Chapter 450 Changes

Zhu Lan took two steps forward and smiled calmly.

"Don't come over here, or I'll kill him!" Shi Yuanzhong shouted.

Zhu Lan didn't care about Wen Yu's life or death. He approached him step by step and said with a smile:

"Master Wen, these past few days, you have been using both the beauty trap and the self-torture trap.

Thank you for your hard work. "

The smile on Wen Yu's face could no longer be maintained, and he said reluctantly:

"Miss Zhu, what do you mean?

I have my whole heart towards the girl..."

Zhu Lan stretched out her hand and gently stroked Wen Yu's cheek with her fingertips. Her smile was clearly gentle, but Wen Yu suddenly felt a chill down her spine.

"I still prefer you to call me the Imperial Envoy."

The smile on Zhu Lan's face suddenly disappeared, and his eyes became as sharp as knives.

Wen Yu looked at her for a moment and finally realized that he had lost, and lost completely.

He lowered his hands dejectedly, his Adam's apple rolled twice, and asked with difficulty:

"How did you know..."

"Of course it started from that day..." Zhu Lan gently grasped Wen Yu's hand, but there was no ambiguity in his eyes.

"You asked me to go out and enjoy the snow, and during the conversation you mentioned that you were born in Qingzhou, and that you were devoted to studying and had never traveled far.

If that's the case, how do you explain the calluses on your right hand?"

Wen Yu suddenly remembered that day when she and Zhu Lan were returning home from an outing, and they happened to run into Zhu Qingyan in the mansion. Zhu Lan slipped and nearly fell, and after he supported her, she took the initiative to hold his hand.

At that time, I just thought Zhu Lan was taking the opportunity to get close to me, and I didn't think much about it, but now it seems...it turns out that she had already become suspicious at that time! ?

A terrifying chill suddenly ran up Wen Yu's back.

All these days, he thought he had everything under control...but it turned out that everything he did had already been seen through?

No, he doesn't believe it!

Zhu Lan let go of him, smiled faintly, and stood with his hands behind his back.

"The calluses on your right hand can only be found in the army of soldiers who have been holding swords for many years. Yet you never mentioned this experience and said that you have never been far from Qingzhou."

"But Qingzhou also has garrisons. What if I have served in the Qingzhou garrison and don't want to mention this matter?" Wen Yu said unwillingly.

"Yes, so I was just a little suspicious at the time, and I didn't determine your intentions.

Until—I saw the scar on your back."

Zhu Lan once again took out the scroll that he had just shown to Wen Yu.

"The scar on your back was caused by a hooked halberd like this, right?"

"So what!?" Wen Yu argued.

Zhu Lan put away the scroll and handed it to Zhu Qingyan beside him, motioning her to speak.

Zhu Qingyan walked up to Wen Yu, playing with the scroll in his hand, and said in a relaxed tone:

“This type of hook halberd is not made in Daliang, but is used by foreign tribes.

As far as I know, the Uzbek army built a batch of such hook halberds several years ago, but they performed poorly in battle and were soon abandoned.

Over the years, the only army that Daliang had fought against the Uzbek border garrison was the garrison at the Northern Frontier Camp.

You have calluses on your right hand that are unique to soldiers, and scars from using a halberd are left on your body. There is only one possibility—"

Zhu Qingyan's voice turned cold:

"You used to be from the Northern Frontier Camp!"

As soon as these words came out, Wen Yu's face suddenly changed.

However, Shi Yuanzhong's reaction was even more intense than Wen Yu's.

"You, you are the King of Zhenbei's man!?" Shi Yuanzhong's eyes widened in shock, and even the dagger in his hand loosened a little unconsciously.

At this moment, Wen Yu suddenly grabbed Shi Yuanzhong's wrist, flashed behind Shi Yuanzhong, and the dagger fell into his hand.

In an instant, the offensive and defensive situation was reversed, and Shi Yuanzhong became a hostage in Wen Yu's hands!

"Miss Zhu... No, Your Excellency, your thoughts are truly horrible."

Wen Yu's expression became extremely indifferent, and his voice was like a pool of stagnant water, but deep inside he concealed a hint of fear and dread.

Zhu Lan frowned slightly, walked up to Wen Yu and said:

"Shi Yuanzhong held you hostage just now because he could not escape the death penalty, and he had to use you to exchange for a chance to leave the city.

But you are not the mastermind of the Qingzhou grain case, and you have not committed a capital crime, so there is no need to do this. Why add another crime to yourself?

If you release him first, I will give you a chance to redeem yourself by making meritorious contributions, and I will give you a lighter sentence—"

Before Zhu Lan finished speaking, a murderous intent suddenly burst out from Wen Yu's indifferent eyes!

"careful!"

Zhu Qingyan sensed something was wrong at the first moment and pulled Zhu Lan to a safe place.

Then, warm blood splashed on their faces.

Wen Yu actually raised his knife and cut Shi Yuanzhong's throat cleanly!

Shi Yuanzhong didn't even have time to scream, he just fell to the ground with his eyes wide open!

Zhu Lan and Zhu Qingyan were both shocked. No one expected that Wen Yu would kill Shi Yuanzhong without any warning.

Zhu Qingyan reacted the fastest and immediately drew out his soft sword and pointed it at Wen Yu.

