Chapter 342 Arresting People
The guards who had grabbed him weren't satisfied and kicked him twice, because the man had almost escaped their encirclement.
Having been frolicking under their noses for so long, and now they still want to escape, the guards are really getting angry.
The other guards pretended not to see his little trick, tied him up tightly, gagged him, and quickly escorted the two into the post station.
As for Wang Sao's side, her son, who came in under the pretense of visiting his mother and sisters, was complaining rudely about Wang Sao's incompetence, which caused him to suffer, while trying to hand her a medicine packet. Suddenly, Haitang appeared with several female guards and swiftly tied up the entire family of three and took them away.
When the truth came out, Wang's family was so frightened that they were completely disoriented. Their bodies went limp, and they could only passively let Haitang and the others gag them and drag them away roughly.
As for the gambling den thugs who threatened Wang's wife with her son, Lao Qian has already sent another team of guards to the gambling den to "invite" them.
They had only been in Dinghai County for a short time, so they hadn't been able to find out the real owner of the gambling den, who was the second scapegoat the mastermind was trying to frame.
Because they only found out the apparent owner of the gambling den, who was just an ordinary merchant, Lao Qian and his team didn't delve any deeper into the gambling den's trail. Instead, they concluded that the ringleader, like Zhou Hao, had been paid by someone else or had his weaknesses exploited.
The elaborate scheme orchestrated by the person behind the scenes was like casting a seductive glance at a blind man; it had absolutely no effect.
All those who needed to be arrested were arrested, and Old Qian then had to deal with the innkeeper, who rushed over in a panic after hearing the news, covered in sweat.
When the postmaster heard that his subordinates had plotted to murder the newly arrived Commander of the Guards and Princess Huian, and that they had been caught red-handed during their second collusion with outsiders and exchange of medicine powder, his vision went dark. Even the still relatively bright daylight seemed unable to illuminate his bleak future.
He dared not get involved in the matter, but he had no choice but to bite the bullet and apologize for his negligence and dereliction of duty.
Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan did not hold a grudge against him. After he explained his purpose, Jiang Yuan asked him to sit down and be a witness.
The postmaster dared not refuse, because Jiang Yuan was clearly giving him a chance to redeem himself. If he refused, Jiang Yuan would surely hold him accountable as well.
While cursing those who chose the post station as their location for causing trouble, the postmaster glared at Wang's family and Liu Ertian with eyes as sharp as knives.
Wang's family and Liu Ertian were all ashen-faced. They knew that no matter what the fate of the person behind the scenes was, or whether they could ultimately defeat Jiang Yuan, they were completely finished.
Under Jiang Yuan's leadership, the guards quickly got the Wang family and Liu Ertian to talk. The four of them confessed to what they knew and did, and they all obediently signed and sealed the documents.
Of course, they tried to defend themselves and beg for mercy, but Jiang Yuan and his guards didn't take their nonsense seriously.
After all, they are not saints; it's impossible for them to forgive and understand someone who wants to kill them.
Compared to their exceptionally easy interrogation, the gambling den's henchman and Zhou Hao's subordinate were much more tight-lipped.
But it doesn't matter, because a considerable number of the guards that Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan keep come from the Dingbei Marquis's mansion.
Before they retired due to age or health reasons, many of them were also skilled at interrogation and torture.
With a little more time and effort, they can still get the information they want to know.
So, the next morning, Zhou Hao, sensing something was wrong because his subordinate hadn't returned home all night, was arrested by Jiang Yuan.
He was a retainer under Zhou Tongchun, the commander of Dinghaiwei. His arrest would inevitably cause Zhou Tongchun to panic.
As a military general who was in poor health and had recently been thinking about having his eldest son succeed him, Zhou Tongchun had no desire for the position of commander of Jiangyuan Guard.
Naturally, he wouldn't think of harming Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang.
Because he knew nothing about what Zhou Hao had done, his first reaction was: Did Jiang Yuan misunderstand him? Or was he being framed by someone?
In a hurry, Zhou Tongchun went to Jiang Yuan to apologize for his rudeness, and at the same time, he couldn't help but ask Jiang Yuan why Zhou Hao had been arrested and brought to Jiang Yuan's place.
Jiang Yuan didn't hide anything from him and directly showed Zhou Tongchun the full statements of Zhou Hao's subordinates, the gambling den's thugs, and Liu Ertian and Wang's family.
Like the postmaster, Zhou Tongchun also felt a sense of despair after learning the whole story.
Yes, he was completely unaware of what Zhou Hao had done, but as Zhou Hao's master, he was inevitably implicated by Zhou Hao.
If in the past, out of consideration for Zhou Hao having saved his life, he would still clean up after Zhou Hao even if he was unhappy or disapproved of some of Zhou Hao's actions, out of respect for Zhou Hao's loyalty, then now he couldn't help but start to regret not correcting Zhou Hao's behavior and ideas in time when Zhou Hao showed those bad signs, so that Zhou Hao gradually went from harming others to harming him, the master of the house.
Based on their own thorough investigation, Jiang Yuan was basically certain that Zhou Tongchun was indeed innocent in this matter. However, as Zhou Tongchun himself said, as the head of the household, he failed to properly control Zhou Hao, which was an undeniable mistake on his part.
Moreover, Jiang Yuan had another question. He fixed his gaze on Zhou Tongchun and said, "Lord Zhou, there is still one thing I don't understand."
Zhou Tongchun quickly clasped his hands in a respectful bow, saying, "Please ask, sir. I will answer to the best of my knowledge."
Jiang Yuan nodded. "I'd like to know, did Zhou Hao really save Lord Zhou all by himself back then?"
Zhou Tongchun was stunned and didn't quite react.
Jiang Yuan then decided to be more explicit, "If I'm not mistaken, Lord Zhou didn't just bring Zhou Hao as a retainer or personal guard with him to the battle, did he?"
After all, Zhou Tongchun was already a commander of a thousand men at that time. Even if the number of his personal guards was reduced due to the intensity of the battle, it should not have been reduced to the point where only Zhou Hao was left.
So, was Zhou Hao himself the one who made the search and rescue decision?
Is it possible that this person took all the credit for the sacrificed comrades and claimed all the glory for himself?
Zhou Tongchun wasn't stupid. With Jiang Yuan's blunt reminder, how could he not understand that Jiang Yuan was questioning Zhou Hao's so-called risking his life to rescue his master's family?
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