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

Qian Jie was not polite to Pangolin. He grabbed him and threw him to the ground. It took him a lot of effort to catch this person, and many good hands were killed. He still feels heartbroken when he thinks about it now.

Pangolin showed no surprise when facing Zhang Pingan and Zhao Renzhi, but he did not say anything either. Just like when he was caught before, he looked like he was resisting to the end and refusing to confess.

His face and body were dirty and he looked very miserable, but he didn't have any serious external injuries. I guess Qian Jie didn't use severe punishment this time.

Zhao Renzhi already has several pieces of evidence in his hands, proving that Pangolin is the orphan of the Wei family, and he has found all the witnesses.

So when he saw Pangolin, his eyes lit up. He walked forward, half-knelt, and said with a smile, "Long time no see, Pangolin. Or should I call you Wei Jichuan? Hmm, that's not right. It seems better to call you by your real name, Wei Ziying?"

Seeing the undisguised malice in Zhao Renzhi's eyes, Pangolin panicked for a moment, but quickly calmed down, his expression remaining calm. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Let's not talk about Wei Ziying's identity for now. Your identity as Wei Jichuan cannot be denied. There are so many eyes watching you at the border. Do you still want your adoptive father and everyone else to call a horse a zebra?" Zhao Renzhi was not panicked. He enjoyed the feeling of playing with his prey in the palm of his hand. It made him feel that he was in control of everything.

The life and death of his prey depends on his thoughts, and it feels great.

Unfortunately, this feeling of joy was soon broken.

Zhang Pingan said, "Although it's already late today, since we've captured a serious criminal of the imperial court, we should still let General Wei know. After all, this is the Guazhou camp, and we can't interfere in other people's affairs."

After that, he ordered to eat his fill: "Go and invite General Wei Cunren Wei over, and don't disturb others."

He didn't invite Wei Chengfeng because of his official position there. It would be too much trouble to ask him to come over so late at night. He was too willing to do so, so he waited for Wei Chengfeng to come to him on his own initiative.

In fact, Wei Cunren had already received the news and knew that he had been caught, so when Zhang Pingan sent someone to invite him, he quickly put on his outer clothes and came over.

After entering the big tent, he first glanced at his thirteenth brother calmly and found that there were no obvious external injuries on his body. Seeing that he had not been tortured yet, he felt relieved.

"General Wei, please take a seat. I'm really sorry to trouble you to come here so late, but this is about the handling of a wanted criminal of the imperial court, and it's on the territory of the Guazhou camp, so I still have to inform General Wei," Zhang Ping'an said gently.

"I wonder what you want to do, sir?" Wei Cunren asked back.

Zhang Pingan smiled and put down his teacup. "A country has its own laws, and a family has its own rules. Everything should be done according to the law. This pangolin has repeatedly robbed tombs in Xi'an City and has a bad reputation. He deserves to be beheaded!"

After hearing this, Wei Cunren said nothing, but lowered his head and remained silent.

He knew that Zhang Ping'an was forcing him!

In the silence of the room, Pangolin spoke again in a low voice: "If the head falls off, it will only leave a scar the size of a bowl. I will be a brave man again in 18 years. It's no big deal."

These words were apparently spoken to Zhang Ping'an and others, but were actually spoken to his sworn brother Wei Cunren.

"You have guts! I admire you!" Zhao Renzhi sneered.

Qian Jie sat aside with his arms folded, secretly observing the expressions of several people.

After a moment, Wei Cunren raised his head and spoke, "Your Excellency is right. Since the Great Zhou laws warrant execution, I have nothing to say. We will proceed according to the Great Zhou laws! However, according to the Great Zhou laws, even if the prisoner is to be beheaded, he must undergo a local trial, then be reported to the Ministry of Justice for review, and finally be executed in the autumn."

"Is Lord Wei afraid that I will abuse private punishment? There is no need to worry about this. Since I have said that everything should be done in accordance with the laws of the Great Zhou, I will not abuse my power."

After Zhang Pingan finished speaking, he continued to order: "Come here, take the man into custody first."

After the pangolin was taken away, Wei Cunren quickly took his leave.

Zhao Renzhi knew that the final decision would depend on Wei Chengfeng's attitude, so he stretched and went back.

But he was very excited today and probably couldn't fall asleep for a while.

After the tent was quiet, Qian Jie stretched out his body and said a little tiredly: "My mission is completed, now it's up to you!"

"Thank you for your hard work!" Zhang Ping'an personally poured a cup of tea for Qian Jie. "But there's one more thing. Write to your father-in-law these past two days and ask him about the court's movements. I have a feeling His Majesty may have other plans. It's still uncertain who will ultimately hold the military power in Guazhou. Zhao Renzhi's running around and jumping around may just be making things easier for someone else!"

"Huh? Why do you have this idea? Could it be that Zhao Renzhi's stupid appearance along the way has finally made you doubt his ability?" Qian Jie raised his eyebrows and teased.

"He's not really stupid, but he's really ambitious," Zhang Ping'an shook his head and laughed. "I just suddenly realized these past two days that if His Majesty can't tolerate Wei Chengfeng, would he tolerate Zhao Renzhi? Of course, I had this doubt in my mind before we set off, but I just thought that Your Majesty has always been a master strategist. Even if Zhao Renzhi had a little ambition, it wouldn't be enough to cause trouble. But these past two days, I don't think so. Zhao Renzhi can't lead the Guazhou cavalry, he can't keep it under control! It's unlikely that His Majesty would send someone like that to take over."

"To be honest, my father had his suspicions before, but he couldn't guess who would ultimately hand over this powerful army. The King of Qin is unlikely. He was a founding hero and a king of a different surname. If he were to control such an army, wouldn't that be a clear sign of trouble for the Crown Prince? The other generals come from aristocratic families and each has their own responsibilities. Your Majesty probably won't let them become too powerful.

That leaves only a rising military general of humble origins. This person must have a clean background, not too many connections with any aristocratic family, and be loyal to His Majesty. He must also be capable. Tsk, that's a bit hard to guess! None of them seem quite up to par!"

Zhang Pingan became more resolute in his thoughts after hearing this. His father-in-law was a fox who had practiced for a thousand years and was very advanced. Even he guessed so, so it was probably true.

"If that's the case, Zhao Renzhi is just a pioneer. He has some ability and ambition, so he's naturally very concerned about this matter. However, the Guazhou army is too influenced by Wei Chenfeng. If we kick Wei Chenfeng out like this, there will inevitably be resentment and hostility from the soldiers. But once the obstacles are cleared, parachuting in a commander-in-chief will make a completely different situation!"

Zhang Pingan figured it out and now understood everything completely.

"Airborne? What does that mean?" Qian Jie frowned, but after considering the previous and the next, he could roughly understand it.

"My father said that the hearts of emperors have always been difficult to understand. This is not surprising. As long as we can benefit from it, it's fine."

Yes, if you do this job well, you will naturally have a bright future.

So what role do I play in this mission?