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"What? King Huan was assassinated!"

Baishui Village, the ancestral home of the Wang family, Wang Zhong looked at Yang Naixing, the magistrate of Yangzhou in front of him, with shock on his face, and said in disbelief: "How is it possible? When I left yesterday, King Huan was still fine, and there was such a person beside King Huan. With so many guards, how could he be assassinated in just one day's work?"

Yang Naixing said with a bitter face: "Deputy Envoy Ming Jian, I would never dare to deceive the Deputy Envoy. Last night, an assassin came out of nowhere and suddenly killed someone in another courtyard. When I arrived with my subordinates, King Huan... ·····King Huan·····has been shot to death by an arrow, and now his body is in the Yamen!"

Wang Zhong staggered back a few steps and fell down on the chair. His face was slightly pale, with shock and disbelief written all over his face. His Adam's apple was surging. He swallowed several times and looked at Yang Naixing in fear.

"Prince Huan is the eldest son of the official family. He has always been smart and capable, and is very favored by the officials. If this news reaches Tokyo and reaches the ears of the officials, it will be a huge disaster!"

"What a disaster!" Yang Naixing also looked horrified.

He hurriedly cupped his hands and said: "But the matter has come to this, we have no other way. Even if it is a catastrophic disaster, we can only suffer it. Now all our Yangzhou officials are in danger. For the current plan, we still need to unite as one." I want to find out the mastermind behind this to atone for my sins. I only hope that the officials will treat us lightly for the sake of finding out the mastermind behind this."

"It's just that there is a big chaos in the city now. The superior officer ordered the city to be sealed off last night, and all the people in the yamen were sent out to arrest the assassin."

Wang Zhong raised his eyebrows and asked hurriedly: "Did all the assassins escape last night?"

Yang Naixing said: "Some of them ran away last night, and some of them were caught on the spot. They are now in prison. Zhang Tongjing is interrogating them."

"Without further delay, let's return to the city quickly!" Wang Zhong also knew the importance of the matter, so he immediately stood up and walked out, followed closely by Yang Naixing.

"Come on, prepare a horse!"

Now that King Huan was assassinated, among the officials who went south to inspect the salt, Wang Zhong had the highest rank. Only Yang Naixing, the magistrate of Yangzhou, came personally.

Yang Naixing was riding a fast horse when he came, Wang Zhong only brought Yu Chuer, and the others immediately galloped towards Jiangdu City.

In the side hall of the back hall of Zhizhou Yamen, the body of King Huan was lying on a table covered with white cloth.

On the way in, Yang Naixing finally took the time to talk to Wang Zhong about what happened last night.

Because it was New Year's Eve, King Huan sympathized with his subordinates and ordered all the people in the yamen to go back to celebrate the New Year with their families. He only lived in a separate courtyard with the guards he brought from Tokyo.

Around the time of Chou, a large number of assassins came to the other courtyard. They first set fire to the backyard and the east courtyard, and then attacked in the east and west to attract a large number of people, and also forced King Huan to the southwest corner of the courtyard.

Unexpectedly, there were a large number of assassins ambushing around, and they also brought a large number of crossbows and fire oil, and the equipment was very complete. Duan Chengjin and the guard commander Zhao Shichang could only lead a group of guards to protect King Huan all the way out of the other courtyard, and were hit again. The assassins were ambushed and shot alive in the street.

"The other courtyard was burned to the ground, and most of the house next to it was also burned down."

"Where are Zhao Shichang and Duan Chengjin?" Wang Zhong asked with a dark face as he looked at King Huan's body.

"Commander Zhao was shot to death by assassins' random arrows. General Duan was carrying more than ten arrows. He lost too much blood and was seriously injured and fell into a coma. He has not woken up yet. The doctor said whether he can wake up depends on God's will."

The king nodded. Although it was a bit unexpected, it was reasonable. Even King Huan was killed by an arrow. Zhao Shichang was Zhao Ceying's guard commander and had followed Zhao Ceying since he was in Yuzhou. His loyalty was unquestionable.

