That night, the stars were densely covered, and there was not a single cloud in the sky. The entire sea of stars was like an upside-down bowl above the military horse farm, brilliant and colorful.
Under the starry sky, the second generation nobles stayed in their tents in twos and threes. Because the commander sent Li Longshan to inspect the two mountains, the dinner party that everyone thought there would be was cancelled. Instead, each tent had one grilled whole. Sheep, this is already the best food in the military camp.
In fact, in order for these second-generation nobles to come here to choose horses, their parents spent a lot of money. If they had not been from the Tuoba Yunhan faction, otherwise, no matter how much they paid, they would not have come to the military horse farm to choose horses. , and it is an arbitrary choice.
Liu Xin declined Zheng Xiao's invitation, but the latter didn't take it seriously. The friendship between the two parties is not that deep yet, and it takes time to cultivate it slowly. The most important thing is that, without knowing the specific background of Liu Xin and others, Zheng Xiao is not in a hurry to speed up the depth of their friendship. He believed that Liu Xin and others also thought the same way.
There are many factions in the officialdom, and taking sides is far more important than merit, and communication is based on the premise of being on the same side. Otherwise, if different factions become good friends, how can they start fighting in the future?
Liu Xin and the other three were no longer in their own camp at this time, but came to Dai Bangzheng's camp. The latter compiled the information about the movements of several suspects here, who they were friendly with, and who they were against, and handed it over to Liu Xin for inspection.
This is the most basic operation as a Dongchang spy.
"Time is pressing, let's focus on Jiang Chengdu first!" Liu Xin said.
"Why?" Gou Liangyu asked because he didn't understand.
"Is it because he showed up today?" Leng Peijun put forward his own idea.
Liu Xin was very satisfied with the two people's reactions. Gou Liangyu was a martial arts idiot, and it was too difficult for him to use his brain. However, Leng Peijun's IQ was online, which saved Liu Xin a lot of effort.
Liu Xin nodded and said: "The military horse farm has been closed for nearly nine months, and the secrets of raising horses have been cultivated since entering the military horse farm. Until we arrived today, only two groups of people have been here. This can be seen from the visitor list. You’ll know for sure.”
Leng Peijun also remembered the visitor list he had read this afternoon.
The one they took was an archived record. With Dai Bangzheng's level, it was naturally not difficult to obtain it. Although the access record was left behind, the person behind the scenes did not expect that the person investigating him had already arrived.
"On the ninth day of June, the staff of the Hanzhong Prefecture Magistrate came with documents from the Northern Army Governor's Prefecture, and were received by Jiang Chengdu, the commander-in-chief.
On the first day of July, a commander of the Northern Army was ordered to mobilize troops and horses. Three thousand horses were mobilized, and Jiang Chengdu, a colleague of the commander, received them! "
Leng Peijun's eyes lit up, he raised his head and looked at Liu Xinda: "So you suspected Jiang Chengdu at that time?"
Liu Xin shook his head and said: "At that time, his level of suspicion was only slightly higher than that of others, but because this is his job, it cannot be regarded as a point of suspicion."
The highest person in charge of the military horse farm is undoubtedly the commander of the military horse farm, Li Longshan. But this was a horse lover who voluntarily stayed at the military racecourse all his life. When I heard that the Duke of Qin wanted to build the Hanzhong Military Racecourse, the first thing that came to his mind was Li Longshan. The latter also readily accepted it and even swore on the spot that as long as the Hanzhong Military Racecourse In one day, he will be in the military stable.
If it were assumed that Li Longshan was the person behind the scenes, Liu Xin would not need to investigate, because behind Li Longshan was Tuoba Yunhan, who single-handedly established the Hanzhong Military Horse Farm.
This assumption is equivalent to saying that he stole his own things, which is simply a joke. Moreover, even His Majesty the Emperor has 100% trust in Duke Qin, so what right does Liu Xin have to doubt him?
Therefore, Li Longshan was excluded from the suspect list from the beginning.
The department that breeds war horses is independent of the entire military horse farm, and is theoretically directly managed by Riryushan. To obtain the secrets of raising horses from this department, it is possible only for a few officials with the highest official positions, that is, the officials listed above, who are above the command level.
