Chapter 115

When Fan Changyu heard the chuckle, his heart trembled inexplicably.

But she concealed it very well, without a trace of emotion on her face, and replied calmly while maintaining a polite attitude, "My Lord."

After that, there was another long silence.

Xie Zheng's smile remained on his face, but even a blind man here would be able to feel the chilling pressure around him.

The air in the room seemed to become thinner.

Lieutenant General He noticed the subtlety between the two men and thought something was wrong. He wanted to help Fan Changyu, so he opened his mouth but didn't know what to say to persuade Xie Zheng to leave.

Fortunately, there were suddenly hurried footsteps heard outside the yard.

It was Xie Zheng's personal soldier. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he clasped his fists and reported, "My Lord, the rebel Sui Yuanhuai has been executed, and his concubine and only son who fled with him have also been brought back!"

Fan Changyu's bloodshot pupils shrank slightly, and his clasped hands tightened.

Yu Qianqian and Yu Baoer were brought back?

The nine clans of the traitorous minister will be exterminated!

Her mind was in a state of confusion for a moment, and she subconsciously looked towards Xie Zheng.

Xie Zheng frowned for some reason when he heard the news, but his face showed no emotion. Catching the remaining thieves was the top priority. He took one last look at Fan Changyu, his gaze lingering on her bloodshot eyes and the wounds wrapped in gauze for a few moments.

His tightly pursed thin lips moved, but in the end he turned and left without saying anything.

Deputy General He watched Xie Zheng's back as he walked away, and was eager to catch up. However, Xie Zheng's questioning was really abnormal, so Deputy General He couldn't help but ask Fan Changyu, "Are you an old acquaintance of the Marquis?"

The situation had come to this point. Fan Changyu did not want others to misunderstand that there was something going on between her and Xie Zheng, so she just said, "I don't dare to marry a marquis, but I was fortunate enough to be recognized by Master Tao and was adopted as his daughter."

Deputy General He nodded and said, "I see."

He still felt something was strange in his heart, but thinking of the hatred for their fathers between them, Lieutenant General He did not dare to guess, nor did he ask Fan Changyu any more questions. He just told her to take good care of her injuries and then went to chase Xie Zheng.

Fan Changyu stopped him and asked, "General He, what will be done with the families of the rebels?"

In Lucheng right now, apart from Xie Zheng, the person who has the final say is Lieutenant General He.

She guessed that Lieutenant General He should know how to deal with Yu Qianqian and Yu Baoer.

Deputy General He said: "The execution is immediate."

Hearing this answer, Fan Changyu felt even gloomier.

She knew that the rebels deserved to die. Countless soldiers died on the battlefield because of them, and the people of the entire northwest were displaced because of them.

But Yu Qianqian and her son had never done anything evil, and Yu Qianqian did not voluntarily join the thief, so she did not deserve this.

She pursed her lips slightly and asked, "Is there no other possibility?"

Deputy General He looked at her strangely and said, "How can we not eradicate the remnants of the rebels? The concubines in the Prince Changxin's mansion who have never given birth can be exiled or sold. Why is Commander Fan asking about this?"

Fan Changyu evaded the question by saying, "I have only been in the army for a short time and am not familiar with these laws and regulations. I am just asking casually."

After Deputy General He left, Fan Changyu lay back on the bed and was in a daze for a while.

How can she save Yu Qianqian and Baoer?

-

After Xie Zheng walked out of the courtyard, he asked, "How did she hurt her eyes?"

The guards beside him had just arrived in Lucheng and didn't know what happened to Fan Changyu. They hurriedly replied, "I'll go check it out now."

It was already dusk, and the wind made the lantern hanging under the eaves sway constantly. A patch of asparagus fern planted beside the low wall cast a series of messy shadows.

Xie Zhengting's pale face didn't even look warm under the light. He ordered in a deep voice, "Find the best doctor to treat her. Find Xie Wu and see if he's still alive."

Of course he could guess that all her injuries were from the battlefield.

But how severe was the battle to leave her injured like that?

If he hadn't received Xie Qi's letter and rushed over, would she have died here?

