Jiuxi

Chapter 839 837 [Stab Ding]

In the northern part of Huaizhou, there are endless green mountains.

Ever since Dingzhou returned to the rule of Da Qi, Lu Chen has built a sufficiently strong defense line, and Huaizhou has gradually been away from the threat of Jing’s army.

Last autumn, Jing's army was defeated again and was forced to shrink its front line to the Tongbai line. As a result, Panlong Pass, the only place in Huaizhou that could be attacked by Jing's army, also became a pass in the region.

At this point, the entire Huaizhou had no inch of border bordering the enemy country, and Jingzhou to the west and Dingzhou to the north completely surrounded it.

The stable environment brought about rapid development. The three states in the north of the Yangtze River were connected as one thanks to the efforts of all parties, and the exchanges of people and trade increased day by day.

Nowadays, there are still those two routes to go from Huaizhou to Dingzhou. The west route starts from Qingtian City, passes through Yongfeng Road, and arrives at Tongshan City in the north. Further north is the territory of Dingzhou.

To the east, it passes through Yongquan Pass and is only thirty miles away from Gushu City, the southernmost part of Dingzhou.

Times have changed, and the world has undergone tremendous changes. The appearance of these two important roads has long since changed.

The traces of the battlefield have disappeared, replaced by a vibrant life.

"Fang Bo, that is Yongquan Pass."

A middle-aged scholar pointed to the steep and unique pass ahead and felt like composing a poem on the spot. Fortunately, he knew that the new governor of Dingzhou beside him did not like to show off his elegance, so he could only suppress his surging poetic inspiration.

"It is indeed one of the most powerful passes in the world."

Ding Hui covered his forehead with his hand and said, "I didn't get to see the magnificence of Panlong Pass before, but now I can see the towering and majestic Yongquan Pass. It can be said that this trip is worthwhile."

The scholar's name was Chen Zhaochang, courtesy name Fusheng, and he was from Lin County, Hezhou. He had followed Ding Hui for seven years.

Hearing the sigh of his benefactor, Chen Zhaochang said respectfully: "After passing Yongquan Pass, it is the territory of Dingzhou. Fang Bo will surely be able to achieve great things this time and have a bright future."

"You can still talk."

Ding Hui raised his hand and nodded at him, then smiled and said, "Have you decided where to stay today?"

Chen Zhaochang responded, "Don't worry, Lord Fang, we can reach Gushu City before sunset. The distance is not too far."

"Um……"

Ding Hui hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Since we are in Dingzhou, it is inevitable that we will have some personal connections. What suggestions do you have?"

Chen Zhaochang thought for a moment and said cautiously: "Fang Bo, I think it is not appropriate to get too close to the officials of the prefectures and counties for the time being."

"Why?"

"The previous governor Xu was a very upright person. He could not tolerate any injustice. The officials he selected were not the same, but at least they were not easy to deal with. Moreover, there is a governor's office in Dingzhou. On the surface, it cannot interfere with the operation of the government, but I am sure that there are spies from the governor's office in every city. The governor has an important mission on this trip, so he must not be careless."

Ding Hui narrowed his eyes slightly and remained silent, as if he was considering something.

As the saying goes, the sky is high and birds fly freely. Ding Hui indeed had this feeling when he first left the capital.

He had been the Minister of War for eight years. Although he was a high-ranking official in the court, he had suffered too much humiliation because of the Ministry of War's awkward position. Now he can finally shake off the dark cloud over his head and enjoy the wonderful feeling of being in charge of a region and holding great power.

More importantly, Ding Hui felt that he could gain enough benefits for the Ningtan Ding family while monitoring Lu Chen.

Hearing the advice from his trusted staff, Ding Hui naturally felt a little uncomfortable, but he was not so arrogant as to look down on others, so he nodded and said, "Fusheng is right. We do need to be cautious when we first come to this precious place."

"Fang Bo is wise, and I admire you."

Chen Zhaochang immediately offered a flattery.

Ding Hui climbed into the carriage with a smile on his face, his aura as a provincial governor clearly revealed.

Of course it was impossible for the governor to be accompanied by only one aide. In fact, this team was very eye-catching. In addition to Ding Hui's own aide, attendants and guards, the court also specially sent one hundred imperial guards to protect him along the way.

As the sun set, the convoy arrived at Gushufu City in Dingzhou as scheduled.

Gu Zhimin's governor Wu Shengdong came to the outside of the city with a group of officials to greet them.

"Governor Wu, I am just passing through here, so there is no need to make any special arrangements. You can skip the reception. You can all go back to the government office and do your work. I have already asked someone to book an inn in the city. I will set off north tomorrow morning. You don't need to see me off. You should focus on your business."

After the greetings, Ding Hui's straightforward remarks surprised everyone.

Although Dingzhou is thousands of miles away from the capital, the news that Ding Hui will replace Xu Zuo has been circulating for some time. Officials with a little bit of connections know that Governor Ding is not easy to deal with, and he is definitely not as clean as his predecessor, Governor Xu.

