Chapter 9: The Avenging Blade (Revised Edition!)

  Bai An died, his body was hacked to pieces and covered in blood.

  Xiaode's naturally is Duo Duo, Xiao Yatou madly used a horizontal knife to chop and kick, Zheng Yanqing stood aside and did not stop him.

  He knew that Duoduo was in a state of frenzy after being frightened.

  If it's not properly vented, who knows what kind of consequences will occur.

  After Doudou finished venting, Zheng Yance picked up Pei An's clothes from the ground and put them on Doudou. However, Doudou immediately threw off the clothes and curled up at the edge of the bed, sobbing softly.

  "Duo Duo, put your clothes on, don't catch a chill!"

  Yan Qing took off his own clothes and put them on Duo Duo's body.

  This time, Duo didn't throw it away again. With both hands grasping her collar, her face was pale and still had tears on it. The gentle beauty of the pear blossom in the rain was completely different from her usual spiritedness. Yan Qing's heart ached, and he couldn't help but step forward and tightly hug Duo.

  Originally wanted to take advantage of the Lunar New Year's Eve to look for some evidence.

  But after the end of the ancestor worship, Yan Qing found that Duo Duo had not returned yet, while Pei An was nowhere to be seen. Zheng Chang and Wang Jingwen were both there, but Pei An was gone... Yan Qing immediately felt a bad premonition, so he made an excuse to come and check.

  If it's any later, Duoduo's innocence will be gone.

  Don't look at the little girl's usual loud and carefree appearance, actually she is very fragile.

  "Duo Duo is not afraid, the bad guy is already dead."

  Embracing Xiao Yaotou, Yan Qing didn't have any thoughts.

  After all, Dodo is still a little kid in his eyes. He doesn't have pedophilia, nor is he a weird uncle, except for heartache, how could there be other thoughts? However, just now when Pei An bullied Dodo, Yan Qing really got angry!

  After a while, Duo finally calmed down.

  "The words celebrate, evidence has been found."

  It was as if in an instant, Duoduo had grown up. They no longer addressed Yanqing as "Little Scholar" but instead called him by his name directly.

  From Pei An's clothes, Zheng Yanqing found that small booklet and a bronze tiger head token.

  On the token, it was written "Bingzhou Cao Pei". It seemed to be Pei An's waist token. Bingzhou represented the location, and 'Cao' represented the official position. As for what kind of official position? Yan Qing wasn't clear yet. Because there were many types of Cao officials, it was also difficult to distinguish clearly.

  And on that register were written many names.

  There's the Cui family, the Lu family, and the Zheng family... Most of the names are unfamiliar to Yan Qing. But the three words "Zheng Shan Yuan" gave Yan Qing a shock. Isn't this Zheng Shan Yuan the son of Zheng Yi, the head of the Xingyang Zheng clan?

  At the time of the struggle for the crown prince, he stood on the wrong team.

  Emperor Yang of Sui did not blame him but instead created his two brothers as dukes.

  What's going on with Zheng Shan Yuan again?

  This guy seems to be unable to stand in line properly and has lined up in the wrong team again!

  "What's going on now? How can we change it?"

  Looking at the messy room, the bloody and mangled body, and the bloodstained floor, Duo Duo started to panic.

  What was originally just a reconnaissance ended up with loss of life, this is absolutely no small matter.

  How to end it?

  Even if they were clever and resourceful in their daily lives, they didn't know what to do for the better.

  Actually, Yan Qing is also considering this matter.

  If he had only obtained the name list, he would have many ways to deal with it and wouldn't put himself on stage to face the storm. But now that someone is dead, and it's confirmed that the deceased was a person of Han Wang Yang, things are not easy to handle.

  Now Wang Jingwen is outside, and when he comes back and finds out what's going on here, he will react immediately.

  Wait for him to run back to Taiyuan, even if there is a name list, it's useless... The top priority now is to control Wang Jingwen and Zheng Chang. But this way, he himself may be pushed to the forefront, which is not what he wants.

  After weighing it for a long time, Yan Qing clenched his teeth and made up his mind.

  If I were to be implicated, with Zheng Shian around, there would be much less trouble.

  But if Dodo is also implicated, she and her mother are originally hiding their names, they may face life-threatening danger.

  In this world, I have no friends of my own.

  Duoduo is the only one! No matter what her original intention was, she taught herself the Dragon Subduing Technique. After several years, this feeling cannot be erased. Right, can't let Xu's mother and others get involved, take everything on oneself.

  "Duo Duo, hurry back home and pretend nothing happened."

  "Huh?"

  "I have my own way of dealing with this matter."

  Zheng Yanqing smiled and said in a low voice, "It's just killing someone, it doesn't count as anything. I believe the old master won't blame you either."

  "But..."

  "Alright, stop arguing with me, go back quietly."

