Giant Ship Across the Song Dynasty: My Supplies Come from My Motherland

Chapter 95 Haha, then it's all baseless accusation.

Chapter 95 Haha, then it's all baseless accusation.

"Ha ha ha ha----"

"How can you still laugh? You're so young and have caused such a huge mess, yet you're still laughing! What kind of heart do you have?"

The matter has escalated to a great extent, and it is impossible to conceal it. Moreover, the mobilization of the Imperial Guard on such a scale requires an explanation, both to and against all parties.

And who was to give this explanation? Naturally, it was the Prince of Rui.

"What do you know, you woman?" The prince straightened his appearance, smiled, and walked out.

The princess chased after him, saying, "If you don't explain yourself clearly, you're not going anywhere."

"Haha, Madam," the prince said, sounding extremely pleased. "There's a Han Chinese saying, 'Seeing the whole picture through a small part.' If he were to listen to others and hesitate, he would only be looked down upon. Doesn't he even have that much backbone? How could he be worthy of Wulin? Madam, water has no fixed course. One day, we might find ourselves in trouble. Of course, we can expect kindness and righteousness from others, but we can't only do so when we're in trouble. Don't you agree?"

"But this—Li Jun is, after all, a great general. To take away his men so blatantly—"

"Ha." Prince Rui waved his sleeve: "If Yue Fei were still alive, I would be afraid of him to some extent, but now—he's nothing but a pig or a dog. It's a joke that he dared to harm my children. And my wife, that man is called Zhang Jun."

Meanwhile, Young Master Yu was imprisoned in the dungeon, beaten beyond recognition. The jailers' whips, soaked in salt water, lashed against his body. The judge beside him coldly asked, "You're quite the tough one. Will you talk or not?"

"Go ahead and ask!"

"Tsk—" The judge said impatiently, "Still being stubborn, beat him!"

After another round of whipping, Young Master Yu's chest was already torn and bleeding. He was born into a noble family, and his father had risked his life and shed blood for the Song Dynasty. He should have enjoyed everything he was supposed to enjoy in his life, but now he was locked up in this stinking dungeon and beaten like a dog.

He couldn't shout or curse anymore; he could only hang his head and hum softly.

At this moment, Lin Zhou and Lu You arrived at the place. Lu You glanced at the young master Yu and then said to Lin Zhou, "The story we will tell you is that after the assassination attempt on Qin Hui failed, they changed their target to the King of Jin, wanting to murder the king to make the two countries hostile and start another war. However, the Prince of Rui saw through their plan and entered the mansion to arrest them."

This explanation fits perfectly with the style of Yue Fei's faction.

Lin Zhou nodded: "Shouldn't it be handed over to the Imperial City Guard?"

"The Imperial City Guard?" Lu You's gaze sharpened, and he chuckled softly, "He targeted the princess's personal maid, which is a matter of Jin's internal affairs. What does it have to do with the Imperial City Guard? His actions were nothing more than colluding with his accomplices to first assassinate Qin Hui and then disrupt the friendly relations between the Song and Jin dynasties."

Lin Zhou was taken aback and turned to look at Lu You: "Isn't there a loophole here? Brother Ying is my maid."

"The princess is Brother Lin's fiancée. By capturing the maid, we can learn the movements of the prince, the princess, the heir apparent, and the princess, and thus set up an ambush on the road."

"Hiss—yes, oh dear—it has to be you scholars."

Lu You smiled slightly: "As for the motive, it's baseless."

Lin Zhou was taken aback. The two looked at each other, their eyes filled with seriousness.

Then Lu You gripped the prison cell door with both hands and whispered, "How can the three words 'fabricated charges' convince the world? Back then, Commander Han questioned Qin Hui, and Qin Hui gave no answer. Now, he too is accused of fabricated charges. Let's see if Qin Hui can provide an answer."

"He definitely can't give it to them, otherwise the case will be overturned, right?"

"That's right." Lu You bowed slightly. "He definitely can't give it to them. The Yu family colluded with Zhang Jun to fabricate evidence against Yue Fei back then, and now this blow has finally fallen on them."

Lin Zhou nodded with his hands behind his back: "Understood."

The outside world was in an uproar. The charges against them were that Yu Qing was a member of Yue Fei's faction and that his son had kidnapped the personal maid of the Jin princess that morning.

This time, it wasn't Zhang Jun who came to the prince to demand an explanation, but rather the Jin prince who handed over a letter of state to question Ninth Sister about why such a terrible thing had happened under the emperor's nose.

Zhao Gou, the Ninth Sister, was still reeling from the assassination attempt on Qin Hui when he saw this official letter. He was terrified and didn't have time to think about it. He immediately summoned Zhang Jun and told him to give the Prince of Rui an explanation.

No one expected things to escalate this much. Such matters were usually quite common, but Zhang Jun, hastily recalled, was utterly bewildered upon hearing the news. Putting aside his character, Zhang Jun was, after all, a marshal, and one of the four generals who revived the Song Dynasty. Now, he was being asked to deal with the affairs of a mere maid—

He walked out of the palace gates, intending to see his subordinate Yu Qing, but upon inquiring, he learned that Yu Qing's entire family had been captured by the Jin king. He then went to the Imperial City Guard, but the guard simply shrugged and said, "Given Qin Xiang's assassination attempt, the Imperial City Guard has no spare capacity to handle it. Besides, this matter involves the Jin people. Why not go and see the Court of State Ceremonial?"

Zhang Jun turned to the Court of State Ceremonial, whose minister shrugged and said, "General Zhang, this isn't an external matter—it's a heinous act that undermines goodwill, and it's truly not under my jurisdiction. Why don't you go to the Ministry of Justice?"

