Chapter 54: Entering Southern Xinjiang Again

Zhao Antai said calmly: "Your Majesty, although I am Su Bowen's father-in-law, I have no selfish motives in doing this. Southern Xinjiang has a complex terrain and is full of miasma. Without a guide, I am afraid that the officials of the Ministry of Personnel will have difficulty moving forward.

As for deliberately letting Su Bowen escape, that is even more nonsense. If he really has the intention of being disloyal, why would he come back thousands of miles to fall into the trap? For him, staying in Tianlao is safer than going to Southern Xinjiang!"

Zhao Antai is the Prince's tutor and a famous remonstrant minister of Dashuo. Half of the people in the court have been impeached by him. No one believes that he is partial to his own interests and perverts the law.

Shen Tianyou said: "He used his life to guarantee that Zhang Hu would not oppose the court again. Zhang Hu killed more than a hundred villagers in a blink of an eye. According to the laws of Dashuo, Su Bowen needs to be detained pending trial. Let a prisoner go to chase the murderer. Does Dashuo have no one else to use?"

With the advice of his father-in-law Zhao Antai, Su Bowen immediately knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, the bandits in the Black Wind Mountain in southern Xinjiang are not as evil as the rumors say. The bandit leader Zhang Hu only robbed wealthy businessmen and high officials, and only took money, not hurting people. He has a high prestige in the local area.

The reason why I have repeatedly written to the emperor to ask him to spare his death penalty is not only because his crime is not punishable by death, but also because In the hearts of the people in Southern Xinjiang, he was not a bandit, but a great hero who punished traitors and eliminated evil. In order not to arouse public anger, he was sentenced to exile. The villagers of Heifeng Village were even more protected by him. It was impossible that the people who massacred the village were him. I beg the emperor to allow me to enter Southern Xinjiang again to find out the ins and outs of this matter and make meritorious service for my crime. "

Zhou Huaian was worried that Su Bowen would take his position and wanted to step on him. He said, "Prince Su respected a bandit leader as a great hero in front of the emperor. Does he mean that the emperor is incapable of governing the country?"

Su Bowen had already compiled a detailed material on the affairs of Southern Xinjiang and handed it to the emperor in person as soon as he returned to Beijing.

The problem of Southern Xinjiang has a long history. Southern Xinjiang is located in a remote area. Before Emperor Xiaode ascended the throne, Dashuo had been weak for a long time. At that time, Duke Zhenguo fought hard for five years before he drove the iron cavalry of Dayin out of Southern Xinjiang.

For decades, Southern Xinjiang has been managed by local county governors. Although Emperor Xiaode has worked hard to govern the country in recent years, Dashuo has become much stronger, but the emperor is far away, and the officials in Southern Xinjiang act independently and gradually lose the control of the emperor.

Emperor Xiaode asked Tang Taishi again: "What do you think?"

Tang Taishi is now in his sixties. He is a veteran of three dynasties. In the struggle for the throne, the Tang family had the merit of following the emperor, so Emperor Xiaode valued him very much.

Without even looking at Su Bowen, Grand Tutor Tang said in a loud voice: "To untie the bell, you must first find the person who tied it. This is a good idea!"

In this way, Su Bowen will once again set out on the road to southern Xinjiang, but this time, he is not a general who suppresses bandits, but a criminal who must report any action to the Ministry of Personnel.

Zhao Wanyue wiped her tears and said: "How could such a thing happen? How could Zhang Hu repay kindness with enmity and cause so many innocent people to die!"

Su Bowen held Zhao Wanyue in his arms and comforted her softly: "Zhang Hu is a man of affection and righteousness. He is definitely not the one who massacred the village. I'm afraid he is already in a dangerous state now!"

"Then there will be no evidence!" Zhao Wanyue became more worried.

"Don't worry, there will always be clues left. This time, I am so thankful to my father-in-law and Grand Tutor Tang. Otherwise, I would only be waiting to die in prison and would not be able to chase the murderer myself! But, you will have to work hard at home again!"

The couple was bidding farewell to each other reluctantly when Lian Xuan came to report, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is here!"

Su Bowen went out to greet him in person, "Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the situation is special now. Su is a criminal. Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince should still avoid suspicion and not implicate you."

The Crown Prince handed over the food box as usual, "This is for Xiaoxiao, Lord Su, I brought a friend to you today."

Su Bowen glanced at the person behind the Crown Prince, his face startled, and was about to salute, but was stopped by the man. The two chatted in the study for a long time before leaving.

The prince played with Su Xiaoxiao for a while, and then patiently said to her: "Prince brother has something to do, and it will take a while before he can come to see you. You have to be good." He was also worried that she would not understand and would be unhappy if she could not eat the new dishes sent by the kitchen.

[Prince brother cannot come until Daddy's affairs are investigated clearly. It's really annoying. Daddy has to go away again and cannot eat the dishes sent by Prince brother.]

Gu Huaiyu touched Su Xiaoxiao's head and felt a little distressed. Children should not understand too much and should grow up without worries.

Su Xiaoxiao could not ride on Daddy's neck to go shopping every day, and could not eat the delicious food sent by Prince brother every day. Su Xiaoxiao said that she was very unhappy, very unhappy.

Sitting on the blanket, Su Xiaoxiao tugged at the red string around her neck. The string came alive and swam down along her clothes. The shrunken bracelet looked like a collar.

Zhao Wanyue was so scared that she grabbed Su Bowen's thigh and said tremblingly, "Her father, am I dazzled? What is that?"

Su Bowen endured the severe pain in his thigh, pulled out the hairpin on Zhao Wanyue's head, and gathered his strength to attack: "It's a snake, don't make a sound, it will scare Xiaoxiao."

Su Xiaoxiao grabbed the red snake and moved it in front of her eyes, chattering something.

If Su Bowen hadn't pulled her back, Zhao Wanyue would have run over long ago. What if she bit Xiaoxiao!

[Xiaohong, go ask the birds from southern Xinjiang who killed the villagers and where Zhang Hu is now!] She could have asked them by herself, but she couldn't walk yet.

The red reptile flew out of the window with a whoosh.

Zhao Wanyue whispered softly, "That thing doesn't look like a snake!"

Su Bowen said concisely, "Yes, it looks like a dragon!"

"Are you talking to a dragon again?"

Su Xiaoxiao let Xiaohong go and smiled sweetly at her parents: [Daddy will be back soon. Why do they look so strange? Don't they like me raising Xiaohong? But they didn't say anything when my sister raised a parrot and my brother raised a dog! Su

Xiaoxiao felt a little guilty, lowered her head, and fumbled with the milk bottle to find the steps: [Actually, it’s not that I have to raise it. Xiaohong came here on her own. It’s very pitiful that it has no owner.]

Zhao Wanyue couldn’t bear to see her like this, and hurried over to pick her up and said: "Xiaoxiao, is that your pet? How about we make a small house for it!" Hanging it around the neck every day is really creepy.

Su Xiaoxiao’s eyes lit up and she nodded solemnly.

[My sister’s parrot has a bird cage, my brother’s dog has a dog kennel, but Xiaohong doesn’t have a house yet! Su Bowen

stayed up half the night and made a small house for Xiaohong. Compared with looking for Wanyue, he was much calmer. Xiaoxiao was not an ordinary person, and this pet that came by itself was definitely not an ordinary thing. Maybe it was a divine beast.

However, that thing did not come back after a night away, and I don’t know if it can find the way home.

Su Bowen looked at his sleeping daughter, wondering how long this separation would last. Next time he came back, Xiaoxiao should call him daddy...