Chapter 384 The Dust Has Settled (Two-in-One)
"Xi Lulu."
Outside the main entrance of the Jiangnan Garden with white walls and black tiles, Zhao Duan tightened his reins and did not dismount. Just sit on horseback and look ahead.
Behind him, a group of officers and soldiers in uniforms and imperial guards followed with murderous intent. They first violently drove the private soldiers of the palace guarding the gate into the gate and informed them.
Subsequently, the corpses of the assassins will be fished out from the lake and thrown on the ground.
"Sir, do you really want to wait for Hai Zongzong and them to come back? If we break in like this, will the other party..." Shen Juan was the one with a more delicate mind in the Lihua Hall, so he leaned over and was worried.
Zhao Duan glanced at him and shook his head with a smile:
"Relax, if Prince Jing had the guts to openly break up with me, he would not secretly arrange an assassination outside the city. Don't How can someone who underestimates a hero's ability to endure humiliation and achieve great things not even be able to withstand provocations like ours?"
After he led his people back to the city, he first encountered Xu Qian, Xu Junling and others who came out to greet him? The maidservant left with her brother.
After Zhao Duan passed through the market with great fanfare, he sent someone to notify Feng Ju, and he led everyone straight into the garden where Prince Jing was staying.
The purpose is very simple, not only to vent anger, but also to expand the victory, and to completely settle this game related to "market opening".
After appeasing his subordinates, Zhao Duan became angry and shouted loudly.
After counting ten breaths silently, he saw a large group of people walking out of the mansion, headed by Prince Jing and his son.
"Zhao Duan!"
Prince Jing looked angry and walked as if he was carrying wind and thunder. Before anyone arrived, he shouted angrily:
"What do you mean?!"
Zhao Duan was on the horse, holding a whip in his hand, looking down at the splendid and powerful vassal king, his expression was indifferent and sarcastic:
"My lord, you have figured it out. I thought you would avoid seeing me."
Prince Jing looked righteous and awe-inspiring. He glanced at the corpses and frowned:
"Zhao Du Ann! I’m asking you! What do you want to do when you break into my residence?”
This is pretending to be confused... Just looking at his indignant and confused expression, Zhao Duan couldn't help but admire him and wanted to award him an Oscar...
"Prince Jing, I will be in charge soon." Before, he was assassinated outside the city and almost died, do you know?" Zhao Duan asked coldly.
Prince Jing frowned and said: "I just heard about it, but I don't know the details."
Zhao Duan smiled: "What a person who doesn't know the details, Lao Hou, please tell the prince."< br>
“Yes!”
Hou Renmeng was a pure thorn, not afraid of Xu Wen at all, and immediately narrated the assassination in a loud voice.
Zhao Duan waited for him to finish speaking, then his face darkened, he pointed at the father and son with his riding whip, and said arrogantly:
"My lord, don't you think you should give me the gift of gold?" An explanation?”
Prince Jing frowned and said:
“The rebels of Kuang Fu She assassinated you in broad daylight. How dare you come to me for an explanation? ?”
Zhao Duan narrowed his eyes and said softly:
"Your Majesty, do you think it was the rebel party? But what appeared together with the rebel party was the broken water. As we all know, before I entered the city, this river and lake The guest once made trouble for me, and at that time, His Royal Highness was standing by. If I remember correctly, he kept saying that we were friends."
Xu Jinglong's expression changed and he said angrily:
"Zhao Duan, don't be such a mouthful! This prince is acquainted with Duan Shuishui, but there are many acquaintances with him. There are a lot of them in the capital. He was defeated by Hai Zongfeng that day and had already fled. In the past few days, he has not appeared at all. But, who knew it was related to the rebel party?"
As he said this, he suddenly realized:
"Are you deliberately setting up a trap and wanting to take revenge on my son?"
Zhao Duan looked down at the father and son's performance, his smile growing brighter:
"Oh, so Duan Shuishui acted privately? What about these assassins? The corpse was also arranged by someone who rebelled against the party?”
“Otherwise?” Prince Jing’s face sank, “How could he be involved with me if he wasn’t someone who rebelled against the party?”
