Chapter 341: Singing the Same Song
They surrounded the ancestral home of the four families in Wu County in the middle of the night, gathered together in this way, and the first name they spoke was Zu Lang. The ill intentions of the visitors were almost written on her face.
"Zu Lang?" There were one or two people among the detained who were unaware of the situation. They immediately asked, "Why do we know that Shanyue man?"
Qiao Yan glanced at him, the cold light in his eyes was still clear in the dim night, "You said you didn't know him, but Zu Lang didn't say that. He said that if you hadn't promised to support Huang She and provided them with support, he wouldn't have the ability to put Sun Yangzhou to death-"
"What he wants is the reward for successfully killing Sun Yangzhou!"
Sun Ce is dead?
If they had heard this news in another setting, the three people being escorted at the front would probably have been so happy that they would not be able to express themselves.
But when the swords on both sides were reflected in the firelight as if they were about to chop down at the next moment, they did not dare to show any joy on their faces.
Qiao Yan came to Yangzhou in person, perhaps because she received some news, or perhaps because she was going to supervise the war situation in Xuzhou. However, what she received first was the news of Sun Ce's death. Considering the friendship between her and Sun Ce, and the revenge that she should show at her age, their situation is extremely dangerous!
And this kind of arrest that leaves them no room for resistance will obviously make them pay the price.
Zhu Rong of the Wujun Zhu family was an elder who had experienced many ups and downs. After understanding Qiao Yan's attitude, he did not lose his composure because of the accusation of killing Sun Ce. Instead, he replied calmly, "Did the Grand Marshal come all the way here just to put such a charge on my Wujun family?"
"Since you said that it was Zulang of Shanyue who wanted to demand payment from us, why don't you ask him to come up and confront us?"
Zhu Rong said this very frankly.
The news that Tongguan invited a doctor had already reached Wujun, and at the same time, another piece of news was delivered to their ears. When Sun Ce's troops withdrew from Jingxian, there was no sign that the Shanyue were defeated. He guessed that it was Huang She and those loaned out men who succeeded, forcing Sun Ce's troops to withdraw from the Jingxian area in order to save Sun Ce's life first.
Qiao Yan wanted to seek justice for Sun Ce, and at best he discovered Huang She's involvement and the existence of those people who were not Shanyue people.
But what if we knew that those people were retainers of Xu Gong, the former governor of Wujun?
There is also no actual evidence to prove that these plots were actually related to them.
This can be said to be a completely malicious attack.
Unless Qiao Yan can capture Zu Lang.
But how is this possible?
Sun Ce had been operating in Yangzhou for several years, and even brought his most elite troops with him. However, he could only sigh in despair in front of the complex mountain terrain in the Yishan area. He relied solely on brute force to compete with Zu Lang, and ended up dying.
Qiao Yan had just arrived and didn't even have many soldiers, so how could he...
How is that possible!
Zhu Rong's eyes suddenly widened on the spot.
It was because he saw with his own eyes that as Qiao Yan raised his hand, a half-dead man was dragged in from outside, and when he looked up, it was Zu Lang's face that appeared.
The reason why he was sure it was him was not only because he had seen Zu Lang's wanted portrait before, but also because at the same time he appeared, his confidant who he had sent to contact Zu Lang suddenly murmured, "How could it be him?"
Recognizing people by their portraits may be false, but people who have had face-to-face contact will never make a wrong judgment.
When Zu Lang raised his eyes and looked at him, the ferocity and commanding demeanor in his gaze could not be misjudged.
When Zu Lang was sent here, several boxes were also sent up together.
The moment one of the boxes was opened, Zhu Rong's expression was no longer as calm as before, because inside it was the support they were sending to Zu Lang.
"Gold, silver, jewelry, privately made sea salt, private mineral deposits... You are very generous. May I ask when you lost these things? Do you have any records of escorting the goods, or have you reported them to the higher authorities?"
Qiao Yan's gaze slowly swept over the three people in charge at the front, and the expression on his face clearly showed a storm brewing within the calmness. "I suppose you won't tell me that it was you who lost this fresh stock?"
