Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 260: Game within a Game
Even Zhu Ying, who had always liked Ah Liu's temperament of being quiet or surprising when he did, heard these simple words and realized that the innocent little girl had been rescued by Ah Liu. She felt relieved, but at the same time she wanted to rush up and beat that boy up!
It turns out that Ah Liu was not pretending to be indifferent just now, but was really indifferent! Because this kid was basically watching people perform a monkey show!
Zhang Shou, who also realized this, was both angry and amused. Although he had sensed something was wrong from the boy's tone when Ah Liu invited him and Zhu Ying to take a walk in front of Qing'an Hall, and had prepared for a rainy day, it now seemed that he had underestimated the cunning behind the boy's sultry appearance!
Compared to Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying's subtle feelings, the short man's eyes flickered. He snorted coldly and said with a smile: "Don't be complacent! My master has laid a net of heaven and earth. Don't think that those guys in the Duke of Zhao's mansion can come to save you! Even if you have three heads and six arms, I still have dozens or even hundreds of people behind me. Dr. Zhang and Miss Zhu can't survive!"
"I'm sorry, the people in Duke Zhao's mansion may not be anything special, but they are probably stronger than you think." As he said this, a thin figure holding a sword appeared in everyone's sight. In addition to the bloodstains on his body, the sword in his hand also had blood dripping from it, and it was obvious that he had just experienced a fierce battle.
As the man gradually approached, Zhu Ying, who had not been able to see his head and face clearly because he was standing in the backlight, finally couldn't help but widen her eyes and said, "Brother? Aren't you recuperating at home? When did you come out?"
After hearing this, the deep scar on Zhu Tingfang's left cheek trembled slightly. Seeing that the short man in Liu's hand was also staring at him with disbelief, he said calmly: "Why, did your master hear the news that after Zhu Tingfang forced himself to return to Beijing and enter the palace, he started to stay indoors and probably died of serious injuries, so there is no need to worry about him anymore?"
As he spoke, he calmly crossed the sword over to his left hand, then nodded at Zhang Shou as if nothing had happened, and then smiled at the stunned Zhu Ying.
"Fortunately, Zhang Shou was more cautious than you. He told someone to inform me before he came out. Although he didn't explain it clearly, I don't know whether Ah Liu didn't know about the meeting place in advance, and he looked at people along the way or used other methods to find it, or he was deliberately keeping it a secret. But I did some tricks on your carriage, and it's not too late to lead people here. It's just the right time to put an end to this kid."
Zhu Tingfang pointed at Ah Liu unhappily, but before he could scold the boy for being so audacious, Ah Liu suddenly stepped forward, stretched out his hand to grab the short man's hair, and brought him directly in front of him. This action was completely unexpected to him, so when Ah Liu loosened his hand and threw the man in front of him, he had not yet reacted.
"My Lord, this is a trophy."
Even though Zhu Tingfang had heard about Ah Liu's temper from his grandmother and stepmother, he couldn't help but twitch his lips slightly at this incredible statement, and even glanced sideways at Zhang Shou.
Like master, like servant. How can this kid have such a temper? Who would believe that it was not taught by Zhang Shou?
With a cold face, he grabbed the short man by the collar, and seeing that he closed his eyes in pain and did not struggle, he used his left hand to directly snap his hands and feet, and in a few strokes, he actually dislocated the short man's hands and feet. Seeing that the man was obviously in pain and his face turned pale, but he gritted his teeth and did not say a word, but did not do anything violent like biting his tongue to commit suicide, he sneered.
"You're not afraid of pain, but you're not afraid of being in my hands and being unable to live or die? You just yelled about the dragnet, and you dare to look down on the people of the Duke of Zhao's Mansion? Haha, the sneaky guys over there were surrounded by my men, but they are only a few dogs and cats, not many elite soldiers? With such a small number of people, you want to kill my sister and my brother-in-law?"
Zhu Tingfang's expression suddenly turned fierce, but Zhu Ying was delighted when she heard his last roar. Zhang Shou felt that Brother Zhu just blurted out the word "brother-in-law" in excitement. It was true that people had almost accepted him, but if he really thought that he had completely passed that test, he was too optimistic. All he could say was that a bright future was not far away.
He was just thinking about it when he heard an angry voice behind him: "Miss, Mr. Shou! Are you all okay?"
