Chapter 44: Listen to the sound of drums
"Is that... Commander Huang?"

"The Marquis of Fu'an's Mansion has captured Commander Huang?"

"Commander Huang, why is he injured like this?"

"Who is that person in front? How could the guards of Marquis Fu'an's residence follow him so respectfully..."

"The Marquis of Fu'an's mansion is doing this, arresting people privately. Where do they put the laws and rules of the court..."

"Where are the garrisons and the government? Are they just watching the Marquis of Fu'an escort Commander Huang through the streets? Where are the rules?"

……

After entering the city, people on the road saw Huang Jun, whose hair was disheveled and looked like a puddle of mud, being escorted by the guards of Fu'an Marquis' Mansion, and they talked about it a lot.

In this world, most people sympathize with the weak and losers!

Because in this world, most people are weak.

Sympathy for one's own kind!

However, they did not dare to stand up and stop Zhao Yuguang and the guards of Fu'an Marquis' Mansion.

Because they are also afraid of the strong!
Afraid of being implicated!
Relying on their numbers, they mutter and complain in private and secretly, which is the highest price and the biggest action they can pay for the sympathy and compassion in their hearts.

Just like Zhu Chengwu's previous life, there are countless keyboard warriors on the Internet, but only a few of them travel thousands of miles to the local area to express their sympathy and unwillingness in person.

Human nature is selfish!
It is precious for people to be selfish!

There were also members of the Marquis's Palace Guard who intended to step forward to stop and arrest those who were gossiping, but they were stopped by Zhao Yuguang.

Zhao Yuguang seemed to have other plans.

Just as Zhao Yuguang was parading through the streets with Huang Jun, at the Xuzhou prefectural government office, the prefect Fu Huasheng and the associate prefect and chief constable Liu Zhengyi were also eliminating the suspicion of another person.

"Shijie!

There was nothing the uncle could do. The assassination of Marquis Fu'an had such a huge impact!
Uncle Shi has no choice but to ask you about the situation!

Of course, Uncle Shi absolutely believes that you will not do such a mean thing."

The prefect Fu Huasheng and the co-magistrate of the government office and chief constable of the patrol department Liu Zhengyi sat at the upper seat of the hall, while Li Shijie, the talented son of the Li family, was arranged to sit at the lower seat.

That's right!

Yes, sit!

Not a station!
If Zhu Chengwu had not delivered the message through Xia Yu, and if Lord Zhao Yuguang had not suddenly appeared in Xuzhou City.

Fu Huasheng would never ask Li Shijie to come to the government office.

Even if an investigation is necessary, it will most likely be Fu Huasheng who visits in person.

This is the identity of Xuzhou Prefecture’s number one martial arts genius.

Martial arts is not about cultivating immortals, nor is it about studying.

There is no such thing as late success in martial arts!
This is because a person's body and qi and blood will continue to decline as they age.

Even if you practice health-preserving techniques, it is difficult to maintain your peak performance after the age of 50.

Most of the real martial arts masters become famous at a young age.

Martial arts have developed over thousands of years and have already formed their own set of evaluation standards.

Take the current pinnacle of martial arts - the Grandmaster, for example.

Grandmaster is the ultimate goal of all warriors.

All warriors know that to become a master, one must either possess an unparalleled physique and a magical book, or achieve the pinnacle of the first-class and find a rare treasure from heaven and earth that is compatible with the master and fight to the death.

Of course, it would be best if several conditions are met.

But this is only the final condition.

In the martial arts world, there is another criterion for judging potential stocks that have the potential to become masters.

Achieve first-class achievements before the age of 25, and complete the first-class cultivation path before the age of 35...

Only in this way can you have at least 40-1 opportunities to break through the Grandmaster bottleneck before the age of 2 when your physical functions begin to decline.

This is what is called a master in the world.

Of course, if one practices health-preserving exercises, then the time to achieve first-class status can be postponed to 30 years old, and the time to reach the first-class limit can be postponed to 45 years old...