As for Xiao Duan, I have good luck.

Yang Naixing continued: "The prince's guards were almost completely destroyed. Only about thirty people survived, a dozen of them were seriously injured, and the rest all had injuries on their bodies.

Wang Zhong touched Zhao Ceying's neck with a dark face. It was already cold. All the words he said turned into a helpless sigh.

"Go and see General Xiao Duan!" Wang Zhong said solemnly.

Yang Naixing hurriedly led Wang Zhong to a wing of the back office. Xiao Duan was too seriously injured and was placed in a separate wing next to the thirty injured guards.

Wang Zhong rushed to Xiao Duan's bedside first. He first checked Xiao Duan's breathing and breathed a sigh of relief, then began to check Xiao Duan's injuries.

The body was wrapped in a thick circle of gauze, the bleeding had stopped, and the sore medicine was applied. As the doctor said, whether Xiao Duan could survive it or not depended on his own luck.

Wang Zhong asked Yang Naixing to call the doctor and ask him about the location and depth of Xiao Duan's injuries. After hearing this, Wang Zhong couldn't help but sigh with emotion. Xiao Duan was really an invincible little strongman. He was hit by eight arrows and two knives. He was shot in the lower abdomen, and his intestines almost didn't leak out, but he didn't die.

But the breath is getting weaker and weaker.

Wang Zhong sighed and said to Yang Naixing: "Excuse me, Yang Zhizhou, please step aside first!"

"What is this, deputy envoy?" Yang Naixing stepped aside and asked doubtfully.

Wang Zhong took off the needle bag tied to his waist, put it on the table, lifted off Xiao Duan's quilt, twisted the silver needles one by one, aimed them at the acupuncture points, and slowly inserted the silver needles into Xiao Duan's body one by one.

A silver needle pricks the acupuncture point, and a stick of incense is gone!

Xiao Duan's breath recovered a lot at a speed visible to the naked eye, and his pulse gradually became stronger.

The doctor next to him saw his eyes shining with surprise. He put away the silver needle and told the doctor some precautions. Wang Zhong took Yang Naixing to the side to see the injured guards. After checking their injuries, he He left his own special medicine for golden sores with the doctor, and asked him to put it on the guards when he changed the medicine.

After a lot of fussing, most of the time has passed!

Yang Nai was very anxious and urged Wang Zhong: "Deputy Ambassador Wang, let's go to the prison and have a look!"

Wang Zhong didn't say anything and followed Yang Naixing to the prison.

Last night, more than 30 black-clothed assassins were caught on the spot, and now they are all locked up in cells. Li Tongxuan is leading people to torture these assassins one by one, questioning their origins and the mastermind behind the scenes.

Seeing Wang Zhong and Yang Naixing arriving, Li Tongpan quickly stood up to greet them.

"Brother Li, what are you asking about?" Yang Naixing asked hurriedly, ignoring the false courtesy.

Yang Tongpan said: "Ask some, this group of people come from all kinds of backgrounds. They are all mud-legged people who run around in rivers and lakes. Some are from our Lianghuai side, some are from Jiangnan, Fujian, and even a few are from Shu." .”

"Impossible!" Wang Zhong said: "The guards around His Highness Prince Huan are all elites in the Forbidden Army. If they are ordinary Jianghu people, how can they be their opponents."

Yang Naixing also nodded with deep understanding and said: "What Deputy Ambassador Wang said is absolutely true. This matter is by no means that simple."

This New Year is destined to be difficult. The entire city of Yangzhou is under martial law every day. A large number of soldiers and horses guard the city gates, docks and other places that can enter and exit Yangzhou City. People are allowed in but not allowed out. The officers and soldiers are checking door to door and all inns. , brothels, and gambling houses are all key targets for investigation.Fortunately, it is the end of the new year, and every household has saved a lot of annual supplies. Even if the city is closed, there is no need to worry about starving to death in a short period of time.

