It seems Xie Ying wants to act alone. Xie Lanzhi frowned slightly: "If she needs your help, please do your best to assist her."
Xie Xia breathed a sigh of relief when he heard how lenient the marshal was with his niece; he had been worried that the marshal would scold the child.
Then, thinking that the child was no longer a proper member of the Xie family, he sighed and said, "Actually, Marshal, regarding my second brother's matter, I think..."
Xie Lanzhi suddenly took a quick step back and stood behind Xie Xia. Xie Xia felt uncomfortable all over. He looked up and saw the magistrate had arrived.
The official waved his fan with great poise and said, "General Xie, this young master truly has a matter he needs your full assistance with this time."
Xie Xia decisively said, "I agree to provide five million taels of silver to help Your Highness save the Second Young Master."
The steward was immediately astonished, and when he spoke, he stammered, "Thank you, General. This young master will never forget your great kindness."
When Si Tang left, he took five million taels of silver back to the capital. Si Lei saw the five million taels of silver in ten boxes, some in silver and some in copper coins, and he was deeply moved.
"I am deeply grateful to General Xie; I have no way to repay your kindness."
“Father, I didn’t expect him to be so generous this time.” Si Tang said, “I thought I would have to spend a lot of time persuading him, and he would only agree to around ten or twenty thousand taels. I didn’t expect him to be so generous.”
Si Lei was deeply grateful for Xie Xia's help. He hadn't expected Xie Xia to contribute any money, but to his surprise, Xie Xia directly donated all his military funds. This man is worth befriending!
"Now that we've raised 30 million taels, we still have 20 million taels left." Si Lei decided to take out all of the royal city's assets and sell them to merchants from various countries, or collect some taxes in advance.
The last 20 million was delivered by Si Xitong.
Si Lei was immediately shocked. Even His Highness had sent money to save his son. In his time of trouble, they had offered their full assistance. This great kindness was one that Si Lei could never repay in his lifetime. Thinking of how he had stood idly by and watched his niece go unpunished, Si Lei was filled with shame.
He wanted to return the 20 million. The bandits gave him three days, and he still had one day to raise more money.
Suddenly, news spread throughout Weidu that the second young master had been killed by river bandits and his body dumped. It was said that the message was delivered by a merchant who had just escaped a calamity. They had personally witnessed the second young master's body being thrown into the river.
Furthermore, the fishermen also retrieved a body dressed in the clothes of the second young master. The body had been submerged for at least two days and was unrecognizable.
Upon receiving the news, Si Lei suppressed his fear and grief and went to identify the body. Xie Xia kindly brought the body over, and after Si Lei's examination, it was indeed the Second Young Master's body.
"Hong'er!!" Si Lei fainted on the spot from crying.
Upon seeing the corpse, the magistrate broke down in tears, shouting and screaming.
The people of Weidu collectively observed a moment of silence for the Second Young Master, after all, he had made great contributions to Weidu. When Xiaoyao Palace was destroyed, it was the Second Young Master who sold the silver and forwarded it to the families of the victims.
It also subsidized a considerable amount of money, putting it into the pockets of ordinary people. At that time, the money boosted consumption in Weidu, resulting in a record-breaking trade volume of 30,000 taels in a single day!
People flocked to the riverbank to offer flowers.
The officers and soldiers turned a blind eye today, allowing the people to have places to pay their respects to the Second Prince at various checkpoints.
As the people poured into the area guarded by the Xie family, Xie's soldiers immediately stopped them: "This is a government-controlled area! Unauthorized personnel are not allowed to approach!"
Immediately, someone among the common people shouted indignantly, "The whole city is mourning the Second Young Master right now, who do you think you are!"
"Weidu doesn't belong to your Xie family! You have no right to act wildly here!"
"Make way, no one can stop us from mourning the Second Young Master today!"
Soon, a few people took the lead in clashing with Xie Bing. The people were stunned. When they came to their senses, they didn't know who had been bumped, but everyone pushed forward and broke through Xie Bing's defenses.
Xie Bing and his men were overwhelmed by the crowd, at a loss. Seeing that those in front had passed, the people behind them also pushed forward.
The Xie family guarded the entrance to Weidu, especially its grain reserves. The surrounding area was filled with granaries and silk warehouses, all top-quality goods that were either tributes from various countries or sold to Weidu. Three thousand men were no match for tens of thousands of civilians.
