Jiuxi

Chapter 369 Chapter 367 [Red]

For many noble people in Beijing, this is destined to be a sleepless night.

Hou Yu, the general of Nanya, was assassinated in Moyuan. There was a wound on his right shoulder that was deep enough to show the bone. If he had not been on the battlefield and had extremely rich experience in facing enemies, this sword would have almost killed him.

The impact of this incident is still brewing, but the night in the capital has become obviously restless.

The report had been received in the palace, and the furious emperor immediately issued an order, ordering experts from the Weaving Department and the Criminal Department to hunt down the assassins. At the same time, two generals, Wang Yan and Liu Shouguang, were ordered to mobilize the Beijing Army and impose comprehensive martial law on the city defense to prevent the assassins from taking advantage of the situation. Escape from the capital under cover of darkness.

Hou Yu was unable to return home due to his serious injury, so he had to stay in Moyuan. The emperor sent two imperial doctors to treat him, so there would probably be no problems.

In order to prevent the mysterious assassin from returning, Moyuan was surrounded by masters from the Weaving Department inside and outside, and the defense was as tight as an iron barrel.

Qin Zheng personally presided over the hunt for the assassin, but there is very little effective information about the assassin.

According to Hou Yu's description, the assassin was a woman in red, probably in her early twenties, with a slender figure and beautiful appearance. She was good at wielding a long sword and had some weird martial arts skills.

These statements were confirmed by Hou Yu's personal soldiers and some of the guards of Moyuan. The problem is that there are no similar records in the files of the Sutra Weaving Department. In other words, the identity of this red-clothed assassin is like a fog, and it will definitely not be possible to find out in a short time. come out.

Qin Zheng gave him a meaningful look and then walked into the courtyard. He still had some things to ask Hou Yu.

Lu Chen withdrew his gaze, lowered his eyes and said, "Why did he arrange for an assassin to kill him?"

Xue Susu looked at the indifferent Lu Chen and asked cautiously: "Master Marquis, are you going back to your home?"

Lu Mo remained silent.

……

Logically speaking, in this special situation, Qin Zheng would definitely be one of the people Lu Chen could trust, but Lu Chen did not dare to trust him without reservation.

This is the difference.

Lu Chen frowned slightly and turned to look at the other person: "Why?"

Qin Zheng repeated: "Because everyone knows that Moyuan is the territory of the second prince. The dignified general was assassinated in Moyuan and suffered such serious injuries. Do you think the second prince can completely stay out of the matter?"

Therefore, Lu Chen said unhurriedly: "Marquis Nan'an and I are both in the army, and we prefer a straightforward style. Furthermore, the dispute between me and him was just a verbal dispute before, and it will not get to the point where we are fighting to the death."

Qin Zheng stopped and asked, "Are you going back home tonight?"

Lu Chen had a pretty good impression of the middle-aged man next to him who controlled thousands of spies in the Weaving Department. This was probably because Qin Zheng's position was both important and difficult.

Moyuan was temporarily taken over by the Sutra Weaving Department. After Lu Chen's previous reminder, the second prince already understood the danger of the matter, so he had no choice but to step out immediately, greeting everyone and leaving first.

Qin Zheng seemed to be muttering to himself: "His journey from Chengzhou to the capital was not peaceful. As far as I know, he was attacked several times. I think he must have been an assassin from the Seventh Division of Shazhou. After he arrived in the capital, he immediately asked people to Come to the Sutra Weaving Department to ask for help, hoping that we can catch the assassin who may come to Beijing. During this period, I sent people to follow and protect him, but I never found anything unusual. It happened that after he came to Moyuan, he took a rest in the territory of His Highness the Prime Minister. One night, I met such a skilled assassin."

For more than ten years, Qin Zheng has handed over a qualified answer sheet to the emperor.

Lu Chen said: "It's better to go back first, I'll leave it to you to investigate the case."

Qin Zheng did not comment on this. He stared at the deep night and suddenly said something shocking: "Is there a possibility that the assassin was arranged by Hou Yu himself?"

Green courtyard.

The emperor needs loyal ears and eyes like the Sutra Weaving Department, but the ministers of the court naturally hate this kind of privileged yamen. Qin Zheng must be loyal enough, and at the same time, his skills and abilities must not be weak, otherwise it will only attract civil and military siege from the Manchu Dynasty.

Looking at the leaving figures of the second prince and his entourage, Qin Zheng said calmly: "Hou Yu actually didn't suspect that the assassin was related to you."

Outside the courtyard where Hou Yu lived, Qin Zheng and Lu Chen stood side by side, and the spies from the Weaving Department around them were relatively far away.

Lu Chen nodded and said, "I have already told the people in the Warp Weaving Department that no one will make things difficult for you, just some routine checks."

"Thank you, Lord Marquis, for your care."

Xue Susu bowed and seemed to be about to speak but stopped.

If the assassin hadn't suddenly come out tonight, maybe she would have followed the second prince's instructions and devoted herself to serving the young prince in front of her.

There was no need to mention it now, but she didn't know what she was thinking in her heart.

Maybe there is some loss, or a bit of relief that is not humane.

The so-called beautiful eyes and charming smile probably describe a beauty like Xue Susu. Although she didn't say anything, those bright eyes said everything.

Lu Chen said: "You will live here for the time being. If His Highness the Second Highness asks, just say that this is what I want."

Xue Susu couldn't help but feel nervous.

Lu Chen added: "Wait until the assassination of Marquis Nan'an is settled, and then you can come with me when the time is right."

A faint and grateful smile suddenly appeared on Xue Susu's face, and she saluted again: "Yes, Lord Marquis."

