On an official road to the east of Pingzhou, several men on horseback rushed over. There were five of them in total. Four warrior-looking men were guarding a young man.
The young man is dressed in bright clothes and wearing a golden crown, with an indescribable arrogance on his face. His name is Zhang Mingqian, and he is the son of Zhang Wo, a wealthy family in Pingzhou.
Zhang Mingqian was ordered by his father to go to Jizhou to pay birthdays to another wealthy family, Guo Wei. During this time, the relationship between wealthy families was extremely active, and many disturbing and shocking things happened on Yanshan Road.
First, Wu Wenli, the magistrate of Jixian County, was killed on his way to Daxing City on a business trip, and his head was cut off. His whereabouts are still unknown. Secondly, Li Xiao, the magistrate of Lulong County, Pingzhou, was stabbed and seriously injured, and the magistrate Zhu Tan was also murdered in his mansion.
A poisonous arrow was used to plot from a distance, but the murderer shot the wrong person and killed the little maid next to Zhu Tan.
Hu Yun, the pacifier of Yanshan Road, was assassinated twice, but neither of them succeeded.
The successive assassinations made Yanshan Road officials panic, and no one knew whether he would be the next to be assassinated. As for Niu Gao, he specially allocated 10,000 soldiers to protect the safety of officials in various states and counties.
The five men galloped through a forest, and suddenly a wolf-toothed arrow was shot from the forest. The arrow was as fast as lightning. Before the other party could react, "Poof!" the arrow hit Zhang Mingqian's left shoulder, and the arrow almost penetrated the shoulder.
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Zhang Mingqian screamed, turned over and fell off his horse, "Master! Master!" the four warriors shouted in shock.
At this time, more than 20 cavalrymen shot out of the woods and quickly surrounded them. The leading warrior shouted: "It's the inner guard, break out quickly!"
Si picked up Zhang Mingqian from the ground and did not bother to stop his bleeding. They tried desperately to break out, but they were facing more than 20 internal guards with high martial arts skills, giving them no chance to break out.
Another arrow was shot powerfully from the woods. A warrior screamed in agony. The arrow entered from the back of his neck, and the tip of the arrow came out from the front of his throat. He died tragically on the spot.
The other three men only fought for a moment, and two of them were killed, and the leader was captured alive. At this time, a man came out of the woods, it was Zhong Huan, the commander of the internal guards. He had just arrived in Pingzhou for five days when he found out that the county captain Li Xiao had been killed.
The stabbing resulted in serious injuries and was related to Zhang Wo, a wealthy man from Pingzhou.
It's just that Zhang Wo is so elusive that no one knows where he is hiding. We can't just attack him casually, as he might alert the enemy.
At this time, Zhong Huan received news from Jizhou's men that Zhang Wo's son Zhang Mingqian appeared in Ji County to pay his birthday to Guo Wei, the head of Jizhou's wealthy family. Zhong Huan immediately focused on Zhang Mingqian and successfully intercepted him halfway.
The wound on Zhang Mingqian's shoulder had been bandaged, his hands and feet were tied behind his back, and he was lying face down on the ground. Zhong Huan walked up to him, and Zhang Mingqian immediately shouted: "Kill me if you dare!"
Zhong Huan knelt down and smiled slightly: "I do have a caste, but I won't kill you. I need to exchange you and your father for something."
The warrior leader nearby shouted: "What do you want? Let the young master go and I can replace him!"
"You must be Qi Wu! Although you are the warrior leader of the Zhang family, you are not qualified yet. Go back and tell the family leader and ask him to send someone to Yuguan to negotiate with me. Your family leader knows very well what I want!"
Zhong Huan immediately ordered his surroundings, "Let him go, give him a horse, and let him go!"
The soldiers released the warrior leader. The warrior leader wanted to rush to save Zhang Mingqian, but the inner guard soldier put the knife on Zhang Mingqian's neck and looked at him coldly.
