Song Liyun has been in Wu Dynasty for so long, but she has never really dealt with these wealthy nobles, and she can't help but feel a headache.
Lin Qingyuan had been a little anxious just now, but now he comforted Song Liyun: "We don't need to be too hasty. Today is our first night in Hecheng. Even if the Qi family is very bold, they won't dare to take action. Let's choose another hour to come back."
In the garrison, several maids stood aside holding hot water, and a beautiful concubine helped Zhao Tinglei take off his official uniform and boots.
The business card sent by Abu was thrown into the bookcase in the corner by one of the maids.
The people who interacted with Zhao Tinglei were all from the military camp. If there was something, they would just visit him directly and had no habit of using these business cards.
These things are only given to those who want to give them as gifts. Anyway, the master doesn't look at them much, so you can just throw them away as you like.
Over in the prison cell of the garrison, the Lin family members were tied together with a rope and moved from the wooden cage.
This is a remote courtyard. Although it is still simple, at least it has a roof to shelter from the cold wind.
Lin Qinghua, who had always been in poor health, finally developed a fever after going through all this.
At this time, his face was flushed, his hands and feet were cold, his whole body was trembling, and he was unconscious.
Mrs. Lin was extremely anxious. She hugged Lin Qinghua who was lying on the cold kang and cried.
Several concubines ran to the door and asked the guard for hot water and medicine.
As the head of the family, Lin Shouzhuo turned pale when faced with the tragic scene, but he closed his eyes and said nothing.
Finally I got some hot water, but there was no medicine, only a bowl of ginger soup.
Fortunately, after Lin Qinghua drank the ginger soup, he woke up and started groaning loudly.
His mouth was broken by the slap, and it felt like it was burning with pain from the ginger soup.
Lin Qinghua cursed incoherently, "That bastard didn't care about his parents and hid away. He's unfaithful, unfilial, unkind, and unrighteous."
He knew clearly that Lin Qingyuan had been rescued, but he still had to endure the hardship.
As the night deepened, the whole city fell silent at the first drumbeat. Now, all that could be heard was the clattering of patrol soldiers' horses' hooves and the eerie whimpering of stray dogs.
A fire suddenly broke out in a courtyard, followed by chaotic shouting and screaming.
There was a knock on the door and Zhao Tinglei turned over and sat up, his clothes neatly dressed.
The guards who rushed in didn't care that there was a beautiful concubine hiding in the quilt and shivering next to him. They said directly: "General, thieves broke into Subei Lane and set fire. The brothers killed three and captured five, but..."
"But what? Tell me quickly!" Zhao Tinglei was a little anxious.
When he was a captain of the Zhenbei Army, he had no direct conflict with the Qi family.
Now that he is the garrison commander, the first thing he has to do is to eradicate the cancer that is the Qi family.
But the Qi family has deep roots and Hecheng is just a small branch. Without real evidence and catching the criminals red-handed, it is impossible to shake the foundation.
The guard slumped to his knees and said, "Those five people committed suicide by taking poison on the spot!"
Zhao Tinglei slammed his thigh and said, "Ah! What a great opportunity! I'd rather lead my troops into the grasslands and die on the battlefield than waste my time with these snakes, insects, rats and ants."
The guards were also annoyed. They were all warriors who had fought on the battlefield. It was really frustrating to have to deal with these secretive people.
There was nothing more to say in the dormitory. Soon the light in Zhao Tinglei's study came on, and Old Yu came over with several soldiers.
Zhao Tinglei asked, "What's the situation?"
Yu Laodao: "I checked the identity tokens and found that they are all cattle and sheep traders who came in from outside the customs today."
These are all people from the Wu Dynasty. They frequently travel between the two places and can convey the latest tribal news to the Wu Dynasty. They are also the most unstable factor, making the Zhenbei Army love and hate them.
"Are they all dead?"
"They are all dead. Not a single confession was left. They must be the assassins of the Qi family."
"A business can afford to hire assassins. The Qi family is really brave!" Zhao Tinglei's face was gloomy.
The Qi family is indeed very courageous.
In the past, the Qi family had colluded with the prefect of Hecheng, and using the name of the government and the trademark of the imperial merchant, they almost monopolized the trade route of Hecheng.
Now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, the prefect of Hecheng has returned to Beijing and is imprisoned. The Qi family has the eldest princess and the imperial concubine as their backers, so they naturally don't worry about being implicated.
It's just a personnel change, and some branch merchants need to be cleared out.
Elder Yu continued, "In fact, the Qi family has not given up on the Lin family. Their people have been following them since Pingyang Prefecture, and our newly-moved courtyard is also under their surveillance."
Zhao Tinglei's face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot: "So, it's all in vain for Censor Zhou and the others to distance themselves from the matter."
"It can be said that all our actions are under the control of the Qi family."
If Zhao Tinglei had not deployed fifty people around the Lin family, the Lin family would have become a pile of corpses tonight.
But this time, the enemy was alerted and the conflict between the two sides was exposed.
What was especially bad was that Zhao Tinglei realized that he, the commander-in-chief of the Zhenbei Army and the garrison commander of Hecheng, was actually being completely monitored by a merchant.
"Yes, my lord, when daybreak comes, Qi Kexian will invite the two imperial censors to be his guests!"
This is a blatant demonstration.
Zhao Tinglei lowered his voice and said solemnly, "Mr. Yu, what if a sudden fire fell from the sky and burned down the Qi family..."
"No! My lord, you are no longer on the battlefield, so be careful not to act rashly."
There was no need for Zhao Tinglei to say anything more, as Old Yu flatly denied it.
It would be easy to burn down the Qi family, but it would certainly cause great disturbances in the court.
Governing a country depends on the word "weighing".
The court is relatively peaceful now. If the Crown Princess and the Royal Noble Consort are angered, the old ministers in the court will be divided into two rows.
This was not a good thing for the new emperor and Duke Anguo who had just taken over the government.
In Hecheng East Lane, on the second floor roof of an ordinary inn.
Song Liyun sat on the roof, watching the fireworks rise and then go out from afar with a raised brow. It wasn't until the shouting gradually died down that she praised: "It's worthy of being a military city. Look, several streets have been blocked in just half an incense stick."
Next to her was Lin Qingyuan, who was lying on all fours.
Hearing Song Liyun say that the street had been blocked, Lin Qingyuan had no time to get up from the high roof. He could only stretch his neck to look down, and sure enough, he saw torches densely packed like dragons all over the streets of the city.
"Young Madam, do you think something will happen in that yard?" Abu asked from the side.
He was a little sad. This afternoon, the young lady went to see the eldest master to say that the Lin family might be silenced, and now it happened.
In the darkness, Song Liyun couldn't see Lin Qingyuan's expression, but she made a rough estimate: "It should be fine. Those torches are moving in an orderly manner. If the person inside is dead, they will spread out to search for the murderer."
Following Song Liyun's instructions, Abu looked again and saw that the torches were indeed evenly distributed around the street, with no signs of dispersion.
As the two were talking, they saw a figure swaying nearby, and Lao Qian climbed up to the roof.
He went there specifically to inquire about the news.
As soon as he reached the roof, Lao Qian rushed to Lin Qingyuan and whispered, "Sir, no one inside was injured, but all the thieves are dead, no one is left alive.
Judging from the skills of those guys, they look a lot like the guys from Lao Shan Lin Zi."
Lao Qian was a gangster, and he had dealings with Lin Qingyuan on the grassland, so he naturally knew some of the bandits who often robbed people on the road.
I just don't understand how they can be distinguished from such a distance?
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