Ch. 11 - A Plot or A Open Conspiracy

As Sun Shaozong predicted, this kind of story, "Anger for colleagues, half a day to solve a strange case" was the most popular among the ancient people.

Before the day ended, he sent the reluctant Ruan Rong home. On the way, he heard someone in the street tavern discussing the matter. His name, ”Lieutenant Sun” was mentioned repeatedly.

The only inappropriate thing was that Li Jiuming seemed to have been made up into a clown who was jealous of the virtuous and the capable, which was used to set off Feng Xin, the second male lead, and him as the main. Needless to say, Feng Xin must have secretly added some scenes for himself. Otherwise, with his ability, how could he become the second male lead?

It was time to gather all the forces that could be united. It was not a good thing to offend a local villain like Li Jiuming without any reason when the Qinglin Mansion was a building force, especially when that someone had helped them before.

Therefore, Sun Shaozong planned to come to the door the next day to apologize and take advantage of the situation to exaggerate the matter to the point of hype to earn the reputation of ”Heroes cherish heroes.”

But the plan couldn’t keep up with the change.

The next morning, Sun Shaozong had just gotten up from bed. Before he began washing up, an official was here to deliver a famous post inviting him to visit Prime Minister Ruan Fuzhong's mansion.

In the Qian Xiang Kingdom, as he only needed to listen to the Emperor, Ruan Fuzhong was a man of power to all under his rank. In comparison, Lieutenant Sun Shaozong barely reached his caliber. If Niu Yongxin was still alive, he would have gone to the Ministry of Rites to apply for visitation.

How could Sun Shaozong postpone an invitation from such a powerful person?

Besides, his plan of ”Frightening and deceiving people under the banner of revolution” also needed a big man as a stepping stone. How could he miss such a heaven-given opportunity?

Therefore, Sun Shaozong had to ask Feng Xin to apologize on his behalf. Anyway, it was originally a matter caused by him. It would be most appropriate for him to wipe his ass.

With that being said, Sun Shaozong traveled after a night's rest and arrived at the Prime Minister's residence. After the guests took their assigned seats according to their rank in the living room, Ruan Fuzhong, on behalf of the court of Qian Xiang, expressed condolences to the people of the embassy, praised the guards led by Sun Shaozong, reviewed the years of solidarity and friendship between the two countries in the past, and looked forward to a brighter future.

In the end, Ruan Fuzhong finally began a detailed interrogation of the process by which Sun Shaozong and others followed the remaining assassins.

Up to this point, the meeting gave Sun Shaozong the feeling that he was just walking through formalities, like those labor model commendation conferences he had attended in modern times. The whole article was bureaucratic, and there was nothing important.

The only difference was that Ruan Fuzhong's words were more elegant, and his attitude was better than those of city and county-level leaders. Ruan Fuzhong has a sense of alienation, but he was able to let others feel comfortable.

However, when Sun Shaozong gradually lowered his vigilance, Ruan Fuzhong said coldly, "Our kingdom, Qian Xiang, and the Great Zhou Dynasty are brothers and sisters, but the State of Zhen regards the Great Zhou Dynasty as a cruel kingdom. Those assassins naturally came from the State of Zhen, and they can only be from the State of Zhen!"

With this sentence, Sun Shaozong felt that he had goosebumps and nearly broke out in cold sweat!

What does he mean?

Is he testing to see if I have seen through him?

Or did it mean that the kingdom of Qian Xiang was plotting an open conspiracy and was not afraid that the Great Zhou Dynasty would find out the truth?

With just a short sentence, the more thoughts that were put in, the more it was terrifying!

Thanks to Sun Shaozong's years of experience in modern officialdom, he was not a young man who hadn’t been through the cruelty of society, so he managed to keep his mind steady and didn’t show his timidity in front of Ruan Fuzhong.

—Dividing Line—

After the incident at the Prime Minister's residence, Sun Shaozong returned to the embassy.

According to the original plan, Sun Shaozong sent people to spread the rumor, "Prime Minister Ruan had the insight to recognize talents, and Lieutenant Sun was loyal and refused to solicit." He lied that Ruan Fuzhong was soliciting himself as a third-grade general, but was moved by his loyalty and refused the offer.

