Chapter 19: The Assassin

  Wan County, the rear courtyard of the county government office.

  Zhou Liang hastily rushed into the study and handed a letter to Zhou Shang, "Sir, this is a letter sent by the second master."

  Zhou Shang was stunned for a moment, his face showing a puzzled expression. He took the letter, broke the wax seal, and pulled out the contents. As he scanned the lines, his face suddenly turned very ugly, and his eyes almost spat fire.

  Zhou Liang's heart skipped a beat, and he didn't know what had happened.

  "Bang!"

  Zhou Shang was stunned for a long time before he came back to his senses, and with a loud slap on the table, his raging anger could no longer be suppressed. He burst into furious rage: "You ungrateful son, you've gone completely mad! How did I give birth to such a beast?"

  "Old Master, has something happened to the young master?"

  Zhou Shang's face turned blue with rage as he said, "This disobedient and unfilial beast, this time when he went to the capital Luoyang, not only did he curry favor with the eunuch Zhang Rang, but was also recommended by the eunuch as a brilliant talent, and even bought his way into becoming the county magistrate of our own county. This unfilial son has been well-behaved since childhood, and usually doesn't have any disobedient behavior, if not for second brother's clear words, I wouldn't dare to believe it."

  "What?"

  "Ah... how can this be..."

  Zhou Shang gritted his teeth and said, "You immediately send someone to fetch him back for me. If he doesn't come, then consider that I have never given birth to this son, from now on he will no longer be a member of the Zhou family."

  "Old master, think thrice! The young master is a rare talent. Even if he has made mistakes, he should be given a chance to repent. If we expel him from the clan like this, it will ruin his life!"

  Zhou Shang's face was uncertain, and he remained silent for a long time.

  What Zhou Liang said is right, Zhou Jian not only his eldest son, but also his most outstanding son. If it weren't for being forced to do so, how would he be willing to expel Zhou Jian from the clan?

  For a young man of the Wang clan, being expelled from the clan is a great unfilial crime.

  With such a heavy crime on his back, he's done for life, losing his official position is nothing.

  Zhou hesitated for a long time, then let out a deep sigh. In the end, he couldn't bring himself to do it and waved his hand listlessly. "Send someone to see that rebellious son of mine and tell him I'm letting him come back. If he doesn't come, then don't ever come back again."

  Zhou Liang's lips moved slightly, but in the end he didn't say anything and responded with a "yes" before retreating.

  My hometown is in the suburbs.

  In front of a simple earth-shed, hundreds of refugees with tattered clothes and pale faces supported each other, holding children, forming a long queue waiting to receive grain.

  Under the eaves of the workshop, dozens of minor officials were busy with sweat dripping from their foreheads, without even having time to wipe it off.

  The court is unjust, and the disaster extends to the people. Many families are broken, and people are scattered and lost.

  Zhou Jian ordered people to set up sheds outside the city, open granaries and distribute food. After the news of settling refugees spread, hundreds of refugees who had nothing to eat came on the first day, and the number was still increasing.

  Zhou Jian stood outside the shed, looking at these refugees who were even worse off than beggars, and sighed in his heart.

  No matter when, the most bitter are these poor people. They are the creators of wealth and producers of food, contributing their labor to the luxurious life of the ruling class. However, the ruling class does not give them a way out, and in the end, they are forced to have no way out, and can only flee with their families to other places. It is indeed that when the country prospers, the people suffer, and when it perishes, the people also suffer.

  What I can do is, on the premise of not affecting the overall situation, try my best to give them a way out.

  To thoroughly change the current situation, the only way is to own the whole world; otherwise, it can only be treating the symptoms but not the root cause.

  Zhou Jian put away the pity in his heart and turned to ask Cheng Kang, who was standing beside him, "How many ownerless good fields are there in the county?"

  Cheng Kang hastily replied, "Reporting to the official, there are less than two mu of excellent unowned fertile land, eight mu of secondary land, and thirty mu of arable wasteland. However, since it has been deserted for a long time, I'm afraid the harvest will not be good in the first year of cultivation."

