Chapter 456 Continuous Assassinations
"Betting on whether the Shen family will assassinate the envoy?"
In the swaying carriage, the Governor of Water Transport was stunned for a moment and asked hesitantly.
Zhao Duan leaned lazily on the cushions and murmured softly: "To be precise, it's whether I will be assassinated."
Do the Shen family dare to kill him? Zhao Duan is not entirely sure.
In this era when imperial power never went to the countryside, it would be difficult to understand the power of local "clan" unless you were there.
There is a fundamental contradiction between the promotion of the New Deal and the interests of the Shen family, not to mention the death of "Second Master Shen".
In Zhao Duan's view, the biggest obstacle to the Shen family's decision to take action was not his status as "Shaobao".
He still remembered that a long time ago, the old eunuch told him that during the late emperor's time, there was a story in the palace about a popular eunuch and his favorite minister who went out to purchase goods from the palace and was beheaded by the local authorities.
The biggest obstacle may be the many powerful guards who are still around Zhao Duan.
In addition, what he did not clarify with Governor Ning was: Even if the Shen family did not take action, would the Prince Jing's Mansion stop?
Prince Jing's Mansion could blame the Shen family once, why not a second time?
However, these higher-level struggles were beyond the imagination of the governor of water transportation in front of him due to his limited vision.
"Haha, maybe I'm over-worrying," Zhao Duan broke the solemn atmosphere with a smile: "By the way, has the news of my coming to the city spread now?"
Seeing him changing the topic, Governor Ning forced a smile:
"All the prominent figures in Jianning Mansion have known about it. The local authorities have known for a long time that His Majesty will enshrine him in Luo. Knowing that the envoy is here on the emperor's order to prepare for the enshrinement, who dares to neglect it?"
Throughout the dynasties, conferring Zen status has been a very solemn event.
The empress's conferment of Zen affects more than just Prince Jing and the Shen family?
"Nowadays, countless people in the entire Jianning Mansion, and even in the two provinces south of the Yangtze River, are eagerly looking forward to meeting you and contributing to the enshrinement ceremony." Governor Ning said.
Zhao Duan thought for a while, nodded and said:
"That being the case, we can save time by meeting each other one by one. Please excuse the governor's arrangements. I will meet with the gentry, wealthy people, and government officials in Jianning Mansion tonight. It will also make it easier to prepare for the ceremony later."< br>
Governor Ning agreed simply: "Okay."
……
The group returned to Jianning Mansion and went straight to the Caoyun Yamen. For the next whole afternoon, Zhao Duan looked through the documents and files in the Yamen to learn about the progress of the local new policy and official vacancies.
The conflict between the Shen family was concealed by the tacit understanding between all parties, and few people knew about it.
As evening approached, Governor Ning brought back news that everything had been arranged. A reception banquet was arranged tonight at "Jingyuan". People from all walks of life in the city gathered together not only to pay homage to the great god "Zhao Duan", but also to try to win over the emperor. In Feng Chan, I am looking for a job.
Zhao Duan nodded happily, and at dusk, he led a group of guards and headed to the Jingyuan Garden with Governor Ning.
……
The so-called "landscape garden" is a section of river where buildings, stone bridges, gardens and water veins are intertwined.
It is not a sealed manor, but the most lively area in Jianning Mansion at night. Along both sides of the river, the lights are not extinguished. On a piece of land protruding from the Splendid River flowing through the city, there are pavilions and pavilions beside the water. And stand.
It's a bit like the ancient version of "The Bund".
When Zhao Duan arrived, the sky was slightly dark, the antique buildings were ablaze with lights, the red shadows of lanterns were reflected in the river, and the famous singers and dancers in the city were already in place on the colorful flower boats decorated on the river.
Silk and bamboo orchestra, accompanied by unique southern minor tunes, are very atmospheric.
"There are so many people." Qian Kerou walked behind Zhao Duan, eyes widening in amazement.
Zhao Duan joked: "You look like you have never seen the world, and Rouge Hutong in the capital is not bad."
The little secretary felt aggrieved: "I'm not going to go to Goulan to listen to music. It's our first time."
Yes, Xiaorou is an honest child. She clocks in and out at a fixed time and never fools around. In contrast, Hou Renmeng and Shen Juan, two sullen and coquettish people, are already commenting on how the dancer's butt is more perky.
