The war in the northern border became more and more intense, and Lu Zheng and others in Qingxi County were not relaxed.

The identity of the unknown corpse was confirmed, it was the Zhuliang school lieutenant Fang Rong, he was the brother-in-law of the county lieutenant Yu Maotong, Yu Maotong quickly rushed to Qingxi County and burst into tears in front of Fang Rong's corpse.

For the sake of the lives and property of everyone around him, Lu Zheng dared not tell the story of the King of Wei. Who knew that Yu Maotong wiped away his tears and said hatefully: "The ones who killed Arong must be those damn pirates!"

Lu Zheng was shocked: "What do you mean?"

Yu Maotong said: "Two years ago, my granddaughter went to the temple to burn incense, but was raped by thieves. At that time, all the evidence pointed to the pirates. In order to vent his anger for his poor niece, Arong directly killed a group of pirates who came ashore to have fun, and hung their heads on the city wall. Who knew that among them was the only son of the Sea Dragon King? The Sea Dragon King hated Arong so much that he slaughtered two villages within three days. Later, things got out of hand, I just found out that the one who killed my granddaughter was not pirates, but a group of scoundrels in the lawless city. But even if we kill them, it will be useless. This matter... Alas..."

Lu Zheng finally understood why An Zicheng and the others were so fearless. He could only say to Yu Maotong: "Please accept my condolences, but I don't know when Captain Fang disappeared?"

Yu Maotong thought for a while and said: "Five days ago."

"This is impossible!" Lu Zheng said immediately. Counting the time they sent the letter and Yu Maotong's rush over, Fang Rong's body was buried in the ground five days ago.

Yu Maotong was a little unhappy: "Lord Lu, please be careful with your words. Don't I recognize my own brother-in-law? I clearly saw Ah Rong five days ago."

Lu Zheng frowned. How could this be possible! Corpses don't lie. Fang Rong's body was buried five days ago.

At this time, Shihu, who was standing by, suddenly said timidly, "It's possible..."

Lu Zheng and Yu Maotong simultaneously looked at Shihu.

"I've heard of a method of making a human skin mask, which is to peel off a person's face skin and then make it." Speaking of his professional knowledge, Shihu became very calm and rational again, "I think they may have deliberately lured Captain Fang to Qingxi County, killed him and put the body in the ice room, because the cold will delay the appearance of corpse spots, so the body of Captain Fang we saw was headless."

Lu Zheng hurriedly asked Yu Maotong: "Half a month ago, did Captain Fang go out?"

Yu Maotong's eyes were dull: "Yes... yes, he said he had something to do and would be out for a few days..."

This made sense, Fang Rong should have been there when he went out He was killed at that time, his head was chopped off, and his face was made into a human skin mask to deceive Yu Maotong and others. Perhaps An Zicheng and others did not intend to expose Fang Rong's body as Li Si in front of people, but they did not expect that Lu Enguang happened to kill Li Si, giving them this opportunity. After they achieved their goal, the fake Fang Rong would naturally disappear, and when Yu Maotong found out that Fang Rong was missing, they would naturally lead the clues to the body, and then it would be seamless, and everyone would put the blame on the Sea Dragon King. The Sea Dragon King killed the court official, so no matter what the reason was, Yu Maotong would naturally find a way to destroy the Sea Dragon King.

Lu Zheng was about to say something when he saw Yu Maotong sway. He hurriedly supported Yu Maotong: "Master Yu, what's wrong with you?"

Yu Maotong forced a laugh that was uglier than crying: "Master Lu, I... I..."

Lu Zheng's heart skipped a beat and he hurriedly asked: "What's wrong with you!"

Yu Maotong knelt directly on the ground and cried: "I gave the tiger talisman for mobilizing troops to that thief! I am guilty!" This is why he was so anxious after learning that Fang Rong was missing.

Lu Zheng was shocked by the news, but he quickly reacted: "Send someone to get your handwritten letter back, maybe it's not too late."

Yu Maotong was already at a loss. Losing the tiger talisman was a capital crime. Not only did he lose the tiger talisman, but it was also taken away by a thief with ulterior motives. I'm afraid that his head alone is not enough to bear the crime, and his family will also be implicated. Hearing Lu Zheng say this, he immediately grabbed a life-saving straw and hurriedly said to his attendant: "Quick! Quickly grind ink for me!" The

attendant was also scared and was kicked by Yu Maotong before he reacted. He hurriedly took out the pen and ink. Yu Maotong's hands were shaking, but fortunately he quickly finished writing and handed it to Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng handed the letter to Qingluan: "I have no other way to deal with this matter. I can only trouble you."

Qingluan naturally knew the seriousness of the matter, and her face became serious for a rare time: "Don't worry, Lord Lu, I will deliver the letter as soon as possible."

Lu Zheng nodded, but his heart had already sunk. He knew that since King Wei had planned so thoroughly, it might be too late, but he still held on to a glimmer of hope.

Half a month later, a military report was placed on the desk of Emperor Yongning. His face turned livid, and he swept everything on the desk to the ground with a wave of his hand, shouting angrily: "When did our dignified imperial army become so weak that it was completely annihilated by a mere pirate!"

The Minister of War shrank his neck and looked at the Minister of Justice beside him, and Lu Che standing behind him.

Lu Zheng's memorial was earlier than the military report, saying that an unknown force had killed Fang Rong, and deceived Yu Maotong to get the tiger talisman, and falsely passed on a military order to transfer 15,000 troops from Nanxia County to the sea to attack the Sea Dragon King. Emperor Yongning was furious at the time. He issued an edict to sentence Yu Maotong to be torn into pieces and his three clans to be exterminated. He also sent Lu Xun, who was stationed nearby, to Nanxia County to eliminate the bandits.

