Chapter 28
(Fifty-Five) Recapture Baihua City (IX)
Fulin quickly replied, "There are five general stores in the city that sell iron nails, and no one has bought large quantities of them in recent days. Because most houses in Baihua City are built with wooden frames, iron nails are rarely used in the city, so the store owners say that few people buy them."
I sat by Wei Zhen's bed and fed him medicine, listening to Fulin's words and began to think about this matter.
"Could it be that the grocery store owner lied?" Shui Ling interrupted.
I thought about it and felt that it was not impossible.
However, in a city where most houses are made of wooden structures, if so many nails were bought to harm people, and if they were really purchased from grocery stores, the owners of these grocery stores would probably know the seriousness of the matter.
Moreover, the person they were targeting was Wei Zhen, the Prince of Pingnan. If Wei Zhen discovered their plot, the whole family would inevitably suffer.
Unless there is some reason that forces them to take such a risk, they would never act like this for no reason.
"The biggest suspect in this whole thing is Su Cen. Judging from his usual unscrupulous approach to achieving his goals, he's the type of person who would do something like this. The second biggest suspect is the young marquis. While the chances of him personally killing Wei Zhen are slim, it's inevitable that some of his subordinates would be so ruthless. What we lack now is a crucial chain of evidence that can form a logically closed loop. Our only evidence is a bag of paper I found scattered along the path Wei Zhen takes every morning on his horseback ride."
Wei Zhen listened to my long rambling, took a sip of tea, and commented: "You've finished all the nonsense."
I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm talking nonsense to sort out my thoughts, so we can better understand the whole process of time."
"Most of the iron nails in Baihua City are in the military camp. You won't find any clues if you search among the people."
As Wei Zhen was about to fall asleep, he suddenly said, "There are twelve skilled blacksmiths in the Baihua City military camp. Most of the weapons and equipment in the city were made by them."
Wei Zhen said this in a daze.
"Yeah, why didn't I think of that?" I sat up suddenly and began to think about how to find Su Cen's flaw starting from the blacksmith.
Wei Zhen lay there looking at me excitedly and smiled.
"Those blacksmiths are loyal to Su Cen. You can't do anything to them."
I looked at Wei Zhen with disdain. "As for conspiracies and intrigues, you don't understand. The blacksmiths are loyal to Su Cen, but Su Cen must also acknowledge their loyalty. As long as I can pry open a gap between them, I can turn them upside down."
The fifteenth day of this month is the day when Princess Chunyang returns to Baihua City.
Princess Chunyang returned home this time to visit her parents and to visit her husband, the young marquis.
I asked Shui Ling to establish a personal relationship with the maids in my aunt's residence in advance, and ordered her to pretend to be inadvertent and find out the route and time when Su Cen's troops would leave the city to welcome Princess Chunyang.
At the same time, I asked Fulin to take two servants on horseback to follow the team that was welcoming Princess Chunyang.
After finding Princess Chunyang, Fulin imitated the method used by Wei Zhen before and placed most of the iron nails on the road that Princess Chunyang's carriage must pass.
To be on the safe side, I also asked Fulin to secretly put a large amount of knockout drugs in the watering place where the horses of Princess Chunyang's army drank water.
Sure enough, news came in the evening that Princess Chunyang's horse was injured on the road when it stepped on an iron nail for some reason, causing the princess to break her arm.
At the same time, news spread in Baihua City that Wei Zhen had become disabled in his leg after falling off a horse.
In addition, Wei Zhen had not appeared in public for half a month after being injured, and people began to talk about it.
The situation in Baihua City also began to tilt towards Su Cen.
Almost overnight, Wei Zhenfeng's general Mo Feng was sidelined in the barracks.
But no matter how much Mo Feng cried, Wei Zhen and I refused to go out and vent his anger for him.
Mo Feng's actions made the news of Su Cen's power in Baihua City spread more widely.
Su Cen was furious when he learned that his beloved daughter, Princess Chunyang, was injured.
A few days later, I received news that Su Cen had secretly taken away the twelve blacksmiths from the military camp and tortured them severely.
Wei Zhen and I waited for a few more days.
