Volume 6: Demons Rise from the East Sea Chapter 344 The Taste of Conspiracy
"I want to ask you a simple question," Xu Zun lowered his voice and asked the two maids, "Did you see with your own eyes that the sea monster ate people?"
"No... No!" The two shook their heads in unison. One of them said, "We didn't even see what the siren looked like, how... how could we see it eating people?"
"Yes, we only saw it rising and falling on the sea like a piece of silk woven cloth..." Another added, "We couldn't see its shape at all."
"Oh?" Xu Zun frowned, but felt that the two people's descriptions were more pertinent and vivid.
It seems that the siren may not be described as one or one individual, but perhaps some unknown group of aquatic animals.
But...even so, it still exceeds my understanding.
"You..." Xu Zun calmed down and said, "Tell me the situation in detail. Don't miss any details. If we can find the prince, you two will be credited as the first meritorious service!"
"Yes, yes, yes..." The two of them nodded quickly, "How dare we say anything nonsense? The situation on that day was..."
The two looked at each other, and then one of them narrated what had happened.
What the two said was highly consistent with what Shen Xingran said. On that day, the prince left the Tianfu ship to enjoy the fun of fishing and watched fishing on one of the frigates equipped with fishing nets.
Since the round trip would take more than half a day, two maids followed the prince on board and served him.
But unexpectedly, the weather suddenly changed, with strong winds and heavy rain, and a mermaid appeared on the sea.
The prince was frightened and took refuge in the cabin under the protection of the crew.
But before they entered the cabin, the hull exploded violently.
After the explosion, the frigate began to capsize, and the prince fell into the water with many crew members before he even had time to board the lifeboat.
The same thing happened to the two maids, but they were lucky enough to grab a piece of plank and thus avoided drowning.
However, as the ship's planks were washed away by the current, they only saw the prince being rescued by another frigate that came over, and no matter how they called for help, they could not attract the crew's attention.
So, they didn't know what happened afterwards, but the only thing they could be sure of was that the prince was indeed rescued by the frigate.
Um……
Xu Zun thought for a long time before he instructed Huo Anu, "Take the portrait of the prince and go ask those pirates.
"Confirm with them whether they saw the prince on that ship when they attacked the Daxuan battleship!"
"Yes!" Huo Anu's body trembled slightly , obviously realizing the importance of the matter.
If the prince had been killed by these pirates, the consequences would be very serious...
After Huo Anu left, Xu Zun called the guards and asked them to take one of the maids to the cabin and arrange a room for her.
The other maid was left in the house.
"Sir, you..." The maid who was left behind suddenly felt inexplicably nervous, wondering what Xu Zun's intention was in separating them?
"When the accident happened," Xu Zun asked, "was there anyone else who fell into the water?"
"Yes, yes," the maid replied hastily, "many soldiers fell into the water."
"Then..." Xu Zun asked, "What happened to them in the end? Were they rescued like the prince?"
"I'm not sure about this," the maid tried to recall. "At that time, I seemed to only see the frigate rescue the prince, but not the other soldiers who fell into the water. I wonder if they drowned or were swept away by the sea monster?"
"At that time," Xu Zun asked again, "did you see other ships? Where was the Tianfu ship?"
"The other ships... seemed to have been sunk by the siren!" The maid recalled carefully, "The Tianfu ship... seemed not to be seen later. The Crown Princess... The Crown Princess is still on the Tianfu ship!"
Xu Zun had been observing the maid's reaction to confirm whether what she said was true.
After some contemplation, Xu Zun changed the subject and asked, "Tell me honestly, what is the relationship between the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess like?"
"Ah?" The maid was startled and quickly knelt down in front of Xu Zun, begging, "Sir, as a maid, I cannot make irresponsible remarks about my master, otherwise... otherwise ..."
"Now there are only two of us," Xu Zun said, "Just tell me the truth, I won't spread your words.
"However," he turned to threaten, " if you conceal something and thus delay the rescue of the prince, you should know the consequences, right?"
"My lord, I dare not lie," the maid said as she knelt at Xu Zun's feet, "The prince is indeed a little cold to the princess."
"Oh..." This answer was not surprising, it was within Xu Zun's expectations.
This can be seen from the Crown Princess's performance after she was rescued.
"Since the mission to the East China Sea," the maid whispered, "the prince has seldom visited the princess's room, and even often does not sleep on the Tianfu ship.
"We servants can see it."
"Really?" Xu Zun asked, "What about before they went out to sea? What was their relationship like?"
"Same," the maid replied, "The Crown Prince and the Crown Princess appear to be a harmonious couple, loving each other, but in fact, they sleep in separate rooms."
"What's the reason?" Xu Zun asked.
"That's really unclear," the maid replied, "The Crown Princess is extremely beautiful and charming, and we can't understand why the Crown Prince doesn't like her...
"My lord..." the maid said worriedly, "Please...please...please..."
"I understand," Xu Zun waved his hand, "Don't worry, maybe this news has nothing to do with the search for the prince.
"By the way," he asked, remembering something, "did anything unusual happen after being captured by the pirates?"
"Sir," the maid shuddered and said sadly after hearing this, "We were captured by the pirates and taken to the ship. They used us as tools to vent their anger. If we disobeyed them, they would whip us. It was so painful!
"Is this...is this considered abnormal?"
"I mean," Xu Zun said with a tense expression, "did any fighting occur on the pirate ship while you were imprisoned? Did you see or hear anything?"
"No?" The maid recalled, "After we were captured, we didn't experience any battles, we just stopped the ship sometimes.
"We are trapped in the cabin, in the dark, so we can't see anything," the maid said, "and they all speak the East China Sea dialect, which we can't understand at all!"
"Those women with you," Xu Zun asked, "who are they?"
"I know, I know," the maid replied hastily, "They are all fishermen from nearby islands, and they were robbed by pirates just like us.
"They said that there are warships patrolling near the Banshee Kingdom, and there are very few pirates causing trouble," the maid said. "They also said that they couldn't understand the pirates' language, which means that the pirates are not from around here..."
Listening to the maid's confession, it seemed to be completely consistent with Shen Xingran's previous account and the experiences of other people, without a doubt.
But for some reason, Xu Zun felt that there was something wrong. Behind the entire incident of the attack on the prince, there seemed to be an invisible big hand controlling everything!
So...what is the truth?
