Chapter 409: Sending General Yuan on a Long Journey
Even though the court had not yet opened, Lu Jing's affairs had already spread among the nobles of Xijing as they visited relatives and friends. This time something really big had happened.
Because it was the first month of the lunar year, the royal family had the custom of continuing the funeral procession during the first month of the lunar year, so Lu Jing was buried first after the coroner at the Dali Temple examined his injuries.
When burying Lu Jing, Emperor Gan De allowed the Duke's Mansion to escort him to the Lu family tomb with the ceremonial procession of a prince.
However, Duke Xu was not from an aristocratic family, so even if the Lu family tomb was rebuilt, it would not be very impressive. It was the first month of the year and it was still cold and difficult to repair the tomb. In the end, Lu Jing was buried in the tomb prepared for his grandfather.
Lu Jing was buried on the ninth day of the first lunar month, and court was reopened on the tenth day. On this day, Duke Zhou's power over the imperial guards was taken back due to dereliction of duty, and Duke Xu was in charge alone.
On the twelfth day of the first lunar month, Tao Huan sent a letter to Su Qianqian, and he got the manual for decrypting ciphertext from Daliang.
Su Qianqian was overjoyed and asked someone to write a reply asking Tao Huan to come to Wuning Marquis' Mansion after dark.
I thought Tao Huan would arrive on time as he was familiar with the route, but it was already dark and there was still no movement at the courtyard wall.
"Maybe he won't come today, so don't wait any longer." Su Qianqian stood up. She and Qin Hanzhang had been waiting in the study for more than an hour.
Qin Hanzhang nodded, and was about to go back to Tinglan Courtyard with Su Qianqian, but he heard Qin San's voice in the yard: "My Lord, the person is here, and he is seriously injured!"
Su Qianqian and Qin Hanzhang were startled and hurried to the door, but Qin San had already come in with someone.
Tao Huan was wearing a black tights, with several arrows stuck in his shoulders and back, and knife wounds on his body. Blood was dripping from the fingertips of his only remaining arm.
Qin San almost dragged Tao Huan away, his head was lowered and his eyes were closed.
"My Lord, I found him outside the courtyard and brought him back. There were people following him, but they retreated when they saw us."
Su Qianqian asked Qin San to quickly put the person on the couch in the study, and then go get a basin of warm water. She also asked Su Mu to go back to the yard to get her medicine box.
While Qin Hanzhang went to ask the guards, Su Qianqian stuffed a pill into Tao Huan's mouth and gave him an injection of adrenaline.
Tao Huan woke up when Su Mu brought the medicine box.
Su Qianqian had already checked Tao Huan's wound. The edge of the wound was black and purple. It was obvious that the arrow was poisonous. It was determined to kill Tao Huan.
Although Tao Huan was fed detoxification pills, his arrow wounds were too severe, with one arrow hitting his back, and this was beyond the ability of Su Qianqian's medical skills to cure.
"Madam, don't worry!" Although Tao Huan was weak, he was still conscious and stopped Su Qianqian from treating his injuries.
Su Qianqian didn't stop. It was not her habit to give up until the last moment.
"You talk, I listen, and I will do my best." Su Qianqian calmly threw a piece of blood-stained cotton cloth into the waste bin.
"My Lord, I got the secret book, but unfortunately Prince Ning found out that it had been replaced. Although I escaped and was caught up by them when Prince Ning sealed off my residence for a search, but..."
Tao Huan pointed at his clothes with difficulty.
Qin Hanzhang was already standing beside Su Qianqian, looking down at Tao Huan, experiencing once again the pain of witnessing his comrades' lives being lost on the battlefield in the northern border.
Qin Hanzhang felt a foreign object in the lining of Tao Huan's clothes. He carefully cut it open, revealing a thin booklet.
"Madam, I am lucky to have fulfilled my mission. For so many years, I have endured humiliation and lived in Daliang. I have not been able to sleep well every night. This time, I can sleep peacefully.
