264 Isn’t This Self-destructing?!
Lu Ze didn’t give Pei Qian a chance to show off at all. He said, “It’s related to the Zhou family’s heir?” The smug smile on Pei Qian’s face froze.
“Tsk!” Pei Qian glanced at Lu Ze and snorted unhappily before moving to the side.
Lu Ze had already finished writing the word ‘fortune’ and two couplets in a row. As he finished writing everything in one go, Pei Qian finally saw that something was wrong. He frowned and questioned, “Where’s the couplet for my house?”
“Just go back and write it yourself!” After writing the last stroke, Lu Ze put down the pen in his hand and retorted bluntly, “Didn’t you say that the couplets written here are bad? Then go find a place with good fengshui and write it yourself!”
“You can’t say that!” Pei Qian raised his hand and picked up the couplet that was hanging beside him. As he held it in his hand, he looked at it slowly for a moment before continuing, “Everything else aside, with Your Highness’ calligraphy skills, I should at least leave a set or two as a memento!”
“Enough, stop joking. What’s going on? Tell me.” Lu Ze walked over and took the couplet from Pei Qian’s hand. Then, he placed it on the table at the side and sat down beside him. “Among the five families left in the north, the Zhou family is the most outstanding!
The 20,000 people in the Zhou family’s hands are a considerable force in the north!”
Most importantly, although Zhou Hengchang, who leads the Zhou family’s army, is a little arrogant, he isn’t a coward! At the very least, these 20,000 soldiers have been trained well!
The area they were guarding was united. In this aspect, Zhou Hengchang was an outstanding and qualified commander!
However, there were too many people dragging him down!
Especially Zhou Hengyuan, the heir of the Zhou family.
“Zhou Hengyuan has been wanting to seize power for quite some time now! According to what I know now, Old Master Zhou’s sudden death back then was partly Zhou Hengyuan’s doing!
Seeing that his father’s health was deteriorating day by day, Zhou Hengyuan was naturally anxious.
After all, Zhou Hengchang’s strength was obvious to all! Moreover, after so many years of being the commander-in-chief, the Zhou family’s army had long been under Zhou Hengchang’s command! This way, even if Zhou Hengyuan inherited the title, he would be a figurehead!
Therefore, Zhou Hengyuan wanted to cause trouble for Zhou Hengchang!”
Pei Qian thought of the information he had just found out from the interrogation and couldn’t help but shake his head. “So, when someone told him that he could use hemp leaves to lower the combat strength of Zhou Hengchang’s soldiers, that fool really believed it!”
“Is he crazy?!” As soon as Pei Qian said this, even Lin Suisui, who didn’t know much about military matters, was stunned. She exclaimed in disbelief, “Even if they’re soldiers under Zhou Hengchang’s command, they’re still part of the Zhou family’s army!”
Wasn’t this destroying their own power?!
What was Zhou Hengyuan thinking?!
“That’s right. Even Madam Liu can figure it out, but Zhou Hengyuan can’t! However, Zhou Hengyuan believed it because the person who suggested it to him first demonstrated it to him with the soldiers not far from the pass!
Therefore, he got the impression that this hemp leaf was good stuff!
H felt that as long as he could make all the soldiers in the Zhou family’s army addicted, he could use hemp leaves to control these soldiers in the future!”
Pei Qian couldn’t help but sneer. “As for the consequences, he didn’t ask at all. He probably doesn’t want to know either!
“As for the merchant from the Western Region who advised Zhou Hengyuan, I’ve already arranged for Wei Qing to arrest him! That person is still in Cloud Mountain City. It’s really…”
The more he found out about the northern region, the more Pei Qian couldn’t help but want to go crazy.
Actually, before he came, he already knew that the north wasn’t peaceful. Under that calm surface, corruption was festering!
However, after he truly understood the situation, he realized that all his previous estimations were too light!
The severity of the matter had completely exceeded his imagination!
“Have you told Zhou Hengchang about this?!” Lin Suisui was a little worried about the safety of the 20,000 soldiers. Although she didn’t have a good impression of Zhou Hengchang, those 20,000 soldiers were heroes guarding the border. They didn’t deserve to be treated like this!
“I did. Fortunately, this matter was discovered early and the herbs were still being produced! If we had investigated this matter later, the consequences would have been…”
Pei Qian shook his head. There were some things that he really didn’t dare to think about. Just the thought of it sent a chill down his spine.
Just as Pei Qian had expected, the Zhou family was in chaos.
Zhou Hengchang sent the guard at the entrance of Zhou Hengyuan’s courtyard flying with a whip. Then, he kicked open the tightly shut courtyard door and ignored the maidservants who were screaming and running in all directions as he rushed into the main room in large strides. With a raise of his leg, he kicked Zhou Hengyuan, who was cursing and shouting.
“How dare you hit me?! Zhou Hengchang, how dare you hit me?!”
Zhou Hengyuan’s plump body rolled on the ground a few times until he hit the corner of the table. Then, he held his aching forehead and turned around to glare at Zhou Heng as he roared angrily, “Look carefully. I’m your brother, the prince!”
“If you weren’t my brother, I would have skinned you alive today!” Zhou Hengchang sneered. Then, he raised his hand and whipped the stool beside Zhou Hengyuan until it broke!
This stunned Zhou Hengyuan on the spot. He felt a wave of warmth in his lower body, and a fishy smell immediately spread in the room.
Zhou Hengchang raised his hand to cover his mouth and nose in disdain as he glared at the future heir of the Sui Ning Ministry. He felt a wave of sadness surge in his heart. “Have you ever thought that the soldiers you want to harm are the Zhou family’s army?!”
“You unfilial son, how dare you treat your brother like this!” Zhou Hengchang had just started speaking when an ear-piercing scream came from outside. Before he could react, he was pushed to the side heavily. Then, he saw that his mother had already pounced on Zhou Hengyuan and hugged him while crying miserably. “Oh my god, how can you be so ruthless?! This is your brother, your biological brother!
You, you beast, how could you bear to do it?!”
“Mother, do you know what my brother did?!” As Zhou Hengchang watched the scene in front of him, he felt even sadder. Although he knew that it was useless, he couldn’t help but want to explain the matter to his family.