But since the commander Liang Chonglun arrived at the military horse farm, he handed over all the power to Li Longshan. He hid in a separate mansion on the city wall, found a few beauties, and played there every day. Commander Liang was also a noble man, but he made some mistakes on the battlefield, so he was sent here by Qin Guogong Tuoba Yunhan on the pretext of being stationed at the military horse farm. He himself also knew that after leaving the military horse farm, he might not be a commander. He did it, so he played and sang every night and lived a very comfortable life.
Naturally, Li Longshan would not care about him, and part of his authority was divided among his subordinates. Among them, Jiang Chengdu received the greatest authority, and the reception task was also one of his duties.
Therefore, Liu Xincai said that although he was the biggest suspect, Liu Xin did not intend to focus on investigating him at first.
"The reason why we investigated Jiang Chengdu first is because his appearance today is so strange. Judging from his clothes, he must have just been on duty, or he is taking a break today, so he is not wearing armor. And we don't need him for our visit. To welcome him, to put it more simply, we don’t have the qualifications. The previous time he came to greet him, once was an order from the summit, and another time was a military deployment, both of which were inseparable from him. But what virtue and ability can we have to let a person The commanding officer who is acting on behalf of the commanding officer has come to take a look."
Liu Xin paused and concluded: "I think he came here today just because of his psychology!"
"Psychological?" Leng Peijun was confused.
Liu Xin nodded and said, "Well, he obviously has a criminal mentality. After the incident, any movement that occurs is enough to panic him. He can't feel at ease without confirming it himself. It's called a criminal mentality."
A large part of Liu Xin's investigative skills came from his fourth senior brother Sun Long. When he was young, Sun Long liked to tell him some weird stories, including Detective Holmes, Detective Conan...
"Do you have a guilty conscience?" Leng Peijun asked.
"Yeah!" Liu Xin nodded.
Chinese culture is profound!
"Then how are we going to check on him?" Leng Peijun is a good supporter.
I also heard this from Sun Long.
Liu Xin pondered for a moment, his eyes lit up, and he said: "Since he has a guilty conscience, why don't we come out and scare the snake away, so that he can expose himself. The environment of this military horse farm is the most suitable for such a thing."
"Is this just catching a turtle in a urn?" Gou Liangyu said from the side. At the critical moment of the mission, Gou Liangyu felt that he had to contribute.
"Yeah!" Liu Xin and Leng Peijun looked at Gou Liangyu at the same time.
Afterwards, the three people discussed the details of the follow-up actions in detail. Well, the three people were Liu Xin, Leng Peijun, and Dai Bangzheng.
As a spy stationed here by Dongchang, Dai Bangzheng has long been connected with many Dongchang spies inside the military horse farm. Except for the core departments, there are Dongchang spies in other places.
Follow-up plans are inseparable from these people.
"Tomorrow, I'll have to rely on Dai Qian for your acting skills!" Liu Xin looked at Dai Bangzheng solemnly.
In fact, Dai Bangzheng is not a spy trained by Dongchang himself, but developed the day after tomorrow. He has always wanted his heir to enter the imperial capital, join Dongchang, and join the admiral's command.
He is a big fan of Dongchang Admiral Mi Yusong!
Dai Bangzheng nodded solemnly, and then said with some worry: "However, if there is a disturbance, Commander Li will probably be furious when he comes back."
Liu Xin didn't care about Li Longshan, as long as the mission was completed, the latter couldn't do anything to him. For the sake of his son's future, Dai Bangzheng could only grit his teeth and persist.
Tomorrow, there will be trouble in the military horse farm!
Early the next morning, at the beginning of Mao hour, all departments within the military horse farm began to light Mao. In this imperial capital, the hours are set by each yamen themselves. In the army, especially the Northern Army of Qin Guogong, this kind of rules is extremely strict.
At 15:00, a commotion began in the east camp of the military horse farm. When several departments checked in, they found that there were few people because everyone was in the military camp and it was easy to find them. Just because of this search, many people disappeared.
