After the immortal disappeared

Xue Zongwu is protected by his superiors, and it is difficult for the Supervisor to defeat him through conventional means. Did she simply use a quick, convenient and permanent solution?

It’s scary to think about it carefully, everyone is in danger.

In this case, can Tianshui City's security not be strengthened? The major families were also in a state of panic and sent extra manpower to guard the houses.

Qingyang asked again: "When you go in and out of Youhu Villa, are there still people staring at you from behind?"

"Yes."

Since Xue Zongwu's death, Qingyang's men were often followed when they went out to do business, making their movements very inconvenient.

That was not just sent by King Yao.

This kind of environment is too unfriendly to Qingyang.

If He Xiao, whom King Yao clearly wanted to protect, died suddenly, others would of course quickly turn their suspicions on Qingyang. After all, more and more officials know about her and He Xiao's past feud.

"He Xiao himself said that he was invited by King Yao to watch the ceremony." A sneer appeared at the corner of Qingyang's lips, "King Yao may have invited him for me. You should find out for me first what the two of them are. What do you want to do?”

"Yes!" He Yang was about to leave when the sound of flapping wings was heard outside, and a brown-backed shrike stopped at the window.

He Yang walked over, paid the postage, and then took a small bamboo tube from its mouth.

There was a note stuffed inside the bamboo tube. He Yang opened it and took a look at it, then presented it to Qingyang with both hands:

"Message from the owner of the Red Cottage."

There was only one sentence in the note: A month ago, the Hinge-Tailed Tiger and the Rat Woman Porcupine were captured and taken away by the Black Armored Army in Green Villa, and their whereabouts are unknown.

There is no signature, but there is a red mark.

It only took two breaths after reading this sentence, but Qingyang pondered for a long time.

Here are a few meanings:

First, the owner of the red cottage told her that Xue Zongwu and Qi Yunsheng were not killed by themselves, but that they lost two demon puppets some time ago.

Secondly, Qi Yunsheng's son-in-law died at the hands of the leader of the Black Armored Army.

Once again, the two demon puppets that had been taken away by the owner of the red house appeared in Xiaotao Mountain Villa hundreds of miles away after more than a month and attacked Qi Yunsheng.

The owner of the red cottage denied that he was the murderer. Qingyang knew his origins and didn't think it was necessary for him to lie.

Then there is only one question:

"What did the black-armored army do to those two demon puppets?"

Qingyang had some knowledge about the so-called beasts and demon puppets in the past. He knew that one of the characteristics of these things was that they were unstable physically and mentally. They were sometimes irritable, sometimes crazy, and difficult to control.

Commander Duyun, who is as strong as the leader, was seriously injured when he controlled the beast "Shen Yuan" to intercept the fire spirit torch. Even with all the miraculous medicines available, he still managed to recover after a year and a half of rest.

She knew more or less what the owner of the red cottage was doing. His puppets are also unstable, and the puppeteer must be nearby to control them.

"After the Black Armored Army took away the two demon puppets, they transported them to Xiaotao Mountain Villa hundreds of miles away by land and water. How did they do this?" Mangzhou is the hinterland of Yao Kingdom, not a vast mountain. Those two demon puppets look weird, how could they not alert others?

In particular, the territory of Yao Kingdom is crisscrossed by waterways and there is no shortage of rivers and lakes. If you don't take a boat to go to Mangzhou, you have to go around in a big circle.

"If drugs or magical powers are used to make the demon puppets fall into a deep sleep, maybe the Black Armored Army will disguise them as tributes and hide them in the box." He Yang was also thinking, "During that time, there were many teams going to the capital to participate in the birthday ceremony, disguised as The birthday celebration team is not easy to attract attention.”

"The Black Armor Army just put these two demon puppets into Xiaotao Mountain Villa and let them kill themselves after they wake up, or can they directly control the demon puppets?"

He Yang replied: "According to eyewitnesses, Qi Yunsheng led people to the north. When they passed by the Liyuan Garden of Xiaotaoshan Villa, the demon puppet jumped out from the trees on the roadside and attacked the team."

Is this a coincidence or a deliberate calculation?

If the latter is the case, it means that the Black Armored Army can control the actions of the demon puppet;

Can you control demon puppets? Um……

But as the old saying goes, the first possible surprise cannot be ruled out. After all, Qi Yunsheng later went after the leader of the Black Armored Army and the entire army was wiped out.

"Let's just assume that the Black Armored Army can control demon puppets. Honglu didn't mention it in the letter, so he has no clue." Qingyang murmured, "Demon puppet masters are very rare, even if there are a little more in the Golden Gold Plains than elsewhere. , Honglu should also know.”

"The Red House didn't say what he planned to do. Hehe, he's cunning." Did the owner of the Red House want her to help?

At this time, the servants reported that General Chongwu was visiting.

General Chongwu's transfer order has arrived, and he will take office in a few days to go to the north.

Suddenly receiving a great responsibility from heaven, General Chongwu did not expect that he would become the biggest beneficiary of Xue Zongwu's death. This joy was no small matter. And he also knew very well who secured this position for him. On the third day after the transfer order was issued, he came to the door with generous gifts to express his gratitude.

In fact, there are many officials and merchants coming in and out of Qingyang, a small lakeside building.

Qingyang glanced at it casually and put the gift list aside: "You deserve that position. Yao people are exclusive, otherwise your qualifications are enough."

The two of them were already very familiar with each other in Lingxu City, so they didn't need to be so polite when speaking.

