I am Yuan Niaoniao

Chapter 81 They don't have much time left

When Xueyao was walking back to Yaocheng at a leisurely pace, she was hit by a strong smell of blood, which made her frown. This unusual smell made her alert: something seemed to be wrong. So she immediately quickened her pace and hurried into the city.

After entering the city, Xue Yao was surprised to find that the streets were almost empty, with only a few figures scattered among them, and those soldiers were particularly eye-catching - they were patrolling nervously. This eerie silence and the pervasive smell of blood formed a sharp contrast, making the entire Yaocheng seem to be trapped in a terrible nightmare. Ignoring this strange phenomenon, I hurried to the mansion. I saw the door of the mansion was wide open. It was a mess inside, "Dad? Mom?" I shouted in confusion, but no one responded! "Dad, Mom! Yao'er is back! Dad! Mom!" I was panicked and rushed to my parents' room, only to see a bloodstain, and no one was gone. "What's going on?"

She ran out of the Snow Mansion in panic, panting as she ran. Her heart almost jumped out of her chest. Suddenly, she saw a soldier passing by. She grabbed his arm as if she had found a life-saving straw and asked anxiously, "Brother Soldier, what happened here? Please tell me! What on earth happened here?"

The soldier frowned, glanced at the panicked woman in front of him, then shook his head and said in a heavy voice: "Prince Chen...Prince Chen massacred the city! You just came back and you are lucky to have escaped." After saying that, he forcefully pulled Xue Yao's hand away and hurried away without looking back.

Xue Yao stood there blankly, her body shaking uncontrollably. She couldn't believe what she heard - the King of Chen actually massacred the city! Shock and despair intertwined, making her feel dizzy.

"Prince Chen? Massacre of the city?" Xue Yao fell to the ground upon hearing this. "Massacre of the city, so father and mother are gone?" Unable to accept this blow, nor did she want to believe this fact. She struggled to get up and ran into the Xue Mansion. There was no one in the entire mansion. Her eyes went dark, and she fainted.

When she woke up again, it was already dark. The smell of blood was still strong in the mansion. She clenched her fists tightly, with deep hatred in her eyes. "Prince Chen, you slaughtered my entire city, I will repay you double!" She cheered up, simply packed up her parents' belongings, and erected a tombstone in the courtyard. She knelt down and kowtowed three times, "My daughter is unfilial. I came back late and caused you to die unjustly! This vengeance will definitely be avenged by my daughter!" She wiped the tears from her face and rushed to Dadu without stopping for a moment in the night. Even if she died on this trip, she would take the entire Prince Chen's mansion with her!

………………

Sun Jinzhi had arrived in Dadu first. When Han Junwu saw that he came back alone, he guessed that he didn't know what happened next, so he happily rewarded him and then held a banquet to reward the three armies.

Han Haotian and Wu Shijie were also taken to death row and executed in the autumn.

After thanking for the reward, Sun Jinzhi went back to Yuan Mansion to reunite with Yuan Xixi.

"Cousin Xixi." As soon as she stepped into Yuan Mansion, she called out loudly.

"You're back? Jinzhi..." Yuan Xixi ran out from the inner hall upon hearing the voice. "Where's my sister? Where's His Royal Highness Prince Chen?"

"They will arrive later, so I will go ahead to send the Crown Prince and the eldest prince of Wu back." Sun Jinzhi said as he took off his hat and put it on a tray given to a servant.

"Okay, then go wash first, it stinks!" Yuan Xixi said, pinching her nose.

"Okay." Sun Jinzhi scratched his head embarrassedly. He had no time to wash up during the past two days because of traveling, so he hurried to wash up.

When he came out after washing up, he saw Yuan Xixi sitting in the living room in a daze with a heavy face. He walked up to her and asked, "What's the matter? Cousin Xixi."

"...Just now, brother Shaoyun sent someone to say that my sister and His Royal Highness Prince Chen massacred the city, and were captured by Prince Yi and are on the way back! Brother Shaoyun is also going to verify whether the news is correct!" Yuan Xixi came to her senses and said this when she saw that it was Sun Jinzhi.

