Wu Chengsi raised his hand, stopped Wen Rong from continuing to lecture, and said: "After all, it concerns the envoys of a country, so I will accompany you to investigate."
The possibility of what Wen Rong said was extremely low, and Wu Chengsi actually agreed with Lan Ma's guess.
Maybe some Honglu Temple officials did this secretly in order to covet tribute from small countries.
The impact of this incident is extremely bad and must not be left alone.
Ranma paid a great tribute to Wu Chengsi and said: "You are indeed an upright person. Please allow me to express my gratitude and apology to you."
Ye Yeluo said: "His Royal Highness King Zhou, are we going to Honglu Temple to investigate?"
"No, let's go to Mingde Gate first."
If it were in the past, Wu Chengsi would directly go to Xiao Siye, the minister of Honglu Temple, to inquire about this matter.
However, now that he and the Xiao family are at loggerheads, it would be better to collect evidence slowly first and then visit him for questioning.
When we arrived at Mingdemen, it was already sunset and the sky was dark.
Wu Chengsi and Sha Tuotuo stopped not far from the city gate and ordered Feng Wu to call the captain of the city gate guard.
After a while, a man in military uniform followed Feng Wu.
"I humble myself to pay my respects to His Highness King Zhou." The captain of the city gate bowed his hands respectfully.
Wu Chengsi said: "No need to be polite, I am here to ask you, did the envoys of the Khurasan Kingdom leave through Mingde Gate this morning?"
The guard captain replied: "Yes."
"They came back later, didn't they?"
The guard captain said in surprise: "No, they didn't return."
Sha Tuo Tuo's face changed drastically and he said anxiously: "You are talking nonsense. When we came over to ask just now, you clearly said that they had come back!"
The guard captain shook his head: "Your Highness, what I said is true. Those envoys have not returned."
Ranma said anxiously: "Your Highness, this guard is lying. There must be a conspiracy behind this matter!"
Wu Chengsi's eyes wandered back and forth between the three Sha Tuo Tuo people and the captain of the city gate.
After a while, he sneered and said: "How dare you three deceive me? Come and arrest them!"
Sha Tuo Tuo was very anxious and said: "His Royal Highness King Zhou, we did not lie to you, he was lying to you!"
Ranma took a deep breath and said: "Prince of the Tang Dynasty, please think carefully, what reason do we have to lie to you?"
Ye Yeluo said nothing and stared at Wu Chengsi.
Wu Chengsi did not listen to their explanation at all and waved his hand.
The guards rushed forward. Ye Yeluo tried to resist, but was restrained by Feng Wu. The other two and several Piao guards were also subdued instantly.
Wu Chengsi ignored the shouts of the three men, said "Follow me" to the guard captain, and then walked to a deserted place.
The guard captain followed, with confusion in his eyes, and said: "Your Highness, you..."
Wu Chengsi glanced at the three Sha Tuo Tuo people and sneered: "Don't you understand yet? The person who issued the order to change your story is me."
"This..." The guard captain's face changed drastically.
Wu Chengsi said coldly:
"You don't need to ask any more questions, just obey orders. Now the order has changed. You must insist that you know these three Pyu envoys, and then say that they bribe you with money to prove that the Khurasan envoys have returned!"
The guard captain's eyes flashed and he said: "I understand the humble position."
Wu Chengsi waved his hand and said: "We've got it."
Feng Wu moved like the wind and subdued the guard who was still in a daze.
Wu Chengsi returned to Sha Tuo Tuo and the other three, waved his hand and said, "Let them go." He smiled and said to Sha Tuo Tuo, "Your Highness, I was offended just now."
The three Sha Tuo Tuo looked at the city gate captain who was escorted by Feng Wu and looked at each other.
Ye Yeluo was the first to react and said in surprise: "Your Highness, King Zhou, did you deliberately deceive the guard just now?"
Only then did Sha Tuo Tuo and Ran Ma suddenly realize.
