Facing Su Buqing's cold blow, Lu Chen seemed stunned and speechless, but in fact he was deep in nervous thoughts.
On the way back from Beiyan Tieshan City, Lu Chen had roughly understood the general outline of the world through chatting with others.
In the seventh year of Emperor Yuankang of the Qi Dynasty, the three northern kingdoms broke through the Jinghe defense line for the first time and approached Heluo City, which shocked the world.
In order to send away these plague gods and save the capital, Emperor Qi could only sign an alliance under the city and surrendered several important towns in the north. He even betrayed the seven tribes of Shazhou who had been loyal to Da Qi for hundreds of years and asked the seven tribes to come to King Qin's thousands of native soldiers. He was killed in Yanziling outside the city.
On the way back to the Allied Forces of the Three Kingdoms, the Jing Dynasty's cavalry unexpectedly attacked Dai and Zhao, severely damaging the armored army led by the descendants of Zhao's clan. This established the dominance of the Jing Dynasty family.
In the eleventh year of Yuankang, the Jing Dynasty's army went south again. This time without the obstruction of the northern pass, tens of thousands of cavalry rushed all the way to surround Heluo City as if they were in an uninhabited land. When the infantry of the Jing Dynasty arrived, it took only twelve days to capture Heluo. The emperor and the prince of Qi could not bear the humiliation and burned themselves in the palace, which is known as the Yuanjia Incident in history.
If Li Duan, the seventh son of the emperor, had not promptly won over all the forces in the south and ascended the throne as emperor in Yongjia City, southeast of Xinzhou, I am afraid that the once dominant Qi Dynasty would have perished.
The Jing Dynasty, perhaps due to lack of successors or needing time to slowly digest the vast territory it captured, did not pursue the Southern Qi. Instead, it made Heluo, the old capital of the Qi State, its capital and established the former Minister of Rites of the Qi State as the emperor. The name was Yan, and this was used to control the hearts of the people of Qi in the north.
Time flies, thirteen years have passed since the Yuanjia Incident.
During this short period of time, with the support or coercion of the Jing Dynasty, Beiyan frequently had conflicts with Southern Qi. The conflict between the two sides ended in Huaizhou, located in the north of the Yangtze River. After the continuous fierce battles in the past few years, Beiyan was still unable to break through Panlong Pass and the northern defense line of Huaizhou, so it could only take a step back, and the subsequent struggle evolved into intrigues under the water.
The Southern Qi Dynasty Textile Weaving Department developed and expanded in the competition with the Northern Yan Procuratorate. Both sides would win over officials at all levels to instigate the opposition, especially military generals in charge of military power along the border. Zhang Xi mentioned by Su Buqing was one of the typical examples. example.
Judging from the superficial evidence, the Weaving Department traced Zhang Xi's head through Beiyan's detailed work captured in Taixing Prefecture, and then learned the four words "Guangling Lu Family" from Zhang Xi's mouth. Everything developed in a logical way. Su Buqing detained Lu Tong. The government office asked Gu Yong to intercept and inspect the Lu family's caravan, which was what the question meant.
Compared with the warp weaving department's usual behavior, Su Buqing's treatment of the Lu family could even be called extra generous.
However, Lu Chen knew other information, such as the secret letter that was put into the compartment of his carriage by the Panlong Pass defenders, the sudden appearance of Sun Yu who encouraged him to abscond, and the secret agents of the Weaving Department led by Gu Yong who appeared in the city at the right time. outside.
The smell of conspiracy in these matters was too strong and the traces of gouging were too obvious for Lu Chen to believe Su Buqing's words. At least the other party was false in some key statements.
It's just that he still needs more information to analyze the truth of this matter and the role played by the Sutra Weaving Department official in front of him who controls the fate of the Lu family.
Based on this, Lu Chen raised his head and looked at Su Buqing's cold eyes, and said categorically: "Master Su, my father is definitely not a collaborator with the enemy and treason, and it is impossible for the Lu family to collude with Beiyan to make a secret!"
"Young people's spirit is indeed commendable, but that's all."
Su Buqing sighed with emotion, then picked up the tea cup next to him, drank the cold tea in the cup in one gulp, and said seductively: "I hope you can understand, even if it is just based on the confession left by Zhang Xi before his death, the Weaving Department can Put everyone in the Lu family on death row. You are still very young and have a lot of time to enjoy life in the future. It would be a pity to lose your head like this."
Lu Chen knew that he couldn't continue to act tough, as that would easily be self-defeating. After all, he still didn't know the other party's true intentions, so he changed his strategy and said after careful consideration: "This junior is stupid, please make it clear to Mr. Su."
Su Buqing saw that the young man's vigor had completely disappeared under his repeated beatings. He could not help but nodded slightly and said in a slower tone: "I believe that the Lu family has just gone astray. If you can honestly tell your secrets, Help the Sutra Weaving Department to find out the hidden traitor, and I will intercede with Master Tiju, and at least you and your son can be spared their lives."
Even if Lu Chen had just graduated from the military academy in his previous life, he would not have believed this.
He did not tell the truth directly, but asked slightly confused: "Master Su, what do you mean by secret?"