"If so, you should have informed Sun Yangzhou in advance, so that he wouldn't find this item while suppressing the bandits and take it as his own trophy. Or do you think that Sun Yangzhou has no chance of successfully suppressing the rebellion in the mountains, so you just swallowed the bitter fruit of the loss yourself?"
"I think another explanation is more reasonable. This was originally the deposit you and Zu Lang jointly paid."
Zhu Rong had just recovered from the news of Zu Lang's capture when he heard Qiao Yan's questioning, which seemed particularly unreasonable to him. He could not help but sneer, "If something is lost, it is useless to cover it up for the sake of face. Is there a rule in this world that the owner must go to the officials to report the case?"
The government in Yangzhou is not that efficient.
It is precisely because of this fact that Zhu Rong was particularly calm in his response.
Qiao Yan brought Zu Lang to him, which was indeed an unexpected change.
In just a few days, she not only prevented Sun Ce's followers from scattering after his death, but also turned around and attacked Zu Lang. After capturing him, she even sent a warship ashore and headed straight to Wu County. This level of combat efficiency was simply unheard of.
But his correspondence with Zu Lang was only physical, without any letters that could represent his identity. On what basis could she convict him of a crime?
The caution in his actions at this moment is his best protection.
"Just lost something?" Qiao Yan looked over with suspicion.
Zhu Rong thought about the process of his dealings with Zu Lang and felt that there was nothing wrong with this statement. His subordinate who was in charge of the handover also knew that it would be safest to stand with him rather than bear the crime of killing the governor of Yangzhou.
As long as they don't betray themselves, Qiao Yan wouldn't dare to force them into a desperate situation. Even if he refuses to admit it, what can she do to him?
He straightened his back and replied confidently: "Of course. There are also several people from the four surnames of Wujun working under Sun Yangzhou. If they really wanted to murder him, why would they treat him like this..."
Before the word "compromise" was uttered, everyone saw Qiao Yan grab the halberd from the person next to her, and while standing up, she took two steps at a time to walk in front of Zhu Rong, and swung it towards his neck without any hesitation.
Not to mention that Zhu Rong hadn't recovered from Qiao Yan's actual attack, the fact that he was tied up like this at the moment gave him no chance to escape.
The head of the Wujun Zhu family had his eyes wide open and fell down with an extremely shocked expression.
He could not believe until his death that the person who replaced Sun Ce and sat here was actually someone who was so determined to kill the noble families, and who attacked him without any hesitation.
Blood flowed from the broken neck and spread to Qiao Yan's feet.
At this moment, the courtyard fell into deathly silence.
It was not until the blood that splattered on the face of the person behind Zhu Rong flowed down his cheek that a scream broke the silence.
"Shut up!" Qiao Yan's scolding made him swallow his scream in a hurry, and he looked at her with fear in his eyes.
A weapon like the hand halberd is obviously more suitable for the warrior beside her. It always feels out of place in her hands. But at this moment, seeing the blood dripping from the hand halberd, it contrasts with the scarlet tights inside her coat, and in the surrounding firelight, she actually looks quite graceful and elegant.
She said slowly, "I just saw that he was talking nonsense, so I asked him to go to the underground to accompany Sun Yangzhou to reminisce about the past. Why are you all so panicked? Anyway, he doesn't want to confront the living, so he can only accompany the dead. It's a very reasonable thing to do."
Reasonable?
How on earth is this reasonable?
Qiao Yan's explanation not only failed to make people feel that the current scene was understandable, but it made the young men of the four surnames of Wu County who were present here feel that the Grand Marshal from Chang'an was simply a lunatic! He is a madman who is no more normal than Sun Ce!
What's even more terrifying is that she didn't seem to think that killing the head of the Zhu family, one of the four major families in Wu County, was anything she should care about, and instead had turned her attention to the one from the Zhang family.
The Zhang family of Wujun had no relationship with Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong under Sun Ce, and there was no talent like Gu Yong who required Qiao Yan's special attention. It was only natural that she would target them second.
