Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1135: Assassination on the Mountain Road
Shangyong City, outside the north gate.

"You don't have to see me off, Governor. I am just a humble student, so I dare not trouble you. Please stay."

A young man in his early twenties bowed respectfully to a middle-aged man.

Liu Qi looked extremely happy, his wrinkles at the corners of his eyes seemed to deepen a little from his smile, and he took the initiative to step forward and help the young man up.

"Bo Miao, although you are from Jingzhou, you have lived in Sichuan and Shu for a long time. Now you are considered the leader among the younger generation in Yizhou. This time you went to Luoyang to meet the emperor and were entrusted by His Majesty to serve as the magistrate of Mianyang County. Such an important position is rare even for scholars of the Imperial Academy. This is truly the common glory of all ethnic groups in Yizhou."

"Since you are willing to come to Shangyong to visit me, I will lend you a helping hand. Here are a few letters. I am familiar with several local noble families in Mianyang. If you take my letters with you to take up your post, you will encounter fewer obstacles when implementing His Majesty's Equal Land Order. This is my humble contribution to repay His Majesty's kindness."

He ordered the servants around him to hand the letter to Deng Zhi, who bowed hurriedly and then took it with both hands.

"Thank you very much, sir."

"Well, the journey is long. You have to get to Hanzhong before nightfall. I won't keep you any longer."

"Please stay, sir. It is also very difficult for you to implement the Equal Field System in Shangyong. Please take care of yourself and be careful of villains. I will take my leave now."

After saying this, Deng Zhi took the whip from the servant, mounted the horse, and rode away.

Liu Qi looked at his back, smiled, did not take his parting words seriously, and turned back to the city.

The land of Yizhou had just been under the control of the imperial court. Although the construction team under Liu He was growing stronger, it was now busy improving the official roads and highways in Liangzhou and Xuzhou. Therefore, soon after Deng Zhi set out from Shangyong, he lost the compacted and flat road and walked onto a rocky road overgrown with weeds.

Fortunately, Deng Zhi came from a prominent family and was a descendant of Deng Yu, the leader of the Twenty-Eight Generals of Yuntai under Emperor Guangwu. Although the Deng family has declined a lot after two hundred years, it is still well-off. Therefore, he and his four servants all rode authentic Liangzhou war horses, and even on this wilderness road, their speed would not be much slower.

After traveling for most of the day, Deng Zhi looked up at the sun and said to his four servants, "It's still early. I remember there's a thatched cottage teahouse not far ahead. Let's go there to rest and feed the horses some fodder. It won't be too late to continue on our journey."

The four of them immediately accepted the order, and one of them quickened his pace and went ahead to take care of everything.

The teahouse was only six or seven miles away, so Deng Zhi and his companions arrived there quickly. The servants who had arrived ahead had already asked the old couple who owned the teahouse to prepare hot tea, noodles, and fodder.

Deng Zhi and others got off their horses, sat down at a table, and started drinking.

However, after a while, another group of people walked into the teahouse. These six people were all strong and had long swords on their waists. They came to a table next to Deng Zhi and shouted loudly, asking the boss to serve tea.

Deng Zhi ignored them and after eating and drinking his fill, he stretched himself for a while, then put down a row of brand new "Yuan Xing Tong Bao" coins that shone with the brilliance of bronze, led his warhorse over, and continued on his way.

However, he had not walked far when he realized something was wrong.

"Master, those guys are following us. I'm afraid they are coming for you, Master."

A servant said softly.

"Well, I don't know who sent them. Could it be the killers sent by those wealthy families in Mianyang?"

Deng Zhi guessed.

In order to consolidate his rule after he became emperor, Liu Yan took the initiative to compromise with the aristocratic families, which made the local gentry in Yizhou extremely powerful. Often a few families controlled most of the fields and industries in a county. It can be said that the court's Equal Field Order dealt the greatest blow to the gentry in Yizhou.

The families of Zhang Song, Fa Zheng, Huang Quan, Wang Lei and others rose with them. Although their interests in Yizhou suffered a blow, the family businesses and young people in the clan were able to move out of Yizhou and display their talents in the vast northern states of the Han Dynasty. In the future, they would expand across the country and even to the Western Regions, so they were naturally happy.

The vast majority of people who did not follow Zhang Song and others to assist the court at the first time naturally did not receive such treatment. They watched their own land being remeasured by the court, and then most of it was taken away and distributed to the poor people, and even the undocumented savages who came down from the mountains to cultivate. The dissatisfaction and anger of these families were predictable.

The areas of Ji and Bing are where the current emperor rises to power. The Sili region is at the foot of the imperial city. In Youzhou and Liangzhou, the local gentry were cleansed in recent years by taking advantage of the crackdown on foreign races. Therefore, there was almost no obstacle in the implementation of the Equal Field Order in these five places.

In the other five states of Qing, Xu, Yan, Yu and Yi, there must have been a lot of resistance from local powerful people, and the situation in Yizhou was particularly serious, so Deng Zhi made such a guess at the first time.

The servant said, "Master, go ahead. Let us take care of them first and then join you."

After saying this, he was about to call the other three servants and prepare to take action, but was stopped by Deng Zhi.

"Don't worry. We are not far from the teahouse. If we act rashly, they might use the old couple to threaten me. I am an official appointed by the imperial court. If I cause the death of Han people, I will not be able to face the people of Yizhou. Go a few miles forward, take someone with you, find a secret place to ambush, and then suddenly attack. We will have a better chance of winning."

