knife

Chapter 723 The Truth
With a gentle tug on the reins, the horse had already passed Cui Tu and was trotting towards the small gate. Cui Tu was taken aback and quickly chased after it. Yang Rong smiled, then beckoned to a few officers a few steps away from them, whispered a few instructions, and then followed the group.

The street was wide enough for several horse-drawn carriages to travel side by side. The square bluestone paving stones, about one meter wide, highlighted the luxury of the place. The houses on both sides of the street were all made of blue bricks and green tiles, with a layout of shops in the front and courtyards in the back.

For many years, the Cui family's old residence was not only the political center of Boling County, but also its economic center. Goods from all over the country would be transported here after entering Boling County, and then distributed from here to all parts of the county.

Even supplies sent by the imperial court to the area beyond the Great Wall had to pass through here.

The Cui family would naturally not withhold these supplies; in fact, after staying with them overnight, there would be a considerable amount of extra goods the next day.

Large quantities of embargoed goods were thus smuggled out of the country, bringing the Cui family enormous profits.

With the Lunar New Year approaching, the scene of shops adorned with red and green decorations and countless New Year's goods filling the streets and even being displayed on the street has become a memory of the past.

Today, almost all the shops were closed, just as Cui Tu had said. Most of the houses had white banners hanging in front of them, and if you listened carefully, you could faintly hear weeping coming from inside.

The gaze peering through the crack in the door was anything but kind.

It was a kind of hatred that was desperately suppressed.

Having lost their closest and dearest loved ones, they don't know who to hate. So anyone who appears before them at this time, and who tries to take away their interests, becomes the object of their hatred.

At this moment, they are at their most vulnerable, but at the same time, they are also at their most ferocious.

Wounded animals are always more ferocious.

Because they want to display their ferocity to intimidate their opponents.

Li Guohua naturally didn't care about the opinions of these people.
The idea of ​​killing someone while they're still alive only exists in legends or stories. Li Guohua felt that even if thousands of people were staring at him, he would just laugh it off.

As Li Guohua stepped onto the square, wailing suddenly erupted from the mourning tents on both sides, but amidst those earth-shattering cries, no sorrow could be heard.

Cui Ming has been dead for several days now. Even if you are still very sad, you should have cried all your tears by now.

However, when guests come, they always have to put on an act and pretend to be filial sons and grandsons.

As they approached the main mourning hall, Cui Shu, wearing a mourning headscarf, hemp clothing, and a hemp rope around her waist, led a large group of men from the Cui family out from inside.

With her left hand on her chest, Cui Shu bowed deeply to the ground, her voice tinged with a sob.

"Cui Shu thanked the General for coming in person; his father would be gratified even in the afterlife!"

Li Guohua stepped forward to help Cui Shu up and said gently, "I was shocked to hear of Lord Cui's passing. I have already reported this to the Commander-in-Chief. I expect the imperial decree will arrive soon. Lord Cui died for the country, and the court will certainly not be stingy with its rewards. Please accept my condolences, Patriarch Cui!"

"Thank you, General! Thank you, Commander-in-Chief!" After a pause, Cui Shu added, "Thank you for Your Majesty's grace!"

“Lead me to offer incense!” Li Guohua said.

"Yes!"

Cui Shu led Li Guohua and Yang Rong into the mourning hall, where he led a group of filial sons and grandsons to kneel down.

Li Guohua burned a stack of paper money, lit three incense sticks, knelt down respectfully and kowtowed three times, then stood up, helped Cui Shu up, walked to the coffin, reached out to hold the coffin lid, turned back to look at Cui Shu and said, "It's been a month since we parted, but Cui Gong's voice and smile are still vivid in my mind. I would like to see Cui Gong's remains, is that alright?"

Cui Shu hesitated slightly, but under Li Guohua's intense gaze, she finally nodded. Li Guohua exerted a little force, and the heavy coffin lid slowly slid open, revealing Cui Ming's body inside.

Very calm,
It was very peaceful.

Li Guohua reached inside and grasped Cui Ming's cold hand.

"Brother, go in peace. I will take my revenge on you later!" Li Guohua whispered.

Yang Rong, who was standing beside him, looked at Li Guohua's hand and his expression changed slightly. Because the moment the two made contact, a very fine needle popped out from the metal plate on Li Guohua's thumb and pierced deeply into Cui Ming's wrist.

Cui Shu, however, kept his head down, maintaining an attitude of not daring to look at Cui Ming's remains. This was naturally essential for a filial son like him, while the others were still kneeling and wouldn't notice Li Guohua's little action.

"General, this way please. Wine and dishes have been prepared inside!" Cui Shu said.

Li Guohua shook his head. "No need. I'm really not in the mood for drinking right now. Let's arrange a place for us to rest, and bring the food and drinks to our rooms. Patriarch Cui, let's be frank. I've come here with a reason. Please make proper arrangements here, and we'll discuss how to deal with the current situation tonight."

Cui Shu nodded with a wry smile: "The General has brought five thousand elite troops. He is giving my Cui family far too much credit. Of the Cui family's five thousand armored men, seven or eight out of ten have perished under the sun. The ones in our family now look gleaming in armor and disciplined, but they are just for show. They are not to be taken seriously. General, just give the order if you have any requests. There is no need for any discussion!"

Li Guohua looked intently at Cui Shu and said calmly, "Of course we need to discuss this. The Cui family is a dominant force among the powerful families in the Central Plains. Even without the armored men, their strength remains. Moreover, Patriarch Cui is overthinking things. I brought men here this time to help defend the Cui family's old residence. There is a large-scale troop mobilization in Yangguan. You may not know the speed of the iron cavalry outside the pass, but we know it very well. They can arrive in an instant. Li Dachui is a bandit by origin, and he values ​​surprise."

Cui Shu let out a breath and nodded: "Alright, then please let the General and Lord Yang rest first to refresh themselves. I will take care of the matters outside and come back to discuss them with you in the evening. Cui Tu, escort the General and Lord Yang to Qingxin Pavilion to rest."

As soon as the door closed, Yang Rong's expression changed. Looking at Li Guohua, he said with some dissatisfaction, "What do you mean? Lord Cui was a man of great stature, a hero for his generation. Now that he's dead, why are you still humiliating him?"

“I think there’s something fishy about Cui Ming’s death!” Li Guohua’s words startled Yang Rong.

"What do you mean? Do you think Cui Ming was murdered?"

Watching Li Guohua remove the iron plate, he took out a small bottle of medicine from his pocket, poured a little into a teacup, and the spike silently emerged and dipped into the teacup. In a short while, a layer of gray light appeared on the spike.

Yang Rong's eyes widened in surprise.

Li Guohua looked up and met his gaze.

"How did you guess that?"

“I asked to open the coffin to see Cui Ming’s remains. Although Cui Shu hesitated, he still agreed,” Li Guohua said. “If he had nothing to hide, he would never have agreed to such a thing. At that moment, he knew that I had some suspicions, and he agreed to let me open the coffin in order to prove his innocence.”

"But Cui Ming was clearly poisoned!"

"Did you notice?" Li Guohua said, "If it weren't for this thing, who among us could tell from appearance that Cui Ming had been poisoned?"

"Indeed, very clever!" Yang Rong said, "Why would Cui Shu kill Cui Ming? He's his father!"

Li Guohua paced back and forth in the room a few times, then said, "Either the two of them have a fundamental disagreement about how to proceed with the Cui family, or there's an enormous benefit that's making him willing to take the risk!"

"So what should we do next?" Yang Rong asked, emphasizing each word.

(End of this chapter)