Chapter 346: Letter from the Southern Border

The old man was brought before Jiang Jiang Mingyu, and the soldiers roughly pinned him to the ground. Jiang Jiang Mingyu asked in a deep voice: "Who exactly are you, and what is your connection to Xing Xing Youli? Why do you seek to put me to death?"

The old man sneered: "Who is Xing Xing Youli? I do not know him. Killing you is solely to avenge my two sons who died in the Battle of Tangxiang!" At this, bloodshot eyes suddenly appeared in the old man's gaze, and his voice roared, "Jiang Jiang Mingyu, ask yourself, do you not deserve to repay with your life!"

At this point, the old man's eyes were already filled with bloodshot veins, his whole body struggled violently, and his voice roared like a beast: "Jiang Jiang Mingyu, you beast, I should have killed you! If I cannot kill you today, may thunder strike me down; after I die, I will become a vengeful ghost to haunt you!"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu pondered; this old man was obviously not a master, yet his method of mixing poison was surprisingly skillful. Could it truly be that he was gambling everything for his son?

"All the common people outside Tangxiang City are my accomplices; kill them all!" the old man added.

Tu Tu Kesiluo, seeing him become increasingly unreasonable, flew into a rage, kicked the old man with one foot, grabbed his collar, and shouted angrily: "Old thing, insulting our Great Da Jiang monarch like this, it seems you are tired of living! Confess your accomplices immediately, and I will let you die quickly!"

The old man was kicked so hard he could barely breathe, yet he still sneered: "What accomplices? I alone can take the lives of you beasts! Jiang Jiang Mingyu, even as a ghost I will not let you go!"

"Pure nonsense!" Li Goudan could not help but speak up. "Your Majesty, this old villain is clearly distorting the facts; we must investigate the truth thoroughly and eliminate the threat forever!"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu nodded and asked Tu Tu Kesiluo seriously: "Ask him where he learned this method of mixing poison."

Tu Tu Kesiluo looked at the old man, fire burning in his eyes: "Old thing, where did you learn this method of mixing poison? If you do not confess the truth, today I will take your dog's life!"

The old man gave a sinister laugh: "You taught me this! You said that as long as Jiang Jiang Mingyu was eliminated, you could seize absolute power! Don't play dumb, Tu Tu Kesiluo!"

"Outrageous lies!" Tu Tu Kesiluo flew into a rage and punched the old man in the face. The old man was beaten so badly that fresh blood flowed from his mouth, yet he still sneered. Jiang Jiang Mingyu watched with cold eyes, having already formed a judgment in his heart, and waved his hand, saying: "Too much nonsense; drag him away and behead him!"

"Your Majesty!" Tu Tu Kesiluo stepped forward to advise, "The truth is not yet clear; rash handling will only blur the vision. Please think thrice!"

"Rest assured, I have my own plans in mind," Jiang Jiang Mingyu said calmly. His eyes revealed cold light, and he looked at the old man, saying proudly: "If you nag again, drag him away immediately!"

Just as the soldiers dragged the old man down the road to the execution ground, the old man continued to curse: "Jiang Jiang Mingyu, you beast, I will not close my eyes in death! I will watch you; just wait for the plague god to descend!"

The final roar was abruptly cut off by the sound of the blade falling. Jiang Jiang Mingyu watched the blood spray from the old man's neck and pondered for a long time.

After a long while, Tu Tu Kesiluo stepped forward and asked: "Big brother, why did you kill him so quickly? Is there some consideration?"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu nodded: "This man is certainly not someone acting out of solitary hatred; his tone when mentioning the teacher of the poison-mixing method was strange; there must be hidden circumstances. I fear the water is deeper."

Tu Tu Kesiluo suddenly understood: "So that is it! Big brother thinks far ahead!"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu's face was cold, and his voice had no emotional fluctuation as he ordered: "By my decree, immediately find and interrogate all the common people within a radius of twenty li!"

Tu Tu Kesiluo hurriedly executed the order, quickly gathering soldiers to capture people in all directions. In less than a moment, three or four hundred Other Xi Xia common people, with haggard faces and unsettled souls, knelt before Jiang Jiang Mingyu, trembling with fear and daring not to make a sound.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu pointed his finger at the blood-stained head on the ground and asked: "Does anyone among you recognize the identity of this dead person?"

In the crowd, a middle-aged man of advanced age trembled as he stood up; his legs were so weak he almost knelt again. He stammered: "Re... report to His Majesty, this person is the Physician Zhang from our village..."

He had intended to ask why Physician Zhang had been brutally beheaded, but upon seeing Jiang Jiang Mingyu's face, as cruel and ruthless as ice and snow, he could only quickly shut his mouth and forcibly swallow all the questioning words back into his stomach.

"Oh? Then speak in more detail," Jiang Jiang Mingyu said indifferently, urging him on.

