A group of people gathered around Yin Chengyu and entered, taking their seats at the main seat. Xue Shu stood beside him as usual.

Zhou Zhiling had now broken free from the fear of Xue Shu killing people. When he saw Yin Chengyu, his eyes moved. His face that had just recovered became pale again, and his eyes showed despair.

I'm afraid it's really over this time.

The ambition that I had made up my mind to make a career in the future has been shattered. Now there is only panic and fear. Those tricks in the shopping mall are no longer of use? Scene: "Prince... Your Highness."

"Who is the private soldier? Who asked you to raise him?" Yin Chengyu stared at him, tapping his fingers on his knees: "Shao Tian?"

The Zhou family is just a businessman. No matter how much the Sanjiang Chamber of Commerce has a voice in the Huguang territory, given the ability of the Zhou family, they don't have the guts to raise private soldiers. Most likely, the Zhou family will pay for them to raise them for those who have the guts.

Hearing him mention "Shao Tian" in an understatement, Zhou Zhiling's fingers twitched for a moment, and the unprecedented sense of crisis made his sluggish brain start to work again. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said: "What did His Highness say about private soldiers, ordinary people? Not really.

Understand. The common people do have some dealings with these bandits, but it is just for the convenience of transporting goods on weekdays. They do not dare to do anything harmful to nature."

He didn't admit it, and Yin Chengyu wasn't annoyed either. He just asked, "Oh? Then when did you get together with this group of bandits?"

Zhou Zhiling couldn't see through his depth, and he didn't know if he believed what he said or not. He didn't believe it, so he could only bite the bullet and said: "About two years ago."

"Two years ago..." Yin Chengyu muttered something in a low voice, as if he had figured something out, and suddenly laughed: "The ambitions of Dad Zhou's family are not small."

Zhou Zhiling's heart skipped a beat, and he felt that the dizzy feeling of watching Fan Hu being strangled came back. But after thinking about it, he couldn't figure out what his answer could reveal, so he could only say with difficulty: "

Common people?...I don’t understand what His Highness the Crown Prince means.”

Yin Chengyu did not need him to understand, and did not explain: "As far as I know, there are not so many bandits in Wangtuoling. How many are these bandits in total? Where do they usually hide?"

He talked about "mountain bandits", but every word seemed to be asking about "private soldiers".

Raising private soldiers is a serious crime of confiscating homes and exterminating clans. Zhou Zhiling dare not admit it, so he can only resist stubbornly: "The common people just have some dealings with bandits. No matter how many more, I don't know."

Yin Chengyu lowered his eyes and looked down at him, his eyes unobstructed. Zhou Zhiling gradually shrank under his understanding gaze, but thinking of the consequences of pleading guilty, he gritted his teeth and did not dare to say another word.

"Could it be that Zhou Hui leader thought that if you don't admit it and the second prince is dead, the charge of hoarding troops for rebellion will no longer exist, right?"

In Zhou Zhiling's horrified eyes, Yin Chengyu said calmly: "Shao Tian jumped over the wall and asked you to take the opportunity to assassinate Gu. Do you think that with his caution, he will leave the Zhou family behind?"

"You have no way out." Yin Chengyu said: "If you admit it now, you can still have a happy life if you are guilty and have meritorious service. But if you still resist stubbornly and go to Dongchang's men, you may not even be alive."

None are left."

Like? In order to match his words, Xue Shu, who was standing on one side, glanced at him lightly and calmly.

He also looked so calm when he strangled Fan Hu to death with an iron wire.

Killing a person is like squeezing an ant to death.

Zhou Zhiling's face was as white as paper, his lips were trembling, and his eyes were struggling and hesitant.

For a long time, in the oppressive silence, he grabbed the ground with his head and said in a trembling voice: "I'll call you all the common people. Please have mercy on me, Your Highness."

"Two years ago, Mr. Shao's cronies came to look for me in person and ordered me to secretly recruit troops. In order to cover up others' eyes, we got in touch with Fan Hu, the bandit leader of Hualin Village in Fenghuang Mountain. The Zhou family provided money and food, and Hualin

The village is responsible for recruiting troops. A total of more than 7,000 troops have been recruited. They usually hide in the caves of Phoenix Mountain for training. If they want to show up, they will pretend to be bandits."

That's why Wangtuoling has so many bandits.

Zhou Zhiling remembered that when he was persuaded by the other party, what was the merit of following the dragon and being granted the title of general? He felt regretful. Although the Zhou family's business was big, it was only limited to the boundaries of Huguang. After Huguang, he went to the north and even Wangjing.

There are too many families that are more powerful than the Zhou family. However, the children of the Zhou family are not living up to expectations. There is not a single descendant who has taken the imperial examination and pursued an official career.

My wife's natal Shaw family is somewhat distantly related to the Wangjing Shaw family, but apart from sending gifts to the capital during the New Year and festivals, they are not related at all.

So when the Zhou family's business in the capital got into some trouble, and the Shao family came to help?, he wanted to seize the opportunity to climb this big tree.

He did not respond to the words of the Shao family in the capital, and the Shao family obviously took him seriously. Shao Tian even met him in person, and his words were full of support.

When Shao Tian's cronies came to persuade him, saying that Shao Tian wanted to train a group of loyal and reliable nurses and asked him to help identify candidates, he readily agreed.

By the time he discovered that what Shao Tian wanted was not an ordinary nursing home at all, but a well-trained private soldier, it was already too late.

He was unable to get off the tiger and went to find the other party several times. But the other party said that this private soldier was raised by the second prince. The second prince was deeply favored by the emperor and had a strong tendency to compete with the prince in the court. The prince was afraid that the second prince would endanger his own status, and he had almost

This time he sent someone to assassinate him. In order to protect himself, the second prince raised troops privately, intending to select loyal and reliable elites to act as bodyguards.

