The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

The Ministry of Punishment is indeed the Ministry of Punishment. No one who goes there can remain stubborn.

The assassins who assassinated Shen Tianjiaode were sent to the Ministry of Punishment and within less than half an hour they told everything they knew.

The assassins' testimony was quickly sent to the palace and handed over to Nguyen Ngoc Hu.

Ruan Yuhu simply read through it and handed the testimony to his secret guard chief, ordering him to arrest the person.

The assassination of Shen Tianjiao tonight was ordered by Duan Yongping, King Xuan of Southern Chu.

Duan Yongping is the one who brought people to help Li Chaohui this time.

As the prince of Nanchu, Duan Yongping is a very conceited person. He is very dissatisfied with this cooperation with Li Chaohui and his insistence on following Li Chaohui's instructions in everything.

That's why he didn't care and poisoned the people in Shangjing City without the consent of Li Chaohui's people.

His original intention was to create chaos in Shangjing City first, and then take advantage of the chaos to cause trouble in Shangjing and disturb people's hearts.

When things become uncontrollable, he will come forward to negotiate with Shen Tianjiao, and on the condition of handing over the antidote, he will strive for the greatest benefits for himself and Nan Chu.

In this way, Yun Li would benefit, and after returning to Nanchu, he would also receive enough honor and preferential treatment.

But the result was contrary to his expectations. What he never expected was that Shen Tianjiao would come up with the antidote so quickly, as if she had come prepared and was waiting for him here.

Having lost the initiative and the bargaining chip to threaten Shen Tianjiao, Duan Yongping was filled with anger and hatred.

Besides being simple-minded, he is also a vindictive and violent person.

Duan Yongping failed to get what he wanted, so he became furious and ordered the martial arts masters he had hired to protect him before coming to Yunli to go and take action against Shen Tianjiao.

What he didn't expect was that the martial arts masters he sent were also defeated by Shen Tianjiao at lightning speed.

It was only after being sent to the Ministry of Punishment that those martial arts masters realized that the person they were trying to assassinate this time was Yun Li’s queen, Shen Tianjiao.

When those martial arts masters found out that their target of assassination was Yun Li’s queen Shen Tianjiao, they immediately became timid.

The officials in the court were only afraid of the Marquis of Zhenbei because they were afraid of the great power he held.

However, for these killers who have been roaming the world for many years, their understanding of the Marquis of Zhenbei is not just because he is the powerful commander-in-chief of the army.

They have a deeper understanding and appreciation of the authority of the Marquis of Zhenbei.

During the years that Zhenbei Hou has been guarding the northern border, in addition to leading his troops to fight against the invading countries from all sides, he has also been responsible for the important task of rectifying and protecting the security in Yunli.

Wherever there are bandits causing chaos or evildoers committing crimes, the Marquis of Zhenbei will send troops to suppress them.

The generals under the command of the Marquis of Zhenbei were all extremely powerful and brave generals, so these people were naturally afraid of being dealt with.

Not to mention fighting with the Marquis of Zhenbei's men, even hearing the names of the Marquis of Zhenbei and the Shen family army would scare them so much that they would run as far as they could. Who would be stupid enough to get close to them?

Shen Tianjiao is the daughter of the Marquis of Zhenbei, and this is something that everyone in the world knows. If they knew in advance who they were going to assassinate, they would never do it even if they were beaten to death.

It’s a pity that it’s too late to say anything now. There is no medicine for regret in this world.

Duan Yongping was still there at this time, drinking tea and listening to music, waiting for the good news about the assassination of Shen Tianjiao.

He was unhappy because he didn't achieve his goal, so naturally he wouldn't let others have an easy time either.

This arrogant and spoiled prince, who did whatever he wanted, had no idea what kind of disaster he would face.

If he knew, he would rather commit suicide than take the initiative to attack Shen Tianjiao.

The secret guards quickly found Duan Yongping's residence based on the information provided by the assassins.