It wasn't until Su Cen hung three heads outside the city gate that I knew my chance had come.
By the time the blacksmiths limped back to the military camp blacksmith with their heads tilted, I was already waiting in the house.
"Why did only nine people come back? Did the remaining three die?" I asked them with my hands behind my back.
The blacksmiths refused to say a word.
"I saw three heads hanging outside the city gate. Could they be your good friends?"
Seeing the blacksmiths still wouldn't speak, I continued, "You were so loyal to Su Cen, leaving your homes and homes toiling day and night to craft all sorts of new weapons for him, only to be met with his groundless suspicion and wanton killing. Why did you do this?"
(Fifty-six) Recapture Baihua City (10)
As I said this, one of the blacksmiths started sniffling.
In the quiet room, the only sound was his sniffling.
Seeing a chance, I continued, "I know you were all famous blacksmiths in this area before, but you were drafted into the barracks by Su Cen. He promised you that he would support your parents, wives, and children, so you worked diligently to forge all kinds of new weapons for him."
"But look at how arrogant Su Cen is now. He's been beating and scolding you, even wanting to kill you. I think he's completely forgotten the promise he made to you that day."
A blacksmith with a crooked neck spat on the ground in annoyance.
"Young City Lord, just tell us what you want to do. We are all uncultured people, so don't try to be emotional with us."
Having said that, I won’t hide my thoughts anymore.
"As long as you cooperate with me and tell me the truth, I can protect you and help you return home successfully. I also promise that Baihua City will not harass you in the future."
The man who had just spitted at me asked me with spit flying everywhere, "Since Su Cen is unreliable, why should we trust you?"
Wei Zhen suddenly appeared at the door, "Just based on my reputation."
As soon as the blacksmiths saw Wei Zhen, they immediately knelt down.
"If you choose to stand up and accuse Su Cen of plotting to kill me, I will send you back home. If you don't want to, then you can stay here, just like the three old friends you hung outside the city gate, and let Su Cen deal with you."
The sniffling little blacksmith started to cry.
"Sir, we really didn't know that those sharp, extended nails that Lord Su Cen ordered us to make were used to harm you. We were just following orders. We really don't know anything..."
The remaining blacksmiths all agreed with the words of the crying little blacksmith.
That afternoon, Princess Chunyang returned home to host a banquet for guests from all over the world.
I took these nine blacksmiths and, under the escort of Wei Zhen's guards, rushed all the way to the main building wall and exposed Wei Zhen's injury in public.
"My dear uncle, you are just a general from Baihua City, yet you dared to harm the son of the Minister of State, Prince Pingnan Wei Zhen, and even murder him. You are so bold!"
When Su Cen saw me rushing into the crowd to accuse him, he remained calm and continued to argue.
"Thirteen, I just took some nails away. How do you know I didn't use them elsewhere?" Su Cen said calmly.
I smiled sternly.
"Then please tell me, my uncle, what are these extra-long, sharp iron nails that he ordered to be made used for?"
"I...I used them to build a house."
I covered my mouth and smiled. "What house? Where is it, Uncle? If you dare to tell me, I will go and tear down the house today and check whether the nails are still in place."
Su Cen's expression finally became uncertain.
The dignitaries who were coming and going around all fell silent.
"Thirteen, stop messing around." The young marquis's voice suddenly rang out.
I turned around and saw the young marquis after a long time.
He was still the same as before, with a fair and tender face, and wearing a brocade robe embroidered with dark patterns.
In a trance, I thought of the past with the young marquis.
I was once thrown into prison by Wei Zhen, and I was always thinking that the young marquis would come and save me from the dire straits.
I once risked my life to frame Wei Zhen's father because I was afraid that the old marquis would rebel and put the young marquis in trouble. I also wanted to help the young marquis.
I had hoped so much that the young marquis could really take me away from Wei Zhen on my wedding day.
But at this moment, I lowered my head slightly, I looked at him, and felt that he was so strange.
"The Wei family father and son have always committed countless evil deeds. Everyone in the world knows this. Aren't you a victim of their evil deeds?" The young marquis paused and continued, "Thirteen, why are you now helping the tyrant?"
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