Chapter 168
The west wind gradually rose, and the fallen leaves accumulated into a thick layer in the yard, but Xiaobai was having a lot of fun. He lay lazily on the piled leaves to bask in the sun, sweeping his tail from time to time, and soon jumped up to chase the falling leaves.
Lin Shuge had a faint smile on his face. He held the cat food he prepared for it and called the playful cat a few times. Xiaobai was very sharp-eyed and sharp-eared. He moved his ears, dropped the leaves between his paws, and ran over to eat quickly. Lin Shuge touched its head and removed the leaves from its body. Then he said, "Do you know that you are at home now? You can't run outside all the time."
A black shadow appeared in the air. Xiao Bai seemed to sense something and uttered a threatening sound while eating. Lin Shuge said with a smile, "I'm not stealing your food. Why are you threatening me?"
Just as he finished speaking, he saw a huge bird coming towards this side. The white pigeon that was happily eating millet under the eaves was frightened and fluttered around in the cage. Lin Shuge looked at Xiao Hei in front of him, and then he understood why Xiao Bai reacted so strongly to a meal.
"Did Zhongxuan ask you to come?" Lin Shuge looked at the nimble and agile bird with shining eyes.
Xiao Hei looked at Lin Shuge with a pair of sharp eyes. It looked very ferocious, but Lin Shuge knew that it was very close to him. As soon as he stretched out his hand, Xiao Bai tilted its head and rubbed his hand, then moved left and right, revealing the letter tied to its leg.
Lin Shuge took the letter and read it as he walked. He saw that in the letter, Xie Chen said that he led his soldiers to break the siege of Muye Chanyu unexpectedly, and rescued Zhao Duwei from the heavy siege of the Huns.
Lin Shuge was both excited and proud. He asked someone to go to the kitchen to get some fresh meat, and he fed Xiao Hei while reading the letter.
When he saw that Captain Zhao was seriously injured and died, Lin Shuge suddenly stood up. Xiao Hei was startled by his drastic movement. He tilted his head to look at him, and when he saw that nothing was wrong, he lowered his head, picked up a piece of meat from the plate and swallowed it in a few bites.
Lin Shuge was silent for a moment, with a trace of sadness between his brows. Captain Zhao was seriously injured and died. He didn't know what arrangements would be made in Yandu. Zhongxuan probably wouldn't come back at this moment.
Also, the Huns suffered a severe blow this time and might make a comeback someday, while the Duwei Mansion is leaderless and may be arguing endlessly at the moment.
Zhongxuan's achievements are great but he has no foundation at the moment. He is too conspicuous and might even cause unnecessary trouble.
Lin Shuge couldn't help but feel a little worried, and immediately returned to his desk and wrote a letter, reminding Xie Chen to be careful at all times and to write to him as soon as possible if there was any news in Yandu.
After finishing writing, he thought that Xie Chen probably didn't have many gunpowder weapons left after this battle, so he added a few more sentences to the letter.
After writing the letter, he rolled it up and tied it to Xiao Hei's leg. After thinking for a while, he took out another thing, raised his head and touched Xiao Hei's shiny black feathers, "Excuse me, please help me bring it to Zhong Xuan."
After eating and drinking, Xiao Hei walked a few steps on the table, rubbed Lin Shuge's hand, then jumped out of the window, flapped its wings and flew out, scaring Xiao Bai who was sneaking outside the window and preparing to pounce on a bird.
Lin Shuge brought Xiaobai in with amusement, touching its soft paws. He was thinking about sending Chu Xu to deliver the weapons to Xie Chen, but he was worried about causing other troubles, or asking Xie Chen to send someone over?
"Sir, sir, County Magistrate Lu is back." A servant knocked on the door outside the house.
Lin Shuge's thoughts were interrupted. He put Xiaobai in his arms down, patted his butt and let it play by itself, then went to the lobby with the officer.
"Sir, the person has been caught." As soon as Lin Shuge entered the room, Lu Yuechuan came up to him and said, followed by Mi He and Mu Yuanzhou.
Lin Shuge glanced at the several Qiang people kneeling in the lobby. Judging from their attire, they should be upper class Qiang people. One of them had a fierce look in his eagle eyes as he looked at Lin Shuge with ruthlessness.
Lin Shuge lifted his robe and sat down. "Tell me, what's going on?"
Lu Yuechuan pointed at one of the Qiang people and said, "Sir, this man is called Mo Li, and he is a former wizard of the Shaoliang tribe. Although Sir Wei annihilated the Shaoliang tribe in one battle, he also left some people who wanted to surrender. He followed Yan Shi and pretended to surrender in order to get revenge one day."
The Qiang people have a strong primitive culture and they still have wizards to perform sacrifices, divination and treatment. They have a high status in the Qiang tribe. Of course, Xie Chen had investigated the surrendered Shaoliang tribe. This man was respectful at the time, and his words and deeds were inappropriate. He was also very influential, so in order to make the remaining Qiang people surrender as soon as possible, he spared his life.
Lin Shuge had met him once before, but if Lu Yuechuan hadn't brought him here today, he might not have recognized him.
Lu Yuechuan continued, "He used to have a high position in the Shaoliang tribe, and had met the Xiongnu Chanyu several times, so he surrendered to the Xiongnu, which led to the Xiongnu's revenge for the extermination of his clan, and the best surrender was gunpowder."
When Xie Chen destroyed the Shaoliang tribe, many Qiang people had seen the power of gunpowder and even thought it was a punishment from heaven. They saw the opportunity when Xie Chen was away and thought of this idea. It would be best to take advantage of the situation to steal the gunpowder and lure the Huns in at the same time.
