Chapter 457: When a whale falls, everything comes alive (5k)
assassin!
Along with this heartbreaking cry, dogs barked in the quiet Caoyun Yamen.
The light of the stars and moon above his head also became colder. While Ning Zechen shouted a warning, strong anger and confusion also rose in his heart.
However, the enemy did not give him time to think. Four killers wearing night clothes attacked him from four directions at almost the same time.
The sharp blade in his hand was dazzling, like a spider web, sealing the Governor of Water Transport in the center. Not to mention the serious injury, he could not resist such an attack, even in his prime.
Are you going to die? At the moment of death, Governor Ning tried his best to turn his head and look towards the bedroom. He saw that the window was lit up and the lady's shadow was rapidly enlarging.
"Don't come out..." He wanted to warn, but the assassin was already in front of him. However, at this moment, the night air seemed to have illusory ripples.
A sighing Buddha's name came from the distance:
"Amitabha..."
In the sky, illusory lotus flowers rotated and fell down, like snow.
The four dead assassins were horrified to find that their surroundings were like a quagmire and they could not move. It was clear that if they took one more step forward, they could stab Governor Ning to death, but that step was like a chasm.
Not only that, the murderous intention in the hearts of the four of them was erased by the Buddha's name. They lost the desire to kill in their hearts and had the urge to put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha immediately.
It was during this delay that a black shadow passed through the darkness. On the roof, the old eunuch Hai Chunlin in python robe came through the wind. The royal minister glanced coldly and flicked his hands.
"Ding!"
The four blades fell to the ground at the same time. The assassins in black looked at each other in horror, gave up their actions at the same time, and fled in four directions.
"Still want to leave?"
Eunuch Hai snorted coldly and took a step forward.
In an instant, four "sea father-in-laws" appeared at the same time. They intercepted each one and hit the assassin on the head with one palm. The four elite assassins died at the same time and their bodies fell.
Immediately, the four Eunuchs merged into one and landed in front of Governor Ning who collapsed on the ground
——Where is the clone? It's just that the speed of the movement is too terrifying, and it's just four afterimages pulled out at the same time.
"Master!!"
The door was pushed open, and Mrs. Ning, who was wearing underwear, held the door with both hands. As if she was struck by lightning, she screamed with a pale face, ran over in a few steps, and hugged her husband, who was spitting out blood and his lips were blue.
The girl who had fallen asleep next door was also awakened. When she opened the door and saw this scene, her legs weakened and she fell to the ground.
In the distant night sky, a piece of white gauze floated up. It was the plump Prajna Bodhisattva with a lotus mark on his eyebrows.
"He was poisoned. The poison should be quenched on the assassin's knife."
Eunuch Hai squatted down and opened Governor Ning's eyelids without looking back:
"It's up to you."
Prajna Bodhisattva smiled sweetly: "The poison is violent, but fortunately it is timely."
She raised her hand and grabbed it, and there was a jade purification bottle in her hand. Buddhist inscriptions were embossed on the white porcelain bottle, vaguely pieced together into a small Dharma image
——The Buddhist deity “Medicine Buddha”.
A cluster of water splashes shot out from the bottle, condensing into a ball of Buddha-like water figures, which circled in the air and penetrated into the mouth of Governor Ning, who was almost unconscious.
Then, Governor Ning's gray face glowed with circles of Buddha's light, and then, under the surprised eyes of everyone, his complexion returned to normal visibly.
Suddenly a mouthful of black blood came out of his mouth, and he woke up, gasping for air:
"Husband... Madam?"
Governor Ning looked around blankly before noticing the old eunuch and female Bodhisattva beside him.
Mrs. Ning cried with joy. She hugged her husband and checked the wound. She was surprised to find that the stab wound on his back was healing rapidly.
"The poor nun has cast a spell to treat him. Fortunately, his vital points were not hurt. He only consumed a little bit of the governor's energy and blood to heal him. After three days of recovery, he will be back to his original state." Prajna Bodhisattva said with a smile.
Only then did Ning Zechen understand what had happened, and he was filled with joy for the rest of his life. After comforting his wife and daughter, he stood up with his weak body, thanked him first, and then said doubtfully:
"Ocean offering? Bodhisattva? Why are you here?"
Eunuch Hai also breathed a sigh of relief and said:
"Zhao Duan guessed that you might be in danger, so he asked us to come to your rescue. He is lagging behind and will arrive later."
Did Zhao Shijun send someone to rescue me? Ning Zechen was startled.
However, this was not the time to talk. Ning Zechen first comforted the official on duty in the yamen, ordered the inspection of the four corpses, and was immediately helped back to the bedroom to wait.
