Chapter 010: Unpredictable and treacherous situation, relying on foreign powers
wrong!
There must be something wrong!
Standing silently in front of Basong's body, Sun Shaozong's brows became more and more furrowed.
Basson's death was sudden and decisive. At first glance, it seemed to be consistent with his mentality of being willing to die for fame, but if you look closely, there are many strange things about it.
Jing Ke and others went to their deaths bravely, mostly out of loyalty and because they did not want to implicate the mastermind behind the scenes.
Basson seems to be the same on the surface, but don't forget that he is trying to leave a name for eternity, not to be loyal or righteous - since he is not afraid of death for the sake of reputation, shouldn't he show his heroism first and then take all the blame on himself?
What's more, the identities of Basson and his accomplices have obviously been exposed. If they suddenly committed suicide, it would only turn people's suspicion to the Zhen State officials.
How can this be considered sacrificing one's life for the country, and how can this be considered a strategy of sowing discord?
Could it be...
Sun Shaozong suddenly felt a chill in his heart. Could it be that Basong assassinated Niu Yongxin in order to frame the State of Zheng? !
Thinking in this way, many doubts can be explained.
For example: the assassins initially sneaked into Qinglin Mansion, lurked, waited for opportunities to assassinate, and planted people to poison themselves as the leader of the guards... These many steps were all planned quite carefully, but after they succeeded, they clearly had enough time to leave, but they chose to return to the place where they had originally lurked, as if they were blessed with an aura of idiocy!
After striking, regardless of whether or not the target was achieved, it should be common sense for an assassin to flee immediately, right? Especially since the person they were assassinating was an envoy from the Celestial Empire!
According to the existing intelligence, even if these guys don't fall into the hands of himself and others, they will inevitably be hunted down in the future. By then, their plan of sowing discord will not only be ineffective, but will definitely bring disaster to the State of Zheng.
In addition, Basong was just a ranger from the State of Zhen, but he easily opened a branch base in Qinglin Mansion and even planted a traitor in the embassy kitchen... All these strange things cannot be explained by the four words "lose everything"!
On the contrary, if all this was a "counter-espionage plan" set up by the Qianxiang Kingdom in order to annex the Zhen Kingdom, all the strange things would have been answered!
No~
I can’t think about it anymore!
Sun Shaozong shuddered and quickly suppressed all his doubts deep in his heart - it involved the strategic interests between countries, the water was too deep, and his small shoulders could not bear it, so it was better to pretend that he knew nothing.
At least in front of Qian Xiangren, I must not show any sign of knowing the truth, otherwise I will be doomed!
"Master Duwei!"
At this moment, a loud roar suddenly came from behind, which frightened Sun Shaozong so much that he turned around and saw that it was Feng Xin who hurried back. He approached him and shouted, " A few patrol officers came outside. After I stopped them, they seemed to have sent someone to find reinforcements. Sir, if a large group of people from the Ministry of Justice comes, we can't stop them with just a few of us!"
"Why can't you stop it?"
Sun Shaozong angrily scolded, "You three held your knives across the door and refused to let anyone in. Do you think the Qianxiang people would go to war with our Great Zhou over a few suspects who assassinated Ambassador Niu?"
"Well... then what..."
Feng Xin shrank his neck when he was scolded, and muttered awkwardly: "What if they climb over the wall? Besides, there is a side door, what if..."
As he was talking, he saw that Sun Shaozong's face was getting worse and worse, so he quickly changed the subject and asked with a flattering look, "Sir, I saw that you seemed a little unhappy just now. Is there something wrong?"
The speculation about the counter-espionage plan was of great importance, so how could Sun Shaozong dare to tell him the truth?
So he said casually, "The leading assassin just committed suicide. I am worried that without this most important person alive, we will not be able to make up for our mistake."
He just said it casually, but Feng Xin took it seriously. He rubbed his hands and muttered with a sad face: "What should we do?! Lord Niu is the grandson of the Duke of Zhenguo, his brother Niu Jizong is the hereditary first-class earl, and his sister is the favorite concubine of the retired emperor. In addition, the four princes and eight dukes have always been in the same boat. If anyone makes a wrong move in front of the emperor, we will all be finished!"
These four kings and eight dukes seem to be an alliance among the top families in the Zhou Dynasty. They even once occupied half of the court. However, in recent years, with the passing of the founding heroes one by one, their influence has declined significantly.
But as the saying goes, a centipede is still alive even after death. Even if the power of the Four Kings and Eight Dukes is not as great as before, they are still more than capable of dealing with a small figure like myself. Thinking of this way, this method of making amends does not seem to be very reliable.
It seems that I need to think of some unconventional ideas!
Sun Shaozong pondered for a moment, then came up with an idea. He immediately ordered, "Forget it. Since we can't stop them, let's just let the people from the Ministry of Justice come in and have them take these remaining assassins back for interrogation."
As he spoke, he suddenly saw Ruan Rong beside him and hurriedly added, "It will also help Prefect Ruan to get out of trouble and return home as soon as possible."
Ruan Rong felt so sweet when she heard this that she bowed to Sun Shaozong and said, "Thank you, Brother Sun."
Feng Xin was very unhappy when he heard this. Although he did not dare to object openly, he came up and muttered, "Sir, we have spent a lot of effort to catch these assassins. Are we going to let those Qianxiang people get away with it?"
"What else can I do?"
Sun Shaozong glanced at him and said righteously, "We are now guilty and must stay in the embassy to await our fate. These assassins can only be taken to Da Zhou by the Qianxiang government."
"This this……"
Feng Xin still refused to give up, but he didn't know how to convince Sun Shaozong. While he was hesitating, Sun Shaozong pulled him to his side and whispered, "You can give them the person, but the reputation belongs to us! Choose a few brothers who are good at speaking, and escort the prisoner to the Ministry of Justice with them. As long as there are enough people watching on the road, leave one person to publicize what happened today - remember not to exaggerate too much, just embellish it a little bit!"
After hesitating for a moment, he added, "It's best to come up with a few slogans in advance. They should be easy to understand, such as 'Captain Sun's Half-Day Strange Case'. In addition, we must emphasize that we are doing this to avenge Lord Niu. Don't say anything like 'making up for one's mistakes'."
After hearing these words, Feng Xin was overjoyed and patted his chest: "Don't worry, sir. I will make sure that everyone in Qinglin Mansion knows that we... everyone knows how wise and powerful you are!"
Having said that, he went to select people excitedly.
The solution that Sun Shaozong thought of was the four words "use foreign forces to gain respect"!
Although the Qianxiang Kingdom cannot compare with the Western powers, it is still the strongest country in southern Xinjiang. If the news that the Qianxiang people praised the guards were spread to Shuntian Prefecture along with the team escorting the assassin, would the court still have the nerve to impose severe punishment?
Of course, relying solely on public opinion is not very safe. After all, ordinary people are worse off than dogs these days, let alone the people of vassal states?
Therefore, Sun Shaozong planned to find another high-ranking official from the Qianxiang Kingdom to use him as a banner and a tiger skin.
If the public pressure of "friendly nations' surprise" still cannot make the court change its mind, he is afraid that he will have no choice but to take Feng Xin and others to become bandits!
This was also the reason why Sun Shaozong had to stay in Qianxiang Kingdom on the pretext of redeeming his crime - there was at least two or three months of buffer period in escorting the assassin back and forth, which was enough for Sun Shaozong to plan a plan to escape.