The city gate guard looked at Wu Chengsi with a pale face, gritted his teeth and said: "Your Highness, King Zhou, you have not acknowledged anything just now!"
Wu Chengsi said coldly: "I only need to know who is lying. It doesn't matter whether you admit it or not."
The captain of the city gate was sweating profusely. The opponent was a powerful prince. He, a small captain of the city gate guard, could not compete with him.
Wu Chengsi glanced at him and said to his bodyguard: "This man is a tough guy at first sight, so immediately send him to Dali Temple and let Dali Temple torture him for seven days before making a confession. If he confesses, he will be brought back to me for questioning!"
"
One of the guards cleverly said: "Your Highness, if you torture me for seven days, you may be beaten to death directly."
Wu Chengsi said calmly: "Just ask them to be careful and leave room for me to ask questions."
The guard shouted loudly: "I have the order!"
Just as he was about to drag the city gate guard away, the city gate guard screamed: "Don't take me to Dali Temple, I will attack you, I will attack you all!"
Wu Chengsi snorted and said: "You are so easy to trick, you must want to deceive me again! Don't pay attention to him, quickly take him to Dali Temple for torture!"
The three of Ranma looked at each other, and were all shocked by Wu Chengsi's coldness.
The captain of the city gate shouted: "I will never lie to you. If you don't believe it, you can go and prove it to other guards after I tell you!"
Wu Chengsi said coldly: "Then let me listen to what you have to say. If it makes me feel dissatisfied, humph!"
The captain of the city gate blurted out: "Your Highness, it was General Yu Long, the guard of the left prison gate, who gave the order. I had no choice but to deceive you because of my humble position!"
Wu Chengsi nodded secretly.
The left and right prison guards were in charge of the city gates, and the palace gate guards. If it hadn't been for the order of the senior general of the prison guards, the captain of the city guards would not have dared to deceive him.
Next, Wu Chengsi asked his personal guards to interrogate other city gate guards for their confessions.
After confirming that they were consistent, they took the city gate captain and went straight to the prison gate guard office.
…
In the Miura Poetry Club, Wei Dongchu looked at Xue Shao who was chatting among the girls with jealousy in his eyes.
This guy has obviously not been to the poetry club for several months, but he is still so popular. Even a female club member Wei Dongchu is pursuing is surrounding him.
Wei Dongchu felt depressed and went to the corner of the room to drink alone. He was not popular in the poetry club and no one paid attention to him.
I don't know how long it took, but a voice came from above my head.
"Brother Wei, can I have a drink with you?"
Wei Dongchu didn't need to look up to know that the person speaking was Xue Shao.
He had already guessed that Xue Shao had no interest in the poetry club at all and came here just for himself.
"I advise you not to waste your efforts." Wei Dongchu said coldly.
Xue Shao sat down opposite him and said with a smile: "Brother Wei, what do you mean?"
Wei Dongchu raised his eyes and glanced around the room, and found that Duan Zhiya, the central figure of the poetry club, had arrived at some unknown time, and everyone gathered around him.
He snorted and said: "Do you think I'm stupid? You haven't been to the poetry club for several months, and now you suddenly come here. Besides looking for me, what other purpose can you have?"
"Oh? What do I want from you?"
Wei Dongchu snorted coldly: "You three families have committed a crime, and Empress Wu and King Zhou are planning to deal with you, so you have been recruiting helpers recently, trying to resist stubbornly!"
His voice was very low when he spoke.
Xue Shao's face changed slightly, and he glanced left and right, his eyes instantly becoming sharp.
After being silent for a long time, he said slowly: "Brother Wei, you are also a member of Jingzhao Wei Family. If your uncle dies, it will be of no benefit to your family."
Wei Dongchu's face darkened and he said angrily:
"If your Xue family hadn't seduced my uncle back then, how could things have happened today! It was because of this that my father had a falling out with his uncle and separated from his family. Do you still expect us to help you now? Stop dreaming!
"
Xue Shao sighed and said, "Brother Wei is too worried. I've just been upset recently, so I came to the academy to relax."
