Three Kingdoms: Ten Times Speed, Diao Chan Says I'm Too Fast

Just as Zhang Ning was about to say something more, a soft cough suddenly came from the room behind him.

Zhang Ning suddenly turned around, a hint of surprise in her eyes, and then quickly walked to the door and pushed it open.

After pushing open the door, the coughing sounds in the room became even clearer.

"Father."

Zhang Ning let out a soft cry, and then rushed towards Zhang Jiao, who was lying on the sickbed.

With a pale face and a body so thin it was just skin and bones, Zhang Jiao opened his cloudy eyes.

"Ning'er... what's going on outside... what's that shouting outside?" Zhang Jiao asked weakly, "Where... where are we now?"

Zhang Ning knelt beside Zhang Jiao's sickbed and reached out to grasp Zhang Jiao's withered hand: "Father, we are still in Weijun, in Quliang County."

Zhang Jiao frowned when he heard the words "within Quliang County".

"I... cough cough..."

“Didn’t I say that entry into the city is not allowed?” Zhang Jiao coughed and said.

Zhang Ning looked outside, her pearly teeth clenched at the corners of her mouth.

From those few brief words, Zhang Ning had already understood his current situation.

"Father...Second Uncle..."

"What happened to Chonghuan?"

Zhang Jiao's voice was weak as he turned his head to look at Zhang Ning.

"Father......"

“On the day the Han army attacked, Father, you announced to the believers to retreat and not to engage in conflict with the Han army.”

Zhang Ning recalled what had happened before, saying, "We retreated all the way to the outskirts of Quliang County. Then, Father, you fainted, and my second and third uncles took over leading the believers."

"At that time, the Han army followed closely behind. My second and third uncles wanted to ask my father for instructions, but my father had already fainted."

"After lingering outside Quliang County for half a day, my second uncle said that if we retreated again, we might be caught up by the Han army, and Father, your health urgently needs treatment."

"Then my second uncle ordered an attack on Quliang County."

"We have now been in Quliang County for several days."

"And outside the city, there were also Han troops surrounding it."

Zhang Jiao frowned even more as he listened to Zhang Ning's words.

But after Zhang Ning finished speaking, Zhang Jiao did not get angry, nor did he say a word.

"Father......"

Zhang Ning looked outside and said, "Second Uncle...Second Uncle should be..."

"I understand."

Zhang Jiao closed his eyes, his expression and tone equally indifferent.

In the now quiet room, the shouts from outside could be heard even more clearly.

The sky is dead, and the yellow sky should stand.

Zhang Jiao, with his eyes closed, gently shook his head and then sighed.

"Father......"

Looking at Zhang Jiao's expression, Zhang Ning felt that there was something she didn't know.

“Father, Second Uncle has ordered... us to be placed under house arrest. Father’s personal guards... have all been transferred away by Second Uncle. I don’t recognize any of the people outside.”

After weighing the options, Zhang Ning decided to share the news.

However, Zhang Jiao remained unsurprised and unperturbed.

“Ning’er…” Zhang Jiao said helplessly, “People’s hearts… will eventually change, even those who are as close as brothers.”

"Power can blind people's eyes and their hearts."

"This... I can't blame your second uncle."

"Actually... I knew all along."

Zhang Jiao opened his eyes and then tried to get up.

Zhang Ning quickly helped Zhang Jiao sit up against the bed, with a blanket covering him.

“Three years ago, the Yuan family of Runan approached me,” Zhang Jiao said, taking a deep breath. “The Yuan family of Runan told us to use the pretext of ‘purging the court of corrupt officials’ and then take advantage of the trust of the followers of the Way of Peace to attack Luoyang.”

“They will provide us with assistance.”

“They provided us with money, provisions, weapons, armor, and horses from Youzhou, Jizhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yuzhou, Yangzhou, and other places.”

"I rejected them at the time."

"but......"

Zhang Jiao closed his eyes and said, "But your second uncle thought this was a golden opportunity."

"We can rely on the power of aristocratic families like the Yuan family of Runan to help our Zhang family ascend the throne."

"But... your second uncle is thinking too simply."

Zhang Ning stared wide-eyed as she listened to these behind-the-scenes stories she had never known before.

"The Yuan family of Runan is the most powerful family in the world, and those so-called aristocratic families that the Yuan family talks about are just trying to use us."

I knew their intentions, so I refused them.

"But I, as a father, overestimated myself."

Zhang Jiao looked dejected.

