Chapter 468: Hunting at Tiewang Mountain
The water here is very deep!
According to the information obtained by the clerk, the eldest son of the Yongyi Earl Niu Ji Zong family was shot in the throat by a sharp arrow that flew out from the forest beside the road when he was passing by the foot of Tiewang Mountain on his way back to the city after escorting his mother to burn incense. He died on the spot.
Because the word "Wei" was clearly engraved on the arrow shaft, and the material and shape were exactly the same as the remaining arrows in Wei Ruolan's quiver - even Wei Ruolan's personal servant admitted that the arrow was indeed shot by his master accidentally, and flew out of the forest and accidentally killed Master Niu.
However, several sons of nobles who were hunting with Wei Ruolan insisted that the power of his arrow was normal. Logically speaking, even if it could penetrate the dense forest, it would be impossible for it to hit the dead Young Master Niu from a distance of more than fifty steps, so they concluded that there must be something fishy going on.
Anyway…
This case is definitely not as simple as an accident. It is most likely a continuation of the "Longgen Case" and it is even very likely to be a revenge from Emperor Guangde.
In this case, the matter of Prince Xinyang might just be a cover - first use a seemingly open conspiracy to attract the Niu family's attention to the Princess of Xinyang, and then kill the Niu family's son to vent their anger!
What's even more interesting is that the Wei family and the Niu family are both the backbone of the "Hou Party". Even if the Niu family suspects that this was instigated by Emperor Guangde, they are afraid that they will have nowhere to seek justice.
Moreover, after such an incident, the Wei family will inevitably become alienated from the Niu family. If the Niu family insists on severely punishing Wei Ruolan, perhaps even Prince Beijing will fall out with the Niu family.
But that’s all for later.
Right now, the most important thing for Sun Shaozong is...
"Mr. Fu Cheng."
Sun Shaozong clasped his fists and said righteously, "There seems to be something fishy about this case. Lord Wei is the deputy of my Criminal Law Department. How can I ignore it? I hope to temporarily postpone my trip to Tianjin and start investigating this case first, so that..."
"absurd!"
Before he could finish his words, Jia Yucun's face darkened and he scolded him rudely, "Because Lord Wei is your deputy, you should avoid suspicion of him! Not only you, but everyone in Shuntian Prefecture should avoid suspicion of him!"
"But……"
"No need to say more."
Sun Shaozong wanted to say something else, but Jia Yucun threw his sleeves and ordered without question: "The court has its own public opinion on this case. Why do you have to interfere? Now that the documents are ready, why don't you go to Jinmen Prefecture to submit the list, so as not to miss the autumn execution!"
Seeing that he had already been ordered to leave while he was talking, Sun Shaozong reluctantly left the living room.
The clerk could only sigh in his heart: Everyone said that Lord Sun and Lord Wei were not on good terms, but I didn't expect that at the critical moment, Lord Sun would still be willing to protect him.
Little did he know that as Sun Shaozong walked out, he secretly praised Jia Yucun for being a truly brilliant actor with his eyes and eyebrows.
How could Sun Shaozong not know the principle of avoiding suspicion?
The performance just now was just an attempt to point out the key point through Jia Yucun's mouth, and then naturally stay out of it.
Not only was Jia Yucun's reaction just right, but he also cleared the entire Shuntian Prefecture of all responsibility.
After leaving the mayor's courtyard, Lin Delu had already completed the handover of the official documents. Originally, he was going to go to Jinmen Prefecture with them, but now that Wei Ruolan had made a mistake and there was no one in the Criminal Law Department, Lin Delu naturally had to stay in the capital.
Sun Shaozong brought the seal of the official and two large boxes of catalogs and pictures to the dock. He was about to board the ship to go south when he saw a dusty man approaching him. He fell to his knees with a thud and cried, "Second Master, I... I finally see you again!"
"It's you?!"
After seeing the man's face clearly, Sun Shaozong couldn't help but be surprised, because this man was one of the servants he sent to Qianxiang Country a few months ago to deliver a letter to his cheap father-in-law Ruan Liangshun.
Sun Shaozong looked up and saw no one else around, so he asked anxiously, "Why are you alone? Where are the others? Did something happen on the road, or is it the Ruan family..."
"Reporting to the Second Master!"
Then the servant burst into tears and said, "Everything was fine on the way, but when we arrived at Qinglin Mansion, we found out that the Ruan family had been in trouble. Mr. Ruan somehow offended the prime minister of Qianxiang Kingdom, Ruan Fuzhong, and was thrown into prison in early June."
"We got the news and prepared to come back to report it. But as soon as we left the city, a group of soldiers from the Qianxiang Kingdom caught up with us. They attacked us with swords without giving us any explanation and wanted to kill us to silence us!"
