dognovel Chapter 258 Lin Wuyai colludes with the 3rd Prince, and the Prefect of Xingzhou investigates the exi
Chapter 258 Lin Wuyai colludes with the 3rd Prince, and the Prefect of Xingzhou investigates the exi
*
No one knows.
Lin Wuyai, who was supposed to leave the capital to borrow troops, quietly returned to the capital unnoticed.
"Your Highness, this is the military tally. Please accept it."
Lin Wuyai secretly came to the Luo Prince's Mansion to meet with the Third Prince Xiao Yuqiang.
Xiao Yuqiang was imprisoned by the emperor for theft and has not been released to this day.
However, the Third Prince had already gained considerable power, and even though he was confined to the palace, his control over the outside world remained extraordinary.
He was very pleased with the sensible nature of Lin Wuyai, the Minister of War.
He played with the small tiger tally, his smile utterly devilish.
"Minister Lin, have your wife and daughters arrived in the capital?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Wuyai was overjoyed.
He understood Luo Wang's intention almost immediately.
If my daughter can become the Princess Consort of Luo, she will surely become the Empress of the entire Dayong Dynasty in the future.
"Your Highness, my wife and the others have been trapped outside Cangzhou Prefecture for several days without any news. I am truly worried about their safety."
Upon hearing this, the Prince of Luo curled the corners of his lips, ignored his request, and continued to ask.
"I've heard that your family in Qingzhou has a woman of exceptional talent and beauty? Could she accompany your wife?"
"Your Highness, they were indeed traveling together, but they were all stopped outside Cangzhou Prefecture." Lin Wuyai was somewhat dissatisfied that Prince Luo was eyeing other women.
But he also knew that his daughter, Lin Shuqi, was neither beautiful nor talented, and it would be difficult for her to catch the eye of the Prince of Luo.
He was disappointed in his daughter, feeling she was not living up to her potential.
"Don't worry, I'll send someone to bring them back."
Xiao Yuqiang smiled faintly, looking meaningfully at Lin Wuya below him.
Upon hearing this, Lin Wuyai's eyes lit up instantly.
He hadn't received any news from his wife and daughter for a long time.
Since the death of his two sons, he has been all alone, without even a close friend to talk to.
All the resentment in my heart was suppressed, with nowhere to vent it.
Although he had no shortage of wives and concubines, he considered them merely playthings and would never confide in them, lest it bring him trouble.
Furthermore.
He was indeed very worried about the safety of his wife, daughters, and brothers.
"I wonder what Your Highness's plans are? This humble official is willing to serve Your Highness!" Lin Wuyai seized the opportunity to inquire, wanting to know what the Prince of Luo's plans were.
Xiao Yuqiang glanced at Lin Wuyai indifferently, without revealing his plan.
"You will stay at my residence for the next few days. You can come out again once things have calmed down outside."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Lin Wuyai was disappointed, but he did not show it on his face. After respectfully taking his leave, he followed the Prince of Luo's guards to his guest room.
There were no outsiders inside the hall.
Looking at the military tally in his hand, Xiao Yuqiang couldn't suppress the smile that appeared on his lips.
"I have finally obtained the Tiger Tally!"
"Anwu, take the military tally and go do this immediately."
Xiao Yuqiang finally stopped laughing, tossed the tiger tally to the guard beside him, and ordered him to do his work.
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Anwu was overjoyed; the prince was finally about to do something big!
After ten years of planning, the prince has finally waited for this day!
"An Liu, take the 100,000 Qiangwang troops hidden outside the capital and secretly go to Cangzhou Prefecture to provide support."
An Liu knelt down and commanded, "Yes, Your Highness!"
Three days later.
The 100,000-strong army of the King of Cang successfully arrived in Cangzhou Prefecture.
However, Cheng Zongyi, the prefect of Cangzhou, did not receive any news of reinforcements from the capital.
Seeing the vast army of plainclothes officers at the south gate, he was filled with doubt.
"We have been ordered to come to the aid of Cangzhou. Please open the city gates immediately!"
"We have been ordered to come to the aid of Cangzhou. Please open the city gates immediately!"
The roar of 100,000 soldiers resounded throughout the ears of every resident of Cangzhou.
The intense fighting terrified the people of Cangzhou every day.
They were terrified that the northern barbarians would breach the city gates and massacre the city at will.
Now, upon hearing that 100,000 soldiers are coming to support Cangzhou, it feels as if a ray of life has been injected into the hearts of all the people.
It gave them hope of survival!
A short time.
Countless people have gathered outside the government office, kneeling and begging the prefect to open the city gates and let the army into the city.
Cheng Zongyi had no time to investigate the origins of these people and was forced to open the city gates to welcome reinforcements.
However, neither Cheng Zongyi nor the people of the city knew this.
At the moment when the city gates were opened to let the reinforcements into the city.
The fate of Cangzhou Prefecture was already sealed.
*
A mysterious little mountain village.
Xingzhou Prefect Wang Runze led a group of men to the mine via another main road.
What he saw was an unbelievable sight!
The once picturesque mountain village is now nothing but charred ruins after being burned down by fire.
That once majestic and sprawling mine is now reduced to a massive, deep pit!
If it weren't for the deep marks of human excavation around the pit, he would have thought it was a natural landscape!
What kind of methods could make a huge mountain range disappear and turn into a giant crater in just a few days?
The most terrifying thing is.
He thoroughly investigated the entire mountain range surrounding the deep pit.
