Chapter 620 The World

The ancient small town of Jishui County, with old earth walls and green tiles, and worn and smooth stone floors, everything feels like a decay after being repeatedly soaked in water.

Under the gloomy sky, when it was approaching the evening, the light was a little dim.

In a medicine shop, a middle-aged man in a robe stroked the hem of his robe and sat down on a chair.

His hands were very stable. He slowly took a mat for the guest to put it on his wrist, then gently stretched out his fingers and took the pulse accurately.

Obviously, he not only sells medicinal materials, but also can prescribe prescriptions in the hall.

At this moment, several hurried figures walked past the hall. In this quiet and lifeless small town, everyone is usually relatively leisurely, and it seems that something is wrong.

The middle-aged man took a look at the stone floor outside the door first, which was very dry and showed no signs of rain.

Guests wait.The middle-aged man said politely, stood up quickly and walked to the door.He turned his head and saw a few men wearing black robes and swords walking towards him quickly!

The middle-aged man's face changed and he looked at the other side. There were also a few men in black robes walking quickly on the other side of the street!Scattered pedestrians on the street were hiding in panic.

Those black men seemed to suddenly find the middle-aged man looking around and immediately started running!

The middle-aged man immediately retreated and retreated to the lobby.

The guest official who was still sitting there stretching out his arms asked: What's wrong?The middle-aged man ignored it and ran inside immediately.

The door was too late to close, because the wooden boards were inserted into the door, and opening and closing were very troublesome.

He rushed straight into the yard behind the shop, walked to a small door, opened the wooden door, and looked out and saw that there were also men in black robes moving outside!

He immediately bolted the wooden door again, retreated back to the yard, and looked left and right. Outside the wall was the alley outside the back door; only behind the exterior walls of the wing rooms on both sides led to another road.

The middle-aged man had to run into a wing room next to him and closed the wing room with his backhand.

The woman's voice had already heard in the yard.

The middle-aged man widened his eyes, looked back around and saw a window on the wall.

The window was just like the small window that Li Bai could see when he looked up at the bright moon, small and high.

The middle-aged man hurriedly pulled up a chair to the wall. His movements were rough and panicked, and he suddenly ding ding chuckled... and the furniture was bumped into pieces.

He climbed through the chair to the window, but soon his upper body got stuck there!

Ah… The middle-aged man pushed out desperately, screaming, his face turned red.

At this moment, his ankle was caught!A voice said coldly: Come down, Jishui County is such a small city, and the city gate will be closed soon. Where can you run away?

The middle-aged man was pulled out of the window and pressed onto the chair where he was cushioned.

Ma Gong?The young man who had just spoken suddenly asked.

The middle-aged man's face suddenly turned as if he sighed secretly, and he stopped struggling at all.

The young man found a stool and sat down.

At this time, several men in black robes had arrived inside and outside the wing room.

The young man sitting on the stool said: I am Zhang Sheng, the new commander of the Jinyiwei. Should your original name be Xiao Jien?

The middle-aged man said nothing.

A few men who just came in brought the rope and tied the middle-aged man first.

Zhang Sheng waved his hand again, and everyone clasped their fists and quietly withdrew, closing the wooden door.

There was a vague sound of talking outside, and the men seemed to be asking the rest of the yard.

Zhang Sheng pondered for a moment and said: What have you done, let me do it myself. The case has been investigated at this point, so I can save trouble and avoid blood everywhere!

I am Xiao Ji'en.The middle-aged man's expression suddenly became cold.

Zhang Sheng nodded.

Xiao Ji'en actually sneered: What's the trick? It's just two people who have corpses, bleed for five steps, and the world is covered with mourning.

Zhang Sheng was stunned for a moment and said slowly: I'm afraid that more than two corpses would have to bleed and blew away the oars and die?The words of Zhang Sheng, the commander of the Jinyiwei, must be the one who has read some books, and can follow Xiao Ji'en's allusion.

Xiao Jien glanced at Zhang Sheng, his expression was very strange, unable to say whether it was painful and despair or extreme resentment.

Zhang Sheng said again: Fortunately, today is not a bloodthirsty person.If you are not the mastermind, as long as you recruit the mastermind, the Xiao family may not have to destroy the nine clans.

Xiao Jien stopped talking, still thinking about something.

Zhang Shengdao: The eunuch Wang Yin was once the adopted son of "Ma Gong", and of course he knew Ma Gong; it would be useless if you didn't help, so you would recognize him when you arrest him.I will be ordered to be tortured on the spot.If you don't, I will be tortured here!

Xiao Jien was still silent.

Zhang Sheng nodded and stood up and said: Then I will take action with your wife and daughter first. Brothers should reward you for working hard for many days; then they will abuse your son and finally do you.

Xiao Jien's eyes trembled and he finally said: Are you still an official army?

Zhang Sheng said expressionlessly: You said?Do anyone think that you are going to be too much when dealing with evil people like you who are crazy, murdering your king and father, and are unfaithful and unfilial?The wicked will be punished by the evil!

After a while, Xiao Jien said: King Yàn is just a person who plots to usurp the throne. I am loyal to Emperor Jianwen and avenge my king and father. I cannot be said to be unfaithful and unfilial.

