The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

The relatives of the royal family and court officials came here with tokens of trust.

Once something goes wrong, we can trace the root cause, quickly find the problem and solve it.

When he heard Zhou Haibei, Shen Tingzhi was certain that there was definitely something wrong with this Mrs. Jin and that female doctor.

The real Zhou Haibei has been imprisoned for treason. The Zhou Haibei who appears in front of everyone now is just one of their people pretending to be him.

Shen Tingzhi thought about it and immediately came to a conclusion that this Mrs. Jin was most likely a Western Rong person.

The current Zhou Haibei had no idea that she had come here, or that she had come to the Huguo Temple.

Because if she told Zhou Haibei that she was coming to Huguo Temple, Zhou Haibei would definitely inform her as soon as possible.

There are only two possibilities in this situation. One is that Mrs. Jin encountered some difficult problems, forcing her to not even have time to discuss with Zhou Haibei.

He falsely used Zhou Haibei's name and came to the Huguo Temple.

Because Zhou Haibei was their man, she was not afraid of the truth being exposed.

Mrs. Zhou never showed up. The reason for this was probably because she was afraid of being exposed.

Of course, another possibility is that Mrs. Jin discovered that her accomplice, Zhou Haibei, was unreliable, so she acted on her own without notifying Zhou Haibei.

However, the second possibility is not very likely. Everything is normal with Zhou Haibei, and information is transmitted to him from time to time.

Now it seems that the first possibility is the most likely, so the question is, who is Mrs. Jin targeting?

Wang Yunzhi, Madam Wang? Or myself?

This question requires you to calm down and think carefully.

Seeing that Shen Tingzhi was distracted, the abbot couldn't help but ask, "Tingzhi, is there something wrong?"

Shen Tingzhi came back to his senses and whispered something in the abbot's ear. The abbot's face changed slightly, then returned to normal.

Neither of them said anything anymore, they just walked with their heads down.

When they returned to Lady Wang's residence, Yin Shuang had already gone in to examine Lady Wang.

"Does Madam Wang have any maids or nannies to serve her?"

Although he was certain that Yin Shuang would not do anything bad to Madam Wang at this time, he still had the conviction that one should not have the intention to harm others, but one must always be on guard against others.

Shen Tingzhi still felt that it was better to be cautious at this time.

However, he never had the habit of bringing maids to serve him when he traveled, and he had no female relatives accompanying him.

Now we can only place our hopes on the maids and nannies sent by Lady Wang, and they must be smart and clever, so that even if Yin Shuang wants to do something, it will not be easy to succeed.

"A personal maid went in, along with a minor injury."

"That girl is a little young, but that nanny looks smart and capable."

How could Wang Zongyuan not know? What was Shen Tingzhi worried about when he asked this?

Although they quarrel and make noise from time to time, they still have a tacit understanding between each other.

Although I can't say that it has reached 100%, it is still around 60% to 70%.

"Is everything arranged?" Shen Tingzhi asked casually, looking at the brightly lit dormitory in front of him.

"Well, everything has been arranged. I wouldn't say not even a fly can get out, but it's still hard for a living person to escape even with wings."

After Wang Zongyuan finished the tasks assigned by Shen Tingzhi, he hurried over. He was afraid that Shen Tingzhi had too many things to do and would be unable to cope with them.

Shen Tingzhi looked up at the dormitory where Madam Wang was being treated, and then said, "Send someone to keep a close eye on this place. If anyone finds something wrong, rush in immediately and kill them without mercy!"

Wang Zongyuan had already heard the seriousness of the problem from Shen Tingzhi's words, "I understand."

"When you've made your arrangements, come find me in the back. I have something to discuss with you."

Unlike other people who stayed in the dormitories outside, people from the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion had a separate small courtyard behind the courtyard where the abbot lived.

Someone cleans the house on weekdays, and no one else is qualified to live there except the Zhenbei Marquis family.

Even the emperor couldn't live there.

Although the dormitories outside are also divided into different levels, and some have very beautiful courtyards, none of them can compare to the exquisite courtyard of the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion.

"Okay, I'll be there right away." Wang Zongyuan, who usually looks sloppy and unruly, is definitely a trustworthy and reliable person when encountering problems.

