The night is as black as ink.

  The sound of the carriage echoed on the quiet streets outside the palace, Lin Lei sat alone in the carriage, and Shadow Mouse Bei also lay on his legs. Beside the carriage were more than a dozen knights riding fine horses, led by the imperial court's heraldic attendant.

  Inside the carriage.

  Lin Lei furrowed his brow: "It's already late now, but Clyde suddenly summoned me to come over, what does he want to do?" As the saying goes, if one has a clear conscience, they will naturally be at ease.

  But Lin Lei killed Patterson, and Lin Lei was very clear that Clyde was the one who had sent Patterson to capture his mother back then. As it happens, he has a great grudge against this Clyde.

  Lin Lei was naturally cautious of Clyde in her heart.

  "I heard that two days ago, Clyde had already captured the steward of the Duke's mansion and started investigating about Patterson. And then Patterson told me that he didn't tell anyone to meet me. But can this be believed?" Lin Lei was uncertain in his heart.

  It's possible that the butler knows about Patterson seeing Lin Lei.

  If the steward of the duke's mansion told Clyde this news, Lin Lei would naturally be in a precarious situation.

  "Lin Lei, don't worry."

  Dellin Kowert floated beside Lin Lei, comforting him, "Lin Lei, even if the steward of that duke's manor knows Patterson saw you, it doesn't matter."

  "Nothing wrong?" Lin Lei looked at Deling Kwovart with puzzlement.

  Dellin Kowert nodded confidently: "Of course, even if Clyde suspected that you killed Paderson, he wouldn't say it out loud."

  "Because... Clyde, I don't know why you killed Paderson." Dr. Kowert's face was full of confidence.

  Lin Lei was stunned, even if he didn't know why he killed Patterson, but after all, it was himself who killed Patterson.

  "It's simple, from that day in the secret room, your conversation with Paderson, this Paderson and Clyde don't have a good relationship. During Paderson's tenure as 'Minister of Finance', he was corrupt to the extreme. In his heart, Clyde probably doesn't have much affection for Paderson. And there's another point... Clyde doesn't know that you have a deep grudge against him. So he won't deal with you without reason. Because, to punish or kill you, it must go through the approval of the Light Church." A hint of disdain flashed in Drinco Wort's eyes.

  "Hmph, is Clyde also considered a king? The Holy See has the right to dismiss him. And you, are someone the Holy See values greatly. Does he dare to treat you carelessly?" Delingko Wort said comfortingly.

  Lin Lei nodded.

  He understands this principle.

  But... Lin Lei really didn't want to make Clyde suspicious of him. Once he became suspicious, how could he investigate his mother's situation and avenge her for what happened back then?

  "Open the door quickly, it's me." The sharp voice of the palace attendant rang out.

  Lin Lei knew at once that they had already entered the palace gates of the Wang Palace.

  In the dark of night, the vast palace was like a giant beast quietly crouching on the ground. One after another, carriages entered the imperial palace within half an hour.

  There were carriages for Geraldine Larkin, carriages for Bernard, and carriages for other nobles.

  ...in the conference hall of the palace.

  Apart from the two guards at the entrance of the conference hall, all the others inside were nobles with relatively high status in Fenley City, a total of eight. They were Bernard, the head of the Debus family, Lin Lei, the First Court Magician, Duke Bernard, Left Chancellor, and Minister Hampton... "Lin Lei, you're here." Duke Bernard greeted warmly.

  The several nobles who had already arrived immediately came to greet him, and Lin Lei couldn't help but feel a little uneasy in his heart, it seemed that they weren't specifically looking for him alone.

  "Gentlemen, I don't know if you are aware that His Majesty the King has summoned us this time for what purpose?" Lin Lei asked immediately.

  Duke of Berna, as the left prime minister. Also knew a lot of news.

  "This time you've been summoned, it's probably about the disappearance of Duke Paderson." Duke Berna replied with a warm smile.

  Bernard beside him immediately asked: "Your Excellency, the Duke of Patterson is missing, what does he want from me? I don't hold any important position in the palace either?"

  "Today, Your Majesty is not gathering the senior officials, but rather investigating something. Otherwise, why would I be summoned? Why didn't the Right Chancellor come, and why did only one of the Inspectors come?" The Duke of Bern noticed this clearly.

  Bernard nodded.

  But Bernard still had some misgivings in his heart.

  Ever since Paderson's disappearance, Bernard has been worried that the Debuse family would be exposed for their smuggling of water jade with Paderson, and if this were to come out, the Debuse family would really be finished.

  "Your Majesty, I have arrived——"

  Suddenly the shrill voice of a court attendant rose, and Clyde walked directly to his seat and sat down under the respectful escort of two attendants from the side door of the council chamber.

  "Long live Your Majesty."

  The eight nobles on the scene bowed and shouted in unison.

  Clyde glanced at the eight nobles in front of him and nodded calmly: "It's already late at night, I didn't want to disturb you, but my second brother, Duke Paderson, has gone missing. It's too important, so I had to ask you all to gather here."

  "His Excellency Duke Paderson has gone missing, I wonder why Your Majesty has gathered us?" Lin Lei asked directly.

  Among the eight people below, probably only Lin Lei dared to speak to Clyde like that. Because others are looking at Clyde's face, while Lin Lei actually belongs to the Holy See of Light, and is just a nominal member in the Kingdom of Fenlai.

  "Lin Lei, I just want to investigate the facts." Clyde smiled slightly and then said loudly, "Bring Lord's steward Lodi here."

  Roddy? The steward of the duke's mansion?

  Lin Lei and Bernard of the Debus family were both startled in their hearts.

