Chapter 255: The Sorrow of Mount Xumi
[That’s right, I’m here for revenge.] 】The system said quietly.
[This Zhou Changshi was the elder brother of the messenger Zhou Tang. He was originally a cold-tempered person. When he was young, Zhou Tang rescued his elder brother from the pond. The elder brother was not very close to him but just paid attention to him secretly.
Later, Zhou Tang's mother died early, his father had many sons, and his stepmother was even more impatient to see them. After Zhou Tang got a job, he separated from the family and bought his own house, and he rarely saw his stepbrother.
This legitimate brother had originally had no intention of pursuing a career in politics and only wanted to live a leisurely life. Unexpectedly, upon hearing the news of his half-brother's death, although he did not show anything, he suddenly changed his mind, took part in the imperial examination, and passed the exam. However, he did not become an official, but instead recommended himself to Prince Mu's palace to be the chief historian, and was deeply trusted by Prince Mu.
After that, he had been in contact with Madam Shaohua for many years, trying to find evidence that she killed her husband and make her pay for her half-brother's life.
But after much investigation, he found out that Madam Shaohua was not the real murderer. He could not touch the real murderer, but he had become accustomed to treating Madam Shaohua as his target of revenge. He came to Xie Fangyuan just to find out what Madam Shaohua had done, hoping to make her pay the price one day.
Now Madam Shaohua is as good as dead, and she and her brother are nowhere to be found. He doesn't know whether his revenge has been taken, and he will continue to look for the real murderer. 】
The system ate a melon, but was not very happy. Instead, it felt a little depressed. There was no other sound in the carriage except the sound of horse hooves.
[If Zhou Changshi wanted to avenge Zhou Tang, then he and we have the same goal, but we don't know if he can find out what Zhou Tang had done. 】
Su Qianqian said in her heart, this should be the most difficult part, after all, it is a huge secret.
"Xue Ke, are you familiar with Prince Mu's Zhou Changshi?" Su Qianqian asked suddenly. Xue Ke was in a daze. He was startled when he heard Su Qianqian's question. He shook his head quickly, and then nodded under Su Qianqian's gaze.
"I wouldn't say they are familiar with each other. Zhou Changshi came to Xie Fangyuan to listen to the zither, and Xue Ke often served him, so she knew him. But she didn't do anything for Zhou Changshi. Zhou Changshi... doesn't like to talk much."
"Do you know what other hobbies Zhou Changshi has besides listening to the zither, and who he is close to?"
"In addition to liking to listen to the zither, Zhou Changshi probably also likes to study geomancy with others. Like Prince Yi, if he hears that there is an out-of-print ancient book somewhere, he must get it. He has left Xijing many times to survey with Prince Yi."
Xue Ke said a little nervously.
"Are you afraid of Zhou Changshi?" Su Qianqian looked at Xue Ke with scrutiny.
“No… I’m not afraid…”
Xue Ke stammered, "It's just that Madam once reminded me not to speak nonsense to Zhou Changshi, not to neglect Zhou Changshi, and not to mention Zhou Changshi's actions to others..."
Su Qianqian narrowed her eyes slightly. It seemed that this Zhou Changshi was very important. Even Madam Shaohua was quite afraid of him, and she should know Zhou Changshi's true identity.
Just as I was thinking about something, I suddenly heard the sound of an arrow breaking through the air, followed by a snap and some commotion outside.
Su Qianqian lifted the curtain of the carriage and saw Qin Shiliu, the guard sent to her by Qin Hanzhang, coming over with an arrow without an arrowhead. There was a piece of paper tied to the arrow. It was obvious that someone was trying to shoot it into the carriage, but was blocked by Qin Shiliu. Passersby were pointing and talking.
"Young Master, someone was delivering a letter by shooting an arrow. To prevent any accidents, we did not chase him." Qin Shiliu handed the arrow to Su Qianqian.
He nodded, took it and opened it. After thinking for a while, Su Qianqian asked the coachman to leave the city and go to the Luoxia Mountain Villa in the suburbs.
