Xu Jing's prediction was correct. When Luo Ying led the soldiers into Yang's mansion, Yang Zhiming was fighting wits and courage with the man in black.
As he was outnumbered, Yang Zhiming had been stabbed several times. When he was exhausted, he was almost hacked to death by the men in black because of his panic.
"Lao Luo, save me quickly." Yang Zhiming's eyes lit up. When he saw Luo Ying, he waved at him as if he had seen a god.
When the man in black saw Luo Ying coming, he attacked Yang Zhiming with a fatal move as if he was not afraid of his life. As a result, Yang Zhiming was hit in the thigh again because he was not paying attention.
Blood gushed out, and Yang Zhiming endured the pain and chopped down the two closest to him. When his strength was exhausted, Luo Ying swung the spear in his hand and sent the nearest black-clad man flying.
With a few clangs, the spear was like a dragon, sweeping through thousands of troops.
There were only ten men in black in total, and he knocked down five of them in one go.
Seeing this, the men in black did not dare to fight and had to retreat.
Yang Zhiming breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Old Luo, it's a good thing you came, otherwise I would have been killed by the villains. Wait, what are you doing?"
Luo Ying tied Yang Zhiming tightly with a bundle of hemp rope and stuffed a rag into his mouth, making him unable to speak.
"Come, surround the Yang residence. Let even a mosquito go."
Yang Zhiming sobbed a few times, really confused as to why Luo Ying, whom he always regarded as a brother, would tie him up.
Luo Ying carried him into the study like a chicken. Before he could even catch his breath, the rag was peeled off. "Where is the document you used to communicate with the Jiannu?"
"Lao Luo, what are you talking about? How come I don't know?"
Luo Ying said with a dark face, "Does Ye Changge know that I apprehended him after he broke into the prison at night? Not long after, you were surrounded by men in black who wanted to silence you. Why do you think that was?"
"Lao Luo, just based on this one thing you suspect I'm colluding with the Jiannu. You're exaggerating."
Yang Zhiming secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He knew Luo Ying was simple-minded and didn't understand the twists and turns at all. If she did, Jiang Xuqing wouldn't have caught her wrong and thrown her into jail.
It's really laughable that such a young man hopes to learn how to solve cases from others.
Yang Zhiming complained: "Please loosen the rope quickly. I am still injured and need treatment."
Luo Ying grabbed him by the collar and asked, "I'll ask you one last time, where are the letters you exchanged with the Jiannu?"
"Luo Ying, are you crazy?" Yang Zhiming laughed. "I was completely insane to collude with the Qing army. Collaboration with the enemy and treason is a serious crime punishable by extermination of all generations. How could I not know that? Don't let your utilitarianism blind you and just accuse me of something, okay?"
Luo Ying spoke word by word, "Ye Changge has confessed everything. He said you were the mastermind behind this."
"He's bullshit." Yang Zhiming cursed without thinking: "When did I ever ally with the Russians? I just cursed his girl because I was mad at him. What's wrong with that?"
Luo Ying pressed on, half believing and half doubting. "You really didn't do it?"
"Lao Luo, you're just paranoid. How could I do something that could get me killed? Let me go now."
I won’t let you go.
Luo Ying instructed the two officers and soldiers, saying, "Search for me."
"You dare!" Yang Zhiming struggled to get up, but was easily knocked over by Luo Ying and fell to the ground.
Yang Zhiming gritted his teeth and said, "What right do you have to search my house?"
"He doesn't have it, but I do."
The door opened, and Xu Jing walked in holding the official seal. He looked down at Yang Zhiming, who was lying on the ground, and said, "General Yang, long time no see."
"Bah." Yang Zhiming spat out a mouthful of blood foam and angrily said, "Luo Ying, when did you become an accomplice to Jiang Xuqing?"
He should have figured it out long ago. Luo Ying and Jiang Xuqing weren't at odds with each other, never to have anything to do with each other. Rather, they had reached a consensus and had been together for a long time.
But everyone thought that Luo Ying and Jiang Xuqing hated each other and were like strangers.
It was precisely because of this that Yang Zhiming tried to sow discord between the two. He wanted to use Luo Ying as a collaborator, but he didn't expect that he would fail in one fell swoop.
Jiang Xuqing was really good at this. He kept all of them in the dark, like fools.
He had long since taken Luo Ying as his lackey, using her for his own purposes. He had even thought Luo Ying was a fool, never realizing that he was the fool.
Xu Jing smiled and said, "According to an anonymous report, Yang Zhiming, the gatekeeper of Jianzhou, is colluding with foreign enemies and attempting to kill the people of Jianzhou. I have been ordered to search Yang's mansion. Use my official seal as evidence. Search it inside and out, leaving no corner untouched."
Yang Zhiming shouted, "You dog officer, I am your equal. You have no right to search the Yang Mansion."
"Why not? According to the laws of Dayan, if someone reports that a local military officer is secretly communicating with foreign enemies, the local prefect can search the mansion of the officer with just the official seal."
Xu Jing paused and continued, "General Yang, this is also for your own good. If General Yang is upright, I will seek justice for him and will not shield the whistleblower. If General Yang insists on resisting, he must be guilty. We must conduct a thorough investigation to clear General Yang of suspicion."
Yang Zhiming was so angry that he vomited blood.
Where did the whistleblower come from? It was clearly fabricated by Jiang Xuqing. His purpose was to drag him into this.
If Jiang Xuqing had come a little later, he could have delayed Luo Ying for a longer period of time, thereby transferring the items and clearing his name. Now it was all over.
As waves of officers and soldiers came in, they turned the Yang Mansion upside down.
The letters hidden in the box by Yang Zhiming, the silver stored in the warehouse, and the banknotes in the treasure box of his concubines were all searched out.
The soldiers even brought Xu Jing the account book. He flipped through a few pages and said with a smile, "General Yang, as far as I know, your annual salary is only 150 taels. Where did the 1,000 taels in the account come from?"
Yang Zhiming stiffened his neck and said, "That's the profit from the shop my wife brought as a dowry."
"Oh? But the account book clearly states that it's unexpected income. Does your shop count as unexpected income?"
Upon hearing this, Yang Zhiming's face turned purple. He argued, "It's my private money."
"I understand that General Yang was a hunter in Nanlou Village before he became an official. How much silver does a hunter earn per month? Doesn't General Yang have any idea of that?"
Yang Zhiming was speechless, knowing that the more he said about this matter, the more mistakes he would make, so it would be better to say nothing.
As more and more evidence was found, a group of crying concubines in the backyard collapsed to the ground.
Xu Jing knew that Yang Zhiming was a tough guy and would not easily reveal the outcome, so he found a soldier and whispered to him for a while.
Soon, the officers and soldiers brought a three-year-old child.
Yang Zhiming's heartbeat quickened when he saw his son stumbling towards him. He desperately tried to break free from the ropes, but Luo Ying stepped on him. "Behave yourself."
"Jiang Xuqing, if you have the guts, just ask me. Why did you arrest my son?"
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