Su Buqing was silent for a moment and said frankly: "I heard the word "Lu family" from Zhang Xi's mouth, so I asked someone to sort out the files related to your family and found many past events worth pondering."
"In the fifth year of Jianwu, in view of the increasingly strong demand for trade between the people and the north, the imperial court secretly opened a loophole and allowed some companies to enter Beiyan to buy and sell goods through Panlongguan and Jiquan Road in Lai'an Prefecture in the north. The first batch went there In Beiyan's business directory, your Lu family is listed. Not long after your father's death at that time, your father was actually in the mood to take care of business matters, which is contradictory to his behavior of not renewing his relationship for many years. "
"In the early autumn of the eighth year of Jianwu, the Yongquanguan offensive planned by the Huaizhou Governor's Office for more than half a year was detected by Beiyan in advance. If Governor Xiao had not noticed something unusual, my border troops would have plunged into the encirclement of Beiyan. Strangely Yes, your Lu family business was very active that year, and you visited Beiyan four times before autumn."
"In the tenth year of Jianwu, that is, in the spring of the year before last, the Beiyan Procuratorate conducted a large-scale search for Chao Erlang in Heluo City. The Sutra Weaving Department lost thirty-six elite spies in that storm. Half of the time before the incident happened Many months ago, your father happened to personally lead the caravan to Heluo."
"If it happens again and again, can it be covered up by the word coincidence?"
Su Buqing's tone turned cold, her eyes were deep, and an invisible pressure surged towards Lu Chen.
Many things seem ordinary, but they cannot withstand the imagination of those who are interested, not to mention Su Buqing's identity is extremely special.
However... Lu Chen calmed down at this moment, facing the other party's gaze, he shook his head decisively and said: "I don't think anything strange about what Mr. Su said, and -"
He paused and said sincerely: "There are countless business houses in Huaizhou, and the Lu family is just an ordinary member of them. Even in Guangling Mansion, there are still two or three business houses that are stronger than the Lu family. This junior believes that if we follow Mr. Su's standards , the Lu family is not the only one that is questionable. After all, Huaizhou is located in the north of the Yangtze River, and Beiyan has been coveting this place for a long time. Disputes between the two countries have been constant all year round. At every special point in time, I believe we can find something that can make a connection. business name."
Su Buqing stared into the young man's eyes and said slowly: "Do you want to tell me that the Lu family is clean and has never done anything ghostly?"
Lu Chen did not give in and dodge, but said resolutely: "Mr. Su, after repeated memories, this junior can confirm that the Lu family has never had any secret dealings with Bei Yan Xizuo, and it is much less possible to pass on information to collaborate with the enemy and treason."
If these words were spoken by Lu Tong, Su Buqing would only sneer at them.
Previously, in front of Zhan Hui, after Lu Tong got over the initial shock, no matter how much pressure Su Buqing exerted, he denied it and never admitted that the Lu family had colluded with Beiyan.
What Su Buqing had just said to threaten Lu Chen was a bit difficult to implement.
Zhang Xi's confession was not false. However, the man died after saying the words "Guangling Lu Family". He did not even explain how he communicated with the Lu Family. Without any evidence, it would be difficult for Su Buqing to directly capture the Lu family and others and imprison them for torture based on a dead man's confession that was difficult to distinguish between true and false.
First of all, Lu Tong had a close relationship with Zhan Hui, the prefect of Guangling. Secondly, the Lu family had a good reputation in Huaizhou and never spared no efforts in building bridges and paving roads to benefit Sangzi. When dealing with a popular country squire like Lu Tong, acting recklessly may lead to backlash.
Of course, given the authority of the Weaving Department, if Su Buqing was determined to use torture to pry Lu Tong's mouth open, Zhan Hui would not be able to stop him. At most, he would report the matter to the court. If things develop to that point, the two Prime Ministers of Zhongshu Province and the Sutra Weaving Department will promote Qin Zheng to the ring, and the people below can only wait for the result.
But Su Buqing didn't expect that an old man living in the city would actually help the Lu family. This person has no official status and has never been an official. For decades, he has only been known as a "miraculous doctor". However, considering the old man's famous nephew, Su Buqing can only pinch Nose for evidence.
This was the reason why he chose Lu Chen as his breakthrough point, but this young man's frank and firm reaction at this moment made him hesitate. Could it be that there was an error in his judgment this time?
Su Buqing is confident that he has a very accurate eye for seeing people. Lu Chen is young and has little experience. If he had a ghost in his heart, he would never be able to do it so naturally. From his eyes to his subtle expressions, everything is impeccable.
How could a nineteen-year-old young man perform so flawlessly in front of him? Su Buqing had never seen such a monster even in Yongjia City.
However--
Lu Chen looked at him calmly. He really didn't think there was anything wrong with the coincidences Su Buqing described, because he simply couldn't remember what Lu Tong did and where he went in a certain year or month, or what secrets were hidden within the Lu family.
The original owner of this body only left some memory fragments, and most of the memories were missing, especially the past two years ago, which was completely blank to Lu Chen now.
Because of ignorance, of course one can be confident.