If you start later, even if you practice health-preserving techniques, it will be difficult to become a master!

After all, health-preserving exercises are only for health preservation, not for immortality, certainly not for rejuvenation!
Only when these time conditions are met can a warrior have a certain chance of becoming a master.

Otherwise, as you age, your energy and blood will decline, and even if you have an extraordinary physique, magical skills, and rare treasures from heaven and earth, it will be difficult to change your fate.

As the eldest son of the Li family and the number one genius in Xuzhou Prefecture, Li Shijie established his foundation in martial arts at the age of 8, became a member of the mainstream martial arts at the age of 12, and achieved first-class martial arts at the age of 21.

A true master.

Li Shijie achieved first-class success not much later than Zhu Chengwu.

But what is Zhu Chengwu’s background and how many resources does he enjoy?

What is Li Shijie's background and how many resources can he enjoy?
Not to mention, when Zhu Chengwu was just crowned, the 15-year-old Li Shijie defeated the 16-year-old Zhu Chengwu.

Afterwards, in the two battles after Zhu Chengwu gained momentum, Li Shijie also tied with Zhu Chengwu, who had practiced unique martial arts.

In the eyes of many members of the Li family or Li Shijie's followers, the genius Zhu Chengwu only relied on the background of the Zhu royal family to obtain a large amount of resources and several powerful martial arts.

In terms of talent, Zhu Chengwu is no match for Li Shijie.

When a warrior practices, what matters in the end is his realm!
With Li Shijie's extraordinary talent, the possibility of him becoming a master is definitely greater than that of Zhu Chengwu!
Even if Zhu Chengwu could eventually become a master, Li Shijie would definitely achieve that status before Zhu Chengwu.

This view has many followers in Xuzhou Prefecture.

The prefect Fu Huasheng and the co-prefect and chief constable of the Patrol Bureau Liu Zhengyi were among them.

Fu Bisheng and Liu Zhengyi certainly couldn't afford to offend the prince and the marquis.

But how could they afford to offend the Grand Master, Fu Bisheng and Liu Zhengyi?

Zhu Chengwu was born into a royal family and served in the imperial court. He was accustomed to following the rules most of the time, and he had to follow the rules and provide evidence.

The Li family and Li Qilin are hanging out in the underworld.

There are many people in the martial arts world who, when they get angry, blood splatters within five steps.

Therefore, Fu Bisheng and Liu Zhengyi were so polite to the Li family and Li Qilin.

Fu Bisheng even regarded himself as the great uncle.

This is what they mean when they say the higher your position in power, the more timid you become; the more prosperous you become, the more cautious you become!
As long as it's good for everyone, the upper class of society who wears shoes will hardly ever completely fall out with each other.

But not as carefree as going barefoot.

"Master Fu, Chief Constable Liu, Shijie understands!
If you have any questions, just ask!
Shijie is upright and has nothing to fear. If he has not done it, then he has not done it.

I must tell you everything I know, and I will tell you everything I know! "

Li Shijie bowed.

"it is good!

I was just telling Chief Constable Liu that my nephew Shijie is a man of high moral character and will definitely support our work.

He will definitely not carry out such an act of assassination!
Now it seems that it is true~~~~"

Fu Bisheng was very satisfied with Li Shijie's attitude.

Fu never wants to offend Zhu Chengwu and Li Shijie in his life.

Being able to deal with things in a smooth manner is the best thing for your life.

"Li Shijie, when Marquis Fu'an was assassinated, where were you and what were you doing?"

At Fu Bisheng's eye signal, Liu Zhengyi asked in a calm tone.

There was a certain official tone in the conversation.

Although Liu Zhengyi did not want to offend Li Shijie, a martial arts genius and master seed that was rare in Xuzhou Prefecture in a century.

But as a veteran first-class warrior, Liu Zhengyi could not afford to flatter the bureaucrat Fu Bisheng.