He sighed softly and said:
"I have seen that these people are very clean, with nothing on them that reveals their identities. I originally wanted to capture a few alive, but they all bit out the poison and committed suicide... What a group of dead soldiers. It is a pity that they have not met their master and surrendered to them. They fell into a group of gutter rats, ugly bastards, and worked for those cowardly and treacherous people, who were treacherous and courageous. My lord, do you think they deserved to die?"
Prince Jing? The knuckles of the hands hanging in the sleeves turned white, and his face was as heavy as water.
Zhao Duan refused to give up, with a serious look on his face:
"Why don't you say anything, Your Majesty? Do you sympathize with these traitors?"
Prince Jing took a deep breath. , smiled and said:
"Master Zhao is right, he deserves to die. He who rebels against the party and dares to assassinate an official of the imperial court will not regret his death."
"The prince is still sensible," Zhao Duan smiled:
"However, although I can trust the prince, when it comes to betraying the party, one should always act with caution. After Duan Shui Shui fled, he seemed to be coming this way. Considering that he is acquainted with the prince, he might choose to hide here, and the prince does not mind. Shall I search it?"
After saying that, without waiting for the other party to respond, Zhao Duan waved his hand:
"Come, search the house to see if there is anyone who rebels against the party. The thief is hiding! ”
"Yes!"
Hou Renmeng took the lead and rushed in with his sword drawn.
"How dare you..." Xu Jinglong's eyes were splitting, and he tried to stop him, but suddenly his arm was grabbed by King Jing next to him. King Jing said calmly: "Just let him search."
< br>"But..." Xu Jinglong was anxious and wanted to remind the princess in the back house.
But when a group of wolf-like officers and soldiers broke into the house, rummaged and smashed it, even the bed in the prince's bedroom was chopped up with a knife. When they returned, they found nothing.
Not surprisingly, with Lu Yan'er's cultivation, it would be easy to hide.
"Master Zhao, are you satisfied? If you are still not at ease, should you take me and my son away for interrogation?" Prince Jing said with a smile.
Zhao Duan looked regretful:
"What did the prince say? I was angry for a moment and said something inappropriate. Prince Haihan, please don't take it seriously. I am abiding by the law. , in Dayu Law, I don’t have the power to capture the royal family and interrogate him. Don’t force me to make mistakes.”
Prince Jing almost laughed at his hypocrisy: “Okay, okay.”
Zhao Duan changed the subject again and said:
"I am not familiar with the place in Huting. Speaking of which, Your Majesty, you are familiar with this place. So I asked Your Majesty to help you hang these corpses on the top of the city." , to intimidate the rebels in the city. "
Still without waiting for his response, a group of Lihuatang captains in Jinyi stepped forward with playful smiles. Each of them picked up one or two corpses and threw them carelessly into the courtyard of the house.
Every corpse fell in, making a "bang" sound and splashing a pool of blood, and a burst of exclamations from the servants came from the house.
The faces of the father and son outside the door were ugly.
Finally, Xu Jinglong couldn't bear it anymore. He suddenly took a few steps forward, pointed at Zhao Duan and cursed angrily.
The riding whip in Zhao Duan's hand suddenly whipped out, and with lightning speed, the tip of the whip struck Xu Jinglong's face hard.
"Crack!"
A loud whip sound sounded, and the surroundings were silent for a moment.
Xu Jinglong held his hand in disbelief at the swollen and oozing facial wound. He seemed to be stunned. He didn't expect that Zhao Duan would dare to attack him.
"I'm sorry," Zhao Duan took back his riding whip with an apologetic expression:
"Not long after the assassination, I was in shock. When I encountered someone who approached unexpectedly, I subconsciously struck back. I didn't want to accidentally injure His Highness, the Crown Prince. After returning to the capital, I will apologize to your majesty. What do you think, the prince?"
On the side, Prince Jing, who was also stunned by the whip, could hardly hold back the smile on his face, and uttered one word in a low voice:
"Get out!"
"Haha, let's go." Zhao Duan laughed loudly, waved his hand, drew his horse and led a group of men away along the long street.
