Lai Hai, the second-in-command of the Ghost Alliance Horse Bandits and Gehan's biological brother, was lying upright on the ground with a sharp dagger stuck in his chest. He seemed to be dead.
As soon as the news of his murder was sent to the city guard's mansion, Li Jiangyao led his men and hurried to the cell where the prisoners were held. Facing the scene in front of him, he suppressed his anger and stared coldly at Ma Mu, who was already guarding here: "Who did it?"
Ma Mu swallowed anxiously at first, then raised his finger and pointed at the three people kneeling on the ground next to him: "They did it. Originally, I asked them to come here to treat Lai Hai's wrist injury, but I didn't expect... "
Li Jiangyao slowly walked up to the three people and was suddenly startled: "Are you...Daddy Summer?"
Kneeling on the far left is Summer, an old businessman from Metasequoia City. He had been the guide for the caravan that Li Jiangyao and the others had rescued halfway, so the two of them had known each other for a long time. After ambushing the horse bandits in the forest, everyone fled back to Metasequoia. Since he had been busy fighting the enemy, this was the first time Li Jiangyao saw Samour.
Summer's face was full of tears at this moment: "Sir, it's me. Summer's sins are serious, please punish me. I did all this and it has nothing to do with them."
"No!" The boy kneeling in the middle suddenly shouted loudly: "It's not what Samor said! I was the one who was killed in Laihai!"
The other old man on the right was shocked when he heard this, and together with Samour, he hurriedly stopped the young man to prevent him from continuing.
Seeing this, Li Jiangyao slowly squatted down in front of the three of them and said calmly: "Don't be anxious first, think it over carefully before talking. Although lynching and killing prisoners is a serious crime, this guy Lai Hai's hands are full of blood. If I die, I don’t feel sorry for it either.”
He paused for a moment and his tone suddenly became cold: "But you can't lie to me. If I find out and you dare to deceive me, the consequences will be more serious than killing Lai Hai. Do you understand?"
The three of them were glanced at by Li Jiangyao's sharp eyes, and they couldn't help but be secretly surprised. You looked at me, I looked at you, and for a moment they didn't know where to start.
Ma Mu was a local official and had always had a good relationship with Samour. He knew that the other party was an honest businessman and did not want to see Samor beheaded in anger by Lieutenant Li, so he quickly came to the rescue and said: "I Talk about Samoor, Samoor, you are really an old fool. Coming to the sea is a crime worthy of death. Lord Li will execute him sooner or later, but you are just running a trade route, why are you joining in the fun here? Come and follow Li Sir, tell me clearly, does this beast Lai Hai have any grudge against you? Our Lord Li is a hero with a broad mind, and we will definitely not make things difficult for you."
Old Samor looked at Ma Mu, then at Li Jiangyao, and sighed: "Oh, Lord City Guard, you... you don't understand my difficulty... Now that the matter has come to this, I have nothing to hide. Everybody Sir, this person next to you...is our little prince Kuliban."
"Little prince? Kuli?...Kulifega's son?!" Mamu's eyes widened wider than a bull's eye: "The heir to the Shenhua family?"
The Shenhua family mentioned by Ma Mu can be regarded as an extremely mysterious and respected existence in the Chechi Kingdom and even in the entire Ghost Desert of Western Xinjiang.
For thousands of years, no one has been able to tell clearly where this long-standing family came from.
The only thing everyone knows is that when their grandfather's grandfather's grandfather was a child, this family was included in the stories they told before going to bed every night.
It is said that the Shenhua family is the envoy sent by Nanjinhua Flower God to the human world.
They do not have their own territory, or in other words, the entire Ghost Desert in Western Border is the territory of this family. As the messengers of God, the Shenhua family has always been adhering to the purest bloodline of the Flower God Religion and is spread across the vast land of the thirty-six countries in Western Xinjiang.
They are both clergy and prominent nobles, both dispersed and cohesive, both united and independent. Just like the Nanjinhua in the minds of the people of Western Xinjiang, they are spread all over the world, spreading the great power of the Flower God.