General Chongwu bowed his head and said: "Without the help of the Supervisor State, no matter how good my qualifications are, I will not be able to take this position in another twenty years."

Leading troops to guard the northern border of Yao Kingdom, with his background, was an unthinkable thing in the past.

His gratitude to Qingyang was beyond words.

"Doing good work is the best way to thank me."

General Chongwu responded immediately.

Qingyang asked casually: "Where did you come from this time, Mangzhou?"

"No, there are too many people in Mangzhou, so I went to Zhuoyu. The journey there is shorter, and food and accommodation are not a problem."

"Zhuoyu?" Qingyang paused with her hand holding the teacup.

Has this place just been mentioned? Yes, He Xiao seemed to have said that he took the Zhuoyu route.

"That's quiet, thanks to you not being in Mangzhou."

Qingyang just mentioned it casually, and General Chongwu saw that she was not interested in this topic, so he quickly smiled and said, "Yes, yes, if it were in Mangzhou, it would be troublesome, I'm afraid I can't leave for a while."

This is the time for gossip, Qingyang was originally careless, "Zhuoyu is a small place..."

Small places, there are not many good inns and post houses, and the nobles and rich people will squeeze into one or two places. Thinking of this, she was moved and asked one more question:

"Nothing happened there?"

"Compared with Mangzhou, Zhuoyu is really peaceful." General Chongwu also used some skills in speaking. The theft of tribute was his own business, and it would be embarrassing to tell others about it. "That night, there was a thunderstorm, so I stayed at the largest posthouse in Zhuoyu. There were also many officials and nobles there. I also fought for a table with Fan Shuang, Commander Zhao Song, and the president of Yangshan Chamber of Commerce, and then--"

Qingyang's eyes fixed, and he raised his hand to interrupt him: "Who from Yangshan Chamber of Commerce?"

"President He of Yangshan Chamber of Commerce, the king invited him to Tianshui City to attend the ceremony."

"He Xiao." Qingyang's eyes flashed slightly, "You met him in Zhuoyu."

"Yes, the four of us sat in the box together, listening to the rain and drinking, and talking about the war in the Golden Plains. Fan Shuang treated us."

It seems that He Xiao really stayed in Zhuoyu that night, and there was even an eyewitness like Chongwu.

Qingyang nodded.

At this moment, another official came to visit, and General Chongwu stood up and bowed to Qingyang to say goodbye.

He will definitely be seen by others when he comes to Youhu Cottage, so he should not stay for long.

…

Yao Wang Palace.

The palace people were all dispersed and the door was closed. Yao Wang said coldly to the guard Liu Wu who was kneeling in front of him: "You mean, before General Xue set off to return home, someone under his command did die in Shuangxi?"

"I followed your order and arrived at Shuangxi County Government to investigate. Just seven days before General Xue set off to return home, his accountant Qian Yu was robbed and killed in Shuangxi, the tribute land, and then someone broke into the document warehouse of Shuangxi County Government and set it on fire, burning many important documents."

"The accountant was killed?"

"Qian Yu was a house-born child in General Xue's mother's house. He managed General Xue's finances for more than ten years. Shuangxi The county government said that General Xue had been sending Qian Yu to the county government to check the accounts for many years. "

Once Yao Wang heard this, he knew something was fishy: "It seems that Qian Yu knows the accounts of Shuangxi and Xue Zongwu over the years. Which documents of Shuangxi County Government were burned?"

Guard Liu bowed his head: "It is the income and expenditure account books of the past few years. Income, surplus, expenditure, etc. When the fire broke out, the county government saw someone jumping over the wall from the document warehouse, holding a few account books in his hand. "

"Kill Qian Yu, rob the account books, and burn the warehouse." Yao Wang's eyes flashed, "Xue Zongwu must know, right? How did he react? "

"General Xue's staff member Tong Huan told me that half of the account books in the document warehouse of Shuangxi County were burned, so General Xue was very nervous in the next few days and ordered Shuangxi County to make up for the lost accounts. He got angry several times and dealt with several officials for this. "

Yao Wang caught the key words: "What is he nervous about?"

"Tong Huan said that General Xue was afraid that the royal court would order him to rebuild the accounts!"

"If the accounts are rebuilt..." Yao Wang stroked his gray beard and realized, "Some accounts may not be reconciled. The old ones were burned, and the commissioners who went to Shuangxi can Request to re-establish the accounts. Well, good idea, good idea. "

Liu Wu didn't know who he was praising for the "good idea", but continued: "General Xue was also very anxious in those days, because the special envoy who audited the accounts was about to arrive in Shuangxi."

"Yes, the candidate for the special envoy this time was suggested by Qingyang Regent." Yao Wang chuckled, "The county government's document warehouse did not burn early or late, but it happened to be caught in a fire before the special envoy arrived in Shuangxi. What a coincidence."

"General Xue was still a little uneasy when he set off."

Tong Huan's words were very skillful.

Why was Xue Zongwu uneasy? He was afraid that there would be problems with the accounts and they would be found out by the audit.

How could a person who did not do anything wrong be afraid of ghosts knocking on the door?

So... Yao Wang sighed, his beloved Xue was brave, wise, and loyal, but he was just too greedy.

"So, have the accounts of Shuangxi been completed in the end?"

"Basically completed." Guard Liu replied, "Before General Xue left for his country, he sent Tong Huan and his two deputy generals to Shuangxi to supervise the work."