He arrived at the private room and knocked on the door, covering his swollen face as he whispered:
"Your Excellency, are you asleep?"
Not long after, Zhang Tang opened the door.
Seeing the postmaster's appearance, he seemed taken aback and quickly asked:
"Huh? What happened to you? Who beat you up like this?"
Upon hearing Zhang Tang's voice, the postmaster's eyes reddened, and he knelt down at Zhang Tang's feet with a thud.
"My lord, please save me! I have no other choice but to ask you for a favor!"
The postmaster looked pitiful, with hopeful eyes.
Zhang Tang smiled slightly, quickly helped him up, and said righteously:
"Tell me, if there's anything I can do to help, I definitely will."
The postmaster was moved to tears and quickly recounted everything that had happened.
After hearing this, Zhang Tang sneered inwardly.
Perfect, he can use this to his advantage.
So he asked with a faint smile, "Is it just about switching rooms with me?"
"That's right, Your Excellency, please do me a favor."
"Alright then, I agree. I'll vacate this room."
Zhang Tang sighed and said.
Upon hearing these words, the postmaster was overjoyed and extremely grateful.
"Thank you, Your Excellency! Thank you, Your Excellency!"
Zhang Tang waved his hand, indicating that he should just take care of it.
After the postmaster came downstairs, Tan Qian immediately came up with his maid. When he saw Zhang Tang making room, he burst into laughter.
"Zhang Tang, Zhang Tang, they say a fallen phoenix is no better than a chicken. How did you end up in such a sorry state?"
Tan Qian deliberately spoke in a sarcastic tone, making sarcastic remarks.
Zhang Tang glanced at Tan Qian, feigning anger, and gritted his teeth, saying, "Old scoundrel Tan, don't be so arrogant! You should know that good and evil will ultimately be rewarded!"
Upon hearing this, Tan Qian scoffed and dismissively said:
"Oh? Then I'll be waiting to see. Anyway, I'm living a much more comfortable life than you are now. Come on, beauty, let's see what this No. 1 private room is all about!"
As he spoke, he put his arm around the maid and walked into the private room.
Zhang Tang, however, wore a cold smile. Soon after, a series of seductive sounds came from the private room. This old scoundrel was really in a hurry.
Zhang Tang turned and left, pretending to be upset, and entered the new room, which was room number one.
This scene was witnessed by all the assassins.
"Zhang Tang is in jail, when do we make our move?"
One of the assassins looked at Po Jun and asked.
Po Jun thought for a moment, then pondered and said:
"There are too many people around now, so it's not convenient to make a move. Let's mark the door of Zhang Tang's room first, and then we'll make our move when it's late at night and everyone is quiet!"
No one objected, and they each slipped into the darkness.
An hour passed, and night completely enveloped the entire inn.
Da Hu, who was pretending to be drunk, suddenly opened his eyes in the darkness.
He got out of bed lightly and disappeared from the room in a flash, quietly sneaking towards room number one.
After confirming that no one was around, he took out the sleeping incense he had prepared beforehand and blew it in. After waiting for a while, he pushed the door open and entered.
At this moment, in the room, Tan Wu was fast asleep, lying on the naked body of the maid.
Da Hu sneered, carefully pulled Tan Wu onto his back, and then quickly left, arriving at Zhang Tang's room.
"master."
Da Hu gave Zhang Tang a look, and Zhang Tang immediately understood, carefully switching back to the top-tier room.
And so, the exchange was completed once again.
Next, the task is to wait for the assassin to come.
It didn't take long before footsteps could be heard outside.
The sound of footsteps grew louder as they approached, appearing outside room number one.
In the pitch black, the ten assassins gathered. They moved nimbly and quickly appeared outside the door.
Is this the room?
Po Jun asked venomously, and the other nine assassins nodded in agreement.
They exchanged a glance, and then someone blew a bewitching incense into them.
After waiting a moment, the group exchanged glances again, pushed open a crack in the door, and filed in.
They were unaware of the room swap and assumed that Zhang Tang was living there.
It was pitch black, and they couldn't see who was lying on the bed.
However, just to be on the safe side, Po Jun whispered:
"Go and confirm if he is Zhang Tang."
"Yes, sir!"
Another assassin walked to the bed, and after looking at it for a while in the dim light from the window, said with certainty:
"This man is Zhang Tang; there's no mistake about that white beard!"
Upon hearing this, Po Jun's lips curled into a cold smile. He waved his hand and ordered, "Kill!"
As the voice faded, the assassins swiftly brought their knives down, and a head rolled to the ground.
Po Jun quickly packed the severed head into a bundle, then chuckled softly:
"We already knew that dealing with Zhang Tang wouldn't be difficult. Let's go, let's get out of here!"
As he spoke, he led the remaining assassins away from the scene, disappearing into the night.
...
Meanwhile, a hundred miles away, even in the dead of night, Sima Lie and his men were still anxiously awaiting news.
The audience consisted of important officials of the court. In addition to Sima Lie and Qiu Beiming, Ma Shangtao and Tan Wu were also present.
They waited until late into the night, and everyone was clearly getting impatient.
Sima Lie, in particular, was becoming increasingly anxious, fearing that Zhang Tang, that old bastard, had escaped the assassination attempt again.
Then, he suddenly looked up at Ma Shangtao, frowned, and asked:
"How are your arrangements going? Why haven't we heard anything from you yet?"
Seeing this, Ma Shangtao had no choice but to bite the bullet and reply:
"Please rest assured, Prime Minister, this time I have dispatched ten assassins at once. Killing Zhang Tang should not be a difficult task."
Upon hearing this, Sima Lie frowned, suppressing his anxiety, and paced back and forth restlessly.
Seeing this, Qiu Beiming suddenly stood up and said:
"Prime Minister, there is no need to worry. Perhaps we will receive news soon."
Hearing his words, Sima Lie felt a little calmer, but his face was still clouded with worry.
And so another half hour passed.
Sima Lie could no longer wait and glared at Ma Shangtao, demanding:
"Lord Ma, why haven't the ten masters you mentioned returned yet?"
Upon hearing this, Ma Shangtao's forehead instantly broke out in a sweat.
He didn't know either. Judging from the timeline, regardless of whether he succeeded or not, there should have been at least some news coming through by now.
But now there's not even a word from them, which makes Ma Shangtao feel that something is wrong.
He wiped the sweat from his brow and forced a smile as he said:
"Prime Minister, don't panic. Zhang Tang is an old fox after all. The ten masters might be looking for the best opportunity. After all, to kill Zhang Tang, you must be absolutely certain that you can strike with one blow!"
Upon hearing Ma Shangtao's words, Sima Lie's anger subsided slightly.
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