At this moment, her eyes were lowered, so she didn't see the complicated look in Lu Chen's eyes.

There was no trace of charming thoughts between men and women in his eyes, but instead there was a bit of scrutiny and solemnity. After a while, the spacious and comfortable carriage slowly left Moyuan in the night, and headed towards the Shanyang Marquis Mansion surrounded by more than ten elite cavalry.

When they returned to the Marquis Mansion, the carriage stopped inside the Yimen. When the soldiers outside signaled that everything was okay, Lu Chenfang got out of the carriage.

Surprisingly, he actually held a long sword in his hand, and the blood on the blade was not completely dry.

Qin Zilong, the commander of the personal soldiers, narrowed his eyes slightly and quickly said to the brothers next to him: "Be alert!"

Lu Chen shook his head slightly and said, "Take them down to arrange the arrangements, and just be careful during the next period."

"Follow the order!"

Qin Zilong left with other soldiers, and then personally checked the light and dark sentries throughout the mansion.

The carriage door opened again, and the first person to get out was Yu Chigui, who had a gentle temperament, and then a young woman in red.

She stared at Yu Chigui's back, with both fear and confusion in her eyes.

Pushing back the time to more than an hour ago, when she discovered that there were some discrepancies between Hou Yu's situation and information, and it didn't look like he was in a drunken state that had lost his mind, she immediately realized that this was most likely a trap set by the other party.

After making the attempt, she realized that she would not be able to complete her revenge tonight, so she immediately chose to retreat.

Not only did she have a map of the interior of Moyuan, but she had also found an opportunity to conduct on-site inspections before. Therefore, she was confident that she could escape calmly when the guards of Moyuan were not sufficiently prepared.

However, when she threw away Mo Yuan's guards and was about to escape, an unspectacular middle-aged man blocked her way.

In just five moves, her long sword fell into the opponent's hands that seemed gentle but contained endless inner strength.

After two more moves, she was completely controlled by the other party, and then was taken to the carriage. It was only now that she could breathe fresh air again.

The woman in red is not an arrogant person. She dares to come to the capital of Qi to seek revenge on Hou Yu. Despite all the preparations, she has enough confidence in her own martial arts. However, this middle-aged man's martial arts is obviously a level above hers.

In the cold night, she looked at Lu Chen standing opposite and said coldly: "Are you Lu Chen?"

Lu Chen didn't answer, but turned to look at Yu Chigui and asked, "Senior, where did she come from?"

Yu Chigui glanced at the woman in red and muttered: "Judging from her martial arts style, she should be from Shazhou."

Lu Chen nodded slightly, and then said to the woman, "Let's talk after we enter the room."

The red-clothed woman's eyebrows were cold, but the unfathomable middle-aged man placed a few restrictions on her veins, preventing the internal energy in her body from operating freely, and she could only obey at the moment.

Arriving at the inner study room, Lu Chen picked up a pot and poured tea. He first handed a cup to Yuchi Gui, then poured another cup and placed it in front of the woman in red. Then he sat opposite her, still looking at the bloody sword on the table.

The woman in red looked at the tea cup in front of her, her eyes unclear.

After a while, Lu Chen asked calmly: "Why did you want to assassinate Hou Yu?"

The woman in red frowned slightly. It was obvious that this was a very stupid question in her opinion.

She knew quite a bit about the affairs of the Qi State, and knew that although the man in front of her was young, he was a powerful prince with outstanding military exploits. He was a leader among the younger generation of the Qi State, and his scheming and strategies were not weaker than those of the old bureaucrats. There is no need to ask this question anyway.

Why did she want to assassinate Hou Yu?

Naturally, it is to avenge countless clan members who died tragically.

Lu Chen didn't care about her reaction and said calmly: "The grievances between Shazhou and Daqi have been going on for a long time. I don't want to talk about those past events tonight. The reason why this senior captured you is because I suspect that this assassination was Hou Yu arranged a painful drama, so I didn't hand you over to the Weaving Department immediately. Originally, I wanted to use you to open a breakthrough, but now it seems that there has been a big deviation. You are not the assassin that Hou Yu found himself, but Someone who really wanted to kill him.”

The woman in red sneered and said, "Since you know the hatred between Shazhou and Qi, why do you bother to ask?"

"Because Hou Yu should not be at the top of your revenge list for Shazhou people."

Lu Chen stared at the cold eyebrows of the woman in red, and then said: "If this was Chengzhou, you would understand no matter what you did. After all, Hou Yu is the governor of Chengzhou in charge of the military, and he is blocking your eastward attack on the people of our country. The biggest obstacle. But now that he is no longer the governor of Chengzhou, you actually followed him for more than two thousand miles and went to the crisis-ridden Daqi capital to assassinate him. This is indeed incomprehensible behavior. "

The woman in red said word for word: "Because he deserves to die."

Lu Chen said slowly: "According to the relevant files I have read before, when Hou Yu was the governor of Chengzhou, your Shazhou Seven Divisions harassed the border countless times. Maybe he killed your tribe on the battlefield. But the war is up to you. Provoked, the Daqi frontier army was just forced to defend, but where does such deep hatred in your heart come from?"

"Come from nowhere?"

The woman in red looked at Lu Chen intently and repeated these six words.

She laughed suddenly, but the laughter was like the cry of a jackdaw.

Extremely sad.

Lu Chen frowned slightly, but did not interrupt her.

When the laughter stopped, the woman in red did not explain, but said coldly: "You and that beast Hou Yu are from the same family, or there is no difference between you officials in Qi State. Don't expect me to say anything more. Now Luo Yu If it’s in your hands, I’ll kill or cut it into pieces!”

(End of this chapter)