Twists and Turns

A group of twenty-two riders, under the watchful eyes of hundreds of Qian Xiang Country soldiers, gallantly charged out of the street entrance. They continued galloping for more than half a street before Sun Shaozong finally managed to rein in his horse.

"Captain!"

Feng Xin, full of high spirits, approached Sun Shaozong, giving a thumbs-up and exclaiming, "I'm truly impressed today! Your courage is no less than that of Duke of Qi Chen, the old general!"

Duke of Qi Chen Yi was a famous general who founded the Great Zhou Dynasty, ranking among the four Dukes and eight Lords. His most illustrious achievement was leading troops to conquer Qian Xiang Country.

It is said that he only used 30,000 soldiers to defeat the 160,000-strong army of Qian Xiang Country. Therefore, even today, mentioning the name of Chen Yi in Qian Xiang Country can still make children stop crying.

"Stop sucking up to me!"

Sun Shaozong glared at him unhappily and said, "If it weren't for Duke of Qi's precedent, do you think we could have gotten out so smoothly?"

To be honest, Sun Shaozong was actually quite nervous just now. If they had insisted on not giving way, he would have had to retreat back to the embassy in disgrace.

Fortunately, he won the gamble after all!

"Sir, although Duke of Qi set a precedent, you're not bad either..."

"Shut up!"

Interrupting Feng Xin's flattery, Sun Shaozong ordered in a deep voice, "Feng Xin, take half the men to Ruan Wenhao's house and have a look. I'll take the rest of the brothers to Ruan Liangshun's mansion first."

"Ah?!"

Feng Xin was stunned and asked doubtfully, "Sir, that's the traitor who poisoned you. Don't you want to take revenge yourself?"

"Why are you talking so much nonsense? Just do as you're told!"

Sun Shaozong scolded impatiently, then, following the impression in his memory, led half of the men straight to Ruan Liangshun's residence.

Ruan Wenhao had left the embassy for more than half a day. Unless he was an idiot, he would definitely not stay obediently at home. Sun Shaozong's mention of Ruan Wenhao at the embassy earlier was just to boost morale.

The focus right now is actually on Ruan Liangshun's side.

Not to mention that as the primary crime scene, there are likely to be many clues hidden here, Ruan Liangshun's identity as the Prefect alone is worth Sun Shaozong's personal visit.

Don't forget, the embassy guards are all people of Great Zhou, unfamiliar with the situation in Qian Xiang Country and Qinglin Prefecture. The easiest way to find out the truth as soon as possible is to cooperate with local forces.

And Ruan Liangshun, the Prefect of Qinglin Prefecture, is undoubtedly the best choice at the moment.

First of all, this case happened at his remarriage banquet, ruining a joyous event. He himself was implicated, making him the biggest victim besides Niu Yongxin, so he should not be very suspicious.

Secondly, as the Prefect of Qinglin Prefecture, he is a proper local tyrant, with a large number of constables and yamen runners at his disposal, which is convenient for assisting in the search for the assassins.

That's why Sun Shaozong wanted to visit the Ruan mansion first.

However, there is a saying that 'plans can't keep up with changes'. Although Sun Shaozong's analysis was well-reasoned, when he actually arrived at the Ruan mansion, he encountered an unexpected accident - Ruan Liangshun had already been escorted to Dali Temple pending trial!

He's still the mayor of the capital, do they have to arrest him so hastily?!

"Steward Ruan!"

Sun Shaozong asked persistently, "I wonder where our Lord Niu and the bodies of those assassins are?"

"They've been transported away, all transported away."

The old steward seemed to have a piece of bitter gourd in his mouth, sighing vaguely, "The bodies of Ambassador Niu and the guards have been transported to the Ministry of Rites for collection; the bodies of those assassins have been sent to the Ministry of Justice."

Damn~

Could this be considered 'dismemberment'?

Sun Shaozong cursed inwardly, and then persistently requested, "Then can we go to the scene to take a look? If possible, it would be best to ask a few questions to those who were present at the time."

"Taken away, all taken away."

The piece of bitter gourd in the old steward's mouth seemed to have grown a lot larger, mumbling in a way that made people afraid he would accidentally bite his tongue, "Apart from the ladies and misses in the backyard, there are not many people left in this mansion. Even my two managing sons have been taken to the Ministry of Justice's main hall."

