Anshan has remained silent, and the Huns who had contact with him are in the hands of spies; his exact whereabouts are still unknown. However, it's only a matter of time.
The two returned to the mansion.
Xie Lanzhi told Xie Xia about the methods An Shan had always used.
Xie Xia initially knew how to take notes in a notebook.
Until he heard the marshal say, "Ansan likes to create public opinion and incite people's hearts, and then take advantage of the chaos to act. Back then, he..."
She told Xie Xia about Anshan's instigation of the Hu people and water merchants to cut off the water supply, creating panic and sowing discord, and Xie Ji's burning of the camp. Anshan's methods caused huge losses and misled the Xie group. In the end, Xie Ji searched for Anshan for a long time and found that the spy that Anshan had planted was right next to him.
Ansan placed Suha's legacy right under Li Li's nose, manipulating the entire upper echelons of the government with ease.
Hearing this, Xie Xia felt a chill run down his spine and quickly looked at Xie Lanzhi to verify her authenticity.
Xie Lanzhi said, "Even you find this person terrifying, don't you?"
"Ultimately, Ansan's greatest skill is manipulating people's hearts."
The people of Weidu are now mourning everywhere, regardless of the occasion, which is being manipulated by Anshan.
Xie Xia said, "After hearing what the Marshal said, I think that second young master is very suspicious."
"However, the Crown Prince is also quite suspicious."
Xie Lanzhi was surprised that he applied what he had learned so quickly. She said, "Oh, tell me about it."
Xie Xia said, "The suspicious thing about the young master is that he is too calm."
"He doesn't look like someone who has lost a brother at all."
"I suspect he's in cahoots with the second young master."
As soon as these words were spoken, someone walked into the mansion, arriving just in time to hear Xie Xia's words.
Across the doorway, the magistrate's cold voice rang out: "So, in the general's eyes, I've always been a cold-blooded and ruthless person!"
Xie Xia: "..."
When Xie Lanzhi saw the steward enter, he was carrying a packet of herbs and had stopped waving his fan. The steward walked over and tossed the herbs to Xie Xia.
"This was brought to me by your lady."
Xie Xia took the medicine, and he found Si Tang even more suspicious. His wife wouldn't just send things over by anyone.
Faced with Xie Xia's suspicious gaze, Si Tang laughed in exasperation: "General, this packet of medicine of yours..."
"This young master smells so much like an aphrodisiac."
Immediately retaliating, Xie Xia blushed and slung the herbs behind his back. Good heavens, he'd almost forgotten that his wife had been urging him to have a child lately. He was too busy with official duties to be able to, and even at home he often felt powerless. So it was possible that his wife had prepared herbs for him.
Xie Lanzhi covered her mouth and coughed awkwardly, "General, you must take care of yourself."
Xie Xia quickly turned around and tossed the herbs to the servants.
The steward specially bowed to Xie Lanzhi and said, "Could the imperial guards from Tianjing speak with this young master privately?"
Xie Lanzhi's eyes flashed, and she nodded.
To avoid embarrassment, Xie Xia found a stool to sit down, pretending to drink tea, while occasionally pricking up his ears to listen.
The magistrate asked, "Did the Imperial Guards find anything suspicious when they examined the body in the back hall the day before yesterday?"
"I did find a problem." Xie Lanzhi didn't hesitate. At this point, she just needed to be honest. Si Lei was too calm to help anyone.
The only person who could be associated with Si Hong was his elder brother, Si Tang.
The magistrate's pupils constricted. He gripped his fan and asked, "May I ask what is suspicious?"
Xie Lanzhi said, "Whether the Second Young Master is still alive is another matter. But the Second Young Master's death caused countless people to gather by the river to mourn, and the mourning almost caused several Huns to escape."
"The Huns?" the steward asked. "What did they do?"
Xie Lanzhi said, "That's not important for now. What's important is whether the Second Young Master is still alive. Isn't that what the Heir Apparent cares about most?"
Si Tang took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He nodded: "My second brother should still be alive."
Si Tang recounted everything he knew about his second brother, including his love of cleanliness, his hatred of untidy clothes, and his intolerance of even minor imperfections or tears.
Even though his build was exactly the same as his second brother's, it was still very suspicious. Before his second brother disappeared, he saw him go out wearing his favorite pair of black and gray boots. When his second brother's body returned, the shoes were still clean, except for a hole in them.
It was that hole, and the hole in the corpse's stomach, that made him realize his second brother might still be alive. This was followed by the question: if his second brother was alive, why hadn't he returned?
Why was he with the bandits? These questions led Si Tang to suspect his second brother's relationship with the bandits. Even the kidnapping might have been staged by him.
As Si Tang pondered this, his face paled: "What exactly is his motive?"
Xie Lanzhi said, "Why is that? Perhaps only you, as the eldest brother, know."
She left the question about the second young master to Si Tang, who still wouldn't give up and asked, "If my second brother was threatened...?"
"Then he should try to get someone to contact you. He won't just disappear without a trace." He had the opportunity to do so back then, whether it was for the ransom or for the wet nurse to personally verify the person.
But Si Hong did not make a move.
She comforted us, saying, "Perhaps we guessed wrong."
The magistrate suddenly shrugged, and his figure as he turned and left the mansion looked somewhat disheveled.
And then there's Xie Ying. Xie Lanzhi couldn't help but sigh, "They're all such a handful."
Xie Xia got up, poured her a cup of tea, and asked, "I checked and found that the civilian ship left from Donggang Port, and I heard that there were only two people on board, an old man and a young boy."
