Chapter 64 Talent, Talent
When I got closer, I saw clearly that it was Luo Jiaxing.
Seeing this, Zhong Min strode up the stairs, stood in front of Luo Jiaxing and said, "Why are you here? It's so late, why are you here instead of going to bed?"
"I'm waiting for you to come back, so I can show some concern for you." Luo Jiaxing heard Zhong Min's unfriendly tone and said with a smile, "Why, were you punished by the prince to copy books again?"
"Weren't you running faster than a rabbit just now? Why are you being so kind now? Are you here to watch the fun?" Zhong Min pouted when Luo Jiaxing mentioned the book-copying incident again. "We're friends, but you have no loyalty at all. You only came over to watch the fun after the work was done. What a bad friend."
Hearing Zhong Min say this, Luo Jiaxing quickly explained, "That's not the case. I genuinely care about you, so how could I possibly just be there to watch the fun? And as for what happened just now, when the prince asked you to come in, wouldn't it just cause more trouble if I followed him?"
Seeing that Luo Jiaxing seemed a little anxious, Zhong Min stopped teasing him and shook his head, saying, "Forget it, I was just kidding. I'm fine. I'm back safely now."
"Really?" Luo Jiaxing felt relieved after hearing Zhong Min say that nothing was wrong. He smiled and said, "That's good. I think the prince will also put the overall situation first. After all, you have important things to do tomorrow, so he probably won't punish you for trivial matters at this time."
"Why should he punish me? I'm not his servant now." Zhong Min said confidently, "Besides, I meant well, but he just took it for granted. It's a shame to waste the two hundred taels of silver I earned."
"Silver note?" Hearing Zhong Min's words, Luo Jiaxing immediately asked back, and then said with an incredible expression: "Did you accept the silver note from County Magistrate Zhu?"
"Of course, do you think I'm really bored?" Zhong Min, seeing that he had let the cat out of the bag, didn't bother to hide it anymore. He said with a look of regret, "What a shame, the duck that was about to be caught flew away, and your prince got the advantage for nothing."
Luo Jiaxing was speechless. He shook his head, thinking to himself, "This girl is still so arrogant now. She dared to use her position to accept bribes and open the door for that person. This is the prince's most taboo. She was really lucky not to be severely punished this time."
"You, you, I don't know what to say to you." He said helplessly, "Let's not talk about anything else. Just talking about what you did today has already violated the prince's taboo. The prince only asked you to hand over the banknotes, which is already a great favor. Not to mention that you are still in Prince Mu's Mansion now. Even if you were truly free, if the prince wanted to punish you, what could you do? If I were you, I would have burned incense and thanked the Buddha for his blessing long ago, and there would be no such thing as complaining."
"That's true." After hearing Luo Jiaxing's words, Zhong Min shook his head rather boredly and said with emotion, "When you live under someone's roof, you have to bow your head! Okay, I won't say anything else. Going to bed early is the most practical thing. It's getting late, you should go back and rest."
Seeing this, Luo Jiaxing didn't say anything more. He waited until Zhong Min returned to the house before turning back. At this moment, he had keenly noticed the subtle changes in his feelings for Zhong Min, and at the same time, he realized that he was not the only one experiencing this subtle change.
The next morning, after finishing other things, Zhong Min and Xie Feng went to the open-air venue in the city that was specially built for Xiao Mingzheng to pacify the people.
Later, Xiao Mingzheng would personally appear and communicate with the people face to face, listening to their various opinions and voices, identifying and resolving problems. Calming the people and making them more obedient was beneficial to strengthening the management of the fiefdoms and was highly beneficial to the rulers. Therefore, the kings of various regions would take turns visiting the counties under their jurisdiction every year.
There was still some time before the event officially started, but a lot of people had already gathered in the open space in the square, and more people were pouring in from all directions, making it look quite lively.
Zhong Min had already ordered people to control all the commanding heights around her, and asked the thirty guards she had personally trained to change into civilian clothes and quietly blend into the crowd, searching for suspected targets according to the methods she taught them.
"Xiao Liu, tell the brothers that if they spot a suspicious target, don't act immediately to avoid alerting other targets." Zhong Min said to the people beside him, "Watch my signals and act in unison."
"Yes!" After hearing this, the man immediately turned around and left, and went to make arrangements as Zhong Min instructed.
"How many assassins do you think there will be today?" Luo Jiaxing asked Zhong Min while looking at the crowd nonchalantly.
Zhong Min smiled, shook his head, and said, "It's hard to say. There won't be a large-scale attack, as the city is guarded by local troops from Lin County. But there will definitely be small groups of people, and if I'm not mistaken, they will include at least three forces."
