Chapter 202 The Truth
Sun Wei finally understood. Deng Lian and A Ru had just returned and were about to reply to Sima Jun when Liu Ke arrived.
The two men found out a lot of things in the South China Sea.
Before questioning Liu Ke, Sima Jun had them taken behind a screen so that they could listen to Liu Ke's statement.
As expected, the two statements are very different.
"Father did have a lot of conflicts with Ou Kang, but it wasn't because he forcibly seized the Ou family's estates. It was because the Ou family used forced buying and selling in Nanhai County to encroach on the people's land. The villagers were so miserable that they complained to the governor's office, asking father to intervene. Father, what was wrong with protecting the country and the people? My father stood up for the villagers and turned against Ou Kang, which earned his hatred. Ou Kang allied with several powerful families to cause trouble, but father had troops at his disposal, and they were ultimately no match. So they thought of bribing Liu Ke to deal with father!"
Sima Jun asked, "Do you have any evidence? You must know that Liu Ke is an official appointed by the imperial court. If you slander him without any evidence, your crime will be even more serious."
"Yes!" Aju shouted, "I have a witness!"
Then, Aju mentioned Xian Rong.
This Xian Rong was the son of Xian Liang, an old subordinate of her father.
On the day of the attack on Dayuling, Aju saw Xian Rong, so she and Deng Lian followed Xian Rong to Panyu.
They saw Xian Rong entering a farm and after asking around, they learned that the owner of the farm was Ou Kang.
And Xian Rong was working for Qu Kang.
"Sima Deng wanted to secretly find out the news, but I couldn't bear it anymore, so I captured Xian Rong alive and interrogated him." Aru said proudly.
Deng Lian scratched his head.
Sun smiled and said, "Since he is willing to testify for you, I guess he is a friend, not an enemy?"
"That's right," A'ru said, "but we all misunderstood Xian Rong. Xian Liang was implicated in my father's case and was dismissed from office, where he died in depression. Xian Rong was just as dissatisfied as I was. Over the years, he has been trying every possible way to uncover the truth of what happened, hoping to one day clear his father's name."
This is undoubtedly good news.
Sima Jun asked, "Besides your father's injustice, what else has he found out over the years?"
A'ru said, "There's another important matter. The reason Qu Kang asked Zhu A'shen to intercept the prince was actually because someone in the north sent him a message saying that the prince knew about his father's injustice and had come to Guangzhou to investigate. Not only did he want to investigate, but he also wanted to deal with Qu and Wu Fen. That's why Qu Kang wanted to kill him."
In short, someone in the north wanted them to go without return.
Sun Wei was very surprised.
She looked at Sima Jun, only to see that he didn't look very surprised.
Compared to Liu Ke, Sun Wei naturally trusts Xian Rong more.
He was the murderer of Ning Xiu, so he had to portray Ning Xiu as a bad guy. That was also why Liu Ke lied to Sima Jun about the dispute between Ning Xiu and Ou Kang.
If you tell a lie, you have to cover it up at every step.
So when asked about the grudge between Qu Kang and Sima Jun and why they blocked each other's way, Liu Ke's statement did not stand up to scrutiny at all.
"I think even the reason Liu Ke asked the prince for help might not be true. It's not that Qu Kang has lost patience with him, but that he has lost patience with Qu Kang's constant defenses, so he wants to use the prince to get rid of Qu Kang."
Sima Jun nodded. "I suspect this was the deal he made with Qu Kang. Qu Kang was willing to respect him as governor and not cause him any trouble, but he didn't want another Ning Xiu to go against him, so he placed his own people around Liu Ke."
After that, he asked Aju: "Do you know who is the messenger from the north?"
"We haven't been able to find out about Xian Rong yet," A'ru said. "He said that because of General Ning, Qu Kang is very wary of people from the north and rarely interacts with them. He can't even talk to them, so how can he trust them? But Qu Kang has complete faith in this person. I don't know who he is."
Sun Wei pondered, "Has Xian Rong ever seen the messengers from the north? What do they wear, or what accent do they speak?"
"Xian Rong said he hadn't seen it, but it's possible that he missed it. After all, the Qu family comes and goes every day, and he can't take care of every one of them."
Sima Jun pondered for a moment and suddenly said, "It's possible that the people in the north have planted a lobbyist next to Qu Kang. Qu Kang must trust this lobbyist very much and obey his every word."
Sun Wei felt that Sima Jun's idea was the most reasonable.
But even so, everyone was clueless for a moment.
Sima Jun didn't bother and let Aju and Deng Lian go and rest.
A few days later, news arrived from Panyu City that a stone statue of the water god had indeed been unearthed in Liang Wen's old house. He immediately hired craftsmen to build a small shrine on the site.
When Sima Jun came to tell Sun Wei about this, Sun Wei had some ideas.
"I think that the prince should investigate Liang Wen carefully," she said to Sima Jun.
"He's from Qu Kang, so he knows everything. What else does Madam want to know?"
"I think this man is no ordinary person. When I told Liu Ke that he would be in danger of bloodshed, I wasn't trying to scare him. The one who wanted to kill him was none other than Liang Wen."
Sima Jun glanced at her and asked, "Liang Wen is Qu Kang's subordinate, so it's not surprising that he would attack Liu Ke."
Sun Wei thought about it and agreed.
In his previous life, Liang Wen took action against Liu Ke and eventually got the position of governor.
This change in the position of governor had far-reaching consequences. Later, when Wang Han poisoned the crown prince, Sima Jun escorted him to Jiangzhou and announced the move to the empire, mobilizing all troops to support the king. Among them, Liang Wen, the governor of Guangzhou, commanding 50,000 troops, remained motionless, leaving a significant gap in Sima Jun's rear.
Sun Wei had speculated that Liang Wen might have been a member of one of the factions that formed the siege of Jiangzhou between Wang Han, Cui Pan, or Lü Qiuyan. However, it was also possible that he had received instructions from Qu Kang to keep him out of the court's disputes.
"Madam, do you want to be the governor of Guangzhou?"
Sun Wei raised her eyes and found Sima Jun had appeared in front of her without her noticing.
"Why do you say that, my lord?" she asked.
"I think Liu Ke, the governor of Guangzhou, is very carefree. He is not as thoughtful as you, Madam, who wears his mind on his face."
Sun Wei then realized that he was frowning and quickly relaxed his brows.
"The future here is uncertain, isn't it possible that you haven't considered it?"
“I think about it,” he said, “but I never dwell on the unknown.”
As he spoke, he sat down across the table from Sun Wei.
The sound of cicadas chirped in the yard, and the midday breeze blew, bringing moist warmth.
Sun Wei looked outside and saw that midsummer had arrived.
In the midsummer in Lingnan, you can sweat even if you sit still.
Sima Jun, wearing the ramie gauze dress that Sun Wei had bought for him, picked up a scroll of documents and flipped through it.
The movements were smooth and leisurely.
Sun Wei looked at him, and for some reason, all her anxiety disappeared.
If every day could be this peaceful, what would be the harm in living in Lingnan forever? She thought.
"After you take the medicine, Madam, take a nap and recuperate." Sima Jun said.
Sun Wei: “…”
This stubborn donkey likes to pick out things she doesn't like to hear.
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