At first, everyone didn't care, but as more people were looking for them, when the two met and had a brief chat, they found that someone in each other's department was missing at the same time.
Then the situation broke out when Qianhu, who was in charge of military horse equipment, that is, responsible for saddles, bridles and other horse equipment, went to report to his Shangguan camp and found that his Shangguan was unconscious in his military camp.
Dai Bangzheng's face was as pale as paper and he was unconscious. Qianhu under his command immediately ordered people to send Dai Bangzheng to the military medical clinic, and at the same time sent someone to report to the highest commander in the camp.
Lilongshan is on patrol, and no one can be found for a short time. At this time, he may appear on the two hills or anywhere on the city wall.
Lilongshan is no longer here, and the commander, Liang Chonglun, is in charge of the Western Camp, which is dozens of miles away from here, so they sit in rows and it's Jiang Chengdu's turn.
Jiang Chengdu didn't sleep well all night. He was always worried about things. He couldn't communicate with the outside world at the military horse farm. He had to do many things by himself.
When a thousand households came to report Dai Bangzheng's affairs, many people came at the same time, all saying that someone in their department was missing. Everyone gathered together and found that there were more than ten people missing.
For a military horse farm under closed management, this kind of disappearance out of thin air is naturally the most bizarre and most likely to make people's hearts wander.
Looking at the panic on the faces of his subordinates, the most common word in his mouth was "Sir Tongzhi, what should I do?"
what can I do?
Jiang Chengdu first suppressed everyone's chattering, and then listened one by one. His face also dropped in a trend that was visible to the naked eye. In the end, his face became extremely ugly.
"Master Jiang, the first priority is to seal off the military horse farm. No one is allowed to enter or exit. At the same time, Commander Li and Commander Liang are notified!"
At this time, Wu Zhigu showed enough calmness, because no one under his command was missing. He also discovered that, except for Dai Bangzheng, who was unconscious for some reason, the rest were missing people in departments within the military horse farm. The army In fact, it is quite stable.
Jiang Chengdu stabilized his mind, issued the order according to Wu Zhigu's suggestion, and then asked Wu Zhigu to search for Lilong Mountain, while he hurriedly returned to the camp.
"Calm down, calm down!" Jiang Chengdu leaned on the case with a ferocious expression. Obviously there are still three months before the mission is over.
The strange situation that appeared now made him very panicked, and he couldn't calm down for a while.
In fact, this was also related to the fact that he had been under some kind of strong pressure for nine months. There was no external force to detonate his emotions. He didn't even know that his mind had become so fragile.
At this time, there was a sudden buzz of discussion outside his tent. The sound was not loud, but Jiang Chengdu, as a martial arts expert, was keenly aware of it.
So he walked slowly to the edge of the tent with a suspicious look on his face, turned his ears outward, and listened attentively.
"I heard that Mr. Dai was poisoned and his life is in danger now!"
"What's going on? How could something like this happen in the military camp?"
"Who knows, I think something big is going to happen."
"Yes, yes, why did those people at the military horse farm disappear? Could it be ghosts?"
"Don't scare yourself. Veterans have said that the military camp is the place with the strongest yang energy and the aura of murder. How dare ordinary ghosts come to the military camp to cause trouble."
"Then how did you say these people disappeared, and how did Mr. Dai get poisoned?"
"I already know what's going on. I'd better listen to what my general said."
"Oh, then come and listen."
"This is a secret, how can I tell you!"
"You and I are from the same hometown!"
"Hey, okay, for the sake of my fellow countrymen, I'm telling you, so come here..."
Jiang Chengdu couldn't hear the rest of the words clearly because the voice was too low.
But the above alone had already caused a shocking wave in Jiang Chengdu's heart. He subconsciously went to the weapon rack, took off his sword, and then strode out of the camp.
He first came to the place where he had just heard the soldiers talking. Outside the camp, there was no one there. He probably had left.
With a gloomy face, Jiang Chengdu held his sword tightly and walked towards the medical clinic.
Not long after Jiang Chengdu left, Liu Xin and Gou Liangyu came out of a corner of the tent.