"You can see that?" Luo Jiaxing looked at Zhong Min with interest, wondering how Zhong Min came to the conclusion that there were three assassination forces.
"It's not something we've discovered now, but rather something we've gathered from past assassination attempts on the prince." Zhong Min glanced at the crowd below and continued, "That's even better. At least it means we haven't seen any killers who are so powerful we can't do anything about them yet."
Following Zhong Min's line of sight, Luo Jiaxing saw that the plainclothes guards had indeed locked onto about five targets. However, as Zhong Min had said, they did not act immediately, while the others continued searching, not wanting to miss any dangerous targets.
The official start time was drawing near, and the people in the square had almost all arrived. Zhong Min carefully surveyed the crowd below, then called Xiaoliu over again and said, "Do you see that old man in the gray cloth in the third row?"
"I saw it. What's the matter?" Xiao Liu nodded and asked, "Such an old man shouldn't be an assassin, right?"
"This guy is no more than forty years old and is easily mistaken. Go and remind them not to miss him." Zhong Min smiled slightly: "Okay, we will close the net soon."
Upon hearing this, Xiaoliu quickly followed his orders and left. Luo Jiaxing, standing by, asked curiously, "How do you know he's only forty? He behaves very naturally, and his eyes are consistent with his age."
"He's able to hide his eyes at any time. This guy is much more skilled than the others. But besides his eyes, there's something else that won't lie." Zhong Min casually touched his neck as he spoke. "Just look at the skin on his neck. People who disguise themselves rarely notice this."
"So that's it!" Luo Jiaxing suddenly realized, but he didn't dare to look at the old man any longer. The man was relatively close to them, and too much attention would easily attract attention.
"Clean up, it's time for us to stand closer and watch the fun." Zhong Min said as he took down the red lantern beside him, then turned and left.
Seeing this, Luo Jiaxing knew that this was the secret signal that Zhong Min had mentioned for unified action. This meant that all the dangerous targets had been locked down, and the next step was to see how those people would clear the area.
By the time they reached the front entrance, the guards who had infiltrated the crowd had already quietly and silently taken the targets away, without disturbing the other civilians. The rest of the personnel remained on high alert, deploying their defenses as planned. They knew Zhong Min was right; danger could strike again at any moment, and they couldn't let their guard down.
Soon, Xiao Mingzheng officially appeared accompanied by officials and personal guards. Upon seeing this, the people below all knelt down and shouted "Long live the king". Zhong Min was now standing beside Xiao Mingzheng in a proper manner, performing the duties of a personal maid, and from this angle, she could clearly control the entire security situation.
While Xiao Mingzheng's personality kept him from appearing particularly enthusiastic during his interactions with the people, his words were genuine and he seemed much more relaxed than usual. It was clear that Xiao Mingzheng truly valued his efforts to appease the people and didn't treat it as a mere show. He listened attentively to every citizen's words and had his attendants take notes. He would also address pressing issues on the spot, resolving as many of the people's concerns as possible.
The people were obviously very satisfied with Xiao Mingzheng's attitude. In their opinion, the fact that the king could treat them so seriously was the greatest favor to them.
Time passed by minute by minute, and the entire process went smoothly without any unexpected incidents. Logically, this state of affairs should make one happy, as it proved that all the previous deployments and arrangements were very effective. However, for some reason, Zhong Min felt a faint sense of unease.
This unease had no reason, yet it grew increasingly palpable. Zhong Min knew she must have missed something, and that something was bound to happen soon. Her premonitions had always been exceptional. As her teacher had said, for security experts, this unfounded sense of danger was an innate and precious ability.
However, this premonition had no basis in anything, so she couldn't ask others to prepare anything in advance and could only stare intently at everything in front of her.
After the public had finished their questioning, as was customary, a young man in white, led by an official, presented Xiao Mingzheng with a handwritten calligraphy and painting on behalf of all the students in Lin County. This was to express the students' respect for the prince, and also to convey the prince's deep concern for the local students.
This kind of ceremony reminded Zhong Min of the scenes of leaders inspecting in modern society, which is actually similar in nature.
The young man was not only good-looking, but also clean-skinned and well-mannered. It was said that he had some real talent and knowledge. He was specially allowed to stand in front of Xiao Mingzheng, and he proudly unfolded his beautiful work, his expression clearly showing that he was proud of it.
Zhong Min stretched her neck to take a look and felt that it was indeed good. Although she was not an expert, she could tell from Xiao Mingzheng's approving look.
The painting slowly unfolded halfway. Zhong Min was just about to take a closer look when her head suddenly buzzed and a premonition suddenly struck her. Her gaze immediately fixed on the end of the scroll that the young man was holding tightly, which was not fully opened.
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