Dali Temple has his Lord Luo

Chapter 43 The old past

The bearded envoy replied:
"Actually, I went to see General Duo just to ask about the items I needed to bring back to Nanzhao. When I left, General Duo turned around and locked the door, preparing to fall asleep."

Indeed, the clerk at Tongfu Inn also testified that the door was opened from the outside.

When Guo Ming heard these words, he smiled and breathed a sigh of relief:

"Lord Luo, it seems I am not the last person to see General Duo."

Song Qingsong nodded: "This is best. If you are the last to leave, some things will not be clear."

Song Qingsong hoped in his heart that if something happened to Duobei, he would never have anything to do with Zhao Guo.

Luo Ning looked around at everyone, and everyone looked at her nervously.

Luo Ning really didn't think anyone in the Zhao State wanted to kill Duobei, but she suspected that it was someone from Nanzhao who did it, firstly to avoid being noticed, and secondly to shift the responsibility to Zhao State.

After glancing at Qin Zhao, Luo Ning said to the Nanzhao envoy:

"Envoys have come from afar and did not expect what happened today. Please come to the official residence of the foreign envoys. We, the State of Zhao, will do our best to solve the case and strive to make the truth of the case known as soon as possible."

Qin Zhao immediately understood what Luo Ning meant and called several government officials:

"I will take a few envoys to the ambassador's residence. I hope everyone will be okay and stay in the residence as much as possible. Before the case comes to light, I hope our two countries can live in harmony."

When the envoys heard it, it meant to be imprisoned!

But the case has not been solved, and no one can say what caused Duobei's death.

The five people nodded in agreement, and one of the thinner ones quit: "Master Luo, what do you mean?"

Luo Ning smiled: "Don't mind, something happened to General Duo at the inn. It's not clear yet whether it was suicide or murder. I still ask for your cooperation before doing an autopsy."

"Lord Luo, General Duo was one of the best generals in Nanzhao. If he died in Zhao, no matter what the reason was, it would be a loss for our country. We in Nanzhao have lost a great general!"

When Qin Zhao heard this, was this trying to embarrass Luo Ning?He was not happy because he knew this envoy, whose name was Bai Di.

"Envoy Bai, Mr. Luo only handles the resolution of the case. As for the arrangements for the mission, it is all the Emperor's will. Does Envoy Bai mean to be dissatisfied with the Emperor?"

Qin Zhao was not polite and asked sternly, the temperature of the surrounding aura dropped sharply: "Envoy Bai, please cooperate with Mr. Luo."

Bai Di was still not happy, but he didn't dare to make any mistakes. He had long known that Qin Zhao was very skilled in martial arts, and Duobei was dead. They and their group had no boss, so they should forget about it.

Thinking of this, Bai Di forced out a smile and said, "Okay, let's go to the mansion and wait for the good news from Mr. Luo."

Song Qingsong has been observing them from the side. What he fears most is that the Nanzhao people will kill Duobai themselves and provoke disputes between the two countries.

Seeing Bai Di's actions, I felt more thoughtful.

Luo Ning took the whistle from Duobei's bag and held it up: "Can you recognize this thing?"

Bai Di was the first to see it. He looked a little flustered and immediately covered it up: "This is our Nanzhao reed."

"What is it for? What does General Duo use this for?" Luo Ning was not polite.

"This... should be General Duo's personal belongings. Many of us in Nanzhao have this ability." Bai Di replied in a low voice.

"General Duo came to visit our country, Zhao. Why did he bring this thing with him?"

"This...I don't know." Bai Di lowered his head.

The other five people were also silent.

Luo Ning and Song Qingsong looked at each other and understood that there was no way to break through, so they asked the Yamen servant to take the envoy to the official residence to rest.

Only Song Qingsong, Luo Ning and Qin Zhao were left in the room.

Song Qingsong said: "Master Luo, the people of Nanzhao are very strange."

Qin Zhao nodded: "Bai Di's attitude toward Duo Bai is ambiguous."

Luo Ning walked to the window again and looked outside:
"Suicide? We have to wait for the result of Master Dong. Murder? The Nanzhao people themselves think it is murder. But if it is murder, how did the murderer get in? How did he get out?"

Turning around inadvertently, Luo Ning suddenly saw something falling milky white next to the exhaust window by the window. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be milk, and the outer circle had dried up.

Song Qingsong looked around again: "Master Luo, what do you think?"

Luo Ning turned around: "These envoys from Nanzhao checked carefully, I hope they are internal strife."

Qin Zhao remembered:
"The one who is most familiar with these Nanzhao people is Xu Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites. Not only Nanzhao, but also all foreign affairs of our Zhao Kingdom are in charge of the Ministry of Rites. Of course, Xu Shangshu knows best."

"Xu An's father? How could I forget? Great, let's go to the Ministry of Rites right now!"

Song Qingsong was also about to leave: "I'll go to Yizhuang to see Dong Yuzuo. If there is any news, I will send someone to Dali Temple to inform you."

On the way to the Ministry of Rites, Qin Zhao couldn't help but ask: "Do you have any ideas? Let's talk about it."

Luo Ning smiled: "Tell me your story first, and I'll listen."

Qin Zhao looked confused:
"You want to talk about taking the imperial examinations and studying the Five Classics. I am good at everything, but when asked to decide a case, I really have no clue. However, every time I hear you talk about it, I feel that it is very simple, but I can't figure it out."

Qin Zhao was telling the truth, which amused Luo Ning.

"Analysis, I just look for the most reasonable explanation. Sometimes it doesn't make sense, because my thinking is wrong."

Luo Ning thought about it: "For example, today, why do you want to kill Duobai? Motive!"

"The motive, yes, Song Zhuer talks about it every time." Qin Zhao said with a smile.

