Pick up a princess to be your wife

Zhao Cuo knew perfectly well that two of the four horses were in Linye Tianfu.

The reason for questioning him in public was to obtain evidence of his crimes on the spot.

Weren't you going to kill someone?

Lin Yetian's possession of His Majesty's mount is enough to warrant the execution of his entire family.

“Governor Lin, I advise you to just admit it yourself,” Zhao Cuo said coldly.

Looking at Zhao Cuo's smile, Lin Yetian felt increasingly uneasy.

Why is it that this thousand-year-old fox is like a fish to be slaughtered in front of a young, naive kid?

"This humble official will certainly do his best to assist the Duke of Chu in tracking down the Ferghana horses," Lin Yetian said, bowing.

"Lin Yetian, you've shown your weakness, don't you even realize it?" Zhao Cuo sneered.

Lin Yetian almost blurted out, "Where did I show my ignorance?"

But he reacted quickly; he absolutely couldn't say that, otherwise he would be showing his true weakness.

"I have a clear conscience," Lin Yetian said.

"hehe."

Zhao Cuo circled around Lin Yetian and saw a wet patch on his back.

Turns out this guy was sweating bullets.

"I only told you about three horses, but you said there were four. Heh, Lin Yetian, it seems you know the whereabouts of these four horses very well!" Zhao Cuo said coldly.

Lin Yetian's body suddenly stiffened.

what?

Lin Yetian suddenly remembered that Zhao Cuo had indeed only mentioned three horses.

Blood-red night illuminates the lion, the barbarian spirit, and the phoenix.

And he did indeed say four horses!

Lin Yetian's face suddenly turned deathly pale, losing all color in an instant. His eyes widened, and he froze completely.

He originally planned to give the two horses to Zhao Cuo later, and then return the other two horses as well.

Does walking by the river always mean you'll get your shoes wet?

Isn't everyone saying that Zhao Cuo is a brainless idiot?

His mind is so meticulous? He even caught this tiny clue?

Or was Zhao Cuo deliberately only mentioning three horses to lure him into a trap?

Is he really that smart?

Was it due to my carelessness?

No, no, those four horses might not be the four horses Zhao Cuo was looking for, right?

Who would dare to resell the emperor's mount?

Even if someone has the guts to do this, they are by no means an ordinary person.

These four horses were merely stolen from two merchants by a lowly constable!

If those two merchants were selling His Majesty the Emperor's mount, how could a mere constable have stolen it from them?

"The White Horse Army lost four warhorses, and you knew all about it, yet you kept it a secret from the public intellectuals of our country. Lin Yetian, what are your intentions?" Zhao Cuo said coldly.

"Duke of Chu, I made a slip of the tongue just now. I really don't know whether you meant three horses or four horses."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Lin Yetian began to curse himself for being stupid.

That's not how you say it; the more you say it, the more likely you are to give yourself away!

Zhao Cuo was incredibly perceptive and his intelligence far exceeded his expectations.

How could such a lame excuse possibly fool Zhao Cuo?

"Take down Lin Yetian!"

At Zhao Cuo's command, several White Horse soldiers stepped forward and pinned Lin Yetian to the ground with their knives.

"Are you still going to try to argue? I'll continue listening." Zhao Cuo sneered.

At that moment, it seemed like it was too late for everything.

Those two warhorses were his favorites, so they were kept in the best stables in his mansion.

At this time, he was unable to assign anyone to do the work. As long as the White Horse Army went to his residence, they could find the two Ferghana horses.

Lin Yetian could only pray that the two warhorses in his manor would not be the emperor's mounts.

"Duke of Chu, may I have a word with you in private?" Lin Yetian looked up and smiled awkwardly at Zhao Cuo.

"Heh, it seems you've tacitly agreed. Search the Lin family mansion!" Zhao Cuo announced loudly.

As he watched the white-clad army depart, Lin Yetian panicked and his body began to tremble.

This is how to do?

The truth will out!

"I want to see if your Lin family mansion actually has His Majesty's mount!" Zhao Cuo sneered.

There were quite a few onlookers around.

Li Mu and Zhong Wu mingled among them.

The two had only been in Hezhong Prefecture for a day and were waiting for Zhao Cuo to perform on stage.

But to everyone's surprise, Zhao Cuo put on a great show right from the start.

"Little Zhong, you lost. It's a thousand taels of silver. Don't try to renege on your debt," Li Mu said with a sly smile.

"A bet's a bet!" Zhong Wu sighed.

Then he cursed, "That bastard Zhao Cuo, how could he be so smart?"

"Who told you Zhao Cuo was stupid?" Li Mu laughed.

"I've been his brother for so many years, and I've never seen him be smart. That damned Zhao Cuo, he has to pay back this thousand taels for me!" Zhong Wu said angrily.

"Don't forget, Zhao Cuo was fined ten years' salary, and he still has more than six years left to serve that penalty period," Li Mu said with a smile.

"Oh! A thousand taels! Half a year's salary gone just like that!"

It turns out the two had made a bet.

Zhong Wu said that the first thing Zhao Cuo would do upon arriving in Hezhong County was to lead his troops directly to the Lin family mansion to search it.

Since Zhao Cuo already knows all the details, given his decisive personality, he will definitely get straight to the point.

Li Mu said that Zhao Cuo would not search people's residences right away, but would first force Lin Yetian into a corner.

The two disagreed, so they made a bet of one thousand taels of silver.

Zhong Wu felt a pang of regret at the loss of a thousand taels of silver, then realized something was amiss.

“That’s not right, Second Brother. Zhao Cuo has never been smart. You must have cheated. You must have taught Zhao Cuo to do this, right? Otherwise, with his brain, how could he have come up with the idea of ​​using three horses to catch Lin Yetian, such a big fish?” Zhong Wu asked suspiciously.

Li Mu shrugged and laughed, "I'm telling you, you wrote all the letters and you sent them out. I even suspect that you instigated Zhao Cuo to directly attack the Lin family's residence."

“I wrote the letter, but you can write secret letters, can’t you, Second Brother?” Zhong Wu continued.

"Hey kid, why are you being so indecisive? You're so unwilling to admit defeat after a bet? If you keep playing like this, I'm never betting with you again," Li Mu said irritably.

"Fine, fine, I'll accept the loss. It's just half a year's salary."

Zhong Wu pursed his lips and then muttered to himself.

"Anyway, this salary was given to me by my second brother, not by someone else."

“Your salary is paid by the national treasury, not by me personally,” Li Mu corrected.

“Hey, the world belongs to Second Brother, and the national treasury belongs to Second Brother. They’re all the same,” Zhong Wu said.

"That's still different."

"Same, same."