……
A moment later, Zhao Duan, who was protected by Lang Shiba and Ji Yue, arrived belatedly.
"Governor Ning? Fortunately, it seems our enemy made a miscalculation."
Zhao Duan stepped into the bedroom and saw that the person was still alive. He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.
Eunuch Hai quickly described the matter briefly and finally said:
"Several assassins are dead soldiers, with poison in their mouths, and their identities cannot be identified."
Prajna Bodhisattva smiled and said: "I owe you a favor to this poor monk."
"It is the duty of a monk to save someone's life. What kind of favor do you need?"
Zhao Duan put on his trousers and turned his face away. He didn't give the old nun a good look and walked quickly to the bed.
Governor Ning sat on the bed, looking grateful: "Your Majesty, if it weren't for you, I would be dead."
The wife and daughter next to her also saluted at the same time, and Mrs. Ning’s eyes turned red:
"I have saved my mother and daughter first, and then my master. I can't repay you..."
"What are you talking about? It's me who should apologize. If it weren't for me, I don't think the governor would be implicated and in danger tonight." Zhao Duan felt ashamed and looked at everyone:
"I would like to speak with the Governor alone."
Everyone walked out of the room in tacit agreement.
When there were only two people left in the room, Ning Zechen couldn't help but ask:
"Your Majesty, how did you know that I would be assassinated?"
Zhao Duan pulled up a chair, sat beside the bed, and told the story of his assassination by the oiran:
"...I sensed that something was wrong. Then I thought about your wife's kidnapping, and guessed that the enemy might be pretending to assassinate me, and actually attack you... This way, it will not only block the 'New Deal', but also make me lose help."
Governor Ning was silent for a moment, bitterness mixed with disbelief:
"Your Majesty...Does the Shen family really have such courage? I just thought about it, but it's still hard to believe it. You know, in another month, your majesty's dragon boat will arrive. At this juncture, the Shen family...is still the one who assassinated us, Not the Shen family?”
As the governor of water transportation, how could he be stupid?
Recalling the appearance of Prince Jing during the day, I also had speculations in my mind.
Under the candlelight, Zhao Duan stared at this colleague who also relied on women to rise to power. His face flickered in the light of the candle:
"Governor, does it matter whether you are the Shen family or not?"
Ning Zechen fell silent!
Yes, is it important?
Zhao Duan said in a deep voice:
"For the imperial court, the Shen family is one of the hardest bones to crack when it comes to implementing the New Deal. Whether or not Prince Jing's palace takes action is nothing more than accelerating the clarification of the conflicts between the imperial court and local wealthy families.
You have been in charge of Jianning Mansion for several years. Do you still have hope for these clans? Do you expect them to wake up and adapt to the general trend?
I know that you are here with your hands tied, and you can't do many things freely, and there is no way to do them, so I came here this time, in addition to preparing for the Zen ceremony, I just cut the mess quickly. ”
After a pause, Zhao Duan stared at this second-grade official:
"What you dare not say, I will speak; what you dare not do, I will do; what you dare not kill, I will kill!!"
"The only thing I want is to break the backbone of these wealthy people before His Majesty enshrines him!"
Governor Ning stared blankly at the ambitious young man in front of him. Seeing the fire in his eyes, he felt a surge of blood in his heart.
He almost lost his life tonight and died in office, which greatly stimulated him.
As a military attache, how could Ning Zechen be willing to put his hands on the line?
"Shijun Zhao, what are you going to do?"
Zhao Duan reached into his arms, took out a roll of "map", and spread it out by candlelight. On it was the huge property of the Shen family.
Its tentacles cover all kinds of businesses, as well as a large number of farmland and shops.
"The Shen family is the head of a wealthy clan. As long as they are defeated, the rest of the gentry will naturally collapse. However, since Prince Jing's palace intervened and forced the Caobang case, it will be difficult to arrest his clan members.
What's more, such rough methods can easily arouse fear among the nobles... On the contrary, it is not good. With the imminent enshrinement of Zen, our methods should be more gentle. ”
"So, I plan that within the next month, you and I will join forces to attack the Shen family's industry from all aspects... to make the huge Shen family unable to bear it, and in turn force Mrs. Shen to bow..."
"And the most important thing is that every time we grab something, we must distribute it to other small families in the city...
As the saying goes, when a whale falls, everything comes alive. Only by making other nobles realize that sharing the Shen family is good for them, and this benefit... may make up for the losses suffered by accepting the 'New Deal'..."
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"In this case... they won't stick together and even turn around to help us..."
Zhao Duan talked about the plan he had thought up along the way, which he named "The Whale Falls Project".
