Ch. 10 - Treacherous and Self-respecting

No! There must be something wrong!

Standing silently in front of Basong's body, Sun Shaozong frowned more and more tightly.

This sudden and resolute death of Basong seemed to be in line with his psychology of not hesitating to die and gain fame at first sight, but there were a few fishy things after examining them one by one in detail.

Jing Ke and others died with regret, mostly out of loyalty, in order not to implicate those behind the scenes.

On the surface, this seemed to be the same with Basong, but his purpose was to retain his name for generations, not loyalty. Since he was not afraid of death for fame, shouldn't he show his heroic spirit first, and then take all the blame on himself?

What's more, the identity of Basong and his accomplices has been exposed. If he suddenly committed suicide, it would only make people turn their doubts toward the officials of the state of Zhen.

But what kind of sacrifice for the country and estrangement was this?

Could it be that…

Sun Shaozong suddenly felt a chill in his heart. Could it be that Basong's assassination of Niu Yongxin was originally to frame the state of Zhen?!

With this in mind, many doubtful points could be explained.

For example, the assassins that sneaked into the Qinglin Mansion, waited for an opportunity to assassinate, and placed their people to poison the guard commander. These steps were all carefully planned. However, after they succeeded, they had enough time to leave, but they returned to the place where they had lurked. It was like being blessed with a halo of a retarded intelligence!

Shouldn’t it be common sense for the assassins to run away immediately after giving a blow, no matter how hard it was? In particular, they assassinated the envoys of the Heavenly Kingdom!

According to the available information, even if these guys didn’t fall into the hands of themselves and others, they would inevitably be hunted down in the future. At that time, their strange plan would not only have no effect but would properly bring disaster to the State of Zhen.

In addition, Basong was just a ranger in the state of Zhen, but he easily built up a sub-base in the Qinglin Mansion and even planted a spy in the embassy kitchen. This kind of strange detail couldn’t be explained simply by the words ”dissipating one's fortune!”

On the contrary, if all this was the ”counterplan” set up by the Qian Xiang state to annex the State of Zhen, all the strange things would have an answer!

No, I can't continue to think anymore!

Sun Shaozong shuddered and hurriedly pressed all his doubts to the bottom of his heart. It involved strategic interests between countries. The water in it was too deep. He could not carry it on his small shoulders. It was better to pretend that he didn't know anything.

At least in front of the Qian Xiang people, there must be no trace of knowing, otherwise, he would be doomed!

"Lieutenant!"

At this moment, there was a loud voice behind him that shocked Sun Shaozong from head to toe. Looking back, it turned out that Feng Xin hurried back. As he approached him, he shouted, "Some constables are patrolling the streets outside. After I stopped them, it seems that they have sent someone to look for reinforcements. My Lord, if the brigade of the Ministry of Justice comes, we alone can't stop them!"

"Why can't we stop it?"

Sun Shaozong scolded him angrily, "The three of you place your sword at the entrance, and no matter what happens, never allow them in. Would Qian Xiang start a war with us, the Great Zhou dynasty, just for the sake of several suspects who assassinated Ambassador Niu?"

"That... That's what..."

Sun Shaozong reprimanded Feng Xin, causing his neck to shrank, then he murmured, "What if they come in flipping through the wall? Besides, there is a side door, in case..."

As he said this, he saw Sun Shaozong's face getting worse and worse. He quickly turned the conversation around and said with flattering concern, "My Lord, I think you seem a little unhappy. Is there something wrong?"

The speculation about anti-Japanese tactics was very important. How dare Sun Shaozong tell him the truth?

So he said casually, "The leader of the assassins just committed suicide. I'm afraid that without this most important credit, it's not enough for us to make up for our mistakes."

But Feng Xin had taken it seriously. He rubbed his hands, frowned, and muttered, "What should we do?! Lord Niu is the legitimate grandson of the Duke of Zhen. His brother, Niu Jizong, is a hereditary first-class earl, and his sister is the favorite concubine of the Supreme Emperor. In addition, the four princes and eight ministers have always had the same thoughts. If anyone were to say something bad about us in front of the emperor, we would be finished!"

These four princes and eight ministers seemed to be an alliance among the top scholars of the lord of the Great Zhou Dynasty. At one time, they even occupied half of the country. However, in recent years, with the deaths of the founders of the country, the momentum has been greatly reduced.

However, a hundred people were indeed dead. Even if the power of the four princes and eight ministers was not as strong as before, it was more than enough to deal with such small characters as themselves. In this way, it seemed that the way to make up for their mistakes was not reliable enough.

It seemed that more tricks must be taken into consideration!

Sun Shaozong pondered for a while and immediately had an idea in his mind. He immediately instructed, "Well, since we can't stop it, let the people of the Ministry of Justice come in and let them take these remaining assassins back for interrogation."

As he said this, he suddenly saw Ruan Rong on the side and hurriedly added, "It's also good for Governor Ruan to get out of trouble and go home as soon as possible."

Ruan Rong heard the words and said to Sun Shaozong, "Thank you, Brother Sun."

What Feng Xin heard was that the boss was not happy. Although he didn't dare to express his opposition, he came up and muttered, "My Lord, it took us a long time to catch these assassins. How can we just give it to those Qian Xiang people just like this?"

"What else can I do?"

Sun Shaozong glanced at him and said with a strong sense of righteousness, "We are now the people who are made guilty. We must stay in the embassy and wait for the release. These assassins can only be escorted to the Great Zhou Dynasty by the government of Qian Xiang State."

"This... This..."

Feng Xin still refused to give up, but he didn’t know how to persuade Sun Shaozong. Just before he faltered, Sun Shaozong pulled him to his side and whispered, "We can give them these people, but the reputation belongs to us! Choose some eloquent brothers and escort the prisoners to the Ministry of Justice with them. As long as enough people are watching on the road, one person will be left to publicize today's events. Remember not to exaggerate, just decorate it a little!"

After hesitating for a while, he added, "It's better to think of some slogans in advance. They should be easy to understand, such as ”The Half-day Strange Case of Lieutenant Sun.” In addition, we must emphasize that we are doing this to avenge Lord Niu. Don't say anything about making amends for mistakes."

After hearing these words, Feng Xin immediately clapped his chest with joy and said, "Don't worry, My Lord. The whole people in the Qinglin Mansion know us. We all know how wise you are!"

With these words, he went to the election with great interest.

The way Sun Shaozong thought of the Chinese four-word idiom—the meaning of relying on foreign forces to elevate its status!

Although this country was not comparable to the Western powers, it was at least the first powerful country in Southern Xinjiang. If there was news that Qian Xiang people were praising the guards sent to the Shuntian Mansion along with the team escorting the assassins, would the imperial court be willing to severely punish them?

Of course, it was not safe to rely solely on public opinion. After all, ordinary people were not as good as dogs these days, not to mention ordinary people in the vassal states.

So Sun Shaozong was going to find another senior official of the State of Qian Xiang to act as a third party to smooth out their unfavorable situation.

If public opinion pressure still couldn’t make the imperial court change its mind, he was afraid that he could only take Feng Xin and the others to become bandits!

This was the reason why Sun Shaozong wanted to stay in the Qian Xiang Kingdom for the sake of his guilt. There was at least a two or three-month buffer period for escorting the assassins, which was enough for Sun Shaozong to arrange his escape strategy.

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