After the guards took the order and left, Xie Zheng stood alone in the corridor with his hands behind his back for a moment, then suddenly punched the stone wall hard, shattering the hard bricks and leaving slag all over the ground.

The skin on his hands was also broken, and bright red blood was oozing out.

The other bodyguards who were accompanying him were shocked by this sudden change, but no one dared to say anything.

-

When Lieutenant General He rushed there, the coroner had already finished the autopsy.

He leaned over to take a look at the corpse, which was covered with a white cloth with only a corner of the cloth lifted at the head, and asked the coroner, "Are you sure this person is Sui Yuanhuai?"

The coroner replied respectfully, "General, Sui Yuanhuai was burned in the fire in the East Palace when he was young. He has never left the palace in all these years. He is weak and relies on medicine to keep alive. Because his face is so ugly and scary, few servants in the palace have ever seen him."

"I see that the deceased has burns from years of age, and his five fingers are thin and long without any knots, which means he has been living a life of luxury. His tongue is dark and has a bitter medicinal taste, which is caused by taking medicine for many years. Therefore, I conclude that this person is undoubtedly Sui Yuan Huai."

Deputy General He looked at the burnt face and could not make out any clues. He turned to look at the man sitting in the armchair, looking as gloomy as frost. "My Lord, what do you think?"

Xie Zheng was surrounded by a gloomy aura. Hearing this, he just raised his eyes and said, "Everyone will be happy if the remaining evildoers are punished."

This means that this is the corpse of Sui Yuanhuai.

With Xie Zheng's nod, Lieutenant General He breathed a sigh of relief.

At this point, the rebels who had been wreaking havoc in the northwest for a long time were completely wiped out.

He asked cautiously, "What about Sui Yuanhuai's concubine and only son..."

"Take him to the capital and wait for the court's decision."

Lieutenant General He saw that Xie Zheng looked really unhappy, so he asked, "Master, you don't seem happy?"

Xie Zheng sneered and asked back: "Tang's army of tens of thousands surrounded Chongzhou City, how did the rebels in the city get to Lucheng?"

When Fan Changyu and Zheng Wenchang led their troops to help, they had already told Xie Zheng the reason why the rebels had evaded the Chongzhou siege. After he told them the truth, Xie Zheng sneered and ordered his men, "Bring the people in."

The person dragged in by two guards was an aide under Sui Yuanhuai. Even though he was tied up, he still kowtowed and begged for mercy when he saw Xie Zheng, saying, "My Lord, I was forced to stay in the Prince Changxin's mansion. I just wanted to make a living, so I went to the Prince Changxin's mansion to be an aide. After the Prince Changxin rebelled, I wanted to escape, but the Prince Changxin was afraid that we would leak the secret, so anyone who proposed to leave the mansion was silenced, so I didn't dare to leave."

A personal guard beside Xie Zheng shouted, "How did Sui Yuanhuai lead the rebels to escape from Chongzhou City? Tell the truth!"

The aide said quickly, "It was Wei Yan who colluded with Sui Yuanhuai! I accidentally heard Sui Yuanhuai and the military advisor conspiring on this matter. The people Wei Yan planted in the army will secretly help them leave the city."

Lu Dayi was the person Wei Yan recommended to join the army.

All the evidence seemed to point to Wei Yan's collusion with the rebel party.

Deputy General He had not expected that the fierce battle in Lucheng that nearly resulted in the annihilation of the entire army was actually a political struggle. His eyes turned red with anger and he shouted angrily, "Bullshit! Lord He was killed by the conspiracy of those bastards!"

He knelt down in front of Xie Zheng and said, "I beg you to come to the capital and seek justice for Lord He and the soldiers who died in Lucheng!"

Xie Zheng's face was half hidden in the shadow of the candlelight. He replied, "I will collect this blood debt."

After hearing Xie Zheng's words, Lieutenant General He thought of He Jingyuan's unjust death and couldn't help wiping his tears with his sleeves.

Xie Zheng only said: "General, please accept my condolences."

His gaze fell on the corpse covered with white cloth, his eyes were icy cold.

The one who died was not Sui Yuanhuai.

But from now on, there will no longer be a person named "Sui Yuanhuai" in the world.