Then he went to the Ministry of Justice, where the Minister of Justice spread his hands—

This matter could have been handled by Han Shizhong, but Zhang Jun had already fallen out with Han Shizhong because of Yue Fei's affair. Even if he went to Han Shizhong, he would probably still be forced to shrug it off.

But just leaving it like that? That definitely won't work. Yu Qing is an old man who has followed him for decades and is considered one of his core members. If he lets him go, how will he lead troops in the future? Who will be willing to risk their lives for him?

The problem is, this is the most difficult thing to do now. The Jin people are convinced that Yu Qing is a member of Yue Fei's faction. Otherwise, why would they kidnap the personal maid of the Jin princess when they are chasing Yue Fei's faction all over the city?

Why kidnap the maid? Isn't it just to find out the movements of the Jin king's family so they can arrange an assassination? If they're going to arrange an assassination, what else could they be but Yue Fei's faction?

Lu You's plan was logically sound, extremely cunning and vicious, and it tightly wedged the corners of the power game. Not to mention Zhang Jun, even if Zhao Gou came, he wouldn't be able to get this person out unless he forced a show of face.

"Brother Lin, don't worry. Some things are either not worth doing, or if you do, do them big. Since the young master is willing to take the lead, you don't need to worry." Lu You smiled and poured wine for Lin Zhou: "If we hadn't overturned the table, Brother Lin would have been in trouble, and now the one in trouble probably wouldn't be you, brother."

"How mean—" Yangti said, holding a chicken leg beside him, "What's wrong with your brains? I can't understand it."

"I don't understand it either." Lin Zhou turned his head away. "Don't be discouraged. I'm no different from you."

Inside the small shop, three men sat drinking, while three women went upstairs to try on new clothes to wear on the boat at the temple fair on the sixth day of the new year. The atmosphere was no longer tense. After all, the saying goes that if the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up, and now that the prince has held it up for them, they can just relax and enjoy themselves.

Lu You's eyes were filled with gloom and the flames of revenge: "Qin Hui, Wan Qigao, Zhang Jun and the others are all the masterminds who killed Marshal Yue. I want them dead."

Lin Zhou picked up his wine and took a sip, at which point Yang Ti raised his head: "I'm a golden man—"

"Your Highness, we have no enmity. Perhaps we will meet on the battlefield in the future, but that will be a matter of national hatred, just like General Han and Prince Rui. They are enemies on the battlefield, but can be friends in private. There is no conflict between them."

"By the way," Lin Zhou suddenly asked, "how's your egg?"

"I managed to save my life, but I told my mother that I was injured there and would never be able to have children again. She cried all night, but she didn't make things difficult for Wan'er anymore. Thank you, Brother Lin."

Lu You said somewhat shyly, "However, I don't want to live with my mother anymore, so I'll be troubling you more from now on, brother."

"Just keep things quiet when you're doing things. You know me, I'm hot-blooded." Lin Zhou sighed. "By the way, did you see the gift I brought you?"

Lu You, whose face had been gloomy just moments before, now had a flushed face. He coughed and said, "I saw it—that kidney tonic, and that Viagra—you want to take them, right?"

"Eat, eat. Eat on time and in the right amount."

"What? I want one too!" Yangti exclaimed from the side.

"You already have a child, what do you need?"

As the group was chatting, there was a sudden commotion outside. Turning around, they saw Cao Wenda rushing in, panting, and asking Lin Zhou, "What have you done?"

However, after he finished speaking, seeing that there were other people in the room, he did not continue. Instead, he waved to Lin Zhou. After the two came to the door, Cao Wenda pulled Lin Zhou and said, "What did you do? That General Zhang has already gone to the Prime Minister to ask him to help him."

"What did I do? I didn't do anything."

"Oh dear, my goodness—do you know how serious this is?! The Prime Minister sent me here to ask you about it, so don't cause me any trouble. I heard it's General Yu's son trying to snatch that silly girl?"

"Huh, what's wrong?"

"That's all? You took care of a lieutenant general?"

Lin Zhou frowned: "Did I do that? Wasn't it the Prince who did it? Do I have that kind of ability?"

"My ancestors—" Cao Wenda grabbed his hair tightly, "You scoundrel—this is a huge matter, my ancestors—"

Lin Zhou stopped joking and grabbed Cao Wenda's hand: "Brother Cao, I call you brother, and you'll always be my brother. Let me ask you, if you ever encounter trouble, wouldn't you want someone like this to stand up for you? Or do you want Brother Cao to be part of an unbroken family line, sitting firmly in the middle forever?"

Cao Wenda remained silent, but held Lin Zhou's hand tightly, unsure of what to say.

"I knelt there and begged the prince, who asked me why I was going to such lengths for a mere maid. I said, 'Your Highness, what do we, the people who live in this world, uphold? We uphold righteousness and honor. Let alone a maid, even if she were just an old woman doing chores, she's still one of us. How can we let them bully us like this?' The prince said, 'Fine, I'm a military commander, I understand these things. You don't need to worry about it. I only value your benevolence. You may leave.'"

After saying that, Lin Zhou grasped Cao Wenda's hands with both of his: "Brother Cao, tell me, if I don't speak up this time, next time someone as close as you and I do speak up, will the Prince say something like, 'You certainly know how to play favorites, don't you? When Brother Ying was in trouble, why didn't I see you being so concerned?'"

After listening, Cao Wenda remained silent for a long time. Although Lin Zhou had never said this to the prince, he acted it out perfectly.

So after a long while, Old Cao took a deep breath and said, "You, you need to make sure the evidence is complete! I'll go find someone to prepare the evidence that the Yu family's son is a member of the Yue faction. Next time, do things more neatly."

"Thank you for reminding me, brother!" Lin Zhou shook his hand firmly.

"Oh, you, you're so careless."

>