"I misjudged the greed in people's hearts, and that's why I ended up like this."

"Your second uncle thought that as long as he picked up a sword, he could overturn the world. Little did he know that as long as he actually picked up a sword, he would become someone else's butcher's knife."

Zhang Ning seemed to suddenly understand something, and her eyes turned extremely surprised.

"Father, that assassination attempt was...?"

Zhang Jiao took a deep breath.

The truth about the assassination was not revealed.

But Zhang Ning already had a guess in his mind.

Taipingdao has been developing for more than ten years.

Those who stayed by her father's side were all absolutely loyal; it would not be an exaggeration to say they possessed absolute loyalty.

In Julu, her father was like a god.

The person who could get close to her father in Julu, at the Taiping Dao headquarters, and launch the assassination, could not possibly be a simple outsider.

Within the Taiping Dao, believers undergo rigorous screening, and only those who have been with the Taiping Dao for many years and are extremely devout are allowed to meet her father.

In Julu, there were only two people who had the ability to place people among the followers of Taiping Dao and cultivate their own power.

Her second uncle, Zhang Bao, and her third uncle, Zhang Liang.

Third Uncle Zhang Liang was gentle and obedient to her father in everything.

Only her second uncle, Zhang Bao.

"Father, since you knew, why didn't you stop it?" Zhang Ning asked, puzzled.

Zhang Jiao shook his head and said, "It's no use."

"By the time I found out, it was too late."

"I misjudged people's hearts, and I overestimated them."

"If I, as your father, cannot even control the people around me, how can I possibly control all the believers in the world?"

“My power as your father is limited, but those aristocratic families are everywhere in the world. They are constantly and relentlessly instigating and persuading us, using bribes, coercion, and all sorts of means to infiltrate the Way of Peace.”

"I could only watch helplessly."

“Even if I wanted to disband the Way of Peace, I couldn’t do it in the end.”

Zhang Jiao's tone was full of helplessness.

Sometimes even Zhang Jiao didn't understand why.

Why was the Taiping Dao established in the first place simply to ensure that people had food to eat?

I just want to guide people towards goodness.

How did it come to this?

"Father, are we just supposed to watch helplessly?" Zhang Ning asked.

"Ning'er."

"The people have suffered for too long, and it is not something that can be changed by the efforts of one or two people."

"The common people are starving, and what they need is someone who can provide them with food and help them survive."

"Who this person is is not important."

"But...this person is definitely not from the Yuan family, nor is he one of the gentry families of the world!"

Zhang Jiao gritted his teeth, his expression turning resentful, and said, "These people only know how to exploit the people and suck their blood and bones."

"It was the same a thousand years ago, and it will be the same a thousand years from now!"

"They sit high above others and never truly look down at the suffering of humanity."

"In their eyes, ordinary people are nothing more than tools, numbers, and plants."

Zhang Jiao closed his eyes in pain.

He reached out and covered the throbbing scar on his chest, a scar left three years ago.

Then he opened his eyes and took a deep breath.

"In Luoyang, the aristocratic families who occupy high positions in the imperial court have adorned the world with a dazzling array of colors."

"But what the people of this world can smell is not the fragrance of flowers, but the stench of rotting corpses by the roadside!"

"The people were under a clear blue sky, but they could not see any hope for survival; all they saw was the devastation of the disaster."

Zhang Ning stood there, stunned.

This was the first time she had heard these words from her father.

She didn't know whether this was her father's helplessness or a lament born of his inability to change anything.

From a very young age, she saw her father teaching people to be good every day.

He was single-mindedly focused on relieving the suffering of the people.

For more than ten years, her father has been working tirelessly for this goal every day.

She had seen countless families on the verge of collapse, facing the prospect of being destroyed, survive under her father's care.

The people adored her father.

She regarded her father as a wise and compassionate teacher who saved her from suffering.

She regarded her father as a great sage.

People called her father a great and wise teacher.

But if even her father couldn't save the world.

So who exactly is capable of doing this?

How can we ensure that the people of the world are no longer suffering from hunger?

Zhang Ning was puzzled, so he asked:

"Father, what kind of person can save the people of this world today?"

"What can be done to stop the people from suffering in this world?"

Zhang Jiao fell silent.

He doesn't know the answer to that either.

The rise and fall of dynasties, the cycle of Zhou and Zhou, seems to be an endless cycle.

Zhang Jiao had never met such a person.

He had never heard of such a thing before.

Zhang Ning turned to look at Zhang Jiao.

"Father......"

A gasp followed.