It was a cloth trading company, hidden among the many trading companies in Shangjing City. If it weren't for the specific location, it would be difficult for others to find anything strange here.

The ones who came to arrest Duan Yongping this time included not only the secret guards, but also Pei Jian, the city patrol officer.

They brought people and surrounded the entire trading company, catching the people of Nanchu off guard and leaving them unable to resist.

When Pei Jian and his men kicked open Duan Yongping's room, the prince was still confused and didn't know what was going on.

"Come, please invite our King Xuan of Southern Chu to the Ministry of Punishment first, and then send him to the palace."

Pei Jian looked at Pei Jian, who was staring at him like a fool with a confused look on his face, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, such a coward, actually dared to act wildly in Yun Li's Shangjing City.

He even sent people to assassinate their Yunli queen in the street. She must be tired of living.

If they don't tear King Xuan of Southern Chu into pieces today, do they in Southern Chu really think that Yun Li has no one and will allow them to bully him?

Just because Duan Yongping dared to bring people to Yunli, collude with Li Chaohui, and poison Yunli's Shangjing City, he should be cut into pieces and die as a token of his guilt.

Now another crime has been added, which is the serious crime of assassinating the Queen Regent Yunli and attempting to overthrow the Yunli regime. This time, it will not be as simple as just being cut into pieces.

It was only natural that Duan Yongping paid the price of his life for assassinating Shen Tianjiao. Now, even his clan, and even the entire Nanchu royal family, had to pay the price they deserved for their recklessness and greed.

Duan Yongping didn't react until the secret guards came forward and clamped his arms.

He shouted in dissatisfaction, "You thieves are simply lawless. You break into people's homes at night for no reason and arrest people at will. Don't you fear the law?"

"I'm an honest businessman. I've never cheated on anything. Why did you just barge in and arrest me?"

Even though he was about to die, Duan Yongping still didn't know how to restrain himself and was still so arrogant.

Facing such a Duan Yongping, how could Pei Jian possibly indulge him?

Pei Jian took a quick step forward and kicked Duan Yongping directly in the chest. He didn't use 100% of his strength in this kick, but he also used about 60% to 70%.

With one kick, the Prince of Nanchu, who was worse than a useless person, not only shut his mouth but also almost fainted from the pain.

Looking at Duan Yongping, who had finally quieted down and said nothing, Pei Jian sneered and said, "Are you still feeling wronged?"

"Do you know how great a sin you committed today? You poisoned Shangjing City, which is already an unforgivable crime."

"How dare you assassinate my Queen, Yunli, in the street? You've really pushed yourself to death, leaving yourself no chance of survival."

"The assassins you sent on the assassination mission have all been captured, and they have confessed everything they should have."

"I just don't know if the Emperor of your Nanchu is willing to pay a high price to save you from death."

Duan Yongping had long since lost his previous arrogance. Apart from the unbearable pain in his body, he was also as dejected and silent as a dead heart.

If he fails to complete the mission this time, he will be severely punished when he returns to Nanchu. What's more, he has messed things up now and handed his handle to his enemy.

If he were to return to Nanchu now, he would rather stay in Yunli.

But now Duan Yongping was almost dying of pain and didn't even have the strength to speak.

"Take him away!" Pei Jian ordered coldly.

The secret guards immediately dragged Duan Yongping out.

Pei Jian glanced around coldly, then said, "Search this business thoroughly inside and out. Take away anything suspicious."

"Everyone here, leave no one behind, and take them all back to the Ministry of Punishment for investigation."

"Yes, my lord."

After hearing the order from their superiors, the people in the City Patrol Office immediately took action and started working.

But Pei Jian fell into deep thought at this time. There were many trading companies in Shangjing City, and it was probably not just this one that had problems.

If these foreign spies are not eradicated, what happened today will definitely happen again.

They can be on guard for a while, but not forever. If one day the Queen is accidentally injured, it will be a real disaster.

The best way to prevent this danger from happening again is to search all the businesses and shops in Shangjing City.