Everyone in the hall naturally knew what Lu Yuechuan said later. "Except for this person, these Qiang people are responsible for secret communication," Lu Yuechuan pointed to one person, "It was he who found out the direction of the gunpowder factory, and he," Lu Yuechuan looked at the only one wearing Dayan clothing among the kneeling people with a look of disappointment in his eyes, "was the one who passed the message to them."
Lin Shuge sneered, "Now that we have found out the truth, all of them will be beheaded and displayed to the public. As for you," Lin Shuge looked at the trembling Dayan man with a half-smile, "What's your name? Where are you from? Is there anyone else at home?"
The man kowtowed desperately, "Sir, please spare my life. My name is Zhang Dabao, and I'm from Pingxiang. I have a wife, children and old father at home... I have a wife, children and old father at home. I was just deceived by them. It was them, these barbarians, who made me do it." He was already scared out of his wits after being caught by Lu Yuechuan. When he heard that Lin Shuge was going to behead all the people involved and display their heads in public, he was so frightened that his legs were trembling and his soul was out of his body.
Lin Shuge stood up and smiled at him gently, "What did they pay you to do this?"
"He gave me fifty taels of gold and promised to reward me with a large sum of money after the task was accomplished. He also said that he could make me an official." Zhang Dabao said tremblingly.
"Really? Fifty taels of gold," Lin Shuge repeated several times, closed his eyes, and kicked him down. "Fifty taels of gold can make you a traitor. Others don't know, but don't you know how many people died in Pingxiang in the past because of the Qiang invasion?"
If the Xiongnu really got the firearms, how many people would die? Lin Shuge thought about the soldiers and civilians buried in the earth, the seriously wounded Zhao Duwei, and Xie Chen who had not returned from the thousand-mile raid. He gritted his teeth and wanted to kick again, but Lu Yuechuan quickly stepped forward and said, "Sir, calm down. It's not worth getting angry over such a person."
Lin Shuge took a deep breath and said, "I have already said that all the Qiang people involved will be beheaded and displayed to the public. As for Zhang Dabao, he will be beheaded and displayed to the public according to the law, and all his family members will be made slaves of the government."
Zhang Dabao looked ashen, and rushed forward and said, "Sir, please forgive me, no, please forgive my family. I did everything, and it has nothing to do with them."
Lin Shuge shook him off, "The law is ruthless. You have done such a thing and implicated your family, so just bear the consequences. Take him away."
The officers dragged Zhang Dabao, who had collapsed on the ground, out. Lin Shuge looked at the other Qiang people and saw that they were trembling with fear. "After finding out how they contacted the Xiongnu, we will deal with them."
"Yes, sir."
Mi He had always seen Lin Shuge as a gentle and polite person before, but the scene just now made her feel as if she was drenched with cold water in the summer. Sure enough, how could a man who could annihilate two Qiang tribes with Xie Chen and then subdue the remaining tribes one by one be a good person?
When Lin Shuge's eyes rested on her, Mi He bowed hurriedly, "This matter is all my negligence. I failed to control the tribesmen well, allowing them to commit such a disaster. Your Excellency, please feel free to punish me."
Lin Shuge didn't say anything. Lu Yuechuan smiled and said, "Yanshi is worrying too much. It is thanks to Yanshi that we were able to arrest all the suspects today. Your Excellency is clear about rewards and punishments, and will not blame innocent people. However, if there are still people involved, Your Excellency would rather kill the wrong person than let him go."
He spoke the last sentence very slowly. Mi He lowered his head and dared not speak. After a long while, he could only say, "I understand."
Until Lin Shuge's voice came from above, "Yanshi, please get up. I heard that your youngest son is doing very well in the county middle school. This is your blessing. You should educate him well and not make such mistakes again."
Mi He knew that Yin Moli belonged to the upper class of Shaoliang tribe. Lin Shuge was doubting him. When he heard him talking about his son, he was panicked and said quickly: "My son Tiny admires Han culture very much. If you don't mind his stupidity, I am willing to be a small soldier in the county. You can command me."
Lin Shuge suddenly laughed, "Yanshi is a smart person, so let Yanshi teach Tiny. But let him come to the county government office every ten days. County Magistrate Lu is knowledgeable and talented, so he can teach better than the county middle school."
Lu Yuechuan was enjoying the show, but he didn't expect the fire to burn himself. What does the master want to do? It's not the same for protons, right?
However, he still said: "My Lord, this is another job for me."
Lin Shuge: "Achuan is a capable person and should do more work. Yanshi doesn't know that my brother and sister were taught by Achuan. If others want to ask him to be their master, they don't have the chance."
Mi He felt like she was walking on thin ice and was extremely terrified. Naturally, she did whatever Lin Shuge said. When she left the county government office and the warm sunlight shone on her body, she was shocked to find that her back was covered in cold sweat.
The maid waiting outside the county government office came over quickly and saw that she looked pale. "Yanshi, are you okay?"
Mi He shook his head, "Let's talk about it when we get back."
In the lobby, Lu Yuechuan glanced at Lin Shuge several times. Lin Shuge glanced at him and said, "If you have something to say, just say it."
"My lord, you were very angry today, but what happened?" Lu Yuechuan asked. Mu Yuanzhou, who had been standing next to him without saying anything, also gave him a puzzled look.
"Achuan, Captain Zhao died of his injuries. There may be major changes in the Captain's Mansion." Lin Shuge told him the news he got today.
"What? How could Captain Zhao..." Lu Yuechuan said in shock, and Mu Yuanzhou also looked horrified.
"This is a turbulent time. The county will continue to be on high alert today. If there are any suspicious people, they will be arrested first." Lin Shuge said.
The two people in the hall were shocked and confused. If something really happened to Captain Zhao, they didn't know what arrangements would be made in Yandu.
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