The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

After leaving Pingzhou, Shen Tingzhi rushed to the capital without stopping.

During the days he was away, Shen Tingzhi never felt at peace. He was always worried about the safety of his family.

Shen Tingzhi knew very well what the current situation in Shangjing City was like and how serious and grim the situation was.

Although Shen Tingzhi had made arrangements before leaving Shangjing, he always felt uneasy because he was not in Shangjing.

Even though Shen Ting ordered the horses to keep going, the progress was still very slow.

The reason was simple, because Shen Tingzhi was accompanied by a sickly and dying Mr. Qian Si, and a weak Ji Yue whose identity was unknown.

But these two people are not people who can be abandoned at will. One of them is crucial to Qian Wanhe's conviction, and the other is hiding a deep secret. It is necessary to uncover the secret behind him and find the answer.

After days of traveling, they finally arrived at the outskirts of Shangjing City at dawn on the third day.

He was about to return to Beijing, and Shen Tingzhi's tense nerves could finally relax.

It was not time to open the city gates yet. Shen Tingzhi's outing was to be secretive and he could not show off. So they camped at Shili Pavilion outside the city, waiting for the city gates to open at dawn, and then entered the city in batches.

"General Wang, you don't have to enter the city. Take these soldiers and quickly return to the Xishan camp."

"Remember to be very careful and don't show off in public. If people find out that you, as the imperial city guard, have left the capital without permission, it will be a big deal."

Shen Tingzhi looked at Wang Zongyuan unhappily and said that Shen Tingzhi was dissatisfied with Wang Zongyuan, not because of anything else.

But on the way back, Wang Zongyuan kept nagging him in his ear, asking him to plead with Shen Tianjiao to change the blame for his secret departure from the capital to a punishment of returning to the northern border to guard the border.

Wang Zongyuan kept talking all the way, which made Shen Tingzhi so annoyed that he almost died.

At this moment, the two are about to part ways, so Shen Tingzhi naturally won't have a good face towards Wang Zongyuan.

What a joke! Wang Zongyuan is a military general with the duty of protecting the capital. How can he just leave whenever he wants?

Leaving Beijing without permission, is this a small matter?

He even wants to change the punishment to letting him return to the northern border to guard the border. How can such a beautiful thing be possible?

If the Queen really pursues the blame this time, I'm afraid her life will be in danger. She still dreams of returning to the Northern Frontier, but she doesn't even dare to do that in her dreams!

Facing Shen Tingzhi's dissatisfaction, Wang Zongyuan was not angry. He approached with a playful smile and said to Shen Tingzhi: "I will return to the Xishan camp immediately. Just don't forget what I asked for."

"Hmph!" Shen Tingzhi's face instantly turned cold, and he said in a bad tone, "General Wang, are you still in the mood to bargain with me at this moment?"

"Aren't you worried that the Empress will hold you accountable for leaving the capital without permission?"

"Any garrison commander who leaves his post without permission is guilty of a capital offense. As the garrison commander of the capital, you left the capital without permission. I wonder how many heads you have waiting to be chopped off?"

Wang Zongyuan didn't take Shen Tingzhi's threat seriously at all. If he was going to be beheaded because of this, he would have died countless times by now.

"I will be leaving now. I will be waiting for good news from the Second Young Master at the West Mountain Camp. If there is no result within ten days, I will send someone to the Marquis' Mansion to remind the Second Young Master not to forget things."

This is not the attitude of asking for help, this is simply a blatant threat and provocation.

Shen Tingzhi was too lazy to argue with Wang Zongyuan anymore. He just wanted to make this person disappear from his sight as soon as possible so that he could have some peace and quiet.

Wang Zongyuan was a man who knew when to quit. Seeing Shen Tingzhi's expression at this moment, he said nothing more and left with his soldiers.

Seeing that Wang Zongyuan finally left, Shen Tingzhi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Wang Zongyuan was a capable and loyal man, he was impulsive by nature. In addition, he had been spoiled by the Marquis of Zhenbei in the northern border a few years ago and had become a little arrogant. He did everything in a crazy and reckless manner.

If it was in the Northern Frontier, there would be nothing wrong with Wang Zongyuan's behavior. The Northern Frontier was the territory of the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion, and it was full of a group of grown men, all of whom were friends for life and death.

It doesn't matter if you act arrogantly, as long as you have the ability to fight.