After all, the other side had more people than his own. Although Deng Zhi believed that he was an extraordinary martial artist, he always acted cautiously and did not dare to be too arrogant.

The six people followed at a distance of more than a mile, neither hurried nor slow. They planned to follow for another half an hour, and then take action after it got a little dark. However, this area was a mountain road with many twists and turns. After they turned another corner, they suddenly found that there were two fewer people in the target group in front of them, which made them alert.

"Oh no! They must have discovered us and are preparing to send someone to Hanzhong to report the news. The master said that we must not leave anyone behind and we cannot delay. Let's do it now."

When the leader spoke, the six of them hurriedly accelerated and chased after him.

"Deng Zhi, don't leave. Leave your head behind."

Hearing the loud shout behind him, Deng Zhi, who was well prepared, turned around immediately, took a short bow from the side of the saddle, and shot an arrow in one breath.

However, the other party had been observing him for so long that he naturally discovered the short bow and was on guard, so he dodged it easily. Then one of them waved a spear and stabbed directly at Deng Zhi.

"If you want to kill my master, ask for help first." A servant swung his sword to block the spear, then rode forward and started fighting with the other side.

The remaining servant also chose an assassin and fought together.

The remaining four men, seeing that Deng Zhi was the only one left, felt that they had won and rushed over together with a grim smile.

"Humph, you clown, dare you underestimate me? Today, I will let you see the spear skills of Deng, the leader of the Twenty-Eight Generals of Yuntai."

He took his spear and rushed forward, fighting one against four without any fear.

"System prompt: Deng Zhi fights the assassin. Deng Zhi's current basic force is 89 points, weapon bonus is 1 point, and comprehensive force is 90 points."

With such martial arts skills, he is qualified for the post of captain in the army under Liu He's command. Although the four assassins are also good, with martial arts skills of over 80, if they were to become heroes in the wild, it would be difficult for them to capture Deng Zhi.

The two sides fought back and forth and were in a stalemate for a while. At this moment, two figures suddenly emerged from the bushes on the side.

The two men raised their knives and started slashing without saying a word. Two assassins were caught off guard and were knocked to the ground on the spot.

Such a sudden change surprised the assassin leader, and he began to panic.

"Oh no, I've fallen into this kid's trap. Today is not a good day, let's retreat quickly!"

He pulled the reins, called out, and was ready to flee. Six against three was already difficult, and now it was five against four, so there was no way out.

Deng Zhi looked at their fleeing backs, sneered, took the short bow again, aimed at the leader, and shot another arrow.

"what……"

The assassin leader screamed and fell off his horse.

Deng Zhi led his men to chase after him, shouting as he did so: "If you dismount and are tied up, you can spare your life. Otherwise, I will show no mercy with my short bow."

After seeing his archery skills and seeing that their leader was dead, those men were panicked and had no choice but to drop their weapons, dismount and kneel down.

One of Deng Zhi's servants shouted, "You are blind. You don't know that General Deng Yu's spearmanship and archery skills were unrivaled in the world. He was praised by Emperor Guangwu many times. Even General Fu Bo Ma Yuan was inferior to him. You dare to attack my master, you little thief. You don't know your own abilities."

The remaining three assassins kowtowed and begged for mercy. The stones on the mountain road were extremely sharp and bloody marks were left after a few hits.

"Well, as long as you confess the truth, I will spare your life."

Deng Zhi's words gave the three men hope of survival, and they swore immediately that they would tell them everything they knew and would never lie.

"So best."

Deng Zhi snorted coldly, but did not put down his bow. He asked directly, "Tell me, who sent you to assassinate the imperial officials?"

One of them said hurriedly: "I don't know, we are employed by others, and the employer behind us has always been in contact with my eldest brother, but my eldest brother has died under your sharp shooting, so..."

Deng Zhi frowned, then thought of something and continued to ask: "Then where are you coming from to intercept me?"

"I know this. My eldest brother brought the five of us brothers to Shangyong City four days ago. After eating and drinking for a few days, we left Shangyong early this morning and are waiting for you in the dense forest in the mountains."

Deng Zhi was stunned, as if this answer was somewhat unexpected.

"Shangyong? Why is it Shangyong? Four days ago..."

He suddenly remembered that he had arrived in Shangyong five days ago. During the banquet at the prefect's mansion that night, he had some unpleasantness with the Shen brothers. He realized that the two brothers were quite resistant to the court's policies, so he gave the prefect a warning before leaving today.

Suddenly, something occurred to him and his face turned pale with shock.

"Oh no, the governor is in danger!"

He was about to mount his horse and rush back to Shangyong to help, but after taking just two steps, he stopped again.

"Master, why are you standing still again?"

Deng Zhi showed a look of grief: "Since the two thieves of the Shen family have sent assassins to kill me, they will definitely attack the governor at the same time. If we rush back to Shangyong now, it will be too late. Even your life and mine will be lost."

"What should we do?"

Deng Zhi calmed down and said, "If the Shen brothers start a rebellion, they will definitely offer Shangyong to Sun Ce. If Shangyong is lost, Hanzhong will be in danger. For now, we should rush to Hanzhong and report to the governor of Hanzhong, so as not to disappoint the governor Liu's loyalty."

He ordered his men to tie up the three assassins and prepare to take them back to Hanzhong for punishment. Then, not daring to delay for a moment, he hurriedly galloped westward.

(End of this chapter)