Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 393: Invincible Chaoyang Masses
Just as Chen Zizhuang and others ran down from the second floor and beat Zhu Shengpang, in a house near Chaoyang Gate, the door was pushed open with a creaking sound.
"Mom, I'm back from work."
"Oh, you're back. Wow, it's already twelve o'clock. How come you're back at this hour after being on duty last night?"
"Hey, isn't the examination coming up soon? The examination site happens to be within the jurisdiction of our thousand households. So everyone needs to work extra hours recently."
After the young voice finished speaking, it stretched lazily: "Mom, I'm hungry. Is there anything to eat at home now?"
"Your father is still watching the shop outside. You are hungry now, so why not eat a steamed bun with some hot water to fill your stomach?"
"Okay, as long as there's something to fill my stomach."
Soon, the mother brought her son a bowl of water and a piece of bread. Then the mother sat beside her son and watched him devour the food with kindness.
"By the way, let me tell you something."
"Woo, um, mother, you say."
"You were on duty yesterday, so I had nothing to do that night, so I went to Sister Li's house nearby to chat. Sister Li said that many strangers have come to her house recently."
"Hey~" the young son continued to wolf down his food: "The imperial examination is approaching, and candidates from all over the country are coming to Beijing one after another. It's not surprising to see strangers, right?"
"That's what I told Sister Li. But Sister Li said these people looked a little strange."
Hmm! The young man stopped eating immediately, and then sat up straight and said to his mother: "What's wrong?"
"Sister Li said that for the imperial examinations held every three years, the restaurants and hotels in the capital could not accommodate them, so it was common for various temples and even private houses to accept some candidates from other places. Over the years, our Chaoyang Gate area has accepted countless candidates. It is said that Sun Chuanting, the first governor of Taiwan Prefecture, once lived near our Chaoyang Gate three years ago. Our place is very prosperous in literature!"
"Okay, okay, Mom, let's not talk about it anymore and get down to business. What's so weird about those people?"
"Pa!" The mother patted her son's shoulder and said, "I was just talking about this. Sister Li said that the group of people living near her house rarely go out on weekdays. Even if they go out, it's always one or two people going out to buy food. But looking at the amount of food they bought, it's enough for at least ten people to have a meal. Also, the guy who came out to buy things, although he has a beard on his mouth, has a feminine face and speaks with a hoarse voice, like a father-in-law.
Hey, son, what kind of person can stay in the house all the time and not go out, even needing someone to buy food for him? And the person who buys food is actually my father-in-law?"
"Bang!" The young man slammed the table and stood up: "There must be something wrong here! Mom, where is Aunt Li now?"
"Hey, son, what are you doing?"
"Isn't that what we Jinyiwei do? It's better to guess wrong than to let it go. Mother, I ask you to invite Aunt Li over. Be careful when you invite her. Just say that something happened at home. Isn't Aunt Li always wanting to find a wife for her son? Just say that I told her about this at home. She will definitely come with pleasure."
"Oh, OK, I'll go right away." As a family member of the Jinyiwei, the mother immediately understood the seriousness of the matter. She stood up happily and walked out, but when she reached the door, she turned her head and said, "Son, if you are really willing to find a wife, I will be really happy!"
"Oh, hurry up, there's something important to do!"
…
At the same time, near the house of Aunt Li mentioned by the mother and son, there was a three-story courtyard house.
"Mr. Hattori, you have been in the capital for ten days. When are you going to take action? I have already given you Wei Zhongxian's daily entry and exit routes."
"Haha, Eunuch Liu, that senior official Wei is the confidant of your emperor. Once we assassinate him, whether we succeed or not, we will not be able to stay in the capital. So, please give us a little more time to arrange a retreat. After all, our safe withdrawal is the greatest protection for you, isn't it?"
"Well, that's what you said. But although you guys can speak Chinese, your accent is too strong. So we have to buy food for you ourselves. But buying food for ten people at a time is okay, but what about two times? Three times? If it happens too many times, it will easily arouse suspicion from others. Even if everyone is suspicious, the neighbors around here, those wives who have nothing to do at home, are the most gossipy. What if the gossip spreads everywhere and is accidentally heard by the Jinyiwei or something?"
