The Military Governor in Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 101 The Murderer

The General's Residence at Desheng Fort.

Liu Tianwang sat in the study: "Wei Ya hasn't arrived yet?"

"Sir, they haven't arrived yet," a guard replied.

Liu Tianwang snorted coldly.

All the other guards have arrived and are waiting in the main hall; only Wei Ya is missing.

As a military officer, he would definitely wait until all the guards below had arrived before entering the arena last.

There's no reason for a lieutenant general like him to wait for a garrison commander.

Even though Wei Ya was his confidant.

Wei Ya is usually quite reliable, so what's going on today?

"Sir, should I send someone to Zhenqiang Fort to inquire? We might run into them on the way," the guard asked.

"Wait another quarter of an hour," Liu Tianwang said, taking a deep breath.

He felt somewhat agitated.

I've been in a terrible mood ever since I returned from the General's Mansion.

When Liu Tianwang was paying New Year's greetings to Chen Tai, he tried to find out what Chen Tai was thinking.

It concerns some upcoming appointments regarding Jia Chen's position.

Jia Chen was promoted from a centurion to a chiliarch, but his specific position remained unchanged.

Ever since discussing it with his father, Liu Tianwang had been eager to take over Qianshan Fort, and he valued the guards there.

Therefore, transferring Jia Chen away is the best option.

However, Chen Tai's answer to him was that Jia Chen's position would remain unchanged for the time being.

Chen Tai meant that it wasn't wrong for a commander of a thousand to serve as a garrison officer, since Jia Chen's previous appointment as a garrison officer as a commander of a hundred was already somewhat low.

Of course, it's not too out of place that the newly built Qianshanbao has a low-end configuration.

The location of Qianshan Fort is now very important. If someone is suddenly replaced, Chen Tai is worried that the successor will not be able to shoulder this heavy responsibility.

Until a suitable replacement is found, it is best to leave Jia Chen at Qianshan Fort for the time being.

Despite his discomfort, Liu Tianwang had already made up his mind.

Even if Chen Tai disagrees, I have to do it.

Chen Tai was merely offering a suggestion; how to implement it was up to him, the military commander of the Northeast Route.

Besides, appointing Jia Chen as the garrison commander of Zhenqiang Fort was a promotion, so even if Chen Tai had any objections, he couldn't say anything about it.

So what if I offended Chen Tai? He still needs me to secure his position as general. He can't possibly turn against me over such a trivial matter.

On the contrary, the soldiers guarding Qianshan Fort were exactly what he needed.

Chen Tai left Jia Chen at Qianshan Fort, but who knows if that guy was also after the fort's garrison.

This matter must be handled quickly, otherwise the die will be cast and Chen Tai will have no choice but to accept it.

"Hmph!" The time had come, and Liu Tianwang stood up with a cold face. He was no longer waiting for Wei Ya.

When he comes over, I'll have to give him a good scolding.

"The lord has arrived!"

Upon hearing the sound from outside, the guards who were sitting in the hall immediately stood up to greet them.

"Please sit down, please sit down," Liu Tianwang said with a smile.

At this moment, he put on a smiling face, as he couldn't very well show his anger at Wei Ya's absence in front of his other subordinates.

No matter how you look at it, they're all here to wish me a Happy New Year, a joyous occasion.

The guards dared not actually sit down, but waited until Liu Tianwang was seated before offering him New Year's greetings in unison.

"Alright, alright," Liu Tianwang laughed. "Have a seat."

Everyone then sat down.

Just as Liu Tianwang was about to chat with everyone, a personal guard suddenly strode in.

Liu Tianwang's face darkened.

Entering without prior notice is clearly not a good thing.

The other guards exchanged bewildered glances, their minds filled with various speculations.

"What?" After the guard whispered the report in Liu Tianwang's ear, Liu Tianwang's expression changed drastically. "How is this possible?"

