I don't know who they were, but before being blindfolded, I vaguely heard one of them mention the name of young master Âu Thế Khang."

Hearing that, Bạt Sương's eyes lit up. "Are you willing to testify in public about what you just said? This is extremely important evidence to exonerate an innocent person who is being falsely accused of murdering yourself."

A Loc, although still trembling with fear, when he heard that an innocent person was falsely accused of his own fake death, he immediately nodded affirmatively. "I am willing to testify. I cannot let an innocent person suffer unjustly because of someone else's plot while I myself am still alive."

Bạt Sương immediately took A Loc off the island, took him to a safe and secret place, and at the same time told someone to immediately inform Đại Lý Tự Khanh Quách Bá Ninh through the discreet communication channel that the kind officer had set up.

Meanwhile, at Dai Ly Temple, Quách Bá Ninh received the news, his face showing both surprise and relief. "So there is indeed a slander plot," he thought to himself, "luckily I was careful and did not rush to make an unfavorable judgment for Ngân Khinh Vy."

But right at this moment, a new pressure came. A mandarin with close ties to the Au family suddenly came to Nha Mon, carrying messages from many other officials in the court, urging Quách Bá Ninh to speed up the trial, using the excuse "to avoid letting the case drag on and cause public confusion".

"Sir," the minister said, his tone was both soft and threatening, "this case has dragged on for too long, and many gentlemen in the court want to have a clear conclusion as soon as possible. I believe, you also do not want this case to affect the reputation of Đại Lý Tự itself because of unnecessary delay."

Quách Bá Ninh clearly understood that this was a pressure tactic to force him to speed up the trial, before there was enough time to verify all new evidence. But as an official who has maintained the principle of impartiality throughout many years of work, he does not easily succumb to this pressure.

"I understand your concerns," he replied, his voice calm but determined, "the trial will be held in the next three days, which is a reasonable amount of time to complete the final preparations, ensuring fairness and transparency for both parties involved."

Three days — that's a terrifyingly short amount of time to complete all the preparations for a life-or-death trial like this. As soon as they received news of the new deadline, Bạt Sương and Vân Nhi immediately began consolidating all the evidence and arranging a schedule to bring witnesses and documents to the court in the most reasonable way.

Kỳ Bá Thành, after hearing the news about the urgent deadline, also decided to risk his own life, personally bringing all the hidden evidence - the original set of books on the southern treasury tax, a copy of the slander file with a confirmation signature - to Bạt Sương to prepare to present it to the court.

"If this succeeds, I will be considered to have repaid the debt of gratitude that my wife has given me," Kỳ Bá Thành said, his eyes shining with an unprecedented determination, "no matter what consequences I have to face, I will no longer regret it." Bạt Sương nodded and carefully stored all the documents in a sturdy wooden box, preparing for the most important moment that was about to take place at the construction site in the next three days.

Meanwhile, at Âu Thế Khang's private hospital, Dịch Thần was still strictly detained, but through short conversations with the guards, combined with his special ability to sense aura, he gradually grasped information about the upcoming trial deadline. He understood that this was the decisive moment, and no matter what happened, he needed to find a way to be present at the construction site at the most important moment, to be ready to take action if Khinh Vy really fell into a dangerous situation that could not be saved with common sense.

"Only three more days," he whispered, his eyes looking out the small window of the prison room, where the crescent moon was hanging in the night sky. The entire Đại Lương capital seemed to be holding their breath waiting for a big storm to come, a storm that would determine the fate of not only two people, but also the dark plots that had been smoldering for many years in the heart of the Ngan Palace.

The news that A Loc had been found alive, even though it was kept as secret as possible, still inevitably reached the ears of Khinh Tuyết's faction through a henchman planted in the Đại Lý Tự temple. Upon hearing this news, Khinh Tuyết stood up from her chair, her face pale and bloodless.

"No way," she muttered, her voice shaking, "how could they have found that island so quickly? How careful were we?"

Âu Thế Khang, standing next to him, could not hide his panic. "If A Loc really testifies in public, telling everything he heard about my name, we will be in great danger."

"Calm down," Triệu Nhã Trân said, although her voice could not hide the tension, "even if A Loc testified, he only vaguely heard a name in his panic. There is no direct physical evidence to prove that it was you who ordered his kidnapping. We can still turn the situation around, as long as we maintain our stance and consistently deny all accusations."

"But what if Đại Lý Tự Khanh already has a bias towards her?" Khinh Tuyết asked, her voice full of worry.

"Then we need to prepare another backup plan," Âu Vĩnh Phát, who had just been invited for an urgent discussion, spoke up, his eyes cold and calculating. "If the evidence and arguments are not overwhelming enough, we will need more drastic measures right on the court, to ensure the trial takes place according to our wishes, regardless of which side Mr. Quách Bá Ninh leans on."

Those meaningful words caused the whole room to sink into a heavy silence, each person understood that they were preparing to step into a much more dangerous boundary than they had ever done before - a boundary with no way back, where failure would mean the complete collapse of everything they had worked so hard to build over the years.