Although the truth of the Jinzhou incident seventeen years ago was confusing, the bloody case in Lucheng was enough to completely overthrow the Wei Party.

But it was because the evidence was too perfect and he knew Sui Yuanhuai's true identity that he became more and more suspicious of the truth behind this bloody case.

Sui Yuanhuai has a grudge against Wei Yan just like himself, so why would he cooperate with Wei Yan?

This might be another bloody murder similar to the Jinzhou tragedy 17 years ago.

It was just that the instigator knew that he also hated Wei Yan to the core, so he deliberately sent the evidence to him so that he could be the knife to chop off Wei Yan's head!

Xie Zheng used his fingertips to break the wooden armrest on one side of the armchair.

What he could not tolerate most in his life was this kind of "scheme" that used the lives of thousands of soldiers as bargaining chips in political struggles!

-

The army led by Tang Peiyi arrived at 10:00 p.m.

After entering the city, he learned that although Lucheng was defended, He Jingyuan was killed. Tang Peiyi, a man of eight feet tall, cried out in grief and knelt in front of the newly set up mourning hall, saying: "It is my incompetence. I am sorry for the trust you placed in me!"

Lieutenant General He and other generals who had worked under He Jingyuan urged Tang Peiyi to mourn.

"General Tang, don't blame yourself. This is not your fault. It was Wei Yan who colluded with the rebels. He deserves to be killed!" Deputy General He was grief-stricken and spoke angrily, telling everyone what the aide who followed Yuan Huai confessed.

The warriors who came from the battlefield were the most courageous. When they heard that so many of their brothers had died in the two rounds of hard fighting today and that it was all due to a conspiracy by a traitor, they all cursed and vowed to attack Wei Yan.

Li Huaian followed the army to Lucheng. Amid the noisy cursing, he stared quietly at He Jingyuan's coffin in the center of the mourning hall, with complex emotions surging in his eyes.

Everything was going in the direction of overthrowing Wei Yan, but he suddenly felt a sinking pain in his heart.

The person lying in the coffin was a good official and a respectable elder.

But he died in the plan to overthrow Wei Yan.

Was it really the wrong path that he and his family had chosen?

A general patted him on the shoulder. Li Huaian turned sideways and saw the other's red eyes filled with grief: "Sir Li, you must write a letter to His Majesty to seek justice for Sir He and the soldiers who died in Lucheng."

Li Huaian looked at those sincere and sad eyes, and after a while he uttered the words "It's my job, and this is how it should be done."

Do you have a guilty conscience?

some.

But neither he nor the Li family had any way out.

There was a commotion outside the mourning hall, and the noisy crying and cursing died down.

Li Huaian looked up and saw Xie Zheng walking in the thick night. The cold moonlight shone on his face, as if it was covered with a layer of cold frost.

As soon as he arrived, everyone fell silent unconsciously.

Li Huaian just looked over subconsciously, and happened to meet Xie Zheng's eyes.

The coldness in those eyes made him feel an indescribable chill on his back.

It was as if he was already the prey destined to die in the eyes of the wolf.

He forced himself to calm down, frowned and looked again, trying to figure out something, but Xie Zheng had already walked past him.

The waiter handed over the lit incense, and Xie Zheng took it and bowed three times in front of He Jingyuan's spirit. After inserting the incense into the ash burner in front of the spirit tablet, he raised his eyes to glance at He Jingyuan's spirit tablet, and left without saying a word.

He came suddenly and left suddenly, but no one dared to say anything.

After the crying and cursing at Wei Yan were stopped, everyone in the room was a strong man and no one continued to cry. Lieutenant General He arranged for people to take turns to guard the body and let the rest of the generals who had rushed back exhausted go down to rest.

Li Huaian walked alone towards his temporary residence. Thinking back to the look in Xie Zheng's eyes when he met his, his brows knitted unconsciously.

Did he already know something?

When he reached a path ahead, he saw someone who seemed to have been waiting for a long time in the waterside pavilion. He was slightly startled, then he clasped his hands together, bowed in front of him and said, "My Lord."

The author has something to say:

Corrected a few typos.