The cousin is beautiful but ruthless.

Chapter 242 What happened back then

"We each had our own difficulties back then."

Li Sheng's eyes darkened slightly. He took the handkerchief from the eunuch and told him to leave, while he dried his hair.

Li Huaijiang squatted down and looked up at him: "Brother, the opportunity is right in front of you. Don't act rashly. Please listen to my advice."

She almost pleaded, not wanting Li Sheng to give up on himself; they had finally gotten this opportunity.

Li Sheng looked at her. He felt sorry for his younger sister, and he knew what Li Huaijiang had done over the years.

His mother risked everything for him.

“Huai Jiang.” Li Sheng called out Li Huai Jiang’s name. “The incident in Lizhou happened too suddenly. Even though I am in a high position, I was also deceived. There are many details that I am not aware of.”

He feared that this time it would all be for nothing.

Li Huaijiang knew that Li Sheng was afraid, afraid that things would repeat themselves like they did more than ten years ago.

"It's alright, this time it's not just my brother."

Li Huaijiang's hands trembled slightly. At this point, she was also afraid. If she was even slightly careless, they would be plunged into an abyss of no return.

Li Sheng nodded gently: "Don't worry, I know what to do."

During the years he was imprisoned, apart from news about Li Huaijiang and Empress Wang, he had no way to investigate the affairs of Lizhou. Now that he has returned, he cannot sit idly by and wait for his death.

Seeing that Li Sheng had so many concerns, Li Huaijiang breathed a sigh of relief.

"Does Your Highness Jiang Fengxiao still remember?"

I haven't heard the name Jiang Fengxiao in a long time.

Li Sheng carefully recalled and dug out this person from the depths of his memory.

"I remember, he seems to be Zhao Xiang's adopted son. He was working under me at the time. He was a smooth talker, but I didn't really like his personality."

Li Sheng transferred Jiang Fengxiao to work under other people at the time, and I don't know what happened after that.

"I have been investigating the Lizhou matter for a long time. It is most likely that the Crown Prince and Prime Minister Zhao conspired to frame you. Jiang Fengxiao is Prime Minister Zhao's adopted son, and he has been involved in many things. Yu Qi is currently interrogating him."

Li Sheng slowly processed this information; so much time had passed that he no longer recognized some of the names.

"Yu Qi?"

Li Huaijiang explained Yu Qi's identity to Li Sheng.

"Yu Qi is absolutely trustworthy."

Li Sheng nodded and let the eunuch come in to tie his hair.

"I can't stay here any longer. I'll go over there first, and we can talk about other things when I get back."

Li Sheng patted Li Huaijiang's hand to reassure him. Since he had promised Li Huaijiang, he wouldn't do anything that would be detrimental to himself.

Li Huaijiang watched him leave, "Has there been any movement from the Crown Prince's side?"

"The person has already arrived; I'm afraid they're going to run into His Highness."

Li Huaijiang's lips are taut; the outcome is still uncertain.

Li Sheng did indeed meet Li Jing in the Imperial Study. The two brothers met again, but their thoughts were quite different.

Li Jing smiled and said, "Brother, how have you been since we last met?"

Thank you for your concern, I am doing well.

“The borderlands are harsh and difficult; my brother has suffered.”

Upon hearing this, Li Sheng looked up at the square sky.

"Let's talk about it after we've met with Father."

Upon hearing Li Sheng mention his father, Li Jing's expression changed slightly, but he still followed him inside.

The two went inside together, and when they saw Li Jing coming over, Li Jiangui's gaze lingered on him for a moment.

"Yu Qi will take you to Dali Temple later. I didn't want you to go through so much trouble since you just got back, but some things happened a while ago. Jiang Fengxiao was almost silenced. To avoid any unforeseen complications, it's better to meet him sooner rather than later."

Li Sheng nodded in agreement.

Li Jiangui observed Li Jing's expression. Li Jing did not reveal any flaws. He waved his hand, telling Li Sheng to leave first, leaving Li Jing alone.

Li Sheng boarded the carriage, bid farewell to Empress Wang, and first went to Dali Temple with Yu Qi.

Li Huaijiang had mentioned Yu Qi to him before; he was a trustworthy person.

Pei Du was also with them, and Li Sheng looked at Pei Du.

"Child of the Duke's mansion, I never imagined you would become a general. How is the Duke's health?"

Li Sheng exchanged a few polite words, and Pei Du smiled.

"I severed ties with the Duke's mansion long ago and have no idea what's going on there."

Li Sheng was somewhat surprised; it seemed that quite a few things had indeed happened over the years.

Since it concerned Pei Du's private affairs, Li Sheng did not ask any further questions.

The three arrived at Dali Temple in silence. When Jiang Fengxiao saw Li Sheng, her throat tightened, and she couldn't say a word.

He did those things on Zhao Wanfu's orders back then, all to frame the person in front of him.

Li Sheng had lost some of his sharpness compared to before, but his overall demeanor remained unchanged, making him almost identical to the person Jiang Fengxiao remembered.

Jiang Fengxiao lowered his head subconsciously.

"This person is Jiang Fengxiao," Yu Qi introduced to Li Sheng.

"I remember."

Li Sheng stepped forward and took the dossier from Yu Qi, which contained his long-forgotten memories.

Pei Du observed Jiang Fengxiao's expression. Seeing that Li Sheng remained silent, he asked curiously, "Does Your Highness still remember Qi Liansheng?"

The words on the paper that couldn't be pieced together were a mix of place names and one or two names. The place names were probably places where Qi Liansheng had stayed in Lizhou, but it was unknown whether he had any contact with Li Sheng.

Li Sheng is intelligent; although he can't be said to have a photographic memory, some memory would be a great help to them.

Li Sheng put down what he was holding.

"The name sounds familiar, but I can't quite place it."

Qi Liansheng probably didn't appear in front of him many times.

"He was just here on a small errand, so naturally not many people remember him."

At this moment, Jiang Fengxiao spoke softly, glancing at Pei Du.

Pei Du lowered his head. Jiang Fengxiao had said the same thing last time, but he was still unwilling to give up and wanted to ask again.

After being reminded by Jiang Fengxiao, Li Sheng was able to recall some of it.

“I met him once. He was in charge of supplying materials in the rear. Usually, it was my men who contacted him, but there was a small problem with the supplies in the rear that time, so he came to me.”

Pei Du raised an eyebrow; he had no idea there was this part.

Yu Qi stared at Jiang Fengxiao with a half-smile. Jiang Fengxiao hadn't told them about this, and it wasn't even recorded in the case file.

Seeing their pale faces, Li Sheng sighed, "Because it was resolved quickly, no one took it to heart. No one mentioned it during the investigation, including myself."

His mind was in a mess at the time. He had already spent a lot of effort maintaining his composure to investigate those matters in Lizhou, so he couldn't care less about these things.

What happened to the supplies?

Pei Du seized on this point and asked further questions.

"Some of the grain and fodder at the bottom was moldy. Qi Liansheng discovered it during his inspection. If it hadn't been discovered in time and everyone had eaten it, I'm afraid even more people would have died in that battle."

At this point, Li Sheng became somewhat depressed. Over the years, he could no longer remember the faces of the dead, but the cries and the smell of burning flesh still lingered in his mind.

He witnessed that massacre.