This may be the pride and backbone of a warrior!

After all, who can become a top-notch person when he was young?
Who doesn’t grow up with the praise of others?
Who isn’t extremely confident in himself?
"In the past few days, I have been practicing in seclusion in the Li Mansion and have not gone out!"

"Are there any witnesses?" Liu Zhengyi asked.

"My grandfather, my father, and all the servants of the Li family can testify to this."

"Are there any other witnesses?"

"So many people testified, isn't that enough?" Li Shijie said a little displeased.

Liu Zhengyi obviously did not believe the Li family's witness.

But Li Shijie believes that he has never done it.

If he did it, Li Shijie would never hide it!
This is the pride of Li Shijie, the number one genius in Xuzhou Prefecture.

Liu Zhengyi and Fu Bisheng looked at each other and realized that apart from the people in the Li Mansion, Li Shijie had no other witnesses.

Although this is normal.

After all, the person is at home, so the witnesses who can testify are naturally the people at home.

But it is too easy to give false testimony among family members.

Can this witness evidence really be explained away?
Liu Zhengyi and Fu Bisheng were both a little unsure.

"My dear nephew Shijie, enough is enough!

But if there are more witnesses, it will naturally prove your innocence."

Fu Bisheng advised like this.

Trying to get Li Shijie to provide some more testimony from witnesses who are not so close to the Li family.

“No one else can prove it!

During the time I was in seclusion at home, I did not receive any outside visitors.

Lord Fu, Chief Constable Liu, please report this to Marquis Fu'an.

I'm sure he will understand!

If I want to kill him, I will never do it secretly, but openly!"

Li Shijie thought for a moment and said so.

Li Shijie believes that Zhu Chengwu is of the same type as him and can understand him!
Fu Bisheng and Liu Zhengyi looked at each other, feeling a little helpless.

Although everyone in Xuzhou city knew Li Shijie, the talented son of the Li family, and Zhu Chengwu, the Marquis of Fu'an, these two were famous martial arts fanatics.

It seemed that there was a bit of mutual respect between them. But now there is still an old Marquis Zhao in the Fu'an Marquis's Mansion!

"Boss, Boss!

Oh no!
Something big has happened!!”

Just when Fu Bisheng was thinking about how to deal with this matter without offending anyone.

A burst of panicked footsteps suddenly appeared, interrupting Fu Bisheng's thoughts.

"Why are you panicking?"

Liu Zhengyi was very dissatisfied with the panic of the government detectives.

The police were one of the violent agencies of the Ming Dynasty. As a violent agency, they should have the authority and confidence of a violent agency.

"Boss, something really bad has happened!
Commander Huang believed that he was the one who assassinated Marquis Fu'an, and he also fought with Marquis Zhao, and now he has been captured by Marquis Zhao!"

At Liu Zhengyi's stern shout, the constable who came in suppressed his impatience a little and reported.

"what?"

After hearing the report, Liu Zhengyi and Fu Bisheng lost their composure.

"Commander Huang?
Which Commander Huang? "

Liu Zhengyi immediately asked.

"Boss, of course it's Commander Huang Jun Huang of the garrison!"

The constable's report confirmed what Liu Zhengyi was thinking.

"Something happened!"

Liu Zhengyi and Fu Bisheng looked at each other, both of them were shocked.

Huang Jun is not an ordinary person.

He and Liu Zhengyi are the only two top-notch masters in the Xuzhou government.

He was also the supreme commander of the garrison in Xuzhou Prefecture.

Liu Zhengyi and Fu Bisheng didn't understand how such a person could risk the world's condemnation and assassinate Marquis Fu'an.

What does he gain by doing this?
As fifth-rank officials of the imperial court, Fu Bisheng and Liu Zhengyi knew something about Huang Jun's background.

Huang Jun had first-rate achievements and was promoted to the position of garrison commander, and it seemed that he had followed Zhao's path.

