Chapter 65

When Su Musong learned about Xiao Luochen, he left without saying goodbye at the banquet at Princess Duanmin's house. Several months have passed in a flash. Now that he has returned to Kyoto, he naturally has to come and apologize.

Xiao Luochen will arrive in Kyoto soon, and when the old case is brought up, it will definitely cause a stir.

Although Princess Duanmin is the granddaughter of the Empress Dowager, if the matter of burying Xiao's remains in Zhongling is uncovered, she and her husband will probably be implicated. Su Musong had to ask them to prepare in advance.

When Su Musong arrived at the Princess's Mansion, he was told that Princess Duanmin had gone to Zhongling. Thinking that he should also go to the Xiao family's tomb to burn some incense and inform them that Luo Chen was still alive, Su Musong went to Zhongling without stopping.

When Su Musong told Princess Duanmin that Xiao Luochen was still alive, Duanmin was shocked and speechless. After a long time, she tentatively asked

"Is it true? Brother Luo Chen is still alive? Didn't they say he had been beheaded in public?"

"Someone rescued him in Luzhou."

"Who is it?"

Duan Min was eager to ask, but Su Musong avoided the question. Although Xiao Luochen's arrival in Beijing would likely expose Mu Yi's rescue, Su Musong didn't want to expose Mu Yi too early.

"In short, the current situation is not optimistic. This time, the Grand Tutor and his allies are likely trying to use this old case to eliminate a number of the forces the Emperor relies on, and this will inevitably lead to the implicating of others. If the Zhongling Mausoleum incident is exposed, I'm afraid you and Brother Ziming will be implicated. Therefore, from now on, the secret of Zhongling Mausoleum must be firmly guarded, and not a single piece of information must be leaked."

Seeing that Su Musong was unwilling to speak clearly, Duan Min stopped asking. Although she rarely cared about government affairs, she also knew about the struggle between the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. After all, her status was sensitive, and some things were better left unseen. So she just agreed lightly.

"I understand."

After Su Musong paid his respects to Prime Minister Xiao, he walked to Xiao Luochen's cenotaph. He pushed the tombstone to the ground, then dug up the soil and dug out the jade statue that he had buried with his own hands. After wiping it carefully, he put it in his arms.

Before leaving, Su Musong hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't help but said to Duan Min

"It's better to tell Brother Ziming about Zhongling so he can prepare first."

Duan Min had never mentioned to Ji Ziming that the Xiao family was buried in Zhongling. Therefore, at the full moon banquet that day, Ji Ziming didn't know why Duan Min and Su Musong fell silent when the topic of sweeping the tomb of Marquis Wuning was mentioned. At that time, they remembered that they had also offered sacrifices to the relatives of Xiao Luochen who were buried there.

Just as Su Musong was busy gathering the evidence and witnesses against the Right Prime Minister to Yongjing City, Su Mubai brought back a piece of news.

"At the court meeting, the Minister of Rites reported that the situation in Xizhou has stabilized. The Crown Prince should quickly send the coffins of the Marquis of Jingxi and his wife back to Kyoto for burial, and accept the canonization and inherit the title of Marquis of Jingxi."

"In addition, the Ministry of War also pointed out that Liguan is the gateway to Xizhou. The commander of Liguan is married to the Marquis of Jingxi, who is stationed in Xizhou. This would put Xizhou at risk of independence. Therefore, they requested that the Mu father and daughter be transferred away from Liguan."

"Has the Emperor approved it?"

"These two memorials are reasonable and logical, and with the support of the Right Prime Minister's faction, the Emperor had no choice but to approve the request and order Mo Lin and Mu Yao to escort the coffin to the capital. Uncle Mu will also return to the capital first and will be transferred elsewhere after the funeral of Marquis Jingxi."

"It seems they want to catch us all in one fell swoop. I also received news that Wang Zheng has stopped marching and is stationed at the post station. I guess they want to wait until Mo Lin and the others arrive in the capital before taking Luo Chen to the capital."

"So what should we do?"

"Wait. It will take some time for my evidence to arrive in Beijing. If they want to wait, I will give them a few days."

Su Musong was always worried about Xiao Buyi. With the situation easing over the past few days, he just sent someone to bring Xiao Buyi to his side.

Although Su Musong was busy running around these days, he did not forget to pay attention to the news from Yunzhou. From time to time, he would send someone to deliver something to Wang Zheng so that he could know the latest situation of his wife and children.

On this day, Wang Zheng received a curtain hook, which was exactly what he had found in his carriage. Along with the curtain hook was a letter and a brocade box. The letter was for him, and the brocade box was for him to pass on to Xiao Luochen.

Wang Zheng opened the letter addressed to him and saw that it said

"I heard from afar that your wife will be traveling north with your son to Yongjing for a reunion. Considering our old friendship, I'm asking a friend to look after them along the way. There are thirteen mountain strongholds and eleven water strongholds along the way from Yunzhou to Kyoto. We should all do our best to be a good host. However, the weather is cold and the journey is dangerous. It would not be unwise for your wife to stay in Yunzhou."

Wang Zheng was so angry that he tore the letter into pieces.

Because he didn't want to be controlled by Su Musong, Wang Zheng asked his family to carefully investigate the background of the maids and servants, and expelled those who were even slightly suspicious. However, Su Musong was still able to send him news from his family continuously.

Wang Zheng had no other choice but to have his wife bring their son to Yongjing City. However, just as they left Yunzhou City, an accident occurred in the carriage. Although no one was injured, it was still a fright.

Now it seems that it was not an accident, but a warning given by Su Musong.

And according to what Su Musong said in the letter, if Wang Zheng's wife and children continue to head north, the journey will not be peaceful. Who can guarantee that they can pass through the territories of more than 20 bandits and pirates safely?

Wang Zheng didn't dare to take the risk, so he had to send someone to inform his wife and return to Yunzhou City.

When he opened the brocade box, he found a small statue carved from diamond jade and a folded piece of letter paper. Wang Zheng was about to pick up the jade statue and smash it to pieces, but he hesitated for a moment and spread out the letter paper first.

"How you treat this jade statue is how I will treat your wife. You know I can see it."

For a moment, Wang Zheng felt his scalp tingling, and then he was furious. He drew his sword and chopped all the equipment in the room into pieces.

He had never received such threats in all these years.

After calming down, Wang Zheng called his attendant and told him to leave quietly under the cover of night, go to Yongjing, find someone, and retrieve something. He was out of reach of Su Musong, but Xiao Luochen was very close.

After receiving the jade statue sent by Su Musong, Xiao Luochen knew that Wang Zheng was probably being held hostage by Su Musong, otherwise he would not have handed the jade statue to him intact.

Along the way, the people from Qingzhu Village who followed the escort team used whistles and flags to convey messages to Xiao Luochen. However, since they were stationed at the post station, Xiao Luochen was moved from the cage into the post station, and the transmission of messages was cut off.

Earlier, Xiao Luochen seemed to vaguely see Tieshan and Xiao Buyi mixed in with the gang members following the escort team, and he couldn't help but feel worried.

Ning Zhen was also there when he was arrested in Xizhou. According to Su Musong's style, he should have asked Ning Zhen not to tell Xiao Buyi about his arrest, and perhaps even had someone send Xiao Buyi to Wanhua Castle to avoid disaster.

However, Xiao Buyi appeared here, but Ning Zhen disappeared, which made him wonder if something had happened.

That night, around midnight, Xiao Luochen tossed and turned because he was distressed at being cut off from the outside world. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a window being opened. He remained calm and alert, but his eyes were fixed on the window, paying attention to any movement.