Horse on the World

Chapter 131 The Dust Settles
It was almost midnight when Li Tuizhi arrived at the residence of Qu Yongjie, the leader of the Imperial Forest Army, but Qu Yongjie couldn't sleep because of such a big event in the capital. He made a few delicate dishes, drank some wine, and talked about this assassination case that was destined to cause a sensation in the capital tomorrow.

Hearing the servant's report of Li Tuizhi's visit, Qu Yongjie's face was extremely ugly. Could it be that Li Shi suspected that it was his own doing?Yes, I lost to Li Qing as a fighting soldier, and the loss was ugly, but no matter who I am, what I lose on the battlefield will be recovered from the battlefield. Do you bother to do it?
With a snap, the exquisite porcelain cup in his hand was crushed, and Qu Yongjie stood up abruptly, "It's too deceiving."

Lan Ting Hou Qiu Zhi grabbed Qu Yongjie, "Wait a minute, maybe there are other things."

Qu Yongjie sneered: "At such a time, Li Qing happened to be assassinated. What else can you say?"

In the midst of anger, Li Tuizhi had come slowly, Qu Yongjie's eyes widened angrily, "Shou Ninghou, are you here to arrest me and bring me to justice?" He surrounded him angrily.

Li Tuizhi glanced at Qu Yongjie in surprise, and in an instant he understood the other party's misunderstanding, and said with a smile: "Where did Commander Qu say this? Please don’t blame me.”

Qu Yongjie's face softened a little, "Your Li's house has such a big incident, you are not helping in the house, but what are you doing here?"

Li Tuizhi smiled and said: "There is an old man sitting in the mansion, so I can only run errands. I came to your mansion today, but I wanted to invite Lan Tinghou to come to the mansion. I originally went to Lantinghou's mansion, but I heard that Lantinghou came. The leader is here, so I have no choice but to come and disturb."

"Invite Lan Tinghou?" Qu Yongjie was taken aback, "What's the matter with inviting Lan Tinghou over at this time?"

The smile on Li Tuizhi's face remained unchanged, "As the old man ordered, I, as a son, dare not talk too much."

Qiu Zhi was puzzled, "Back, what happened? Why did the old man let me go at such a late hour?"

"I don't really understand this retreat. Lord Hou knows what's going on with the old man. He never tells us juniors. Lord Hou, it's getting late, so we won't bother Commander Qu. How about it, old man Waiting to talk to you!"

Seeing the two leave his house brother, Qu Yongjie frowned, and suddenly shivered, thinking of one thing, he couldn't help muttering: "No way?"

Li's Weiyuan Hou Mansion is brightly lit and heavily guarded. The arresting soldiers from Luoyang Mansion and Inspection Department lined up along Juxiang Street. Everyone's face is serious. Find the murderer as soon as possible, and each of them is likely to die because of this incident.

When Li Tuizhi and Qiu Zhi came to Hou's mansion, they happened to meet Wei Yuanhou who also came to the gate. Qiu Zhi, who got out of the sedan chair, saw the servant next to Wei Yuanhou twisting a big five-flowered tie. The person in question turned out to be his step-son Qiu Degong, he couldn't help being surprised, "Muzhi!" he shouted.

Li Muzhi, who was about to step into the gate, saw Qiu Zhi, couldn't help but smiled wryly, turned around and walked over, bowing and saying, "Father-in-law, you're here."

Qiu Zhihan pointed at Qiu Degong with a straight face, "What's going on?"

Before Li Muzhi could answer, Qiu Degong, who was tied firmly, had already shouted, "Daddy, help! Help!"

A gleam of disgust flashed across Li Muzhi's face, and he said to Qiu Zhi, "Father-in-law, please come inside, my father is waiting for you!"

Qiu Zhi stared at Li Muzhi, feeling a little bad in his heart, could this have something to do with this rebellious son of his?But he still knew how much Qiu Degong was worth, and he definitely couldn't arrange such a big battle to assassinate Li Qing.Moreover, can he have the guts?

"Degong, what have you done?" He roared angrily.

"Dad, I didn't do anything, I didn't know anything, they pulled me up from the bed, tied me up and left, Dad, help me!"

Qiu Zhi put his heart down a little, and said in a deep voice, "What are you shouting for? You don't have to embarrass me. You don't have to do anything to be afraid. Your father will make the decision for you."

"Master Hou, please come inside!" Li Tuizhi whispered beside him.Qiu Zhi snorted coldly, striding forward but walking inward, if he still doesn't understand Li Huaiyuan's purpose of bringing him here overnight, wouldn't he be a fool?An Guogong, you are really deceiving people!
Walking into the inner hall, I saw the blood-stained Li Qing sitting on a chair with his eyes closed, while Li Huaiyuan was standing in front of an eight-ox crossbow with his hands behind his back, squinting his eyes and staring, as if he wanted to see it from above. Come out a flower.Seeing Lan Tinghou coming in, An Guogong said with a smile: "Dear family, but you come to have a look, how about this eight-ox crossbow?"

