The nights in Qingxi County have always been extremely quiet. Except for some special service agencies, most of the city is pitch black, with only a little cold light from the moon. Occasionally, a wild cat runs across the roof, and a pair of eyes flash by like a little light in the dark night.

But on such a night, several people in black night clothes lightly climbed over the wall of the county government and landed on the ground like cats. Several people made gestures and surrounded the courtyard where people lived. One of them came to a room and poked a small hole in the window. Sure enough, he saw the quilt on the bed bulging, and snoring from time to time.

The man confirmed that there were people living inside, and nodded to his accomplice. Someone came over with a bamboo tube and blew smoke into the room. After everyone in the rooms was knocked unconscious, they retreated to the yard and poured several bottles of strong liquor on the doors and windows.

One of them took out a fire starter, blew the sparks on it, and with a flash of murderous intent in his eyes, he threw the fire starter directly over.

However, the expected flame did not ignite, but the man was stabbed directly on the screen wall by a sharp arrow. The fire starter in his hand fell to the ground, and the sparks on it flickered and went out.

Several men in black reacted immediately and hurriedly fled in all directions. As soon as they moved, they saw soldiers holding bows and arrows standing on all sides of the wall. The man they were going to silence slowly walked into the yard under the protection of several soldiers.

Lu Zheng smiled arrogantly: "Good evening!"

The leader quickly realized that this was a trap set by Lu Zheng for them. The other party was well prepared. He was afraid that he would be in danger this time. He no longer hid and pulled off the black cloth covering his face. It was Fang Yuan.

"Mr. Lu is really good at scheming!"

Lu Zheng showed an obvious expression of disappointment: "I thought I could catch a big fish, but it turned out to be just a few small shrimps."

Not only Fang Yuan frowned, but the men in black beside him glared at Lu Zheng. If Fang Yuan hadn't stopped them, they would have rushed up to fight Lu Zheng to the death.

Lu Zheng didn't realize how much his words were asking for a beating. Instead, he smiled at Fang Yuan and said, "Mr. Fang, my original plan was not to catch you, but now that I have caught you, I don't want to waste so many brothers' efforts. How about we negotiate a condition?"

Fang Yuan refused decisively: "No."

"Even if you, Mr. Fang, are so ready to die, your other brothers may not think so." As soon as

Lu Zheng said this, the other men in black immediately became angry: "Don't look down on me, kid!" "I didn't plan to go back alive after being caught." "Only pustules are afraid of death."

Lu Zheng still said nonchalantly: "Although it doesn't matter if I kill you, it is indeed a bit uneconomical. Make a deal with me and exchange it for my official seal. You won't suffer a loss."

Who knew that Fang Yuan suddenly laughed: "It turns out that Lord Lu is not without request!"

Lu Zheng spread his hands: "Isn't this normal? I didn't intend to make things difficult for you. If you hadn't stolen my official seal, why would I have gone to so much trouble to catch you?"

"In that case, it's my fault?"

"Is it right? I don't think you stole my official seal for fun. I think Lord Jin should have taken my official seal to the warehouse to call for armor and weapons?" Fang Yuan

was startled, and a bad premonition flashed through his mind.

This was also the crux that Lu Zheng had never figured out. Even if Jin Hanxuan was holding on to such a big base in Qingxi County and didn't want him to stay here, he had many ways to do it, but stealing the official seal directly put the two people on opposite sides. At most, he would not be an official, but if this matter was really investigated, he would not get any good results. Moreover, in Lu Zheng's opinion, what the Red Bandit had done in recent years had already pushed him to a dead end. He did not believe that Jin Hanxuan could not see this, nor did he believe that with his character, he would not consider this problem.

Then, there must be something that supported Jin Hanxuan to get his official seal before he could do it.

In addition to the few constables in the county government, the most important thing for the county lieutenant was the armory. Of course, Qingxi County was not a military stronghold, and there were not many useful things in the armory. But who knew that Lu Che would come to help with his troops, and Qingxi County had an advantageous geographical location, so he placed all the food and weapons in Qingxi County.

Although Jin Hanxuan had the right to manage warehouses, it did not include the armory. Lu Zheng thought about it and felt that the other party's target must be the armor and weapons here. The

Great Xia Dynasty was mainly composed of elite soldiers, so the weapons and armor used would naturally not be bad, even the spare ones would definitely not be bad. Most of the 500 soldiers left by Lu Che were sent by Lu Zheng to guard the armory. If Jin Hanxuan had his eyes on these things, he would either rob them or use the official seal to falsely claim it as his own.

It was because of these thoughts that Lu Zheng sent You Xiaowu to pay attention to Jin Hanxuan's behavior of mobilizing vehicles and personnel, while at the same time arranging the current battle formation, on the one hand to divide the troops, and on the other hand to confirm some things. As expected, Jin Hanxuan did not come, but Fang Yuan did. This also confirmed the fact that they attached great importance to the thing taken from the Jiang family.