In this way, even if it is impossible to find all the spies, we can use this opportunity to deter them so that they dare not act rashly or do things they should not do.

The current situation in Shangjing is on the verge of breaking out, and we must not let these people take advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos again.

Pei Jian made up his mind and left the business. He would first go to the Ministry of Punishment, and after Duan Yongping had been tried in the Ministry of Punishment, he would personally escort Duan Yongping into the palace to meet Ruan Yuhu.

He could only decide on the search after he met with Ruan Yuhu and asked about his opinion.

Duan Yongping was sent to the Ministry of Punishment, but he was too weak. Before Quan Zheng could torture him, he was scared to death.

Quan Zheng looked at the unconscious Duan Yongping speechlessly and said to Pei Jian, "He's just such a coward. Where did he get the courage to have someone assassinate the Empress in the street?"

"He's just a bully relying on his superiors." Pei Jian turned his eyes away, unwilling to look at the unconscious Duan Yongping. "People like him rely on their royal status to bully others."

"Having never experienced the cruel beatings of society, they are always self-righteous and feel they can do anything. They are bold enough to do anything, but they are unable to bear the consequences."

Pei Jian can be considered a half-royal family member, and there are countless people like him around him, so he is very familiar with people like Duan Yongping.

What he couldn't understand now was why Nan Chu chose such an incompetent coward to form an alliance with Li Chaohui to deal with Yun Li, such a major event?

Isn’t the Emperor of Southern Chu worried at all that Duan Yongping, that coward, would mess things up and cause Yun Li to send troops to attack Southern Chu?

Pei Jian is now full of doubts in his mind. He always feels that this matter is too strange.

But in fact, Pei Jian was indeed overly worried. The reason why Nanchu sent Duan Yongping, a coward, was that Duan Yongping usually pretended to be a decent person in Nanchu.

He used his identity to create a character with both high intelligence and fighting power, which gave the outside world a strong illusion that he was a very powerful and outstanding person.

Duan Yongping's approach is similar to that of Li Chaohui. They both rely on the perfect persona they create for themselves to deceive the world.

Moreover, the reason why Duan Yongping was able to come to Yunli and do this thing this time was actually the result of him using various tricks to stand out from the crowd.

Originally, the emperor of Nanchu was going to send his trusted confidants and the crown prince of Nanchu to Yunli.

But Duan Yongping could not sit still after hearing the news. As a prince, few people could be willing to live an ordinary life.

Duan Yongping is definitely one of the most restless people among them.

As a prince, his background was not very good. His mother was of humble status, which meant that he was destined to have no chance of becoming emperor.

But the more a person cannot get something, the more he wants it. Becoming the crown prince to replace his half-brother's position as the crown prince, and becoming the emperor of Southern Chu in the future became an obsession that would never disappear in his heart.

Although he has made himself an influential person through his connections over the years, this influence is not enough to allow him to compete with the prince and replace him.

He also needs more political achievements to give himself more capital to compete with the prince.

This time, Yun Li’s trip is his best chance.

So he contacted and teamed up with some people who disagreed with the prince's political views. After promising them many benefits, they formed an alliance and together created trouble for the prince.

When the prince was riding a horse, the horse was frightened and the prince fell off. He was not seriously injured, but unfortunately, his leg was broken.

Once my leg is broken, I naturally won’t be able to complete this journey to Yunli.

Since the prince cannot come to Yunli, someone else will naturally need to replace him.

So Duan Yongping set traps for those backup candidates one after another, making them experience all kinds of misfortunes and then choose the simplest path.

He bribed the wizard of Nanchu and asked the wizard to advise the emperor of Nanchu that he had predicted that Duan Yongping was the chosen one for this trip to Yunli.

Only by letting Duan Yongping do this can the matter be resolved smoothly and bring rich returns to Nanchu.

So the Emperor of Nanchu, who had great faith in wizards, gave this task to Duan Yongping.