Zhu Yu rushed over with a steel knife in hand, already extremely anxious. But when he saw that among the people who turned around and looked at him, in addition to Zhang Shou, Zhu Ying and Ah Liu, there was actually another person, Zhu Tingfang, who was holding someone in his hand, he could not help but be stunned.
Why is the eldest son here?
Seeing that Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying were both unharmed, even their clothes were intact, he didn't think too much, wiped the blood that had just splashed on his face and said in a deep voice: "More than 20 guys with sticks suddenly jumped out from the walls on both sides of the alley, and the brothers were caught off guard. It was all because of my negligence that I came late. It's my fault!"
Zhu Tingfang smiled and asked directly: "How are those people now?"
Speaking of this, Zhu Hong's face turned red, and after a while he lowered his head and said, "They were just some street thugs with sticks. Fortunately, Master Shou told us not to kill them and to keep them alive as much as possible, otherwise he might have killed a few of them!"
Zhang Shou had been paying attention to the reaction of the short man. When he saw Zhu Hong tell the truth about being intercepted and wounded, the man's face suddenly changed and his eyes flickered. He immediately looked at Ah Liu. The two of them had always been in sync. Ah Liu immediately stepped forward and directly removed the short man's jaw, and then knocked him unconscious with a knife.
The moment Ah Liu approached, Zhu Tingfang's body reacted subconsciously, but just as he was about to attack with the sword in his right hand, he forced himself to hold back. When he saw Ah Liu's movements clearly, he came to his senses.
He had only dislocated the man's limbs, but had not prevented him from losing his ability to speak after biting his tongue. He was not afraid of the man committing suicide, because Zhang Shou had long told him not to kill anyone, and he was sure that he could leave enough people alive. But at this moment, he knew that he had probably been fooled! Without thinking, he threw the man to Ah Liu, then turned around and ran towards the people he brought with him.
Seeing Zhu Tingfang walking so fast, Zhang Shou immediately said to Zhu Hong, who didn't know what was going on, "Go back immediately and double-check to see if those hooligans are still alive! In short, no one should be allowed to die!"
Zhu Hong grew up in the mansion of Duke Zhao. He was trusted by Duke Zhao Zhu Jing and his wife. He must be a smart man. He immediately understood what Zhang Shou meant and ran away in a hurry. When he left, Zhu Ying looked at the short man who was thrown away by his elder brother like garbage, looked around, and finally asked in confusion: "A Shou, what is going on?"
Zhang Shou sneered and said, "Although Ah Liu took the initiative and said he had rescued the old beggar's granddaughter, and your elder brother and Zhu Hong were also very cautious, but seriously speaking, we were still fooled. The only real warrior is probably the one in front of us, and the rest are just random people who are willing to die."
Zhu Ying was just too lazy to think, she was not stupid. When she suddenly realized what was going on, she couldn't help but raise her eyebrows: "So, they tricked some thugs here, hoping that big brother and Zhu Hong would kill them. Then our Zhaoguo Mansion would be accused of killing innocent people?"
"I'm afraid so." Zhang Shou glanced at Ah Liu who was still calm, and sighed, "Moreover, if Ah Liu placed the old beggar's granddaughter with me or the Duke Zhao's mansion, and she filed a complaint with the government, we would have to detain her granddaughter and force her to bang the drum to file a complaint."
"This..." Although Zhu Ying had seen conspiracies since she was a child, she was still at a loss as to what to do with such a scheme. After holding it in for a long time, she angrily said, "This is too despicable and shameless!"
"It is indeed despicable to plot against us while involving innocent people. But some people in this world always think they are superior and don't take other people's lives and property seriously."
Zhang Shou narrowed his eyes slightly, wondering who was behind this. Before he and Zhu Ying came out, Jiu Niang pulled him aside and told him briefly about the dispute between Concubine Yu and the Queen in the Imperial Garden, which included the part that accused him, Zhu Ying, and Princess Yongping of having suspicious backgrounds. In addition to the previous things, he originally suspected the Queen, the eldest prince, or the second prince the most.
However, the style of their behavior today made him feel that they were not like the stupid fools who came to the house with the mother and her two children.
Just as he was thinking about it, he suddenly heard Ah Liu muttering in a low voice: "I did find the little girl, but I didn't bring her out."
