What Great Thief Courage! Flowers!
15 minutes later.
Imperial Palace, Purple Imperial Hall.
After the eunuch reported, Lu Qing entered the Purple Mansion Hall.
As soon as he entered the hall, he found that the Purple Mansion Hall was really lively. Other than Li Shi Min, there were several other people.
Minister of Revenue Gao Shilian.
Prime Minister Fang Xuanling.
There was also a burly man in armor with blood on his body.
Lu Qing narrowed his eyes when he saw the man. He had some guesses about the man's identity.
He walked into the hall and bowed to Li Shi Min,"Greetings, Your Majesty."
Li Shiming's eyes were bloodshot, and he looked tired. Han Min was going bald, and Li Shiming was probably going to be bald soon. After all, how could he become strong without going bald?
Li Shi Min's face was originally gloomy, but when he saw Lu Qing, his expression finally eased up a little. It was as if Lu Qing's arrival was like the arrival of the sun that dispelled the darkness.
He forced a smile and said,""Lu Qing, I heard that you've been working hard for the whole night.”
Lu Qing quickly waved his hand. Why was Li Shiming so polite?
Please don't be so nice to me. I keep feeling like you're digging a hole for me to jump into.
Before Lu Qing could say anything, Li Shiming changed his tone and said,""However, you will have to work harder from now on. But don't worry, even if you go bald, Changle won't abandon you.”
Lu Qing was speechless.
Why are all of you going against the bald man today?
Li Shi Min stopped joking and said,"You've heard about the robbery of the Dangxiang's rations, right?”
Lu Qing nodded." I happened to hear some news when I went to handle the case."”
"That's good."
Li Shi Min looked at the burly man and said,""Tuoba Chici, talk to Lu Qing. Lu Qing is the smartest person in the Great Tang, and his ability to solve cases is unparalleled. Perhaps only he can help you recover your rations.”
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Tuoba Chi Ci bowed respectfully to Li Shi Min, then looked at Lu Qing and cupped his hands.
"Lord Lu, I am the leader of the Tangut, General Tuoba Chici of Guide Lang. I am also the general in charge of escorting the rations to Chang 'an.”
The Dangxiang were a branch of the Qiang Tribe, one of the many tribes that belonged to the Great Tang.
General Gui Delang was a low-rank-5 general, and his status was not low. As the leader of the Dangxiang clan, his power was even higher than that of an ordinary fourth-rank general.
"So it's General Tuoba. Nice to meet you.”Lu Qing replied politely.
Tuoba Chici did not seem like a person who liked to talk nonsense. He said,"It's like this. Last night, we passed by Mount Cuihua. Because it was getting late, we wanted to rest there for a night before heading to Chang 'an today.”
"But who knew that an accident would happen. Around midnight last night, hundreds of masked men suddenly attacked our grain transport team. We didn't notice and suffered heavy casualties.”
"Moreover, those people are all powerful and ruthless. Even if we fight with our lives, we won't be able to defeat them. In the end, all 150,000 dans of food were taken by them.”
Tuoba Chici clenched his fists tightly as he spoke of this matter. His face was filled with anger and self-blame.
Li Shi Min and the others also had ugly expressions on their faces.
It could be seen that this matter was absolutely intolerable to them.
After all, Mount Cuihua was not far from Chang 'an.
How dare they intercept the Great Tang's rations at Mount Cuihua, steal so much food, and kill so many soldiers transporting it?
This was called a slap in the face, a vicious slap to the face of the Great Tang Imperial Court.
"And then?" Lu Qing swept his gaze across the crowd and asked.
Tuoba Chici took a deep breath as if he was suppressing the anger in his heart. He said,""Then, I quickly sent someone to report to His Majesty. His Majesty sent elites to search, but after searching a few miles around, those people seemed to have disappeared into thin air.”
"The 150,000 dans of grain also disappeared into thin air…This was the grain that my Dangxiang clan had painstakingly gathered for a year.”