As a result, all the key points were crowded with people, and some even took boats to the other side to pay their respects.
Xie Bing and his men immediately went to stop them: "Stop! Come back here!!"
The more Xie Bing shouted, the faster the boat sped off. Once on the other side, it quickly sailed downstream. Seeing the situation was dire, Xie Bing immediately sent men to give chase. The artillery on the shore saw several boats pursuing them in the river. Just as they were about to fire, they realized the riverbank was covered in civilians. If they fired and injured any civilians, they would be in serious trouble.
The gun emplacements dared not fire, and Xie's soldiers, who were chasing in their boats, were filled with doubt and uncertainty. Just as they were about to catch up, a gunpowder pack was thrown onto the boat, emitting white smoke, which frightened Xie's soldiers so much that they all jumped off the boat.
After jumping off the boat, Xie Bing realized it was a dud.
Enraged, everyone boarded the boat to continue the chase, but the boat had already vanished.
Xie Bing realized that someone had taken advantage of the chaos to escape by boat. Although he didn't know what the other party had done, he was sure that they had a guilty conscience.
After Xie Bing got ashore, he rushed to report.
The three spies on the shore couldn't help but curse, "They still got away. Those Huns are really cunning."
"These Xie soldiers are really useless; they can't even catch a single person."
"Don't blame them. Blame the enemy for being too cunning, deliberately luring the people here to mourn."
"Go and report this immediately!"
The six Huns who escaped boarded the ship and began to leave the downstream area. They continued downstream until they crossed the next river and left the river boundary of Weidu, which would be the territory of the four kingdoms of Nanyang. Then they could board the grand treasure ship and make a round trip back to their motherland.
The Huns cried out, "We can finally go home!"
"I never want to stay in this godforsaken place again. The food is bad, the clothes are cold, and I'm afraid of being exposed every day."
"It's better to go back to your motherland than to follow him."
The Huns were excited on the boat, completely unaware that the boatman had already raised a bamboo pole. The next second, the man used the bamboo pole to throw the men off the boat one by one. The Huns barely had time to react before the bamboo pole struck them mercilessly, knocking five men unconscious. Only one man remained, still trying to swim away. The man then used the bamboo pole as a weapon to pierce the last Hun.
She pulled the other five out and tied them to the boat.
Xie Ying's hair was dripping with water. She searched them and found some letters and keepsakes on their bodies.
Much of the letter's content was blurred, but Xie Ying pieced together the general meaning from just a few words: "The sacrificial offering is restless and wants to escape."
Then something happened, and Xie Ying only saw a few words: everyone was wiped out. Only the six of them remained.
"We no longer want to stay near that monster... We beg Your Majesty's understanding!"
The last letter was wrapped in red paper. When Xie Ying opened it, she found a piece of moisture-proof greaseproof paper inside, which contained a yellow talisman with her birth date and time written on it.
"June 21st." Xie Ying's pupils constricted, and she crushed the Tai Sui amulet: "Qi Qi."
She immediately poled her boat back. Just then, some spies continued their pursuit and encountered Xie Ying rowing over. The spies immediately recognized her.
"Is it the young general?" The spy jumped onto the boat and confirmed that it was the group that had just escaped. There was also blood on the bamboo pole, so the spy guessed that only one of them was dead.
Xie Ying handed the person over to the secret agent, then eagerly asked, "What is the connection between the Tai Sui amulet and Qi Qi?"
The spy paused for a moment, then said, "This is classified information; you have no right to know."
Xie Ying immediately grabbed a bloodstained bamboo pole and held it to the spy's neck. The spy was not afraid at all: "How dare you! His Highness ordered you to redeem yourself through meritorious service, yet you report His Highness like this!"
"Tell me your relationship with Qiqi!!" Xie Ying said coldly, "Why is the Marshal pursuing that person? And who is that person?"
Upon hearing this, the spy assumed that the marshal had told her everything, so she should know everything. But it turned out she knew nothing and risked her life to come to Weidu, all for a woman.
The thought that this Xie woman also liked women, and was even a princess of a country, made his face darken: "You have no right to ask me!"
"Since the marshal has pointed out a path for you, you should follow it carefully."