"Then why did you come to me?" Wei Dongchu looked unbelieving.
Xue Shaodao: "It was Miss Cui who asked me to come over and give you a message."
Wei Dongchu's face changed drastically, and his face turned red with excitement. He said anxiously: "Why didn't you tell me earlier? What did she want you to say?"
Xue Shao said coldly: "With your attitude towards me just now, why should I help you pass on the message?"
Wei Dongchu was immediately furious. As soon as he thought about it, he suddenly turned his anger into a smile and said, "It doesn't matter if you don't tell me. I will ask myself."
After saying that, he stood up and walked towards a woman in an apricot shirt in the distance.
While looking at his back, Xue Shao reached out to lift the lid of the wine jug, and then dropped a red pill into the wine jug.
On the other side, Wei Dongchu said a few words to the woman in apricot shirt, his face became increasingly red, and he pointed at Xue Shao.
However, Xue Shao had already left there.
The woman in the apricot shirt turned cold, turned around, and ignored Wei Dongchu again.
Wei Dongchu was very angry, and then he realized that he had been tricked by Xue Shao.
Returning to his seat, he started drinking again.
After drinking a few glasses of wine, he suddenly felt a little hot all over. At this moment, a book boy came over and whispered: "Is this Mr. Wei?"
"What for?" Wei Dongchu asked impatiently.
"There is Mr. Xue below who wants to see you for something. He asks you to go to the third room in the west wing of the back garden to find him."
Wei Dongchu slapped the table and said angrily: "That bastard still dares to come to me again?"
Angrily, he went downstairs. This poetry club was very large. In addition to the main building, there were two rows of side rooms and a garden in the backyard.
Wei Dongchu went straight to the third wing on the west side, pushed the door open and went in without knocking.
As soon as I entered the door, I smelled a strange fragrance.
He didn't think much and went straight into the inner room. His eyes suddenly widened and he saw a woman lying on a couch to rest.
An uncontrollable impulse suddenly surged in Wei Dongchu's belly, and his consciousness became a little blurry.
Suddenly, he realized that the woman was the Miss Cui family whom he longed for, and she was smiling at him.
The last trace of Wei Dongchu's sanity disappeared, and a hungry tiger pounced on the couch.
After an unknown amount of time, Wei Dongchu heard something vaguely, and his back was suddenly pulled by something. He fell to the ground, and then a group of people came into the room.
Someone in the valley seemed to be shouting at him, but he couldn't hear it clearly, he just felt like he was in a dream.
Suddenly, a basin of cold water fell on my head.
Wei Dongchu's intelligence, consciousness, hearing and vision finally returned to his brain.
Looking around, he saw all the members of the poetry club pointing at him. The expressions of the male members were full of anger, and the eyes of the female members were full of contempt.
Looking towards the bed again, I saw a woman huddled in the corner of the bed, her clothes were disheveled and there were tears on her face.
Wei Dongchu was shocked. This woman was not Miss Cui, but another woman named Yu from the poetry club.
Duan Zhiya's eyes almost burst into flames, and he said loudly: "Wei Dongchu, you bastard, how dare you do such an unscrupulous thing!"
"He must be expelled from the poetry club!" a female member said angrily.
"No, he has broken the law, he should be sent to Jingzhao Mansion!" shouted a male member.
"I can't believe that there is such a scum among Jingzhao Weishi!" A member of the aristocratic family said sadly.
Another member of the aristocratic family sneered: "I heard that Wei Daizi was expelled from Jingzhao Weishi ten years ago. Mr. Wei must have seen the true nature of their father and son, so he expelled them from the door!"
Wei Dongchu looked at his hands, trembling in shock, unable to say a word.
Just when everyone was about to drag him to Jingzhao Mansion, a clear voice suddenly sounded.
"Wait a minute!"
Wei Dongchu looked up and found that the person who made the noise turned out to be Xue Shao.