""

"My lord, we've already sent men over. Although they haven't arrived yet, it's pretty much confirmed. Several of the witnesses recognize Lord Wei," the guard replied in a low voice.

"Wei Ya?" The guards were curious. What happened to Wei Ya?

The adjutant seemed quite surprised.

And this definitely doesn't look like a good thing.

"Wei Ya is dead." Liu Tianwang naturally understood his subordinates' thoughts and told them the truth.

This matter cannot be kept secret; they will find out sooner or later.

"Huh?" Everyone looked surprised.

Wei Ya and his men were certainly familiar with him; he was Liu Tianwang's confidant and could be considered the top garrison commander of the Northeast Route.

They knew that Wei Ya had always been in good health, so why did he suddenly die?

"It is said that they encountered bandits on the way to Desheng Fort," Liu Tianwang continued.

"What bandits are so audacious?" a guard shouted angrily.

The others also stood up, shouting that they would wipe out the bandits.

"We'll talk about that later. Let's go and take a look first," Liu Tianwang said.

So the guards followed Liu Tianwang out of the city to the scene of the incident.

When Liu Tianwang arrived, he found that the garrison commanders of the Qiangbao area in Gaogou and other towns had already arrived.

Actually, this place is closer to Zhenqiang Fort, so Gao Gou and his group received the news first.

Jia Chen was among them. He knew that Liu Cheng and his team had handled things efficiently, and the matter was considered settled.

Of course, the next step is to see how Liu Tianwang and his team pinpoint the killer.

He had already carefully and secretly investigated the area. There were no traces of Qianshan Fortress, but there were some traces of Beifeng Village.

It was those two dead horses. The horses themselves were fine, but the saddles had the words "North Wind" engraved on them.

This is why Liu Cheng killed the two injured horses on the spot.

Even if no horses are injured, they will still kill a few and leave their carcasses.

"My lord, you must do justice for Lord Wei! Those damned Beifeng Village, they were the ones who did it!" Gao Gou shouted as he stepped forward, his face filled with grief and indignation, when he saw Liu Tian looking over.

"Are you sure it's Beifeng Village?" Liu Tianwang's face was terribly gloomy.

He had certainly heard of Beifengzhai, a notorious bandit stronghold in Datong Town.

Judging from Beifengzhai's past practices, they are unlikely to provoke the government troops.

It should be said that none of those bandits would provoke the government troops without a reason.

Especially since Wei Ya and the others clearly weren't ordinary people, how dare they kill them?

"My lord, we have evidence. Look at the words engraved on this saddle." Gao Gou immediately had someone bring the saddle over.

Liu Tianwang and the others took a look and, sure enough, saw the words "North Wind" on it.

They also knew that Beifeng Village did indeed have this custom.

"Sir, this saddle alone proves nothing; it's possible someone framed us," a guard said.

Everyone nodded.

It's not difficult to forge such a saddle mark. Even if the saddle is real, this alone cannot prove that it belongs to Beifengzhaiqian.

"Sir, many people saw that the bandits had dozens of riders at the time," Gao Gou said. "There are many bandits in Datong, but not many of them own horses. It's rare for bandits to be able to send out dozens of riders at once."

Liu Tianwang glanced coldly at Gao Gou, thinking to himself that this guy was a bit stupid.

You just said someone framed them, but you didn't say it was other bandits who framed Beifeng Village.

It could be some of Wei Ya's enemies or something.

However, Wei Ya, like himself, had only been in Datong for a short time. Who could he have offended?

Moreover, judging from the fact that the other party directly attacked with lethal force, they must have offended the other party severely.

At least Wei Ya had never mentioned such a thing to him; Wei Ya's murder was too suspicious.

"Could it really have been done by Beifeng Village? They're so ruthless, they've even killed government troops now?" Liu Tianwang wondered to himself.

This possibility cannot be ruled out.

Those bandits are capable of anything.

Liu Tianwang then questioned the eyewitnesses who were the first to discover the scene.

