I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 431 The real murderer behind the scenes
However, in the face of Dong Zhao's persuasion, Zhang Yan was unwilling to listen.

At this moment, someone came to report that Zhang Fang had arrived in Henei County, and Sun Qing, who stayed behind, had gone to pick him up.

Zhang Yan then said to Dong Zhao, "Bo Zheng has come here on the orders of the Emperor. As a father, I cannot use his uncle's orders to welcome him. Why don't we take Yu Du and Sui Gu back first and then deal with them?"

The idea of ​​delaying time came into my mind.

Dong Zhao was unmoved and was as stubborn as Zhang Yan: "General, your father and son are both Han officials. How can you ignore Han laws?"

Zhang Yan thought for a moment and explained to Dong Zhao, "Gongren, if I kill Yu Du and Sui Gu here, their followers will be in a state of panic. Once instigated by someone with ulterior motives, it is not impossible for them to cause a rebellion."

"Anyway, since Bo Zheng is here on orders, how about I take these two people to see Bo Zheng first and then discuss it?"

Seeing that he could not convince Zhang Yan, Dong Zhao had no choice but to agree reluctantly.

Seeing that Dong Zhao had finally given in, Zhang Yan also gave in and said, "We were originally going to go to Julu County to investigate Bai Rao. Now why not meet up with Bo Zheng at Bai Rao? What do you think, Gongren?"

He and Dong Zhao originally suspected that Yu Du and Sui Gu were using Bai Rao's territory to go to Julu to cause chaos, but now it seems that these two people have no such intentions.

Dong Zhao had no objection.

Five or six days later, Zhang Yan, who missed her son so much, finally met Zhang Fang.

The father and son met again after a long separation. They naturally did not mention each other's feelings of separation. After reminiscing about the past, Zhang Fang talked about business and conveyed the emperor's questions.

Then, he looked at his father with both anticipation and nervousness, fearing that Zhang Yan would get an answer that he didn't want to hear.

But Zhang Yan's reaction was beyond his expectations. Zhang Yan slammed the table beside him and said angrily, "I really want to know who did this. But it's a pity that I can't find out!"

"Your uncles Yu and Sui were originally the most suspicious, but they were only found to have committed other crimes. Now, your uncle Bai is the only one left."

"But from what I have seen so far, I haven't found anything suspicious."

"So, there is only one truth - the bandits who killed Zhao Yan have nothing to do with our Black Mountain Army."

Zhang Yan spoke with great confidence, but Zhang Fang was a little skeptical.

He asked Zhang Yan, "Since they are bandits from the surrounding area, does Father have any suspects?"

After all, he is his biological son. Zhang Fang knows that Zhang Yan actually has some unknown sources of information in various places in Hebei.

Zhang Yan shook her head: "I didn't find anything."

Zhang Fang was a little disappointed. He even began to suspect whether Zhang Yan had deliberately lied to him.

In this way, Zhang Fang accompanied Zhang Yan to stay in the Black Mountain Army's sphere of influence in Julu County for another seven or eight days.

During this period, Zhang Yan also took him to investigate the situation of Bai Rao's troops, but found nothing.

Bai Rao was very cooperative. Compared to Yu Du and Sui Gu, his subordinates were much cleaner.

One day, Zhang Yan, who was persuaded by Dong Zhao again, asked Zhang Fang how to treat Yu Du and Sui Gu.

Zhang Fang had actually had an idea in mind these days. He stared at Zhang Yan and said tentatively: "Father, according to the Han law..."

As soon as the word "Han Law" came out of his mouth, Zhang Fang noticed that his father had frowned and was staring at him.

But he still mustered up the courage to say the last two words - "Death penalty!"

When Zhang Yan saw this scene, he felt deeply moved.

He was sad that his son disobeyed him after returning from being away for a few years. At the same time, he was also relieved that his son finally had the courage to argue with him.

It’s a pity that this is not what he taught.

Zhang Yan explained to Zhang Fang: "I know that many of your ideas are consistent with Gongren. There are some things I cannot tell Gongren, but you are my son, the next commander of the Black Mountain Army, and there are some things you should know."

Zhang Fang was about to speak, but was stopped by Zhang Yan, who continued, "It is wrong for Yu Du and Sui Gu to go out to plunder, but in this year, relying on the harvest in the mountains, if they don't go out to plunder, so many people in the valley will not be able to survive! I know what you want to say, but is the emperor's disaster relief grain so easy to get? Are those officials willing to save these uncontrolled people under my command?"

"Even if they come to rescue me, I'm afraid you will have to hand over the Black Mountain Army to me."

Zhang Fang opened his eyes wide when he heard this, and he thought of a possibility - could it be that... Yu Du and Sui Gu were allowed by their father to go out and rob?
No one knows a son better than his father. Although they had been separated for several years, Zhang Yan knew what Zhang Fang was thinking as soon as he opened his eyes. Zhang Yan raised his hand and hit Zhang Fang's head hard.