"Fortunately, I have some martial arts skills and am used to walking on mountain roads, so I was lucky enough to escape!"
Sun Shaozong couldn't help but frown when he heard this. His cheap father-in-law was one of Nguyen Phuc Trung's followers, and he was even related to Nguyen Phuc Trung. But now he was imprisoned. Could it be...
"Besides the Ruan family, are there any other high-ranking officials in the Xixiang Kingdom who have been convicted and questioned recently?"
“Yes, yes!”
The servant mentioned several names in succession. As far as Sun Shaozong knew, at least half of them were guides who "measured Qiannan's financial resources and won the favor of Da Zhou".
Obviously, this is a purge against the "pro-Zhou faction" within Qiannan Kingdom - it seems that the day when Qiannan Kingdom declares war on the Great Zhou is probably imminent.
This group of southern barbarians really know how to find the right opportunity. They chose the time when the Zhou Dynasty was unstable and people were in panic!
No matter what, this news must be reported to the court as soon as possible.
So Sun Shaozong gave up the idea of boarding the ship to the south, and told the accompanying yamen officials to wait at the dock for the time being. Then he led the servants who were delivering the message and hurried to the Northern Pacification Office.
Although Shuntian Prefecture also had channels for submitting reports, they were not confidential enough, and in terms of efficiency and convenience, they were far inferior to the emperor's personal army.
However, after entering the gate of the Northern Pacification Office, Sun Shaozong felt that the atmosphere was quite solemn, so he casually pulled over a general flag and asked, only to find out that the Pacification Envoy Lu Hui had issued an order early in the morning to summon all scouts and imperial guards in Beijing to report back to the government office, allegedly to conduct an internal self-inspection.
As for what it was for, no word has been released yet.
Tsk~
This is indeed a turbulent time!
After learning that Lu Hui was in the inner hall at the back, Sun Shaozong led the servant to look for him and asked the captain guarding the gate to go in and report.
"this……"
Unexpectedly, the captain hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Please be patient, Captain Sun. It won't be long before Lord Lu gathers everyone in the front hall for a lecture. If you have anything to say, it won't be too late to report it in person."
Sun Shaozong's face darkened when he heard this. Since he took up the post of Inspector of a Thousand Households, although he did not often move around in the Northern Pacification Office, his status was only second to that of Lu Hui and other Pacification officers, and he could even compete with the Northern and Southern Pacification Assistants.
Now this mere hundred households dared to reject him without even asking Lu Hui...
Moreover, when he mentioned Lu Hui just now, he didn't seem to show much awe.
Thinking of this, Sun Shaozong immediately raised his voice and asked: "What is your name, what position do you hold, why have I never been around Lord Lu and seen..."
"Captain Sun!"
Just as Sun Shaozong was questioning loudly, Lu Hui's voice suddenly came from inside: "Come in and talk."
After hearing Lu Hui's invitation, the captain guarding the gate hesitated for a moment before stepping aside to make way.
This action was more telling, but Sun Shaozong was too lazy to argue with a doorman, so he told the servants to wait outside and strode into the inner hall.
This inner hall looked more like a martial arts arena than a living room. There were four rows of weapon racks on both sides, with at least thirty kinds of weapons displayed. There were also armor and bows and crossbows hanging on the walls.
At the moment, Lu Hui was standing in front of a simple-style horse bow, whispering something with a middle-aged man in a blue shirt. It was not until Sun Shaozong stopped in the middle of the living room that he turned around and pointed at the man in plain clothes beside him and said, "Captain Sun, come forward and meet me..."
"Your subordinate Sun Shaozong."
Unexpectedly, before he could finish his introduction, Sun Shaozong bowed calmly and said, "Greetings to the two governors."
"Ha ha……"
The man chuckled a few times and asked curiously, "Has Captain Sun already met Shi?"
"I have never met Shi Zhenfu."
Sun Shaozong shook his head, facing the man's surprised look, and explained: "Since Lord Lu took office, he has always been strict in his orders. However, the captain outside the gate not only refused to let me in, but also hesitated for a moment after hearing Lord Lu's order. This shows that he is not under the jurisdiction of the Northern Pacification Division."
"Although you are a commoner, you can stand shoulder to shoulder with Lord Lu and compete with him without losing. If it is not Lord Shi from the Southern Pacification Office, who else could it be?"
It turned out that the commoner in front of him was Shi Mingchong, the pacification envoy of the Southern Pacification Office!
In fact, the main reason why Sun Shaozong was able to recognize Shi Mingchong's identity was because of Lu Hui's appearance of hidden anger but trying hard to endure.