  The entire hall was silent, everyone waiting quietly for Lodi to be escorted over. Lin Lei stood on one side, while Shadow Mouse BeiBei was on his shoulder.

  Just then, a middle-aged man with blue long hair walked in under the escort of the palace guards. The middle-aged man looked haggard and his hair was slightly disheveled, looking somewhat down on his luck.

  However, Bernard immediately recognized him as Lodi, the steward of the ducal palace who had been looking for him a while ago.

  "Lodi, tell me the truth again." Clyde asked Lodi directly.

  This Lordy had obviously gone through it with Clyde before, and now he was just saying it so that Lin Lei and the others could hear. Lordy replied very honestly: "Your Majesty, on June 18th, the Debus family held an engagement banquet, and the Duke went to attend the engagement banquet. And after the engagement banquet, the Duke never came back."

  "Lody, you stand aside first." Clyde said coldly.

  "Yes, Your Majesty." Lodi looked a bit frightened and hastily stood up straight.

  Clyde's gaze swept over the eight nobles below him.

  "According to what I've found out, on the night of the Debussey engagement party, you two were among the last to leave. I was wondering if you happened to see Padgett?" Clyde asked simply.

  "The banquet had just ended when Paderson was the first to leave." said Lord 'Bernard' directly.

  Lin Lei also nodded: "I saw Patterson leave very early too."

  Others either said they hadn't seen him or that Padgett had left early.

  Hearing everyone say that, Clyde smiled and nodded, but looked at Lodi beside him: "Lodi, you continue."

  "Yes." Lodi said, "The Duke of Paderson told me before he went to the Debus family's residence that this time he would see someone very important to him. It was just that this matter was extremely important and could not be known by others. So I arranged a puppet to pretend to be the duke back to the ducal mansion. In fact, the duke is still among the Debus family."

  "The Duke also said that the Debus family will arrange a secret meeting place for him." Lodi added.

  This sentence suddenly made Bernard, the head of the Debus family, turn pale.

  "Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

  "Bernard hastily said, 'This has nothing to do with me, the Duke told me he wanted to see someone, so I had to arrange a secret place. I had no choice but to make arrangements.'"

  "Bernard, don't worry, I won't wrong a man," Clyde said with a smile.

  "Thank you, Your Majesty." Bernard immediately retreated to one side, his face somewhat pale.

  Clyde looked at Lin Lei and a few others: "Paderson wants to see someone, this person should have some status, who will he see? I think it's very likely that the guest who left late that day."

  Lin Lei's heart skipped a beat.

  The Duke of Burna, the Earl of Juno, and the Marquess of Hampton all looked at Clyde in surprise. They were a little guessing why His Majesty had invited them to come over.

  It turns out that His Majesty the King suspected them!

  "Your Majesty, we have not met with him." said the Duke of Berna and Hampton in succession.

  Clyde smiled and said: "I just suspect, you have nothing to worry about if you haven't done anything wrong. Look, among all of you, Lin Lei is the calmest."

  Lin Lei smiled calmly and didn't make a sound.

  Clyde glanced at the group of people, a cold smile in his heart: "Who made Patterson disappear, I don't care. On the contrary, I want to thank that person for giving me the best opportunity to destroy the secret network established by Patterson."

  Paderson, who has been in the position of Minister of Finance for many years. He established a very dense network of relationships and had great influence. Clyde also did not dare to casually investigate Paderson, fearing that it would cause turmoil throughout the entire kingdom.

  This is also why Debus family and Paddison collaborated.

  Now Paderson is missing, and the dragon has no head.

  Clyde unfolded his thunderous means and ordered his subordinates to quickly resolve Patterson's wings, directly destroying the relationship network that Patterson had operated for many years.

  Without Patterson's coordination, those who mixed with him resisted in a disorderly manner and were unable to withstand Clyde's tactics.

  Clyde looked at Lin Lei and several others, smiling and saying: "My second brother Patterson's disappearance, I had to investigate, but what surprised me the most was that I found out a lot of things. Especially Luo Di, he revealed many secrets."

  Lin Lei couldn't help but look at Luo Di.

  "Lodi, tell them." Clyde smiled at Lodi.

  At this moment Clyde was triumphant, the death of a brother meant nothing to him. What mattered was... the entire kingdom's power was finally fully under his control again.

  "Your Majesty, on that day, Duke Patterson attended the engagement banquet of the Debus family. The reason for meeting the mysterious person was to establish a relationship with Dawson Chamber of Commerce. Therefore...the person he met must have a close relationship with Dawson Chamber of Commerce."

  "Dawson Trading Company?"

  Lin Lei felt his heart skip a beat.

  "Does everyone want to know why my second brother wants to get in touch with Dawson's Chamber of Commerce?" Clyde smiled and looked down at the crowd, "Lodi, you continue."

  "Yes." Roddy was clearly completely taken in by Clyde, and whatever he said, "The Duke of Patterson has done many things that betray the interests of the kingdom over the years, just to satisfy his personal desires. Especially just a few months ago, he started large-scale smuggling of aquamarine with the Debus family, which is the largest aquamarine smuggling in the history of Finlay Kingdom."

  Bang!

  The head of the Debus family, Bernard, immediately knelt down and said in a hurry, "Your Majesty, it's a miscarriage of justice. The Debus family has always done business by the book and never betrayed national interests. We are innocent."

  "Unjustly accused?" Clyde gave Bernard a cold look.

  "Bring Lancelot brothers up." Debussy family shouted outside.

  The head of the Debus family, Bernard, turned pale as soon as he heard the name 'Lancel'.

  （）