The Beacon of Kyushu

The yamen runners and imperial guards were not familiar with the newcomer, so they all opened their eyes and looked carefully. The young man had a white face that looked like he had been powdered, and his facial features were handsome and handsome, like a jade sculpture. His sword-like eyebrows condensed a thousand kinds of nobleness, and his star-like eyes were full of romanticism. He was wearing a white robe, which was spotless even after traveling thousands of miles. The golden belt around his waist was still shining even after wearing it for a long time. On both sides of the golden belt, there was a pure gold scabbard on one side and a five-phoenix golden xun on the other. Even the long boots on his feet were made of white satin and silver silk, with dark patterns and flowing clouds, so exquisite that they did not seem like things of this world. The bright sunshine shone on the young man in white, as if it had coated him with a layer of holy light. Under the clear light, he smiled with a sword in his hand, and his graceful demeanor and heroic posture were unparalleled in the world.

When Zhao Tingmei saw the young man, he smiled so hard that his mouth couldn't close. He shouted, "My nephew, you've finally returned to the capital! You've finally returned to the capital!"

"My nephew is late, please forgive me." The young man in white said, and slowly helped Zhao Tingmei who was lying on the ground to his feet. Then he glared at Zhao Rong and said word by word: "Lord Zhao, you dare to hurt my uncle in front of me. You are really brave! Do you want to commit suicide to apologize, or do you want to die under my Youlong sword? I will leave it to you."

"Chu... Your Highness the King of Chu!" Zhao Rong knelt down dejectedly, holding the long sword across his neck, "Your Highness, no matter how brave I am, I dare not hurt the King of Wei without reason! If you allow me to report, I will answer truthfully. If you insist on killing me, I will commit suicide now!"

Zhao Yuanzuo nodded and said, "Tell me the truth as soon as possible. If you dare to hide even a word, I will immediately use your head to make amends for my uncle!"

Zhao Rong hurriedly said, "Your Highness, the Eighth Prince's golden mace was stolen two days ago. In a hurry, he sent his servants to report the matter to the emperor and the King of Wei at the same time. Therefore, the emperor and the King of Wei sent people to search the streets in order to find the golden mace. Unexpectedly, we were searching Liangmen Street with the imperial guards, and the King of Wei came here with the yamen runners. The yamen runners under the King of Wei relied on the power of the King of Wei to force us to leave Liangmen Street. My subordinates relied on the secret order given by the emperor and refused to execute the order of Kaifeng Prefecture, so the two sides quarreled. You think, there is no good hand in fighting, and no good mouth in scolding. At that time, the team was too long and we didn't know The King of Wei was in the team, and in a hurry, he said some unpleasant words to offend the King of Wei, and was severely punished by the King of Wei. Yesterday, for some reason, the King of Wei insisted that we stole the seal of the prefect of Kaifeng, and sent Lu Duan to ask for it from us. We didn't steal the seal, so what can we give him back? So we told the truth and asked Lu Duan to go back and not make trouble for no reason. Unexpectedly, today when we led the team to search Wansui Mountain, the King of Wei suddenly brought people to trouble us and framed us for stealing the seal. We had no choice but to fight him. This is the cause and effect of everything. I hope Your Highness will do us justice!"

Zhao Tingmei said indignantly: "My nephew, don't listen to this guy's nonsense! He clearly issued a declaration of war to me, but today he flatly denied it, making it seem like I was innocent and provoked him. It's really hateful!"

Chai Yuxi took two steps forward and said, "Your Highness, we really didn't issue any declaration of war. I can guarantee it with my life! You are so sensible, I'm sure you will be able to see through everything and distinguish right from wrong."

Lu Duan shook his head and said, "Nonsense! I heard it from your men with my own ears. How could it be false? You dare to guarantee it with your life, so why should I not dare?"

Zhao Yuanzuo saw that the four men were about to fight again, and hurriedly said, "Everyone, calm down first. If what I guessed is correct, the one who stole the seal and challenged your uncle is the thief who stole the golden mace. His purpose in doing this is very simple, that is, to make the two sides fall out due to misunderstandings, so that they will not be interested in investigating the case, so that he can take advantage of the situation and successfully escape from Tokyo with the golden mace."

