The reason was simple. At the grand court meeting this morning, everyone prepared their ears, ready to listen to another half day of bickering.
Finally, someone suddenly said, "Oh, Master Zhao asked for leave today?"
Upon hearing the commotion, everyone looked towards the end of the civil service line, where the general's eldest son was originally seated. Although his position was not particularly high, he possessed genuine talent and had a good reputation and good relationships among his colleagues.
So his sudden absence quickly attracted people's attention.
His boss frowned because the Zhao family did not send anyone to ask for leave from him.
After the court was finally dismissed, the boss returned to the yamen and asked everyone, but everyone said there was no news.
The boss was also a little annoyed and immediately sent a clerk to the general's mansion to inquire.
The clerk thought it was a lucrative job and was very happy. He thought to himself that the general's mansion was wealthy and powerful, so he would definitely be able to get a reward.
But the general's mansion was deserted, and he knocked several times without a response. Just when he was at a loss as to what to do, a man who looked like a steward suddenly ran over, crying and knocking even more fiercely than he did, shouting, "Madam, Young Master, help! Our master and Young Master have been killed! Wuuwu, help, help!"
The clerk was so frightened that his hair stood on end. He hurriedly asked, "Brother, are you here for your uncle? Lord Zhao didn't come to court this morning, and our superior sent me to inquire about him. I've been knocking on the door, but no one has answered. Could something have happened?"
The manager was also frightened. He didn't even have time to wipe away his tears and knocked on the door again. He didn't know which knock was right, but the door creaked open, revealing a deserted yard inside.
At this hour, with the sun already high in the sky, the vast General's Mansion was completely silent. A north wind whipped through the air, carrying a few dead leaves with it, sending chills down the spines of the stewards and clerks...
"Someone come here, something happened! Something big happened!" The clerk ran all the way back to the yamen and shouted so that everyone came out to check.
Just as the boss was about to reprimand him, the clerk gasped and shouted, "Sir, something's happened! The General's Mansion is deserted, not a soul is there! And I ran into someone from the Earl's Mansion, and they said Lord Zhao is dead!"
The yard was silent for a moment, and then immediately became noisy, with everyone wondering.
"What happened? The people in the General's Mansion disappeared. Is Mr. Zhao dead?"
"What happened to the Zhao family? Were they assassinated by the Rakshasa people?"
"That shouldn't be possible. This is under the Emperor's feet!"
The boss immediately sent people to spread the message everywhere, and then rushed to the general's mansion.
At this moment, the front of the general's mansion was already crowded with people, because the door of the general's mansion was wide open and there was no one inside. The people passing by were also puzzled, and when they looked inside out of curiosity, they found that the general's mansion was deserted.
At the Earl's Mansion, there were even loud cries. It was said that overnight, Lord Zhao and his only son, the eldest son, were killed in the room, and blood flowed like a river.
Because the father and son had both drunk alcohol the night before, the servants who had served them early in the morning did not dare to disturb them. However, after waiting for a long time, there was no movement, so they went in cautiously to inquire and found that someone had died.
The eldest lady of the house cried so hard that she fainted. The eldest lady of the house was also at a loss. She then sent someone to the general's mansion to report the news and ask for help. However, she never expected that the general's mansion had become an empty house!
The government office quickly sent people to take control of both residences and conducted a thorough investigation, but they were still completely confused.
It was obvious that this was a murder case involving Mr. Zhao and his son, but the murderer did not leave any clues, so there was no way to catch him.
It was as if a deity had cast a spell over the General's Mansion. Almost everything was still there, including the masters' clothing and belongings, and even the servants' brooms and sewing baskets. However, everyone had simply vanished...
The timid people have already started to murmur, "We're fighting the Rakshasas at the border, and the general's entire family just disappeared out of thin air. Could it be that the Rakshasas have used some kind of magic?"
"That shouldn't be the case. Maybe the border couldn't be held up anymore, and the general was afraid of being punished by the court, so he sent his family away early?" A smart person gave a more reliable guess.
But he was immediately refuted by others, "Even if that's the case, the people in the general's mansion can't take nothing with them. Don't they need food, clothing and shelter wherever they go? Besides, Master Zhao is the general's second uncle. Even if he doesn't intend to kill Master Zhao and his family, he doesn't have to kill them!"
Everyone nodded as they listened, their minds full of confusion.
"Strange, really strange!"
"Yeah, this is really strange!"
"I always feel that this is a bad omen, as if chaos is about to break out."
"Nonsense! How could this not be a mess? The general is fighting hard at the border to defend against the enemy, and suddenly his family members are dying or gone. If he doesn't give an explanation, the general will definitely not agree!"
"It's a troubled time, a troubled time!"
Not only were the common people discussing this, but even when the news reached the palace, several important officials who were temporarily helping to handle state affairs were also troubled.
Since the emperor had a "stroke", his health has been getting worse day by day. Several princes have been fighting openly and secretly, and they are almost fighting to grab the chair. They are also judging the situation and trying to make profits for their families at all times. They also want to take into account the country and people of Wei. They really hope that their hair will turn half white every day.
Now there are the disappearance cases in the General's Mansion and the murder cases in the Earl's Mansion. Both of them are extremely difficult to deal with!
But the eldest prince and the second prince came up with a bad idea.
"Keep this matter secret for now, and don't let it spread to the border. It won't be too late to tell the general after the Luosha invasion ends."
"Yes, the general is fully focused on the war. If no one sends a message, he won't find out and naturally won't be distracted."
What the two brothers said was so reasonable that the important officials were speechless.
He was a general guarding the frontier army, how could he not have any extra manpower in Kyoto? Even if he didn't have any, the court had sealed the mouths of all officials, but what about the common people? Who could guarantee that the hundreds of thousands of people in Kyoto would speak out!
A senior official thought for a moment, then changed the subject and asked, "What about the Third Prince? Does he have any good plans?"
Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads. They really didn't know where the third prince, who was usually the most "active", had gone.
The Third Prince they were talking about was so angry that smoke was about to come out of his head!
Even though that cowardly uncle of the Zhao family kept saying he had found the treasure and wanted to give it to him as a token of his loyalty, he kept waiting and waiting, and every time he urged him, the result was that he would get it soon.
As a result, both the cowardly father and son died!
Where's his treasure? Where's his treasure!
"Investigate, investigate thoroughly! We must find out who the murderer is!" The third prince was furious and wanted to dig up the ground in the mansion, causing all the people in the government office to be terrified and confused.
I had vaguely heard rumors before that my uncle had offended the Third Prince. Could it be that the rumors were false? Not only had my uncle's family not offended the Third Prince, but they were also trusted by him?
Did the general far away at the border also choose to stand on the side of the third prince?
This means that there is a high possibility that the chair will eventually belong to the third prince!
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