As he spoke, there were signs of tears welling up in his eyes.

It turned out that this old steward had already retired and was enjoying his old age at home, but now there was really no one in the mansion to take charge, so he had to come out of retirement.

Sun Shaozong was extremely depressed, and in the end, he could only ask the old steward to lead the way to the scene where Niu Yongxin was assassinated to investigate—but the scene had first been trampled by guests, and then repeatedly surrounded by the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Rites, and had long been destroyed beyond recognition.

In addition, everything related to the case had been taken back to the Ministry of Justice, so Sun Shaozong carefully investigated for a long time, but he couldn't find any clues at all.

By the time he left the Ruan mansion full of disappointment, Feng Xin had also rushed over, and unsurprisingly, he also came up empty.

So Sun Shaozong stood in front of the Ruan mansion and looked around blankly, not knowing where to go for a while.

"My lord."

Although Feng Xin came up empty, the bit of heroic spirit in his heart hadn't run out, and he came up, gritting his teeth and vowing, "Why don't we try breaking into the Ministry of Justice's main hall again? I don't believe it, even the soldiers don't dare to stop us, how could a few yamen runners have such courage!"

"You speak so lightly."

Sun Shaozong sighed and said helplessly, "What's the use of breaking in? After going in, do you know where to look for clues? Do you know where the bodies are? Do you know where the witnesses are? When the time comes, they only need to prevaricate a few words, and that will be enough to make us return empty-handed."

Feng Xin was dumbfounded when he heard this, and twenty-odd people stared at each other on the street, speechless for a long time.

Thump~

Just at this moment, a muffled sound came from not far away. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound, and it was a 'servant' in a blue coat and hat, climbing over the wall from the Ruan mansion—the reason for putting quotation marks around the word 'servant' is because anyone with eyes could see that this person was actually a delicate and pretty girl!

As soon as the girl climbed over the wall, she rushed excitedly to the crowd, her watery eyes swept around, and then locked on Sun Shaozong, opening her mouth to ask, "You are that Sun Military Instructor from the Great Zhou embassy, right?"

She was actually coming for him!

Sun Shaozong raised his eyebrows and nodded, "That's right, I am Sun Shaozong, may I ask what your instructions are?"

"Instructions are out of the question."

The girl didn't seem to realize that she had already revealed her identity, and said in a muffled voice, "I am Ruan Gu, my father is Ruan Liangshun, the prefect of Qinglin Prefecture, and he is currently being held in the Dali Temple. I just heard the old steward say that you seem to be investigating the assassination case as well, why don't we join forces? You seek revenge, and I will help my father clear his name!"

Before Sun Shaozong could speak, Feng Xin on the side sneered, sweeping his eyes over Ruan Gu's body and scoffing, "Come on! We men are still clueless, how dare a little girl like you boast here."

"What about girls? How do you know I can't help you?!"

Ruan Gu shouted indignantly, her voice, no longer pretending, immediately became clear and melodious.

Feng Xin was about to mock her again, but Sun Shaozong pushed him aside.

"Miss, don't pay attention to this fellow."

Sun Shaozong bowed deeply to Ruan Gu again, and earnestly asked, "May I ask, miss, how do you plan to help us find out the truth?"

"This... well..."

Being treated so solemnly by Sun Shaozong, Ruan Gu became somewhat flustered. After stammering for a few moments, she finally managed to say what she wanted to say: "Li Jiuming, the chief constable of the Ministry of Justice, was promoted by my father back then. He is also one of the people handling this case. I can take you to him for help!"

Upon hearing that Ruan Gu could help introduce them to the chief constable of the Ministry of Justice, the guards, including Feng Xin, were all overjoyed, having long forgotten their previous contempt for her.

However, Sun Shaozong frowned and questioned, "Since the person investigating the case has a close relationship with your father, then why bother cooperating with us? Just wait for the Ministry of Justice to find out the truth."

Ruan Gu pouted her small mouth and said indignantly, "Although Uncle Li is a good person, Vice Minister Huang of the Ministry of Justice is my father's mortal enemy! If the truth isn't found out as soon as possible, what if that scoundrel interferes?!"

This reason...

Is still plausible.

"Alright, then I wish us a happy cooperation in advance!"