Qiu Zhi snorted, and was about to explode, his eyes swept over the eight-ox crossbow, he was startled suddenly, walked to the crossbow frame hurriedly, wiped his eyes, as if he thought he was dazzled before.

That eight-ox crossbow is also a few years old, and it is slightly different from the eight-ox crossbow commonly used in the army. For these old soldiers, they can be distinguished at a glance, but the current Ordnance Department no longer produces this eight-ox crossbow. The crossbow is old. Although it is old, it is well maintained. The whole crossbow frame is shiny with tung paint.

"This, isn't this my eight-ox crossbow?" His voice trembled a little.

An Gongguo's eyes lit up, "Dear family, are you reading right?"

Qiu Zhi's whole body was a little weak at this time, only felt that his voice was far and near, as if it was not his own, "It's not wrong, it's mine." His hand pressed an old knife wound on the crossbow frame .

"Yes, I also remember that in Ningyuan Fort, when the barbarians attacked the top of the city, this eight-ox crossbow was stabbed, leaving this scar." Li Huaiyuan's fingers gently slid over the old wound, "Later we drove the barbarians down from the city. After the battle, you put away this eight-ox crossbow and said that you would keep it as a souvenir. Afterwards, this crossbow has been in your mansion, right?"

Qiu Zhi's head was stiff, and he nodded with great difficulty.

"Today, it was this eight-ox crossbow that launched the attack on Li Qing. Of course, there are nearly twenty other crossbows." Li Huaiyuan pointed to the dozen or so crossbows scattered on the ground beside the eight-ox crossbow, " Some of them have been found to be from our Li family, and some of them are for you to see if they belong to your Qiu residence."

"This naughty son, this naughty son!" Qiu Zhi muttered to himself.Huo Di turned his head and looked at Qiu Degong who was escorted in. Qiu Zhi hissed and shouted: "You bastard, you did a good deed." Qiu Degong's face was ashen, and with the last hope, he shouted: "Father, it's not me!" Did it, I don't know. I don't know what's going on?"

A sneer appeared on Li Huaiyuan's face, "What did Qiu Xuezhong do out of the city late at night? Qiu Dezhi, do you still want to deny it? Let me tell you, before dawn, Qiu Xuezhong and the rest of the Eagle Gang will be kneeling in the courtyard outside the hall." , are you still recruiting?"

Qiu Degong collapsed on the ground, and the last ray of hope was shattered, "Father, I was wrong, help me, brother, brother, help me!" He wriggled on the ground, trying to crawl up to Qiu Zhi , Qiu Zhi let out a long sigh, his face turned pale, he took a step back, and fell down on the chair.

"How did these powerful crossbows from my Li family get into your hands?" Li Huaiyuan's voice was very low, but there was an aggressive pressure that made people dare not say anything. Soft on the ground, "My sister gave it to me, my sister brought it." At this point, there was a flash of light in his eyes, and he shouted like a drowning man catching a straw, "My sister asked me to do it, yes She took the crossbow, everything was planned by my sister, I just did what my sister said, please forgive me!"

"Shut up!" Qiu Zhi jumped up, bent down, picked up a crossbow arrow from the ground, and threw it at Qiu Degong. This is just a stepson, and he can adopt another one after he dies, but Qiu is his own. Daughter, now, Qiu Zhi understands everything. It must be her daughter who planned everything secretly. She used Qiu Degong's hatred of Li Qing to get Qiu Degong to come forward and find a group of desperadoes to carry out the assassination.

With a sound of Dang, Li Qing, who had been sitting still, sprang up, stretched out his hand, and the knife in his waist appeared in his hand, holding the crossbow arrow that Qiu Zhi had inserted, "Master Hou, the matter has not been figured out yet, why bother so quickly?" Just kill someone?"

Qiu Zhi closed his eyes, and slowly retreated step by step.

"Bring Grandma." Li Huaiyuan ordered lightly.

Mrs. Qiu was soon brought here by some old women. Seeing everything in the inner hall, she immediately understood that everything had been completely exposed. Her face was pale, but she held her head stubbornly, and just stared at Li Qing with hatred. . "Your life is really big, this didn't kill you."

"Ying'er, you, you are so confused, how could you do such a thing?" Qiu Zhi said with heartache.

Qiu's eyes swept over everyone in the hall, Li Qing's eyes were full of murderous intent, father's eyes were full of worry, husband's eyes were full of pity, and father-in-law's eyes were empty and deep.