For a long time, the number of branches, population, and wealth of the Shenhua family has always been the top secret of the Flower God Cult, and is only in the hands of a few elders.
The surname "Kuli" means "calyx" in Xijiang language, symbolizing the guardian of the sacred flower.
The Kuli lineage is the leader and prince of the Shenhua family, and is also one of the three high priests of the Flower God Sect in Western Xinjiang passed down from generation to generation. The prince's token "Black Crystal Jade" has a dual meaning at the same time. It not only serves as a symbol of power to lead the Shenhua family and commands all members of the family, but also represents the decree of the high priest of the Flower God Sect, which deeply affects every citizen of Xijiang. .
For thousands of years, the Shenhua family has been like its name, a gentle, beautiful and loving light. This is a peaceful and peaceful ethnic group. The rulers of the family encouraged their clansmen to migrate and live in various parts of Western Xinjiang, and gradually integrated into the Thirty-six Kingdoms and became their subjects.
Only in this way can we better spread the teachings and serve believers.
Prince Curry, on the other hand, leads the family headquarters and is stationed at the Chechi Palace to guard the temple of the gods of the Flower God Sect.
After a long period of integration, Prince Curry gradually became a nominal vassal and aristocrat of the Chechi Kingdom. He could not only enjoy the taxes of the territory under his jurisdiction, but also receive offerings from believers from various countries in Western Xinjiang.
Over the years, the Shenhua family gradually became one of the most noble and wealthy families in Western Xinjiang.
The previous prince of the Shenhua family was named Kurifega. Like his ancestors, Kulifega is also an upright and kind-hearted leader and high priest.
Under his knees, he has a son and a daughter.
The eldest daughter Marim is naturally beautiful, a well-known beauty in Chechi, and the best candidate for the next generation of Flower Goddess. The youngest son Kuliban, the boy Samor was referring to, is the only heir to the throne of the Shenhua family and the future high priest.
Seven years ago, shortly after Kuliban celebrated his tenth birthday, the temple suddenly welcomed a group of guests.
These people are none other than the Gehan brothers from the Chariot King's Court. The purpose of their visit to the temple is to come to the sea to ask for Marim's hand in marriage.
At that time, Geerhan and Laihai were still princes of Chechi, with noble status and notoriety. Lai Hai is also considered young and handsome, with good appearance and no ugly scars on his face. In addition, he made it clear to Prince Curry that he was willing to join the Shenhua family so that Marym could serve her father, queen and queen with peace of mind. Therefore, no matter from any angle at the time, this was a very good marriage.
In order to consolidate the relationship with Chechi Kingdom, Prince Kulifejia immediately agreed to the marriage and held a grand wedding banquet to celebrate his daughter's husband.
However, he didn't know that the real purpose of coming to the sea was to covet the Shenhua family's rich wealth and immeasurable influence, and to take it for themselves so that they could realize their plan to seize Chechi and even the entire Western Xinjiang.
Not long after the marriage, Marym, who thought she really had a happy marriage, accidentally discovered the scandal of her consort. Laihai secretly had an affair with a princess of Loulan Kingdom behind her back.
Marym was filled with grief and anger over this, but she did not tell her father about this matter. Instead, she planned to persuade Laihai to change her mind.
However, they never expected that Princess Marym's goodwill not only failed to have the slightest effect, but actually aroused Lai Hai's murderous intention.
This guy was worried that the matter would be exposed and offend Prince Feijia and the church members everywhere, so he repaid evil with kindness and killed his wife on the spot.
Afterwards, he led his personal guards disguised as killers, broke into the temple overnight, and slaughtered all the unsuspecting senior members of the Shenhua family.
The prince was unfortunately killed. He came to the sea to search the entire palace and found the black crystal jade, the sacred object of the Shenhua family. Together with a large amount of gold and silver treasures, they were transported back to Geerhan's mansion. At the same time, he announced with great fanfare that a killer had attacked. In the temple, he is mobilizing troops to arrest the culprits.