He looked at Lu Qing and said," His Majesty said that Lu Shaoqing is the only person in the entire Tang Empire who can find the person who lost the food as soon as possible.”
"Therefore, I hope that Lord Shaoqing can help us find the food and kill these damn thieves!”
Lu Qing pondered upon hearing Tuoba Chici's words.
Mount Cuihua!
Mount Cuihua again!
The Tang soldiers who escorted the Tuyuhun envoy had died at the foot of Mount Cuihua.
Now, hundreds of thousands of dans of grain had been robbed at Mount Cuihua.
So, was there some kind of magic in this Cuihua Mountain? Or was there really a very powerful bandit force hidden in this mountain?
Or perhaps, someone deliberately chose the place where the Tang soldiers were killed to confuse the public?
If that was the case…
Lu Qing narrowed his eyes, and his lips curled into a mocking smile.
"Lu Qing, what do you think of this case?”Li Shiming's voice interrupted Lu Qing's thoughts.
Lu Qing collected his thoughts and looked at Li Shiming,""Your Majesty, this case is indeed a little strange.”
"Let's not talk about those thieves who disappeared. Just the amount of food alone, 150,000 dan of food is not a small amount. When piled together, it is enough to form a small mountain.”
"Moreover, the mountain road is difficult to traverse, and His Majesty has given such a decisive order. It is impossible for the thieves to take the food far away…But after searching, our people did not find anything. This…is indeed very strange and unreasonable.”
Lu Qing suddenly looked at Tuoba Chici and said,""What did those thieves use to take away the food?”
"They took away our grain transport truck," said Tuoba Chici.”
"Then it should be easier to find. The grain trucks are so heavy. It rained the day before, so it should be easy for the road to have wheel marks.”
"Did you follow the tracks?" he asked.”
"I did." Tuoba Chici said," We found a place about ten miles away. We found the grain transport truck parked there, but the grain on the truck had disappeared without a trace. There were no other tire marks around, not even many footprints. That's why we said it was strange. This case required Lord Lu to take action."”
Lu Qing nodded, but there was not much surprise on his face, as if he had already expected this.
"This is indeed a little strange. It seems that I need to investigate the specifics."”
" Thank you, Lord Lu," Tuoba Chici said." You must help me find the food. Otherwise…I won't be able to answer to my clansmen and His Majesty."”
"Naturally, this is also my duty.”
"By the way, Lord Lu, when we fought with those thieves, we found this thing on them. I wonder if it will be of help to you.”
As he spoke, Tuoba Chici suddenly took out something from his bosom.
Lu Qing took a look and his eyes lit up.
He had only seen this item yesterday during the day.
Because it was none other than the token of the Tibetan General Gou Lang!
"This is…General Gou Lang."
"General Gou Lang?" Tuoba Chici was puzzled.”
Lu Qing looked at him and said,"A mysterious organization in Tibet."”
"So…could it be that our food was robbed by this organization?”Tuoba Chici was shocked.
Lu Qing thought for a moment, then put away the token and said,"I'm not sure at the moment, but General Gou Lang is indeed a big suspect. I'll start from there.”
"Lu Qing, how is it? What do you think of the difficulty of this case?" Li Shi Min asked.
Lu Qing looked at Li Shi Min and smiled,""The difficulty is not bad, but it won't stump me.”
"Good!"
Li Shi Min was very satisfied with Lu Qing's confidence. He said,"" That thief is so audacious. How dare he snatch food and pay outside Chang 'an? This is a provocation to the imperial court. I will not tolerate it!" So…I will give you ten days. You must find these thieves and get back the food!”
"The prestige of the Great Tang depends on you!”
Lu Qing smiled, and the corners of his mouth curled into a meaningful smile."It won't take ten days. Five days is enough.”
Five days later, the truth of all the cases would be revealed.
This big case of stealing the sky and changing the sun was about to be exposed to the world!
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