In the west of the city, the original Sheng's residence has now become the Wang's residence. The word 'Sheng' written on the two lanterns hanging under the gate had been replaced with the word 'Wang' many years ago.

Wang Zhong sat cross-legged on the bed. He had not yet started meditating and practicing Qi. Instead, he was reviewing the recent events in his mind. In fact, Wang Zhong did not do anything. He just pushed the remaining eight salt merchants whose homes were ransacked and sent someone to Helped them connect and introduced several powerful large-scale merchants to them.

Wang Zhong did not intervene in what happened after that. He just had people secretly send the news to them. The rest was all done by the salt merchants themselves. They deliberately spread the news in the Jiangnan area to win over those in the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The salt merchants, who also had shady foundations, joined forces vertically and horizontally to recruit help.

What King Huan did in Yangzhou was seen by all the salt merchants. The eight salt merchants whose homes were ransacked were living examples, and the dozens of heads about to be chopped off from the eight merchants were a wake-up call.

Instead of just waiting to have your house confiscated and beheaded, it's better to fight back and take advantage of the chaos to find a way out. Those who dare to be salt merchants are good deeds!

I think back then, those members of the Bai family dared to send assassins to assassinate Gu Er several times for the sake of Mr. Bai's share of the property.

Things developed just as Wang Zhong expected. A large number of killers swarmed in. However, Wang Zhong and Wang Qier, the two people with the highest martial arts values, were not with King Huan. There were also the dozen or so assassinations from the previous year. , and also caused King Huan to lose his troops and generals, and it happened to be the eve of the New Year, in the early morning.

The right time, right place and right people are all available.

The death of King Huan was only the first step, and the rest of the road was not easy.

His mind was thinking about all the possibilities next. After a while, Wang Zhong took a deep breath, put away the distracting thoughts in his mind, and began to meditate and practice Qi.

Soon, some assassins couldn't stand the torture and finally confessed. Zhizhou Yang Naixing personally led the team and prepared to arrest the salt merchants behind the scenes. However, when he arrived with his troops, he found that the building was already empty.

Yang Naixing was furious, but there was nothing he could do.

On the tenth day of the first lunar month, in the imperial city of Bianjing, eight hundred miles of urgent reports were sent to the palace. Zhao Zongquan thought he would receive good news, but he did not expect to wait until he received the bad news that King Huan was assassinated in Yangzhou.

Zhao Zongquan spat out a mouthful of old blood on the spot, shouted "Ying'er", and then fainted.

When the queen received the news, she fainted.

Empress Dowager Cao heard that both the emperor and his wife fainted. She was overjoyed at first, and then hurriedly asked why.

The chamberlain quickly reported the truth: "His Royal Highness King Huan was assassinated in Yangzhou."

"What?" Empress Dowager Cao immediately stood up with a look of shock on her face.

"This is unreasonable! Who is so bold and dares to assassinate the prince in broad daylight!"

Empress Dowager Cao was so angry that it was one thing for her and Zhao Zongquan not to deal with each other. It was one thing not to like Zhao Zongquan, father and son, but it was another thing for Zhao Ceying to be assassinated.

Zhao Ceying is the emperor's eldest son. Although he has not yet been canonized, everyone in the government and the public knows that Zhao Ceying is the future prince. Now that Zhao Ceying has been assassinated in Yangzhou, isn't it just rubbing the face of the imperial court on the ground!

Empress Dowager Cao was so furious that she immediately ordered a thorough investigation into the matter, and then hurriedly ran to visit Zhao Zongquan. If at this juncture, Zhao Zongquan, the emperor, caused any trouble again, the world would...

"How is the emperor?" Seeing the imperial physician let go of Zhao Zongquan's hand, Queen Mother Cao hurriedly stepped forward to ask the imperial physician.