Just listen to him saying slowly: "Before correcting Wei Dongchu's intention to insult Miss Yu, shouldn't we first listen to what Miss Yu said?"
Duan Zhiya said angrily: "It's such an obvious thing, what else is there to ask?"
Xue Shao said calmly: "Maybe the two of them are in love with each other."
“Mr.
Wei Dong looked ashen at first. He knew very well that his life was over. Even if he was not sentenced to death, it would still be the same as death.
At this moment, the young lady from the Yu family who was huddled in the corner suddenly spoke up.
"You, you... don't take him to the Yamen!" Although his voice was trembling, his tone was firm.
Everyone was shocked, Miss Cui said in surprise: "Sister Yu, why do you still speak for this scoundrel?"
Miss Yu's eyes turned to Wei Dongchu, and she saw him staring at her for a moment, his eyes full of prayer.
Everyone else was staring at her intently.
At this moment, the weak victim's words will determine Wei Dongchu's fate.
After a moment of silence, she lowered her head and said, "You are mistaken, he and I..."
She stopped when she said this, but everyone present understood what she meant.
Duan Zhiya frowned and said, "If that's the case, why are you shouting?"
It was when they heard her shout that they broke into the room.
"I, I don't want to be with him now..."
It was still only half a sentence, but everyone understood it.
The two of them were indeed in love with each other, but Wei Dongchu was too impatient and wanted to get rid of her, so she shouted loudly.
In this way, although Wei Dongchu's behavior was also worthy of condemnation, the nature was quite different, and everyone slowly left the room.
Before Miss Cui left, her eyes wandered back and forth on Miss Yu and Wei Dongchu, as if she still had doubts.
Xue Shao said: "Urge Miss Yu, let's go out too. If we stay here any longer, it will only embarrass Miss Yu."
Miss Cui nodded and left the house with Xue Shao. Suddenly, only Miss Yu and Wei Dongchu were left in the house.
"Thank you very much for helping me, I will treat you..."
"Shut up!"
Before Wei Dongchu could finish speaking, he was coldly interrupted by Miss Yu.
She got off the bed, put on her coat, came to Wei Dongchu, and said coldly: "Follow me."
The two of them left the poetry club through the side door. Wei Dongchu followed Miss Yu closely. After walking for a while, he found her parked outside a private house.
She knocked on the door, and a servant opened the door and said respectfully: "You are here."
Miss Yu entered the house silently.
When Wei Dongchu followed him in, he saw Xue Shao at a glance.
"Why are you here?"
Because Xue Shao had just offered to help, Wei Dongchu's tone became less hostile.
Xue Shao ignored him, walked to Miss Yu's side, put his hands on her shoulders, and said softly: "You have been wronged."
Miss Yu's family screamed and threw herself into his arms.
Wei Dongchu was shocked and angry: "You, you..."
Xue Shao said coldly: "She is my favorite."
Wei Dongchu was stunned for a long time, then lowered his head and said, "In that case, why did you help me just now?"
Xue Shao gritted his teeth and said: "To be honest, I want to kill you now, but you are Wei Shibo's nephew. If this matter gets serious, your family will be ruined, and Duke Xu's mansion will be implicated!"
Wei Dongchu smiled bitterly and said nothing.
Xue Shao said coldly: "For Wei Shibo's sake, I will let you go this time, but there is a request."
"What?" Wei Dongchu asked.
"Right now, our Xue family and Wei family are both in a difficult situation. Your surname is also Wei, so don't think about staying out of it."
Wei Dongchu was stunned for a long time, then suddenly pointed at him and shouted: "Xue Shao! You must have deliberately planned what happened today so that our family would work hard for you!"
Xue Shao was even more angry: "You bastard, you are so cowardly and you blame others, how can I still control you to insult others?"
Wei Dongchu was stunned again, scratched his head and said, "But it was obviously you who called me over. Why was it that when I went to that room, you weren't there and only...she was there?"
Xue Shao said coldly: "I was waiting for you in the house, but because the servants in the mansion were looking for me, I went to the door of the poetry club and asked Ping'er to wait for you here. Who knew you were a beast..."