But Zhang Mi, who was targeted by her, probably wouldn't be in such a good mood.
He also had no way of knowing that Qiao Yan had made some judgment about his identity at this time.
Zhu Rong's death made him realize that if he did not answer Qiao Yan's questions properly, there was a real chance of death. But if he answered seriously, he would not be sure whether he would be held accountable for his contribution to the death of Yangzhou Mu.
He took a deep breath and decided to use his inherent advantages: "Grand Sima, are you going to torture me into a confession? Is this your attitude towards the Yangzhou family?"
"Aristocratic family from Yangzhou?" Qiao Yan could guess what he was thinking at the moment by looking at his appearance. It was nothing more than that Sun Ce had just died and Yangzhou still needed a new person in charge. As a representative of the Chang'an court, if she came and froze the relationship to the freezing point right away, it would undoubtedly be a bad thing.
So she should have a cooperative attitude towards them, taking their family reputation into consideration.
But he never thought about it carefully. If she wanted to consider their face when dealing with the current situation, she shouldn't have killed Zhu Rong!
She threw the hand halberd aside, took out a handkerchief from her sleeve and wiped the blood on her hands twice. Her calm demeanor made it impossible to connect her current appearance with her previous atrocities.
"What is a noble family?" Qiao Yan replied word by word: "A noble family, with a long lineage, a good salary, and a strong academic atmosphere—"
She tilted her head and looked at Zhang Mi for a moment, then uttered four words: "Are you worthy enough?"
These words were extremely cruel. Even a reckless man like Sun Ce had never raised such doubts about the family background of the Four Families of Wu County, but Qiao Yan did not give him any face at all. Just this one sentence made Zhang Mi's face turn red, "You..."
"What do you mean by 'I'? I have teamed up with the Shanyue bandits and conspired to kill the governor of Yangzhou. What is the difference between you and the southern clan bandits? How dare you call yourself a noble family?"
Qiao Yan then continued to speak without giving Zhang Mi any time to refute, "If Sun Bofu, the governor of this state, acts as absurdly as the governor of Jiaozhou in the south, who only has people wearing red scarves accompany him to discuss Taoism and chant scriptures all day long, then you will be fine if you do such an unconventional thing!"
"From Sun Bofu to Yangzhou, we first lifted the siege of Lujiang, then quelled the rebellion of Yan Baihu, restored the livelihood of several counties, and recovered the land in the southern part of Yangzhou. Even if there is suspicion of killing first and reporting later in the matter of the prefect of Yuzhang County, and there is a rift between the exchanges with the people of Wu County, it is not a reason for you to usurp the throne and rebel. That is something that the court should negotiate with him, not you."
"The children of noble families have their own ways of doing things and their own ways of not doing things. This is what they will not do!"
"Now, answer my question again. Is Sun Bofu's death related to you?"
This harsh questioning mixed with praise for Sun Ce's achievements made Zhou Tai, who was guarding Qiao Yan, think of the little things he did with Sun Ce in the past. His eyes became moist. Seeing Zhang Mi, who had never given Sun Ce a good look, now dumbfounded, he couldn't help but release some of the anger in his heart.
What made him even happier was that the next moment after Qiao Yan asked that question, another halberd was handed to him.
He looked up and met Qiao Yan's gaze, which was signaling him to walk towards Zu Lang.
This leader of the Shanyue tribe knew that he was going to die when he was shot down by Qiao Yan. It made no difference to him whether he died early or late.
All he cared about was that since he had promised to tell Qiao Yan all about the involvement of the Four Families of Wu County, he hoped that she would also keep her promise to the people of Shanyue.
When Zhou Tai walked towards him, his eyes met Qiao Yan's for a moment. When he clearly saw the nodding action, he suddenly turned his head back to look in the direction of Zhang Mi.
It was at that moment that Zhou Tai swung his halberd with the idea of revenge for Sun Ce and chopped off Zu Lang's head.
The head rolled forward due to inertia and rolled in front of Zhang Mi.
Zhang Mi intended to maintain his dignity, but just a few inches away from him, the pair of eyes that were not closed seemed to be still staring at him, making him almost want to scream out.
