Chapter 12: Dancheng moves silver, the city lord rebels
Seeing Shang Yuwan suddenly stunned, Xiao Qingxu waved his hand in front of her.
Shang Yuwan reacted and asked him, "What's wrong?"
Xiao Qingxu didn't ask her why she suddenly became distracted.
"The Crown Prince is cunning. Although we have these things, it is not enough. We lack important witnesses. After all, the Crown Prince is the only candidate for the throne in the eyes of the Emperor, and there is no guarantee of the Emperor's involvement in this. What if he suppresses this matter for his son?"
"Li Zixi and Zhang Jiuquan may serve as witnesses."
Xiao Qingxu shook his head in denial, "He and Zhang Jiuquan were of the same mind. If Zhang Jiuquan was truly coerced by the Crown Prince, then perhaps it was possible, but he was the one who personally admitted that General Shang had committed treason. His testimony was inconsistent and unreliable."
"Yeah, it's not credible." Shang Yuwan tilted his head and rubbed his neck with his hand. "We still need to increase the manpower to find that Yang Qianmo."
Xiao Qingxu didn't finish his words and continued, "Also, this is Dancheng after all, the city lord's territory. It might not be easy to seize it by force."
Shang Yuwan propped up his chin with his right hand, his eyes fixed on the booklet. "Don't worry about that. Li Zixi has his own way."
"Oh? Tell me more."
"They now know that someone has found out what they are transporting this time." Shang Yuwan's eyes never left the booklet.
"They've taken money from the people, leaving those in remote areas living in poverty. If we get to know about their smuggling of dirty money, it's better to let these things go into our pockets."
Shang Yuwan watched most of it, his eyes changing several times.
The transaction amount listed in the booklet was huge, but the people in Yanmen and several cities near Yanmen were not affected... Zhang Jiuqian, after all, was a soldier under her father.
"Li Zixi will convince the city lord that he's on the prime minister's side. He's pretending to surrender, and everyone can do that."
Xiao Qingxu thought about it for a while and immediately figured out Shang Yuwan's intention.
First, Li Zixi and the mayor of Dancheng pretended to smuggle dirty money, but their whereabouts were exposed and the money was robbed by unknown thieves. The mayor was on good terms with the prime minister and would have secretly passed on the message. When the prime minister learned about it, he would definitely take action. Then, Zhang Jiuqian used the excuse of being trapped by treacherous villains to expose the prime minister's corruption. If the prince was implicated, he could use the secret investigation of corruption as an excuse to get rid of suspicion.
But if that were the case, the scene would be exciting.
"A vicious dog bites its master, like two tigers fighting each other. It's interesting."
Shang Yuwan shook his head, "But Zhang Jiuquan can't move at this time."
Xiao Qingxu responded, "Although I don't know why Zhang Jiuquan chose to side with the Crown Prince, he must guard Yanmen Gate and cannot leave. Yanmen Gate cannot be guarded by treacherous people."
Shang Yuwan nodded, agreeing with what he said.
"It seems we've won this round, but the Crown Prince is no pushover. Furthermore, the Prime Minister was a discarded pawn. What Zhang Jiuquan has uncovered is only a portion of the evidence. We don't know what else is going on, and we don't know how much evidence has been destroyed. Zhang Jiuquan can help us deal a heavy blow to the Crown Prince, but don't forget, the Crown Prince still has His Majesty behind him."
"You mean, you suspect the person behind the Crown Prince is... the Emperor?"
Shang Yuwan chewed on what she was about to say and said carefully, "Not necessarily, but I am sure that the Crown Prince can act like this. I am afraid that His Majesty regards all of us as the whetstone for his only heir. After all, the Crown Prince does not seem to be pragmatic, and His Majesty sometimes still feels a little disappointed with him."
"Moreover," Shang Yuwan secretly exhaled, "When His Majesty was young, he lived in the camp and was as close to General Shang as a brother. The Shang family's treason is so strange, I don't believe he didn't help it at all."
