Chapter 21: Capturing the Assassin
Fang Qian and Wu Yizi returned from the Governor's Mansion in a panic, and when they returned to the second hall of the Governor's Mansion, the fear on their faces was still there.

The two drank some tea to calm themselves and started discussing.

"This Di Renjie can really be described as a smiling man hiding a dagger. His hypocritical appearance is even more terrifying than that day in the court." Fang Qian sighed with lingering fear.

Wu Yizhi also echoed, "Your Excellency is right. Di appears to be friendly on the surface, but secretly he is holding on to the compensation money. He is so hypocritical that he wants us to let down our guard so that he can strike a fatal blow."

"What an old fox." Fang Qian cursed.

While the two were discussing, a yamen runner who was monitoring the governor's office came hurriedly to report: "Sir, the Qianniu Guards have escorted Zhao Chuanchen back to Sanhe County."

"What?" Fang Qian was immediately panicked when he heard this.

Wu Yizhi analyzed: "Zhao Chuanchen must have confessed the matter of the compensation money, otherwise Di Renjie would not have let him leave the Governor's Mansion, let alone sent the Qianniu Guards to escort him."

"Yes, that must be the case, but what should we do now?" Fang Qian asked.

Wu Yizhi made a move, a hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes, and said, "Send someone to Sanhe County to kill Zhao Chuanchen."

"No, no." Fang Qian waved his hands repeatedly, "Di Renjie is no ordinary man. Zhao Chuanchen was assassinated. How could he not guess that it was us who did it?"

"So what? As long as we kill Zhao Chuanchen, there will be no evidence. You are a governor, and you have officials from Youzhou to guarantee you. Di Renjie won't dare to touch you at will." Wu Yizi expressed his opinion to Fang Qian.

He thought that the Youzhou officials in the court would put pressure on Di Renjie to stop questioning Fang Qian, and he tried the same trick again.

Fang Qian seemed a little anxious and refused to agree to Wu Yizheng's request.

He retorted: "Before, Di Renjie didn't dare to touch us because his imperial guards hadn't arrived. Now that he has soldiers under his command, I'm afraid he won't fall for it anymore."

When Wu Yizhi heard Fang Qian's excuse, he said anxiously, "Oh, Lord Fang, now is not the time to hesitate. We must make a decision immediately."

"Don't forget that Zhao Chuanchen knows about Tianbao Silver Bank. If he leaks the information about Tianbao Silver Bank, our superiors will not let us go." When his persuasion failed, he turned to threaten Fang Qian.

When Fang Qian heard Wu Yizheng mention Tianbao Silver Bank, he indeed showed an expression of fear.

Tianbao Silver Bank was Jin Mulan's largest base in Youzhou City, and also the source of funds and food for her rebellion.

If anything happens to Tianbao Silver Bank, Jin Mulan will definitely not let Fang Qian go.

After much deliberation, Fang Qian finally made up his mind to get rid of Zhao Chuanchen, who was a serious threat to him.

He took a deep breath and said, "Well, it seems that the only way is to kill him to silence him. Contact Zhang Yong immediately and ask him to send someone to Sanhe County to eliminate Zhao Chuanchen."

Wu Yizi immediately clasped his fists and ran away.

It's ridiculous that these two idiots don't even use their brains to think about it. If Zhao Chuanchen confessed, he would have told everything.

Now that I think about killing someone to silence them, it’s too late.
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In the back hall of the Sanhe County Government Office, Zhao Ji was giving his final instructions to Zhao Chuanchen.

"We have set up a tight net inside and outside the county government office. If there is any disturbance, sound the alarm immediately." Zhao Ji ordered seriously.

"General Zhao, is there really an assassin coming?" Zhao Chuanchen still had a bitter expression and didn't quite trust Zhao Ji.

"Just wait and see what happens." Zhao Ji responded calmly.

Zhao Chuanchen shook his head helplessly, raised the cup to drink tea, but the cup was empty.

The group rushed from Youzhou City to Sanhe County early in the morning without resting. Now it was almost noon and Zhao Chuanchen was extremely thirsty.

"Someone, come and make some tea." Zhao Chuanchen turned and instructed the servant.

The servant answered yes and went downstairs to make tea.

Zhao Ji saw this and tried to dissuade him, "Lord Zhao, if I were you, I would not eat or drink anything from now on."

Zhao Chuanchen swallowed his saliva and said with some fear: "This...you mean, they will poison me?"

Zhao Ji did not answer, but threw a water bag to Zhao Chuanchen: "The water in this is clean. One more piece of advice, stay away from doors and windows."

Then he led his men out, leaving only Zhao Chuanchen in the back hall.

Zhao Chuanchen still had some doubts about Zhao Ji's words in his heart, but his body involuntarily moved away from the doors and windows and sat in a safe place.

He began to mutter to himself, as if praying, hoping for the blessing of the gods.

Zhao Ji saw Zhao Chuanchen's actions from outside and couldn't help laughing out loud.

In fact, he and Di Renjie had already discussed this and made preparations for both scenarios. In case the assassin did not come, they would find someone to pretend to be the assassin so as not to be afraid that Zhao Chuanchen would not tell the truth.

