Chapter 379: Chapter 296: The Crooked Ways of the Treacherous Dog_2
Since it’s relevant, this means that when Xu Yin initially asked her for that knife, he already knew what it looked like and its origin.
So when he didn’t ask for it later and decisively resorted to violence, was it because he knew Liang Ning wouldn’t bring it out, so he didn’t want to waste effort, or because he knew that the knife wouldn’t cause him much trouble?
Xu Yin has so many secrets. Fu Zhen imagined many possibilities, but never thought that he, born about a thousand miles away in Tanzhou, would have connections with a foreign country!
"Wasn’t the Prince Yi Mansion destroyed long before our Great Zhou was founded? Why are their people still in the Central Plains?"
The guard who returned from Tanzhou with Jiang Lin raised the question. "That deposed king of Dayue is nothing soft-hearted. Back when Prince Yi Mansion fought him for imperial power, after he succeeded, he surrounded Prince Yi Mansion and fought for three days and nights.
"The Prince Yi’s maternal family came with troops to assist but was blocked by his heavy army outside the city gates."
Fu Zhen exchanged glances with Liang Zhi and Jiang Lin, nodded, and said, "Calculating, the annihilation of Prince Yi Mansion was still before the foundation of Great Zhou, about twenty-four or five years ago. This matter indeed requires deeper investigation."
At this point, she said to Jiang Lin, "By the way, you mentioned that it was a house servant from Xu Mansion who finally helped you out, why would he help you?"
"Even if I rack my brains, I can’t think of a reason. The person never spoke a word to us, nor interacted in any way. Naturally, my subordinates couldn’t possibly have met him either.
"While contacting Zhou Yi, he never showed any flaws; even Zhou Yi didn’t doubt our origin. I believe he absolutely couldn’t have known that we were from the National Guardian General Mansion."
Jiang Lin and the others were filled with deep confusion, thinking back to that scene before leaving, they still find it incredible.
That night, if that house servant from the Xu family hadn’t appeared in time, even if these things were sent to Fu Zhen, they would inevitably have suffered some losses.
"What a coincidence, was it also amidst the fire?"
Fu Zhen murmured this sentence.
Jiang Lin asked, "Who else has been through the fire?"
Fu Zhen took a deep breath, "I’m just expressing a thought, not necessarily referring to anyone."
After she lifted her gaze, "You’ve all worked hard along the way, go back and have a good rest. Perhaps when the General returns at night, he’ll still need to ask you some questions."
The three of them thanked her and left. Liang Zhi immediately circled around to sit next to Fu Zhen, "Aunt, what do you think about this matter? How could someone with the Xu surname be connected to the Dayue Country’s royal family?"
Fu Zhen stared ahead, eyes deep, "I don’t know how to answer you, but with this token taken from the Xu family, some things can now make sense."
Liang Zhi paused, "For example?"
Fu Zhen inhaled, "For example, he clearly said he was from Tanzhou, yet appeared on the Northwest Battlefield thousands of miles away from Tanzhou.
"Also, he speaks fluent Tanzhou dialect, appears to be a genuine Southerner, yet within three days, he managed to find a Hu Ji from beyond the border as a mentor and learned to play the flute.
"All these can illustrate that he has connections with foreign clans."
Liang Zhi couldn’t help but nod in agreement, "That’s right, no matter how well he pretended in the past, there would always be some flaws left. It seems that the Xu surname isn’t only related to the Prince Yi Mansion, the connection might be quite significant.
"Otherwise, how would he have so many assassins at such a young age? So many people working for him?
"However, I still don’t understand, if he is an important person inside the Prince Yi Mansion, why would he have a father whose ancestral home is in the South?"
"If they used the Prince Yi Mansion token for secret communication or to give orders, then there’s certainly something suspicious about his lineage."
"But you said he could speak Tanzhou dialect," Liang Zhi noted, "If he’s not from Tanzhou, and didn’t have a Tanzhou father, how could he possibly speak the local dialect? The key is, why precisely Tanzhou?"
These words made Fu Zhen frown even deeper.
Every question Liang Zhi asked was worthy of deep consideration.
She had been with Xu Yin for so many years. Xu Yin spoke Tanzhou dialect very fluently; this was undeniable. Many soldiers from Tanzhou in the army at the time could testify to this.
So if he hadn’t lived in Tanzhou for a long time, he must have had a relative who spoke Tanzhou dialect influencing him for an extended period to achieve this.