Only the messy Prince Jing's residence is left, as well as the secretly watching eyes from near or far nearby.
It is conceivable that it won’t take long for what happened here to spread throughout the city.
……
……
The other side.
Wu Ling, dressed as a Jianghu man, quickly returned from the bustling streets again and quietly slipped into a secluded alley.
Knocked on the door and entered the temporary residence of the Kuangfu Society team in the city.
"What's the situation? Is Thief Zhao dead?!"
As soon as Wu Ling entered the door, she was surrounded by the enthusiastic young people in the house.
The restless young man Kou Qichi, who was as restless as a little tiger, had a particularly intense gaze.
Wu Ling took off his bamboo hat, shook his head solemnly, and said:
"It failed. Zhao Thief has led his generals back to the city. It seems that he was only slightly injured. Our The operation failed!”
The light in the eyes of a group of young people dimmed, and the atmosphere turned dull.
"Bang!" Kou Qichi punched the wall angrily, ignoring the bruises on his hands, "Why don't good people live long, but this evil thief takes over? Can't he be killed?"
The others also cursed and were greatly disappointed.
Wu Ling glanced around the room and frowned: "Lin Yuebai didn't come back?"
One person said: "Senior Sister Lin went outside the city to meet Qi Yuchun at the agreed place, General Qi , haven’t come back yet.”
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a regular knock on the door again, and then Lin Yuebai’s voice:
“It’s me”
<. br>
Everyone hurriedly went out to answer the call. When the door opened, the sorceress Lin Yuebai, who was disguised as a man, walked in with a serious look on her face. She glanced at Wu Ling and sighed:
"It seems you already know."< br>
Wu Ling said solemnly: "Zhao Thief is not dead, what happened to General Qi?"
Lin Yuebai shook his head:
"Qi General was seriously injured. Fortunately, he escaped and came back. He was worried that the government in Huting City would conduct a large-scale manhunt later, so he left first and asked me to come back and take everyone to evacuate according to the planned route. The sooner the better!”
The atmosphere in the room was depressing.
Seeing everyone looking downcast, Lin Yuebai adjusted his mood and said encouragingly:
"It's not that Thief Zhao is immortal, but the time has not come yet. Although he failed this time, he will still have a chance in the future. Besides, , it’s not like there’s no good news at all.”
Seeing Wu Ling and others looking up.
Lin Yuebai smiled and said:
"Commander Qi said that during this assassination, a Buddhist Bodhisattva also appeared nearby, but he did not show up.
Furthermore, the Buddhist ancestral court in the Western Regions has sent people to the capital. In short, the situation will be very complicated. , then the false emperor will face a difficult problem. If Buddhism does not handle it well, the situation may lead to a direction that is beneficial to us. "Is there any Bodhisattva involved in this assassination?
Why didn’t it appear?
Wu Ling was confused after hearing this.
As for the monks from the Western Regions coming to Dayu, he knew about it in advance, and also knew that the Buddhist Nagarjuna Bodhisattva and the Great Purity Master had already left their temples...
"This time I came to the lake Is it Nagarjuna or Gajing? It can’t be the female Bodhisattva Prajna?” he asked curiously.
Lin Yuebai shook his head, saying that he didn't know either.
Then he urged everyone to get up and evacuate immediately.
……
……
Humble Administrator’s Garden.
Zhao Duan swaggered and returned to the garden, only to find that Feng Ju had led a large group of officials waiting anxiously in the hall.
"Master Zhao!"
"Envoy!"
"I heard that you were assassinated..."
A group of officials swarmed over and breathed a sigh of relief when they were sure that he was okay.
What followed was a period of self-examination, with a strong air of apology.
"Haha, gentlemen, you don't have to be like this. I am an official in the imperial court, and in terms of rank, I am still lower than those present. I cannot afford to be like this."
Zhao Duan smiled. Zhuanglan first appeased everyone and said that they would not be blamed for this matter, so a group of civil servants felt relieved.
"Mr. Feng," Zhao Duan sat in the main seat, held up the blue and white tea bowl, took a sip, and then said calmly:
"There are a few things for you to do next."
