Chapter 371 The Mastermind
Lin Changning instinctively drew his sword, cleaving aside a hidden weapon that had been aimed at the child from some unknown corner. A dark, gleaming weapon pierced the ground with a whoosh.
Old Ma, standing nearby, chuckled and rode off towards the spot from which the hidden weapon had been fired.
Lin Changning couldn't help but feel strange. He glanced at the still bewildered and trembling child and his mind raced.
Judging from the direction of the hidden weapon, it was clearly aimed directly at the child. But why would someone attack a clueless little kid like that?
Thinking of this, Lin Changning couldn't help but turn his head to look at Lao Zhou: "I think there's something fishy about this, Lao Zhou."
Old Zhou also felt that something was wrong. He looked the little boy up and down and realized that something was amiss.
Thinking of this, Lin Changning sat on his horse, his phoenix eyes fixed on the still-crying child: "Hey, stop crying. Why did that person want to kill you? What's your surname? What's your name?"
The little boy still looked bewildered, seemingly frightened by Lin Changning. He pouted and hiccuped a few times, when Old Zhou suddenly snapped at him, "Stop crying, what's your name?"
The little boy was so frightened that he immediately stopped crying, choked back sobs, wiped away his tears, and looked at Lin Changning with some fear: "I, my name is Xie Yongzhou."
Lin Changning and Lao Zhou exchanged a glance and unconsciously frowned. What was Xie doing here? And with the Wu family?
Lin Changning had a feeling something was amiss, so he turned his head and waved to one of his guards, ordering him to go find Qi Rong.
He then continued questioning the child in front of him: "How did you end up with the Wu family?"
Although the little boy was scared, he saw that Lin Changning didn't seem to have much malice towards him, so he gradually stopped crying and said in a somewhat unclear way, "Brother brought me here."
Lin Changning felt that there was something strange about this matter. Not to mention a baby, even in a farmer's family, a baby is precious. Who would let a baby travel thousands of miles to stay with another family?
Secondly, the attitude of the people who were just killed was also very strange. This little baby's surname is Xie, not Wu. He wanted to kill the Wu family, but not a single one of them came out to argue with the little baby.
Seeing the little baby he had left behind out of kindness, someone still made a move in the shadows, sending a hidden weapon straight at the baby. Logically, it should have been aimed at her, but something felt very strange about it.
Old Zhou frowned as well. A moment later, Old Ma came riding over from the side street, carrying a person.
After reaching Lin Changning, he threw him to the ground: "It was him! He just attacked us from behind! Tell me! Who sent you?"
The man who was thrown on the ground was about thirty or forty years old. He was dressed in coarse clothes and wore a pair of tattered straw sandals. His hands were still covered in mud from picking vegetables that morning. When people asked him questions, he did not answer and just silently lowered his head.
Old Ma held a knife to the man's neck, but the man seemed completely unafraid of death.
His gaze was somewhat vacant as he stared at the little boy who had been rescued in front of Lin Changning.
Before long, Qi Rong arrived at the gate of the Wu residence with several personal guards on horseback. He had sensed something was amiss when Lin Changning sent someone to report to him.
Upon arriving at the gates of the Wu residence, Qi Rong became even more certain of his thoughts. Seeing the river of blood and the piles of human heads on the ground, Qi Rong frowned slightly.
When Qi Rong saw the pretty little baby standing in the pool of blood, his heart skipped a beat.
The child's surname was Xie, which gave him a guess.
Lin Changning watched as Qi Rong dismounted and approached, and Lao Ma and Lao Zhou quickly dismounted and bowed to Qi Rong.
Qi Rong casually waved his hand: "No need for formalities."
Then, walking up to the little boy, Xie Yongzhou, who looked somewhat fearful and uneasy, frowned and suddenly asked a seemingly irrelevant question: "Who is Xie Tingjun to you?"
The little boy's eyes flickered when he heard a familiar name. He looked up at Qi Rong and said, "He is my father."
Qi Rong's expression changed instantly. He then picked up the little boy, glanced at Lin Changning, mounted his horse, breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "Let's talk back at the manor."
Lin Changning could tell from this that there was probably something fishy going on that he didn't know about.
After mounting his horse and following beside Qi Rong, Lin Changning finally couldn't contain himself any longer: "Commander, what's the background of this little kid that makes you so nervous?"
Qi Rong's face was somewhat gloomy, but when he turned to see Lin Changning, his expression softened: "Fortunately, we didn't kill anyone by mistake today. This child's father, Xie Tingjun, was the head of the Xie family in the previous generation. He was an exceptionally talented man, passing the imperial examination at the age of seventeen with top honors. He was appointed to manage the Yellow River dikes and was known for his integrity, incorruptibility, and uprightness. Three years ago, he led a group of people to deliver grain seeds to the border city, where they encountered a Tartar rebellion. He died for his country, but managed to save a city. This child is his orphan. We just don't know why he's suddenly in the Wu family's house. If we had killed him by mistake today, the whole world would condemn us. The person behind this is truly malicious!!!"
Lin Changning's heart skipped a beat. He hadn't expected there to be such a thing behind this matter. He glanced at the little boy who was still in shock and had fainted from fright, and couldn't help but pat his chest.
If this child were to be mistakenly killed today, the world would likely condemn King Chu not only verbally but also severely damage his reputation as the executioner.
However, the person behind sending the orphan of a loyal martyr to Taiyuan must have had truly malicious intentions.
Thinking of this, Lin Changning couldn't help but feel grateful for the small act of kindness he had just shown.
As the two were making their way to the Prince's residence, Lin Changning suddenly felt a burning sensation between her brows.
He instantly became alert, drawing his precious sword with a whoosh and scanning his surroundings with his phoenix eyes.
As he and Qi Rong rode their horses down the street, the vendors selling vegetables and other goods on both sides stopped calling out their wares. Seven or eight of them had their heads down, seemingly doing nothing. The next moment, more than a dozen men drew their swords and approached Qi Rong and Lin Changning.
The target was Qi Rong, who was holding a child.
When Qi Rong saw Lin Changning suddenly draw his sword, he immediately knew that something was wrong beside him. He turned his head to look at Wen Zhi, who was following behind him.
Upon hearing this, he drew his sword and, along with several other guards, tightly protected Qi Rong and Lin Changning in the middle.
Old Ma and Old Zhou, who were slightly behind, were also protected by Qing guards in another protective circle.
Suddenly, the vendors who had been hawking their wares nearby became chaotic, and a group of people pulled out weapons from under their stalls and charged straight at Qi Rong.
As soon as they met, Lin Changning and Wen Zhi cut down two or three people. These people did not entangle with them; their target was very clear: the child that Qi Rong was protecting.
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