"Keep alive!"

As soon as Zhu Lan finished speaking, blood flowed from the corner of Wen Yu's mouth and dripped onto his chest.

But Zhu Qingyan's sword was clearly still an inch away from his chest.

Wen Yu staggered two steps and finally fell to the ground with a bang.

"Your Excellency, this round...

Wen Yu lost... wholeheartedly."

After Wen Yu finished speaking, his pupils began to dilate and he soon lost his breath.

Zhu Qingyan took two steps forward to check and shook his head at Zhu Lan.

"He has poison in his mouth."

Zhu Lan looked at the two bodies on the ground, feeling confused.

Before she recovered from the death of Wen Yu and Shi Yuanzhong, another guard from Lu Feng ran over and shouted:

"Report! A fire broke out in the government office late at night, and all the files and documents stored in the office were burned.

There were also thirteen members of the prefect’s family… and no one survived.”

A look of astonishment finally appeared on Zhu Lan's usually calm and composed face.

"How could this happen..." she murmured.

Did she miscalculate after all?

…

After an incense stick of time, in the back hall of the county government office.

Everyone, including the county magistrate Miao Zhi, had been taken into custody by Lu Feng's personal guards. At this time, only Zhu Lan and Zhu Qingyan were left in the back hall.

Zhu Lan sat at the table, his face revealing a hint of fatigue and anxiety.

Zhu Qingyan paced anxiously.

"Shi Yuanzhong was the most crucial clue in the entire Qingzhou case. He was the only one who knew where the missing food had gone, but now he has been killed!

Not only did Shi Yuanzhong die, but all the government files and his family were burned to ashes.

Now we don’t even have the chance to start with physical evidence.”

Zhu Qingyan paced back and forth, speaking with an irritated look on his face.

Who would have thought that they had been busy in Qingzhou for so long, but in the end it was all in vain!

Zhu Lan said in a deep voice: "Think about it, why did Wen Yu want to kill Shi Yuanzhong?"

Zhu Qingyan stopped and asked, "Could it be that they just wanted to prevent us from knowing where the relief grain went?"

"There is only one explanation." Zhu Lan said.

"Since Wen Yu went so far as to kill Shi Yuanzhong and then commit suicide in order to cover up this matter, it means that he should know where the grain went."

"And there are traces of the Northern Frontier Camp on Wen Yu's body..." Zhu Qingyan murmured, and a terrible guess suddenly arose in his mind.

"Could it be that the food..."

Zhu Lan nodded solemnly.

“It seems that Shi Yuanzhong has been colluding with the King of Zhenbei for a long time, and helped him raise military funds by using the matter of disaster relief grain.

And Wen Yu... was a chess piece placed by the King of Zhenbei next to Shi Yuanzhong. One was to monitor him, and the other was to kill him and silence him at the critical moment.

The arsonist in the government office must be an insider lurking in Qingzhou City."

Zhu Lan closed his eyes, feeling somewhat guilty.

“That day in the clinic, you and I both guessed that Wen Yu had served in the army in Northern Frontier, but we were unable to fully connect him to the Qingzhou grain case.

This time I was negligent..."

"It's not your fault." Zhu Qingyan sighed.

"The King of Zhenbei has spies all over the prefectures of Daliang, so Wen Yu's identity is not surprising.

However, we had limited clues, and at first we all thought that the grain had gone into the Shen family's granary, or at least was still in Qingzhou, so we did not immediately think in the direction of the northern border.

Who would have thought that what Shen Wanxiong took was just a drop in the bucket, and most of it had already been shipped out of Qingzhou? "

Zhu Qingyan said, then thought for a moment and said, "If we go to the northern border, can we find any clues and get the food back?"

Zhu Lan shook his head.

"Embezzlement of disaster relief grain is a capital crime, not to mention that the King of Zhenbei used it as military pay, which is a crime of treason. How could we easily find out?

He acts meticulously and has controlled the northern border for many years. Now he has a well-trained army and sufficient food, so he has nothing to worry about. He is just afraid that the day of the uprising is getting closer.

If you and I go to the Northern Frontier to investigate him at this time, it would be no different from committing suicide."

Zhu Qingyan sighed.

"Fortunately, Your Majesty has long known that the King of Zhenbei has a rebellious heart, and has secretly made plans over the years... Well, what should we do now?"

Zhu Lan pondered for a moment, "The subsequent grain from the Ministry of Revenue should be delivered to Qingzhou soon. We can only investigate this case here. Let's go back to Beijing first."

"But how are we going to explain when we return to Beijing this time?" Zhu Qingyan said worriedly.

The most crucial witness, Shi Yuanzhong, was killed, and no physical evidence was found, so I'm afraid it will be difficult to report back.

Zhu Lan didn't say anything, but her eyebrows were also slightly furrowed.

After a long while, she said helplessly:

"At the very least, these parasites in Qingzhou's officialdom have been caught, and punishing them can give the people of Qingzhou an explanation for the time being.

Let's go to Songtao County first to bring Mr. Li back."

"Okay." Zhu Qingyan nodded, "At this critical moment, nothing can happen to him."

(P.S. Lanlan is very calm, those who doubted Lanlan before should reflect on themselves~!)