  Zhou Jian asked again, "How many refugees can be resettled?"

  Cheng Kang replied: "At most, we can accommodate a thousand people."

  Zhou Jian furrowed his brow and said: "Our mountainous region is vast, how can there be only this little land?"

  Cheng Kang hesitated for a moment and stammered: "Th...this..."

  Zhou Jian waved his hand with a bad expression, his tone leaving no room for doubt, "This official doesn't care what method you use, but at least squeeze out 500 hectares of arable land and resettle at least 10,000 refugees."

  "This..."

  Cheng Kang lost his voice and said: "Where can I find 500 hectares of good land?"

  Zhou Jian suddenly turned his head and said sternly, "What's wrong? Got a problem?"

  Cheng Kang's face turned red and his neck thickened, he just wanted to argue, but facing Zhou Jian's cold and stern gaze, he couldn't help but shiver slightly, the words that reached his lips got stuck in his throat, and he couldn't say anything else.

  Zhou Jian said sternly, "Go find those big landowners and tell them that I, the official, have spoken. Let them contribute at least 500 hectares of good land according to the proportion. If they dare not contribute, I, the official, will not hesitate to investigate their illegal activities over the years. I really don't believe that any of these landowners and local tyrants have a clean butt."

  Cheng Kang's heart was chilled, and his lips trembled as he couldn't utter a word.

  Wanted to persuade, but was shocked by Zhou Jian's frightening gaze, and felt a wave of weakness all over his body.

  Zhou Jian waved his hand, and Cheng Kang was like a prisoner who had just received a pardon, hastily wiping away cold sweat as he retreated.

  Zhou Wu said at this time: "Young master, these refugees have hundreds of people, but the strong and healthy men under 30 are less than 50. Wanting to recruit a thousand people might be quite difficult."

  Zhou Jian said, "It's okay to have a few less people, but the age cannot be relaxed. The physical function of those who are too old has already declined and they can't withstand high-intensity training. It's better to have fewer people than to affect combat effectiveness, which is in line with the strategy of having a small but elite army."

  Zhou Wu nodded and said, "I'll go select people right away."

  Zhou Jian waved his hand and Zhou Wu immediately strode away with big steps.

  Late at night, the backyard of the county government office.

  Zhou Jian changed out of his official uniform and put on a tight-fitting short jacket. He practiced some boxing moves before returning to his room to rest.

  The night grew deeper and the lights in the county town had all gone out.

  Zhou Jian lay on the couch, his breathing even, and had already fallen asleep.

  Suddenly, Zhou Jian's eyes snapped open, his dark pupils shining like two cold stars in the darkness, emitting a startlingly sharp light, but his body didn't move at all, still lying on the bed.

  In the darkness, a black figure nimbly climbed over the wall and slipped into the county yamen.

  This black figure held a short blade, wore a short jacket, and didn't cover his face, he was extremely bold. After flipping into the inner courtyard of the county government office, he rushed to the east wing where the county magistrate usually lived, preparing to break in.

  At this moment, the black shadow suddenly stopped and its pupils suddenly contracted.

  In the darkness, a gleaming short knife came slashing over, swift as a shooting star or lightning.

  Hei Ying's heart skipped a beat, no time to dodge, the short blade followed the momentum and swept up, blocking the incoming short knife.

  Right!

  The shrill sound of clashing steel pierced through the quiet night sky.

  Hei Ying's sudden exertion was insufficient, and he stumbled backward three steps, his right arm numb and aching, exhausted and unable to catch his breath. Suddenly, his heart was filled with shock and alarm, for he had not expected the county yamen to have such a formidable figure.

  Before he could react, a follower had already silently pounced on him, swinging his sword to slash.

  Hei Ying didn't have time to think carefully and hastily held his knife to meet them, and a fight broke out in the courtyard with his followers.

  Twenty followers have been trained by Zhou Jian since childhood, personally teaching martial arts, tempering muscles and bones. Under the hellish training, they were already trained to be cold-blooded killing machines. When dealing with enemies, there would be no idle chatter, let alone tedious introductions.

