CHAPTER 237: CHAPTER 234 WHERE ARE YOU RUNNING TO!

"Return my son’s life to me!"

Mrs. Liu cried out bitterly, lunging towards Lu Yun, while Mr. Liu also rushed forward, grabbing Lu Yun by the collar and started beating him. The couple, one a scholar and the other a housewife, were transformed by their grief and anger into having iron bones, even the constables stepping forward couldn’t stop them.

Yang Tong walked in from outside and whispered a few words into Fu Zhen’s ear.

After pondering for a moment, Fu Zhen asked Li Yangsong, "Mr. Li, what do you think of this outcome?"

Li Yangsong slapped the table with a heavy voice, "Lu Yun confessed to poisoning Liu Yan, the evidence is here, there is no doubt. Additionally, Zhou Qi and his associate, arrest them! First, take them back to the government office for questioning!" After speaking, he bowed to Fu Zhen, "It was my oversight, nearly letting the Wanbin Building and Mrs. Ning bear disgrace, please forgive me."

Fu Zhen said, "Don’t be in a hurry to take people away yet. This case has just begun to unfold!

"The Ning Family was unjustly accused, subjected to public observation for so long, outside who knows what they’re saying about the Ning Family or the Wanbin Building, Mr. Li, the Ning Family survives by trading, cutting off our financial road is akin to strangling us!

"The killer specifically targeting my Wanbin Building shows ill intentions. Though the victim was Mr. Liu, the attack was aimed at the Ning Family, aimed at me, Fu Zhen!

"Today, I must unravel the roots of this case and discover the mastermind behind it! I want to see who finds me, the wife of General Pingxi, the Young Madam of the National Guardian General Mansion, so displeasing! Who disrespects our General, unable to oppose him, thus targeting his mother-in-law!"

Li Yangsong wiped sweat from his forehead, "It’s a matter of life and death, prudence is necessary. Someone! Bring Lu Yun forward!"

The Liu couple was led away, and the beaten Lu Yun was brought up.

Not far away, Lou Zhao began swallowing repeatedly. He said to Li Yangsong, "Mr. Li, since the case is closed, I should take my leave with my people."

He had just lifted his foot when the Pei family’s guards standing at the door blocked him!

Fu Zhen sneered, "Lou Zhao, leaving so quickly, are you perhaps planning to use Lu Yun’s biological mother, Mrs. Rong, to threaten him?"

Lou Zhao’s face twitched, "What does the General’s wife mean by this? What do they have to do with me? Why would I use Mrs. Rong as leverage?"

"Because when my people went to the Lu Family, they happened to encounter two people. - Bring them in!"

With Fu Zhen’s call, two guards stepped in, each with a man in custody.

Lou Zhao’s eyes widened, and his breath hitched!

"Who are these two? I believe everyone in the room has seen them before?" Fu Zhen glanced around, "They were standing behind General Lou for half a day. - General Zhang, my people encountered them while detaining these two!"

"Master!"

As Fu Zhen finished speaking, two guards dispatched by the Zhang Family rushed in, presenting a box they brought back, "Found a thousand taels of silver notes from Lu Yun’s room!"

A thick stack of silver notes was held in Zhang Feng’s hand, these were not just notes, but slaps across his face!

He had lived half his life and nearly let this slip! He angrily commanded, "Search the Zhou and Qi families as well!"

And so Zhou Qi and his associate were immediately terrified, collapsing to the ground.

Fu Zhen ignored them, turning to Lu Yun, "I know you are not the mastermind. If you reveal the truth and prove you’re not the main perpetrator, I won’t speak for others, but at least I won’t pursue your accountability. Even if you don’t speak, with these silver notes, over time, I can trace back to the original owner. Do you want to gamble?"

Lu Yun was sweating profusely, his body shaking as if he might collapse at any moment.

He glanced towards Lou Zhao, biting his lower lip, hesitating.

Zhang Feng couldn’t wait any longer and stepped forward to strike again, Fu Zhen said, "Bring in Mrs. Rong."

Lu Yun suddenly looked towards the door as a timid woman walked in. He opened his mouth and called, "Concubine," then crawled over on his knees, "Why are you here!"

Fu Zhen said, "Mrs. Rong, tell us what you just experienced?"

Mrs. Rong knelt down, her voice trembling, "I...I was threatened by these two just about half an hour ago!..."

Lu Yun’s eyes almost bulged out with blood!

Fu Zhen said, "This is the price you pay for working for others. You think it’s ingratiation, but in their eyes, you’re just a tool. If a knife turns on its owner, of course, the owner wants to break it. Why leave a threat to oneself intact? — Wouldn’t you agree, General Lou?"

"I’ll fight you!"

Lu Yun lunged towards him as Lou Zhao drew his sword!

Just then, a person entered, kicking Lu Yun away!

Lou Zhao’s sword thrust met empty air, yet the sight of the sword’s distance sent a chill down the spine!

The sword thrust extended at least four or five feet, if not for the kick, Lu Yun would surely be impaled!

"My son!"

Mrs. Rong rushed over.

Pei Zhan stood at the door, still dressed in his military armor, coldly glaring at Lou Zhao, "Who else do you wish to kill?"

Lou Zhao shivered, almost dropping his sword!

"Zhan...General!"

Fu Zhen approached, looking at him with delight, "Are you finished with your work?"

Pei Zhan gently wrapped an arm around her shoulder, "I’ve been here for a while, had to attend to a matter." He then looked back at Lou Zhao, "Drag Lu Yun over here!"

The guards hurriedly dragged the kicked away Lu Yun over. Pei Zhan said, "Speak!"

"It was him! He ordered me to do it!"

Lu Yun, having escaped death, pointed frantically at Lou Zhao, "Our families run rice merchant businesses, and we have always needed good relations with the officials involved in canal transportation. His father-in-law is an Imperial Censor overseeing the canals! So during festivals, we have to honor him! But he hardly ever paid attention to us!

"But two days ago, he suddenly contacted me, asking me to help set up such a plot! Saying he would ensure our families’ prosperity! We hesitated, and he brought out three thousand taels of silver to share among us! He also promised me that once I acquired the Lu Family’s property, he would help me establish my own household with my concubine! I was moved by his words!"

"Shut up!"

Lou Zhao growled furiously.

Lu Yun shouted, "You still want me to shut up! I was just momentarily muddled, but you genuinely wanted to kill me! Everyone saw, I almost died at your hands! You wanted to kill me to keep me silent!"

Lou Zhao glared, then unexpectedly laughed. "You keep saying I ordered you, but why would I need to order you? I have no enmity with the Liu Family, nor with the Ning Family, listen to what you’re saying, does anyone believe it?"

Lu Yun was stunned!

Fu Zhen kicked him, "When you met, there were no witnesses?"

Reminded, Lu Yun immediately said, "When you found us, it was at the Liu’s Tea House in Beili Alley, two days ago, the shopkeeper there saw us together!"