At the same time, a voice had already spoken before him.
Zhu Rong's confidant first witnessed the death of the head of the family, and then saw the death of Zu Lang. He felt that the Shanyue leader's eyes seemed to be predicting that he would be the next one, and his psychological defenses had already been shaky.
Zhang Mi still tried hard to support himself and thought that he had the proof of his noble family identity to save his life, but he didn't!
Not only did he not have it, but those who helped send the "deposit" to Jing County also didn't have it!
"It's related, of course it's related!" He suddenly shouted hysterically: "It's not only related to Sun Bofu's death, but the one who instigated discord between Sun Bofu and Gao Kongwen, causing Sun Bofu to accidentally kill the famous scholar, was also one of ours!"
His words completely shattered the little dignity that Zhang Miben still wanted to maintain.
These words not only exposed the "behind-the-scenes mastermind" of Sun Ce's death, but also angered Cheng Pu, Huang Gai and others from another perspective.
Among them, Cheng Pu's behavior was the most extreme.
He took two or three steps forward and grabbed the man by the collar, "Explain your last sentence clearly!"
Once you have spoken the honest words, the rest will not be that difficult to say.
Zhu Rong's confidant replied, "In the past, Sun Bofu admired Gao Kongwen and asked someone to invite him. He told Sun Bofu that Gao Kongwen looked down on him and was unwilling to discuss Zuo Zhuan with him. He also told Gao Kongwen that Sun Bofu didn't like anyone to surpass him. They are all our people."
It was precisely because of this error that instilled wrong information on both sides that Sun Ce later killed Gao Dai.
Cheng Pu and his colleagues had already noticed these subtle details, but they still didn't know who was responsible for this. Now the truth has come to light.
It turns out they were the ones who did it again!
But what’s the point of understanding this now?
Gao Dai's life could not be saved, and Sun Ce could no longer completely wash away the infamy caused by Gao Dai's death.
However, the descendants of the four surnames of Wu County still maintained their lofty status and even colluded with Zu Lang in secret.
When Cheng Pu heard this person say that one of the reasons that prompted them to make this decision was that Sun Ce appointed Zhu Zhi as the prefect of Yuzhang County and Zhu Zhi's head was chopped off by Huang She and sent to them, he was already extremely angry.
At this moment, the immovable shackles of the noble family no longer existed for him.
Without Qiao Yan's help, he could just chop off the head of the Zhang family, and the worst that could happen was that he would just have his head returned to him.
Anyway, he was born in Youzhou, so even if he has a quick temper, it can be understood.
It was only at this moment that Qiao Yan spoke that Cheng Pu temporarily suppressed his urge to take action. "I would like to trouble General Cheng to do a favor. Please take out the ancestral temple genealogy of the four surnames of Wu County and capture those who are not here as soon as possible."
"The general who suppresses rebellion is definitely not the only target of the four surnames of Wujun. First, put them all in prison and interrogate them one by one!"
The first time is new, the second time is familiar. When dealing with the four surnames of Hanyang in Liangzhou, they had already used their family tree as a wanted list. Now, the same can be done for these four surnames of Wujun who claim to be of noble status!
If we arrest people according to the list, there will be no fish that slip through the net, right?
Including those who are still in office, don’t leave any of them out!
While Sun Ce's generals were still immersed in the excitement, Qiao Yan was sure that they would never let her down.
Some of them may have interests in the Four Families of Wu County, but most of them will certainly do their best to find all the people on the list.
So the team that entered the city overnight quickly went in all directions with the list and disappeared into the dark night.
However, what probably surprised everyone was that after occupying Wu County Prefecture as his temporary office, Qiao Yan's first move was not to count the assets in the treasury as he had done in Yizhou, but to -
He placed the paper and pen in front of Dian Wei.
"write a letter."
Dian Wei was stunned for a long time before he realized what Qiao Yan meant. He actually wanted him to write a letter?
But what letter was he going to write?
You can't possibly write a letter to his family to let them know that he has returned safely from the expedition against the Shanyue, right?