Ning Zechen was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and the look in his eyes was wrong.
Do you think this is also called "elegant means"?
You are trying to dig through the roots of the Shen family!
In particular, the idea of "sharing the food of the Shen family and making up for each family" turned the conflict between the imperial court and the gentry group into a conflict with the Shen family...
Living King of Hell.
At this moment, Ning Zechen finally understood the weight of the nickname "Zhao Yama".
"Your Majesty's plan is a brilliant one, but if it goes like this, I'm afraid that the number of assassinations we will face will increase rather than decrease." Ning Zechen sighed and said.
Zhao Duan smiled and said: "The governor is afraid?"
Ning Zechen laughed, and there was an almost mad tiger-like anger in the eyes of this practical man: "The Bodhisattva in the temple is still angry. Ning will lose his wealth and life. If he continues to be weak, won't he make the world laugh at him?" ?”
"Come here!"
Shout loudly.
The bedroom door opened, and Master Wen Liang walked in with his head lowered: "Governor, what are your orders?"
Ning Zechen threw away his official seal and said harshly:
"Mobilize the cavalry! I'm going to vent my anger! I've had enough of this cowardice!"
……
……
The next day, early morning.
When the white fish belly appeared in the east, every shop in Jianning Mansion was already opening its doors to welcome customers.
In this era, because there is no nightlife, people wake up very early, in a certain silk and satin shop belonging to the "Shen Family".
The shopkeeper instructs the waiters to sweep the street in front of the door, sort out the goods, and prepare to welcome guests.
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"Shopkeeper, when will the white paper lanterns outside our shop be taken down? Since the hanging, the business of the shop has dropped a lot. People are outside and refuse to come in when they see it. They all think it is bad luck. Sun on the opposite side My shop also threatened that we sell shrouds..."
One of the waiters was wiping the tables and complaining.
Immediately, he gave the shopkeeper at the counter a long wooden ruler and tapped his head, staring and said:
"If you don't know how to speak, sew your mouth shut! If my boss wants to hang up, I'll hang up for a full month. If your words get out, I won't care if my boss breaks his legs. Don't implicate me in hanging up!"
The man shrank his neck in fear and did not dare to speak, knowing that the Shen family could indeed do such a thing.
For local wealthy families like this, as long as they don't kill people in public and deal with some small people, no one cares at all.
The shopkeeper walked to the door, looked at Sun's silk and satin shop opposite and hummed:
"Let the other side be proud for a few days. Don't worry. When the second master is buried, I can ask my boss to tell me how much business I've eaten. Don't you have to spit it out? In our Jianning Mansion, we are..."
While bragging, suddenly there was shouting in the street, and a large group of cavalry soldiers, dressed in uniform uniforms, carrying swords and guns in their hands, came in groups. The leader pointed at the long street:
"Everything with white lanterns hanging at the door will be sealed! The accounts will be sealed and sent to the Yamen to be reviewed by the Master!"
A group of foreign soldiers responded: "Yes!"
Then, ferocious spirits roared out in groups.
Like a pack of wolves, under the surprised eyes of the people, they rushed into the Shen family's shop that was hung with white cloth, smashed it violently, and violently drove people out.
"What are you going to do?"
The shopkeeper of the silk shop was shocked when he saw a group of cavalry soldiers rushing in:
"Do you know who our boss is? Who dares to ask you to act like this?"
Since ancient times, merchants were afraid of soldiers, but with the Shen family as their back, the shopkeeper had the confidence to scold these big-headed soldiers.
The cavalryman who gave the order swaggered in, sneered and kicked the shopkeeper to the ground, and spat:
"What's the Shen family? We can't control it. We only follow the orders of the Governor! The Governor received a report that there are merchants in the city who are hoarding goods and disrupting the market price. Anyone who dares to stop them will be thrown out!"
The shopkeeper screamed and was thrown into the street with a group of waiters. He watched helplessly as the cavalry soldiers locked the door of the shop and posted cross seals stamped with a large red official seal.
He was shocked and angry. When the people on the street were watching and pointing, he looked up and saw that all the Shen family's shops on both sides of the bustling long street had been sealed up, while other shops were intact.
And similar scenes were staged in various places in Jianning Prefecture during this day.
……
……
"Crack!"
In the Shen family's mansion, there is a study room.
The current head of the Shen family, the biological father of the deceased "Second Master Shen", threw another "letter for help" he received on the table.
He raised his head, stared at the family members standing in a row in the room with their heads bowed like a lion, and roared:
"You all just watch, those soldiers are causing trouble?!"
