Chapter 129: He wanted to kill Zhao Yunjing and his students!
Torches were planted along the mountain path. A group of injured students sat or lay down. The air was thick with the smell of alcohol, but everyone was sober, in dull pain, and their faces were ashen.
Having just passed the county examination, they happily went to the magistrate's mansion for a banquet and drank wine. Just an hour ago, they were singing "The Top Scholar's Journey" as they returned to the academy. Little did they know that in the blink of an eye, some of them would be gone.
The stench of blood mixed with the smell of alcohol created an atmosphere of despair, which some people couldn't bear and vomited on the spot.
Lord Tang led all the county's doctors to provide aid along the mountain path. Looking at the wounded people all over the place, he felt guilty, desperate, and angry.
“My lord,” Zhao Yunjing said after waking Chen Shanzhang up, accompanied by the bodyguard Jiang Wuyu had found for him, “my men have already gone after him, and Zhou Yunliu’s men from down the mountain have also set off. With the help of Constable Liu and his men, we should be able to bring the murderer to justice soon.”
They didn't rob or assault, but six or seven people came up and started hacking. If it weren't for the capable bodyguards that Zhao Yunjing and Young Master Chen brought, all the promising talents in Peach Blossom County this year might have perished here. In that case, Lord Tang could forget about becoming a first-rank official in the capital. With so many scholars killed in his own jurisdiction, he would either die or spend his life in prison.
Lord Tang said with a stern face, "What grudge could possibly lead you to target students like yourself?! I've racked my brains but I just can't figure it out!"
Feng Wei, clutching his injured right arm, interjected from behind: "Sir, it seems someone doesn't want the students from Peach Blossom County to stand out, nor does they want Lord Tang to achieve anything!"
Lord Tang was taken aback, and his face turned pale as if he had just thought of something.
Zhao Yunjing frowned, and so did Young Master Chen beside him. The two of them then headed forward together.
"What do you think about what happened tonight?" Young Master Chen spoke first.
"At first I thought they were after you and me, but Lord Tang's expression just now seemed off, so it doesn't seem like it." Zhao Yunjing frowned deeply. "How's your hand?"
“He won’t die.” He looked at Zhao Yunjing’s injured arm and smiled coldly. “Brother Zhao is going to take the imperial examination. If this hand is ruined, then all your efforts will be in vain.”
Zhao Yunjing's expression was indifferent: "Even if I lose one hand, I can still become the top scholar in the imperial examination."
"How arrogant!"
"Young Master Chen, you should think about why your father hid this for twenty years and then specifically asked me to give it to him in the end." Zhao Yunjing turned his face away and ignored him.
Young Master Chen stared at his retreating figure, gritting his teeth.
A moment later, Headmaster Liang's voice came from behind: "Liangjin, you and Yunjing were originally classmates, and now you're comrades in arms. If you can successfully pass the trials together and go to the capital together, your bond will be even stronger. You come from the same place, so no matter how much you fight, in the eyes of outsiders, you're on the same side. If one of you is attacked, the other certainly won't be spared. Only by uniting can you gain a foothold in the capital more quickly."
Young Master Chen's teeth slowly loosened, while Zhao Yunjing went to comfort the other injured students.
Zhao Yunjing himself injured his arm, but his first instinct was to send his bodyguards to chase after the culprit. After calming down, he immediately comforted others, while he himself was still trapped in jealousy and self-pity.
No wonder Father was willing to entrust such an important thing to Zhao Yunjing, no wonder Lord Zhao was willing to wait for Zhao Yunjing for three years. It turns out that what I lost to Zhao Yunjing was not only my studies and strategies, but also my character.
With the assistance of the officials and Ma Dalang and others, the six or seven murderers were quickly apprehended. Lord Tang interrogated them in public on the mountain road, but in the end, he was completely baffled.
These six or seven people were refugees from Ganxian County. A mysterious person gave them one hundred gold coins and told them to storm the academy tonight and injure a few students.