Even if he doesn't see the old marquis get his revenge, Yuan Wei believes that the marquis's wife can do it. Even if the secret code is leaked, unless they don't need it and can't change it to a new one in a short time, Yuan Wei will die with his eyes closed..."
"Commander Yuan, I'm sorry. It's my fault that I put you in danger..." Su Qianqian felt sad. She took out various life-saving drugs from the space and gave them to Yuan Wei.
"Madam, what are you talking about? It was Madam who helped Yuan Wei. Yuan Wei couldn't ask for more than being able to do something for the 30,000 brothers in Northern Xinjiang..."
Yuan Wei's voice became lower and lower. He struggled to turn towards Qin Hanzhang, his eyes somewhat distracted: "My Lord, the former Qin Army Scout Battalion Commander Yuan Wei has returned to the camp..."
"Yuan Wei, you did a great job. On behalf of the Qin Army, I would like to thank you for fighting alone for nine years. We will remember your contribution in the future and keep your name in the Qin Army's heroic record."
Qin Hanzhang looked serious and respectfully bowed to Yuan Wei.
Yuan Wei's eyes suddenly focused and glowed with a strange look. He then laughed a few times, the light in his eyes dimmed, and he slowly closed his eyes.
Su Qianqian was still cleaning Yuan Wei's wound. At this moment, her hand paused slightly, and then continued to wipe it without leaving a trace of blood.
"I'll do it." Qin Hanzhang reached out and took the cotton cloth from Su Qianqian's hand, asked Su Qianqian to wait outside, and instructed Qin San to change the basin of water, carefully wipe Yuan Wei clean, and change him into clean clothes.
"Pass the order down, order the Qin family army to check the troops in the barracks tomorrow and send General Yuan Wei on his journey."
Qin Hanzhang straightened the sleeve of Yuan Wei's broken arm and told Qin San to pass on the message.
Yuan Wei was covered with a white cloth and carried out. Su Qianqian watched him leave. It was the first time in her long time in this world that her eyes became red.
[Prince Ning knows that the Wuning Marquisate has taken the person away, so he will spare no effort to find him. The secret code was made many years ago, and it will take time to change it. It will not be easy to notify all the spies lurking in Da Qi. 】
The system's voice has a slightly nasal tone.
[Since Prince Ning dared to do it, don't blame me for being ruthless. This time I will destroy his spy network in Da Qi and bury him with Yuan Wei. If I can't do it, I, Su Qianqian, will never leave! 】
Su Qianqian secretly swore in her heart that her original intention was to save herself and she did not want to be an enemy of anyone, but Yuan Wei died because of her words, and she could not remain indifferent.
Back at Tinglan Courtyard, Su Qianqian asked Qin Hanzhang to take out the blood-stained secret booklet and sit down to decipher the note left by Madam Xu from Xiayifang at the Temple of the Goddess of Childbirth.
"So that's how it is. Madam Xu is indeed a spy for Daliang, spying on the secrets of the officials' houses and reporting them to the wet nurse in the Duke's Mansion. The news from the wet nurse is then passed on to the people of Daliang by Madam Xu."
Su Qianqian showed the decrypted content to Qin Hanzhang and sneered, "Okay, since they love to use secret codes so much, we can use the secret codes to make a net and catch them all in one fell swoop!"
Qin Hanzhang naturally thought so too, so the two of them sent messages overnight to the Qin family army's secret guards who were monitoring spies everywhere, asking them to replace the messages with new ones after receiving them from the Daliang spies.
On the 13th day of the first lunar month, the Qin army lined up in Beijing to see General Yuan Wei off.
On the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, an uproar broke out in Xijing City. Qin Hanzhang led the Imperial Guards to purge Daliang's spies and arrested five people who were passing on information for Daliang. Among them was Madam Xu from Xiayifang, and two of them were actually seventh-rank officials of Da Qi.
These five people were thrown into the prison cells set up by the Imperial City Guards, and their family members were also imprisoned by the Imperial City Guards, who were determined not to stop until they dug out useful information.
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