There were many soldiers standing outside the door of the Zhang family, the largest family in Zijun City. Most of them were sallow and thin, wearing commoners but no armor. Their weapons looked sharp and not old.
It was the army that Governor Zhou had formed using refugees outside the city a few days ago. After several days of serious training, the military formation they formed already looked similar, although it would not be very powerful.
Even so, their momentum seemed to be faintly suppressing Zhang's elite soldiers who had just returned from victory.
The leader of the new army is the new city guard captain Zhou Weiming, who has just taken over Zhang Qingxian's position.
"What are you doing here? Go and inform Mr. Zhang that the junior Colonel Zhou is here to ask him to go to the county governor's house."
"Why, you still haven't reported it."
Zhou Weiming's momentum became stronger and his tone became more severe. Although he was an unparalleled warrior with a silver spear in his hand, he was not looked down upon by the elite soldiers in front of the gate.
It’s not like the foundation-building monks haven’t fought before.
Zhang's family soldiers were also soldiers of Zijun City. How could they have ever received such an insult? A few of the angry ones were about to draw their swords, but were stopped by their comrades.
Both sides knew in their hearts that it was not the soldiers present who decided the direction of the incident, but the monks who had fought so hard in the past two days.
Zhou Weiming saw it in his eyes and didn't say anything. In the future, he might have to work with the people in front of him. On this trip, he only needed to express the majesty of the county governor. It was not good to go too far.
As for Zhang Qingxian, he is struggling to protect himself now and will probably not do anything extraordinary.
Chen Li, Cheng Tong and others who had just returned to the battlefield came after hearing the news. Naturally, they shared the same hatred. Chen Li stepped forward and said to Zhou Weiming: "These soldiers have just defended the city and repelled the bandits under the leadership of Master Zhang. How can we allow you to wait for humiliation?"
"I'm just doing business. The county guard knows that everyone is working hard to defend the city. However, the traitor Wang Lexian set up a private formation that almost exhausted the earth's spiritual energy, and colluded with foreign enemies to attack the city. We got some clues that seemed to be related to the Zhang family, so we had to Please ask the head of the Zhang family to go over and clarify."
"Hmph, you said you were involved, so you have it? Where's the evidence? Could it be that seeing Master Zhang doing a great job in defending the city and taking away your task of suppressing bandits, I felt jealous, so I slapped a charge on it randomly." Although Cheng Tong and the Zhang family There was discord, but he knew the importance. The family's resistance to the government's seizure of power was innate.
Young Master Cheng hated Zhou Weiming, who was from a lowly family, and spoke unabashedly and harshly.
"Oops, I forgot that you also contributed to the defense of the city. It was your team that transported equipment and materials when defending the city. It is a good idea to be able to combine military achievements without danger. I'm afraid your Governor Zhou is still looking forward to it. Let us die together with the bandits, so that you can take the credit."
Seeing that Cheng Tong was speaking more and more out of tune, Chen Li quickly stopped him.
"You, how dare you slander the Sheriff!"
Zhou Wei's famous voice trembled, but he didn't dare to take action. He knew the level of his soldiers, and even he himself might not be a match for Chen Li and Cheng Tong.
"Squeak."
The Zhuqi door opened, breaking the awkward situation. All the Zhang family soldiers looked back and saw Zhang Qingxian walking out wearing ordinary civilian clothes.
All the officers and soldiers felt heartbroken, and even Chen Li, Cheng Tong and their soldiers were also angry.
Zhang Qingxian led his soldiers to retreat from the enemy and protect the people of the city. In the end, he ended up being dismissed from office. This was not the end of it, and he was also accused of crimes by villains.
The crowd was furious, the soldiers' eyes were red, and they were about to explode. Zhang Qingxian suddenly opened his arms and focused everyone's attention on him.
"It's just that after the remnant of Wang Lexian's gang was defeated, he was biting at me with evil intentions and driving a wedge between me and the county governor. I think there will be no problem if I explain it clearly. Zhang will keep your friendship in mind, but please don't do it for the sake of me. You are confused and have a bad relationship with the county governor."
Then he raised his hands forward, signaling Zhou Weiming to tie his hands as a suspect.
"Captain Zhou finally got what he wanted. Your current position is higher than mine."
Everyone knew that Zhou Weiming had worked for the Zhang family, but his current behavior was like a wolf-hearted traitor in the eyes of the uninformed, and everyone looked at him angrily.
I don't want Zhang Qingxian to portray himself as the oppressed party with just a few words, completely forgetting how he suppressed Zhou Junshou and others before.
In this situation, Zhou Weiming did not dare to provoke public anger. He did not tie up Zhang Qingxian and did not dare to escape without overdoing it.
The team escorted Zhang Qingxian away, although it looked more like escorting a distinguished guest.
…
In the main hall, Governor Zhou sat at the first place, Yu Zhu, as a guest, sat at the first place, and the others were the powerful officials of Zijun City.
As for Lieutenant Hong and Laodao Hao, they were not even qualified to sit down. After all, it was a formal occasion and we couldn't be so casual.
After Wang Lexian was executed, Yu Zhu, in order to make up for his dereliction of duty, fully supported Governor Zhou on behalf of Tianfu Temple to help him avoid being dismissed and at the same time prevent himself from being dismissed.
As the nominally largest officials in Zijun City, the two parties cooperated with each other and soon roughly controlled the entire city. Zhang Qingxian was also dismissed during this period.
A servant outside the door reported that Zhou Weiming had brought the person back. Everyone in the room immediately cheered up. Governor Zhou also calmed down and ordered the servant to bring Zhou Weiming and others in.
