Female Novel
Chapter 534 A Weird Thing (Part One)
Pearce was well aware of the fact that he had to let the mayor release Alexander. Otherwise, he had noidea what Matthew might do. But he wouldn't just let it go like this.
"Your Highness, I want to know who killed my son," Pearce said with a sullen expression on his face.
"Don't worry. I will definitely find out who the murderer is. After all, this person must be schemingagainst both you and me. I certainly understand how you're feeling. Even I don't feel happy about it. Nomatter who is behind all of this, I will find this person and demand an explanation," Matthew replied witha sharp look in his eyes.
"The reason that my father chose to settle in River City was that it was the right amount of distancefrom the imperial capital. It wasn't too far or too near. This would allow us to find out what happens inthe capital quickly without being affected. But wherever we are, we are unable to escape theconspiracy," Pearce sighed.
"Your father was right. The only thing he forgot is that it's hard to stop others from plotting against yourfamily. Though your family doesn't have the military power, you actually have a lot of money. Even theemperor is jealous because of that," Matthew said. He revealed the reason why Pearce and his familywere included as targets of the plot.
People always said that winners took all, while losers got none. If anyone wanted to win, they bothneeded military power and money. Both of these two factors were indispensable because one shouldhave money for training soldiers. It was a fact that one couldn't do anything without money.
Pearce became even more distressed. "Your Highness, if my family were about to suffer from a greattragedy—"
Before he could finish speaking, Matthew interrupted him, "Don't worry. I will make sure that won'thappen. The more they want to take you and your family down, the more that I'm going to make it hard
for them to even have a chance to do so. I want to see who is so capable and brave enough to daretouch you and your family. They knew that using your family would cause enormous trouble in the city."Matthew's words immediately relieved Pearce a little.
"Thank you, Your Highness. Later today, I will go to the government office and ask for clarification fromthe person in charge. The coroner who made the autopsy for my son is from the local government. Sothere's a chance that a spy is in the government office. Because of this, I'm afraid I need to go theremyself to tell the officer in person. Even so, I'm afraid this may not work," Pearce said in a worried tone.He was well aware of the fact that the enemy was not easy to deal with. He might not even be able tolet the mayor release Alexander. What was worse, the emperor had issued an imperial edict,demanding that the mayor shall not be biased to anyone so that this case must be dealt with fairness.
"Marquis Pearce, aside from me, you are the most powerful man in this city. Don't you remember that?You are not a scholar. You used to be a general. You don't need to reason with anymore. Besides, theevidence is irrefutable that Alexander is innocent," Matthew firmly reminded him with so muchconviction in his eyes.
For a few seconds, Pierce was stunned, but eventually, he realized that Matthew was telling the truth.In River City, his family had a very strong influence. How could he forget that? When he found out thatthe mastermind behind the whole thing was from the imperial capital, Pearce was so enraged that heforgot the power that he had. Now that Matthew had reminded him, he knew that no matter how stronghis enemy might be, he could hardly compete with his family's force in River City. It finally dawned onhim that he had the upper hand.
"Thank you for your advice, Your Highness," Pearce gratefully said. He must admit that Matthew had asmuch capabilities and influence as him, especially because of the fact that he owned military power. Itwas because of this that the emperor had a love and hate relationship with him.
"Well, I have something else to do so I'm going to leave first."
"In no time, I will definitely bring Alexander to the place where you are staying at," Pearce stated with alittle confidence.
"I see. Thank you then," Matthew responded.
"My Lord! Bad news!" the assistant cried out while he rushed into the mayor's office.
Meanwhile, Hollis was peacefully enjoying his tea. He was so surprised when he heard the assistant'sfrantic screams that he dropped the teapot in his hand. In a second, the tea that had just been madewas gone as it quickly spilled from the cup. Hollis felt so much pain in his heart because of such a greatloss.
"Why are you shouting? You made me drop and waste the fresh tea I just made. This is a great tea andyou ruined it! Oh God! It cost me ten taels of silver to buy that kind of tea!" Hollis scolded whilewatching the tea as it continued to spill on the table. He felt so much regretful that he almost leanedover to lick the tea so that it wouldn't go to waste.
The assistant grew extremely worried when he saw that Hollis could still have the time and care to feelsorry for his tea. "My Lord, please forget about your tea for a moment. Marquis Pearce is here. He iswaiting for you in the front hall. And it looks like he didn't come here to talk peacefully."
Hollis' eyelids twitched when he heard this. He began to wonder if he had done something to offendPearce recently. He thought for a while and couldn't come up with anything. Then he promptlystraightened his official clothes and said, "Since Marquis Pearce is here, you should follow me toentertain him. Stop standing there like an idiot. And why were you screaming for help like a crazyperson? That's so annoying. Don't do that again."
"I was just really worried," the assistant replied. When Hollis finally reached the entrance of the hall, hewas very shocked when he saw that Pearce had brought so many of his people. It only proved thatnovelbin
although it might seem like Hollis was the mayor of the River City's local government, the one whoactually had the most power was Pearce.
"It's very nice to see you, Marquis Pearce. It's such an honor to have you here. What can I do for you?"Hollis asked while he respectfully made a bow to Pearce.
"Where is the coroner who examined the corpse of my son?" Pearce asked nonchalantly while he tooka sip of his tea.
Hollis immediately had mixed feelings about Pearce's question. 'Why did he come here to ask aboutthe coroner? Could it be that the coroner did something wrong with his son's autopsy?' With thesequestions in mind, Hollis shivered subtlety. Then, he quickly replied, "I'll send someone to bring thecoroner here at once."
"Yes, do it quickly. I'll wait for him in here," Pierce stated firmly and slowly.
"Yes! Bring that coroner in here. Marquis Pearce demands to talk to him," Hollis quickly commandedwith urgency in his voice.
The assistant ran out of the hall immediately to execute his task. Although he didn't know what hadhappened, he had to go and fetch the very person who Pearce was looking for. Otherwise, who knewwhat would happen to the entire government office if he got upset?