Chapter 288: Assassination, Grasping the Week

The news of Zhao Zhen's rage soon spread throughout the capital.

At the same time, Wei Yuan and his party were heading to the southeast.

What's interesting is that, except for Lin Zhaoyuan, Chen Daniu, Guo Hao and a few followers, there are no Tiger Guards at all.

They did not take the water route to the southeast, but planned to go south along the way and enjoy the scenery in various places.

In the carriage, Wei Yuan sat upright with his eyes closed, giving people an unfathomable feeling.

He placed the imperial chariot at the Taihu Courtyard. First, he wanted to keep a low profile and not let others know. Otherwise, wherever he went, merchants and officials would come to pay him a visit.

Wei Yuan was tired of socializing.

Secondly, Xie Yuying, who is already close to him, can also accompany him in an ordinary carriage.

For example, at this moment, Xie Yuying sat obediently next to him without speaking, for fear of disturbing his rest.

Only when he has instructions, Xie Yuying will respond.

It's better to have a woman by your side than to be surrounded by a bunch of big men.

When everyone reached a dense forest, Chen Daniu, who was sitting on a tall horse, suddenly reined in the horse and frowned deeply.

And the horse under his crotch also neighed because it suddenly stopped walking.

Immediately afterwards, the carriage Wei Yuan was riding also stopped.

Xie Yuying asked curiously: "What's wrong?"

Wei Yuan slowly opened his eyes.

At this moment, many masked men in green clothes suddenly appeared from the trees around everyone.

The clothes on their bodies seemed to blend in with the leaves of the towering trees, making it difficult to notice.

"There's an assassin!"

Chen Daniu shouted and immediately pulled out the sharp blade in his hand.

Hearing this, Guo Hao dropped Zhao Jianjia and quickly walked out of the carriage he was riding in. He held the steel knife tightly in his hand and stood beside Wei Yuan's carriage.

In an instant, nearly twenty or thirty masked men also drew their weapons and surrounded Wei Yuan and his party.

Chen Daniu noticed that the weapons they used were scimitars. Liao warriors often used this sword, just like the knights of the Zhou Dynasty who were good at using swords.

"Liao scimitar? Are you from Liao?"

In the carriage, Wei Yuan, who was sitting as steady as a mountain, heard what Chen Daniu said and just said lightly, "Keep him alive."

Hearing this, Guo Hao bowed in response.

Xie Yuying was frightened and unconsciously sat closer to Wei Yuan.

The next moment, those twenty or thirty Liao warriors rushed towards Wei Yuan's carriage.

Chen Daniu got off his horse, held the steel sword in his hand, and rushed towards the warriors. After three strikes, five or two, several Liao warriors fell to the ground.

"It seems they are all practicing practitioners!"

Chen Daniu was amazed. It takes a certain amount of energy and money to train so many masters.

Although those Liao warriors were good at martial arts, they were still far behind the battle-hardened Chen Daniu.

Several warriors rushed to Wei Yuan's carriage, but they were all knocked down by Guo Hao.

Although Guo Hao's martial arts skills are not as good as Chen Daniu's, he is still capable of charging on the battlefield, and it is difficult for ordinary martial artists to get close to him.

Although he has held a high position over the years and has gradually lost his martial arts skills, he can still deal with the bandits in front of him.

However, what he didn't expect was that those Liao warriors had hidden arrows hidden in their sleeves, and they would shoot at the carriage whenever they had the chance.

At this moment, in the carriage, Wei Yuan was already concentrating on the external situation. When the arrow came rapidly, he stopped the arrow at a speed that was incomprehensible to ordinary people and held it in his hand.

When Xie Yuying saw the incoming arrow, she was already panicked and quickly stood in front of Wei Yuan, "Master Hou, be careful!"

Then, someone was felt standing on top of the carriage, causing the horses to scream in surprise.

It was Xu Changzhi who suddenly stood on top, waving a spear in his hand, blocking those hidden arrows for Wei Yuan, and blowing a military whistle.

Immediately afterwards, from the depths of the dense forest in all directions, the sound of galloping horse hooves could be heard.

It's Tiger Guard!

They have been secretly protecting Wei Yuan.

After the soldiers of the Manjia Battalion entered the scene, they almost killed all the Liao warriors in an instant, leaving only two alive.

However, when everyone was not paying attention, the two survivors suddenly committed suicide by taking poison.

Seeing this, Lin Zhaoyuan couldn't help but sigh to himself, "He's a dead soldier."