After making the arrangements, Wang Zongyuan almost trotted to meet Shen Tingzhi.

While he was nervous, he was also vaguely excited. He had already sensed that something big was going to happen this time.

"Tingzhi, what happened?" Wang Zongyuan asked impatiently even though one foot was still outside the door.

Shen Tingzhi looked up at Wang Zongyuan, smiled, and said, "Haven't you always said that you were bored in Shangjing and wanted to go back to Northern Frontier?"

"Whether you return to Northern Xinjiang or not is not my decision, but there's a big deal going on right now. Are you willing to take it?"

Shen Tingzhi looked at Wang Zongyuan with the expression of a bad uncle who was tricking a child into doing something bad.

"Why not? As long as you give the order, I, your uncle Wang, will follow you through fire and water."

At this time, Wang Zongyuan's desire to return to the northern border had gradually returned to reality, cooled down and was no longer as passionate.

The reason is simple, just as Shen Tingzhi said, even the Marquis of Zhenbei will have to stay in Shangjing to maintain stability in Shangjing, and there is no way he can return to Beijiang.

Even the Marquis of Zhenbei couldn't go back, so why would he go back?

He has followed the Marquis of Zhenbei for most of his life, so naturally, wherever the Marquis of Zhenbei is for the rest of his life, he will be there.

Being able to stay in Shangjing with the Marquis of Zhenbei, the two of them could occasionally get together for a few drinks, talk about the situation in the court, and recall the glorious past when they fought together on the battlefield in the northern border.

For Wang Zongyuan, this is already a very satisfying thing.

"That Madam Jin and Yin Shuang who just entered, I'm now certain they are from Xirong, because they entered the temple with a visiting card from Zhou Haibei."

Fortunately, Shen Tianjiao had discovered Zhou Haibei's identity and immediately imprisoned him. She also had someone pretend to be Zhou Haibei and continue to work in the court.

Otherwise, how could Shen Tingzhi have seized the opportunity and avoided a big conspiracy today?

Shen Tingzhi increasingly felt that his sister was a lucky star, and a big lucky star at that.

Since returning from Northern Frontier, everything he did went smoothly. Even when in danger, he was able to escape. Shen Tingzhi attributed all this so-called luck to his sister Shen Tianjiao.

If Shen Tianjiao had not suddenly come to her senses and refused to be the punching bag who was wronged everywhere, and had taken control of the overall situation, he would not have been so lucky.

"It's just that we don't know why they came here. Judging from their behavior, they don't seem to be coming for Wang Yunzhi and Madam Wang."

"I have a feeling they might be coming for me."

There was a reason for Shen Tingzhi to say this, because he suddenly understood something that he had been unable to understand just now.

There is a rule in the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion that people will be sent to the Huguo Temple before the Mid-Autumn Festival every year.

The reason is simple, because the tablet of Mrs. Jiang, the wife of Marquis Zhenbei, is enshrined here.

In the past, when all of them were in the Northern Frontier, Shen Tianjiao came to worship in person every year. Now that Shen Tingzhi is back, this matter will naturally be done by Shen Tingzhi.

Mrs. Jin must have learned a lot about the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion, so he came up with this plan.

But what Shen Tingzhi is wondering now is why Mrs. Jin brought people here to wait for him and plot against him.

"You mean, they knew that the anniversary of Madam's death would be coming soon, and that you would definitely come to pay your respects to her, so they stayed here in advance to prepare and kill you?"

When Wang Zongyuan is serious, he is still very smart and can understand things quickly.

"Yes, that's right, but what I can't understand now is why they would choose this time to carefully plan this conspiracy against me?"

"I haven't been to the battlefield in Northern Xinjiang for many years. They probably aren't here to seek revenge because I killed their family."

"I did capture quite a few Western Rong spies in the Northern Frontier, but they were just small fry. It's not worth it for them to mobilize so many troops and take such a big risk to come all the way to Yunli to deal with me, right?"

The current situation was indeed incredible to Shen Tingzhi, and there were too many things he couldn't understand.

"Hey, if you can't figure it out, forget it. As long as we keep a close eye on them, why worry about not being able to find out their intentions?"