" You say! "
"First, search for traitors in the city immediately, especially in hospitals and other places. If there is any suspicious injury, don't alert the enemy, report it immediately."
"Second. , summon the imperial merchants to the Humble Administrator’s Garden, and I will meet them in person to reassure them.”
"Third, I just went to the place where Prince Jing was staying. What exactly did I do? Go ask Hou Renmeng and them, and then declare this matter to me. Before tonight, I want the whole city to know this. "
Zhao Duan stared at him again: "The last thing is that tomorrow's Huting meeting will be held as usual. I will wait for the result in the Humble Administrator's Garden."
All the officials looked at each other, and a group of people all understood something. They stood up and said yes, and then left in a hurry to do things.
After the others left, Haitang, who was left to find Mrs. Xiao alone, walked over quietly and said:
"Did you leave me in the city on purpose?"< br>
Zhao Duan smiled and said to his female colleague: "How could it be?"
Haitang looked unhappy: "It's obvious! I'm not weak! If I were there, I might be able to keep Qi Yuchun!"
As I say, you are a descendant of Lao Hai... In such a dangerous situation, taking you there will not affect the overall situation. Am I not being sensible? Jianghu is not about fighting and killing, but also about human relations...
Zhao Duan cursed in his heart.
Haitang had a straight face and took out a bottle of wound medicine and bandages. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly heard movement outside the hospital. It was the old eunuch in python robe, returning with Ji Yue and Lang Shiba.
The three of them had obviously heard the news that Zhao Duan was safe, so they were quite surprised when they walked in.
“Our family is scared to death by your boy.”
Eunuch Hai was dressed in a low-key cotton robe, with beads of sweat dripping from his white temples.
Coming in, he looked at him for a moment, threw the Frost Sword to him, sat down angrily, and called his granddaughter to give him a shoulder squeeze.
"Hey, who would have thought there was a killer."
Zhao Duan smiled playfully and explained the matter briefly. He only said that he had a back-up plan and that Eunuch Hai was an old man and did not ask any further questions.
Seeing that he was fine, Ji Yue and Lang Shiba breathed a sigh of relief and went to recuperate silently.
A few people talked for a while in the hall, and Zhao Duan also talked about how he went to find Prince Jing to cause trouble after returning to the city.
"Today's incident is a blessing in disguise. It forces Prince Jing to swallow my beating, and those neutral factions will be further shaken."
Zhao Duan said with emotion.
What was on his mind was still the change of position of King Huai'an, but the specific choice of King Huai'an will be revealed tomorrow.
After hearing what happened, Haitang looked unhappy and indignant:
"Your Majesty should kill these princes. There are people on the battlefield who capture thieves first to capture the king. If he kills them directly, what else can he do? Are you afraid of some underhanded tactics? "
I didn't see it, Xiaohai, you are quite extreme... Zhao Duan glanced at her.
Eunuch Hai felt his granddaughter’s shoulder-squeezing service, but upon hearing this, his eyelids drooped and he said angrily:
"Don't think about it. Your Majesty is now smearing the rebels and is accused of killing his brother and his father, but at least he has never done it. After all, Prince Jing is your Majesty's uncle. As long as he does not do anything extraordinary on the surface, No matter how shady you are in private, can you find a reason to kill him? Do you really want His Majesty to bear the eternal infamy?” "Drop it?"
"Your Majesty is not in the realm of heaven?" Haitang said sternly: "What can't be killed?"
Eunuch Hai shook his head and sighed:
" Your Majesty is in the capital, blessed by the emperor’s dragon energy, and is naturally a heavenly being. When you leave the capital, it’s a different story.”
Zhao Duan remained silent, knowing that Lao Hai was referring to the word "pseudo" in "pseudo gods".
Since it is fake, it must have disadvantages.
It is a disadvantage that the empress goes too far out of the capital and her level declines.
Haitang said in surprise: "Now that your Majesty has left the capital, will the dragon energy weaken?"
