A Journey Through the Worlds of Film and Television.

Chapter 918: The Jing'an Earl's Mansion is Destroyed

Just when Lu Cheng, Captain Li and others returned to the capital, in a small town west of the capital, a team of more than 30 disciples of Xuanwu Hall also rushed to the abandoned wooden house on Shilipo, arranged the scene, and then left in a certain direction, deliberately leaving some traces.

At the west gate of Kyoto City, Lu Cheng handed Zhou Wan'er over to her family, and immediately returned to the yamen with Captain Li and others.

Zhou Wan'er stood there for a long time, looking at Lu Cheng's departing back. When Mr. Zhou saw this, he couldn't help but sigh.

Although Zhou Wan'er was not humiliated by the bandits and did not lose her innocence, she had been kidnapped by the bandits and had been carried on the back of a strange man, Lu Cheng, which ruined her reputation.

Originally, with the wealth accumulated by several generations of business in Mr. Zhou's family, it was enough for his daughter to marry a scholar with a good reputation. At least he would be a scholar, and if things were better, she could even marry a juren or something like that.

But after today's kidnapping, it would be difficult for her to marry a decent family as her legal wife. Unless the whole family moved to a strange place and found a decent family who didn't know Zhou Wan'er's situation, she might marry someone else as her legal wife.

Before, Mr. Zhou was always worried about his daughter's life and had no time to think about these things. Now that his daughter is safe, he has to think about the future.

"Wan'er, let's go home first. Dad was really scared today. Fortunately, you are back safely."

On the other side, after Lu Cheng returned to the Shuntian Prefecture government office, the prefect immediately called Lu Cheng over and asked him about what had happened.

Just after Lu Cheng returned to Shuntian Prefecture, the Jinyiwei also learned the news and immediately sent people to Shilipo in the west of the city to find out what had happened before.

At the same time, in the Jing'an Marquis's Mansion.

"What? You said that Lu Cheng actually came back alive? What on earth are those good-for-nothings doing? With such a good opportunity, he actually came back alive? Immediately send someone to the farm outside the city to ask me what's going on!"

"Master, calm down. I will leave the city right away."

Hearing the word "Lord", Jing'an felt it was extremely irritating. The Jing'an Marquisate had been passed down for a hundred years, and the reason why it had been able to retain the title of Marquis and not be stripped of it was all due to the hard work of the ancestors in the army.

Now, in his generation, he was demoted directly from Marquis to Earl. What a shame!

Moreover, Emperor Changtai also stripped Jing'an Earl of his military position, depriving him of any chance to gain merit and be rewarded, and to restore the glory of his ancestors.

From now on, the Jing'an Marquis' Mansion will be downgraded from a duke or marquis' family like the Rong and Ning mansions.

When he thought of this, Earl Jing'an became even more angry.

However, when Earl Jing'an was furious, he had no idea that danger was approaching.

"Ouch, what is this..."

Earl Jing'an first felt as if he was bitten by a mosquito on the back of his head. He subconsciously reached out to slap it, and then he felt a black screen in front of his eyes, and his consciousness fell into complete darkness.

At the same time that Earl Jing'an fell, his three sons, the second, third, and fourth sons, as well as his wife and concubine, all fell to the ground.

Not only that, the three most trusted aides and the chief steward of Jing'an Earl also followed their master.

In just a moment, all of Jing'an's family, except for their daughter who married and moved away, collapsed at home.

"Oh no! Uncle is dead!"

"Oh no, the young master is also dead..."

"Oh no, the Third Young Master is also dead..."

For a moment, the entire Jing'an Marquis's Mansion was in chaos. It was an accountant who stood up and quickly sent someone to notify the Shuntian government office, patrolling guards, etc.

At this time, Lu Cheng was in the Shuntian government office, talking to the Shuntian prefect about the kidnapping case that happened today.

At the same time, outside the city, at the manor of Jing'an Bo's mansion, a group of assassins killed the last person on the manor and then finished off all the bodies. Finally, the assassins searched the entire manor several times to make sure nothing was missed before leaving the manor.

After leaving the manor, the leading killer waved his hand, and seven or eight killers changed into white robes and lurked around the manor, waiting for the manor to burn down completely to make sure that no living people or animals would leave.

Inside the Shuntian government office, the prefect stroked his beard and said earnestly, "Be trustworthy. You are a civil servant. You should be more cautious in your actions in the future. Don't put yourself in danger again. The emperor favors you very much. Your future..."

"My lord, something bad has happened. A servant from the Jing'an Marquis's residence has just come to report that all of Jing'an Marquis' family members suddenly died inexplicably at home."

The prefect was also shocked when he heard this and stood up and asked: "How could this happen? Are you sure that the entire family of Jing'an Earl is dead?"

"I am not sure either. This is what the servants of the Jing'an Marquis' Mansion said. The patrolling guards received the news and notified the city defense battalion immediately. The city defense battalion immediately sealed off the Jing'an Marquis' Mansion."

The prefect of Shuntian Prefecture could not help but frown. In broad daylight, the entire family of the Jing'an Earl's Mansion suddenly died mysteriously in their own home. This matter sounded very strange.

Lu Cheng immediately said, "Sir, if this is true, you must inform His Majesty as soon as possible."

"Yes, send someone to check it out first."

"Sir, we should let the coroner from the government office accompany us in case of emergency."

"That makes sense. Captain Li, you must bring a team of men and the coroner with you immediately. Shouxin, you should come along as well."

"Yes, my lord."

When he stood up and walked outside, the prefect of Shuntian looked back at Lu Cheng, feeling that there was something weird everywhere today.

First, Lu Cheng, the magistrate, was transferred out of the city, and then something happened in the Jing'an Marquis's mansion. Lu Cheng and Jing'an Marquis happened to have a grudge.

Thinking of certain things, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture shook his head again and put aside some "unrealistic" ideas in his mind.

Just as Lu Cheng and the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture rushed to the Jing'an Marquis's mansion, Emperor Changtai in the Forbidden City also received news of the sudden death of Jing'an Marquis's family, and immediately took it seriously: "Immediately issue an order to order the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate to jointly investigate this case and find out the truth as soon as possible."

Although Emperor Changtai hated these nobles and wished they were all dead, it was too strange that Jing'an and his family died inexplicably in their own home, in the capital city, in broad daylight.

Moreover, although the title of Marquis Jing'an was demoted, it was still a century-old marquisate with a solid foundation. It was simply unbelievable that the family was wiped out in such a bizarre way.

Emperor Changtai himself would feel uneasy if he could not get to the bottom of this matter.

"Your Majesty, I have something else to report. Just this morning, a kidnapping case occurred in Xicheng District. A group of bandits kidnapped a merchant's daughter and specifically asked Shuntian Prefecture Magistrate Lu Cheng to rescue her. Magistrate Lu did go and successfully rescued the merchant's daughter, but he said he did not see the kidnappers."

"Oh? Have the Royal Guards investigated?"

"We have sent someone there, but no news has come back yet."

"Where is Lu Cheng now?"

"He was staying at Shuntian Prefecture Yamen before, and now he should be heading to Jing'an Marquis' Mansion."

"First, find out why Jing'an's family was exterminated."

"Yes, Your Majesty."