A group of disciples were trembling, and one of them mustered up the courage to say:
"Master, by the time we received the news from the people below, it had already happened and there was no time to stop it."
The other person is also named Qu:
"Yes, the head of the family. Besides, those people are soldiers after all. Although they are a group of untouchables, we don't dare to do anything rashly wearing those military uniforms, for fear of causing trouble for the family."
The Shen family is a wealthy family, and the owner of the ordinary property below is not even qualified to enter the Shen family mansion.
After getting the news, they can only report it to the boss above them, and the small boss will report it to the big boss, and then it will be collected into the hands of the brothers in the Shen family.
Therefore, by the time the head of the family learned about it, it had already happened a long time ago.
"In one day, not only were all the shops in the city seized, but the tenants on the farm were also arrested for no reason, and even the caravan goods that were supposed to be shipped were detained..."
The head of the family looked ugly: "Ning Zechen... with the support of a man named Zhao, he finally showed his fangs."
No one dared to say anything.
He waved his hand with a gloomy face, and a group of disciples fled as if they were granted amnesty. He was the only one left who stepped out of the study and walked towards the mourning hall.
……
Inside the mourning hall.
The black coffin is still placed in the hall and has not been buried yet.
But today there are only two people here, the old lady and her personal maid, Miss Hong.
The short old lady, wearing pure black mourning clothes and with silver hair at the temples, sat on the futon, with the dragon-headed crutch placed on the ground beside her.
In front of the old lady, there was a copper basin, and she was putting pieces of paper money into the brazier alone.
The paper money was swallowed up by the flames and burned into white ash. In the past few days, enough paper money was burned overnight to fill five large houses.
Just because of the old lady's words: "We, the descendants of the Shen family, will not be short of money even if they go to the underworld."
At this moment, Miss Hong led the head of the family to the outside of the mourning hall and said to the old lady’s back:
"Old madam, the eldest master is here."
The head of the family, who had been like a lion just now, now became as gentle as a cat. He bowed and held his hands in his hands: "My son has something important to report."
The old lady didn't even look back and continued to burn the paper money: "Say."
"The people below reported that Ning Zechen was assassinated yesterday and almost died... Zhao Duan originally stayed in Jingyuan, but he was also suspected of being assassinated by the oiran, and then rushed to the Caoyun Yamen at night to rescue Ning Zechen..."
"Since dawn today, Ning Zechen has sent out a large number of cavalry troops to seize and seize the goods in many of our stores..."
The head of the family will tell you the news he got.
The old lady listened and stopped feeding paper money in her hand.
When she heard that many businesses under the family's jurisdiction were calling for help, she was stunned for a moment, and her hand was almost licked by tongues of fire.
After taking it back in pain, the old woman came back to her senses and said:
"Are those assassins sent by my Shen family?"
The head of the family said: "Mother, without your words, how could we dare to assassinate rashly? Yesterday, some of Wuji's juniors did have the idea of doing it, but they did not implement it. What's more... even if someone did it secretly, it would not be so fast or so thorough. , a two-pronged assassination.”
The old lady listened and whispered softly:
"Yes, it's too fast and too thorough. Where is the impromptu intention? It's clearly been planned for a long time."
The head of the family gritted his teeth and said:
"Mother! I'm afraid that Prince Jing's palace did this and wanted to blame us. Now that Ning Zechen has the backing of Zhao, he is tearing up his face and seems to be going to war. We..."
Without looking back, the old lady raised her right hand, interrupted the latter's words, and said softly:
"Prince Jing's heart is known to everyone on the road. It's not surprising."
After a pause, she said: "We can guess the person named Zhao and the person named Ning, how can we not guess it?"
The head of the family was stunned for a moment: "You mean, they are deliberately using this excuse..."
The old lady said calmly:
"With or without Prince Jing's Mansion, this battle will have to be fought. There are many experts around the boy named Zhao. If we want to forcibly capture you and my mother and throw them into prison, no one can stop you, not even Xu Jinglong. But they didn't do this. This It's not that they are kind-hearted, but they are cruel.
I know that arresting you and me will make the major noble clans fear, resist, and take refuge in the Eight Kings... On the contrary, this method is more clever and more deadly now. ”
She stood up slowly, and Miss Hong stepped forward to help her pick up the dragon head crutch.
The old lady turned around in the mourning hall and looked down at the eldest son who was listening to the admonishment below. There was a look of indifference on her furrowed face:
"This battle is still going on. The one named Zhao wants to fight, so what if I just fight with him?"
The head of the house suddenly raised his head: "Mother..."
The old lady gave a majestic order: "Order, fight back. Don't stop until you die!"
……
Typos help to catch bugs
(End of chapter)