Zhao Tingmei heard this and asked Lu Duan, "Yi Zhi, the one who issued the challenge was not Chai and Zhao, but someone else, right? And when did he tell you about this?"

Lu Duan recalled and said, "Your Highness, this man came here in a hurry a moment after I left Lord Chai's residence. At that time, I saw that he was wearing the decorations of the imperial guards and came from the direction of Lord Chai's residence, so I believed his identity without thinking. Now I think it's really strange."

Zhao Tingmei looked at the yamen runners again and said unhappily, "You followed Yi Zhitong yesterday, and not only did no one notice that the other party was acting suspiciously, but you also just kept saying that you didn't see anyone issuing a challenge. This is really absurd!"

All the yamen runners were scolded by Zhao Tingmei, and no one dared to speak for a long time. Finally, one of the older yamen runners spoke up: "Your Majesty, Lord Lu has a very good temper and never pursues us yamen runners. So over the years, whenever he was on official business in the city, we never followed him the whole time unless it was something dangerous, so..." Zhao Tingmei stomped his feet in anger. If the sword in his hand had not been cut into two pieces by Zhao Yuanzuo, he would have swung the sword to chop these lazy and slippery yamen runners.

Chai Yuxi and Zhao Rong were both regretful at this moment. They kowtowed to Zhao Tingmei and said, "Your Highness, I really don't know the inside story. I just thought that you wanted to kill me because of what happened the other day, so... so..." Zhao Tingmei waved his hand and said, "Although you two are hateful, you are better than this bunch of good-for-nothings under my command and that cunning thief! I don't have the leisure to deal with you now. I will find you to argue with you when I find the golden mace and the seal in the future!"

Zhao Yuanzuo saw that the four of them had calmed down, and said with relief: "Four of you, in my opinion, the most urgent thing now is how to solve the case of the missing golden mace. If you want to solve the case of the missing golden mace, I must ask you a few questions first. You must answer truthfully and not hide a single word."

Zhao Tingmei said: "My nephew, you are the smartest and the eldest son of an official. You will definitely be able to help your uncle solve this case. If you have any questions, just tell me directly. Your uncle will never hide anything from you!"

Chai Yuxi and Zhao Rong were a little hesitant at first, but because of Zhao Yuanzuo's status, martial arts, and the sword in his hand that could cut iron like mud, they had to say: "Your Highness, it is very appropriate for you to investigate this case in person. If you have any questions, just ask. As long as we know something, we will never hide it."

Zhao Yuanzuo hesitated for a moment and asked, "First of all, was it your idea to steal the golden mace, Uncle Wang?"

Zhao Tingmei didn't expect that his closest nephew would be the first to question him, and he couldn't help but feel a little angry. However, he had just said that he would never hide anything, and if he regretted it now, it would really affect his face, so he said helplessly: "No, I don't know anything about it."

Zhao Yuanzuo looked at Chai and Zhao again and asked, "Was it father's idea to steal the golden mace?"

Chai Yuxi and Zhao Rong looked at each other and shook their heads at the same time, "We don't know, but at least we weren't sent to do it. We can guarantee that."

Zhao Yuanzuo nodded, "Okay, I will assume that it is not my father's intention. Then there is only one last possibility left."

Zhao Tingmei and the other two were somewhat puzzled, while Lu Duan was surprised and asked, "Your Highness, are you saying that there are spies from other countries who took the golden mace while the Eighth Prince was drunk, hoping that the royal family would fight against each other and take over the Central Plains?"

Zhao Yuanzuo nodded, then shook his head. "Judge Lu, your idea is correct, but you forgot the current situation. If we talk about spies from other countries, the most likely ones are Qu Yue and Liao. Now that Qu Yue has already fought with Song, there is naturally no need to add unnecessary trouble. Liao can also take this opportunity to invade Song, and there is no need to create any more trouble."

If Lü Duan had some clues just now, now even he was completely confused, "Your Highness, if it was not done by someone in the royal family, nor by spies from other countries, then I really can't figure out who else would commit such a shocking crime, and what exactly did he want to do?" (End of this chapter)