Chapter 117 First Release "Rights and wrongs lie within this...

Song Linsheng looked at Wen Yu with certainty, as if telling her not to worry.

Ever since the day when he and Madam Wenyu checked various scrolls in the government office and Madam Wenyu discovered that Lord Jia's record had disappeared, he has been carefully searching for the whereabouts of the half scroll.

Now, he finally has some clues.

"What are you doing in my... your humble courtyard?" Jia Ren scoffed. "Although I'm guilty, I haven't been tried yet. Lord Song, do you think you can just send a servant into my courtyard without my permission?"

"Master Jia, why are you so angry?" Mu Tong advised softly, "If you're worried that washing the inkstone might be disrespectful to you, then I'll go."

After saying that, Mu Tong pretended to leave without even giving Jia Ren a chance to argue. He actually wanted to follow and see if Xiyan could find the scroll.

"Mu Tong! You--" Jia Ren was halfway through his words when he became choked with anger.

Mu Tong used to be devoted to his official duties and never formed cliques in the government office. But now it seems that he has plunged into Lord Song's camp.

This is good. Lord Song is young and promising, and he is also the prefect of Jiangyang. Mu Tong will surely be able to realize his ambitions by following him, which is better than following himself, a mediocre co-prefect.

Lord Song is the rising sun, while he is already the setting sun.

Let’s not talk about it.

"Please be quiet, my lords," Song Linsheng said, stopping Mu Tong and Jia Ren from talking. Then he changed the subject, "It's just a screen. It's still possible to move it to wash the inkstone."

screen?

Jia Ren's heart moved. No matter how prepared he was, he had written a letter of resignation in advance and was ready to accept the judgment of the law, but now he was still a little restless.

With a "whoosh" sound, Jia Ren stood up as his clothes rubbed against each other.

"What? A screen?" Mu Tong paused, turned around and walked back, "Oh - I remember."

"I've heard that Lord Jia has a double-sided Suzhou embroidery screen, the technique is exquisite and the workmanship is beyond compare."

Mu Tong recalled the past while thinking hard, "I once had the good fortune to see it. The pattern on it seemed to be, was it——"

He couldn't explain it for the moment, but he had seen it by chance when he visited Lord Jia before, and had not paid much attention to it. Now that he suddenly remembered it, he couldn't imagine what the pattern was at that time.

"Lotus flowers emerge from the water." Song Linsheng saw Lord Jia stand up, but he remained calm and unmoved, still sitting upright at the desk.

Mu Tong on the side murmured, "Lotus flowers emerging from the water? Is it really lotus flowers emerging from the water?" He couldn't remember clearly.

Only Jia Ren, who was facing Song Linsheng, had a gaze as sharp as a knife. He said nothing and just stared at Song Linsheng coldly.

The lotus flowers blooming in the water are beautiful, but he has never invited Lord Song to his backyard.

So, how did Lord Song know the pattern of the screen in his hall?

"Please be patient, my lords, and wait for Xiyan to bring the screen here." Song Linsheng said calmly, "I guess..."

“The right and wrong lies in it.”

"No need--" A vicissitudes of life and weak male voice spoke. It was Lord Jia who was standing on the opposite side.

Although he was standing, his shoulders slumped so much that it seemed as if all his energy had been drained away, and a sense of dejection arose in him.

Mu Tong wanted to say something, but when he saw Lord Jia's attitude, he instinctively fell silent.

Even Song Linsheng, who had been sitting upright from beginning to end, couldn't help but gasp when he heard Lord Jia's words to stop him, but his movements were so subtle that it was difficult for anyone to notice.

Only Wen Yu, who was closest to him, moved his ears slightly, taking in every detail of the sound.

Song Linsheng seemed a little... nervous?

Wen Yu shook his head in denial. How could that be? He was always calm and measured; this wasn't his style.

The four people in the hall each had their own thoughts, some sitting, some standing, occupying one side.

As if to fit in, Song Linsheng also stood up, tidied his clothes, and changed his leisurely and almost lazy posture. He was tall and stood tall in the hall, with an air as if this was his Song residence.

"Master Jia seems to have something to say?" Song Linsheng said calmly, "In that case, please go ahead."

A breath of foul air escaped from Jia Ren's mouth. In the night when the wind carried the chirping of insects, the sigh seemed particularly harsh, as if it could penetrate the eardrum and go straight into people's hearts.

Jia Ren looked around and found that Mu Tong, who had been standing in the middle of the hall just now, had leaned towards Lord Song's side without him noticing, not to mention the young lady from the Wen family who always went in and out with Lord Song like a shadow.

He occupied the right side of the hall alone, only a few steps away from Lord Song and the others, but he knew that these few steps spanned an invisible chasm, and he was now a true isolated island.

Rather than waiting for him to come back after washing the inkstone and end up in a confrontation in court, it would be better to explain it earlier and still save some face.

It was a good thing that Yang Sheng was not here right now, so he wouldn't see me in such a miserable state. Otherwise, who knows what would happen.

He was just writing an official document, but Yang Sheng insisted on meeting with Lord Song to ask for "fairness" for him. If Yang Sheng heard what he was going to say next, hey -

He can leave, but Yang Sheng has to stay in the government office to work, and must not offend Lord Song because of his affairs.

Yang Sheng had no sense of propriety, but he couldn't help but consider it.

"Master Song..." Thinking of this, Jia Ren spoke quickly, "Tell your people to come back. There's no need to go."

"Mr. Mu is right." Jia Ren paused, then took a deep breath and continued, "I did indeed experience Jiangyang as recorded in the scroll. It was precisely because of the bandit suppression that year that I was promoted to the position of Tongzhi."

For a moment, the room was completely silent. The previous arguments ceased. As Jia Ren finished speaking, there seemed to be a sense of things being settled.