In the Southern Pacification Office, there were only two people who could make Lu Hui so fearful. One was the commander Xia Shouzhong; the other was the pacification officer Shi Mingchong. Xia Shouzhong was a eunuch, so the bearded man in front of him could only be Shi Mingchong.
"Hahaha……"
Shi Mingchong's chuckle turned into a loud laugh, and then he looked at Lu Hui and said, "This Captain Sun is indeed born with two sharp eyes as the rumors say. I think he is the one who will be in charge of leading the investigation of the case in the Northern Pacification Division this time."
Investigate a case?
Sun Shaozong's heart was moved . Could it be that Shi Mingchong came to the Northern Pacification Office because of the murder of Niu Chongda, the eldest son of the Niu family?
"inappropriate."
Lu Hui shook his head decisively and said, "Lord Sun has some grievances with both families, and he is also Wei Ruolan's immediate superior, so he should avoid this case."
It was because of this matter!
Then, Lu Hui looked at Sun Shaozong again: "That is why I did not send anyone to notify Captain Sun to come, but I don't know..."
"Your Honor."
Sun Shaozong hurriedly said, "I actually have something else to report, and it involves court secrets, so I dare not delay for a moment!"
Does the matter involve court secrets?
Hearing these words, Lu Hui immediately turned his attention to Shi Mingchong. Shi Mingchong was quite tactful. After saying a few polite words, he walked out of the living room.
"grown ups."
But after Shi Ming rushed out, Sun Shaozong did not rush to report the intelligence of Qianxiang Kingdom, but frowned and said: "The Southern Pacification Office is too arrogant this time, right? Even if they are in charge of this case, there is no reason to summon all the scouts we secretly arranged to investigate, right?"
The Southern Pacification Office did this, clearly suspecting that the Northern Pacification Office was behind the case of 'Niu family's eldest son being shot to death'.
Isn't this obviously a show of disrespect? !
Could it be that the emperor's favoritism towards the Niu family has reached this point?
"No."
Lu Hui shook his head and said, "It was not the Southern Pacification Division that summoned the secret agents back for self-investigation, but it was the order of Commander Dai."
Is this what Dai Quan meant?
Was it to distance themselves from the matter so that others would not suspect the Northern Pacification Office?
But wouldn't it be like "covering the truth by trying to hide the truth" to do so?
Given Dai Quan's intelligence and ability, he would not do such a superfluous thing.
Could it be...
Niu Chongda's death was not arranged by Emperor Guangde, so Dai Quan suspected that someone acted on his own initiative?
Or maybe he simply suspected that someone intended to provoke a more intense conflict in order to profit from it, so he hurriedly ordered the Northern Pacification Office to conduct a self-inspection?
But if this was not the intention of Emperor Guangde, who else could have done it?
The biggest beneficiary of the conflict between the retired emperor and Emperor Guangde seems to be the Niu family - but the Niu family would not use their eldest son, whom they had painstakingly trained, as a sacrifice, right?
Could it be that King Chungsin and King Yishun were behind this?
But how could those two idle princes have the ability to set up the plan?
I have to say, this case is really confusing.
Then Lu Hui said, "Let's not talk about this for now. Didn't you say that you wanted to report something involving court secrets to me?"
Sun Shaozong then suppressed his suspicion and bowed to report: "It is like this, one of my concubines is from Qianxiang Country..."
Let me explain this on two sides.
While Sun Shaozong was reporting the latest developments in Qianxiang Country, two people were whispering in a luxuriously decorated study.
The elder one spoke first: "With this letter of surrender, it is enough for us to break with the Niu family and join your majesty!"
The handsome young man was a little nervous and said hesitantly: "It's a pity that Erlang's future and marriage have been ruined because of this..."
The elder interrupted him and said flatly: "As the saying goes, only those who endure hardships can become successful people. Besides, in the current situation, there is no time to care about many things!"
"Besides, the servant committed suicide after returning to the city. Now, apart from you and me, even Erlang doesn't know the inside story! As long as he insists that he was framed, with the protection of the prince above and the witnesses of the children of various families below, can the Niu family still kill him to vent their anger?"
"Alas~"
The handsome young man sighed, "Everything is caused by greed! If the Niu family had not been so crazy, how could I bear to let Niu Chongda die?"
He was silent for a long while, and waved his sleeves with a lack of interest: "Forget it, it's too late to say anything now. I'll trouble you to make arrangements, brother. I want to go to the Dali Temple to see Erlang."
After the elder man received the order and left the living room, the young man who called himself the King sat in front of the glass mirror in a daze.
Looking at the haggard face in the mirror, he muttered to himself: "Not to mention the Niu family, I'm afraid even my brother-in-law couldn't guess that it was him who secretly instructed to kill Niu Jizong's son to vent his anger."