"Who do you think your father is? Changshan County is the hometown of you and me. Yu Du and Sui Gu not only robbed people of their money, but also killed them. I hate them deeply. How could I kill people from the village?"

"But, father did send people out to rob." Zhang Fang understood the implication of Zhang Yan's words.

He was somewhat disappointed, yet somewhat relieved.

Zhang Fang looked at Zhang Yan and suddenly said, "Father, why don't you just hand over your people? This way, not only can the people in the valley receive help from the court, but father won't have so many worries. Moreover, I believe that His Majesty will definitely treat father well!"

Zhang Yan looked at Zhang Fang and cursed, "I think you have become stupid because of reading too much. If your father was not the General of the Central Army of Pingnan and had so many followers under him, do you think you can be the Yulin Lang you are now? Once I hand over the power in my hands, then your life and death will be in the hands of others. It will be too late to regret it!"

Zhang Fang retorted again: "Father, I have met His Majesty many times and have talked with His Majesty before... His Majesty is definitely not the kind of person that you think he is."

Zhang Yan asked back, "How many times have you met the emperor? You will never abandon the donkey after it has served its purpose... Hey, that's quite a vivid statement... Wait, you bastard, who are you calling a donkey? Stop running, you bastard! Stop right there!"

After all the commotion, the father and son seemed to have returned to their friendly state.

But only the two of them knew the gap between them.

……

The other side of Julu County.

The governor Ying Shao was leading the Yulin Lang led by Sun Ce to retrace the route Zhao Yan had taken. On this day, they arrived at the end, which was the place where Zhao Yan died.

Ju Shou, the deputy driver, pointed to a wall and introduced it to Sun Ce and others: "At that time, Zhao Yan's body was fixed on a wooden stake beside this wall. Someone posted a letter on this wall to destroy the eunuchs..."

After Ju Su finished his introduction and gave Sun Ce and the others some time to think, the governor Ying Shao asked, "During this journey, you have all heard about Zhao Yan's various experiences, including the fact that someone in Julu County warned him to be careful of bandits. Now, what do you think?"

Sun Ce asked, "May I ask you, sir? So far, we have only seen traces of Zhao Yan, but there are many thieves. I don't know where they went after robbing and killing people. The carriages and horses loaded with valuables should have marks, right?"

"That's the problem," Ying Shao said. "Zhao Yan took the official road, and there are post houses along the way. Logically, the thief would have left traces regardless of whether he took the official road or not. But the searching officials only found Zhao Yan's abandoned car on the side of the road, and some footprints. After a brief investigation, he disappeared."

Sun Ce asked again, "Does your Excellency doubt that the Black Mountain Army has the ability to clean up the mess?"

"Not necessarily." Ying Shao explained, "In recent years, in order to show kindness and leniency to the people in the mountains, the supervision of the mountains has been relaxed a lot. This method has worked well in the past years. Even if there are occasional robberies, Zhang Ping will catch the real culprit in time."

"But this also gave the Montenegrin army's thugs an opportunity to collude with officials. So even though we have strengthened supervision this year, the results are still unsatisfactory."

Sun Ce was somewhat confused about Ying Shao's opinion.

Logically speaking, Ying Shao should have investigated for a long time before he came, but he had no clue at all? He even doubted whether Ying Shao was really as capable and trustworthy as His Majesty said...

Ying Shao didn't know what Sun Ce was thinking. He came in a hurry and left in a hurry on the pretext of being busy with official business, leaving Ju Su to accompany Sun Ce and his party.

Dian Wei was quite dissatisfied when he saw Ying Shao leave again. He didn't care that Ju Shou was right beside him. He walked quickly to Sun Ce and asked, "Shi Chang, what did Ying Shao say just now? Is there anything useful in investigating the case?"

Sun Ce nodded and then shook his head.

Dian Wei was directly knocked unconscious.

He said unhappily, "Master, let's not imitate those people who pretend to be so profound."

Sun Ce explained: "The identity of the thief is not simple, and he attacked Zhao Yan with preparation."

Dian Wei nodded in agreement: "And then?"

"Gone?"

"Just this one sentence?" Dian Wei was speechless. After a long while, he just said "boring" and ignored Sun Ce.

Sun Ce looked at Ju Shou again and explained, "Please forgive me for making fun of you, Lord Ju. The tough guys in the army are like this..."

Dian Wei, who had not walked a few steps away, heard what Sun Ce said, snorted, and stood in another direction.

Ju Su smiled and said, "Mr. Dian is a man of temperament."

Dian Wei heard this and snorted again.

