King Chen has returned to Fengcheng under heavy guard.
Mr. Zhao was behind him, with an old face as plain as water, but his eyes were slightly complicated.
Just two hours ago, Mr. Zhao had issued a decree to seal up the shops and warehouses of Zhuang's Trading Company in the city and arrest the personnel of Zhuang's Trading Company.
Last time it was just a seizure, this time it's an arrest.
During the last seizure, he could defend it a little and ordered his men to secretly slow down everything and give Zhuang's business convenience, but this time... he did not dare to show any favoritism, but used thunderous momentum to complete King Chen's order.
After this incident, once the capital city is convicted, most people in Zhuang's trading firm will probably be killed.
Although Mr. Zhao is more inclined to Zhuang Ming.
But the rebellion is an irrefutable fact.
Although I don't know why Zhuang Ming became so reckless and impulsive with his scheming mind.
But it was impossible for him to be buried with Zhuang Ming.
"Your Majesty, there is news from the Commander-in-Chief."
"read."
"The commander-in-chief personally led more than 20,000 elite Zhennan troops to form an encirclement at Zhongwang Mountain."
"The Zhennan Army deserves to be an elite force." King Chen nodded slightly, feeling slightly satisfied, and said: "It can move as fast as a mountain and move as fast as a strong wind despite its orders and prohibitions."
"In addition," the man in black continued: "The commander-in-chief has received a message asking you for orders to kill the rebels in Zhongwang Mountain."
"Pass this king's order..."
King Chen paused for a moment and said: "Stop taking action for now and continue the encirclement."
Hearing this, the man in black bowed and said, "Yes."
King Chen said calmly: "I ordered you to investigate before. Zhuang Ming, the two powerful men under his command, have been executed. But he himself took a fast horse and escaped from Yaocheng. Where did he go?"
The man in black hurriedly responded: "When Zhuang Ming escaped from Yaocheng, I ordered the masters around me who are good at tracing traces to check his whereabouts, but there is no report yet."
King Chen said slowly: "Although Zhuang Ming has great wisdom and plans, and although the city is heavy, but after losing two powerful martial arts masters, he himself is only a weak and disabled body, so he cannot escape far."
The man in black responded: "As the prince said, he definitely can't escape."
King Chen nodded slightly.
Master Zhao looked complicated, but did not speak.
But his eyes fell on the people kneeling on the ground in front of King Chen.
These people were clearly the former managers of Zhuang's Trading Company, but were later instigated by Song Tianyuan to rebel, or even ordered by Song Tianyuan to enter Zhuang's Trading Company.
Later, he was found out by Zhuang's Trading Company, and the evidence of the crime was verified and sent to the government.
Mr. Zhao originally wanted to punish these people severely and get rid of these people, but he didn't know that King Chen came to Huai'an to take office within a few days and transferred these people.
And now these people have been transferred out by King Chen and are treated with great courtesy.
Because these people are too familiar with Zhuang's Trading Company, they will be of great use whether they want to investigate Zhuang's Trading Company or forge evidence of crimes therein.
This time, in order to be more secure, King Chen wanted to create evidence in Zhuang's trading firm that Zhuang Ming had already committed treason.
"You have been in Zhuang's Trading Company for many years and are quite familiar with Zhuang Ming. Do you have any ideas about his whereabouts?"
King Chen looked coldly and looked at the stewards.
The stewards looked at each other and then saw Steward Sun take a step forward.
"My lord, Zhuang Ming is a man of great resourcefulness and ruthlessness. He destroyed the sacred object dedicated to the emperor and assassinated you. He also ordered his men to openly resist the law and kill the soldiers of the imperial court. He knew that he was destined to die."
"And the villa where he stayed at Zhongwang Mountain not long ago is also known to everyone."
"With his intelligence, he must have imagined that the government would not only seal down his business, but would also send troops to encircle and suppress Zhongwangshan."
At this point, Manager Sun hesitated for a moment, then continued: "According to the villain's speculation, I am afraid that Zhuang Ming will not return to Zhongwang Mountain, but will find another way and escape for his life."
King Chen nodded slightly, feeling that it made sense.
Mr. Zhao also thinks the same way.
The industry of Zhuang's Trading Company is certainly important.
But now for Zhuang's Trading Company, this is a doomed situation.
Zhuang Ming was not a stupid person. He knew that he had no way to save his life, so he could no longer be buried with Zhuang's firm.
As a superior person, Zhuang Ming would definitely choose to give up his family fortune to save his life.
"The so-called cunning rabbit has three dens. Zhuang Ming's city must have more than one lair."
King Chen secretly thought: "The Qianlong Villa in Zhongwang Mountain is only on the surface, but it may not be possible to find clues starting from Zhongwang Mountain."
He just considered that Zhuang Ming was missing and wanted to find clues from Zhongwang Mountain, so he only sent troops to surround him and did not order the massacre yet.
If you are surrounded but not attacked, people will be in panic.
After a while, people's hearts collapsed.
If there is internal chaos, someone will want to sacrifice the villa to survive. There are many things that can be thought of, and it will be easy.
In addition, there is another point that is very important.
Because in his eyes, the villa on Zhongwang Mountain has belonged to him, King Chen.
Therefore, it is best for the villa to remain intact without being attacked.
——
Zhongding Mansion.
Outside Yaocheng.
The scholar rubbed his eyebrows, looking troubled.
"teacher……"
"..."
"That Mr. Thirteen robbed the Divine Stone earlier, what should we do?"
