The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 98
When Zhu Xiu and Tao Wenju arrived at the Xue family's mansion, the main house in the back had been burned into ruins, and several surrounding courtyards were all reduced to scorched earth.

The two burnt-black corpses were brought out. Tao Wen lifted his legs and collapsed to the ground, wailing loudly: "Cuihong! My Cuihong~ You died so miserably~ Wuwuwu~~~"

Zhu Xiu only glanced at it and turned away in fright. She felt extremely uncomfortable and did not dare to look any further.

He had also witnessed many horrific corpses, but these two were almost burnt to charcoal, which was really terrifying.

Looking at the ruins shrouded in black smoke, one can imagine the pain and torture they experienced during their lifetimes.

Shi Lingyan screamed and ran away, not daring to approach again.

Zhu Xiu sighed bitterly and glanced at Wei Hu, who had a solemn expression on his side: "Brother Wei, is it really Xue Xiuming who ordered people to set fire to Li's family and burn him alive?"

Wei Hu nodded and pointed to the corpses nearby: "They set fire and were about to escape. I happened to lead my troops to arrive and met them. One of them admitted it personally."

Zhu Xiu patted his forehead and felt a headache: "Why not leave him alive?"

Wei Hu glanced at him and said in a deep voice: "These dead soldiers raised by the Xue family fought stubbornly. In the end, the man was seriously injured and he confessed because he was afraid of physical pain."

Zhu Xiu sighed: "This is troublesome. Li Guangbo is dead, and now the Li family is also dead. On the surface, it seems that they all died in our hands! I am afraid that the knot with the Dingnan Army cannot be resolved!"

Wei Hu was silent and blamed himself: "This matter is my fault. If I had come earlier, I might have been able to save the Li family! I wouldn't have let the Xue brothers escape! I alone bear the responsibility for this matter!"

Zhu Xiu comforted: "Xue Xiuming is cunning and cruel. No one could have imagined that he would kill his wife. Brother Wei does not need to blame himself. The incident happened suddenly and we did not think carefully before."

Wei Hu's face was gloomy, as if he deeply regretted not saving Li in time.

"How did Xue Xiuming escape from Xue's residence? How did they escape from the county seat?" Zhu Xiu asked puzzled.

Wei Hu pointed in one direction: "There is a vacant courtyard in the southeast corner. A tunnel was dug out in the middle of the empty space, leading directly to the backyard of a warehouse in the adjacent street. That was the escape route that the Xue brothers had prepared long ago. Before I led the army to arrive, , they fled Xue’s house through the tunnel. As for how they got out of the city, I’m still sending people to investigate.”

Wei Hu paused for a moment, looked around, and whispered: "The Xue family has been in business for many years and has deep roots in Zhangyi Town. In addition to Zhecheng City, the Yajun army will inevitably be infiltrated by people arranged by the Xue family. The reason why the army was secretly divided into two parts.

But without relying on the Xue family, the financial resources of Jiedu Mansion alone would not be able to support [-] soldiers and horses.The situation is in chaos now. In my opinion, it is better not to investigate who let the Xue brothers go at this time, so as not to put everyone in danger and the morale of the army to be unstable. "

Zhu Xiu frowned and nodded: "Brother Wei is right. Anyway, the Xue brothers have fled to Zhecheng City. There is no point in pursuing them now. We should deal with the current situation first."

Wei Hu's words reminded Zhu Xiu that the Xue family had been in charge of the Zhangyi Army's money, food and taxes for many years, and all supplies for the Ya Army were allocated by the Xue family. It was impossible for the Ya Army to have nothing to do with the Xue family.

The internal investigation work should be placed after the Xue rebellion is suppressed.

Tao Wenju still knelt beside the two charred corpses and kept wailing.

Cuihong was his new love that he hooked up with with great difficulty, and she died before eating it, so there was inevitably a little bit of regret in his heart.

As for Li, of course he will not be sad about Li's death, but Li is the key to his survival.