Wei Dongchu said hurriedly: "I, I don't know what happened at that time, I recognized her..."
"enough!"
Xue Shao waved his hand and said bluntly: "I'm not interested in hearing your explanation. I just want to ask you, do you want me to expose this matter, or are you willing to persuade your father to recognize his ancestor and return to his clan?"
Wei Dongchu murmured: "Even if I say it, my father will not listen to me. He only listens to General Li."
Xue Shao hummed: "Tell him what happened today, I believe he will agree."
"No... no... he will definitely kill me!"
Xue Shao said angrily: "Then I will stab him out!"
Wei Dongchu forced a laugh and said: "Anyway, Miss Yu has already covered me up just now. It's useless for you to poke her out..."
Xue Shao laughed and snorted: "What if I asked Ping'er to tell others that she said those words because she was threatened by you?"
Wei Dongchu shouted: "She is your woman, it will not be good for you if you make this matter bigger, right?"
Xue Shao said with a gloomy face: "You know what the current situation is like. For the future of me and Ping'er, it is inevitable to make some sacrifices."
Wei Dongchu's face turned green and white for a while. After a long while, he gritted his teeth and said, "I, I understand."
"Then go quickly. If your father doesn't go to Xu Guogong's mansion before Xu Shi tonight, don't blame me for being ruthless." Xue Shao said coldly.
Wei Dongchu stamped his feet, turned around and ran away.
As soon as he left, Miss Yu separated from him and said with a cold face: "I have done everything you asked me to do. I hope that your governor can keep his promise."
Xue Shao smiled and said: "Even if you can't trust our Hedong Marquis Mansion, can't you still trust Song Guogong?"
Miss Yu nodded and was about to leave the room.
At this moment, a servant of the Xue Mansion came in from outside the house. Fu Er said something to Xue Shao, and Xue Shao's expression changed drastically.
Miss Yu quickly asked: "What happened?"
Xue Shao actually didn't dare to look at her and whispered: "It's okay."
Just when Miss Yu was feeling strange, a maid from Yu Mansion came in outside the door. The maid hurriedly shouted: "Miss, you are indeed here."
"What's wrong?" Miss Yu asked in a deep voice.
The maidservant's eyes were red and she sobbed: "Master... When I was at the Prison Guard Office, I was arrested by His Highness King Zhou and taken to Dali Temple!"
Miss Yu's face turned pale and she asked anxiously: "How could this happen? For no reason, why did His Highness King Zhou want to arrest my father?"
The maid said: "It seems...it seems to be related to some foreign envoy."
"Envoy from Khurasan?" Miss Yu's teeth clenched.
"Yes, it's Khurasan!"
Miss Yu's head turned sharply, stared at Xue Shao, and said sternly: "Why is this happening? Didn't you say there is no risk in this matter?"
Xue Shao's face also turned pale and he said: "I don't know why this is happening. He is obviously just an envoy from a small country. Why would Wu Chengsi suddenly go to investigate them?"
After a pause, he gradually regained his composure and said:
"Besides, your father also said that the captain of the city gate guard is his confidant. Even if Wu Chengsi asks, he will answer according to your father's instructions. Which link caused the problem?"
Miss Yu family gritted her teeth and said: "Maybe they have been secretly watching you all this time, and our Yu family will be harmed by you this time!"
Xue Shao said flatly: "It's absolutely impossible. Our family has used a lot of secret power to do this. No matter how powerful Wu Chengsi is, he can't know about them in advance!"
"But my father has been arrested and taken to Dali Temple!"
Xue Shao said in a deep voice: "Don't worry. Your father has been on the battlefield. Even if he is tortured by Dali Temple, he will not speak easily. As long as he does not speak, things will not be too bad."
Miss Yu's face was clouded and she didn't answer.
Xue Shao didn't have much energy to comfort her, so he said, "I'm going to find out the situation now, you wait for my news", and left in a hurry.