Xie Ying pressed the bamboo pole closer to the spy's throat: "Speak!"
"Kill me, and you won't even have a chance to get close to that monster!" The spy's defiant attitude left Xie Ying helpless. She had no choice but to release him, go ashore, and disappear back into the crowd.
The secret agents took all the remaining people away.
Xie Xia never expected that even after giving all his military funds to Si Lei, he still wouldn't be able to get the person back.
He didn't know how to comfort Si Lei, having heard that Si Lei was already ill.
"Marshal, what do you think those river bandits were thinking? They just killed people without warning. Weren't they after the money?"
Even if it weren't for the money, no one would be foolish enough to kill someone before even getting the money.
Xie Lanzhi found it strange. The bandits initially demanded ransom and even had the wet nurse examine Si Hong, so why did they turn around and kill him? And what about the corpse? She said, "Go and see Si Hong's body."
That way she can go and see for herself.
Unexpectedly, Xie Xia immediately covered his nose: "I'm not going, I heard it stinks terribly."
Xie Lanzhi: "..."
They have absolutely no understanding of each other.
She immediately kicked Xie Xia, causing him to stumble forward a few steps. Only then did he realize that the marshal wanted to take a look.
"This subordinate will make arrangements immediately."
When the steward heard that Xie Xia wanted to personally pay his respects to the Second Young Master, he specially opened the doors, dressed in white linen robes, to receive Xie Xia. Xie Xia immediately burst into tears, crying, "Second Young Master, why did you leave!"
"You promised to treat me to drinks, but you haven't kept your promise yet. Why are you causing your parents to bury their child before they even have a chance to do so?"
Xie Lanzhi promptly took out a handkerchief and gave it to him: "General, please accept my condolences."
Xie Xia took the handkerchief, blew her nose, and cried on and on.
The magistrate was a little dumbfounded.
Afterwards, he took Xie Xia to the back room to see his second brother's body. They could smell a stench from a distance. In the distance, a body was covered with a white cloth on a stretcher.
Xie Xia almost vomited after taking two steps. He forced himself to get closer, but Xie Lanzhi, who was beside him, had already squatted down and lifted the corner of the white cloth covering his head. His face was blurry, his skin was swollen and perforated, and insects were crawling out of it.
"Ugh!" Xie Xia turned his head and leaned against a nearby pillar, vomiting violently. He would rather be on the battlefield than face corpses, especially floating corpses. This was different from the brothers who died on the battlefield. These were truly murdered.
Xie Lanzhi continued to lift the lid and found that there was a hole in the corpse's stomach, the entire stomach was deflated, the skin was wrinkled and rotten, and the flesh tissue had been destroyed by a strange wound.
It's as if this person's stomach has been punched through.
She skillfully put on cloth gloves, then pried open the other person's mouth and eyes to examine them. She noticed signs of bloodshot eyes, even though the eyeballs were swollen... She could still find some clues.
This person was beaten to death, and no aquatic plants or other algae were found in his throat or nasal cavity. If he had drowned, there would definitely have been foreign objects in his nostrils.
The magistrate noticed that Xie Xia's female bodyguard was unusual; her movements when examining the corpse were as professional as a coroner's.
He couldn't help but ask, "And who is this?"
Xie Xia was still vomiting when Xie Lanzhi immediately stopped. She bowed to the head of the palace with a standard salute: "Greetings, Your Highness. I am Xie Feng, a member of the Imperial Guard dispatched by Tianjing."
"Tianjing? The Imperial Guard." The officer was quite surprised; these were the Emperor's personal guards. No wonder they knew how to perform autopsies.
The presiding official asked, "What anomalies have you found, sir?"
Xie Lanzhi asked, "Young Master, did the coroner say that the Second Young Master drowned?"
"No, the coroner said he was beaten to death and then thrown into the water." The magistrate's eyes were filled with sadness: "My second brother died unjustly."
As he spoke, a hint of resentment appeared on his face: "The bandits went back on their word and killed him before we even had a chance to raise the ransom!"
"I, the young master, will definitely tear those river bandits to pieces!"
Xie Lanzhi continued her examination, finally reaching the body's boots. She found the boots to be very clean, as if they were brand new and had never been worn. There was also a hole in the right boot at the ankle where the fabric had been snagged.