But when Lu Xun arrived at Nanxia County with his troops, he heard that 15,000 soldiers had been ambushed by pirates and died in the sea.

This was the entire force of Nanxia County!

The Great Xia Dynasty had always advocated the strategy of elite troops, so although there were not many soldiers, their combat power was not weak. In this way, 15,000 people were easily trapped in the sea. Emperor Yongning was heartbroken.

In fact, everyone standing here now knows that the so-called unknown force is the King of Wei, but when Emperor Yongning ascended the throne, he had already stated that the King of Wei was dead, so even though everyone knew it, they still didn't dare to say it out loud.

Emperor Yongning calmed down and said, "You are all silent! Why don't you speak?"

As soon as he said this, all the ministers knelt down hurriedly and said, "We are guilty."

Emperor Yongning laughed in anger, "Yes! Of course you are guilty! Minister of War! Millions of taels of military expenditure every year only train me to be such a bunch of good-for-nothings! Minister of Personnel! Yu Maotong, the prefect of Nanxia County, has always been rated as excellent every year. Are you blind or are you just talking nonsense?! The Historians! You always bother me with trivial matters all day long! Such a big thing has happened in Nanxia County now! How come there is no one to impeach you!"

With every word he said, the people below lowered their heads even lower, and the officials he named were even more terrified.

Emperor Yongning lost his temper and felt a little tired. He pinched his brows and said, "Enough. You all should accept the punishment according to the law and go down first."

Everyone felt as if they had been pardoned and hurriedly left.

However, Emperor Yongning suddenly called Lu Che and said, "This matter is largely thanks to Lu Zheng's alertness, otherwise I'm afraid that Nanxia County would have been destroyed in the hands of villains. The Duke of Ying has made great contributions to educating his son. My dear Lu, please accept the reward on behalf of your father."

Lu Che quickly knelt down to thank him.

Emperor Yongning sighed and said, "I will not hide this matter from you either. The mastermind behind this is most likely the King of Wei. I would like to appoint you as an imperial envoy and send you to Nanxia County to investigate the matter."

"I obey your order."

Emperor Yongning hesitated. He knew a thing or two about the Duke of Ying's Mansion. After Lu Zheng went to Qingxi County, Yun fell ill and the Duke of Ying also aged suddenly. He also had many hidden illnesses from his early years in the army, which all broke out at once. Now the entire Duke of Ying's Mansion fell on Lu Che's shoulders.

Emperor Yongning looked at Lu Che's hair, which had turned half white, and sighed softly: "I know what happened in your mansion. Now that this matter is over, you can go to the north."

If it were in the past, this might be something Lu Che wanted, but at this moment he could only hide the bitter smile on his face and kowtowed heavily: "Thank you, minister!"

After Lu Che left, the blood that Emperor Yongning had been holding back in his throat spurted out directly. Xuan Yi rushed over and stuffed a pill into Emperor Yongning's mouth.

After a long while, Emperor Yongning's complexion improved slightly. He let out a weak breath: "Xuan Yi..."

"Your subordinate is here."

"Draft an edict for me."

Xuan Yi immediately spread out an imperial edict and waited with a pen.

Emperor Yongning closed his eyes for a long time before he said quietly: "Appoint Jian Yu, the commander of the Red Armor Guard, as the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery, and order him to guard the imperial mausoleum for his whole life."

Xuanyi paused, but continued to write according to Emperor Yongning's words. When he finished, Emperor Yongning took a look and waved his hand weakly: "Stamp it."

Xuanyi carefully stamped the jade seal.

Emperor Yongning said again: "One more."

Xuanyi was a little surprised, but did not ask any more questions, and picked up the pen again.

This time, Emperor Yongning thought for longer than before, and finally a helpless smile appeared on his face, as if he had let go of something. He spoke softly: "In the twenty years since I ascended the throne, the country is peaceful, the people are at peace, and all nations are obedient. ... Prince Chu Rongzhen is a man of noble character, brave and loyal to the emperor, his will cannot be taken away, and no temptation can shake his heart. I want to pass the throne to Prince Chu Rongzhen, and all the princes should work together to support the new monarch. All ministers should assist him carefully and support the country together."

Xuanyi's pen fell to the ground with a "click", and he looked at Emperor Yongning in shock: "Your Majesty!"

"Why don't you write anymore?"

"Your Majesty! This...this can't be done!" Xuanyi said anxiously. Emperor Yongning had many sons, and he couldn't understand why Emperor Yongning would pass the throne to Prince Chu.

Emperor Yongning smiled lightly: "Write, Xuanyi." Although he was ill, he still exuded the majesty of the emperor. "I used to be lucky, but now I have to face the reality. My uncle is not dead. He has come back for revenge." Emperor Yongning panted a few times and shook his head. "I want to fight him, but unfortunately, I don't have much time..."

Xuanyi's eyes were red. He followed Emperor Yongning for so many years. Although he knew that Emperor Yongning did not do things uprightly in the past, he had done enough as an emperor for so many years, but...

"I am not as good as my father. My sons are useless." Emperor Yongning said with regret, "I gave them the kingdom but they couldn't keep it. I'm afraid they will lose their lives in the end. I'd rather do them a favor and hope Rong Zhen can spare their lives for this reason." "

Your Majesty..."

Emperor Yongning sighed and looked up at the plaque "Zhengda Guangming" hanging on the throne, remembering that he was once named the crown prince, but was almost deposed.

"I really can't accept it... In the end, everything must be returned to its original owner..."