This was Su Qianqian's first time to come to the villa. In the past, the Qin family occasionally went to the villa to cool off, but the original owner always stayed in the mansion to take care of household chores and never went with them. Instead, she felt more comfortable in the mansion during those days.
An hour later, they arrived at the villa and learned that it was the wife of Marquis Wuning who had arrived. The villa's steward hurried out to greet her and ordered the maids to immediately tidy up the living room, light the brazier, and prepare tea and food.
After Su Qianqian had arranged everything in the room, she ordered the servants to wait in the front yard and not to stay in the backyard to serve. Only Xue Ke and Su Xing were left waiting in front of the door, and were to let in anyone who came.
In less than half a minute, a masked man in black climbed over the wall and entered. The servants and two guards in the courtyard stepped forward to stop him. Xue Ke stepped forward and motioned for him to come in.
Su Qianqian was standing in the living room looking at the paintings. When she heard the voice, she turned around and said with a smile:
"Tao Changshi is so good at martial arts that he can shoot arrows at will in the busy streets of Xijing, and he can even climb over the wall to find me. If he hadn't broken an arm, he would definitely be a great help to the people of Daliang."
The man in black pulled down the black cloth, revealing Tao Huan's expressionless face. He sat on the pearwood armchair and looked up at Su Qianqian:
"Madam Wuning is very courageous. I don't know who sent the letter, but she dared to come alone to the appointment. Even if it was in your Wuning Marquis Mansion, since I am here, I have a way to escape. Is Madam brave or reckless?"
"Tao Changshi, the courage of an ordinary man is also courage. Even if Changshi has practiced hard for many years, he can still see traces of his left hand writing. This alone is enough. For the rest, just give it a try. If you don't have enough force, you can make up for it with your brain. Everything has risks. Three parts are luck and seven parts are courage!"
Su Qianqian also sat down and motioned Tao Changshi to have some tea.
"No wonder Prince Ping is obsessed with Master Su. The wife of Marquis Wuning is indeed extraordinary. The women in Marquis Wuning's mansion are never inferior to the men. That's why I came to make a deal with her."
Tao Changshi brushed off the dust on his legs with one hand and said calmly.
"I'd like to hear the details." Su Qianqian picked up the teacup and took a sip.
"Tao is willing to share what he knows in exchange for the wife of Marquis Wuning reaching out to the six ministries to find out the truth about the battle at Mount Xumi that year." Tao Huan's expression remained calm.
"It is Tao Changshi who is very bold. Do you know that your trip is equivalent to betraying Daliang? If I leak it out, you may only leave your life here. Similarly, I am going to gamble my life and property. How does Tao Changshi know that I am willing to exchange?" Su Qianqian asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Madam Wuning must know that nine years ago, in the battle at Mount Xumi in the northern border, in addition to the Wuning Marquis Mansion, more than 30,000 soldiers of Daqi were buried in foreign lands. Those people were all brothers and comrades of mine."
When Tao Huan said this, he stretched out his left hand to take the teacup. Su Qianqian caught a glimpse of the tea spreading out in ripples.
"Back then, Tao was the commander of the scout camp in the army of Marquis Wuning. In late autumn, Marquis Wuning, the Crown Prince, and the Second Young Master suppressed the people of Daliang to the north of Mount Xumi. They used this mountain as a boundary and dared not take a single step out. They also agreed to send a letter of surrender and pay tribute to quell the war.
The soldiers had packed their bags and were looking forward to returning victoriously day and night, but that day someone from the capital suddenly came with a message. Not long after, the marquis called me into the tent, pondered for a long time, and then ordered me to lead a group of brothers from the scout camp into Mount Xumi to investigate whether a small group of Daliang people had abducted the Da Qi people.
I asked him where he got the news and who the abducted people from Da Qi were, but the marquis refused to say anything. I could only sneak into the mountains with my brothers at night.
But on the morning of the next day, we returned empty-handed and wanted to go back to the camp to report, but we heard the sound of drums and trumpets from the Great Qi army. The entire camp was moving out into Mount Xumi! ”
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