"Huh?" Zhu Ying's eyes widened. Seeing Zhang Shou also looking up at Ah Liu, who was checking the short man on the ground, she immediately asked, "Hey, Ah Liu, explain clearly, what's going on?"
Facing the gazes of four eyes, Ah Liu said in confusion: "After I found the person, of course I told the madman, and then..."
And then nothing happened... Zhang Shou couldn't help but complete the sentence for Liu, and then he coughed and said, "Didn't you say that Master Hua Qi was watching my blacksmith shop and carpenter shop?"
"The madman is not alone."
Hearing Ah Liu casually throw the short man aside, Zhang Shou answered him seriously, but facing the look in the boy's eyes, Zhang Shou felt for the first time that he was a little slow. Ah Liu was a person, but that Hua Qi... was a person! Therefore, even though Zhu Hong and Zhu Tingfang had not yet confirmed the casualties, he was still relieved.
Seeing Zhang Shou talking to Ah Liu, Zhu Ying was so angry that she stepped forward and kicked the short fat man twice, but then she suddenly frowned. She turned the man over with her toes and found that his face was pale and he seemed to be dying at any time. She was shocked and turned around to call for help, but she saw Zhang Shou had already rushed over, and Ah Liu was even faster than Zhang Shou.
Ah Liu directly pried open the short man's mouth, frowned and sniffed the smell, then stretched out his fingers to dig into his mouth, then squatted down, pushed the man to the ground on his knees, and hit him several times on the back.
Zhu Ying was about to speak when a hand suddenly reached out and dragged her away. In a flash, just as she had walked a few steps away, she immediately smelled an extremely unpleasant odor, and when she looked again, she saw that the short man had vomited all over the floor.
She had never seen such a scene before, so she quickly covered her nose and stepped back a few steps. Seeing that Ah Liu was not afraid of being so shameless and was still not sure whether to save or torture the guy, she couldn't help but ask in a distracted manner: "Ah Shou, if this guy dies, will our Zhu family really have no way to explain it?"
"That may not be the case." Zhang Shou shrugged and said indifferently, "The more complicated the plan is, the more loopholes and traces it will inevitably leave. Only the simplest plan will be indefensible. And the most important thing is that Ah Liu found the little girl and notified Master Hua Qi, so we don't have to worry about it next."
As she was talking, Zhu Ying saw Ah Liu slap the man on the back a few more times, and then laid him on his side on the ground - no doubt, just in time for the short and fat Chinese character to face the puddle of vomit. She couldn't help but pinch her nose and turn her head away, until Ah Liu came over, she asked in a muffled voice: "Is the man dead or alive?"
"This guy is really amazing. After his jaw was removed, he still broke the poison sac in his mouth. Fortunately, I knocked him out, so the poison he swallowed should be only a very small amount. After inducing vomiting, there is a certain chance that he can save his life."
At this point, Ah Liu wiped his hands with a handkerchief, glanced at the guy who had completely fainted but whose facial muscles were still twitching, and then said lightly: "He was probably waiting for the final result just now, so he didn't die immediately. As a death soldier, this is actually not very qualified. Because a death soldier has to die regardless of whether the mission is completed or not, and he doesn't have to worry about anything else."
Seeing that Zhu Ying's brows were almost knitted into a knot, Zhang Shou pulled her a few steps away. As expected, away from Ah Liu, who still had a certain smell on his body and spoke in an unusually cold voice, Zhu Ying's expression gradually became more natural.
However, she kept looking around, observing the movements on both sides, and was obviously still worried about Zhu Tingfang and Zhu Yu. So Zhang Shou could only comfort her, "A Liu is a very smart kid. Although he shot arrows one after another just now, he should be able to injure people without killing them."
The next moment, he heard Ah Liu say faintly, "I know that you sent people to find the eldest young master and told them not to kill anyone, so the arrows I used are short arrows with limited power, which are not suitable for long-range targets. They won't kill anyone, at most they will just make a few more holes in their bodies."
Just when Zhu Ying breathed a sigh of relief, she suddenly heard a few sharp whistles in the night, followed by a very loud voice: "Don't let those bastards kill anyone during the New Year, otherwise Wang Dayin will blame us and everyone will be in trouble!"