"Haha, Commander Zhao is here, and everyone in the Jianning Mansion is extremely encouraged..." A local celebrity greeted him flatteringly.
"Master Zhao, it's me. We met in the capital." A wealthy businessman greeted him in surprise.
"Your Majesty..."
"Zhao Shaobao..."
In the garden, in addition to the walking waiters, celebrities from all walks of life had already gathered. Seeing the arrival of the rightful owner, they all came together enthusiastically.
The royal family and the Shen family may not give Zhao Duan face, but the rest of the people dare not offend him, and at least they must be respectful on the surface.
With a smile on his face, Zhao Duan was seated at the table surrounded by a large group of important figures in the city, and some formulaic greetings were indispensable.
However, today was the "reception banquet", and both parties tacitly agreed not to mention the important matter of Feng Chan.
Governor Ning smiled and introduced everyone present to Zhao Duan one by one, and Zhao Duan matched the unfamiliar faces that were either flattering, enthusiastic, forced to smile, or concealed vigilance with the information he had read in the afternoon.
The scene was extremely harmonious and harmonious.
Only from the Prince Jing's Mansion and the Shen family, no one was present.
This undoubtedly sends some kind of signal.
After a lot of excitement, the banquet began, and the prepared song and dance performances officially started.
Accompanied by a female waitress in cool clothes, holding expensive utensils and placing delicacies in front of him, Zhao Duan was not busy using his chopsticks.
Among the masters in the palace, an eunuch who was worshiping suddenly stood up, took out a special silver needle, and inspected the food in front of Zhao Duan one by one.
After trying several dishes in a row, the eunuch suddenly narrowed his eyes as he pulled out the silver needle from a bowl of soup, put the silver needle stained with soup into his mouth, smacked it, and whispered to Zhao Duan:
"My lord, this is a colorless and odorless 'entrance poison' that is enough to poison ordinary gods."
Then you still dare to try it? Oh, you specialize in poisons and have long since developed the ability to be invulnerable to all poisons. Then it will be fine... Zhao Duan calmly ordered: "Go and check, don't make any noise."
Tang Jinzhong and Song Jinxi stood up in tacit understanding and walked towards the kitchen. After a while, they returned and said calmly:
"As soon as we entered, the person swallowed poison and died."
Zhao Duan nodded and said: "Sit down and watch the show."
Then he turned his head and looked at Governor Ning, who was sitting with him with a stiff face, and smiled:
"What's wrong with the Governor? Eat, don't worry, every dish we eat has been inspected by the palace poison master."
Governor Ning stared blankly at Zhao Duan, who was unfazed by Feng Qingyun Dan's assassination.
Then he turned his head and looked at the ordinary looking guards around him, including Eunuch Hai, Prajna Bodhisattva and others. He was a little dazed and had a strong sense of unreality:
"Your Majesty, if I heard you correctly, someone just poisoned you to kill you."
"Yes, didn't you tell the governor? The assassination against me will come soon." Zhao Duan looked unsurprised.
Governor Ning opened his mouth and suddenly looked at Qian Kerou, who looked the youngest and most immature at the table:
"Aren't you surprised?"
The round-faced secretary glanced at him and said plausibly:
"Whenever do my adults go out, do they not encounter several assassinations? Even in the capital, they occasionally encounter assassinations. What is there to be surprised about?"
The others nodded, as if it was a matter of course.
"..." Governor Cao Yun shut his mouth, silently put down his chopsticks, and decided not to eat a bite of food tonight.
The singing and dancing light and shadow in front of me also seemed strange.
Fortunately, this table was the chief seat, and it was far away from the other celebrities at the banquet in the garden. From the outside, it was just Zhao Duan ordering his men to go out. No one knew that a poisonous incident had just occurred here. kill.
"Okay..."
Zhao Duan was sitting cross-legged lazily and suddenly shouted loudly. It turned out that a song and dance had just ended on the huge deck of a flower boat floating on the water.
Among the many beautiful women wearing local gauze clothes, there is a woman wearing a light red gauze skirt, with snow-white skin, wearing a precious gold hairpin, with outstanding appearance, singing and dancing. She is the most famous oiran in Jianning Mansion. Lady.
It is said that since her debut, she has never been touched by anyone. The ticket to meet her for a tea party was sold at 500 taels... and she was still in the last row.
