Chapter 71 Suspicious approach, defensive side (2)
"The ship sank?" Liu Zhennian looked in disbelief, "How did it sink?"
"For the record, Mr. Prime Minister, I was just looking from a distance at the port. At that time, I saw the waves suddenly rising, and the warship was firing its cannon. Because the hull of the ship was not big, it tilted slightly, and the wind and waves rolled it several times, causing it to fall into the water.
Go, no one survives." The waiter looked a little horrified when he recalled it.
"Where are the rest of them?"
"We have brought them all back to the shore. No one is causing trouble. They are all willing to listen to the emperor's orders."
"Have these soldiers ever participated in Zhang Longlu's conspiracy?" The sudden events one after another extremely disrupted Liu Zhennian's thoughts.
"I asked them just now. Most of the soldiers didn't know. They didn't even hear about the morning drill. Only a few officers of the Chinese army were hesitant and seemed to know."
"Tell them to get over here!" Liu Zhennian shouted like a thunderbolt.
The officers were pushed into the tent. When they saw the emperor, they quickly knelt down to apologize and cried bitterly.
"Okay, okay," Liu Zhennian waved his hands impatiently, "You are all just doing things for others, and it is not a serious crime. But if you conceal the truth and don't say anything, you will end up like Zhang Longlu.
!”
These words were so frightening that the officers kowtowed and confessed: "A few days ago, Zhang Longlu showed us a letter, saying that he was following the emperor's secret order and asked us to kill... no, to commit rebellion. Fortunately, God has blessed me today.
The country has escaped a great disaster."
"Letter?" Liu Zhennian suddenly became nervous, "But is it true?"
The officers each raised their heads and looked at each other, only to realize that they had said the wrong thing. "Well..."
"Tell the truth, or I'll ask you for your death penalty!" Liu Zhennian said as he slapped the case.
"I didn't know the rules of the court, but I only saw the royal seal on it, so I believed it at the time. The letter was then placed on the sunken ship, and now it may have drifted into the sea and cannot be retrieved."
After hearing this, Rong Qing breathed out gently and looked at the emperor sitting on the throne.
"Whether this letter is a forgery or not... there must be an accomplice in it." Liu Zhennian slowly raised his head, his eyes widened with a fierce look like a lion, "Who is that guy's accomplice? Tell me quickly!
"
Rong Qing was really sweating beside him and deliberately looked outside to hide his guilty conscience.
The team officers did not want to take this big blame, and quickly explained: "We are just mere pawns, how can we know the secrets? Zhang Longlu is a cautious person, and he will never tell others about these things."
Rong Qing used his peripheral vision to look at Liu Zhennian. The latter also knew that he could no longer pursue the case, so he had to temporarily put away his doubts, stood up and reported: "Your Majesty, the rebels have been punished, but the accomplices cannot be forgiven. His deputy general
They are also guilty of death and should be executed on Mount Zhugao; as for the soldiers and the like, they are really innocent and should be pardoned to show the generosity of the Holy Heart."
"Precisely." There was no trace of panic on the emperor's face, as if the matter had nothing to do with him.
When Liu Zhennian walked out of the tent, he ordered the officers to be released, and sent Rong Qing to lead the imperial guards to kill the accomplices. After completing his instructions, he walked down the mountain step by step.
"Is everything okay over there, Mr. Ye?" He walked down the stone steps while holding on to the mountain wall.
The confidant next to him replied: "I heard from the people over there that thanks to God's help, you acted a step faster, otherwise he would have been plotted to death by Zhang Longlu."
Liu Zhennian's footsteps suddenly stopped, and he looked blankly at his confidant, with a look of shame on his face.
"Oh, how can I lose someone..." He shook his head and murmured something in his mouth.
Ye Yongjia and Cai Xianqing were still tied outside the tent. During this period, they did not see anyone coming in. There was no sound from the top of the mountain, and even the birds were gone, which deepened the anxiety of the two.
Ye Yongjia said nothing at all. He focused entirely on the door of the military camp - the sound of footsteps suddenly sounded, and the people coming from there would determine his life or death.
"Shilang Ye!" This shout almost pulled Ye Yongjia back from the edge of the ghost gate. He felt that the scenery in front of him was much brighter and the air was not as thin as before.
He originally wanted to respond aloud, but when Liu Zhennian's figure actually appeared there, Ye Yongjia's shining eyes suddenly darkened. 'Liu Zhennian...' He chewed these three words back and forth in his heart, and he became more and more worried.
I felt strange, so I just looked at him.
"Why don't you untie Tinglong? Let him suffer so many injustices for no reason!"
Liu Zhennian gave the order, and the confidant hurriedly stepped forward to untie the rope. Unexpectedly, it was a knot that could not be untied for a while.
"You go ahead." Liu Zhennian simply took his sword and struck the back of the hemp rope twice, freeing the two of them.
"Thank you..." Ye Yongjia frowned, "My benefactor."
"I never thought that the thief who betrayed my master would be so cruel and wanted you to be buried with me," Liu Zhennian stepped forward and patted his shoulder, "It's really hard to endure these crimes."
"I don't think it's hard for me to be a low-ranking official." Ye Yongjia bowed and thanked him.
"Oh, you are different from others. You have suffered a lot of infamy while working here because of those things in the past..." Liu Zhennian held his arms with both hands, with tears in his eyes, looking at him as if he were his own child.
He said, "Now, because I insisted on going my own way and did not expect so many changes, I almost lost Tinglong's life. I feel really guilty..." After saying this, his grip became heavier and his breath became even tighter.
Ye Yongjia had also experienced countless storms, but now that he saw him in such a state, he found it quite puzzling, so he could only follow his wishes and said: "My benefactor, this matter has been settled, so there is no need to feel sorry for it."
"That's right, that's right..." Liu Zhennian nodded, wiped away his tears with his sleeves, and went into the tent to talk with the two of them.
"I find this very strange," Cai Xianqing couldn't help but say after listening to Liu Zhennian's talk about the shipwreck, "I wonder if I can talk more while you two are talking."
"You are Tinglong's think tank. I'm about to inquire about the truth, but I just say it's okay."
"The so-called letter with the royal seal, and several soldiers who knew the inside story were all on the same boat, and they were all buried in the sea. Isn't it suspicious? Someone must have committed murder to silence them, or it's unknown."
"I think so too," Liu Zhennian said, "I think it is impossible for your Majesty to get involved. But the border guards are not fools. The royal seal is completely different from ordinary seals. I don't know what it looks like.
.It is extremely possible that... the ministers around His Majesty took the opportunity to collude with the thieves and wanted to kill me here in Zhu Gaoshan."
"Who?" Ye Yongjia asked.
Liu Zhennian stroked his beard depressedly and said for a long time: "I don't know, and I won't make a decision easily."
"Xiang Liu, this matter is important, so there is no need to think too hard about it. Prime Minister Feng and a group of his staff are still in Laizhou, so it would be a good idea to have His Majesty move to Laizhou first and make the calculation slowly." Cai Xianqing had to make a safe move for him first.