The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

The times when people sleep the deepest in a day are Zi and Chou, which is between 11 pm and 3 am the next morning. This period of time is considered to be the time when yin energy is at its peak and all things are quiet.

Most petty thefts or shady activities are usually carried out at this time.

Zhao Renzhi is well aware of this, and he is guarding this time period.

Therefore, when he heard a strange noise near the window in the middle of the night, he noticed it immediately.

At the same time, the guards and servants who were on night watch soon discovered that something was wrong.

They looked at each other and said nothing.

Zhao Renzhi did not rush to alarm the thieves, but instead stepped aside. After waking up Zhang Pingan and Qian Jie, he put his finger to his mouth and pointed outside the door.

Zhang Pingan and Qian Jie were also alert people and woke up immediately.

Those who were chosen by Zhang Ping'an were all real talents. At Zhang Ping'an's signal, everyone in the room woke up soon.

The inns in the northwest are not as sophisticated as those in the capital. Because there are so many people, the innkeeper simply arranges several large connecting rooms for them. One room can sleep more than ten people, which makes it safer to stay together.

It also makes it convenient for them to keep watch at night.

The smoke that drifted in from the window slowly dissipated.

Everyone held their breath and concentrated for a moment, then drew their weapons and formed an attack the moment the thief broke in, catching the thief off guard.

The other party thought he had knocked everyone out, but he didn't expect that everyone was awake. He was stunned for a moment, and because he was far inferior in strength, Zhao Renzhi's knife was soon put on his neck and he could not move.

"My dear friends, please don't kill me! Please don't kill me!"

There were only three or four thieves. After being held at knifepoint, they quickly begged for mercy without any spine at all.

Qian Jie pulled off the cloth covering the other person and found that he looked familiar, with shifty eyes.

After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Are you the shopkeeper's brother-in-law?"

They had seen this man during the day when he was helping out at the inn.

"Yes, yes, heroes, it was me, heroes. I'm sorry, heroes. I was blinded by greed, so I did such a ridiculous thing. I beg heroes to spare my life!" The man nodded and begged for mercy.

Two of the other people who followed him were waiters at the inn.

Before Zhang Ping'an and his companions could do anything, the shopkeeper quickly heard the noise and ran over. He first scolded his useless brother-in-law and then begged for mercy.

"Dear guests, today's room and meal fees will be waived, just as an apology to you. However, I beg you to be kind and let my brother-in-law go. I will definitely let my father-in-law discipline him later."

"Oh, really? So you are innocent?" Zhao Renzhi sneered.

After saying that, he looked at Zhang Pingan and asked, "How do you think we should deal with this?"

Zhao Renzhi didn't believe that the shopkeeper was really innocent. It was obvious that this was not the first time he had done this. He even controlled the amount of the incense just right. He was kidding if he said it was his first offense!

Zhang Ping'an also knew that they were most likely staying in a black shop. Even if such crimes were brought to the government, it would be common for them to be beheaded in public. It would not be unfair to kill them.

But if they killed them, with so many lives taken at once, the government would definitely investigate, which would probably cause trouble and expose their whereabouts.

What they need to avoid most now is unnecessary trouble.

"Well, you take people to see if there are other people in this inn first," Zhang Ping'an thought for a moment and instructed his attendant.

After a while, the attendant reported back, "There is only one family that went on a long trip to visit relatives. They have already gone to bed. There are no other guests."

"Just give these guys a lesson and tie them up together with the shopkeeper's family and throw them into the woodshed. It's better not to cause trouble when you are out. Don't lose the big picture for the small one. Also, I'm afraid this place is no longer habitable. Pack up and leave now. Remember to hang a closed sign at the door," said Zhang Ping'an.

"Tsk, that's a good deal for them," Zhao Renzhi said, raised his eyebrows, and did not object.

However, when he threw the shopkeeper's family into the woodshed, he stepped on the leg bones of everyone in the family, young and old, and broke them. Because their mouths were blocked, their faces turned pale with pain, but they couldn't even make a sound.

Zhao Renzhi clapped his hands, feeling a little better. He stared at the shopkeeper and warned, "If you dare to talk nonsense, I'll kill you!"

But when he had packed up and came out, he was still unwilling to give up, so he secretly gave his subordinates an order.

Zhang Ping'an and his companions had just walked seven or eight miles out of the county town when they saw a towering flame rising from the direction of the county town in the distance.

"Is there a fire?" Zhang Ping'an reined in his horse and looked over.

"It's the direction of the county town," Qian Jie also saw it and continued.

Zhang Pingan immediately turned his head to look in Zhao Renzhi's direction. Zhao Renzhi looked innocent and said, "It's not me. I didn't do anything!"

"Maybe it was an accident," Qian Jie paused, advised, and then said, "Let's go!"

"I told you, we should try not to cause trouble along the way. It will be very troublesome for the government to track down so many people if they die at once. It's not like setting a fire can solve the problem," Zhang Pingan was very annoyed at this time.

He knew very well who set the fire. It was not the first day he knew Zhao Renzhi.

But their approaches are completely different.

He knew that Zhao Renzhi looked down on his doctrine of the mean and thought he was too soft-hearted.

But he didn't realize that killing was not the solution to the problem, and this was not the capital.

The people in the Northwest are tough and have a weak sense of law. They are no match for others. If they are trapped here for this reason, it would be a joke.

Moreover, this action would undoubtedly expose their whereabouts. There were no secrets in a small place, and someone would always see them when they entered the county town.

That's why he didn't want to cause trouble.

The two looked at each other for a while, and no one spoke.

At this moment, the saying "People with different beliefs cannot work together" came to the minds of the three people at the same time.

Qian Jie looked at the sky and said, "Are you prepared to hold out until dawn? Don't forget, we are still on our way and need to reach the Guazhou military camp as soon as possible."

"I was impulsive," Zhao Renzhi spoke first after a while.

There was little regret in his words.

"Let's go," Zhang Pingan said coldly.

After saying this, he whipped his horse and continued on his way.

Zhao Renzhi never regretted any of his actions. He would rather let the world down than let the world down him.

As long as the Guazhou incident is completed and he has the military power in his hands, he will not make any concessions.

Originally, Zhang Ping'an was planning to continue along Old Qiutou's route.

But after the arson incident, he felt that their whereabouts would definitely be exposed, so he rushed to the official road, ready to meet up with Chibao and the others.

As it turned out, they were lucky enough, as another group of relatives who were lurking in the inn were sent to rescue the pangolin.

It was just that the shopkeeper's brother-in-law took action first and alarmed everyone, so they were able to restrain themselves.

Prepare to ambush at Wutouling first.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Ping'an and his companions did not go to Wutouling, and thus escaped the disaster in disguise.

Pangolin has been much quieter these past two days and has almost figured out the personalities of the few people.

When he was at the inn, he saw the person who came to rescue him, and the marks along the way were also left by him.

He was trying to find a way to escape.

Otherwise, if he really arrived at the Guazhou camp, he wouldn't know how to face his family.

It’s so embarrassing!