"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 swept it several times, and it capsized into the water. Go, there are no survivors." 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 been involved 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 one after another: "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, rebel. 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 looked up 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 the 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. Now it may have drifted into the sea and cannot be retrieved."
After hearing this, Rong Qing breathed out gently and glanced 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 at the side 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 looked at Liu Zhennian with his peripheral vision. The latter also knew that he could no longer pursue the case, so he had to put away his doubts for the time being, stood up and reported: "Your Majesty, the rebels have been punished, but the accomplices cannot be forgiven. The deputy generals and others around him are also guilty of death and should be executed by Zhu High on the mountain; as for the soldiers and the like, they are indeed innocent and should be pardoned to show the generosity of the Sacred Heart."
"It's accurate." 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, 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 many times have I lost 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, no one came in, and there was no sound from the top of the mountain. Even the chirping of birds disappeared, which made the two of them even more anxious.
Ye Yongjia didn't say anything 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 wanted to respond aloud, but when Liu Zhennian's figure actually appeared there, Ye Yongjia's shining eyes suddenly turned gray. 'Liu Zhennian...' He chewed these three words back and forth in his mind, and they felt even more unfamiliar. Just look 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 me would be so cruel and wanted you to be buried with me," Liu Zhennian stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder, "It's really hard to endure these crimes."
"I don't think it's hard for me to be a lowly official." Ye Yongjia bowed and thanked him.
"Well, 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 even heavier, and his breath was choked.
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 hearing Liu Zhennian's story about the shipwreck, "I wonder if I can talk more while you two are talking."
"You are Tinglong's think tank, and I am about to inquire about the truth, but it doesn't matter."
"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 absolutely impossible for Your Majesty to get involved. But the border guards are not fools. The royal seal is completely different from ordinary seals. You don't know what it looks like. . It is very 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."
"Prime Minister Liu, this is an important matter, 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 plans slowly." Cai Xianqing had to make a safe decision for him first. Intend.