If it succeeds, when the second prince ascends to the throne, the Zhou family will be the heroes. But if it fails, there will be only a few thousand private soldiers, and the second prince will not be able to stir up trouble.

Is it difficult to dismount from a tiger? Is it also a matter of being obsessed with ghosts?

"Later on, the grassroots people have been raising these soldiers. At first, the Shao family sent people to train those soldiers. Later, after they took shape, they were supervised by Fan Hu and trained by themselves. The grassroots soldiers were trained by themselves every other day.

In the next month, I will send a letter to Master Shao to report the situation."

Later, when the news came that the first two princes were dead, he deliberately wanted to disperse these private soldiers.

But Shao Tian refused. He only said that he had other uses and let him continue to raise him. It wasn't until the prince came to Huguang to provide relief a few days ago that he received Shao Tian's letter in advance. The other party was threatening and tempting in his heart, so he couldn't.

Disobey orders.

"The grassroots don't have the guts to murder the prince, but Shao Tian has already taken advantage of the grassroots, and the grassroots have to obey." Zhou Zhiling said, seeming to feel sad, with tears streaming down his face, and a look of regret.

"Where are those letters? Show them to me." Yin Chengyu was unmoved.

Zhou Zhiling had no choice but to wipe away his tears, get up on his hands and knees, tap on the wall behind the Duobao shelf, pull out a hidden compartment, and take out all the letters stored in it.

"In the beginning, my close relatives came to deliver messages, and all the subsequent letters are here." There were only five or six letters in total, and there were seals on them.

Yin Chengyu read it in turn, but threw the letter aside: "No, it's Shao Tian's handwriting, and the private seal is not right either."

Zhou Zhiling felt as if he was struck by lightning. He held the letters in his hands and said anxiously: "How could it be? These things are indeed what Mr. Shao ordered me to do. The handwriting is also right. Mr. Shao even met me personally.

?..."

As he spoke, his voice weakened and got stuck in his throat.

Yes, what Shao Tian ordered him to do was right, but just as he kept these letters as a backup, Shao Tian also guarded against him from the beginning.

Or, is this all a trap set up by Shao Tian to lure him into a trap?

Just like the prince said, regardless of success or failure, the Zhou family will be abandoned without hesitation.

Zhou Zhiling's whole body seemed to have been drained of energy, and he was exhausted and his face was ashen.

Yin Chengyu was not sympathetic. Even if there was a reason for Shao Tianbu's design, if Zhou Zhiling was not greedy, he would not be in this situation.

Shao Tian's reason for doing this is also easy to understand. He is a member of Yin Chengzhang, and he uses the Zhou family to raise private soldiers in Huguang. He may not want to rebel, but mostly just in case. It's just that people are not as good as God.

After all, he lived a new life, Yin Chengzhang died in Qingzhou, and all Shao Tian's plans were disrupted.

The relationship between Shao Tian and Yin Chengzhang is too deep. Even if he switches his position, he will not be trusted. And judging from his past life experience, Shao Tian's buttocks are also a pile of bad debts.

Once he inherits Dabao, he will definitely liquidate Shao Tian.

From Shao Tian's point of view, perhaps whoever becomes emperor will be more advantageous than him being emperor.

So let's just do nothing and let these private soldiers who have been raised for two years exert their final value.

If it succeeds, Shao Tian can rest easy. If it fails, these letters and Zhou Zhiling's words alone can't do anything to him.

It's just that he counted every step, but he didn't count that Xue Shu followed closely behind and came to Huguang.

Yin Chengyu tilted his eyes in the direction of Xue Shu, with a smile in his eyes.

There is something good about being clingy.

If Xue Shu is not here this time, although he can still try to reverse the situation, he will have to go through some twists and turns, and it will not be so smooth.

Xue Shu noticed his gaze and was stunned for a moment. Then he leaned towards him and touched his fingers accidentally. The itch like a dragonfly's water made Yin Chengyu curl up his fingers, and his eyes widened even more.

He was higher up, and the hand that was resting on the armrest dropped down, using the cover of his sleeve to scratch his palm.

The force was as strong as a kitten's, but Xue Shu suddenly clenched his fingers and his eyes boiled.

However, the instigator had already turned away and continued talking to Zhou Zhiling: "Now the city gates are being held by bandits everywhere. I want to leave the city. Do you have any idea?"

Zhou Zhiling was completely defeated and could not even arouse the slightest reluctance. Even because of his resentment towards Shao Tian, ​​he just wished that the prince could return to Beijing safely and take care of Shao Tian.

If he is going to die, Shao Tian should not think about it.

Zhou Zhiling thought for a while, crawled on the ground to touch Fan Hu's body, and removed a token from his waist: "The private soldier was raised in Fenghuang Mountain and was familiar with Fan Hu.

His token can be used to enter and exit. And the common people are somewhat weak-minded among the private soldiers. If the common people take the token and leave the city, no one will stop them." He said with a somewhat uneasy expression: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and all your lords can pretend to be

You should be a follower of the common people, but you should not have too many people."

Yin Chengyu nodded, looked at his messy body, and said, "You go and clean up first, while I change into cheap clothes."

Seeing that he didn't blame him, Zhou Zhiling immediately breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly went to change clothes.

"Leave four or five elites to go out of the city together. The rest stay in the city to provide support at any time. Ask them to find Jiang Zheng and Qi Wu, gather the troops in the city as soon as possible, and wait for the order to counterattack." Yin Chengyu said.

Xue Shu ordered five people to stay, and the remaining servants quickly disposed of Fan Hu's body. After that, they found several sets of gray robes worn by the servants, and then quietly dispersed to find Jiang.

Zheng and others gathered together.
Chapter completed!