The imperial doctor bowed his hands and bowed before saying: "Don't worry, Your Majesty. Your Majesty is not seriously ill. He just fainted due to the heat. I will give you the acupuncture and you will wake up."

"Hurry up and do the needle!" Empress Dowager Cao urged.

The imperial doctor hurriedly performed acupuncture on Zhao Zongquan, and finally used an empty needle to draw out the blood congestion from the middle finger. Not long after, Zhao Zongquan woke up faintly on the dragon bed.

"Ying'er..." Zhao Zongquan said with a sad face as soon as he woke up.

"Things have already happened, and the emperor still needs to express his condolences. Now that such a big thing has happened, Jiangnan is afraid that trouble will happen. The emperor must not let anything happen again." Empress Dowager Cao looked at Zhao Zongquan with a worried expression.

After comforting Zhao Zongquan with a few words and telling the imperial physician to stay by Zhao Zongquan's side, Queen Mother Cao returned to her palace.

Not long after, Han Zhang and other senior ministers also rushed over. After visiting Zhao Zongquan, they went straight to Queen Mother Cao.

After Zhao Ceying died, Empress Dowager Cao actually did not feel sad. Instead, she breathed a sigh of relief, because Zhao Ceying was too capable and too radical, and she had been thinking about reforming the old system left by the late emperor. Empress Cao was once surrounded by Zhao Zongquan and the pair. The father and son were so angry that they couldn't eat or sleep well.

Now that Zhao Ceying is dead, Empress Dowager Cao is really relieved. Zhao Zongquan has a weak temper and is easy to control. But the most important thing right now is to find out the cause of Zhao Ceying's death, bring the murderer to justice, and tell the world.

"Greetings to the eldest lady!" Han Zhang and others bowed to Queen Mother Cao to greet her.

"I'm free of charge!" Empress Dowager Cao looked at Han Zhang and others and said directly: "Now that King Huan was assassinated in Yangzhou, the emperor and the queen were so furious that they fainted. Now the court still has to rely on Mr. Han and several others. Sir, just hold on!"

"What the eldest lady said is true. The most important thing right now is to stabilize the situation in the court and appease people's hearts. Now the court can no longer withstand the turmoil!" Han Zhang said with deep understanding.

The remaining people quickly agreed.

Empress Dowager Cao asked: "How do you think the ministers should handle the matter concerning King Huan?"

Several people looked at Han Zhang, and Han Zhang immediately bowed and said: "His Royal Highness King Huan went south this time to thoroughly investigate the salt affairs. Years ago, His Highness King Huan arrested more than [-] officials of both Huaihe and Huai Salt Divisions. We raided eight salt merchants, arrested dozens of salt merchants involved, and confiscated millions of dollars in fines. This matter must be inseparable from those salt merchants."

"How dare a mere salt merchant assassinate the prince of my dynasty?" Empress Dowager Cao said angrily.

Han Zhang said: "According to the report sent back from Yangzhou a few days ago, His Royal Highness King Huan suffered many assassinations just a few years ago. Fortunately, his guards fought to the death to protect him, and he survived."

"It must be those salt merchants!" Gao Shangshu from the Ministry of Revenue also hurriedly agreed, and the others also had the same view.

Empress Dowager Cao immediately ordered: "In the opinion of the Grand Prime Minister, who should be sent to supervise this matter now?"

Han Zhang said: "It is the twelfth lunar month of winter, shipping is blocked and roads are difficult to travel. If we send people from Bianjing to Jiangnan again, I am afraid it will be too late."

"The Ai family remembers that Wang Zhong, the deputy envoy of salt and iron, was also one of the accompanying officials, right?" Empress Dowager Cao said: "Although Wang Zhong is a little younger, he still has the ability. He went to Quanzhou for only a few years and managed it. Things are getting better and better. In that case, let him supervise the salt affairs and the assassination of King Huan first."

"Great Empress, Holy Ming!" Han Zhang and others also knew that this was the best way for the present.