Guo Hao bowed towards the carriage and said, "Brother, all the thieves have been killed."

After hearing this, Wei Yuan, whose face showed no sign of panic from beginning to end, slowly got out of the carriage alone.

Having just experienced a fight, that kind of bloody scene was simply not something a woman like Xie Yuying could bear.

After Wei Yuan got off the carriage, the soldiers of Manjia Battalion also gathered the bodies of the dead soldiers together.

Lin Zhaoyuan came to him, bowed and said: "Master Hou, judging from the weapons and hair accessories they use, they are indeed from the Liao people."

Liao people?

Wei Yuan walked to the corpses and couldn't help but sneer, "If you were from Liao and wanted to kill me, would you only send these twenty or thirty people?"

"The spies of the Liao Kingdom who are able to lurk in our great Zhou are not fools. They will not become suspicious when they see that the Tiger Guard is not with me?"

"Furthermore, if you are from Liao, you don't even hide your identity and come to assassinate me?"

Except when relations between various countries were extremely tense and Wei Yuan was in Daizhou, he would encounter some bandits who wanted to assassinate him.

In addition, in all these years of holding a high position, this is the first time that he has never encountered an assassin.

Lin Zhaoyuan suddenly said: "Master Hou is saying that someone hired a group of dead soldiers to frame the Liao Kingdom?"

Wei Yuan said seriously: "If their assassination is successful and the Liao people kill a marquis of the Zhou Dynasty, how can I, the Zhou Dynasty, let it go?"

"If their assassination fails, I will also blame the Liao people. Thinking about it, who do you think will benefit the most?"

Lin Zhaoyuan blurted out: "Xixia."

Wei Yuan nodded, "Li Liangzuo is good at it."

"Presumably Ye Luxin has arrived at Xingqing Mansion for a few days at this time, right? I don't know what kind of premeditations there are between Liao and Xia."

"What would Ye Luxin look like if he learned that I had been assassinated by the Liao people?"

Guo Hao stood behind him, "presumably wanting to accuse Xixia of stabbing him in the back."

Wei Yuan waved his hand, "Burn these corpses."

Then he returned to the carriage.

Lin Zhaoyuan followed his footsteps and asked: "Master Hou, is this the matter?"

Wei Yuan said: "What else should we do? We know clearly that it was Xixia, but all the evidence points to the Liao Kingdom. If we pursue the responsibility, wouldn't we be playing into the hands of Li Liangzuo?"

"What puzzles me is why Li Liangzuo chose to assassinate me at this time? Neither Yelu Xinxian nor the Liao Kingdom are fools."

"This Li Liangzuo's behavior is becoming more and more confusing to me. Unfortunately, the alienation plan failed to work on Li Liangzuo."

"I will write a letter about this matter and report it to the officials truthfully. As for what the court wants to do, let them do it."

Hearing this, Lin Zhaoyuan nodded, and immediately commanded the Tiger Guards to burn the corpses.

They had known in advance that an assassin was going to kill Wei Yuan.

Keeping the Tiger Guard away was part of their plan to lure the snake into its hole.

However, Lin Zhaoyuan was filled with confusion when he learned that the assassin wanted to assassinate Wei Yuan.

Logically speaking, shouldn’t this matter be kept top secret?

Why is it so easy to let yourself know?

Moreover, these dead men who seem to know that they must die but are willing to die are really strange——

Xixia, Xingqing Mansion, Li Liangzuo's home.

Ye Luxin had stayed here for a few days and almost visited Li Liangzuo's house. He became more and more curious and said:

"Brother Li's house was built according to the layout of Zhou people's houses. Considering Brother Li's status, it is really rare."

Li Liangzuo said with a smile: "The Zhou people were weak, but their culture was strong and worth learning from."

Yelu Xin first smiled and said: "Presumably at this moment, the dead soldiers I sent have already assassinated Wei Yuan."

Li Liangzuo asked: "Brother Yelu, do you think the assassination will be successful?"

Ye Luxin shook his head first and said, "Wei Yuan is an enemy of ten thousand people. A few assassins can hardly hurt him at all."

Hearing this, Li Liangzuo couldn't hide his disappointment.

Ye Luxin first said: "You and I conspired to assassinate Wei Yuan, but we did not intend to successfully assassinate him."

Li Liangzuo nodded, "The assassination of Wei Yuan was just an introduction. He never dreamed that the assassins you sent were really from Liao."

