You are unlucky and I am tough

In the Zhiyin Pavilion, the sound of the pipa is sometimes like pearls falling on a jade plate, and sometimes like the wind blowing through a bamboo forest. The melody is clear and melodious at first, and gradually turns into deep and sad.

In the end, it turned into a powerful army, which was very exciting.

As soon as the song ended, there was a knock on the door.

"Master." The guard whispered to the person who was resting with his eyes closed.

The masked man opened his eyes and looked at the woman playing the pipa. "Luyun, go to the back and continue playing, louder."

Lu Yun stood up holding the pipa, bowed, went behind the bead curtain and continued playing.

Zhao Xiuwen walked in, his face solemn. "When did you enter the city? Didn't you say before that we wouldn't meet here unless it was extremely urgent? What happened?"

"I know something happened to Ze Lan," the masked man said. "I was at the Fengxian Pavilion next door when the assassin attacked. How is his injury?"

Zhao Xiuwen was stunned for a moment. "My life is saved. But what happened today...was it the young master who asked him to do this?"

The masked man shook his head, "He just sent me a message to go to Fengxian Pavilion."

"So what's going on?" Zhao Xiuwen couldn't keep his composure any longer. "What on earth is he doing? Just to force Zhu Shaoyuan to take action. Does he want to die?"

"He wanted so badly to save his family's lives."

"But he blocked the knife for Zhu Shaoyuan today. If it weren't for the genius doctor disciple from our village, he would have died."

"He's gambling with his life. If he doesn't die today, he'll have a better chance of winning tomorrow."

"Why? Who is he? He seems to hate the Zhu family, but at the same time, he is also with Zhu Shaoyuan..."

Zhao Xiuwen couldn't express his complicated feelings. "Does he really have to humiliate himself in this way?"

"Zi Qi, you have to believe that if there were any other way, I would not allow him to come here." The masked man sighed, "As for who he is, I will tell you when he is willing to do so."

Zhao Xiuwen closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. "Please forgive me, sir. I lost my composure."

The masked man didn't care and patted him on the shoulder. "Let's get down to business. Did Zelan give you any news today?"

Talking about business, Zhao Xiuwen nodded seriously, "Yes, he wrote a sentence on the headband: Jiuhua Mountain Remaining Bandits, West City Yangjia Hutong Abandoned City God Temple."

"The remaining bandits in Jiuhua Mountain?"

Zhao Xiuwen said, "I heard from the coroner that the three people who were killed in today's assassination attempt were fish caught in the net at Jiuhua Mountain. Who are they?"

"Just a group of bandits on Mount Jiuhua," the masked man said. "That means Zelan knew they were going to assassinate him. But these people's martial arts skills look mediocre, so there's no way they could kill Zhu Shaoyuan. How did Zelan get involved with them?"

Zhao Xiuwen shook his head to indicate that he didn't know.

The masked man tapped his fingers on the table in deep thought, then suddenly stood up. "I see. This isn't news for you, it's for me. Ze Lan used them to achieve his goal. He knew he'd look for you after seeing me injured, so he gave you the news first."

"What use are a group of ordinary bandits to you, young master?" Zhao Xiuwen was puzzled.

"You'll know when you go and see," the masked man said. "We need to go there immediately. Ziqi, go back now. Now that you're in their sights, don't worry about what happens next. Focus on preparing for the provincial examination in September."

Zhao Xiuwen nodded, "I understand."

On the other side, Zhu Shaoyuan stayed at Yueman West Tower and was unwilling to go home. He knew that today's events would cause some trouble and he would be blamed if he went back.

At the same time, the assassination of the prefect's son had spread throughout the city. The constables and yamen runners brought a large group of people to the addresses of the servants provided by the shopkeeper, but found nothing.

Afterwards, a large number of officers spread out from that address to search for any accomplices.

The masked man and his two men rushed to the abandoned City God Temple behind Yangjia Hutong, took a person away from there, and left the city without stopping.

When the officers and soldiers searched the abandoned City God Temple, there were only seven or eight bodies of bandits left inside.

When the news was sent back to the government office, Zheng Tongzhi immediately ordered the city gates to be closed and all people entering and leaving to be strictly searched, mainly to see if any men had tattoos on the back of their shoulders.

It was not until after dark that the two brothers of the Zhu family returned home. The housekeeper was waiting at the door and asked them to go to the flower hall.

Several hours had passed since the assassination, and the family had already received the news. In the flower hall, Magistrate Zhu and his wife sat at the head of the table.

Madam Zhu wore her hair in an elegant bun, with only a silver phoenix hairpin inlaid with kingfisher feathers in her hair. Although she was nearly forty years old, she was still beautiful. Time had only drawn a few fine lines at the corners of her eyes, which added to her calm demeanor and the steady and dignified manner of the mistress of the house.

"You two still remember to come back?" As the two stepped into the flower hall, the voice of Magistrate Zhu rang out.

Mrs. Zhu stood up and walked quickly to her eldest son, pulling him up and down with a worried look in her eyes. "Are you hurt?"

Zhu Shaoyuan shook his head, "My son is fine, thank you for your concern."

As soon as he finished speaking, Mrs. Zhu raised her hand and slapped him twice in the face.

"Madam..." Prefect Zhu could no longer sit still and walked over.

Zhu Yongsi even knelt down when Madam Zhu slapped him for the first time.

"We took the trouble to have you learn kung fu and hide it for so many years, and now you're exposed like this."

The worry on Mrs. Zhu's face was overshadowed by anger. "Do you know how much you've disrupted our plans?"

"My son accepts the punishment." Zhu Shaoyuan tilted his head, with blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.

"Kneel down." Madam Zhu said coldly.

Zhu Shaoyuan fell heavily to his knees on the ground.

Madam Zhu said with a cold face, "From today on, you are not allowed to see that actor again."

"I can't do it." Zhu Shaoyuan looked up, "Mom, he almost died trying to save me today."

"Do you still need him to save you? Only those petty thieves can hurt you?"

"But he doesn't know." Zhu Shaoyuan knelt forward and pulled her sleeve, his expression determined. "Mom, I'm the one who caused this trouble. Please punish me according to the family rules, but he is innocent. I can't just ignore him."

Mrs. Zhu raised her hand again in anger, but was stopped by Prefect Zhu.

"Madam...what's the point of beating the child now? You'd better send the news to the capital as soon as possible."

Madam Zhu shook off his hand and said angrily, "Just indulge him. He has been fine for so many years. If your son gets into trouble, our whole family will be the first to abandon him."

After saying this, he left angrily, and the hall fell into dead silence.

After a while, the exhausted Zhu Prefecture sighed deeply, reached out to help his youngest son up, and said to his eldest son, "Kneel here for two hours until your mother's anger subsides, then stand up."

After leaving the flower hall, Prefect Zhu asked, "Are you not hurt?"

Zhu Yongsi shook his head. "I'm fine. Zhao Xiuwen got a cut on his arm while trying to help me."

Prefect Zhu was thoughtful. "Then you can invite him to your home in a few days. We will prepare a feast for the whole family to thank him. Bring your sister along too."

Zhu Yongsi immediately understood what he meant and nodded, "Yes, I'll tell my wife when I get back."

My younger sister is sixteen years old this year. My parents intend to choose someone from the candidates in this year's provincial examination to get engaged to her first. Zhao Xiuwen seems to be the most likely candidate at the moment.

Well, it's a good thing for him to be engaged to his younger sister and become a member of the same boat.