Moreover, since military orders are often carried out passively, there should be traces. Regardless of how the other side restores the seal, careful examination should reveal changes to the seal.
Han Zhongyu listened and asked
"In other words, before you separated at Yixiantian, could you ensure that your respective military orders had not been altered and that the timing of the orders was consistent?"
The two messengers nodded in unison.
"Yes, we'd stake our lives on it."
Upon hearing this, Han Zhongyu immediately inquired about the messenger who delivered the message to Xiao Yi from Yixiantian.
"From the time you parted ways with your companions who came to Tianshui City until you delivered the military order to General Xiao, did anything unexpected happen?"
Or something that shouldn't have happened?
Did you encounter any suspicious individuals? Or Rouran people?
The messenger looked at Xiao Yi with a strange expression, then hesitated to speak.
Han Zhongyu asked
"But what did you remember?"
Tell the truth; if you hide anything, no one can save you!
Xiao Yi also scolded
"What exactly happened? Speak up! Were you threatened by the Rouran?"
"No, no, it's just, it's just..."
"What is it? Tell me now!"
The messenger gritted his teeth and said directly...
"When I arrived at your courtyard, I happened to run into Madam Xiao. Madam Xiao wanted to check the letters and asked General Zhang where he wanted her to go to provide support."
Madam Xiao said that there were only a few places nearby where the fighting was taking place, so Madam Xiao asked me if I was going to Tianshui City.
He also asked who the current commander of Tianshui City was.
Han Zhongyu's sharp questioning
"Have you spoken yet?"
The messenger shrank back in fright and whispered...
"Madam Xiao said that the identity of the commander-in-chief defending the city was not a military secret, so I... I told you!"
"Madam Xiao, Madam Xiao, are you a soldier of the Great Qi, or a soldier of Madam Xiao? This is called dereliction of duty!"
Han Zhongyu wanted to strangle him, but his intuition told him that the truth was near, so he patiently asked...
"Did you show the letter to Madam Xiao?"
"No! I always carry letters with me, so I didn't give her one at first."
However, Madam Xiao later made excuses and prevented her subordinates from seeing General Xiao. She even asked them to leave the letter in General Xiao's study, saying that no unauthorized people were allowed to approach General Xiao's study and that it was guarded and safe.
So, I left the letter in General Xiao's study, and then went to the dining room with Madam Xiao for a bowl of noodles.
"Since you knew that you should keep the letters with you, why did you put them in General Xiao's study?"
"Was Madam Xiao with you the whole time you were eating noodles?"
"No, Madam Xiao said she needed to pack General Xiao's luggage, so she took me to the restaurant and left."
Hearing this, Xiao Yi felt a chill run down his spine, but he couldn't believe Chu Mingzhu could do such a thing. He could only angrily question Han Zhongyu to hide his inner turmoil.
"What do you mean by asking that? Do you doubt Chu Mingzhu?"
She's just a stay-at-home woman; isn't it normal for her to take guests out for a bowl of noodles when they come to visit?
It's perfectly normal for her to worry about her husband and ask him where he's fighting. You can't doubt her just because of that!
Or are you deliberately picking a fight because of some old personal grudge?
Han Zhongyu's face darkened upon hearing this.
"Trying to pick a fight with her? She doesn't even deserve it!"
I'm just stating the facts. If it's just about taking someone out for a meal, then you can just take the military order with you. Why do you have to separate the person from the order?
This action was strange in itself.
Moreover, after bringing the person there, she left on her own, and who knows if she will go back to her study.
I think she has ulterior motives!
Xiao Yiqi's rebuttal
"That's prejudice! It's unfair to her."
"Wrong! This is my judgment of her based on her past behavior and actions; it's a reasonable suspicion!"
Seeing that neither of them would give in, Pei Jie spoke up.
"Alright, you two, stop arguing for now. We'll wait for General Xiao's order to come over, verify it, and then make a judgment."
When Pei Jie spoke, both of them had to give him face, so they immediately shut up and waited quietly.
Chu Mingzhu trembled with fear. Xie Yushu stared at her with eyes as cold as ice. If she had really changed the military order, today would be her death day!
Before long, Xiao Yi's military order was brought over. It had been so long that it was hard to tell whether it had been opened beforehand; the only thing that could be checked was the handwriting.
Pei Jie took them and placed the two military orders on the table. At present, the most obvious difference was the time on the two orders.
One sheet has a number 1, and another sheet has a number 3.
If you put the character "three" aside, at first glance it's hard to tell that the character "three" was written by two different people. After all, Chu Mingzhu held her breath and practiced for a long time before imitating the stroke.
But now that the two military orders are placed side by side and compared closely, you can see that the layout of the three characters is a bit off.
Zhang Chen came over and took a look, then pointed directly to the top horizontal line of the three characters.
“My dad has a habit of putting a lot of pressure on the first stroke when he writes, so this must have been modified by someone.”
The forensic expert from the yamen came over, examined the two characters for a while, and said...
"The three characters on this military order have indeed been altered by someone adding a horizontal stroke above and below the character '一', turning it from '一' into '三'."
However, judging from the other characters, General Zhang's writing habits are indeed as Young Master Zhang said: the strokes go from heavy to light, and the brushstrokes are vigorous and powerful.
The two horizontal strokes that were imitated look somewhat plausible at first glance, but upon closer inspection, their shape is weak and lacks strength, resembling the work of a young child learning to write or a woman with insufficient wrist strength.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yi was first incredulous, then shocked, bewildered, and confused. Finally, he rushed to Chu Mingzhu, grabbed her shoulders, and asked...
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