On the day when the Shenhua family was exterminated, the prince's son Kuliban happened to travel with Samor and other elders, and barely escaped the bad luck. When they returned to the temple and saw corpses on the ground, they were all stunned.
The two temple maids who hid in time and finally escaped death told Kuliban and others the whole story. Samor discussed with his colleagues: The prince's son was still young, and the black crystal jade was taken away by pirates. They could not follow the rules set by their ancestors and let Kuliban successfully succeed the prince, let alone launch the Shenhua family's rebellion. Strength, to avenge the prince's family.
In addition, Lai Hai was taking advantage of the so-called opportunity to catch the murderer and sent people to search for Kuliban's whereabouts. If his whereabouts were exposed at this time, the prince and son would be killed directly.
As a result, the elders had no choice but to hurriedly lead Kuliban away from Chechi Palace to temporarily avoid the enemy's pursuit.
Little Kuliban is the legitimate son of Prince Feijia and the only descendant of the Shenhua family, so when he just learned to speak, he was forced by his father to start reciting the list of branches of the Shenhua family. In the current situation, he is the only person left who can fully grasp the core information of the Shenhua family.
It is a pity that Kuliban does not have black crystal jade in his hands, and the Shenhua tribe scattered throughout Western Xinjiang cannot recognize the legitimacy of his position. At the same time, Lai Hai is also very depressed. Although he holds the supreme sacred flower in his hand, he cannot mobilize any power for his own use because he does not know the information about his family members.
In the end, Geerhan and Laihai were involved in the battle to seize power in the royal court of Chechi, and ended up being defeated and fleeing.
In the past seven years, Samor and other elders relied on the help of several tribesmen they were familiar with to protect the young master while searching for traces of Laihai, planning to wait for an opportunity to recapture the black crystal jade and restore the country to take revenge.
"Sir, this is what happened." Old Summer sighed longly: "Thank you to the Goddess of Flowers for blessing me. Anyway, today can be regarded as a revenge for the prince and princess."
Hearing what he said, Kuriban could no longer hold back his grief and cried bitterly while holding his head.
The old man on the other side also wiped away tears: "Master Xiaowei, I am a doctor from Metasequoia City and a member of the Shenhua tribe. Master Mamu asked me to treat Laihai's injuries. I originally wanted to take this opportunity to see what that beast would do." I won’t carry black crystal jade with me to see if our clan can win the favor of the Flower God. However, the little prince also insisted on coming with us. We two old guys couldn’t resist him, so we had to nod and agree. Unexpectedly, His Highness saw him. I can't stand it when I see my enemy... Oh, please be merciful and ask me to be the only one to blame!" After saying that, the old doctor leaned down and kowtowed to Li Jiangyao.
Seeing this, Li Jiangyao quickly helped the three of them up one by one, not knowing what to say.
Although he had not bothered to interrogate Lai Hai and was unable to find out the true and false details of the ghost alliance horse bandits, which made him feel very upset. However, the tragic experience of the Shenhua family also made him feel sad.
The old minister and young master have had a blood feud for many years, and it can be said that it is understandable to exchange it for Lai Hai to stab him in the heart.
If it had been him, Li Jiangyao, he would have done the same without hesitation.
Ma Mu was worried that the captain would punish him, so he pretended to scold him: "You three are really too confused! This evil thief in Laihai was captured alive by Mr. Li, how could he not search it out in advance?" , where would he have any black crystal jade left on his body? Such a valuable holy object must be hidden with his brother Geerhan."
He reached out and patted Summer on the shoulder, and continued to help smooth things over: "Hey, don't rush to thank the God of Flowers. Mr. Li cut off Lai Hai's hand with a knife and captured him alive. He is the one you should be grateful to. My great benefactor!"
After hearing this, the young prince Kuliban solemnly straightened his clothes, bowed to Li Jiangyao on the ground, and gave a standard gift: "Kuriban of the Shenhua family, thank you, sir! Your kindness will never be forgotten by our clan. !”
