Chapter 428 Secret Passage
He Chao successfully captured Bai Er last night, and after an all-night interrogation, he finally managed to get some information out of him.
When Su Qingqing came in, he was reporting to Rong Que. Rong Que smiled at Su Qingqing, said nothing, and pointed to a chair for Su Qingqing to sit on.
He Chao continued, "...the pair of sisters that Bai Er kept outside were the two legitimate daughters of the Ping'an Marquis family of Da Qi. The Ping'an Marquis used them to make a deal with Duke Xue.
Duke Xue wanted to open a secret trade passage from Yan to Qi . In order to show his sincerity in cooperation, Marquis Ping'an of Qi sent his two legitimate daughters as hostages.
Originally, these two people had already calmed down and thought that this would be the end of their lives. But then the princess of Da Qi came. These two girls had some friendship with the legitimate princess of Da Qi.
They were unwilling to become hostages in Marquis Ping'an's transaction, so they tried every means to contact Qingyue. However, when they contacted Qingyue, she was already in Shattered Red Tower.
Princess Da Qi could hardly save herself, let alone save them.
Bai Er noticed their actions, and as Duke Xue happened to be in trouble at that time, Bai Er took advantage of the situation and unilaterally ended the cooperation with the Marquis Ping'an. He put all the blame on the two girls, saying that they were instructed by the Marquis Ping'an to escape.
It is not known what the reaction of Ping'an Hou was, but the secret trade passage that had already been opened had been stopped.
Now, we know that there is such a secret passage that is not under the control of the court, but we don’t know where it is, nor do we know what is traded in this secret passage.
According to Bai Er, they only trade grain, but there are a large number of people, such as gangsters and various businessmen, who will buy trading quotas in this secret passage from them. Bai Er and his men do not ask what they are trading specifically, they are only responsible for collecting money. The admission ticket is charged per person, 500 taels of silver per person. No matter what you trade inside or how much the transaction amount is, they do not care.
As for the transaction location, Bai Er said he didn't know either, as it was something that Duke Xue personally handled. He only knew that every time a foreign guest came to do a transaction, they had to drink a bowl of magic soup, fall asleep, and be carried in. When they woke up, they were already at the transaction point. The same was true when they left. Therefore, no foreign guest knew the specific transaction location. "
Rong Que twisted his fingers, "That means this transaction location is fixed."
He Chao nodded, "Yes, it is fixed. According to Bai Er, the trading location is in the northwest. Because there have been several incidents at the trading point, Duke Xue always goes to the northwest, but Bai Er said he doesn't know where exactly in the northwest it is.
We interrogated him all night yesterday, and that's all we got. Bai Er may not have told the truth, and he may not have said everything. People like him are very slippery."
Rong Que asked, "Where is Mr. Jin?"
That is, Duke Xue’s biological son.
When Su Heng returned to Zhao State, Mr. Jin escorted him all the way. On his way from Dayan Dynasty to Zhao State, Duke Xue was arrested. Su Qingqing sent someone to deliver the news as soon as possible.
"After the failed prison break plot, he has been silent. He may know that we have sent people to keep an eye on him. He has not made any moves recently. However, his wife has been meeting Qingyue almost all the time.
I feel like since you guys already know my identity, I might as well just go for broke and not hide it at all."
Rong Que said, "Interrogate Duke Xue. Don't worry if he confesses or not. Interrogate him harshly, but don't kill him. First, ask him about the transaction location, and second, ask about the past..."
When Rong Que said this, Su Qingqing, who had been silent all this time, suddenly interrupted, "You didn't need to ask back then. Asking would only give him an illusion, making him think that he had something on me."
He Chao looked at Rong Que, who sighed silently, "Alright, then just ask him about the secret transaction, and also disclose the details of the interrogation of Duke Xue."
Can this Mr. Jin keep his composure and sit still, or does he have some other important mission?
After explaining what needed to be explained, Rong Que looked at Su Qingqing with a gentle gaze, "Why are you here? Where's Heng'er?"
Su Qingqing said: "Heng'er has gone back, let him accompany Moduo to dinner."
"Mo Duo?" Rong Que was stunned.
He Chao also looked at Su Qingqing with surprise.
Su Qingqing smiled and said, "Heng'er came here with Mo Duo this time. Mo Duo is currently living in the former Crown Prince's Mansion."
Su Qingqing briefly mentioned why Su Heng came to the Great Yan Kingdom and what happened along the way.
Rong Que was shocked. "We haven't even informed them of the banquet yet."
He Chao reacted quickly and sniped the target at the first time, "It might have come from the Guanglu Temple."
Rong Que and Su Qingqing looked at each other and understood in an instant.
The Guanglu Temple was in charge of matters concerning sacrifices, banquets, and palace meals. Although Rong Que had not yet announced that he would host a banquet for royal envoys from various countries, he had instructed the Minister of the Guanglu Temple to purchase more in the coming days.
Su Qingqing frowned, "Even if the Guanglu Temple could guess that a grand banquet would be held, how could they guess that a banquet would be held for the royal families of various countries?"
Rong Que shook his head. "They may not have guessed this, but if someone with ulterior motives heard about this, they could process and use it. Shen Ye may not have known what kind of banquet we were going to hold. He probably just wanted to send Heng'er out. It just so happened that the excuse he made up coincided with ours."
It's not impossible.
"Why did he send Heng'er out? Just to arrange a spy like that? Shen Ye is colluding with Da Qi. Could it be that their target is not the Great Yan Dynasty, but the State of Zhao?"
Zhaoguo is such a small country that it is not worth any country to covet it.
The Great Qi State plotted against the State of Zhao, which was obviously an offense to the Great Yan State. Wasn't he afraid that Su Qingqing would lead the troops to fight?
No country wants to see such a war without cause.
He Chao stood there, and after Su Qingqing asked the question, he analyzed: "Is there a possibility that Shen Ye wants to usurp the throne or support someone else to be the crown prince?"
Su Qingqing's heart skipped a beat.
Of course it is possible!
"Shen Ye saved the emperor of Zhao State and was reinstated. Then your highness was sent out. What if your highness encountered any danger along the way?"
Su Qingqing said: "But why does Da Qi want to get involved in this matter?"
This kind of interference with other countries' royal families is a taboo for all countries. If other countries knew about Da Qi's behavior, it would be tantamount to poking Da Qi's spine.
The emperor of Da Qi is in his prime, not old and confused, and would never do such a thing.
Moduo is even more impossible.
That is to say, the current Da Qi is not as indestructible as they think?
Rong Que sneered, "Isn't this just perfect? Send someone to Da Qi to tell them that we are going to hold a banquet and invite their royal family to attend. Also, pass this news on to the emperor of Da Qi."