At this moment, the famous courtesan finished her song, lightly tossed the guqin in her hand, jumped into the water, and stirred up a wave of waves.
Then, accompanied by the sound of rushing water and the continuous sound of drums, Zhao Duan sat cross-legged in the center of the pavilion, leaning over the river. He looked down and saw that when the drums ended, the river suddenly burst into waves, and a figure broke out of the water.
At this moment, qi machines were as dense as a net, blocking the surrounding area, but Zhao Duan just held a wine cup between his fingers and smiled calmly.
Looking down at the water, the oiran lady, who was wet all over and whose clothes were barely concealing her smooth white figure, emerged like a white carp. Her wet black hair was hanging down and she was holding a fat and plump flower in her red lips. It should not have grown in this season. Rose raised her head, holding the edge of the pavilion with her hands, and looked into the eyes of Zhao Duan, who was overlooking the music.
"Don't panic, it's just a woman."
Zhao Duan smiled indifferently, but ignored the oiran lady who was waiting to be salvaged from the water. He drank the wine cup in his hand in one gulp, which received cheers and applause from dozens of gentry in the city around him.
The banquet lasted very late and the guests dispersed one after another. Jingyuan had already arranged bedrooms for Zhao Duan and his party to stay here.
Governor Ning took the initiative to say goodbye and leave because his wife and daughter were waiting in the yamen and it was not easy to get involved with women.
"Cheer up and be careful."
The drunken Zhao Duan dropped these words, turned around and swayed, and walked towards the most noble bedroom beside the Jingyuan River under the resentful eyes of Prajna Bodhisattva.
……
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When he opened the door and walked into the room covered with expensive carpets and hung with four-way lights, his drunken eyes instantly became clear and he did not show the slightest hint of drunkenness.
He folded his hands and waited for a moment. The room was quiet, with only the burning of the candle in the lampshade and the sound of the wind blowing across the river outside echoing.
No...and...the sound of breathing.
Zhao Duan took a step forward and walked to the bed. Through the gauze curtain, he vaguely saw a figure lying on his side on his bed.
He raised his hand to lift the gauze curtain, and what he saw was an exquisite curve lying on its side. The oiran lady, who was the most famous in the city and was not inferior to anyone in the capital, was only wearing a gauze skirt and was sleeping on her side.
From bottom to top, there are the snow-white lotus feet, the round buttocks, the temples that appear to be scattered but are actually orderly, and the beautiful "back chest" under the neck.
Zhao Duan said with great interest: "Are you also an assassin?"
The eyelashes of the courtesan who was sleeping on her side were trembling slightly, and her breathing was a little ragged.
Zhao Duan smiled and said:
"I have a food and sex instinct, and I know that there are many experts around me, and it is meaningless to kill by force, so I changed my strategy, first focusing on food, and then on sex... I am willing to put in the effort and spend the money, Don't pretend to be asleep, your breathing rhythm has given you away."
The court lady remained motionless.
Zhao Duan sighed softly, walked slowly to the bed, sat down lovingly on her, and said:
"Let me think about it, where is the murder weapon hidden on your body? Is it a sharp hairpin hidden in your hair, or is there a deadly poison hidden in the gaps between your teeth? It can't be..."
Every time he mentioned a possibility, the nerves of the oiran woman who was lying on her side pretending to be sleeping became more tense.
Finally, she couldn't bear the invisible pressure, opened her eyes, covered her face and cried:
"Kill me, my lord."
Surrender now? That’s right, a female assassin who obviously has no traces of martial arts training and has no reason to be an expert in martial arts...
Except for the chance of a successful assassination between the sheets when my defenses were at their lowest, there was absolutely no chance of her succeeding in a sneak attack if I, a high-level divine sealer, were somewhat prepared...
Zhao Du'an smiled as he thought, and suddenly knocked the woman unconscious with a knife without any warning!
When the oiran lady fell down in shock, her hands covering her face dropped, revealing a thin metal tube that she had bitten between her teeth, preparing to emit poisonous gas.
“Not creative.”
Zhao Duan muttered, stood up, pushed the door open and walked out of the room, complaining to the old eunuch in python robe guarding the door:
"Father-in-law, you are really conscientious of your duties by always staring at me."
Eunuch Hai rolled up his sleeves, snorted and said:
"Your Majesty has told us to keep an eye on you so that you don't get swallowed up by that female demon."