Lu Zheng did not explain his plan, but Fang Yuan had guessed it. He smiled bitterly and said, "Lord Lu is very calculating. I admit that I am inferior to him."

"But I originally thought that with how much you value that thing, Jin Hanxuan would come in person. My calculation was wrong, so it can't be called a good calculation." Lu Zheng said, "But now it has come to this, and you are still holding back your trump card. Don't you think I am a soft-hearted person and will let you go on my own initiative?"

Fang Yuan sneered, "The Fire Thunderbolt must be used with a special barrel. Lord Lu has known this for a long time. Why bother to put this on me?"

Lu Zheng was shocked. He first Of course, what he said before was a lie to Fang Yuan. He did send Qingluan to lead a team to the armory to block Jin Hanxuan, but for him, he was more concerned about what they took from the Jiang family. They could wipe out the entire Jiang family for this thing. This thing must be very important, so he made a big fuss and pretended to be mysterious. The same was true for the previous arrogant words. When people are desperate and angry, they will lose their reason. Lu Zheng wanted to use this method to trick Fang Yuan into telling the truth.

Now that Fang Yuan finally said it as he wished, Lu Zheng only felt a little scared. Why did the fire thunder that Fang Yuan described feel so much like gunpowder?

In order to verify his own statement, Lu Zheng deliberately said: "I thought that you have had this thing for so many years, and you should have improved it a lot. It seems that I overestimated you."

Fang Yuan knew that he had no hope of escaping, so he simply said: "The Fire Thunderbolt is extremely destructive. Even without improvement, it is still powerful enough. I think the news from the north will soon spread the name of the Fire Thunderbolt everywhere. By then, Lord Lu will naturally know its power."

Lu Zheng's expression froze, but fortunately Fang Yuan did not notice it, and still said: "I will die soon anyway, and it is a pleasure to drag the Northern Frontier Army to be buried with me. If I am lucky enough to have a hero like the King of Chu accompany me on my way to the underworld, it will be worth my life."

Lu Zheng suppressed his anxiety and said coldly: "Do you think this thing is really that powerful? You think that if I know it, the King of Chu will not know it? I have already passed the news, and the King of Chu was prepared."

Fang Yuan laughed: "Lord Lu is so naive. You didn't know about Huo Pili until you investigated Chai Shuang's case. What would it matter if you knew it sooner? I'm afraid that the Northern Frontier Army would have been defeated by now. And even if the King of Chu knew it, he could only do nothing..."

"Take him away and lock him up!" Lu Zheng interrupted him, and immediately a group of soldiers grabbed Fang Yuan and others and put them in prison.

Only after they all left did Lu Zheng reveal a solemn look. Bao Zheng couldn't help but ask, "Sir, what exactly is this Fire Thunderbolt? Is it really that powerful?"

Lu Zheng was confused. He knew that this Fire Thunderbolt was most likely gunpowder. Although gunpowder at that time had many problems, it was like a protective umbrella in this era of cold weapons. Not to mention that they were well prepared. They just hoped that Rong Zhen could find the clues early and not fall into their trap.

At this moment, Qingluan walked in happily with Jin Hanxuan, who was tied up like a dumpling: "Master Lu, I have fulfilled my mission. I have captured the man and got back the official seal." Unexpectedly,

Lu Zheng ignored him and rushed directly to Jin Hanxuan, looking at him straight: "How many Fire Thunderbolts did you take to Northern Frontier?"

Jin Hanxuan looked extremely ferocious at this moment, but after hearing Lu Zheng's question, he showed a weird smile: "It can probably blow up the entire Northern Frontier Army, why don't you guess it yourself, Master Lu?"

Lu Zheng knocked him to the ground with one punch.

Qingluan was confused. He glanced at Bao Zheng who was equally confused beside him: "What's wrong with Young Master Lu? Also, what is that Fire Thunderbolt? How is it related to the Northern Frontier Army?"

Who would have thought that when he asked this, Jin Hanxuan's face changed. He shouted at Lu Zheng in a hoarse voice: "Mr. Lu, you lied to me!"

If it were any other time, Lu Zheng would definitely fight back, but now he was only thinking about what would happen if Rong Zhen was tricked by this gunpowder. He just waved his hand impatiently and asked someone to take the swearing Jin Hanxuan away.

Qingluan wanted to question Lu Zheng, but suddenly his face changed slightly, and he whistled softly with his finger at his mouth. A bird with extremely dark fur like a crow landed, and its sharp claws directly grabbed the leather armor on Qingluan's arm. Qingluan took out a piece of dried meat from her bag and fed it into its mouth, and then untied a small bamboo tube tied to its ankle. There

was a rolled-up note in the bamboo tube. Qingluan opened it and his face changed immediately.

Seeing his expression, Lu Zheng didn't care about privacy, and quickly pulled it over and looked at the note.

There were only a few words on it.

"The master is seriously injured, return quickly."

Volume 5: Flames Rising