That man naturally dared not neglect the matter, nor did he dare to hide even a bit, so he laid everything out completely: "Reporting to His Majesty, actually, we were not very familiar with Physician Zhang either. There was a rumor in the village that when he was young, he once went to the then Eastern Yue Kingdom to learn the craft of refining poison; since that thing could easily kill people if handled carelessly, everyone avoided getting too close to him. This is common knowledge. Additionally, since his two sons were killed outside Tangxiang City, his personality has become increasingly reclusive and strange. As far as I know, no one in the village has seen him for a month now."

Jiang Jiang Mingyu pondered slightly, then stared fixedly at the man's eyes and asked: "He intended to harm me, and his conspiracy has already been exposed; does any one of you have a conspiracy with him?"

As soon as the words fell, including the man who had just answered, all the several hundred common people present turned pale with terror, stumbled to their knees, kowtowed, and shouted loudly to plead their innocence and explain: "May His Majesty see clearly; we have absolutely no connection to this matter! Please investigate clearly and do not implicate us!"

In the crowd, a scholar wearing a long robe showed a strange expression, often reaching his hand into his robe, looking mysterious, with movements that were abnormally suspicious.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu scanned the crowd kneeling and begging for mercy; seeing their faces full of panic and confusion, he found no abnormal signs of accomplices. At this moment, Tu Tu Kesiluo stepped forward, his face difficult: "Big brother, now that the truth has been clarified, how should this matter be handled? Should we just let it go?"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu pondered for a moment and quickly made a decision: "Release them, Tu Tu Kesiluo. A private grudge of a single Physician is not worth us inciting a larger popular uprising." He turned and waved his hand toward the common people, saying: "All of you, disperse! This matter ends here; you need not worry about being held responsible!"

Upon hearing this, the common people breathed a long sigh, murmuring words, and thanked Jiang Jiang Mingyu with tears of gratitude, prostrating themselves. They then scattered in twos and threes, fleeing like the wind. Tu Tu Kesiluo watched this, yet in his heart he vaguely felt this ending was perhaps too simple; he could not help but speak up: "Big brother, passing over this matter so lightly really feels inappropriate. The hidden circumstances within might be far more than this..."

Jiang Jiang Mingyu gazed blankly at the backs of the common people as they left and said softly: "I feel the same. But wronging innocent common people is a great taboo of the state; I cannot recklessly harm the innocent for the sake of my own safety."

In these faint words, there seemed to be infinite thoughts.

Watching the common people flee and scatter in all directions, Jiang Jiang Mingyu could not calm the surging emotions in his heart for a long time. He vaguely felt that this matter was far from simple, and the "retribution" mentioned by the old man kept lingering in his mind. However, with the great army approaching imminently, he could only shake his head and stop his wild thoughts, then turned and instructed Tu Tu Kesiluo: "In future military movements, we must be extremely cautious; do not let such accidents happen again. Very well, transmit my military order; continue the journey!"

These past few days, Tu Tu Kesiluo had been extra careful; whenever passing through villages or towns, he necessarily maintained strict vigilance. But surprisingly, no abnormalities occurred along the entire journey, and the column advanced smoothly and safely. In mid-July, the great army had arrived at the Zangzhou territory, not far between Shangmu. If they walked for another ten-plus days, they could pass through Zangzhou and return to Shangmu.

This day, Jiang Jiang Mingyu rode at the front when suddenly he heard a loud sound of hoofbeats ahead; a fast horse charged straight toward them, blocking the path. The rider was still young, sweat carving several clear tracks on his face, his expression anxious. Jiang Jiang Mingyu's heart tightened; he quickly called out: "Who are you? Why such haste? Is there urgent military news? Speak quickly!" The youth hurriedly bowed and shouted: "Reporting to Your Majesty, your subordinate, sent by the Empress, has flown here from the Southern Border via Chao Kou, bringing a piece of extremely important military news!"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu was greatly shocked; the Empress sending military news from the Southern Border? Could something have gone wrong?! He hurriedly urged: "Speak quickly, is there any movement in the Southern Border?!"

The messenger calmed his breath slightly and quickly said: "Two months ago, the Southern Border heard that Your Majesty was leading an eastern expedition against Other Xi Xia, leaving the country empty; King Wei Wei Yangyao of the Southern Border then discussed with the ministers and planned to take the opportunity to attack our borders. Who knew that Crown Prince Wei Jiaci firmly opposed this move. One month ago, Wei Wei Yangyao actually imprisoned Wei Jiaci; now the Southern Border has fully prepared to send troops, and I fear they will attack our three Southern Border provinces at any moment!"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu and the generals all turned pale with shock upon hearing this! Such a major matter allows not even a moment of hesitation!

Jiang Jiang Mingyu immediately issued the order to gather the generals for an urgent military council.