"How could they massacre the city? It's ridiculous! Besides, why would they massacre the city for no reason after coming back from a victory?" Sun Jinzhi patted Yuan Xixi's shoulder. "Cousin Xixi, I'm afraid it's just a rumor. Do you believe that cousin Niaoniao and His Royal Highness the Prince of Chen would do such a thing?"

"Of course I don't believe it!" Yuan Xixi frowned and said, "I'm afraid that if this news is true, it means someone has framed me! I have to think of a way quickly. There are also people who survived in Snow City who testified against my sister and His Highness!" How could she not worry! This is not only a capital crime, but also a crime that will be infamous for thousands of years!

"What?" Sun Jinzhi also felt the seriousness of the matter. He remembered that the King of Chen asked him to come back first because they planned to use the remaining troops of the Wu army to wait for the secret guards who wanted to take the opportunity to assassinate him! Unexpectedly, this was used by someone with ulterior motives! "Calm down first, there must be a way. According to the schedule, it should be here tomorrow. This will take some time, and it is estimated that it will arrive before the afternoon. We must take advantage of this gap to find evidence first!"

"Let's go to Snow City!" Yuan Xixi stood up and said, she must save her sister and the prince!

"Okay, let's go now!" Sun Jinzhi also stood up.

"Dongxue and Lingdang, you two take care of the house!" After instructing Dongxue and Lingdang, he thought of something and turned to Sun Jinzhi and said, "Wait for me." He went back to his room, collected a bunch of small items, put them all in a small shoulder bag, put on the jewelry that Gong Jiaxin had specially made for him, and went out only after he was ready.

"Let's go, Jinzhi!"

Sun Jinzhi nodded and followed, and the two of them walked out of the door in the night and headed towards Snow City.

We arrived at Snow City just after daybreak. It really looked like the city had been massacred. The air was filled with a faint smell of blood, and the city was completely deserted. Only occasionally, civilians would take to the streets and a few soldiers would walk by.

Yuan Xixi and Sun Jinzhi looked at each other and went into the city together. After passing several shops, they found an inn with its door half-closed.

Sun Jinzhi went forward and knocked on the door, "Hello, is anyone there?"

After a while, an old man in his fifties with clumsy hands and feet came out and looked at the two of them. "Who are you?"

"Hello, sir, we are passers-by and would like to have a meal here, but we went to several restaurants and found none of them were open." Sun Jinzhi said politely.

Upon hearing this, the old man walked to the door cautiously and looked outside, then closed the door and said, "Sit down, children. There is nothing to eat. I will make you a bowl of noodles."

"Okay, thank you." Sun Jinzhi said with a bow.

After the old man went into the kitchen to busy himself, Yuan Xixi said, "I wonder if I can get something out of this old man!"

"There's no other way. We've been traveling all night. Let's eat something to fill our stomach first." Hungry and a little tired, Sun Jinzhi had no idea what other solutions could be found.

Yuan Xixi didn't say anything when she saw this, she just spoke quietly.

"The noodles are ready." The old man slowly brought out two bowls of steaming noodles and placed them in front of the two of them. "Eat, kids."

"Thank you, uncle!" After thanking him, the two picked up their chopsticks and started eating. After they were full and wiped their mouths, they asked, "Uncle, what happened here?"

Hearing this, the old man looked a little solemn, and a little sad. "A few days ago, this place was massacred, and almost no one survived." After saying that, he wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. "My legs and feet are not good, so I slept in the inner room. My relatives were all running the business in the store, and we happened to run into the soldiers who massacred the city. Almost in an instant, everyone was fine, but they were all gone. Now, there is only an old man like me who is barely surviving." He raised his head and looked at the two people: "After eating, hurry up and leave the city. It's not safe here, kids."

"My condolences, sir." Yuan Xixi also felt sad when she heard that.