"Yes, I did it, so what?" Qiu Shi suddenly yelled hysterically, pointing at Li Qing, "Ever since this bastard came into being, there has never been An Sheng in the mansion, and he left after a long time. How many times has An Sheng lived?" Years ago, I never expected him to come back again, back with shame and arrogance. Ever since he came back, that bitch Wen Huan felt that she was great. You Li family all fawned on Li Qing, for fear that he would not recognize you. Pooh! , I'll kill him to see what you can do?"

Li Qinghuo stood up, his eyes were burning with anger, this woman was simply unreasonable, he had never thought about what to fight for, what to grab, why should he earn and grab, he was too lazy to talk, and suddenly felt that he was going back to Li's mansion. A mistake, if I don't come back, how can these brothers who followed me through life and death die so unclearly and so worthlessly.

With a choking sound, he drew out his knife, strode up to Qiu Degong who was limp and paralyzed in front of everyone's astonished eyes, and picked him up, "You bastard, wait until you are in the underworld before doing it for my brother." Let's make atonement for your sins!"

Looking at Qiu Degong's eyes full of fear, Li Qing slowly inserted the knife into his chest one by one, the blood gushed out and splashed on Li Qing's chest, Li Qing kept his face fixed on Qiu Degong's pair of eyes. Eyes that gradually lost their brilliance.

Everyone in the hall did not expect that Li Qing would suddenly commit murder. Seeing Li Qing's murderous eyes looking at Mrs. Qiu, they couldn't help shivering.

"No, don't kill my mother!" A voice sounded from the door of the inner hall, Li Feng rushed in frantically, stood in front of Qiu Shi, opened his arms, and stopped in front of Qiu Shi.

As soon as Li Qing let go of his hand, Qiu Degong slid to the ground, facing Qiu Shi, Li Qing took a step slowly.This step is not big, but it seems to be stepping heavily on the hearts of everyone.

"Qing'er!" Wei Yuanhou called out with an extremely ugly expression on his face.But Li Tuizhi took a step back, covered his mouth with his hand, and swallowed back the exclamation that came to his mouth, Li Huaiyuan's eyes were still empty.

"General Li!" Qiu Zhi finally came to his senses, and ran up to Mrs. Qiu in a few strides, "Ying'er did something wrong, Mrs. Qiu will compensate you, but please don't embarrass her."

"Compensation?" Li Qing sneered, pointing the bloody long knife at the courtyard, "Lantinghou, you are going to ask my dead brothers, what compensation do they want?"

"It's just a few personal soldiers, and you haven't suffered any major injuries. General Li, why are you being aggressive?" Lan Tinghou said.

"Fart!" Li Qing suddenly became furious, "These brothers of mine did not die at the border or at the hands of brutal barbarians. They crawled out from the pile of dead people and followed me to the capital. The matter is fatal, if I don't kill the culprit, how can I be worthy of their spirits in heaven?"

"Brother!" Li Feng suddenly knelt down on the ground, kneeled in front of Li Qing, hugged Li Qing's legs, "Brother, don't kill my mother, if you want to kill you, kill me, I will atone for my mother!"

Li Qing bit his lip tightly, and let Li Feng shake his legs desperately, the blood from the knife fell on Li Feng's body little by little.

Qiu Zhi looked at Li Qing nervously, "General Li, I beg you!" His tears finally fell, "I only have such a daughter. You see, I also killed the enemy at the border in my early years. You see now I'm gray-haired, and I don't have a few days to live, please spare Yinger!" He knew that Qiu Ying's life today depended entirely on Li Qing's words.Right now, Li Huaiyuan, the only An Guogong who can stop Li Qing, has obviously handed over the handling of the matter to Li Qing.

Li Qing closed his eyes, and with a bang, the knife in his hand fell to the ground, turned around abruptly, and strode out of the inner hall, Li Feng breathed a sigh of relief, turned around, hugged Qiu Ying and cried.

"That's it. From today on, Mrs. Qiu will live in the inner courtyard and is not allowed to leave. Mrs. Wen will preside over the internal affairs of the waiting mansion." Li Huaiyuan said.

"Thank you, Duke!" Qiu Zhi bowed gratefully to Li Huaiyuan. He thought that Qiu's family would be divorced at the very least, but he didn't expect such a result in the end.

Li Huaiyuan sighed, "Dear family, how happy we were when we killed the enemy side by side, I never thought it would happen when I was old, huh?" The two looked at each other and sighed.

Li Qing, who walked out of the inner hall, looked up to the sky and exhaled the turbid air in his chest. Looking at the crowd kneeling in the courtyard in darkness, he said to Yang Yidao: "Kill those who have done it, and kill all the leaders of the Flying Eagle Gang. Give it to the inspection department!"

After talking about all this, Li Qing walked towards the west courtyard with heavy steps. He felt too tired, not only physically but also mentally.

It's almost bright.

(End of this chapter)