Even if someone wanted to emulate the Foolish Old Man Who Moved Mountains, there would still be traces of transporting waste soil!
Unfortunately, no trace was found!
Not a single extra footprint was found!
This impact was incredibly intense for them!
"My God, what, what is going on?"
Wang Runze's mind went completely blank at that moment.
His limbs went weak and he collapsed onto the grass, wishing that this scene was just a terrible nightmare!
"Sir, we have discovered something!"
At this moment, a soldier ran over to report.
Upon hearing this, a glimmer of light finally returned to Wang Runze's dazed eyes, and he urged his soldiers on.
"Speak quickly! What did you find?"
"Sir, we've discovered something strange about the layer of ash on the road from the mine to the village; it looks like it's been shoveled away..."
The soldiers gave somewhat uncertain replies.
He was truly puzzled.
I really can't understand why that mysterious force would take away the ashes from the road.
The black and gray areas elsewhere showed no signs of being affected.
The most terrifying thing is.
Judging from the traces of those vanished plant ash, the thickness was exactly the same!
Not a single speck of dirt got on it!
Upon hearing this, Wang Runze's expression stiffened even more.
He wanted to hear good news, not this bizarre and superstitious tragedies!
"Have any new people joined the village recently?"
It took Wang Runze a while to figure out the key point, and he immediately asked.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, only the fifteen families of prisoners whose homes were recently confiscated and who were exiled by the Emperor have entered the village."
"In addition, no new people have joined the mine in the past three months."
Upon hearing this, Wang Runze's eyes deepened.
Why did the mine have an accident right after the exiled prisoners were arrested?
"How exactly did that escaped prisoner manage to sneak into the village without anyone noticing? Have you investigated this thoroughly?"
"Sir, the investigation is complete."
"According to the prisoners' confessions, a woman from the Su family sneaked in and let the people escape."
The Su family has become quite famous in Beijing recently, causing quite a stir.
Although news of the Su family had long been suppressed by news of the Northern Barbarian invasion.
Back then, the daughter of the Su family accepted more than 500,000 taels of gold and silver jewelry from Chu Jingxuan, and also exposed the fact that the Imperial Guards were colluding with the Third Prince.
These two incidents have already spread far and wide, making them easy to investigate.
The soldiers told Wang Runze everything they had learned.
Although Wang Runze did not associate the Su family with mysterious power.
But this is the only clue we have right now.
He had no choice but to continue investigating along this lead, otherwise he would have no way to explain himself to the Prince of Luo.
"Since those people disappeared from the mountains, let's look for clues in the mountains!"
"Send out all ten thousand soldiers! Make sure to capture all these escaped prisoners and members of the Su family and interrogate them thoroughly!"
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will send men to investigate immediately!"
These soldiers and miners, after the mountain fire, quickly moved along the main road to a small county town on the outskirts of Xingzhou Prefecture.
This county town is entirely populated by the families of these tens of thousands of soldiers, and outsiders are not allowed to enter.
With tens of thousands of troops searching the mountains, the efficiency was quite fast.
The exiled groups left many traces in the mountains, which could not be hidden at all.
They did not remove the traces either.
Their route was quickly discovered by the soldiers.
The final destination of these prisoners was actually a small hill outside the city gate of Xingzhou Prefecture!
Upon receiving this news, Wang Runze was furious!
The number of escaped prisoners and members of the Su family totaled at least 250 to 260!
Such a large group of people just mysteriously disappeared outside the city gate!
Who would believe it if I told you?
Wang Runze: "Immediately send people to investigate the surrounding areas to see if a group of more than 250 people has entered other counties or towns!"
"They don't have household registration or travel permits, so they definitely can't go far!"
"And they were all wearing prison uniforms; their distinctive features meant someone must have seen them!"
"Send someone to inquire immediately. A reward of ten taels of silver will be given to anyone who provides clues!"
"By the way, the Su family might separate from the exiled prisoners under these circumstances. You need to focus your investigation on the Su family's group of over a hundred people and see where they went!"
Unlike the exiled prisoners, the Su family had travel permits and household registration documents, which they needed to show to go to any county.
If they enter the city, they will be discovered very quickly.
Unless they went to villages and towns that do not require household registration.
No matter what the situation, they only need to search the entire territory under the jurisdiction of Xingzhou, and they will definitely be able to find the person!
It's even harder for criminals to hide their tracks!
No matter where you go, you'll be the target of everyone's criticism!
Someone will see it!
After giving all the instructions, Wang Runze rushed back to Xingzhou Prefecture.
The Xingzhou government office was burned down, and all the officials were terrified and at a loss.
Ding Tongzhi, the prefect's first deputy, waited anxiously at the city gate for the prefect to return to the city.
Upon seeing the prefect from afar, he immediately went to greet him and informed him of the devastating news.
"My lord, something terrible has happened! Our government office has suddenly caught fire and burned down the entire county government building..."
Ding Tongzhi nervously wiped the sweat from his face while secretly observing the adults' expressions.
Recently, a major incident occurred at the mine, and he, as a close confidant of the prefect, had heard about it.
Now that something has happened at the government office, he is always worried that the officials will take their anger out on him.
Upon hearing this, Wang Runze's expression turned even uglier!
"A bunch of useless trash! Get back to the government office right now!"
He glared at Ding Tongzhi and immediately ordered the coachman to drive the carriage back to the government office.
The front yard of the government office.
Looking at the dark ruins before him, Wang Runze unconsciously compared them to the mine ruins in his mind.
His vision went black, and he almost fainted.