Am I that kind of person? I am unswervingly committed to Zhenbao, and I can learn from heaven and earth. Even an old nun in her fifties will not touch it, let alone an inexplicable oiran... Zhao Duan had a hurt expression of distrust on his face, and then frowned and said:
< br>
"Father-in-law, I feel something is wrong."
"What's wrong? Didn't you already expect that they would come to assassinate you? You even guessed the possible assassination method." Eunuch Hai asked curiously.
Zhao Duan said seriously:
"Don't you think that these two assassinations are too easy? Although it seems that there is indeed a chance to kill me, whether it is the poison that is enough to kill the divine chapter, or this female assassin who is regarded as a dead soldier... ...They all spent a lot of money, and only the top forces in Jianning Mansion can arrange it so quickly...but..."
He said sternly: "It's still too 'simple'. Wouldn't the person who made the move expect that I would be extra vigilant these days? Why are you in such a hurry to take action? Can't wait even a day?"
Eunuch Hai thought for a while and said:
"Perhaps the other party has guessed what you were thinking, so by doing the opposite I bet you will feel relaxed today."
"No, it doesn't make sense." Zhao Duan frowned and shook his head:
"I believe that the other party will not be stupid enough to think that an assassination of this level can really hurt me...I am not Ning Zechen..."
Suddenly, Zhao Duan was stunned, and a light flashed through his mind.
He suddenly raised his head and his expression changed slightly:
"No, I know who their target is!"
……
……
On the street late at night, Ning Zechen rode a carriage and stopped outside the gate of the Caoyun Yamen.
In the night, the two solitary lamps at the door of the Yamen looked a little desolate. The old concierge of the Yamen heard the noise, rubbed his eyes and got up to open the door, and said in surprise:
"Governor, are you back?"
"What do you mean, do I look like someone who stays out at night?" Governor Ning, who was born as a son-in-law, spoke righteously.
The old porter did not dare to say a word, thinking that when his wife was not in the city, you were not so strong in your words.
Opening the door, the carriage entered the yard and was taken to the stables by the porter.
Ning Zechen walked into the courtyard where he lived in the back office, and found that the lights in the house were still on, and there was a faint shadow of a woman's lamp on the window.
When Mrs. Ning heard the noise, she stood up and opened the door. When the quiet and dignified woman saw her husband coming back, she breathed a silent sigh of relief: "Back?"
"Well, I'm back."
"Where is Mr. Zhao?"
"Staying in Jingyuan...has my daughter slept?"
"Asleep."
While the couple was talking, Mrs. Ning took off her robe to serve the governor, and then brought her foot-washing water, which made Ning Zechen feel flattered.
After talking for a while, Ning Zechen asked his wife to go to the bedroom to sleep on the pretext that he still had to read some official documents. He was wearing single clothes and thinking about what happened today in the study:
Zhao Duan arrests the Shen family... Prince Jing arrives... Poisoning in Jingyuan's meal at night...
"Why are you so bold? Could it be that you are going against nature? Your Majesty will be visiting Jiancheng Road in a short time... How dare they dare at this juncture..."
Ning Zechen paced repeatedly, unable to understand.
Suddenly, he heard the faint sound of shattering tiles coming from the courtyard.
He was stunned for a moment, and with a warning sign in his heart, he casually pulled out the sword from the weapon rack, opened the door and walked out of the study.
In the courtyard, the night was as cool as water, with the stars and moon shining down. Ning Zechen stood in the courtyard holding a sword, looking around, and seeing nothing unusual, he breathed a sigh of relief and laughed at himself:
"Scare yourself..."
However, just as he was about to turn around and go back to the house, four killers who merged with the night suddenly jumped out of the dark corner!
Silently, like a poisonous snake, dormant for a long time, just to launch a fatal blow at the moment when the prey relaxes!
"Who?"
Ning Zechen suddenly turned around and struck his head with his sword. The sword's edge made a "clang" sound as it collided with an assassin's dagger, knocking him back.
However, the other dagger stabbed into the back of his heart with a "pop" sound.
Governor Ning felt a sharp pain in his heart, and all the strength in his body seemed to have been lost at this moment.
He widened his eyes and waved his sword with all his strength, forcing another assassin on the side to retreat. He took a few steps back and shouted loudly:
"There is an assassin!!"
(End of chapter)