Sun Ce didn't take it seriously and asked, "Lord Ju, there is one thing I don't understand. Although Envoy Ying is very busy with official duties, there are priorities. The matter at hand is the most important one and involves many things. Why does Inspector Ying seem to be unconcerned?"

Ju Su pointed to the location of the Black Mountain Army in the west and replied, "The envoy is waiting for a result there."

"No matter what the outcome is, we will still need you and the soldiers from the prefectures and counties that are temporarily under your command to contribute."

Hearing that there might be a war, Dian Wei immediately stopped caring about anything else and walked back a few steps, asking in a muffled voice: "Lord Ju, I wonder how long it will take for the results to come back!"

"It should be soon..." Ju Su said, looking to the west.

……

The location of Bai Rao’s troops in Julu County.

The day after he confessed his true feelings to Zhang Yan, Zhang Xiang resigned from his post. "My brothers who were in the same squad with me are now investigating a case in Julu County. I want to join them."

Zhang Yan did not object.

Another day, Zhang Yan brought people to see him off all the way, one mile, five miles, ten miles... until they were nearly twenty miles apart, Zhang Yan finally stopped his mount.

When saying goodbye, Zhang Fang suddenly leaned over to Zhang Yan's ear and said, "Robbing money without killing is also a serious crime. I hope you will find your way back soon and not make more mistakes."

Then said goodbye and left.

Only Zhang Yan was left with a weird expression, which was very pretty.

Later, on the way back, Zhang Yan said to Dong Zhao who came to see him off, "Gongren, we have been investigating here for many days without any progress. Now, you should believe that the Black Mountain Army is innocent, right?"

Dong Zhao reminded him, "General, don't forget who is the most suspicious person in Zhao Yan's death?"

Zhang Yan pointed at herself speechlessly and said, "So, at the end of the investigation, I'm the most suspicious person?"

"I just suddenly thought of something... General, do you think it's too clean to just wander around here?" Dong Zhao suddenly asked.

"Isn't this just a false accusation?" Zhang Yan was about to retort, but she remained silent first.

Yes, Bai Rao did not show much concern about the lack of grain this year in front of him.

Even the looting by Yu Du and Sui Gu was aimed at obtaining money and food, and disrupting the situation by killing people was only secondary.

"Not good! Yu Du and Sui Gu are both imprisoned here by Bai Rao. We came out to see them off this time because Bai Rao has been ill in recent days..." Zhang Yan looked at Dong Zhao, the Feiyan commander who had led the Black Mountain Army for many years, was really a little panicked.

He was about to ride his horse back, but was stopped by Dong Zhao.

"General, in order to see Bo Zheng off, most of the trusted people around you have been brought here. If Bai Rao takes this opportunity to rebel, going back directly would be like walking into a trap."

"For now, the general should take a detour back to Zhao State and reorganize the troops in case of emergency. As for Bai's detour here, you need to leave one person behind. In case he doesn't have an attack, it will be enough to appease him."

Zhang Yan understood that among this group of people, the only one qualified to stay and appease Bai Rao without making Bai Rao suspicious was Dong Zhao.

He grabbed Dong Zhao's hand, unwilling to let go: "Gongren, if something happens to you, how can I explain it to Envoy Ying?"

"It was my fault for not noticing Bai Rao's problem sooner. It's not the General's fault!"

The two were saying their final farewell when they suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves in the distance.

Zhang Yan looked over vigilantly and saw three or four riders being chased by the cavalry behind them.

He was very familiar with the attire of these cavalrymen; they were all from his Black Mountain Army!
This time, there is no need to part with each other forever.

However, Zhang Yan's whereabouts were discovered, and he could not return to Zhao State because his route was blocked by Bai Rao's territory.

In July of the fifth year of Guangxi, Bai Rao of the Black Mountain Army took advantage of the unpreparedness of Zhang Yan, the General in Charge of Suppressing the Rebellion, to rebel. Yu Du and Sui Gu both rebelled and drove Zhang Yan to the east of Julu.

……

Zhang Yan couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed when she saw her son again not long after they separated and he was still in a state similar to a lost dog.

However, on the way to seek help from Sun Ce and others, he still assured Zhang Fang: "With Sun Qing and Wang Dang here, even if I'm not here, they will definitely be able to defend our territory and protect your mother."

Zhang Fang just felt that he had endured too much. The current situation was something he had never imagined when he left Beijing.

He said to Zhang Yan tiredly: "Father, why don't we take this opportunity to completely hand over the Black Mountain Army? Otherwise, it will be too late to regret if something happens again."

But Zhang Yan still found it difficult to make up her mind.

……

"So, after going around in circles, it turned out that the Black Mountain bandits were responsible for Zhao Yan's death?" Dian Wei, who had already reunited with Zhang Fang, asked bluntly.

(End of this chapter)