Ye Luxin laughed first and said: "Even if he believes that those assassins are Liao people, but everyone in the world is not a fool, how can I send Liao people to assassinate a high-ranking and powerful Marquis of Zhou?"

The two looked at each other and smiled, saying nothing.

The primer they talk about is actually a fuse, and this fuse will indirectly brew into a war.

If the Zhou Dynasty accused the Liao Kingdom of assassinating Wei Yuan, the Liao Kingdom would naturally ask them to provide evidence. However, if the identity of the assassins as Liao people was used as evidence, the Liao Kingdom would definitely accuse Zhou Kingdom of false accusation.

After all, if you really wanted to assassinate someone, why would you send a killer who could be directly associated with you?

Wouldn't it be better to send an irrelevant one?

If Dazhou said it was a killer sent by Xixia, then Xixia had every reason to say that this was a deliberate frame-up by Zhou.

The assassin is from Liao, what does it have to do with our Xixia people?

Therefore, no matter what Zhou did, it was a mistake.

And this mistake can be regarded as a reason to launch a war.

If the Zhou Kingdom turned a blind eye to this matter, then they would disperse Wei Yuan and be assassinated, but there was no news that the Zhou Dynasty court took this matter seriously.

Who is Wei Yuan? He enjoys a high status and prestige in the country, and is considered by many people of the Great Zhou Dynasty to be the backbone of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

He was assassinated and the court ignored him. In addition, he was dismissed from his official position. It was difficult for the people of the Zhou Dynasty not to think too much about him.

Once there is a hint of conspiracy, it means that there are unstable factors in the Zhou Dynasty.

This is why Li Liangzuo and the others regarded Wei Yuan as the target of assassination.

Success or failure doesn't matter.

This was a conspiracy, and even Wei Yuan, Wu Xun, who felt that war was coming at any time, never realized it.

Even if the scholar-bureaucrats in the Great Zhou Dynasty were like human beings, they would still be unpredictable.

Moreover, the conspiracy itself has no solution.

As long as Dazhou makes any statement on this matter, he will be led by the Liao and Xia countries, and eventually fall into the quagmire of war.

From the current point of view, Wei Yuan, the fuse, is very 'qualified'.

——

In the seventh year of Jiayou's reign, it was early July.

Bianjing, the residence of Zhongyong Hou.

Zhang Fu and his wife, Wei Shuyi and his wife, Wei Ruyi and his wife, as well as Chang Geer, Mu Geer, Minglan and others were all talking and laughing in a very spacious room.

Except for Wei Yuan, almost all the close relatives of the Wei family in the capital were invited.

Without him, it’s just because today is Brother Zhuang and Sister Jing’s Zhou Zhou ceremony.

This is an extremely important part of the first birthday ceremony for two children.

First, as the eldest sister, Sister Jing catches Zhou.

At this moment, Sister Jing was sitting peacefully on the wide bed.

Many relatives around her were watching her.

After a while, the maid brought seals, Confucian, Buddhist and Taoist scriptures, pens, ink, paper, inkstones, abacus, coins, account books, jewelry, flowers, rouge, food, cooking utensils, embroidery utensils, etc.

Zhang Guifen personally placed these items around Sister Jing.

At the same time, Minglan and others began to discuss,

"I wonder what Sister Jing can catch?"

"Sister Jing has always been very peaceful. Maybe she will catch some scriptures? Will she be a knowledgeable and reasonable woman in the future?"

"Hey, no, why did aunt put a wooden sword?"

"."

Hearing the sound, everyone couldn't help but become confused.

Zhang Fu frowned and said: "Sister Jing is a girl, what are you doing with a wooden sword?"

Even Mrs. Zhang reprimanded Zhang Guifen, "It's okay that you liked to dance with knives and sticks since you were a child. Don't raise my granddaughter bad. She will be a talented woman in the future."

Zhang Guifen didn't care what the two elders said, "Father, mother, and daughter just want Sister Jing to live her life as she wants. If she really catches the wooden sword, why not let her become a female general in the future?"

Mrs. Zhang glared at her, "Nonsense!"

As a gesture, he had to take away the wooden swords placed around Sister Jing.

However, at this moment, Minglan suddenly pointed at Sister Jing on the bed and exclaimed: "Look, my sister is moving."

The words just fell.

I saw Sister Jing crawling slowly towards the Confucian classic "The Book of Songs".

Everyone was subconsciously concentrating, not daring to make the slightest move for fear of disturbing Sister Jing's thoughts.

