Zhang Xutang released his hold on Zhang Zihou and asked the nanny to take him away. He stood up and spread out the mountain and terrain map to look at it carefully.
The hundreds of mountains in the north on the topographic map lead to Kyoto, cold and silent.
The charcoal fire in the room gradually weakened, and the incense pieces became cold on the smoker. The thin aroma was like a rope, dragging other smells in the study down with it, and landed on the floor.
Zhang Xutang shuddered and ordered without raising his head: "Add more fire!"
The servant who was guarding the corridor had his nose and ears red. He opened the door and walked in politely. The cold air drove away the condensed aroma in the room, which was refreshing.
The servants added silver charcoal to the charcoal basin, and the room became warm again.
Zhang Xutang stood for a long time. When Haishi passed, he suddenly stood up and opened the door of the study room. A cold wind rushed in from the outside, causing him to take a step back.
He looked at the servant guarding the door and found that it was not Xiao Wei, so he immediately said: "Call Xiao Wei and prepare the carriage. I'm going to Taihangxing."
Xiao Wei hurriedly went to prepare the carriage. Most of the guards in the mansion were taken out by Lao Wei, leaving only six people to look after the house. Xiao Wei thought that as soon as Zhang Xutang left the house, there was no need to look at the house, so he took four of them with him.
Two of them were left, everything was ready, just waiting for Zhang Xutang to make a move.
Zhang Xutang took the bronze crane and went to Taihangxing.
When passing by the Zhuangzi of King Jin, two red lanterns were hung high in front of the wide gate. The village was very quiet. A thin layer of snow had once again accumulated on the cleaned ground, and the cold wind had blown away the dust that had once been there.
The only smell left was the refreshing coldness.
The carriage stopped in front of the mountain, Xiaowei held a lantern in front to light the way, and Tonghe carried Zhang Xutang on his back up the mountain road.
The four guards followed Tonghe, and they all felt fear invariably.
No matter how rugged the mountain road is, Tonghe's steps remain the same, there is no ups and downs in his breathing, and the hand holding Zhang Xutang on his back is smooth and steady without shaking.
He is not a human being, but a puppet driven away by Zhang Xutang.
With the bronze crane, the group of people walked very fast, with a little light swaying through the mountains at high speed. It only took half the time of King Jin and the three of them to reach Taihangxing.
The snow in Taihang County was much thicker than outside, almost reaching people's knees. Everything was completely silent. The light of the snow reflected a flawless white world. There was neither King Jin, Song Huiyue, nor Lao Wei.
Zhang Xutang looked at the undulating snowpack and quickly spotted the feathers of an arrow.
"Shovel it away!"
Xiaowei immediately came forward with his guards. They didn't bring shovels, so they could only dig in with knives and hands.
Snow piled up all around, and a corpse was immediately seen. The corpse was lying on its back, with clusters of arrows piercing the body. On the face, an arrow penetrated the eye socket, and the arrowhead came out from the back of the head, with red and white things solidified on it.
There is also an eyeball.
The guards had also experienced massacres, but seeing such massacres that left people powerless to fight back, they couldn't help but feel timid.
Zhang Xutang recognized that this was the Zhang family guard, and his whole body began to tremble: "dig again!"
The corpses were turned out one by one, in different postures, the knives were unsheathed, and there were a few chopped arrows scattered on the ground. It was obvious that these people had tried hard to save themselves.
It's a pity that he was shot through the heart by thousands of arrows in the end.
The snow was littered with people from the Zhang family. Zhang Xutang suddenly took a step forward, squatted down, and turned over a body lying on the ground.
The corpse had been cut into rags by arrows, but his face was still identifiable, and it was not Lao Wei's.
Zhang Xutang continued to rummage, holding a bloody hand, bending down and looking sideways. The man's head had been pierced with arrows, and his whole face turned into a hornet's nest. Xiaowei felt frightened and couldn't help but look away.
Turning around, Zhang Xutang's expression remained unchanged, he threw away the bloody hand and took two more steps forward.
The man in front was in slightly better condition. His head and face were intact, but his body was in a mess. Zhang Xutang recognized that he was a dead soldier.
Zhang Xutang suddenly felt King Jin's hand penetrate his body, grabbing his heart and squeezing it hard.
It hurts.
Dead soldiers are hard to come by, and most of them have already been lost. The children he trained are still half-grown children, not enough to be of great use. The death of a dead soldier is just a piece of his flesh.
He continued to search, and the corpses were all dressed in the same color of soapy brown, making it difficult to distinguish them. He could only turn them over one by one, and finally found Lao Wei.
Lao Wei's face was raised, his chest and neck were full of sharp arrows, his head was tilted, and his dead gray eyes were wide open, full of shock and unwillingness.
He never closed his eyes to death and remained loyal to Zhang Xutang when he died.
Zhang Xutang stared at him, his already trembling hands shaking even more violently, his eyes throbbing crazily, the pain blurred his vision, and his heart was squeezed so hard that he knelt down on one leg
Go and cover your heart.
He was trembling all over, thinking that this was the blow King Jin had given him.
The King of Jin was meticulous in his work, even cleaning up the bloodstains, but he left these corpses here openly just to give him this blow.
Through these corpses, the King of Jin warned him, weakened him, and reduced his strength to nothing.
King Jin did it, because Lao Wei is more important than Mrs. Zhang. There can be countless Xiao Wei, but there is only one Lao Wei.
He stood up stiffly and slowly, held Xiao Wei's hand, and said in a hoarse voice, "Go back."
He's just a guard, if he dies, he dies.
When he returned to Zhang's house, he didn't remember what time it was. He sat down in the study without eating or drinking, and his mind began to spin crazily.
In a game of chess, the only chess pieces left on his side were Concubine Zhang, King Yan, and the Zhang faction officials who were suppressed by him. The first thing he wanted to do was to prevent the Zhang faction officials from knowing that he only had a handful of people.
Xiaowei must first be asked to burn Taihangxing's body without leaving any traces.
The death of an insignificant Mrs. Zhang is a good thing for Concubine Zhang. Today, I have pity on the Zhang family and favors Concubine Zhang again. Once Mrs. Zhang dies, I will reward Concubine Zhang generously.
The former dynasty and the harem cannot be connected, but there is mutual prosperity and loss between the two.
As long as Concubine Zhang stands firm, King Yan still needs to suppress King Jin today, but King Yan will also stand firm in the previous dynasty.
Taking advantage of this "stability", the Zhang family needs to recuperate.
It was useless to seek peace, so he had to find another way. He racked his brains to slow down the Zhang family.
I don't know how long it took, but an aide from Prince Yan's palace came to deliver a message to Zhang Xutang on the order of Prince Yan.
"The King of Jin entered the palace early this morning and informed me that the person who assassinated him was a garrison stationed outside Kyoto on the East and West Road of Jingdong. He has waist badges and tattoos to prove it."
Zhang Xutang clenched his fists tightly with both hands, slammed his right hand on the table, pursed his lips into a thin line, and let out a fierce light in his eyes.
Today, I don't care who assassinates King Jin. He only cares about whether someone will assassinate him.
The garrison moved without authorization, which was a taboo today.
He shouldn't have borrowed these thirty garrison troops.
At that time, I was afraid that King Jin was really on the carriage. Wouldn't it be a pity to let him go in vain? I also thought that even if King Jin was not on the carriage, Lao Wei and the dead soldiers could always intercept and kill him successfully. Once King Jin died, the people around King Jin would take advantage of it.
It's no use either.
The appearance of Song Huiyue made him confused, so that the plan went wrong.
His slender eyes turned into black holes, staring at the staff: "Let King Yan come to see me."