After listening to their words, Liu Tianwang felt that it was more likely that Beifengzhai was the one who had been implicated.

"Sir, the Beifeng Village shouldn't be attacking the government troops. There must be something fishy going on here," another garrison commander said.

"Oh? Has Commander Liang discovered anything?" Liu Tianwang asked, staring at him.

"This... I didn't notice it. I just felt that this matter shouldn't have been done by Beifeng Village," Liang Shoubei said with a somewhat embarrassed expression.

At this moment, he noticed that everyone was looking at him differently, so he hurriedly said, "My lord, this is just my wild guess, really just wild guess. Based on the current evidence, we cannot truly confirm that the murderer is Beifeng Village. Ah~ this matter has nothing to do with me. I am just stating the facts and have no personal motives."

Commander Liang was genuinely afraid that Liu Tianwang would suspect him.

Saying these things makes it seem like I'm going to be suspected; I'm just saying good things about Beifeng Village.

Liu Tianwang snorted coldly and said nothing.

He knew what kind of situation this Commander Liang was.

Liang Shoubei had a close relationship with the Sun family.

He had already heard about the secret relationship between Beifeng Village and the Sun family.

In fact, this relationship is something that anyone with some status in Datong Town understands, but everyone keeps it to themselves and doesn't talk about it much.

After all, the Sun family wielded considerable influence in Datong Town, and no one wanted to offend them.

If this was indeed done by Beifeng Village, the Sun family will also be affected.

As someone with close ties to the Sun family, Commander Liang naturally wanted to exonerate Beifeng Village.

And you're just stating the facts, with absolutely no selfish motives?

The more they act this way, the more guilty they seem.

A petty person.

Liu Tianwang held this person in utter contempt.

However, when he thought of the Sun family, a sudden inspiration flashed in Liu Tianwang's mind.

Previously, Wei Ya and Sun Shaozu had frequent interactions, which was tacitly acknowledged by Wei Ya.

He needs the support of some powerful local families to better establish himself here.

Wei Ya was his confidant, so having him represent him to some extent meant that he was acting on his behalf.

If anything really happens, I can push Wei Ya out.

Could it be that Wei Ya offended Sun Shaozu in some way during their interactions?

This is not impossible.

Liu Tianwang's mind was in turmoil.

It was supposed to be a peaceful New Year holiday, but first things didn't go well when they tried to get information from Chen Tai, and now even Wei Ya has been killed. It's hard to pinpoint the killer right now, so wouldn't that make them even angrier?

Having seen everything that needed to be seen at the scene, the only thing left to do was to collect the bodies of Wei Ya and the others.

Back at the military commander's residence, Liu Tianwang locked himself in his study.

Now everyone basically believes that it was Beifeng Village that did it, because no other clues have been found besides Beifeng Village.

Liu Tianwang still didn't quite believe that Beifeng Village was behind it. He kept thinking about who Wei Ya had offended, but he couldn't think of anyone who hated Wei Ya to the point of wanting his life.

"Hmm?" Liu Tianwang's heart suddenly skipped a beat. "Jia Chen?"

When Jia Chen's name appeared, he suddenly felt that Jia Chen had a motive to kill Wei Ya, and a significant one at that.

Leaving aside the matter of Wei Ya capturing Jia Chen at Qianshan Fort.

The fact that we want to transfer Jia Chen away from Qianshanbao is something Jia Chen probably can't accept, right?

Although he hadn't said it himself, Wei Ya had already brought it up with him.

He knew that Wei Ya would definitely not be able to control his mouth and would tell these things to some people below, such as Gao Gou.

Then Gao Gou's mouth was even less sealed, and it might have leaked out.

If Jia Chen knew about this, what would he think?

In an extreme situation, did he kill Wei Ya?

Although the matter still seemed somewhat outrageous, once the seed of doubt was planted, Liu Tianwang thought it was increasingly likely. "Someone, bring Gao Gou here!"

Liu Tianwang shouted loudly outside.