The next moment, Sister Jing really grabbed the Book of Songs in her hand. Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"It seems that our sister Jing can become a female poet in the future."

"Just hearing the name Sister Jing, she will be a quiet and scholarly woman in the future."

"Not bad."

"."

However, during their discussion, Sister Jing slowly took the account book and Rouge.

Naturally, my small hands couldn't hold so many things, so I just took them for a moment and put them next to me.

Suddenly, Zhang Fu laughed and said: "My granddaughter will not only be a talented woman in the future, but also a talented woman with outstanding appearance and ability to run a household."

Everyone also laughed.

This is how Sister Jing's arrest ended.

For them, what matters most is what Brother Zhuang wants to catch.

"Brother Zhuang will definitely be an official in the future, but I don't know if he will be a civil servant or something?"

"Yes, Brother Zhuang is the legitimate son of the Hou Mansion. If he wants to inherit the Hou Mansion in the future, he must become an official."

"."

Compared with the objects placed around Sister Jing, the objects around Brother Zhuang were much less.

There are only military books, essentials of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, wooden swords, gold ingots, seals and other items.

No matter which one he chooses, it's a good start.

It can be seen that they attach great importance to Brother Zhuang.

Perhaps, it is precisely because Wei Yuan knew very well that the relatives around him valued and doted on Brother Zhuang, so he doted on Sister Jing more than Brother Zhuang.

Brother Zhuang started to catch Zhou.

Just when Minglan and others were discussing and speculating whether Brother Zhuang wanted to grab military books or Confucian classics.

An unexpected scene happened.

I saw Brother Zhuang grabbing the Buddhist scriptures.

Seeing this, Zhang Fu frowned deeply, "Buddhist scriptures? Eat fast and recite the Buddha's name?"

Mrs. Zhang comforted her by saying, "The reason why I grab Zhou Yi as a kid is to get a chance to win. If I grab Buddhist scriptures as a strong brother, I can only say that when he grows up, he will be a kind-hearted child."

Zhang Fu is still a little dissatisfied, "Speaking of kindness in the capital? I'm afraid that I will be eaten to the bone in the future, so Sister Jing should save her worries."

The words just fell.

Suddenly, Minglan pointed at Brother Zhuang.

Everyone looked again and saw Brother Zhuang holding the Buddhist scripture in his hand and placing it where he was sitting.

In full view of everyone, they saw Brother Zhuang still holding something, this time it was a Confucian classic.

Seeing this, Zhang Fu breathed a sigh of relief, "It's okay."

However, Brother Zhuang continued to grab things without any intention of stopping.

After several twists and turns, he caught all the objects placed around him in front of him.

Such a scene shocked everyone, and Zhang Fu even laughed and said: "Little guy, you are quite greedy."

Zhang Guifen stepped forward, "Brother Zhuang, I can only take one thing, which one do you choose?"

As she said this, she wanted to take away the Buddhist scriptures and let Brother Zhuang choose again.

However, as soon as she started, Brother Zhuang suddenly screamed and shouted, indicating that she should not touch the Buddhist scripture.

Zhang Guifen had no choice but to take other objects. However, the strong brother was still unwilling and even used his weak body to hold those objects under him.

This little guy seemed to have a posture of fighting anyone who dared to touch his things.

Such a scene directly made Zhang Fu laugh, "Okay, okay, I won't let you snatch it away. Grandson, these things are all yours. Grandpa will watch them for you. No one dares to snatch them away."

Brother Zhuang seemed to understand, and then he sat back down in his original position, regardless of whether he felt panicked when he pressed those things under his body just now.

Mrs. Zhang suddenly realized something and said in a deep voice: "Zhuang Ge'er is making trouble. You can tell others that Zhuang Ge'er grabbed a Buddhist scripture."

Hearing this, everyone did not think too much and nodded one after another:

"In the future, Zhuang Ge'er will definitely be a kind-hearted gentleman."

"My brother is really fun."

"."

Only Zhang Guifen, who knows her mother better than her daughter, knows what Mrs. Zhang is worried about. She sat beside Zhuang Ge'er, hugged him in her arms, and said with a smile:

"Did you hear that, Zhuang Ge'er? You must be a kind-hearted gentleman in the future."

Zhuang Ge'er may not understand this sentence.

He just held the two things in his hand and kept playing with them.

A wooden sword and a Confucian classic, and at the same time cast his eyes on seals and other things.

Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, soldiers, power, money, and sex, our Zhuang Ge'er wants them all.