"Red soil?" Hu Bowen was startled and couldn't help but lower his head to look at the boots.
Qi Ning smiled and said: "Master Hu, you can take off your boots now and take a look. There should be red soil stuck to the soles of your feet. It did not look very eye-catching at the time, but it suddenly occurred to me that Master Hu, as the Minister of Rites, You pay great attention to your appearance. Not only will your clothes be clean and tidy every day, but you will also send someone to wash your boots every night before going to bed. Isn't this wrong? "
Along the way, everyone knew that Hu Bowen did have this habit, but no one cared about it. When Qining mentioned it, everyone remembered it.
"Before going to bed last night, Mr. Hu had his boots brushed as usual. After setting off this morning, he only rested once in the middle of the journey, and Mr. Hu didn't go anywhere at that time. I still remember that there was no red soil where he rested. Qi Ning said slowly: "Before Mr. Hu arrived in this deserted village, he almost always rode horses, and his boots rarely stuck to the ground. Therefore, it is naturally impossible for his boots to be stained with red soil before arriving in the deserted village."
Hu Bowen looked ugly and said nothing.
"So after I returned to the house, I also checked my boots, but there was no trace of red soil on my boots." Qining sighed: "After the incident, Mr. Hu and I were walking around the village. Mr. Hu's boots If it is stained with red soil, I should not be an exception, but why is it not the case? So I asked Qi Feng to check carefully. There is no red mud in the village. When they were searching for the assassin, they were near the village. Searching, Mr. Hu, what do you think they found?"
Hu Bowen said calmly: "What did you find?"
"There is a small pond outside the entrance of the village." Qi Ning said with a smile: "It's strange to say that the soil beside the pond is very strange and even red in color. When Qi Feng took the soil back, I could tell at a glance that it was the same as Hu The red soil on the adults' boots is exactly the same. If Mr. Hu doesn't believe it, we can go to the pond now to compare."
Hu Bowen sneered, but his face turned pale obviously.
Qi Ning sighed and said: "I thought about it carefully, and it's actually not difficult to understand. Mr. Hu said that he stayed in the house all the time, so he probably didn't tell the truth. You went to the pond at least once, and it rained so heavily. Why did Mr. Hu not stay in his house properly, but go to the pond in the rain? Then I thought that Liang Xiong said that the envoy was being targeted after leaving Beijing, but he was not wrong, he was just following The people who came here are not Wu Dalin’s gang members, but precisely your people, Mr. Hu... Well, this may not be accurate, but those people are at least closely related to Mr. Hu. Mr. Hu came out in the rain, so of course he had something to talk to. discuss."
Hu Bowen smiled and said: "Master Hou, these are all conjectures with no real evidence. You said that I came out to meet people in secret, what evidence is there?"
Qi Ning ignored it and continued: "Of course Mr. Hu has a reason to meet people secretly when he leaves the village. However, Wu Dalin has arranged guards around the village. If Mr. Hu wants to leave the village, he will inevitably be seen. Of course. , Liang Xiong can also move people away and find a gap for Mr. Hu to leave, but in this way, there will still be loopholes. Who can guarantee that Liang Xiong's transfer will not be leaked out? You may think that I am young, and things will be easy if I am young. Foolish, but you don’t dare to underestimate Leader Wu.”
Wu Dalin's expression was cold, and the big knife in his hand was always pressed against Liang Xiong. Liang Xiong was lying on the ground. Li Tang slashed him on the shoulder, and the blood flowed out and mixed with the rain on the ground.
"Master Hu has urgent matters and needs to leave the village to meet people secretly. He can only find his whereabouts. But to cover up the matter, he can only kill people and silence him." Qining sighed: "It's a pity that the three Yulin brothers can't think of it at all. , just because seeing you leave the village will lead to death."
Hu Bowen sneered and said: "What Mr. Hou said is strange. You said that Liang Xiong and I colluded. In that case, I just sent Liang Xiong out of the village to meet him. Why bother to go there in person in the rain? If Liang Xiong said that he was inspecting the surroundings of the village, he If I leave the village, no one will suspect anything, so why do I have to take the risk and leave the village on my own?"
"You can meet the person you want to see, but Liang Xiong may not be able to see him." Qi Ning said lightly: "Liang Xiong's purpose is different from yours, or... from the beginning, Liang Xiong was only in the hands of your Lord Hu. Just a chess piece."
"piece?"
"The purpose of Liang Xiong's participation in the conspiracy, if I am not wrong, he is not coming for the mission, but for Wu Dalin." Qining said: "Wu Dalin entered the Yulin Camp, and it didn't take long. He came directly from the Xuanwu Camp Being transferred to the Yulin Camp as the deputy commander was nothing, but Liang Xiong held a grudge because of it."
Liang Xiong lost a lot of blood, but he was born as a warrior and was strong. He could barely hold on at this time and sneered: "Hold a grudge? Why should I hold a grudge?"
"I ordered Qi Feng and the others to test out the Yulin soldiers, and I learned one thing from their mouths." Qi Ning said with a smile: "After you, deputy leader Liang, entered the Yulin camp, you have some skills in being friendly and kind. You even interacted with Chi Feng." You have a good relationship with Dian. Over the years, you have been promoted step by step. If nothing unexpected happens, you are likely to be promoted to the deputy commander of Yulin Camp in the next two years. However, you never expected that Yulin Camp suddenly The transfer of two deputy commanders will immediately block your promotion path. If nothing else happens, even in three to five years, you will not be able to take the position of deputy commander."
Wu Dalin sneered and said, "It's just ridiculous that when I was transferred to the Yulin camp, this person still looked like he was confiding in his heart. He seemed to have met me very late." He stared at Liang Xiong condescendingly and said lightly: "Liang Xiong, that day You invited me to drink, and you said you admired me so much that I transferred you to serve as deputy commander, and you were convinced."