  Soon, Hei Ying was killed and sweating profusely, San He Yi Guo, and even more so, surrounded by ominous signs, left and right awkward.

  Wanting to break free and run away, but being tied up tightly, completely unable to escape.

  Among the twenty followers, Zhou Wu's strength was the strongest, but others were not far behind. The night watchman's eyes were cold and emotionless, only wielding his knife to attack, every move fatal.

  The dark shadow actually managed to hold on for ten rounds. However, his luck ended there.

  Ten moves in one go, following a fierce slash that swept away the black shadow's short blade, cutting straight at the black shadow's calf and neck.

  "Seize the day."

  Just then, Zhou Jian's cold and stern voice came from the east wing, saving Hei Ying's life.

  With a swift turn of his wrist, he retracted more than half of his strength and struck the black figure's neck with the back of his knife.

  "Ah!"

  In a shrill and mournful cry, the black shadow was knocked to the ground, clutching its neck and wailing.

  With a creak, the door opened and Zhou Jian walked out wearing a tight-fitting jacket. He glanced with interest at the dark figure covering its neck and screaming loudly. With the faint starlight, he could barely make out that the dark figure was a man in his twenties.

  The attendants who lived in the backyard of the county government had already woken up and, hearing the sound of the gate opening, also ordered the door to be opened and surrounded the house on all sides.

  Zhou Wu stepped forward and asked, "Young master, how should we deal with this person?"

  Zhou Jian took a few steps forward, looked the man up and down, and asked coldly: "Who are you? Why do you want to rush into the county government office to assassinate?"

  Han's mournful cry suddenly stopped, and a thread of extremely cruel light flowed out from his ferocious eyes. He suddenly jumped up from the ground, with a dagger already in hand, slashing towards Zhou Jian's throat like lightning, and laughed savagely: "You dog official go to death."

  Twenty attendants did not move and no one made a sound.

  "Looking for death!"

  Zhou Jian's face turned cold, and a chilling glint flashed in his eyes as he swiftly grabbed the man's wrist that was holding the blade. With a sudden burst of force, he jerked it violently, and amidst the cracking sounds, the man who had just started to get violent let out another blood-curdling scream.

  "Crack!"

  Zhou Jian grabbed Hanzi's left arm and pulled it with force, dislocating his left shoulder joint.

  "You corrupt official, may you die a terrible death."

  The man's face was twisted in a fierce scowl as he let out a loud roar, his voice echoing far into the night, but beads of sweat the size of beans were seeping out on his face, clearly suffering from immense pain.

  "Are you here to assassinate me?"

  The man cursed loudly: "I'd kill you, you corrupt official, if I could."

  Zhou Wu and others showed anger on their faces, but Zhou Jian didn't say a word. They also didn't make a sound, so they could only glare at each other in anger.

  Zhou Jian smiled faintly and said, "With just this little trick of yours, you dare to come and assassinate me? Although I don't dare compare myself to the bravery of a hegemon, with people like you, even if hundreds or thousands came, I'm confident I can kill them all without leaving a single piece of armor intact."

  The man's eyes widened in shock and he was speechless for a long time.

  Just thinking of how I was overpowered earlier, and had my sharp blade taken away by this corrupt official with such ease, and my arms were disabled. In his hands, I seemed like a three-year-old child, without any ability to resist at all, and couldn't help but feel disheartened and demoralized.

  Zhou Jian's face was cold and stern, he asked: "I'll give you two options, surrender or die?"

  The man took a deep breath and gritted his teeth, asking: "What's the way down?"

  Zhou said coldly: "If you want to surrender and serve under me, then dying won't be that easy. I'll make it hard for you to even think about death."

  The Han general hunted for half a day before hanging his head in defeat and saying: "I surrender."

  Zhou Jian glanced at Zhou Wu and said, "I'm leaving him in your hands, discipline him well."

  Zhou Wu responded with a sound and immediately went forward to lift up Hanzi and took him away.