"Then do you know who did it?" Sun Jinzhi thought for a while and asked.

The old man raised his head when he heard this: "It wasn't done by His Royal Highness Prince Chen. I believe in him. Besides, I saw with my own eyes that the massacre was completed, and then His Royal Highness Prince Chen and his entourage arrived. As for why the conflict occurred, I don't know. Let's go. Oh, I'm exhausted and didn't read on."

Yuan Xixi and Sun Jinzhi looked at each other in surprise. There was indeed a witness.

"Then if you could come with us and testify for His Royal Highness Prince Chen, would that be okay?" Sun Jinzhi asked.

The old man looked at Sun Jinzhi solemnly: "It's not that I don't want to help you, but what an old man like me says is not enough to convince the emperor."

Perhaps understanding the old man's dilemma, Yuan Xixi stood up and said, "Thank you for the noodles, it's delicious. Sorry for bothering you." She put down a few pieces of silver.

"Thank you, sir." Seeing Yuan Xixi like this, Sun Jinzhi followed her and left.

Seeing the two preparing to leave, the old man said again: "Kid, if you really can't find the evidence, then come back to me."

"Okay!" Yuan Xixi looked at the old man gratefully, and then left with Sun Jinzhi.

After leaving the inn, the two began to look for evidence in Snow City again.

However, almost all the traces had been cleaned up, leaving only the lingering smell of blood.

"What should we do?" Yuan Xixi felt a headache when she saw this situation.

"Don't worry, think slowly, there will be a way." Sun Jinzhi calmly observed the surroundings, "Cousin, you wait here." After saying that, he flashed to the front, grabbed a soldier, and winked at Yuan Xixi. Yuan Xixi knew what he meant, so she covered her face and walked forward. The two then took him to an alley.

"Tell me, who is responsible for the massacre!" Sun Jinzhi covered his face and stepped forward and kicked the soldier twice.

"Hurry up and tell me, or you'll be in trouble!" Yuan Xixi also covered her face and punched him twice in the face.

The soldier looked at them in horror, "I... I don't know... I was just following orders..."

Sun Jinzhi's eyes turned cold, "You're not telling the truth, are you?" He took out a dagger and waved it in front of the soldier. The soldier turned pale with fear, "I really don't know, please spare my life, heroes!"

Yuan Xixi and Sun Jinzhi looked at each other, then she took out a bottle of powder from her bosom and poured it on him: "This is poison. Within half an hour your skin will ulcerate and you will die of the poison!"

"Ah... No, no," the soldier was so scared that he was sweating profusely. "I am just a soldier under His Royal Highness Prince Yi, I know nothing!"

"King Yi?" Yuan Xixi and Sun Jinzhi looked at each other, their hearts full of doubts.

"Was it King Yi who massacred the city? Why did he do that?" Sun Jinzhi asked.

"I... I don't know..." the soldier said tremblingly.

Sun Jinzhi pondered for a moment, then knocked the soldier unconscious, "I think it must be King Yi who is causing trouble! His people are everywhere here!"

He looked at the sky and said, "Let's hide him first and continue looking for him." After thinking for a while, he tied up the soldier and hid him in the yard of the old man.

Sun Jinzhi and Yuan Xixi sneaked into the residence of the Governor of Snow City. They carefully avoided the guards and came to the study. When they were about to break in, they heard a quarrel from inside. "Are you crazy? The people outside are all King Yi's men!" The voice of the Governor of Snow City came out. "Keep your voice down, or we will both die."

"You are doing this for the sake of promotion and wealth, which will arouse public outrage! There will be retribution!" A sharp and piercing female voice cut through the night sky, like a meteor across the sky, with endless anger and condemnation, directly hitting the man. Her voice was full of disappointment and heartache, as if she wanted to pour all her emotions into it.

However, facing the woman's questioning, the Governor of Snow City seemed unusually calm. He narrowed his eyes slightly, with a barely perceptible smile on his lips, and replied softly: "Don't worry, I will naturally find a way to calm this matter down... Besides, don't we have a ready-made scapegoat now?" His tone was so calm that it made people feel scared, as if everything was under his control.