  Unconsciously, Zheng Yance used a commanding tone. As he commanded, he picked up the green jade dagger from the ground and handed it to Dudu. Although Zheng Yance was several years younger than Dudu, once he became serious, Dudu felt an intangible fear. Not daring to say anything else, she nodded her head and secretly slipped out of the room.

  Yan Qing took two deep breaths and calmed himself down.

  He picked up a small horizontal knife and walked forward, cutting the corpse of Pei An several more times.

  He took the waist card and the flower name book, turned around and walked out of the room.

  At this time, Anyuan Hall was in a state of uproar.

  A rare opportunity for everyone to gather together and drink freely.

  Zheng Das seems to be very happy, sitting in the main seat of the central hall, clinking glasses with his relatives. Zheng Chang is below him, and Wang Jingwen sits beside Zheng Chang, looking very relaxed. Zheng Das's face is flushed red, and he is in high spirits.

  Zheng Shi'an hastily walked in from outside and quickly came to Zheng Da's side.

  He looked tense and whispered in Zheng Da's ear.

  Zheng Da Shi first had a smile on his face, but his complexion suddenly changed, and he nodded slightly.

  "It's all right, go and arrange it."

  "It's all arranged."

  "Everyone, something unexpected has come up in the mansion. I'll be right back," Zheng Dashe said loudly as he stood up and excused himself.

  "Oh, Zheng Chang, you're about to take over all the family affairs soon, come with me then."

  Zheng Changzheng got drunk and excited, but heard some unpleasant news.

  "What's wrong, big brother?"

  "Oh, it's Ren Ji who has sent someone from Chang'an, there's something important to discuss."

  Zheng Chang heard this and knew he couldn't refuse, so he stood up.

  "Old Wang, come with me."

  As Zheng Chang's confidant, Wang Jingwen followed him to make plans and strategies, which was also acceptable. Zheng Dashi furrowed his brow, seemingly somewhat dissatisfied. But he didn't stop, leading Zheng Shi'an, stepped out of the hall. Zheng Chang and Wang Jingwen closely followed behind.

  A group of people passed through the alley and soon arrived in the backyard.

  From a distance, Zheng Yanqing was seen kneeling at the bottom of the back hall steps with his head bowed, his body still stained with blood, looking very disheveled.

  "Big brother, what's going on with Xing Qing?"

  Nothing, just made a mistake... Sometimes making mistakes is not scary, what's scary is making mistakes and not realizing it.

  Zheng Dashan didn't even look at Zheng Yanqing and walked into the back hall.

  Zheng Changze was puzzled and didn't quite understand what Zheng Dasan meant by his previous sentence.

  It was Wang Jingwen who felt something was not quite right.

  He turned around to look back, only to find Zheng Shi'an leading a group of people, following closely behind him, and had already cut off his escape route.

  As soon as I entered the back hall, I saw a naked corpse on the ground.

  Zheng Chang didn't recognize the naked corpse at first, just felt something was off. This wasn't surprising, Pei An's body had been mutilated by Zheng Yanqing and Duo Duo to the point of being unrecognizable. If there were clothes on the body it would be slightly better, but now... Zheng Chang hadn't recognized him, Wang Jingwen vaguely sensed that something was wrong, yet also didn't recognize the corpse as Pei An.

  "Brother, do you recognize this corpse?"

  Zheng Dashi sat down, looked at Zheng Chang and asked with a smile.

  Zheng Shi'an led two rows of clan warriors into the back hall, lining up on both sides.

  Zheng Chang woke up from his drunkenness! He also sensed that the atmosphere was a bit eerie.

  However, he still pretended to be nonchalant and shook his head slightly: "Don't know, big brother said the Renji faction people are back, what's going on with this corpse?"

  *sigh*...

  Zheng Daqi let out a sigh and stopped paying attention to Zheng Chang, his gaze falling on Wang Jingwen's body. "This brother of mine, usually looks stupid and silly, but when it comes to the crucial moment, he always gets confused. He can't recognize you, how about you? Can you recognize him? Mr. Wang Jingwen... oh no, maybe I should call you Wang Yan instead, is that right, Mr. Wang Yan?"

  Wang Jingwen's face suddenly turned very unsightly.

  "You are not a Yangzhou native either, although you have a Yangzhou accent, presumably because you were born in Yangzhou."

  After Wang Sengbian was killed by Chen Baxian that year, the descendants of Wang Sengbian were taken away by the people of the Taizong Wang clan.

  Hehe, Wang Xianzhi had two sons. The second son, Wang Huan, was once a Guozijiang doctor, but later he was banished to Lingnan for some reason and never heard from again. But I know that Wang Huan later became the military advisor of the Han King, who relied on him as his think tank and listened to his plans. I find it strange that a humble housekeeper like him could come and go freely in the Guan Shui Pavilion, drinking and chatting with Cui Jingmao?