"Well, secondly, it turns out that the murderer just wanted a result."

"That's right, this is murder, not aimlessly."

"Finally, the process, the weapon, and how the murderer left?"

Luo Ning finished these three points carefully: "We are now trying to prove the first point, the purpose of killing Duobei!"

While talking, the two came to the Ministry of Rites.

When Xu Zhaojun heard that Luo Ning was coming, he came out to greet him personally. Master Luo was not only Xu An's best friend, but also helped the Shangshu Mansion and the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion achieve a marriage:
"Luo Ning, why did you come to my etiquette department today?"

He saw Qin Zhao again, who was the closest and most powerful person around the emperor. He also had a smile on his face and said, "Master Qin, I'm sorry for being so rude."

After the three people exchanged greetings, Luo Ning explained his purpose:

"My lord Xu, the Nanzhao envoys pay homage to the general. They were found dead in the inn room this morning. I once suspected that the Nanzhao people were the murderers themselves, so I want to get to know the envoys."

In the early morning, Xu Zhaojun had heard that the Nanzhao envoy died in the inn. Unexpectedly, Luo Ning suspected that the Nanzhao people themselves did it:
"You are right, Luo Ning. The people of Nanzhao are full of tricks and we must be on guard against them. Please come with me."

Xu Zhaojun went into the Ministry of Rites, asked Luo Ning and Qin Zhao to wait a while, and brought a thick dossier by himself after a while:
"This is the list of Nanzhao envoys who visited our country after the emperor ascended the throne. There is also various Nanzhao information collected by the Ministry of Rites. Let's see if it is useful."

Qin Zhao saw the thick bundle of files and said jokingly: "Master Xu, you, the Ministry of Rites, are still doing intelligence work?"

Xu Zhaojun laughed:
"No, it's just that we know each other. There are too many envoys who come to visit every year. I am afraid that I will neglect others, so I pay attention to everyone's preferences. Unexpectedly, the more I collect, the more I collect."

Xu Zhaojun took out the Nanzhao royal family. Luo Ning accidentally turned over it and found that there was no Xianghe and Dong Shizi: "Oh? Why is there no Princess Xianghe?"

Xu Zhaojun flipped through a few pages and remembered: "Yes, Xianghe is not the first princess. She is the niece of the new king of Nanzhao. In order to send Dong Shizi to Anyang City, she was given the title of princess."

"New king?" Qin Zhao and Luo Ning didn't know much about Nanzhao.

When Xu Zhaojun saw it, he asked Qin Zhao and Luo Ning to sit next to him, opened the file and talked about the history of Nanzhao bit by bit.

That's it!

After listening to Xu Zhaojun's introduction, Luo Ning had a new understanding of Nanzhao: "What about the people who visited this time? Does Mr. Xu know anything about them?"

"First of all, I would like to say goodbye. He is the coach I just mentioned in the battle against Ma Guipo."

"In which battle did our country suffer heavy losses?" Qin Zhao asked.

"Yes, our country's vanguard army was completely wiped out at that time. It was in that battle that Duobei was valued, and it also laid the bargaining chip for the new king to seize the throne."

"Who was the coach of our country at that time?"

"It's Prince Mu."

"Prince Mu?"

Qin Zhao and Luo Ning were both surprised. Isn't that Zhao Xuan's Seventh Emperor's uncle?Now he is exiled to Mobei by the late emperor?

Luo Ning vaguely felt that there was something in between.

Normally, a prince who goes to war should be respected. Besides, the war was ultimately won by Zhao, so why was King Mu still exiled?
It doesn't make sense.

However, Luo Ning looked at Qin Zhao. It had been more than three years since the emperor succeeded to the throne. The late emperor was now enjoying his old age in the Southwest Mountain outside Anyang City.

The time happened to coincide with the timeline of the Battle of Nanzhao. Qin Zhao saw what Luo Ning meant: "If necessary, we can meet the emperor!"

Luo Ning nodded and said to Xu Zhaojun: "Master Xu, let's talk about the other people in the mission."

Xu Zhaojun pointed to Bai Di’s name:

"This man is a civil servant in Nanzhao. The official setup in Nanzhao is different from that in our country. He is equivalent to Cui You in our cabinet in Nanzhao."

"How are you?"

"He is a loyal minister of Nanzhao, so all his actions are based on the interests of Nanzhao. He seems a bit harsh to us during negotiations."

"I understand, I didn't expect that." Qin Zhao remembered that Bai Di was aggressive at the inn just now, which was understandable.

Xu Zhaojun pointed to another name: "Zhang Yuan, this man has a beard. He is the deputy general of Duobei. This time he is mainly discussing the border garrison issue with the Ministry of War."

Luo Ning thought of the last person he met Duobei.

"How is his relationship with Dobai?"

"There is no problem in the relationship between superiors and subordinates."

Xu Zhaojun pointed to the other four people:
"These people are all ordinary ceremonial officers who took up their posts after the new king of Nanzhao ascended the throne. In our country, they are equivalent to ordinary chiefs. This time they are mainly followers."

"So, King Nanzhao only came to the throne after the First World War in Nanzhao?"

"Yes, the fight for the throne in Nanzhao was very fierce at that time. Duobei is now the right-hand man of King Nanzhao and made great contributions to his ascension to the throne."

Luo Ning frowned. This was not good. It was so important to worship in Nanzhao for many years, but now he died in Zhao.

However, I heard Xu Zhaojun continue to say:
"Duobei was suspicious by nature and had a bad reputation among the soldiers. After King Nanzhao ascended the throne, he relied on his merits to become arrogant and offended many people."

"What's King Nanzhao's attitude?"

Xu Zhaojun smiled: "I don't know, after all, it is someone else's state matter."

(End of this chapter)