Compared with Shen Tingzhi, Wang Zongyuan's ideas are much simpler and more crude.

As long as you keep a close eye on the person, are you still worried that you won’t be able to find out the truth?

"What should we do next?"

Wang Zongyuan couldn't wait any longer. In his opinion, although this matter was far less satisfying than returning to the northern border to fight on the battlefield, it was at least better than nothing and it was not bad to satisfy his curiosity.

Besides, the Western Rong people should be killed by everyone in Yunli.

"The most important thing now is to find out the defense situation around Mrs. Jin."

Shen Tingzhi also withdrew his thoughts and became serious.

"Since he dared to come and plot against me, he must have brought a lot of people with him."

"The abbot also said that he was robbed by bandits at Eagle's Beak Cliff not long ago, but that's absolutely unbelievable now."

"Those bandits were probably the people he brought with him pretending to be him. All his experiences were just a farce he wrote, directed, and performed himself."

"But this also shows that he is quite strong and capable."

"If I'm not mistaken, his men should be lying in ambush nearby, waiting for his signal to act."

Once you know the other party's identity and intentions, you can actually guess the rest.

"That's easy. Going up the mountain to suppress bandits is our forte. Don't worry about it, just leave it to me."

Before Wang Zongyuan followed the Marquis of Zhenbei, he had been a bandit for many years. As a real bandit, he was much more powerful than those fake bandits.

"It's better to be careful and don't underestimate the enemy, or you'll suffer losses."

"Oh, there's one more very important thing. Mrs. Jin is most likely a man disguised as a woman. Tell the people monitoring him to pay more attention."

Shen Tingzhi was not worried about Wang Zongyuan's ability. What he was afraid of was that Wang Zongyuan would be too aggressive and encounter another threat.

"Ah, are you trying so hard?" Wang Zongyuan's focus was different from Shen Tingzhi's. He was concerned that Mrs. Jin was actually a man dressed as a woman.

Shen Tingzhi looked at Wang Zongyuan and shook his head helplessly. All the key points he had just mentioned were in vain.

He knew that instead of telling Wang Zongyuan, it would be better to tell his subordinates, who would be more reliable.

"Also, arrange for someone to inform Jiaojiao right now. Tell her the situation here so she can prepare in advance."

"These Xirong people come with ill intentions. I'm afraid they're not only here to plot against me, but also to harm Jiaojiao."

"Also, ask Jiaojiao to send a female doctor over. I'm afraid Madam Wang will have to stay here for a while."

“There has to be one

"Also, this Eagle's Beak Cliff really needs to be cleaned up."

"We can't continue to do what we did before, where we only sent troops to suppress the bandits when the situation was serious and they were rampant."

"Let's take this opportunity to get rid of those bandits. We'll set up an observation post at Eagle's Beak Cliff and have our men take turns manning it."

"Completely eliminate those evil forces, and from now on, the road to Huguo Temple will no longer be blocked, but will be unimpeded."

Although bandits rarely appear in Eagle's Beak Cliff, they have taken advantage of the dangerous terrain of Eagle's Beak Cliff to commit many bad deeds over the years.

Shen Tingzhi had long wanted to wipe them out in one fell swoop, but he never had the chance. Now that the Xirong people are looking to cause trouble, he might as well take the opportunity to eliminate them and put his mind at ease.

"Okay, these are all small matters, no problem." In Wang Zongyuan's mind, nothing was more important than dealing with the Western Rong people.

"Since we want to deal with those bandits, why not talk to the young lady and have this road repaired as well?"

The road from Yingzui Cliff to Huguo Temple is extremely difficult to walk on. If troops were stationed here, this road would have to be repaired no matter what.

"Okay, no problem. I'll take care of this. You can just focus on dealing with those people."

Shen Tianjiao now has many industries in her hands, which have brought huge profits, which makes Shen Tingzhi speak more confidently.

When he was in the northern border, Shen Tingzhi had a lot of troubles because the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War often defaulted on food and wages. How could he be as wealthy as he is now?

"Don't send our people to search all over the mountains and plains for them yet. They'll be too big a target and easily exposed. After all, we don't know what their purpose is yet."

"As long as we keep a close watch on them, it will be easy to find their hiding places."