Chapter 425 Shocking Secret
No matter how calm Lord Zhuang and Lord Yin were, they could hardly conceal their expressions of shock at this moment. Suspicion was one thing, and actual confirmation was another. It was common knowledge that Duke Xu had received favors from the late Marquis Wuning. So why could he be so cruel to him?
If this is true, everything can be easily explained. However, Duke Xu will definitely kill people to silence them, and Duke Zhou will probably not be able to escape this time.
"Stop!" Lord Yin heard the seven or eight beatings and stopped them: "Bring the criminal up here. Don't hurt anyone and delay the trial."
Lu Jun wanted to object, but he said that Lord Yin had given him face by not interfering when people were beaten. It would be inappropriate for him not to give face to Lord Yin now, after all, Lord Yin held a higher official position.
Duke Zhou was helped up. Seven or eight beatings with the board had caused blood to seep out from the back of his white undergarment, and his collar was soaked with cold sweat. However, he still waved his hands to let the runners let him go and managed to stand.
"Duke Zhou, what happened back then? Can you..."
Lord Zhuang, who was sitting on the side, wanted Duke Zhou to tell the truth, but suddenly he thought, who would believe it if he said it was Duke Xu who did it? He must have thought that Duke Zhou was turning against Duke Xu.
Lord Zhuang sighed. It really had become a dead end at this point. Unless Duke Xu revealed himself, Duke Zhou would not be able to clear his suspicion.
"Ji Zhongliu, you were jealous of the outstanding military achievements of the former Marquis Wuning, so you colluded with Jian Hong and tricked the former Marquis Wuning to Mount Xumi, killing 30,000 soldiers in one day. With the testimony of Madam Xu, the Daliang spy, and the correspondence between you and Jian Hong, why don't you confess?"
Lu Jun slammed the table and asked.
"Lord Lu, I can admit to everything else, but I will never admit to this act of treason! I want to ask, if I was the one who framed the Marquis Xian Wuning, how did I get him to send troops to Mount Xumi?
How could Lord Lu be sure that what was found in the study was written by Jian Hong himself? Could it be that Lord Lu recognized Jian Hong's handwriting? Or anyone who writes the words "Jian Hong" can frame me? ”
[Duke Zhou is just cowardly, but not stupid. He will always figure out how to fight back. I'm afraid Duke Xu has other tricks up his sleeve...] Su Qianqian thought to herself.
Sure enough, Lu Jun took out a testimony and held it up to signal Duke Zhou: "This is the testimony of Prince Ning of Daliang, confirming that the letter is indeed written by Jian Hong. Prince Ning does not know the origin of this letter, so why would he frame you?"
Duke Zhou shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Sure enough, how could this be done by Jian Hong alone..."
"Stop bluffing and confess your guilt early so you don't have to suffer too much..." Lu Jun sneered complacently.
"Lord Lu, I also want to know how Duke Zhou was able to send the decree to the border. To mobilize troops, there must be a military token. How did Duke Zhou get the military token from your majesty?"
Lord Yin interrupted Lu Jun and got to the point.
"That's why I want to interrogate you, Ji Zhongliu. Why don't you tell me the truth? How did you make a fake military token and send a messenger to the northern border to trick the Marquis of Xianwuning into mobilizing troops?"
Lu Jun turned around and asked Duke Zhou.
"Lu Jun, I have brought this upon myself. I didn't tell the truth in time, which led to me nurturing a tiger to harm me. You can sentence me to any crime you like, but it is absolutely impossible for me to admit that I have betrayed my country and surrendered to the enemy!"
Duke Zhou said through gritting his teeth.
"Ji Zhongliu, you still dare to be so arrogant and disrespectful to the court. Come, give me another..."
"Lord Lu, let's stop here today. The criminal should be sent back to prison for treatment and we will retry him after he recovers from his injuries." Lord Yin interrupted Lu Jun again.
"Okay, the Ji family still has children and grandchildren, and they must all be tried. Even if Ji Zhongliu is tough, most of his children and grandchildren are weak. I don't know how long they can hold out." Lu Jun smiled coldly.
Ji Zhongliu lowered his eyes. When the nest is overturned, no eggs can remain intact. His descendants would naturally not be able to escape this disaster.
On the way back home, Su Qianqian saw many people from Daliang. They turned out to be the envoys from Daliang who came to welcome Zhao Ning. They would be leaving Xijing in a few days, and they requested to tour the streets of Xijing. Emperor Gan De approved their request.
[There are actually people from Da Qi in that team.] 】The system suddenly said.
Su Qianqian looked carefully through the car window, but did not see anyone who looked like Da Qi.
[That’s the woman wearing a veil walking in front. She looks so familiar... She is actually the daughter of General Jian Hong, named Jian Qingluan. This time she is the maid in the wedding procession. In fact, the wedding procession all obeys her orders. 】
Su Qianqian followed what the system said and her eyes fell on the tall woman in front of her. Although she was wearing a cloak and veil that covered most of her body, her calmness was still eye-catching.
[Perhaps Jian Hong’s wife is from Da Qi… In the past, Da Qi and Daliang had lived in peace for many years. 】Su Qianqian lowered the car curtain. This had nothing to do with her.
The route back to the Wuning Marquis Mansion was a bit sneaky. When Su Qianqian was still some distance away from the Wuning Marquis Mansion, she began to walk around here and there, thinking that no one would know that she was going to the Wuning Marquis Mansion, so she prepared to enter the mansion from the back corner door.
Cars could not enter the corner gate, so Su Qianqian got out of the car and hurried to enter the mansion, but she saw Qin Shiliu suddenly appear and stand beside her: "Someone is here."
Su Qianqian followed Qin Shiliu's gaze and saw a corner of Jiang Baipin's red robe peeking out from between the branches of a large locust tree outside the wall of the marquis' mansion.
Now that she was at this position, she could no longer pretend to be passing by. The nanny guarding the corner gate and her little yellow dog came out to greet her enthusiastically. Although Su Qianqian's face was incredibly ugly, the nanny and the little yellow dog did not look at faces.
Jiang Baipin jumped down from the tree easily, walked towards Su Qianqian, looked her up and down, and showed a look of disdain towards her face:
"I wonder if I should call you Madam Hou, or Lord Su? Or maybe you have a new name?"
"My name is Wu Kong. Sir, you may have recognized the wrong person?" Su Qianqian responded calmly.
"Su Qian, Madam Su... Wu Kong, no matter who you are, you are so heartless!
I killed a pack of wolves in the valley at Mount Qixia in vain. As long as I hadn't seen the fragments of your official robe, there would still be a glimmer of hope. But you are wandering around here for no reason... Even if you want to hide your identity, why didn't you tell me? ”
Jiang Baipin questioned Su Qianqian indignantly.
Is this confirmation that I am me? Do you want to struggle a little more? 】Su Qianqian was conflicted.
"Why should I tell you..." Su Qianqian answered vaguely.
"Because you and I once fought against the enemy together, we are friends for life and death. You can't treat me like this!" Jiang Baipin's eyes turned red.
"Friendship of life and death?" Su Qianqian was stunned. These four words had never existed in her world before.
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