Outside the city of Ning'an, a team of top-grade oxen were on their way. The sound of oxen's hooves and the flying of dust were no different from an ordinary caravan.
In the fifth A-class ox-drawn cart, there sat three men wearing official robes but looking very imposing. In the middle sat a bearded old man with a big horse and a golden sword. He did not look like a man in his seventies or eighties, but more like a horse thief or a bandit.
"General... do you really want to do it yourself? Why don't you cut off the talent of the Holy Temple and let us do it! This matter is different from the ordinary assassination of scholars. The Holy Temple will at most send the two of us to an ancient land. Since we joined the army, we have been prepared to die, not to mention this meaningless punishment!" said the Jinshi on the left.
"Yes, with the help of Wenquxing, you can be promoted to Grand Secretary in a short time, and you will definitely become a great scholar in the end."
The bearded old man laughed, showing his white teeth, and said: "If I, Zhang Poyue, want to kill someone, of course I will do it myself! He dared to cause chaos in Ning'an and slander Fang Yun. This vengeance cannot be left overnight, nor can it be taken over by others. It's just that the disguise is a little bit unlike my style, and it will be lifted after the killing."
"That means you won't be able to return to Shengyuan Continent for at least ten years."
Zhang Poyue was very happy instead, and said with a smile: "After training in the ancient land for ten years, I will come back to kill Liu Shan! After killing Liu Shan, I will be imprisoned in the ancient land for another twenty years. After I come out, I will go to the Lei family for a walk!"
The two Jinshi generals dressed as businessmen did not know whether to laugh or cry. They had followed Zhang Poyue for many years and knew that this general was famous for his unscrupulousness. But after hearing what he said, they still felt that they could not keep up with his train of thought, which was really too cruel.
"I heard that those who assassinated Liu Shan are all imprisoned in Jing State. The elder of the Criminal Hall used the excuse that the Saint's meeting was not yet completed and did not send anyone to investigate the case. It seems that he is deliberately stalling for time and waiting for the Saints to rescue him. I think it's better for you to stall as well."
Zhang Poyue said helplessly: "If Li Wenying was here, I wouldn't have to kill Ji Zhibai. He would have killed him with just a few swords and cut him like chopping vegetables. Then... he would have led the army to break through Yuyang Pass, returned to the capital to defend the king, and forced Liu Shan to retire. At that time, I would have been a follower, waving flags and shouting, and I wouldn't have to go to the ancient land to suffer no matter what. But now that Jianmei Gong is gone, I can't bear it and have to do it myself. Alas, Fang Xusheng really left at the wrong time..."
The two Jinshi generals rolled their eyes when they heard this. Li Wenying and Zhang Poyue joined forces. It was possible that they would lead a large army to surround the capital before the monsters, saying that they wanted to force Liu Shan to retire and return home, and who knows where they would kill him.
"It's a bit cheap of you to kill Ji Zhibai. I think it's better to wait until you are promoted to Grand Secretary or Great Confucian, and then kill the treacherous Prime Minister Liu Shan directly."
"I have to use a butcher knife to kill a chicken. After all, a bloody butcher knife is more terrifying than scissors. At this moment, I have to do it! Anyway, I am tired of the mess of Jingguo, so it is better to go to the ancient land to practice and sharpen my sword as soon as possible."
"well… "
"We are almost there..."
A man drew aside the curtain, stuck his head out, and saw the city wall of Ning'an County.
There was a huge crowd of people in front of the Ning'an County Government Office. It was noisy and bustling, and most of them were scholars wearing official uniforms.
Since Fang Yun's palace examination, scholars have come one after another, some to study, some to protect Ning An, and some to admire Fang Yun.
The scholars around were extremely angry and sad, but a few of them had firm eyes, with murderous intent occasionally flashing in their eyes.
The big pit in front of the county government office was getting bigger and bigger, and more and more scholars jumped in. Some of them even held Fang Yun's poems and articles in their hands.