Zhu Xiu had made it very clear before that only by convincing Li that Li Guangbo's death had nothing to do with Jiedu Mansion could Tao Wenju survive.

Now that Li is dead, he has lost his use.

Tao Wenju knelt down to Zhu Xiu's feet and begged pitifully: "Please have mercy on Mr. Zhu and let the villain live!"

Zhu Xiu frowned and looked at him, not knowing what to do for a moment.Wei Hu pulled out the knife with a clang and said expressionlessly: "This man poisoned Li Guangbo and framed Jiedu Mansion. He committed a heinous crime and should be beheaded immediately!"

Tao Wenju was so frightened that he almost peed his pants. He hugged Zhu Xiu's legs tightly and burst into tears: "Don't kill me! Zhu Shaolang, help me!~"

"Stop!" Zhu Xiu shouted to stop the two tooth soldiers who came to drag Tao Wenju away, and said to Wei Hugong: "He has followed Xue Xiuming for many years and knows many secrets of the Xue family. Let him live. It might still be useful."

After saying that, without waiting for Wei Hu to agree, he waved to Chen An: "Take him back to the house and keep him under strict guard."

Chen An accepted the order, grabbed Tao Wenju and dragged him away.

Tao Wenju was eager to leave with Chen An at this moment. Even if he was beaten up, it would be better than being killed by Wei Hu.

Wei Hu sheathed his sword and did not stop him.

Xue's residence occupies a large area, and the search will take a while.

Just as Zhu Xiu wanted to find a place to sit down and rest his legs, he heard Shi Lingyan standing on the top of the artificial hill, pointing to a direction in the distance under the night, and yelling, "Look, Zhu Xiu, there's a fire over there too!"

"Where!?" Zhu Xiu was startled and ran over in a hurry. He stood in the garden on a low ground. Under the moonlight, he could only see a thick smoke rising far away and reaching the sky.

"Ouch! Idiot! Of course you can't see it if you're standing down there! Climb up!"

Shi Lingyan knelt down and stretched out his hand towards Zhu Xiu.

Zhu Xiu grabbed the little girl's hand and clumsily used her hands and feet to climb up to the top of the rockery. Looking from a distance, she saw a blaze of light reaching into the sky.

"It seems to be there"

Zhu Xiu was startled, a chill rose from his back to his brain, and an ominous premonition filled his heart.

Yan Ping stumbled to the foot of the rockery and shouted anxiously: "Something bad happened to Mr. Young Master! There was a fire in the county warehouse, and more than 2000 stones of grain were all in the fire!"

"What!?" Zhu Xiu slipped and almost fell off the rockery. Fortunately, Shi Lingyan had quick eyesight and quick hands to catch him.

Wei Hu said angrily: "Why don't you quickly organize people to put out the fire and save food!"

Yan Ping swallowed his saliva and almost burst into tears: "Judge Song, Pei Zhizhi, and County Magistrate Wen all brought people over. The handsome master also rushed from the house and ordered the villain to quickly invite General Wei and Zhu Shaolang to come over~"

"Leave a team of people to guard Xue's house, and the rest follow me!" Wei Hu shouted, ignoring Zhu Xiu, and hurried away.

Zhu Xiu climbed down the rockery, her mind went blank for a moment, and she broke out in a cold sweat.

The more than 2000 stones of grain in the county warehouse are the rations for the Ya army for the next two months. Once they are burned, how can we ensure the stability of the Ya army?

The arrears of military pay can be paid after the salt payment arrives, but if there is no food to eat, the soldiers will break into chaos in an instant!

"Zhu Xiu, please wake up and don't scare me~" Shi Lingyan started to panic when she saw that his face was pale and dripping with sweat.

Zhu Xiu took deep breaths and forced herself to calm down, but she couldn't help but her teeth chattered: "Let's go to the county warehouse."

　I wish everyone a happy weekend and a happy end of the month~
　　It’s January again when I have to pay off my debts, so happy~doge
　　
　
(End of this chapter)