Because of the incident at Mao Shi, the entire military camp was sealed off. No one with a rank above the commanding officer could walk. Shan Si and others were already trapped in the camp. Liu Xin and Gou Liangyu relied on Dai Bangzheng to get through unimpeded.
Leng Peijun has set out to look for Lilong Mountain. Things here cannot be suppressed by Dai Bangzheng's power alone, and he can only rely on Lilong Mountain. If this plan really comes to fruition and Jiang Chengdu cannot bear the psychological pressure and takes risks and exposes himself, then it doesn't matter if Dai Bangzheng is exposed afterwards.
After all, Dai Bangzheng is not Li Longshan's real subordinate, and if things happen here, Dai Bangzheng can also get part of the credit. Dongchang will definitely suppress the matter of his identity. Li Longshan may report it to Qin Guogong, but as long as Dai Bangzheng is transferred Go, Qin Guogong can't give him any shoes to wear afterwards.
Besides, they may not necessarily wear small shoes for him, and they may even hide it for him.
The current Dongchang is not the eunuch of the past. With Admiral Mi Yusong here, this is a high-level intelligence organization, and the military must also cooperate well with it.
When he arrived at the hospital, Jiang Chengdu went directly to the bedside of Dai Bangzheng, who was in a coma. The former first used his fingers to detect Dai Bangzheng's pulse and heartbeat, and found that he was indeed very weak, and Dai Bangzheng's face was pale, which did not seem to be fake.
But just to be sure, he raised the scabbard, gently pulled out the sword, and slowly handed the blade to Dai Bangzheng's neck.
At this time, the distance between the sword blade and the neck was less than an inch.
After being in a stalemate like this for a long time, Jiang Chengdu sheathed his sword and left quickly when he heard footsteps coming from outside.
When Jiang Chengdu returned to his tent from the medical clinic, his eyes were blurred and he was sweating profusely. He first removed a wooden board from under his bed, then put a roll of parchment hidden in it into his arms, and patted his chest to calm himself down. Some.
Why, why do I have such big mood swings? It shouldn't be.
At this time, Jiang Chengdu's blurred eyes gradually returned to clarity, and he glanced at the sword tightly held in his hand and suddenly realized something was wrong.
At this moment, there were footsteps coming from far and near outside his tent, and they arrived in a moment. Then the curtain of the tent was lifted, and a figure wearing armor strode in.
Jiang Chengdu raised his head in disbelief and looked at the person coming: "Dai Bangzheng!"
Behind Dai Bangzheng were Liu Xin and Gou Liangyu who entered closely.
Liu Xin said with an indifferent expression: "Jiang Chengdu, you intend to murder your colleagues, and now I want to arrest you!"
Jiang Chengdu looked at Liu Xin and then at Gou Liangyu, his pupils suddenly shrank: "It's you!"
They have seen each other.
Jiang Chengdu already knew that he had fallen into the trap at this time, but he didn't know why he fell into the trap and why his nerves suddenly became so fragile.
Looking at Jiang Chengdu, who was breathing heavily, Gou Liangyu glanced at Liu Xin subconsciously. The latter's methods were really unpredictable. Previously, he had just taken out a few bottles and cans, combined them together and kneaded them into a stick. Make some incense, then light it and secretly put it in Jiang Chengdu's tent.
Then he and Liu Xin observed Jiang Chengdu's reaction in the dark. Gou Liangyu witnessed Jiang Chengdu gradually losing his mind and becoming inexplicably agitated. Finally, in the medical clinic, he almost attacked Dai Bangzheng.
Liu Xin only said that it was a trail and that Jin Yiwei knew it. Suddenly, Gou Liangyu felt that Dongchang's methods seemed too one-dimensional, and he should learn from Jin Yiwei's example.
In fact, the incense prepared by Liu Xin is a special spice that can amplify people's emotions. The main function is not to harm people, but to help people cultivate. Because it can amplify people's emotions, this incense can help you strengthen your concentration when you practice meditation.
This thing cannot be judged as good or bad, it just depends on how you use it.