Upon hearing this, Xie Lanzhi's eyes widened immediately.
Xie Xia scratched his head, not understanding why she was making that expression.
Xie Lanzhi placed the teacup back in his hand. She paced back and forth in the hall, her hands behind her back. Finally, she frowned and said, "This is blatantly telling me that Xie Ying has been taken away."
"What? Could it be that there's something wrong with that old man?" Xie Xia immediately became anxious: "If there's something wrong with the old man, then Gou Ying has gotten herself into trouble. How could she be so stupid?!"
Xie Lanzhi said, "I don't know the old man's identity, but he is intentionally warning me that he has taken Xie Ying away."
As for whether she's foolish or not, that's not necessarily true. Her information is extremely limited, so she can only take one step at a time, risking danger, based on the few clues she has.
Xie Ying must have already noticed the problem. She's not the kind of person who's slow to react, and now that she's discovered the problem, she's probably already on guard against the old man.
However, the old man brought her to Sishui, which would restrict Xie Ying's movements. There was also something that puzzled Xie Lanzhi: why was the old man so concerned about Xie Ying?
The main hall of Sishui Diyingzhai.
Yang Gao would occasionally inquire about Xie Ying: "Manager Qian, is there anything special about the young people you brought this time?"
The old man had been amiable and kind since entering the camp, seemingly a good-natured person. He was always smiling at everyone. But when Yang Gao suddenly asked a question, the old man's eyes turned icy cold. He calmly faced Yang Gao, then accelerated the two iron walnuts he was holding, launching them out of thin air and striking the water bandit who was serving tea and water on the head. The bandit instantly fell to the ground, along with the tea, lifeless.
Yang Gao was so frightened that he stood up immediately. He quickly said, "Manager Qian, that's not what I meant. Please don't be like that."
"I was just curious."
"It seems you're quite curious about the people I brought?" The old man's expression returned to its kind one, his eyes crinkling into slits with laughter. "The chieftain just needs to do his duty."
"It's best to keep quiet about anything else that you shouldn't ask."
The gentle tone contained a strong warning.
Yang Gao felt a chill run down his spine. He dared not ask, much less look at him. He stood up and said, "I... I forgot there were still some things to take care of in the village."
"Please rest here. If you need anything, please let me know."
As Yang Gao stepped out the door, he bumped into Xie Ying. Xie Ying bowed to him, and Yang Gao avoided her as if he had seen a ghost.
Xie Ying arrived, full of doubt, to inquire. As she stepped into the hall, the old man, who had initially exuded a sinister aura, suddenly became amiable.
"They're here."
Xie Ying looked at him suspiciously, then nodded.
He said, "Don't wander off, I'll protect you."
"With me here, no one will dare to mess with you."
Xie Ying was immediately filled with confusion: ?
The secret agents of the new Tianjing were very efficient at relaying messages back and forth; sometimes, what Xie Xia knew, Si Xitong already knew long before.
At this moment, Si Xitong received new intelligence: the five Huns who had been captured were just a decoy, a smokescreen.
Zhang Changle didn't know why his master was so concerned about the affairs of Weidu; he was just focused on doing his job.
"Your Highness, what exactly was in the brocade pouch that you had Xie Ying take away?"
Si Xitong picked up the tea tray and glanced indifferently at her subordinate: "Are you curious?"
Hearing that his master's tone was not reproachful, Zhang Changle boldly asked, "Well, I think there are other better ways to capture them, so why do we have to send Xie Ying?"
"Now that Xie Ying is in the enemy's hands and his fate is unknown, it is possible that the Marshal will lose a good general."
Si Xitong recalled that person's audacious actions and sighed, "The Marshal, like me, likes to be thorough in all aspects. Perhaps he can get straight to the point, but you haven't met that person, so you don't really know how cunning he is."
"The fact that the enemy is so confident in staying right under our noses means that he has already prepared a backup plan."
"The most important thing right now is not to capture the person, but to dismantle the network of relationships behind him."
Unexpectedly, their attempt to capture Anshan led them to discover Weidu's shady dealings first. It seems one problem after another has arisen.
Zhang Changle asked, "What are your final plans, Marshal?"
Si Xitong shook her head. She didn't know, but she could guess. Lan Zhi's goal was not only to capture An Shan, but also to do the opposite and strangle Aqina's life-saving weakness.
Aqina brought too many changes to this world. Whether it was the capital of Yue or Yifan, or those unknown small countries, countless people lost their homes and families because of his Xiaoyao Pill. How much national wealth was emptied by Anshan and moved to the Hu Xiongnu to be used as military funds to manufacture weapons of mass destruction? He brought calamity to the world.
"The war fought by the Yue Kingdom was not in vain; it curbed the spread of firearms to a certain extent," Si Xitong said. "But it also caused more problems, attracting more people who were chasing fame and fortune to scramble to participate."
Si Xitong saw it very clearly.
After Xie Ying was placed under surveillance, her every move was reported to the old man.
When Xie Ying was bored in her room, she remembered the brocade pouch that His Highness had given her. His Highness had entrusted someone to give her the brocade pouch without saying anything else, so she didn't know what the brocade pouch was for.
"Shall I take a look?" Xie Ying took out the brocade pouch from her bosom, and from the pouch she took out a familiar red paper and a yellow talisman...
A note from the author:
I've been holding back chapters for the past two days, and will continue splitting them into chapters tomorrow.
The main story will be basically finished next month!
Thank you everyone for your support!! A special thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2022-01-31 20:16:15 and 2022-02-01 19:31:56!