Liang Xiong's eyes flashed fiercely, and he hissed: "I entered Yulin Camp, and I have survived step by step until today. I am always with a smiling face in Yulin Camp, and I am even more cautious at ordinary times, lest anything goes wrong, Chi Fengdian has already He promised me that he would be able to make me the deputy commander soon. But as soon as you came, everything was ruined, and all my years of hard work were in vain." He also stared at Wu Dalin and said: "You were guilty of crimes back then, and your family was well dressed. I even impeached you and transferred you to the border. I haven't made any mistakes in these years, so why can you still ride on my head?"
Hu Bowen's face changed slightly when he heard what Liang Xiong said. Liang Xiong said this, which meant that he admitted that he did have hatred for Wu Dalin. When this guy was excited, he was afraid that he would reveal everything.
However, Liang Xiong is obviously quite cunning, and he deliberately mentioned the grudge between Wu Dalin and the Jinyi Qi family, which was obviously intentional.
Wu Dalin smiled faintly and said: "You don't have to sow discord here. The delay in transporting food back then was a violation of military law. Everyone saw that I was beaten with fifty military sticks by General Qi's order, and they all knew that later The general impeached me, but not many people knew that after I was beaten with fifty military sticks that day, in the middle of the night, the general came over in person and applied medicine to my wounds. That night, the general said to me directly, we are lucky Although the food supply is delayed, it is due to heavy rain, but the state has national laws and the army has military regulations. If rewards and punishments are not clear, it will be difficult to convince the soldiers, so he wants to make a confession to the court." He raised his head slightly and said: "That day In the evening, I also told the general that as a soldier, I will definitely be punished for my mistakes. The general also gave me a dagger, which I still keep today."
Hu Bowen and Liang Xiong immediately changed their minds. They only thought that the Jinyi Qi family had participated in the impeachment of Wu Dalin, and Wu Dalin would definitely be full of hatred for the Qi family. However, they never expected that such a thing would happen back then. At this time, Wu Dalin talked about the matter, and naturally it was impossible to talk to him. What kind of grudge does the Qi family have
Qi Ning smiled faintly and said: "Some men have a clear sense of grudges and know right from wrong, and some are extremely shameless just for their own personal grudges." He stared at Liang Xiong: "Wu Dalin is the leader of this mission. You are the deputy team leader. After knowing this, you knew that it was a great opportunity. And at this time, someone secretly found you. You two have similar odors. Maybe someone even promised you that once Wu Dalin is eliminated, you can board the deputy team leader. The position of commander is exactly what you have dreamed of, so naturally you will not let go of this great opportunity, so you become a chess piece that can be manipulated by others."
Hu Bowen snorted coldly and said, "Master Hou's guess is really wonderful."
"Whether you are guessing or not, you know, and so do I." Qi Ning smiled and said: "Liang Xiong's purpose is to get rid of Wu Dalin, and your goal, Mr. Hu, is even greater. Not only do you want to get rid of Wu Dalin, but you also want to prevent the mission from traveling eastward. Of course, you have made careful arrangements for all this in advance. Within the mission, you have Liang Xiong as your helper. Outside the mission, you do have a team of people to support you. But from the beginning, you have only been thinking about setting up a confusing formation. We need to use Liang Xiong to mislead me and make me mistakenly think that the troops are Wu Dalin's followers."
"Humans and horses?" Hu Bowen said with a smile, "But I don't see any of them now."
"Don't be impatient." Qi Ning said: "They will definitely come out when it's time to come out, and I believe that they will probably take action tonight."
Hu Bowen frowned, and Qining continued: "You left the village to meet with people secretly, probably to discuss what to do next. There is only one day left before you reach the Huaihe River. After crossing the river, you left the territory of Chu State and arrived at You are afraid of being unable to move at that time, so you can only seize this last opportunity. When the three guards find you leaving the village, you will naturally kill and silence them. If I am not wrong, the person who called those three people together at that time was naturally Liang Xiong. , Liang Xiong attracted the idea of the three people, and your accomplices took the opportunity to sneak attack from behind. You, Mr. Hu, do not have that kind of martial arts. Even if the three people showed their backs to you, with your ability, it is impossible for them to continue. Kill three people." He smiled slightly and said, "Master Hu, I wonder how accurate my random guess is?"
Hu Bowen sighed: "If Mr. Hou goes to the teahouse to tell stories, he will definitely be welcomed by many people."
"If I really believe you tonight and get rid of Wu Dalin here, then the team leader will naturally be Liang Xiong." Qi Ning said: "Liang Xiong has become the team leader. Without Wu Dalin's constraints, the entire mission will be under control." In your hands, when the troops who are responding to you come to kill you, and the leader of the envoy is a traitor, the goods will naturally not be saved. You can even take this opportunity to kill me as well in the chaos of the battle. Well, in this case, after returning to Beijing, it turns out that Wu Dalin colluded with others to sabotage the mission's eastward journey, and Jin Yihou also died at the hands of Wu Dalin's associates. Although you, Mr. Hu, and your deputy leader Liang will also have to bear some responsibility. Responsibility, but after all, there are still people behind to protect you, so you will naturally be in peace when the time comes." He coughed, smiled, and said slowly: "In the end, Wu Dalin died, and Liang Xiong became the deputy commander of the Yulin Camp, and the mission's cargo After being destroyed, it will naturally be difficult to make another trip, the marriage between the two countries to marry Princess Dong Qi came to nothing, Jin Yihou was killed, and the court generously provided compensation, hehe... That's about it, Mr. Hu, this paragraph of my book is wonderful, right?"