"You...you!" Jiang Chengdu had nothing to say. He felt the parchment in his arms and knew that he could not be caught no matter what. Otherwise, no matter what other charges, the things in his arms would be enough to kill him. of.
"Drink!" Taking a preemptive strike, Jiang Chengdu drew his sword, and a sword light filled the entire camp.
As a fellow commander, he is also at the Dacheng Realm. He is best at swordsmanship and is known for his sharp swordsmanship.
Dai Bangzheng didn't know the cultivation status of Liu Xin and Gou Liangyu, so he could only resist. He had a sword in his hand. Instead of defending, he took the initiative to attack. He slashed upward with the long sword, shattering a large area of sword light, and finally killed Jiang Chengdu. The sword was blocked in mid-air.
But when it comes to cultivation, although Dai Bangzheng is also in the Dacheng state, he is slightly inferior to Jiang Chengdu.
Jiang Chengdu's swordsmanship was sharp and strange. After being blocked by Dai Bangzheng's sword, he slashed at Dai Bangzheng's hands close to the blade.
"Hand-attaching sword, the sword technique of Taihang Valley!" Liu Xin recognized the origin of this sword technique. With a thought in his mind, he had a way to solve it. He held the sword and came to Dai Bangzheng's side in two steps.
Taihang Valley is well-known in the world for its Taihang Swordsmanship with weird angles and supreme speed. After Emperor Wudi City unified the world, Taihang Valley disappeared. It is unknown whether it was merged into Emperor Wudi City or simply disbanded.
This Jiang Chengdu should be a disciple of Taihang Valley.
Jiang Chengdu's sword was so fast that Dai Bangzheng could only choose to retreat. However, Jiang Chengdu followed closely with his sword. Dai Bangzheng regretted for a moment that he had taken action too early. He should have mobilized his troops to come.
But at this moment, Liu Xin's figure appeared on the side, and the sword flashed. Jiang Chengdu quickly turned around, raised his sword, and the blade flicked in the air, stabbing Liu Xin's wrist in an arc.
If Liu Xin did not retreat, this sword would be able to pierce Liu Xin's wrist, but at the same time, Liu Xin's sword light would also hit him. But although he did not wear armor, he was used to wearing soft armor under his single clothes. .
puff!
blood splatter
Jiang Chengdu groaned and grabbed his arm in disbelief. His right arm was severed from the elbow.
Liu Xin followed up with a kick that hit Jiang Chengdu right in the heart.
Taihang Valley's swordsmanship is famous for its weirdness. The swordsmanship does not adhere to the normal sword path, and with strong internal strength, after the move is made, the sword blade can still move as desired, making it impossible for people to feel the path of the sword.
For Liu Xin, this kind of sword move is very easy to defeat, because although another characteristic of Taihang swordsmanship is speed, speed and cunning cannot coexist. You must either be fast or cunning. If measured, it means that the speed of the sword also decreases.
And Liu Xin's sword is a fast word!
Even Dai Bangzheng, who was in the Dacheng Realm, only saw the flash of the sword. The sword that was originally aimed at Jiang Chengdu's chest suddenly turned and struck the latter's arm.
Unlike Dai Bangzheng's surprise, Gou Liangyu was shocked. He didn't expect Liu Xin to be so strong.
Didn't he... just join Jinyiwei, less than half a month ago?
Jiang Chengdu lost an arm and was captured without any suspense.
When Li Longshan arrived, Dongying had stabilized, and the missing people all appeared out of thin air. They only said that they had overslept. More than a dozen people gave the same excuse.
Li Longshan immediately understood the identities of these people. Without saying a word, he looked at the parchment that recorded the secrets of raising horses that was found from Jiang Chengdu, and said to Liu Xin in a deep voice:
"This little brother, can Jiang Chengdu be interrogated by me? After the interrogation, no matter the result, I will hand him over to you!"
Liu Xin knew that the commander with the big beard and sharp eyes wanted to give an explanation, and he also wanted to give an explanation to the Northern Army Governor's Mansion.
So he nodded and said: "Yes, but we need our people to come with you!"
Li Longshan took a deep look at Liu Xin and nodded in agreement.