On the other hand, stimulated by Ruan Fuzhong, Sun Shaozong hardly studied the domestic and international situation of the Great Zhou Dynasty. It was found that the surname ”Ruan” was engaged in an open conspiracy!

Generally speaking, feudal dynasties stressed that ”There was no second heaven and no second Lord of the people.” However, there were two leaders in the court of the Great Zhou Dynasty. One was the retired Supreme Emperor and the other was the inherited Emperor.

In front of the imperial power, even the father and son were inevitably suspicious of and constrained by each other. Therefore, the decrees of the Great Zhou Dynasty in recent years often changed and contradicted each other, which greatly hindered the efficiency of the local government and reduced the prestige of the imperial court.

As a result, the previously suppressed noise was gradually rising. For instance, the Great Zhou Dynasty nearly wiped out the Mongolian tribes in the northwest more than 50 years ago. For decades, they only dared to act as slaves, but now they are colluding with the Blackwater Mohe in the northeast, which was ready to make its move.

On the southeast coast, the Japanese pirates and the Europeans became more and more violent. They repeatedly looted ashore, making the people along the coast miserable.

Currently, with all the domestic trouble and foreign invasion, does the Great Zhou Dynasty still have the strength to unify the six countries in southern Xinjiang?

Therefore, although the officials in the middle and lower ranks of Qian Xiang still maintain their awe of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the senior-ranked officials already have a different mind, so they secretly use their means to test the response of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Anyway, they were mainly aimed at the State of Zhen. The government and the public were more obedient to the Great Zhou Dynasty. They seemed to regard themselves as loyal dogs of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Even if someone in the court of the Great Zhou Dynasty saw through their plans, how could they deal with it? Also, would they force the only ”respectful and humble” young official to revolt for Niu Yongxin?!

After figuring out these joints, Sun Shaozong felt that government matters were unfathomable. He and other small characters had better hideaways.

Therefore, he told Feng Xin and others to live in seclusion and stay away from home to avoid any trouble. At the same time, he took the lead in raising 500 tons of money to recruit soldiers and officials escorting assassins so that they could spread the story of Lieutenant Sun's ”Half-day solving strange cases” and the ”Prime Minister Ruan's insight into talent” back to Shuntian Mansion.

After four or five days of calm and tranquility, seeing that the team escorting the assassins had finally set off, the embassy suddenly welcomed another ”unexpected guest”. Ruan Rong's father, Ruan Liangshun, the Governor of Qinglin Prefecture.

Ruan Liangshun used the name ”Expressing one’s gratitude” for his visit, but Sun Shaozong didn't see any gratitude from him. On the contrary, his old face was tight, as if someone owed him a lot of money.

At first, Sun Shaozong was puzzled, but for the sake of Ruan Rong, he didn't argue with the old man. It was not until Ruan Liangshun said a word that he understood where the other party's inexplicable hostility came from.

"Lieutenant Sun."

Ruan Liangshun arched his hands with a smile and said, "My young daughter was worried about the safety of her old man that day. It’s normal that some things she says don’t mean what she thinks. Don't worry about it. In just a few days, my daughter will be engaged to the eldest son of Minister Pan of the Ministry of Revenue. At that time, I will hold a wedding banquet at home and invite Lieutenant Sun. Please take the time to come."

How smart was Sun Shaozong?

He immediately understood that Ruan Liangshun had something to say. The real intention was to warn him, My daughter is going to get married soon. You'd better not have any more contact with my daughter or have any indiscriminate thoughts!

He was afraid that this invitation to the engagement banquet was merely a passing comment. It couldn’t be taken as true at all.

Although Sun Shaozong also had some good feelings for Ruan Rong, it was still far from the level of love between men and women. What's more, if nothing unexpected happened, he would soon return to the Great Zhou Dynasty. He was afraid that he wouldn't have a chance to see Ruan Rong again in this life.

So after hearing this warning, although he was a little upset, after seeing off Ruan Liangshun, he also put the matter behind him.

A hundred days later, the engagement banquet at the Ruan Mansion arrived as scheduled. Most of their old friends and relatives received invitations, but Sun Shaozong was indeed omitted from the invitation. However, even if he did receive the invitation, he was afraid that he would not have time to go to the banquet because, at the same time that the Ruan Mansion had sent the wedding invitation, the new envoy of the Great Zhou Dynasty had finally arrived at the Qinglin Mansion!

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