In the past few years, in the secret struggles among forces within Xuzhou Prefecture, Huang Jun has always been a loyal ally of Fu'an Hou Zhu Chengwu!

The garrison and the Fu'an Marquisate often joined forces to fight for benefits.

Therefore, Liu Zhengyi and Fu Bisheng suspected Li Shijie, the talented son of the Li family, but did not suspect Huang Jun, the commander of the guards.

Now, why suddenly...

It really is……

And Huang Jun actually dared to attack Lord Zhao, a master of many years?
Is he crazy?
Let’s not talk about anything else for now, let’s just talk about force.

Doesn’t Huang Jun know the difference between first-rate and master?
But if it was the Marquis of Fu'an or Lord Zhao who framed Huang Jun, then it wouldn't be that serious...

Although Huang Jun is a top-notch person in the world and the commander of the garrison, the gap in status between him and old Marquis Zhao is still too big!
Old Lord Zhao would not frame Huang Jun, a small guard commander.

And according to the detective who delivered the message, Huang Jun seemed to have admitted it on his own initiative!

Here...

Fu Bisheng and Liu Zhengyi could hardly see what was inside.

"Explore again!"

Liu Zhengyi waved his hand, signaling this trusted constable to try his best to find out the whole story.

"Old Li, you should go too!"

Fu Bisheng shouted and gave the same order.

"Okay, sir!"

An old voice came from outside the door.

It was Fu Bisheng's absolute confidant, the Fu Mansion's butler - Butler Li.

"My dear nephew Shijie, now that the murderer who assassinated Lord Fu'an has been found, you should go back first!"

After giving all the instructions, Fu Bisheng finally realized that Li Shijie was still in the hall!

"OK.

"Master Fu, Chief Constable Liu, Shijie will take his leave now!"

Li Shijie was also shocked by the news that the murderer who assassinated Marquis Fu'an was Commander Huang Jun.

He also understood that Fu Bisheng and Liu Zhengyi no longer had the energy to take care of him!

Immediately, he said goodbye and left.

Li Shijie also had to go back to the Li family to discuss with his grandfather and father how to deal with this matter.

Although it has little to do with the Li family.

But you still need to have a plan!

Li Shijie likes to practice martial arts and is more accustomed to solving problems with strength.

But this does not mean that Li Shijie is stupid and can't use his brain.

"Old Patriarch, this is not the way back to the Marquis' Mansion!"

After walking some distance into the city, Zhao Xingye finally couldn't help it, walked up to Zhao Yuguang and asked softly.

Zhao Xingye had long discovered that the route Zhao Yugang was taking them was not the right one; it was not the way back to Marquis Fu'an's Mansion.

Zhao Xingye guessed that Zhao Yuguang might have come to Xuzhou City for the first time and got lost!
However, Zhao Xingye was a little hesitant for a moment and didn't know how to point it out.

I was also thinking about how to tell Zhao Yugang that he was on the wrong path without causing too much disgust from him.

This is the sadness of those in a lower position, they dare not even speak out the right things openly!

"Who said we are going back to Fu'an Marquis Mansion?"

Zhao Yuguang looked at Zhao Xingye, who was hesitant and about to speak for a long time before finally coming to him, and asked back.

To be honest, Zhao Yugang was a little disappointed.

Zhao Xingye was too hesitant and not decisive enough!

Whether you find something wrong and point it out as soon as you have doubts, or suppress your doubts and follow the "wrong" leadership of your superiors to the end, it is better than Zhao Xingye's current hesitant questioning halfway!
Not decisive enough!

Not loyal or obedient enough!
Both ends are not pleased.

If all the Zhao family members are of this kind, then...

Fortunately, Zhao Xingye was not one of the Zhao family members that Zhao Yuguang valued the most and focused on training.

Otherwise, Zhao Yuguang felt like he was going to die of anger.

"So, what are we doing..."