But now this is not Northern Frontier, this is Shangjing. When he asked Wang Zongyuan to return to Shangjing and stay in the Xishan camp, the Marquis of Zhenbei had his considerations.

At that time, the relationship between Shen Tianjiao and the father and daughter of Zhenbei Hou was still in a tense state.

Although the relationship between father and daughter was not good at that time, it could not stop the Marquis of Zhenbei from loving his daughter.

The Marquis of Zhenbei knew very well what kind of person Li Rui was. He was afraid that his daughter would be alone in the capital and be bullied without anyone to support her.

That's why Wang Zongyuan was brought to the Xishan camp, in order to make him a supporter of Shen Tianjiao and protect her, so that others would not think that the Marquis of Zhenbei could bully his daughter at will because he was not in Shangjing.

During these years in Beijing, Wang Zongyuan's temper has indeed become much more restrained than when he was in the northern border.

But this is not enough, after all, this is Shangjing, not Northern Xinjiang.

Shen Tingzhi was thinking about how to warn Wang Zongyuan and make him control his temper. If that didn't work, he could only bring out his father, the Marquis of Zhenbei.

Wang Zongyuan is fearless and doesn't care what anyone says, but he still respects the Marquis of Zhenbei.

As long as the Marquis of Zhenbei spoke, Wang Zongyuan was willing to listen.

Given the current situation in Beijing, it is impossible for Wang Zongyuan to return to Northern Frontier. He is now burdened with heavy responsibilities. Compared to returning to Northern Frontier, guarding the safety of the capital is his primary responsibility and obligation.

Only by defending Shangjing can Yunli avoid chaos and Shen Tianjiao's century-long plan can proceed smoothly.

When Shen Tingzhi closed his eyes and was thinking in his mind, his personal guard came to him and spoke, breaking his meditation and calculation.

"Second Young Master, someone from the Huai Palace sent someone to tell us that Zheng Chuang has prepared a great gift for you and has hung it on the city gate tower."

"He also told you to prepare in advance so as not to be startled later."

"Songhelou has fulfilled what he promised you today."

"He asked you to come visit Songhe Tower some other day when you're free. He and his grandfather, Huai Wang Zheng Guang, have prepared another great gift for you to calm your nerves."

After hearing what his personal guards said, Shen Tingzhi knew that the person who assassinated him in Songhe Tower that day must have been found.

The Zheng family's grandparents and grandchildren have now lowered their stance, which actually shows the attitude of their Huai Wang Mansion.

I am willing to submit to Shen Tianjiao from now on and become someone who will work hard for Shen Tianjiao.

Zheng Guang is also a real old fox, and he is good at calculating.

Ever since Shen Tingzhi was assassinated in Songhe Tower last time, Zheng Chuang analyzed the current situation with him, and he also witnessed with his own eyes how Li Hong was defeated by Shen Tianjiao.

From that time on, Zheng Guang and his grandson Zheng Chuang had been thinking about how to show sincerity to express their feelings to Shen Tianjiao.

So that his family can rely on the protection of Shen Tianjiao and the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion, avoid being swallowed up by others, and survive better.

Later, seeing Shen Tianjiao's thundering methods in the court, Zheng Guang became even more determined to surrender.

Shen Tianjiao, the legitimate daughter of the Zhenbei Marquisate and the current empress who holds the power over everything, can definitely be called the most capable ruler of Yunli.

A few days ago, because the He family participated in the assassination of Marquis Zhenbei, the Queen ordered on the spot that He Ping be thrown into prison. Not only that, but also all the members of the He family were imprisoned before the matter was thoroughly investigated.

Next came the daughter of the He family, a concubine, who was beheaded in the harem because of having an affair with Ling Xifeng.

Then Qian Wanhe's conspiracy was exposed. The Qian family was one of the most powerful families in Shangjing City. Even the former emperor was helpless against them.

But now Shen Tianjiao can control Qian Wanhe at will. Qian Wanhe was locked up in the Ministry of Punishment. No matter who enters the Ministry of Punishment, it is equivalent to stepping into the gates of hell, and the chance of coming out alive is almost zero.

The emperor was furious about Qian Wanhe's rebellion and ordered the abolition of private armies of all families in the capital.

Everyone thought that accomplishing this would undoubtedly be harder than climbing to the sky.

But the queen only needed to sit down with the heads of the major families in the palace, and those people surrendered one by one.

He also took the initiative to send his private soldiers to the Xishan camp and rushed into the defense camp of the capital.

In this case, who can help but say that the Queen's methods are amazing.

