☆, Chapter 215: Inviting the enemy into a trap or turning the tables on them?
Shuisheng rushed forward, knelt down with a thud, and cried his heart out: "Madam, I'm so sorry! I failed to protect you, sir. I have failed your kindness and your guidance! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"
Zhou Mujiao recalled Shuisheng's appearance a month ago. At that time, he was slightly chubby, had a simple and honest smile, but was very clever when doing things. Now, he had lost a lot of weight, his cheeks were sunken, his eyes were deep-set, his eyes were lifeless, and his whole body was dirty and there was not a clean spot. He cried bitterly and then fainted from exhaustion after crying for a while.
This situation is exactly the same as when Zhou Mujiao found him on the roadside back then, except that he was a thirteen-year-old child at that time, and now he has grown up to be seventeen years old and a handsome young man.
Zhou Mujiao stared at Shuisheng for a while, then had someone put Shuisheng on a horse and take him back to her residence before waking him up.
Shuisheng was someone she had rescued herself and had personally raised and taught for two or three years. Zhou Mujiao trusted her own judgment; Shuisheng was not someone who colluded with Yan Yu. Yan Yu had painstakingly infiltrated Young Master Chen's circle, trying to turn him against her, but after so long she had made no progress. That's why she took a risky approach and targeted the people around Zhao Yunjing.
The people behind her went to such lengths, it's impossible that they wanted Zhao Yunjing dead. Zhao Yunjing is a great treasure when he's alive. He can increase grain production, he was the top scholar in the imperial examination, and he knows more about infrastructure and people's livelihood than anyone else. If he were dead, why would they go to such lengths?
Yan Yu deliberately said it was Shui Sheng, but actually she wanted to divert attention. It's likely that her own death was also intentional. Moreover, with her death, all the real clues were cut off. Even if they were eventually found out, it would take a lot of manpower and resources.
The fact that she risked her life to protect the person behind her suggests that that person must be extremely important to her and her people.
However, now that they know she comes from Huji Mountain, with the strength of the Liang secret agents and the Six Doors, it will probably not be long before that person's background is exposed. In addition, with General Meng, the 'old friend' of the Huji Mountain tribe, and Zhou Mujiao's spies distributed throughout Liang, the investigation time will be shortened by half.
In other words, if Yan Yu hadn't died, they would have thought of raising her a little longer without alerting her. Now that she has to sacrifice her life to cut off the clues, it means that the snake has already been alerted. Since it has already moved once, it will definitely move a second time. At that time, all they need to do is pull it out directly.
The most urgent matter right now is finding Zhao Yunjing's whereabouts.
Hu Peiran and He Jiu came in from outside, also covered in dust and dirt. Ever since Zhao Yunjing's accident, they had personally led a team to search every day, searching along the Donglan River. General Jiang and his men searched from fifty miles away, but they just couldn't find him.
As the saying goes, one should see a person alive or dead, but Zhao Yunjing seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth without a trace.
Hu Peiran had grown a beard from staying up all night. He recounted the events of that day to Zhou Mujiao from beginning to end: "It's all my fault. If I hadn't been so greedy and kept following Brother Zhao that day, Brother Zhao wouldn't have gotten into this mess!"
It wasn't that Hu Peiran was greedy; it was just that when he and Zhao Yunjing visited the disaster victims at the resettlement site, the victims were overly enthusiastic, but they didn't dare to be enthusiastic towards Zhao Yunjing, so they focused on Hu Peiran, the youngest of the children. Hu Peiran only took a bite of the pancake and said a few words to the two children before turning around and disappearing from sight.
Hu Peiran assumed Zhao Yunjing had returned to the mansion, so he went to patrol elsewhere. When he returned to the mansion and saw Shuisheng, the two asked each other a question and then learned that Zhao Yunjing was missing. Not long after, someone came to report that they had seen Zhao Yunjing fall into the water.
The messenger was a disaster victim. Everyone was stunned and panicked by the news, and no one paid attention to him at the moment. By the time they remembered to call him over to ask him questions, he had already become a corpse.
He Jiu also looked guilty. He was supposed to go with Zhao Yunjing to the resettlement site to comfort the disaster victims that day, but he fell and sprained his ankle before leaving. By the time he found a doctor to set his bone, it was too late.
There was a reason why Shui Sheng wasn't with Zhao Yun Jing that day. Before she died, an old woman entrusted her granddaughter to him. That day was the day the old woman was buried, and Shui Sheng was with the girl the whole time, along with other disaster victims.
Zhou Mujiao nodded and asked about Xie Jiang and Song Chengyu.
Hu Peiran paused for a moment, then asked, "Sister Ajiao, do you suspect the two of them?"
“I reasonably suspect anyone who does not have an alibi.”
Hu Peiran thought for a moment and said that Xie Jiang went to the artificial canal that day: "Young Master Xie and Young Master Song were together. They left the city together and returned together. They can each testify that the other was not present, and their respective attendants can also testify. However..."
Hu Peiran hesitated whether to speak or not, but He Jiu continued for him: "The two of them are not far from where Brother Zhao fell into the water, less than half a mile away, and Brother Zhao is upstream while they are downstream."
"At that time, the diversion had entered its third day, and the current was not rapid. He could swim, and he was quite good at it. Assuming that Zhao Yunjing accidentally fell into the water, he would definitely try to get ashore on his own. If he hit his head and passed out when he fell in, and was swept away by the current, Xie Jiang and the others, who were half a mile away, would have a 99% chance of seeing him, and..."
After analyzing the situation, Zhou Mujiao looked up at Hu Peiran and asked, "Is there really no one here within this half-mile?"
"Yes. But apart from the man who came to deliver the message, no one else saw Brother Zhao."
"So apart from that person, no one knows whether Zhao Yunjing really fell into the water. All your information comes from that person who delivered the message."
"you mean?"
"You may have been misled. Bring me a map of Nanjiang City."
Something flashed through Hu Peiran's mind, but it disappeared too quickly to grasp. He simply dismissed the thought and quickly took out the map.
This map was originally carried by Zhao Yunjing. On that day, it was kept by Hu Peiran. He circled and marked some places on it. His handwriting was elegant yet powerful, just like him. He looked gentle and refined, but he was actually very strong. Such a person could not be easily ambushed.
Zhou Mujiao's gaze swept over his markings little by little, her fingers tracing them one by one. She closed her eyes and imagined herself as Zhao Yunjing. If he had been alert from the beginning, where would he have left clues that were both well hidden and easily spotted by his men?
After a cup of tea had passed, she still hadn't opened her eyes. Hu Peiran couldn't hold back any longer: "Sister Jiao, Brother Zhao, he—"
"He was in the city. In fact, he didn't leave the city at all that day."
Zhou Mujiao smiled and said, "The other side used the 'inviting the enemy into the trap' tactic, but little did they know that Zhao Yunjing was turning the tables on them and willingly walking into the trap."
After saying that, she pointed to a spot on the map: "He's here."
Hu Peiran and the others took a closer look and were stunned.
Could Zhou Mujiao have made a mistake? Why is Zhao Yunjing there?
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