When people stand in a high place for a long time, some things will eventually change.
"So what should we do next?"
"Wait for the prince to make his move."
After saying this, Shang Yuwan stopped talking. After reading the booklet, he continued to look at the letter.
For some reason, she always felt that something was wrong.
Xiao Qingxu heard the night watchman beating the gong, "The time is almost here."
Shang Yuwan hummed, "I guess they've all left."
Once this matter is accomplished, we will wait for the prince to make a move.
“Knock knock.”
Shang Yuwan got up and opened the door upon hearing the sound, and took a piece of letter from the guest.
"You're really quick and warm," she said as she sat back down and opened it.
Xiao Qingxu smiled.
When Shang Yuwan saw the contents of the letter, his expression changed slightly.
Xiao Qingxu noticed something was wrong and asked, "What's wrong?"
Shang Yuwan frowned slightly, and began to calculate rapidly in his mind again, "The prince went to Zengguo."
The fifth princess, Xiao Qinggu, whom they will assist to ascend to the throne in the future, is also in Zeng State.
"The owner of the building, Lord Shang."
Lu Heying's voice came from the window, and Xiao Qingxu and Shang Yuwan looked over together.
Lu Heying happened to climb in through the window, and Ji Suxian followed closely behind her, both of them with serious expressions.
"We need to move ahead. There's something... coming towards us."
On the other side, Bai Xiaoye and others have arrived at Huiyun Inn. They all wore masks and released smoke into the room.
The adults said that we just need to rob the silver and there is no need to hurt anyone.
The mayor of Dancheng had consulted with Li Zixi and had not sent anyone to stop them, so the exit from the city would be smooth. Cheng Yishui was just about to ask someone to move the silver when he turned around and saw Twelve standing in front of the unconscious Li Zixi, a long knife in his hand.
She lowered her head, her expression unclear.
"Hey, Twelve, don't be nosy. The master only asked us to move the silver out of the city. We can do the rest..."
"Cheng Yishui."
"ah?"
Twelve's heart was beating fast for some reason, and the hand holding the long sword was shaking. "Besides Lord Shang, Ji Suxian, those guests, and the deputy owner, who else in the inn can fight?"
"No, Bai Xiaoye and the two of us are here...you mean?"
"Did we have it a little too easy this time?" Twelve's brows knitted together. "Did we really not leave any traces?"
Cheng Yishui's expression suddenly changed.
broken!
Bai Xiaoye's expression changed after he was told this. Several people were about to abandon the silver and rush to the Fuzhi Inn when they suddenly saw several people holding torches outside.
Someone shouted, "Everyone, come with Liu."
The eyes of the Dancheng City Lord were extremely small, and now they were narrowed into a slit.
He sighed deeply, "It's not that Liu doesn't keep his word, but... Liu is really powerless."
The door was opened, and Twelve was the first to come out, followed by Bai Xiaoye, Cheng Yishui, and other guests.
Twelve's face was full of cruelty, with a long knife in one hand and a short dagger in the other, and murderous intent in his eyes, "Either get out or die."
The others were also filled with murderous intent, holding weapons in their hands.
The Lord of Dancheng pursed his lips and said calmly, "Kill them all."
The two forces were fighting each other. Three streets away, dozens of women in black sneaked into the Fuzhi Inn. However, the guest room where Xiao Qingxu and Shang Yuwan were staying was already empty.
The leading woman had her black hair tied up with a lavender headband. She was wearing a nightgown and had her face covered, revealing only a pair of weathered but still bright eyes. A man walked up to her and squatted on one knee to check the burn marks in the brazier.
The woman stood up and replied, "Auntie, it's burned very cleanly. There's some temperature in the basin. It hasn't gone far."
"Walk."
An extremely calm voice came from behind the veil. It sounded like this woman called Auntie seemed...over forty years old?
There was murderous intent in my aunt's eyes, and wrinkles appeared at the corners of her eyes.
"My Lord has ordered that if anyone is found, he must be killed without mercy."
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