"Hey, hey, hey, you're absolutely right. How about this? You ask the guys at the nearby market to bring you some food, and we cook the food ourselves. Well, I'm sorry to bother you these days. Please take these gold cakes. You're welcome. You're welcome."
"Hey, there are no gold cakes circulating in the market now. We have to exchange them on the black market, which adds another layer of risk of leaking the news. Forget it, Mr. Hattori, by now we already know what you are going to do. However, I still say the same thing, kill Wei Zhongxian, and I will sacrifice my life to protect you. But if you can't fulfill your promise, humph, I'm not so easy to deal with."
"Yes, yes, please rest assured, father-in-law. Hi, father-in-law, please go well, I am sorry to trouble you."
After the old eunuch Liu left, Hattori Hanzo turned around and went into the inner room. More than ten people who had been in the room surrounded him in an instant, "Sir?"
"Hey, the whereabouts of that tyrant king are still unknown?"
"Shame on you, that tyrant emperor hasn't left the palace recently, so we can't find any chance at all."
"Is it possible to sneak into the palace?"
"I'm sorry, it would be easy to sneak into Xinghua Palace, the former residence of the emperor. But now the emperor has gone to Qianqing Palace, so the alert..."
"Ah, ten days. We have sneaked into Beijing for ten days, taking advantage of the recent increase in the number of migrant population in Beijing as candidates for the imperial examinations from all over the country have gathered here. But we haven't even figured out the whereabouts of this tyrant. How can we fulfill the trust of the Gongfang Palace if we continue like this? It's a pity that the Donglin Party didn't listen to our advice and insisted on poisoning with Gelsemium instead of assassination. As a result, when we come again, we can't even find a decent insider!"
This group of people were the ninjas sent by Tokugawa Yoshinao to kill Zhu Youdong. The leader was Hattori Hanzo of this generation, and the remaining ten or so people were all jonins with special skills.
This Japanese time traveler has completely given up hope of defeating Zhu Youdong head-on on the battlefield, and is thinking of relying on these underhanded tricks to win.
In his opinion, as long as Zhu Youdong could be killed, Japan could negotiate with the Ming Dynasty. No matter how humiliating the conditions were, the Ming Dynasty would eventually be defeated by Japan led by him as long as Zhu Youdong was gone.
Therefore, this time he only had one order for Hattori Hanzo: Kill Zhu Youdong. Try not to touch other people, and even if you do, it is only incidental - if Zhu Youdong is not dead, killing more important officials of the Ming Dynasty will not solve the fundamental problem.
However, although the Ming Dynasty was not united internally at that time, there were very few people willing to assist the assassins of foreign races, and even if there were, they were not important.
Hattori and his men took advantage of the Ming navy's concentration in Southeast Asia to cross the Yalu River on the Korean Peninsula and directly enter the Jurchens, Chu Ying's camp. Then, with Chu Ying's tacit consent, his men helped them get the Jurchen merchant caravan's customs documents. After several changes of hands, they finally entered Beijing after going through untold hardships.
It was easy to find a supporter when he arrived in Beijing: six years ago, Wei Zhongxian was ordered by Zhu Youdong to clean up the inner court officials. Over the years, Wei reduced the number of inner court officials and palace maids from more than 100,000 to more than 60,000. In this process, Wei Zhongxian offended so many people that he himself could not count them.
Therefore, Eunuch Liu was willing to accept this group of people, with only one request: kill Wei Zhongxian!
Unfortunately, this eunuch Liu had been kicked out of the palace by Old Wei for many years. If he had not saved some money in the palace in his early years and had a house when he came out, he would really be no different from "nameless white". Providing accommodation and food for this group of ninjas is already beyond his ability. He also needs to provide them with Zhu Youdong's whereabouts, which is really beyond his ability.
"There is no other way. If we continue to stay here, it will only be a matter of time before we are exposed. So, we must make some changes."
"What does the Lord mean?"
"It is said that the Emperor Taishang of the Ming Dynasty is touring the Juyong Pass. Let's sneak out of Beijing first and then try to assassinate the old emperor. Regardless of whether we succeed or not, there will be chaos in Beijing. We will see if we can kill him in the chaos..."
Just when Hattori Hanzo judged that his side was about to be exposed, he suddenly heard a voice outside the door: "Open the door! Check the water meter!"