The gate of Ning'an County Government Office was open, and two rows of yamen runners stood at the door. These runners said nothing, with their heads down and gloomy faces, turning a blind eye and a deaf ear.
The black paint on the two lions is particularly eye-catching.
"Ji Zhibai, come out!"
"Ji Zhibai, come out!"
…
I don’t know when it started, but many scholars began to shout in unison.
After a while, when no one came out, someone started to talk nonsense.
"Ji Zhibai, come out!"
"Ji Zhibai, come out!"
…
The sound of spring thunder echoed in the sky above Ning'an City.
As more and more scholars shouted, an inexplicable force resonated with the holy temple and resonated with heaven and earth.
In a courtyard in the north of the city, a middle-aged man with a weather-beaten face, dressed neatly and carrying a hunting bow, stood facing the door of his house.
Inside the threshold, a middle-aged woman was holding her two daughters' hands.
The family of four all had white cloth wrapped around their waists, and the two little girls were even wearing mourning clothes.
The middle-aged hunter looked at his two daughters kindly and said, "Dad is going to hunt deer and will stew meat for you when he comes back. I'm not at home, so you have to listen to mom, do you hear me?"
"I heard you!" The two cute little girls smiled sweetly and agreed obediently.
"I... am leaving." The middle-aged hunter glanced at his wife, not knowing what she was afraid of. He only dared to take a glance, then turned his head abruptly and strode away.
"Mom... why are you crying? You never cried when Dad went out hunting before." The eldest daughter looked up at her mother in surprise.
"Mom is not crying, there's just sand in her eyes." The woman hurriedly let go of her daughter's hand and wiped her tears with her sleeves, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't wipe them away.
"It's a lie!" the younger daughter said timidly.
"I'll go call daddy back." The eldest daughter stepped out, but her hand was tightly grasped by her mother.
The two daughters looked at their mother in confusion, not knowing why she was crying. As they watched, they slowly started to cry too.
"Sister-in-law Wang, my husband is weak and doesn't ask for anything else. Please go and see him when you have time and talk to him!"
The two girls looked up in surprise and saw the neighbor's father and son standing at the door and talking to their mother. The son had just turned eighteen and it was said that he had a chance to pass the examination and become a student this year.
And now, the father holds a hoe in his hand and the son holds a sickle in his hand.
Mrs. Wang felt cold for a moment, then burst into tears, covering her face with her hands.
The father and son didn't say anything else and strode away.
The two little girls blinked and wiped their tears, feeling that this father and son were very much like their own father.
Afterwards, the two little girls saw that people kept passing by the door. Some of them were carrying farm tools such as hoes, sickles and pickaxes, some were carrying kitchen knives and sticks, and some were carrying nothing, but their clothes were bulging.
These people all had white cloth wrapped around their waists.
"Grandpa, uncle..." the two little girls suddenly spoke.
An old man and a middle-aged man passing by stopped, both holding wooden sticks with one end sharpened, and the old man was holding a copper pipe in his mouth.
The middle-aged man looked over and looked at his sister and two nieces with a complicated expression.
The old man looked indifferent, took two puffs of his pipe, took the pipe out of his mouth, exhaled white smoke gently, and stared straight at the horizon without turning his head, not looking at his daughter and granddaughter inside the door.
The two were only a few steps apart.
The woman from the Wang family looked at the familiar faces of her relatives and could no longer hold back. She cried and shouted, "What's the use of these sticks! What's the use of kitchen knives! What's the use of hoes..." She burst into tears before she could even finish her words.
The two girls seemed to hear people crying in the surrounding neighbors' homes.
The old man smacked his lips, still looking ahead, and said slowly: "Talent will eventually run out. Let's go!"
After the old man finished speaking, he held the stick in his right hand, put his left hand behind his waist, and walked forward slowly, as if he was carrying a birdcage and taking a walk.
The middle-aged people followed closely.
The two little girls didn't understand, they just felt sad, just like when they heard that County Magistrate Xiao Fang had passed away, their tears couldn't stop flowing.
(To be continued.)