"Escorting government silver?" Song Qingzhang raised an eyebrow, never expecting to hear such a shocking secret here today.
Historically, the specific routes for escorting official silver were determined by an imperial envoy appointed by the emperor, together with the general in charge of the escort. The route would only be communicated to the soldiers the day before departure, in order to prevent the route from being leaked and to avoid bandits robbing the official silver.
But what's going on now?
Song Qingzhang patiently listened on and soon learned the reason: It turned out that the team escorting the official silver had arrived in Xingchuan Prefecture, but more than a dozen people had lost their lives in the attack by mountain bandits. In order to protect the official silver, the general had no choice but to temporarily conscript soldiers from Xingchuan Prefecture, and these two people were on the conscription list.
They were to reach the cypress grove outside Heling City before sunset this afternoon to wait for the procession escorting the official silver and to join them.
Upon hearing this, Song Qingzhang quietly got up and took Shu Lan back to the Song residence.
Throughout the journey, his face was solemn and his expression was gloomy, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Shu Lan grasped his hand with some worry. Song Qingzhang suddenly turned his head, his eyes flashing with a violent excitement. He looked at Shu Lan and said, "My chance has come!"
Shu Lan looked puzzled, but before she could ask any questions, Song Qingzhang had already told the driver to stop and got out of the car first.
"Young master?" the coachman called out to him from behind, puzzled.
Shu Lan watched his hurried departure and whispered to the coachman, "Young master must have something to attend to. Let's go back first."
The driver responded and continued driving towards the Song residence.
With time of the essence, Song Qingzhang didn't have time to formulate a more detailed plan. He could only first find his old friend from Heling, the former head instructor of the Imperial Guards, who is now a martial arts master, and ask him to help him gather a team of about thirty people, each of whom was highly skilled in martial arts and was a rare talent.
He said, "As far as I know, these people are bandits disguised as court officials. They are escorting treasures that were taken from the mansion of the National Preceptor Wu after he was executed last year. I came to Heling this time on the Emperor's orders to track down the whereabouts of these treasures. I should have waited for the Divine Martial Army to arrive before taking action, but time waits for no one, so I can only temporarily ask Instructor Qin for help."
Upon hearing this, Instructor Qin waved his hand and laughed, "Between you and me, there's no need for such formalities. Besides, serving one's sovereign is our duty as subjects. As for my disciples, rest assured, I will instruct them to keep quiet and prevent them from ruining your important plans."
Song Qingzhang cupped his hands in thanks: "In that case, I, Qingzhang, thank Instructor Qin in advance."
After leaving the martial arts school with his group, he headed straight for the cypress forest outside the city. He lay in wait for half a day in the lush grass behind the mountain path, and sure enough, at sunset, he waited for the procession escorting the government silver.
He squinted, raised his hand slightly, and the group of martial arts practitioners behind him drew their swords and rushed forward.
Amidst the flashing swords, Song Qingzhang was already imagining how he would petition the Emperor after obtaining the official silver, what kind of praise and reward he would receive, and how Wei Qinglou would be punished...
But at that moment, an arrow silently shot out from the grass, striking him squarely in the back, piercing his body, and falling to the ground.
Just then, the fighting on the official road stopped. Zhu Jiayu stepped out of the carriage, looked at the martial arts disciples who had been taken into custody, and smiled:
"Although I don't know how you started fighting, I think it's probably a misunderstanding. How about I persuade them to release you, so you can all go home and not mention this matter to anyone again?"
With such a disparity in strength, the martial arts students, knowing they had no hope of winning, could only bow their heads and acknowledge the order. After they left dejectedly, the assassins carrying bows and arrows emerged from the forest and stood with the assassins escorting several carts of empty boxes. They all bowed to Zhu Jiayu and said, "Miss Zhu."
Zhu Jiayu nodded: "You've done an excellent job. You all truly live up to the name of Ghost Market. I've already paid the Ghost Market manager your reward. Farewell, everyone."
After she finished speaking, the group of assassins dispersed, and the people she brought dismounted and carried Song Qingzhang's body into the woods to Zhu Jiayu's carriage.
Zhu Jiayu casually instructed the driver to drive the carriage, and then ordered his attendants to go to the Song residence to invite Song Jiangmei to her house in the west alley.
When Song Jiangmei arrived, Zhu Jiayu had just arrived as well.
She complained coquettishly, "Why did you have to ask me out on such a hot day? Couldn't you have just sent a message if you needed something?"
Zhu Jiayu smiled at her: "I must have asked you out for something important." She then pointed to the sack on the ground, "Shall we open it and take a look?"
Song Jiangmei had no suspicions and ignored the bloodstains and mud on the sack. She only thought that Zhu Jiayu would not harm her. She lowered her head and untied the rope tied to the sack. She glanced inside casually, and that one glance was enough to make her fall to the ground in fright.
Coming to her senses, she turned to look at Zhu Jiayu: "What happened?"
Zhu Jiayu smiled and said, "As you can see."
Song Jiangmei still couldn't believe it. Although Song Qingzhang was stubborn and self-willed, he wasn't a fool and wouldn't easily die at Zhu Jiayu's hands. One could imagine how much effort Zhu Jiayu had put into him. She pursed her lips, solemnly thanked her, and then said:
"I once said that if you helped me kill Song Qingzhang, I would do whatever you asked. Now, Zhu Jiayu, the agreement is in effect. Tell me, what do you want me to do for you?"
"No rush, come here and put this away."
After Zhu Jiayu finished speaking, she opened her hand, revealing a jade pendant carved with two dragon heads lying quietly in her palm.
Song Jiangmei walked over and recognized it as Song Qingzhang's personal belongings. She asked, puzzled, "What does this mean?"
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