However, these six or seven people were in a bloodthirsty frenzy, and the students, having drunk some alcohol, became bolder and resisted fiercely. As a result, they lost their temper and killed two people.
Zhao Yunjing felt that this matter was not so simple, but after interrogating for a long time, the seven people all gave the same testimony, without changing a single word, which sounded as if they had agreed on it in advance.
The students were injured and should not be exposed to the wind, so Lord Tang told them to go back to the academy to rest first. He ordered the doctors to stay and watch over them all night, and then he escorted the seven of them back to the yamen. Zhao Yunjing thought for a moment and then had one of his bodyguards go with him.
The assassination attempt at Peach Blossom Ridge was reported to Ma Dalang himself after dawn, who brought the news to Peach Blossom Village and to Zhou Mujiao.
Zhou Mujiao was startled: "Where is he? Is he injured? Where is he injured? How serious is it? Is his life in danger? Why are you only informing me today about what happened last night? Have you found the murderer? What did Lord Tang say..."
Ma Dalang answered Zhou Mujiao's questions one by one, and finally said, "Both Young Master Zhao and Young Master Chen have injured their arms. Young Master Zhao's right arm is more seriously injured, with the bone exposed. The doctor from Huichuntang is personally taking care of him, and he said that it will heal in half a month."
Zhou Mujiao's expression was not optimistic: "What arm did Young Master Chen injure? What about the other students?"
Ma Dalang thought for a moment before answering, "It seems to be mostly on the right arm."
If Ma Dalang remembered correctly, all the students were injured on their right arms, which made the perpetrator's motive quite clear—the right hand is used for writing, so it seems the assailant didn't want these students to participate in the imperial examinations.
Extending this motive, one could also argue that the murderer didn't actually want Zhao Yunjing and Young Master Chen to participate in the imperial examinations, and that the students were merely a pretext for the indiscriminate attack.
Zhou Mujiao made a quick decision: "Xiao Ding and Xiao Cai, you two stay home and watch the house. Uncle Jiang and I will go to the county!"
Upon arriving in the county, Zhou Mujiao and Jiang Wuyu split up. Zhou Mujiao headed straight for Huilan Academy, while Jiang Wuyu went to find Lord Tang.
Lord Tang had been interrogating Zhou Mujiao all night with little progress and was getting annoyed when he heard that Zhou Mujiao's uncle had arrived. He frowned and asked, "What is he doing here?"
It's no wonder Lord Tang was displeased. When Lord Tang arrived, Lord Zhao did not reveal Jiang Wuyu's original identity, nor did he mention the events of twenty years ago. Therefore, in Lord Tang's view, he was an official and Jiang Wuyu was a commoner. The official did not speak to the commoner, but the commoner came uninvited. He didn't have any grievances to redress; he was simply here to cause trouble.
Liu, the head constable, said, “Sir, this Jiang fellow is quite capable. He has helped Miss Zhou with a lot of things over the past year. He was the one who set up the market at the post station outside the city. When Lord Chen was still alive, he was very polite to him, and Prefect Zhao also valued him highly.”
"so?"
"This Jiang fellow is a江湖人士 (jianghu renshi, a person from the martial arts world) who once killed Tao Hong and Hou Jing. He knows people from all walks of life, and his men must have committed many crimes. Those refugees who have fallen into his hands should not be able to hold out for long before they all confess."
"Are you saying that I am inferior to a mere outlaw?"
Officer Liu thought to himself that although Lord Tang was a good official, his scholarly temper was not pleasing at all!
"Both the prefect and the provincial education commissioner believe that Young Master Zhao is the frontrunner for this year's top scholar. Your Excellency, it doesn't matter who this Jiang is. What's important is that Young Master Zhao cannot make any mistakes. Only by catching the real culprit as soon as possible can Young Master Zhao focus on preparing for the exam!"
Officer Liu made his point clear.
After thinking it over, Lord Tang finally invited the person in.
He wanted to see if this roughneck could really get those people to talk.
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