Traveling back to the Northern Song Dynasty: Picking up a princess as my wife

Qian Dazhuang came to a field and saw an old man sitting in the shade of a tree. He immediately became interested, dismounted from his horse, took his water bottle and went over.

Qian Dazhuang: "Old man, how's the harvest this year?"

Although Qian Dazhuang was dressed in ordinary clothes, the dozen or so people behind him riding tall horses made it clear that he was no ordinary person.

The old man, somewhat nervously, quickly stood up: "Honorable sir, what are your instructions?"

Seeing that the old man was a little reserved and nervous, Qian Dazhuang smiled and patted him on the shoulder: "Don't be afraid, old man. I am the magistrate of Neihuang County. I came here today to see how you are doing."

It would have been better if he hadn't said anything, because after the old man learned Qian Dazhuang's identity, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed to him.

"I didn't know it was the county magistrate. I was blind and have no idea. I kowtow to you."

Then the old man began to kowtow vigorously, as if pounding garlic. Qian Dazhuang immediately bent down and helped the old man up. Just as he helped the old man up, the old man suddenly produced a dagger and swiftly stabbed it toward Qian Dazhuang's heart.

"jump!"

The dagger seemed to have struck something hard; after piercing the clothes, it couldn't penetrate any further. The old man was startled. He quickly withdrew the dagger, then tried to stab it from a different spot, but still couldn't harm Qian Dazhuang in the slightest.

Qian Dazhuang reacted at this moment, and kicked the old man away. Seeing this, the soldiers nearby immediately rushed forward with their rifles raised, confused as to why the two who had been laughing just moments before were now fighting.

Qian Dazhuang touched his body and found that apart from two holes in his clothes, he was completely unharmed. Luckily, he was wearing the stab-proof vest that Li Zhen had given him, otherwise those two stabs would have killed him.

The old man stopped pretending and now held two daggers in his hands. He asked Qian Dazhuang suspiciously, "You know Iron Shirt? That's a Shaolin martial art. Were you a monk?"

With a dark expression, Qian Dazhuang shouted to the soldiers, "Take him down! If he resists, kill him on the spot!"

How could I not be angry? I just wanted to say a few words to this old man, but I almost died here.

No one could have imagined that such a gaunt old man would be so formidable in combat. Two soldiers were wounded by the old man's dagger in their attempts to subdue him. In the end, it was only due to their numerical advantage that the old man was finally subdued after being stabbed twice in the shoulder and leg with bayonets.

After this incident, Qian Dazhuang gave up on the idea of ​​going back. He sent someone to call the village chief, and after confirming several times, they learned that the old man was not from the village at all. When he was sitting in the shade of the tree, the villagers working in the fields thought he was just passing by and taking a break.

Upon returning to the county government office, Qian Dazhuang couldn't wait to personally interrogate the mysterious old man. After half an hour of torture, Qian Dazhuang, his hands covered in blood, walked out of the cell with satisfaction.

The old man's identity was now clear: he was a member of the Zoroastrian Church. Since Fang Bucun was killed by Li Zhen, the remaining Zoroastrian followers had been secretly operating around Anyang Prefecture. This time, they had received support from the Song Dynasty's Imperial City Guard, which was how they learned of Qian Dazhuang's whereabouts. This old man was also a highly skilled fighter within the Zoroastrian Church, a hall master.

They planned to kill Qian Dazhuang and disrupt the order of Neihuang County, allowing the Zoroastrians and the Imperial City Guard to seize the county government office in the chaos. They knew Qian Dazhuang was Li Zhen's right-hand man, and eliminating him would weaken Li Zhen's power.

That very evening, Li Zhen, who was in Anyang Prefecture, learned of Qian Dazhuang's assassination. He said to the thug beside him, "These cats and dogs have been causing too much trouble lately. You go back to the stronghold first thing tomorrow morning and personally deal with those spies there. As for those here and in Tangyin City, you need to clean them up too. They have a lot of people, so I'll kill them one by one. Besides that, you need to have our people in Lin'an make some moves as well. That's called 'it's impolite not to reciprocate.'"

The man said with some concern, "My lord, you must also be careful. These people are all desperate criminals. After I leave, you must strengthen the defenses around you and not let these scum take advantage of any loopholes."

No one knows exactly how many people are in the intelligence department of Li Family Village. From personnel selection and training to mission assignment, everything has always been handled by Bu Liang. It's estimated that besides Bu Liang, only Li Zhen in the entire Li Family Village knows who the intelligence agents are.

As the first rays of sunlight streamed into Lijiazhai, the dining hall in the inner village began its morning hustle and bustle. Steaming hot steamed buns and thick, fragrant rice porridge were served on the tables.

This morning, Wang Ma was extremely nervous. Just last night, Zhang the blacksmith gave her an egg, telling her that it was soaked in poison. He said that if Zhao Ji ate the egg, he would immediately die from the poison. At the same time, Zhang the blacksmith would make some noise outside to help Wang Ma escape.

Through observation over this period, it was discovered that the attendant beside Emperor Huizong never tested the eggs for poison. Eggs have a thick outer shell, and if the egg breaks, it would alert the attendant. That's why they came up with this method of poisoning.

While Wang Ma waited anxiously, Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhao Ji, finally arrived and sat in his usual seat, just as he always had.

Wang Ma let out a long breath. She forced herself to remain calm, picked up the wooden plate containing breakfast, and as usual, put the plate down. Then she stood aside and waited for Zhao Ji to finish eating so she could clean up.

Whether it was her own guilty conscience or just her imagination, she felt that Zhao Ji's gaze towards her today seemed different from usual, giving her an indescribable feeling.

Today, the servant did not take out a silver needle to test for poison. Instead, he walked to Wang Ma's side and gently said to her, "You can eat this egg today."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ma trembled all over. Even if she was stupid, she knew that her secret had been exposed. She collapsed to the ground, her face ashen, her mouth trembling and unable to speak.

Emperor Huizong, still sitting there, sighed: "Speak, did Zhao Gou send you? I've been hiding my identity, yet he still doesn't trust me. How ridiculous, that his own son would kill his own father."

The servant picked up an egg from the wooden tray, gently cracked the shell, and peeled out the white egg. Holding the egg in one hand, he grabbed Wang Ma by the collar with the other, about to stuff the poisoned egg into her mouth.

"Spare me! My lord, spare me! I'll tell you everything, just don't kill me, I'll do anything you want."

Through Wang Ma's confession, in addition to Zhang the blacksmith, four or five more spies from the Imperial City Guard were uncovered in Li Family Village. The ruthless commander directed the purge with a dark expression throughout. Following this incident, the entire garrison of Li Family Village was replaced, significantly improving the village's security.

Meanwhile, Anyang Prefecture, Tangyin County, and Neihuang County were also rapidly eliminating spies from various factions. Li Zhen, adhering to the principle of "better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free," silenced all these spies. Of course, some remained loyal to him; Li Zhen handed these over to unruly officials for "training" before sending them back to where they came from.