It is a small courtyard, but there are guards at every intersection. Only the steward of the house can pass through smoothly. Such trouble is to highlight the serious and repressive atmosphere and increase Zhang Qingxian's nervousness.
It's a pity that these are all the remaining tricks played by the Zhang family, and Zhang Qingxian didn't have any mood swings at all.
After being delivered to the place, the housekeeper withdrew and the servant at the door opened the door and welcomed Zhou Weiming and Zhang Qingxian in.
Zhou Weiming entered the door and knelt down half-kneeling in salute, saying, "This is for your Majesty, the county guard. The prisoner Zhang Qingxian is here to bring him."
Having said that, he took a seat after seeing Governor Zhou nod. His position was enough to get a seat.
"Wang Lexian is a very evil person. I didn't expect that we were deceived by him for a long time, which led to this catastrophe. Even though he died, he could not let go of his accomplices."
"Zhang Qingxian, you and Wang Lexian colluded with each other, what can you say?"
Governor Zhou asked straight to the point.
Zhang Qingxian glanced around and didn't see the scary Taoist priest or the fire-wielding boy. He breathed a sigh of relief, but when he saw Yu Zhu present, he couldn't help but frown.
This posture is like a three-court trial. Do you want to directly convict me? I want to see what evidence you have.
"My lord, you are unjust. There has never been any collusion. Wang Lexian and I don't have much contact, and the entire Zijun City knows about it."
This is true. Not only do they not have much contact with each other, but the Zhang family can keep suppressing the county governor and county minister.
But every time he thought that this old monster Wang Lexian was Zhang Qingxian's father, County Sheriff Zhou couldn't help but break into a cold sweat. He had actually been a close friend of such a dangerous person.
"The Taoist priest in the Dragon King Temple said that Wang Lexian was your father. You often disguised yourself and went to the Dragon King Tower to conspire in secret. You still want to quibble!"
"Where do you start talking about this, sir? Is there any evidence? How can it be so easy to taint someone's innocence?"
As soon as these words came out, Governor Zhou was speechless. Although what he said was true, there was no evidence. Everyone in the Dragon King Tower had been killed.
Yu Zhu's mind was spinning and he quickly interrupted.
"Since there is no evidence, we can't convict the Zhang family leader. It's just that the Zhang family leader had better provide proof, otherwise the suspicion will not be cleared in the end."
"how to prove?"
"Since there is a testimony that Wang Lexian is your father pretending to be your father, you should go back and invite your father over. Wang Lexian is already dead, so this testimony is self-defeating."
As soon as Zhang Qingxian heard this, he knew that County Sheriff Zhou and his team were determined to label him a suspect so that they could suppress him.
Fortunately, he had made sufficient arrangements before coming. As long as he refused to admit it, without evidence, it would be a frame-up by the government. When public opinion spreads, the position of county governor would not be stable. When the new county governor takes office, the Zhang family will still have a chance to make a comeback.
"My father is not in the city."
"Oh? Then where is he now?"
"Everyone here must know that my father is over ninety years old, but he is only a foundation-building monk. He is approaching the end of his life. He is not willing to do this, so he goes out of the city to wander in search of immortality."
These words sounded like evasion to everyone. It was such a coincidence that he left at this time. Besides, there are still ten years left for the old man to live until the end of his life. If he doesn’t live quietly for a few more years, why is he so anxious to fight for it?
But there is still no evidence. The Zijuncheng family is powerful and has always been united, but it is not easy to force it.
"My lords, if there is no problem, I will take my leave first."
Seeing that everyone present was speechless, Zhang Qingxian had no interest in staying here anymore.
Although he was dismissed from his official position, he was still the head of the most prominent family in Zijun City. He held a very important position and there was no need to look down upon those present.
He was about to turn around, but was interrupted by a deep voice.
"Master Zhang, please leave soon."
Zhang Qingxian looked back and saw that it was Captain Hong talking to him.
"Captain, do you have any advice?"
Lieutenant Hong was a straightforward man, and Zhang Qingxian did not think he would turn the situation around.
"Do the family members of the Zhang family have nameplates to prove it?"
When Zhang Qingxian heard this, his heart skipped a beat. Could it be that someone had stolen the nameplates of his descendants and used them as evidence.
"Of course there are, but the younger ones in the family are young and impetuous, and they keep losing them every few days. I punished them many times to no avail. In the end, I just carved some wooden signs for them to use at will."
Captain Hong hesitated for a moment, "Do the Zhang family all use wooden plaques as their nameplates?"
Zhang Qingxian had a jade sign hanging on his waist. Everyone who knew him knew that his name was engraved on it, but at this time it was difficult to say that he also used a wooden sign.
Fortunately, he had already figured this out, and he didn't recall that any of his contemporaries' nameplates had been lost, so he wasn't afraid.
"That's not true." He held up the jade plaque at his waist. "After the children in the family get married and start a business, they will have nameplates made of cold jade."
Everyone secretly sighed that the Zhang family was rich and powerful, but this kind of immortal spiritual product was only used to carve identity plates.
Lieutenant Hong suddenly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's right, the jade plaque in my hand must belong to the Zhang family."
Zhang Qingxian was startled. He took a few steps forward and took it in his hand to verify it carefully. He saw that the material of the jade plaque was indeed the same as his, with the word "snow" engraved on it.
He murmured: "What a silly girl."
Now that the matter has come to this, Zhang Qingxian can no longer deny it. There are many strange treasures and magic in Tianfu that can find out the connection between this jade tablet and the Zhang family.
If he takes the initiative to plead guilty, he will end up being exiled to the frontier, and he may still be able to save his life.
"This is indeed the nameplate of my family. I plead guilty."