The Prince Huai's Mansion has long been an empty shell and no longer as glorious as it seems to outsiders.

The title of Prince of Huai has been passed down to Zheng Guang for the fourth generation. Zheng Guang knew very well that if the Prince of Huai's Mansion did not achieve any more achievements or had a backer to rely on.

Then I'm afraid that the Huai Palace will only last until his generation.

That's why Zheng Guang learned that Gong Chengyu, the fourth brother of Gong Chenghai, the Duke of Tang, was the mastermind who colluded with the Western Rong people to assassinate Shen Tingzhi in Songhe Tower.

Without even investigating the matter, he immediately looked for an opportunity to kill Gong Chengyu as the first great gift from the Huai Wang Mansion to Shen Tianjiao in surrender.

At this time, Shen Tingzhi didn't know how shocking and terrifying this gift from the Prince Huai's Mansion was.

After listening to the guard's words, Shen Tingzhi nodded and said, "Go and tell the person who came that I already know about it. When you have time another day, go to Songhe Tower."

Although Shen Tingzhi looked down upon Zheng Guang and Zheng Chuang's personalities, he also disdained the behavior of the Huai Wang Mansion.

But the situation is special now, even if we are not pleasing to the eye, we should unite as much as possible.

After this special period is over, it will be easy to deal with them.

Shen Tingzhi looked up at the sky. If he set out now and reached the city gate, it would be time for the gate to be opened.

He couldn't let anyone know that he had secretly left the capital for Pingzhou, otherwise who knows what shocking words those people would say.

Besides, Shen Tingzhi also wanted to go over and see what kind of gift Zheng Guang had prepared for him.

This gift had to be hung on the city gate tower before it could be given to him. This made Shen Tingzhi curious, but also a little worried.

He was afraid that Zheng Guang would make the matter bigger and attract too much attention, which would put him in a dilemma.

The group walked slowly towards the city gate, walking on the early autumn frost.

When they were still several feet away from the city gate, the guards saw a corpse hanging on the gate tower.

"Second Young Master, look." Even the guards who had been on the battlefield for a long time and witnessed countless tragic situations were shocked by what they saw.

This is not some other place, this is the city gate tower for entering and exiting Shangjing. Who has the guts to kill someone and then hang the body on this city gate tower for public display?

The person who did this is either brainless or has a strong backer and is fearless.

When Shen Tingzhi raised his head and saw the corpse hanging on the city gate tower, he immediately understood what the person who had just reported the news meant when he said that the gift for him had been hung on the city gate tower.

The corpse hanging on the city gate tower must be the mastermind who arranged for someone to assassinate him in Songhe Tower that day.

Such a simple, rough and cruel way of handling things is indeed the usual style of the Prince Huai's Mansion.

After all, they are a family that came from bandits. Even if they have retired and turned over a new leaf for many years, they still cannot get rid of the brutal nature running through their bones.

It was obvious that Shen Tingzhi was not very happy with the gift given to him by the Prince Huai's Mansion.

This is not to say that the Huai Palace was wrong to kill the person who assassinated it, but the way the Huai Palace handled the matter is really hard to agree with.

Killing someone in such a high-profile manner and then hanging the body on the city gate tower for everyone to see was something Shen Tingzhi could never accept from the bottom of his heart.

If this matter gets out of hand today, I'm afraid I won't be able to escape.

He now didn't know whether he should thank the Huai Palace for finding the person who assassinated him, or blame the Huai Palace for being too extreme and thinking too hard, which would cause him big trouble.

What Shen Tingzhi fears most now is getting into trouble. There is no other reason, it’s just that he has too many things to do now, and he is too busy to take care of those troublesome things.

"Go and see who is up there?" Shen Tingzhi ordered with a cold face.

Since troubles have come and cannot be avoided, then solve them and don't let them become a burden and create bigger troubles.

"Yes." After receiving the order, the personal guard immediately rushed forward to check.

At this time, the city gate had not yet been opened. In the hazy sky, a corpse was hanging on the gate tower, which looked particularly creepy.

When the guards ran to the city gate, they discovered that there was a line of large characters next to the hanging corpse.

It said that this person was Gong Chengyu, the fourth master of the Duke of Tang's Mansion. He was killed because he collaborated with the enemy, colluded with the Western Rong people, stole Yun Li's confidential information, and intended to give it to the Western Rong people.

Then take the opportunity to unite with the Xirong people and attack Yunli together.