Zhang Sheng sneered: Who are you, are you qualified to judge the late emperor?

Everyone in the world knows it.Xiao Ji'en said.

Zhang Sheng said: Then, who do you write it down?!

Xiao Ji'en was actually speechless by a general.

I am the 'Ma Gong', and you ask Wang Yin to come and recognize it... Xiao Jien finally spoke again. Now that the matter has fallen into your hands, I have nothing to say.

Seeing this, Zhang Sheng immediately took out the prepared paper and pen from the bag and poured out the ground ink from a small ceramic bottle.

Xiao Jien pondered: I can confess it with ease.But there is a condition, can I kill my family directly in the future, and do not insult and torture them?

Zhang Sheng thought for a while and nodded: I will agree to you.

Xiao Jien frowned and asked: How do you believe you?

Zhang Sheng pointed to the paper and said: I wrote down the words just now. I asked you to sign and copy them after reading them.

Zhang Sheng held his pen in the air, looking at Xiao Jien and waiting silently.Xiao Jien was also silent, looking thoughtful, as if he was recalling the past.

...Time seems to have returned to the early years of Jianwen ten years ago.

Xiao Ji'en remembered that spring was warm and flowers were blooming, and the capital was prosperous and peaceful.

His medicinal materials business in the capital was very prosperous and everything was very happy.

Wang Gen, the juren at that time, was actually Xiao Jien's biological elder brother (Xiao Jien was originally Wang Gen's younger brother and adopted him as a family friend since childhood), so he naturally took care of him.

After getting some money from the market tax collection and the money from the city passes that should be avoided, they saved it after getting some clarification from the government. Xiao Jien's medicinal materials cost is lower than other companies.

Although Wang Gen was a juren at that time, he was still studying and preparing for the examination.

But Wang Gen had already become the teacher of the emperor Huang Zicheng, and his future was bright; the Wang family could say hello at the yamen, almost all of which worked.

His peers did not dare to deal with Xiao Jien, and even sent money to his business gang, and his business grew bigger and bigger.

Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen succeeded the throne as Emperor Taizu and justified himself. Although there were soon private rumors that the court would reduce the vassal states; but Xiao Jien did not think it was a big deal at that time (he was not a royal relative or noble anyway).

Everything is very stable. The end of the Hongwu Dynasty and the civil governance of Jianwen are about to begin. The world seems to be entering a peaceful and prosperous era.

Xiao Jien thought about it, it was such a wonderful and safe day. He never expected such a drastic change in the huge world!

Then the situation quickly took a sharp turn. The Ming Dynasty court entered a state of war readiness, dispatched troops everywhere, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers continued to cross the river and fight north!

The war quickly became fierce without the expectation of the world, and the market was full of talks about the news of the war.

In the second year of Jianwen, Wang Gen was the second best in high school!

During that time, Wang Gen talked about many national affairs with Xiao Jien.Finally one day, Xiao Jien was summoned by the emperor to Dongnuan Pavilion with a medicinal material merchant!

At that time, there was not even one eunuch in the Donghunting Pavilion.In addition to the emperor and Xiao Jien who was summoned, there were four ministers: Huang Zicheng, Jing Qing, Wang Gen, and Ma Quan, the father-in-law of the country.

After talking about some mysterious and difficult words between the king and his subjects, he finally got to the point.

Huang Zicheng said something roughly: Originally, some important spies in the north were under the jurisdiction of Ma Quan, but in the past two years, spies in the court have frequently failed in their affairs, and some have been arrested one after another; the emperor's confidants believed that Ma Quan's identity was too high and his target was too conspicuous, and he might have been targeted by spies in the palace, so spies in the court in the north were often seized!

The Jinyiwei is full of holes, and many royal relatives and nobles serve in it. In the war within the royal family, it is difficult to distinguish between loyalty and treacherous people.

Therefore, the court needs a person who is very inconspicuous and not easy to be targeted, and a trustworthy and talented person to take over Ma Gong's responsibilities.

So Huang Zicheng recommended Wang Gen’s younger brother Xiao Jien to the emperor!

Wang Gen is Huang Zicheng's man and a disciple of the emperor, and is a trustworthy person; Xiao Jien is Wang Gen's younger brother, and he is also a grasshopper on a rope.

Moreover, his identity is quite hidden, and people in the world do not know the relationship between Xiao Jien and Wang Gen.

Huang Zicheng also said something that Xiao Jien had no fame, but was calm and very smart and concise in his work.

The emperor promised Xiao Ji'en that when he wins the battle of peace, he will promote Xiao Ji'en in an extraordinary way. It is no problem to be granted titles and reward officials. He asked him if he would be loyal to the court.

Xiao Jien thought about it at that time: Although he made a lot of money as a businessman, he was nothing compared to the honorary ancestors and descendants who were honored by officials and nobles!

Moreover, he already knew some secrets in the Winter Warehouse, and he dared to reject the good intentions of the world in person?

So Xiao Jien had almost no hesitation and agreed immediately.

Of course, he didn't expect that that day was the beginning of a continuous nightmare!