Zhao Xingye didn't notice the disappointment in Zhao Yuguang's heart and continued to ask.

After all, Zhao Yuguang is one of the most outstanding people among the hundreds of millions of people in the Ming Dynasty. As long as Zhao Yuguang doesn't want to, not many people can see through Zhao Yuguang's emotions.

"The imperial court has its own rules. We can also explain our private arrests as being due to the momentary excitement caused by Wu Ge'er's assassination!
But now that he has been caught, we will naturally hand him back to the government office for questioning!"

Although Zhao Yuguang was very disappointed with Zhao Xingye, after all, Zhao Xingye was also a member of the Zhao family, so Zhao Yuguang didn't mind giving him a few more pointers.

If a person is pointed out to be a late bloomer, it would be an unexpected gain!

"Hand him over to the government?
What can they find out from the interrogation with their abilities?

Don’t let the person we worked so hard to capture escape!
Old Patriarch, it would be better to bring him back to the Marquis' Mansion and let me interrogate him personally.

I will definitely interrogate them one by one to find out the whole story of how they plotted against the Marquis!"

Zhao Xingye did not trust the government, but believed more in the power of Fu'an Marquisate and the Zhao family.

He volunteered to suggest.

"All right!
Follow orders! "

Zhao Yuguang interrupted Zhao Xingye with an unhappy look.

The younger generation of the Zhao family, such as Zhao Xingye, still lack experience, have no idea of ​​political struggles, and do not know how to go with the flow.

Didn’t Zhao Xingye hear what the people were talking about just now?

Didn’t Zhao Xingye see that he had just stopped the guards of Marquis Fu’an’s mansion from stopping the people from talking?

Doesn’t Zhao Xingye know how to think about it more?
There was a lot of discussion among the people about Zhao Yuguang and Fu'an Marquis's secret capture of Huang Jun, the commander of the guards.

Indeed, a few common people could not influence Zhao Xingye, let alone Zhao Yuguang.

But a few ordinary people cannot influence it!
What about hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people?

The people's military power is indeed not worth showing off!
But the people are the foundation of the dynasty and the cornerstone of rule.

It is these millions of inconspicuous people who constitute the foundation of the Ming Dynasty!
Without the people, officials are no longer officials, and the king is no longer a king!
Even if one is as strong as a master or as powerful as a king, they are often controlled by the will of the people!

Because if you don't stand on the side of the majority of the people, there will always be other masters or other people who want to be kings who will stand on the side of the majority of the people.

In the end, together with the people, we will sweep you into the dust of history and become a remnant of the old era.

Although there is no such thing as ideology or public opinion guidance in this world, Zhao Yuguang, a trend-setter of the times and an absolute leader of the dynasty, has already learned how to seize the right to speak and the high ground of public opinion without any instruction!
It is hard to go against the wind!

He who goes with the wind is the king!

Today, Zhao Yuguang will start a trend of changing the crown prince from this Xuzhou city, and push his grandson Zhu Chengwu to the throne, to ensure the Zhao family's prosperity for another hundred years.

Thinking of this, Zhao Yuguang took another look at Huang Jun, whose jaw and limbs had been removed.

There is regret in my heart, but countless calculations flash through my mind!
At the same time, Zhao Yuguang quickly simulated various possible situations in his mind and thought about various ways to deal with them.

"Go, beat the drum!"

Soon, Zhao Yuguang brought Zhao Xingye and others to the Xuzhou County Government.

Under the command of Zhao Yuguang, a guard from the marquis's mansion stepped forward and struck the drum outside the Xuzhou county government office.

The Ming Dynasty stipulated that drums should be hung outside all government offices so that those who encountered injustice or urgent cases could beat the drums to report to the higher authorities, thus initiating lawsuits.

This drum is the Dengwen drum.

　Thanks to Liudaotongsuinyuchenlun, 20220118003349682, Wang Taiye, Shentianzhenshen, and Milongpo for their rewards and support.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)