"What else can we do? Chase him first and see what's going on."
"Aren't you always able to predict the general trend?" The scholar was speechless and said, "Why didn't you calculate such variables?"
"The reason why variables are variables is because they can't see through... I can't see through this person. Who knew he could be so decisive and determined to rob him on the spot?"
Originally, both the master and the disciple were already in ambush outside Yaocheng.
King Chen ordered people to escort the sacred stone and strictly guard it all the way. It was only when he arrived at Zhongding Mansion that he relaxed a little.
Therefore, the two masters and apprentices have been setting up many traps and traps outside Yao City for more than two days, preparing to create chaos when the sacred stone is sent out of Yao City, and use the power of the bronze mirror to take advantage of the chaos to steal the sacred stone.
This opportunity is rare, don't miss it, and it will never come back.
King Chen has 50,000 Zhennan troops in his hands, and he has sent additional men to receive the sacred stone.
When the two armies converge, there will be no hope of capturing it.
Unexpectedly, Zhuang Ming came out of nowhere?
"This person must have noticed something special about the sacred stone."
The voice in the bronze mirror was full of complexity and said: "It is said that there are rumors in Huai'an that this person is very deep in the city. He makes decisions before acting. He is cautious and cautious, and never takes risks... I never thought that when the opportunity comes, he can really make a decision without any hesitation.
Don’t hesitate, if he didn’t have such courage, the sacred stone would belong to us.”
The scholar hesitated and said: "Let's take a look now? If he is killed by King Chen, we may be able to take advantage of the chaos and find an opportunity..."
——
"Report! Your Majesty, we have found the whereabouts of Zhuang Ming."
Everyone present, whether it was King Chen, Mr. Zhao, or those in charge, were all astonished.
This Zhuang Ming, knowing that the imperial court would definitely send troops to Zhongwang Mountain, did he still return to Zhongwang Mountain?
Could it be that because he knew he had no chance of survival, he was so disheartened that he simply gave up on absconding and returned to Zhongwang Mountain to wait for death?
But this is not like Zhuang Ming's behavior.
"Is the news confirmed to be true?"
"Definitely!"
"good!"
King Chen showed murderous intent on his face.
He didn't care what Zhuang Ming's purpose was, but he returned to the villa in Zhongwang Mountain to wait for death.
But this time, he will definitely cut Zhuang Ming into pieces with a thousand swords!
"I don't care why you want to destroy the divine object, and I don't care why you want to die in your lair."
"But since you want to die, I will send you on your way."
——
Huai'an, Fengcheng.
Zhongwang Mountain, Qianlong Villa.
At sunset, Zhuang Ming returned here alone.
When everyone saw this, they felt incredible.
The young master who usually looks spotless in his white clothes is now disheveled and dusty, looking quite embarrassed.
Moreover, the two adults, Qian Yang and Yin Ming, who had always followed the young master, did not follow him.
The young master's face was extremely pale. He just ordered the villa to be closed, and hurriedly ordered people to help him back to his room. He also ordered no one to disturb him, and he has not shown up yet.
However, just an hour after the young master returned, troops began to gather at the foot of the mountain, tens of thousands of them, all elite soldiers.
"At the bottom of the mountain is the Zhennan Army."
Bai Qing looked solemn and said in a low voice: "The most elite troops from the Sixteenth House of Huai'an appeared at the foot of the mountain. Within a quarter of an hour, they surrounded Qianlong Villa. It has been nearly an hour, but there has been no movement yet."
There was a person next to him who whispered: "Just now, when Governor Zhou saw what was going on, he went down the mountain to explore the situation. He wanted to talk to the commander of the Zhennan Army and inquire about his purpose... He was shot to death with an arrow within thirty steps of going out, and his body was still there. There, I couldn’t get it back.”
Bai Qing's expression changed, and he said in a low voice: "The person who came here is not good."
The man next to him hesitated and said: "The young master came back this time, not as calmly as before. He looked quite embarrassed. He hurried back to his room and hasn't left yet. In addition, the two adults, Qian Yang and Yin Ming, have not returned with the young master." …”
Bai Qing took a deep breath and whispered: "After the young master returned, within an hour, the Zhennan Army surrounded the foot of the mountain. The people who came were not good. Although they surrounded and did not attack, those who stepped out of the villa did not ask a word. Killed with one arrow."
Everyone around looked at each other in confusion.
They were all the men who, following Zhuang Ming's orders, intercepted and killed the people of the government, plundered the property of the government, burned the weapons shop, and poisoned the war horses the previous time.
These days, they have been recuperating at Qianlong Villa, apparently to recuperate from their injuries.
In fact, there is a sense of being restricted here to avoid leaks of information.
"Judging from the current situation, could it be that what happened that day has already happened?"
The young man just now hesitated and said: "The government has obtained the evidence and sent troops to encircle and suppress us?"
Following this sentence, he suddenly fell silent.
Others around him also fell silent.
The atmosphere became extremely silent for a moment.
Bai Qing frowned. Among the people present, he had the highest martial arts skills and the highest status.
He knew in his heart that the last time he was ordered to do something treacherous, it showed that these people were loyal to Zhuang's trading company.
However, the previous action was done secretly, and the master planned and prepared the finishing touches. Although he narrowly escaped death, he was not without a way out.
But this time, the government troops pressed on the border.
This is a dead-end situation.
Even a dead soldier is not a dead person.
Between life and death, people's hearts are in turmoil.
At this moment, they are trapped in a certain death situation, and it is inevitable that they still have complicated thoughts.