However, before long, a servant came slowly over with his head lowered, carrying tea.

Zhao Ji saw the clues at a glance. This man was different in height and build from the servant who had left the back hall before. He knew that he was an assassin. But Zhao Ji remained calm, thinking: "This Zhao Chuanchen, if I don't teach him a lesson and make him suffer a little, I'm afraid he won't tell the truth."

He deliberately ordered the Qianniu Guards not to check and let the assassin in. He then quietly hid on the beam in the back hall and watched what would happen.

The servant walked smoothly into the room with the tea, closed the door and came to Zhao Chuanchen, and whispered, "Sir, please have some tea."

When Zhao Chuanchen saw the tea, he recalled Zhao Ji's advice and became alert, thinking that there was something fishy going on.

His eyes widened, he stood up suddenly, and shouted for help: "Help, help, help!"

When the assassin saw that his plan was exposed, he showed a look of dismay and immediately pulled out a dagger from his sleeve and rushed towards Zhao Chuanchen.

At this moment, Zhao Ji jumped down from the beam and kicked. The assassin had no time to dodge and was kicked to the ground with a scream.

The teacup smashed to the ground, emitting wisps of white smoke. It looked like some acidic poison had been added to it, corroding the bricks and stones.

Zhao Ji shook his head and thought to himself, "Fang Qian's men are really uncivilized. Is there anyone who would really drink this kind of poison? But maybe they will force it down their throats."

Di Chun heard the noise in the room and rushed into the room with the Qianniu Guards and subdued the assassin.

Zhao Chuanchen looked at the assassins, terrified, and cried, "They... they really want to kill me."

"There is no need for us to lie to you. If you want to live, you have to tell us everything you know." Zhao Ji advised calmly.

Zhao Chuanchen nodded hurriedly: "I will rush back to Youzhou with General Zhao and tell everything to Lord Di."

Zhao Ji did not agree immediately. He pointed at the Qianniuwei uniform in Di Chun's hand and said, "Don't worry, change your clothes first."

"Why is this happening?" Zhao Chuanchen asked in confusion.

Zhao Ji explained, "There are Fang Qian's spies around the Governor's Mansion. You should change into this outfit to avoid being recognized by them."

"Okay. I'll change right away." Zhao Chuanchen survived the disaster, so he obeyed Zhao Ji's orders and went to change his clothes.

While Zhao Chuanchen was changing his clothes, Zhao Ji interrogated the assassin.

The guards had tied up the assassin. Zhao Ji drew his sword and put it on the assassin's neck, asking, "Who are you? Who sent you to kill Zhao Chuanchen?"

The assassin was tied up and unable to move. He swallowed, fear in his eyes, but he didn't speak for the time being.

Zhao Ji chuckled: "No tears until you see the coffin."

Then he swung his sword and chopped it down diagonally.

The assassin immediately begged for mercy, tears streaming down his face. "Oh, sir, please spare me, please spare me. These are all orders from above, and have nothing to do with me."

In fact, it was impossible for Zhao to really do it, but he did not expect that the assassin was so cowardly and could not withstand the slightest intimidation.

"Hurry up and tell me!" Zhao Ji said sternly.

Wang Xiaoer said tremblingly: "I'll tell you, I'm Wang Xiaoer, a sergeant under the command of guerrilla general Zhang Yong. This morning, General Zhang ordered me to come to Sanhe County to kill Zhao Chuanchen and make it look like he committed suicide out of fear of punishment."

"Are you a sergeant under Zhang Yong? Why would he send you here?" Zhao Ji asked puzzledly.

Since Wang Xiaoer had confessed, he naturally told everything he knew, "General, you don't know that Zhang Yong has more than a dozen soldiers like me, all of whom are good soldiers in the army. We often receive orders to do some shameful things."

"That's right. Is there anything else you want to tell me?" Zhao Ji asked again.

Wang Xiaoer nodded and said, "This time Zhang Yong has sent someone to pick me up. He is waiting at the back wall of the county government office."

When Zhao Ji heard this, he threatened Wang Xiaoer, "You lead the way and catch the other one as well. If you can't catch him, I will kill you immediately!"

Wang Xiaoer trembled and said, "I dare not deceive the general. I will lead the way."

Everyone followed him and found another assassin behind the wall of the yamen.

When the assassin saw Wang Xiaoer being tied up and leading people over, he climbed over the wall and tried to escape, but was caught by the Qianniu Guards outside the wall.

Zhao Ji interrogated him again and the confession he obtained was almost the same as Wang Xiaoer's.

"It should be that the elite killers under Fang Qian and Jin Mulan are not under each other's command, so they found these inferior guys. No wonder they are so vulnerable. Guerrilla General Zhang Yong... this is an unexpected gain." Zhao Ji had a sharp eye and had a plan in mind.

"General Zhao, Magistrate Zhao and the two assassins have all changed their clothes." Di Chun reported.

"Okay, let's set off immediately and return to the Governor's Mansion."

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(End of this chapter)