"How can you be so cruel? Are you worthy of the innocent souls in this city?" The woman still refused to give up, her voice trembling, tears welling up in her eyes. She couldn't accept that the man who once vowed to speak up for the people had become so cold and heartless.

After hearing this, the governor of Xuecheng's face changed slightly, but he soon regained his composure. He took a deep breath and said slowly: "Those who achieve great things do not care about trivial matters. Sometimes necessary sacrifices are inevitable. As long as we can achieve our goals, these are all worth it." After that, he walked to the door and opened it, and found Sun Jinzhi and Yuan Xixi looking at him angrily.

Before he could even say anything, he was knocked unconscious by a palm strike from the person in front of him.

The woman in the room was knocked unconscious by Yuan Xixi's spray of powder before she could even say anything.

"Take them back to Dadu first and then interrogate them?" Sun Jinzhi looked at the two people in front of him.

"Let's go find the old man." Yuan Xixi said after thinking for a while.

So the two men tied up the Governor of Snow City and brought him to the old man's house, where they explained the whole story in detail.

The old man, leaning on his crutches, said angrily, "These two black-hearted guys deserve to be cut into pieces! Fine, I'll go with you!" But his cloudy eyes revealed a determined light.

So the two of them did not waste any more time. The matter was urgent and there was no time to lose. They immediately found a carriage and took the old man and the Governor of Snow City to Dadu.

It was already evening when they finally returned to Yuan Mansion. After settling the old man, he and Sun Jinzhi began to interrogate the Governor of Xuecheng.

A bucket of cold water woke them up.

The Governor of Snow City, who was awakened by the cold water, shuddered and looked around in horror. "You, who are you?" Looking at the strange face in front of him, he was sure that he didn't know him.

Yes, Sun Jinzhi was appointed as a general and then went to war, and many people did not know him.

"I am General Sun Jinzhi, who has just made great military achievements. It is not surprising that you do not recognize me, but today I want to interrogate you about the bloody case of secretly colluding with King Yi to massacre all the people in Xuecheng!" Sun Jinzhi's face was stern, his eyes were like torches, he stared at the person in front of him, and said in a cold voice.

"What nonsense are you talking about? I really don't understand!" Upon hearing this, the Governor of Snow City's face suddenly changed, but he immediately pretended to be calm, pretending to be confused even though he knew the truth, and shouted loudly while shaking his head desperately.

"Hmph, it doesn't matter whether you say it or not, today is just a formality. King Yi is now in prison and has been thrown into death row. And you, just sit and wait for death!" A cold smile appeared on Sun Jinzhi's lips, and a hint of determination flashed in his eyes.

Hearing this, the Governor of Xuecheng broke out in a cold sweat. If it was true, then he would have no choice but to die. He looked at Sun Jinzhi again, not knowing whether he should believe what the man in front of him said.

"By the way, you know the old man at the Golden Phoenix Inn, right? When his entire family was killed, he happened to have weak legs and feet, so he was resting on the second floor. He saw with his own eyes that your officers and soldiers were colluding and killing innocent people." Sun Jinzhi continued to lie to him.

"Mr. Jin!" The woman who had been silent for a long time suddenly said, "Fortunately, the old man is fine." She lowered her head sadly: "Just plead guilty, we are already doomed!"

It seems that she knows the old man, so that makes things easy.

"Whether you plead guilty or not, the emperor will make the final decision. You will be brought before him later to face charges together with Prince Yi." Sun Jinzhi left the room after saying this, leaving only two soldiers to guard it.

"How's it going, Jinzhi?" Yuan Xixi saw him coming out and went up to ask.

"I have already cheated. I will have to take them to the palace to see the emperor even if it means taking risks. There is no time to waste. I can only take a gamble."

"Okay!" Yuan Xixi also knew that they didn't have much time left, so she could only face the challenge.