But Wenyu knew that the matter was not over yet.

"But there is one thing I don't understand." Jia Ren turned his eyes and scanned Mu Tong from head to toe with a puzzled look.

"I sealed all the old scrolls before Mu Tong took office. Even though they are in the treasury, there is no way they can be found so easily."

This was also the reason why he could safely hand over all the scrolls and house keys of the government office to Mu Tong when he took office.

The Ministry of Finance has no records of important events in the past.

Seeing the conversation turn to him, Mu Tong raised his eyelashes slightly and said with a smile, "Master Jia, you have a plan, and I have a ladder to climb over the wall. Why bother with these things?"

He was afraid that Lord Jia would seize on the matter and insist on explaining himself to him, but for some reason, after he finished speaking, Lord Jia seemed really uninterested and stopped asking questions.

"That is to say..." Song Linsheng started, bringing the conversation back to the point in time.

"In other words, Cheng Lian and I are old acquaintances."

"What happened earlier is not much different from what Madam Wen and Mu Tong said, so I will not elaborate on it."

Jia Ren straightened his back, and it seemed as if a force was running up his back, sweeping away his decadent air and making him stand up straight again.

He clasped his hands together and politely bowed to Song Linsheng before continuing, "I'll just tell you what happened afterwards."

"Although I advocated suppression, rescuing the hostages was my top priority. Therefore, 80% of our forces that day were deployed on the cargo ship where Cheng Lian was hiding the elderly and weak."

However, he only brought 20% of his troops to encircle and suppress Cheng Lian.

"I underestimated the enemy. Even though all the hostages were rescued, Cheng Lian escaped during the chaos and was not apprehended. I am guilty."

Fortunately, the imperial court was merciful and promoted him to a higher position on the grounds that saving the people's livelihood was also a merit. As for the fact that he failed to capture Cheng Lian, it was dealt with separately.

"Of course he's guilty. If we had caught him then, this wouldn't be happening today." Wen Yu took a step forward, a little scared. "It would be fine if it was me, but if he had held a weak old child hostage, would Lord Jia have to fight the bandits again like he did back then?"

We were able to rescue all the hostages back then, but we may not be able to do so today. If innocent people are harmed, it will be too late to do anything then!

Wen Yu breathed a sigh of relief, feeling somewhat relieved. Fortunately, it was she and Song Linsheng who encountered this incident. However, if there was a next time, Wen Yu tilted her head and saw——

It’s best not to involve Song Linsheng.

Song Linsheng nodded slightly, gave Wen Yu a reassuring look, and then took a step forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with her.

"The court and the government have already reached a conclusion on what happened back then. It would be pointless to investigate further now."

What he wanted to do was to find out the reason for today's incident. Was it just because Lord Jia led the troops to suppress the bandits that Cheng Lian was asked to show up in Jiangyang at the risk of being caught?

"What Lin Sheng wants to know is why Cheng Lian took such a risk and reappeared."

Jia Ren, whose eyelashes were half closed, suddenly opened his eyes wide, and the look of doubt on his face did not seem fake.

"I don't know about this either."

Over the years, he has been searching for Cheng Lian's whereabouts. He has not only investigated Jiangyang, but also cooperated with other provinces and cities around him, but there is still no trace of Cheng Lian.

After a long time, they only took precautions within Jiangyang, hoping to maintain peace.

It wasn't until that day when an inexplicable letter arrived and he saw the address on it: "Brother Jia Ren" that he had a bad feeling.

It’s Cheng Lian who’s back.

Seeing that Lord Jia had no further words to say and was even a little distracted, Wen Yu coughed lightly and decided to get straight to the point.

"I know something about this matter."

When Wen Yu thought about the cause of this incident, he was really angry.

As expected, what the master said was right. This world is a cycle of reincarnation and cause and effect. Whatever cause you sow, whatever result you will naturally reap.

Seeing that everyone's eyes in the hall were focused on her, Wen Yu did not keep them in suspense and told them everything she had learned from Cheng Lian.

"He originally changed his name and hid in a caravan. He has been wandering around the border for many years. It's normal that you can't catch him."

"He originally didn't want to do anything when he passed through Jiangyang this time." Wen Yu frowned and looked directly at Jia Ren, "You brought this upon yourself."

Jia Ren's eyes were filled with even more confusion. Mu Tong and Song Linsheng on the side also cast puzzled glances at Wen Yu, but before they could ask anything, Wen Yu continued speaking.

"When you rode through the busy streets and caught Chen Mian in the act, you didn't expect that this would bring Cheng Lian into the picture, did you?"

"Chen Mian?" Jia Ren murmured.

"It's Chen Mian. You arrested him for no reason, which gave people cause for criticism." Wen Yu snorted. "This matter has been widely discussed among the people, and when Cheng Lian heard about it, he wanted to take advantage of the chaos to kill Chen Mian's wife and then pretend that she was harmed by you to damage your reputation as an official."

"But a lot of things happened along the way, and he caught me by mistake."

But that was a long shot; arresting her wasn't a big deal. Ultimately, Cheng Lian's ultimate goal in doing all this was still Lord Jia.

"Back then, I led the troops to suppress the bandits, making it difficult for him to gain power again. He had to hide from place to place and live in fear all day long." Jia Ren was silent for a moment, then took a breath and continued, "It's right for him to hate me."

"If that's the case, then his rebellion this time makes sense."

"That's not the case!"

Wen Yu turned around and stared at Jia Ren in disbelief. She hesitated for a moment before finally speaking out the words that were lingering in her mind.

"He came here because you killed his wife and children!"

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The author has something to say: Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided me with nutrient solution between 2023-10-29 21:10:28 and 2023-11-02 22:17:47~

Thanks to the little angel who cast the mine: 1 extra ear;

Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!