Eunuch Hai nodded, pondered again, and added:
"It used to be like this, so I couldn't leave the capital. But as long as the throne is secure for a longer time, maybe next year, I can go out a little bit. If the world is completely reunited and the throne is completely secure, then the Yu Dynasty will no longer be able to stay in the territory. No difference."
Zhao Duan suddenly felt something in his heart:
If the empress can go outside the capital next year, does that mean that the world situation will undergo further changes?
Eunuch Hai's wrinkled hands gently patted his great-great-granddaughter's young hand and sighed:
"Without the realm of heaven and man, how can the prince kill, even if he really kills, kill One just forced the others to start a riot immediately... The imperial court can't help these people making trouble together. There are too many bandits and they can't suppress them, let alone the vassal king..."
Zhao Duan smiled and said: "After the market opens, the government's fiscal deficit will be greatly eased next year, and we will have the confidence to suppress the rebels."
Eunuch Hai glanced at him: "Do you think the market can be successful? ?”
“Seven or eight out of ten.”
Zhao Duan gave an answer, looked up at the winter outside, and said softly:
“We’ll wait and see. That’s it.”
......
On that day, officers and soldiers in Huting City went through the streets and alleys, searching for rebels everywhere, and the city was filled with panic.
At the same time, the story that Zhao Duan was assassinated but returned unharmed, whipped his whip and threw his body at Prince Jing’s residence also spread like wildfire. It only took one night for it to spread throughout the lake. pavilion.
That night, I don’t know how many people couldn’t sleep at all.
……
The next day was the day when Huting opened the market.
Zhao Duan got up at dawn and did not leave. He just ate quietly in the Humble Administrator's Garden, then moved a chair and sat in the courtyard to bask in the sun, waiting for the results.
He has done everything he can.
There is really no need to attend this meeting.
Time passed little by little.
There are only birds chirping in the Humble Administrator's Garden, and Huting City is extremely quiet today, as if something is brewing that can change this decadent dynasty.
I don’t know how long it took.
Zhao Duan, who was lying in a chair with an open book covering his face, heard the chaotic footsteps coming from the distance.
That was Feng Ju who hurried back. This humble and powerful doctor was wearing an official robe and his face was red. He almost jogged to the Humble Administrator's Garden.
Xu was running too fast, and when he got close, he dropped his mouth and chewed mud, but he didn't care. He almost knelt on the ground and looked up at Zhao Duan excitedly:
"Sir...Sir..."
Zhao Duan raised his hand, slowly grabbed the book from his face, looked at the rows of birds flying in the blue sky and the dazzling winter sun, and said: "How?"
Feng Ju said excitedly:
"The head of the Xiao family in Qingzhou took the lead, and the rest of the neutral merchant families who were closely related to the Huai'an Palace also changed their stance... The market is open, it's done! A great success!"
The corners of Zhao Duan's mouth turned up slightly, and he turned over lazily. Hearing Feng Ju's uncontrollable laughter, he muttered disdainfully:
"Look at how you look like a bear."
......
Dafeng Tower.
Rooftop.
The King of Huai'an listened to the report from his son and daughter behind him. The pot-bellied foodie prince put his hands behind his back and looked in the direction of the city gate, where a group of motorcades were leaving the city and returning towards Jiancheng Road.
That was Prince Jing who had already left.
"Father, according to your instructions, our people should have taken the lead today, but I didn't expect that the widow of the Xiao family in Qingzhou grabbed the top prize. I don't know when she became an imperial merchant."
Xu Junling felt a little regretful.
The King of Huai'an smiled and sighed:
"There are talented people in the country, but it seems that my father still underestimated Zhao Duan."
"Father, then, your Majesty and we will..."
"Everything is business as usual, business is business, attitude is attitude, in short... Let's see again, there will definitely be changes next year. "
"Yes...by the way, father, there seems to be something wrong with Buddhism. It's not just the Tantric monks from the Western Regions who came to Dayu. Our people reported that they saw Buddhism in Huai River and Linfeng. The traces of Nagarjuna and the Great Purity Master”
……
The layout was changed first and then
Thank you for whispering the hundred coin reward~
(End of this chapter)