Seeing him like this, Qiao Yan couldn't help but shook his head, "What are you doing here? When your son was studying at Leping Academy, I asked you to accompany him to study. You can't be unable to write a few words, right?"
Dian Wei jumped up when he heard this.
You can't just be accused of not being able to write.
He is a general now, how could he not know how to write!
He hurriedly took the paper and pen, but as soon as he dipped the pen in ink, he froze on the spot.
"Wait! What do you want me to write, sir?"
Qiao Yan replied, "Write a letter to Cai Yong and tell him that I want to kill his disciple Gu Yong. Ask him to come to Yangzhou as soon as possible. He can cry as much as he wants and pose as if he has his hair cut and is barefoot. He must come to stop this."
"As for why you wrote this letter, it was because you felt that my extreme actions might lead to the same fate as Sun Ce, but you were unable to dissuade me. You thought that you needed an elder to persuade me, so you wrote the letter to Cai Yong, who you know."
"Once you finish writing, have someone send the letter by express horse."
"..." Dian Wei touched his head awkwardly, "If I write this letter out, Mr. Bo Ji will laugh at me, right? Why don't you do it? And I don't think your action is too extreme. I killed two people with my halberd, and I got some credit for it!"
Qiao Yan almost rolled his eyes at Dian Wei.
Even after talking to this point, he still didn't understand what he was supposed to do now. In a sense, there was really no need to compare the emotional intelligence between him and the target he was about to write to.
It’s not as simple as just writing a letter to Cai Yong.
Given the current situation in Yangzhou, she would never let off the group of people from the four surnames of Wu County easily.
Otherwise Sun Ce’s death would have been in vain!
If she really wanted to treat them lightly, she would not have come here under the pretext of seeking justice for Sun Ce, and captured them all in such a swift and decisive manner.
The existence of these people, or their attitude of non-violent non-cooperation with the rulers, is of no benefit to Chang'an's remote control of Yangzhou.
If they were not given adequate punishment, Sun Ce's subordinates would never obey her orders.
But she couldn't just kill them all because they had killed Sun Ce. If she did so, what would be the difference between her and Sun Ce who destroyed the Wang family?
I am afraid that if the four families of Wu County die today, other Yangzhou families will appear tomorrow to oppose her behind her back.
If this matter is not handled properly, it is very likely to trigger a counterattack from other aristocratic families in other places.
So she still needs to collect it back.
but……
The situation here is different from that in Liangzhou.
This ladder to go down the slope cannot be built by herself, but by someone else, by someone who is an "old friend", "old acquaintance" or "someone she respects". It would be even better if this person could be a respected senior.
And there is actually a suitable candidate for this role, and that is Cai Yong!
Gu Yong of the Wujun Gu family was not only given a name by Cai Yong, but was also given a character that expressed deep admiration and appreciation, called Yuantan. Cai Yong's coming was simply an extremely natural thing!
"But why use fast horses instead of carrier pigeons?" After listening to Qiao Yan's subsequent explanation, Dian Wei felt that he barely understood some of it, but still felt a little confused, so he asked one last question.
"Anyway, you have already informed Zhu Gongwei and Zhang Zibu about the existence of pigeon messaging. This seems to explain why Mr. Bo Ji came here as quickly as possible."
Before he could finish his words, Qiao Yan held his forehead and sighed, "Of course acting has to be realistic! If you really used a carrier pigeon to send a message, wouldn't I have someone intercept it?"
Sending a message by horse is real.
What's more, these ungrateful Yangzhou families had better stay in prison for some more time!
For those with hot tempers like the Black Mountain bandits and the Wuhuan people, we have to use methods like planting yam to temper their tempers. For those stubborn and arrogant people like the Yangzhou aristocratic families, we have to temper their sharpness.
Sending the letter by land is exactly what she wants!
Even if we include the water route, it would take eight to ten days to travel by horseback. Wouldn't it take another ten days to bring Cai Yong here?
Let them stay in jail first.
The twenty days between visits is enough time for her to accomplish a lot!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