Helpless, the warrior had no choice but to shout: "Sir, I will report to the master of the family, and he will definitely come to save you!"
He got on his horse, hit the horse and galloped away.
The inner guard soldiers took Zhang Mingqian and headed towards Yuguan.
Zhang Wo has been a wealthy family in Pingzhou for generations. He owns more than a dozen manors alone. The martial arts style is very strong on Yanshan Road, and the people generally have a tough character. Zhang Wo also formed a village guard, with a total of nearly 2,000 people and equipment in more than a dozen buildings.
With leather armor, swords, and spears, it's like a private army.
Not only that, Zhang Wo also raised dozens of warriors with high martial arts skills as his bodyguards. If he didn't have more than a thousand villagers on Yanshan Road, he wouldn't be called a wealthy family, but a wealthy landlord.
There are five or six wealthy families like his on Yanshan Road, distributed in all the state capitals, and there is only the Zhang family in Pingzhou.
Zhang Wo also has a brother named Zhang Bao. Zhang Bao lives in Pinglu County and controls the Zhang family's business. Zhang Wo lives in the countryside, but the internal guards don't know which manor he lives in?
Zhang Wo had two daughters and one son. Both daughters were married, leaving only one son, Zhang Mingqian, whom he regarded as a treasure.
When he heard that his son had been kidnapped by the internal guards, he immediately became furious, "You bastard! If you dare to capture my son, I will tear him into pieces!"
Zhang Bao quickly advised: "Brother, please calm down. The other party caught Ming Qian just to exchange him for something. They didn't want to kill him. There is no point in killing him. Ming Qian's life should not be in danger."
Zhang Walker controlled his anger and said: "What do they want?"
"I asked Qi Wu, and the other party said, Brother knows what they want. Brother, what do they want?"
Zhang Wo said after a while: "I guess they want news about the Jin Kingdom's secret envoy!"
Zhang Bao frowned, "Didn't the secret envoy of the Jin Kingdom leave?"
"But if I tell the internal guards the news, they can catch the Jin envoy based on the clues I provided. I know that the Jin envoy is in Yizhou now. He wants to gather all the villagers from several wealthy families to Pingzhou, almost.
With more than 10,000 people, and then attacking from both inside and outside, the Jin soldiers can retake Yuguan. Our family is the key and will be Zhuang Ding's base camp in the future."
"Then brother, do you want to tell the inner guards about the envoy from the Kingdom of Jin in exchange for Mingqian?"
Zhang Wo nodded, "I don't care about the life or death of the Jin envoy, but Mingqian is my only son, and I must rescue him. Erlang, you are the public representative of the Zhang family. Go to Yuguan to negotiate with them.
"
"Brother wants to give me the news about the envoy from the Kingdom of Jin. Should I go and exchange it directly?"
"No! Let's feel it out for the first time and make it clear what each other wants before exchanging it. You have to tell them that I promise to tell them the news about the envoy from the Kingdom of Jin, but I must ensure the safety of my son!"
"Will eldest brother still be here when I come back?"
Zhang Wo shook his head and said in a deep voice: "Go to Bailong Villa to find me when you come back. Be extra careful not to be stared at."
Zhong Huan interrogated Zhang Mingqian all night. Unexpectedly, the boy was bitten to death and he didn't know anything. Zhong Huan had to put him in prison and wait for news about Zhang Wo.
At noon the next day, a soldier came to report, "A man came from outside Guancheng, claiming to be Zhang Mingqian's second uncle, and came to negotiate with the general."
Zhong Huan knew that the visitor must be Zhang Wo's brother Zhang Bao. He pondered for a moment and asked, "Is Xue Ke back?"
Xue Ke was also the commander under Zhong Huan. He led dozens of brothers to station in Pinglu. He was responsible for keeping an eye on Zhang Bao.
"Reply to the general, he hasn't come back yet!"
Zhong Huan nodded and said: "Bring Zhang Bao in, take him to see Zhang Mingqian first, and then bring him to see me."