  It wasn't until later that I found out the butler my brother brought back was actually the famous Mr. Bóguò, how embarrassing!

  Wang Hu, the second son of Wang Xianzhi, was fond of traveling and adventure in his youth. After the age of twenty, he studied literature, recited the Five Classics, enjoyed reading various philosophers' theories, and preferred to read unofficial histories and miscellaneous notes. Therefore, people of that time called him "Mr. Polymath", which originated from this.

  Wang You calmed down instead and was no longer panicked.

  "Since Zheng Dajia has already inquired about my background and made her choice."

  I thought with Second Master's protection, Zheng would not pay attention to me, but unexpectedly... So this corpse is Old Pei."

  Zheng Dashen threw his waist card on the ground, "Pingzhou Cao Pei?"

  "This is Pei Wengan, the military affairs officer of Bianzhou Governor's Office." Wang Yan was very straightforward and answered every question without hesitation or evasion.

  Zheng Daqi sighed, "Mr. Wang, do you think that the Crown Prince would not have noticed Han Wang's actions? Although the King of Yue is not good at governing, he has a grasp on every move Han Wang makes. At the beginning of the year, Han Wang requested to recruit soldiers and horses in Taiyuan, but the King of Yue did not refute it. It's not that he didn't know, but because he already had a countermeasure."

  Yuanguo Gong refers to Yang Su.

  Yang Su was suspected of being arrogant and overbearing at the beginning of the year, which made Emperor Wen of Sui gradually estranged from him and even reduced his power. However, Yang Su didn't mind at all and showed no dissatisfaction. But in private, he became closer to the crown prince.

  Wang Junyi had always thought highly of himself, but he didn't expect to face Yang Su and was powerless to resist.

  He let out a bitter laugh, "Wen An is dead. I suppose Zheng Dajia has already informed the Duke of Yue, but I don't know what will become of me?"

  "Don't worry, King Yue doesn't want you dead."

  Zheng Dashou completely ignored Zheng Chang, and said in a low voice: "On the contrary, King Yue of the State of Yue attaches great importance to you, Mr. Wang, knowing that your talent is extraordinary, so he let me handle it at my discretion. Mr. Wang, I have a good relationship with your brother, so I won't make things difficult for you either. However, since you've already come here, it's unlikely that you can leave now. My brother's family is still in Taiyuan, and I also need to consider them... How about this: just stay here, and let's pretend nothing has happened?"

  "You want me..."

  "Heh heh, you know, I know, everyone in this hall is my trusted subordinate, so you don't need to worry about leaking any information."

  "Outside, Second Brother is still in charge of An Yuan Tang's affairs. As for you, just write a letter back every now and then, that's all."

  Wang You's face twitched and he fell silent.

  He certainly understood Zheng Dashen's meaning: Counter-espionage!

  "Mr. Wang, you need to be clear about one thing."

  "If I don't help you suppress this matter, and the Duke of Yuan reports it to the imperial court, with the emperor's temperament, how can he tolerate the Han King's behavior? However, the emperor won't take away the Han King's title, after all, they are flesh and blood. But as for you, Mr. Wang, your brother, your clansmen, including the entire Taiyuan Wang family, I'm afraid you will all be implicated and suffer an unjust disaster."

  Zheng Dashan's words were neither warm nor cold, but they made Wang Yun break out in a cold sweat.

  After a while, he suddenly sighed and said, "Since Master Zheng loves Wang so much, how can Wang dare to disobey?"

  The young masters of a noble family fear most bringing calamity upon their clan.

  As long as the family is there, he has a chance; but if it's like Zheng Das said, dragging down all the clansmen, I'm afraid there will be no more opportunities to rise again. After all, the Wang family is not small, but it has already declined and can't compare with the strength of the Zheng family.

  Zheng Dash smiled slightly and said to Zheng Shian: "Shi'an, take Mr. Wang down and settle him properly, don't be negligent."

  He finished speaking and waved his hand for Zheng Chang to stand up.

  "Sit aside and don't speak."

  From now on, you can just accompany me to chat and drink. In name, you are still in charge of family affairs, but nothing is allowed to be asked about. After a while, I will find a way to bring over your younger brother and sister, and let you all reunite."

  Zheng Dashen was cold and indifferent towards Zheng Chang, his tone even somewhat chilly.

  Zheng Chang didn't dare show any dissatisfaction and sat down beside him with a dejected look, his previous spirited expression gone.

  "Let Yan Qing come in."

  Zheng Dashan flipped through two pages of the flower register, shook his head in distress, and finally gave a bitter smile. He ordered his subordinate to let Zheng Yanqing come in.

  This child, although reckless, has a heart for the Zheng family and is indeed a promising talent.