However, Ding Hui's behavior at this moment was so righteous that it made some officials feel guilty.

Wu Shengdong secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and bowed his hands and said, "The prefect has given an order, and I dare not disobey it."

What a stubborn guy...

Ding Hui had a warm smile on his face but cursed silently in his heart.

It's just that he had been so arrogant just now, so it's certainly not easy for him to slap himself in the face in public.

So after half an hour, Ding Hui brought a group of people to stay at the Rugui Inn in the city.

Until he undressed and went to bed, Ding Hui had not seen the official who came to visit him privately, which made him feel a little depressed.

The light in the room was dim, Ding Hui was lying on the bed, and gradually he could sense some different meanings. He was a governor, but now he was staying in this inn. No officials from the entire Gushu Prefecture came to make friends with him. On the one hand, it might be that his words at that time stunned everyone. On the other hand, it could also mean that, as Chen Zhaochang said, during the two years that Xu Zuo was in charge of Dingzhou, he had trained the officials under him to be extremely upright.

Or it could be said that Xu Zuo established a very clean system here that people dare not violate easily.

Thinking of this, Ding Hui felt a little headache. Of course, he would not forget that there was a governor's office in Ruyin City that controlled more than 100,000 elite troops.

Although Lu Chen is still far away in the capital, the arrogant and powerful generals under his command are also not easy to provoke.

The emperor asked him to come to Dingzhou to play a role, but it seems to be as difficult as ascending to heaven...

At this moment, Ding Hui suddenly felt a gust of cold wind coming, and before he could stand up, the door was pushed open from the outside!

Ding Hui was shocked. He looked up and saw that it was Chen Zhaochang. He couldn't help but ask coldly, "What are you doing?"

However, the aide, who was usually extremely humble in front of him, did not respond and walked forward expressionlessly.

The next moment, a cold light flashed across the dim candlelight in the room and appeared directly in front of Ding Hui who had just sat up.

Ding Hui lowered his eyes and looked at the sword against his throat. An intense fear instantly enveloped his whole body.

Chen Zhaochang closed the door slowly, walked closer, and sighed, "No need to do that. Fang Bo is a smart man and won't shout nonsense."

The long sword slowly left Ding Hui's throat.

Ding Hui was still in great shock, his body shaking uncontrollably.

Chen Zhaochang continued, "Even if Fang Bo wanted to call for help, it would be useless right now."

Ding Hui swallowed hard and said with difficulty: "What on earth did you do?"

"Please let Fang Bo know that the innkeeper and waiters of this inn have been asked to leave. According to your instructions, we will use our own people to provide food and drink during the journey, so we don't need them to serve us. In other words, all the people in this inn tonight are your subordinates and the imperial guards who are staying in the adjacent courtyards."

Chen Zhaochang said slowly, "At this moment, everyone in the inn is sleeping soundly because of the drugged food and drinks. Even thunder cannot wake them up, and Fang Bo's call for help will be useless. So I would like to ask Fang Bo to calm down, or not to waste his energy."

"You...you want to murder the governor of Dingzhou? Do you know that this is a serious crime of exterminating the family and clan?"

Ding Hui was shocked, angry, and found it hard to believe.

Of course, he would not trust a person of unknown origin. From the day Chen Zhaochang appeared in front of him, he had someone conduct a thorough investigation to confirm the other party's identity.

At the beginning, Chen Zhaochang was just an ordinary aide. Later, because he gave Ding Hui a lot of ideas, he gradually won his trust.

Who could have thought he would do such an incredible thing?
More importantly, Ding Hui didn't understand why the other party did this. He was sure that the Ningtan Ding family had no connection with the Chen family in the past.

Chen Zhaochang took out a small bottle from his sleeve and said calmly, "Thank you for your concern, Lord Fang. I will be fine, because I will also take this medicine in a while. In short, tonight I was tricked by the bad guys like everyone else. I didn't know anything. When I woke up, I only saw Lord Fang being murdered. Then I will send the bad news to the capital as quickly as possible."

Ding Hui was sitting on the bed with an embarrassed look on his face. He suddenly said viciously, "You, you have been setting a trap for me!"

Chen Zhaochang did not deny it and sighed, "Please forgive me, Lord Fang."

The so-called trap refers to Chen Zhaochang’s previous suggestion.

If Ding had not followed his advice and deliberately maintained an upright attitude of not disturbing the people or alerting the government, how could the group of people have stayed in the inn?
If Ding Hui was in Gushufu's government office now, he would not be surrounded by only the people he brought with him, and Chen Zhaochang would not be able to clear himself of the conspiracy. After all, he could only command the entourage in the name of Ding Hui, and could not control the officials and even servants of Gushufu. He could not let Ding Hui face the swordsman alone.

Thinking about these points clearly, Ding would feel more and more desperate, because the other party was so deliberate, obviously intending to kill him without any suspense.

As expected, Chen Zhaochang bowed his head and said, "I dare not be rude to Mr. Fang. You will only die in the hands of this gentleman tonight."

Hearing this, Ding Hui looked at the swordsman with a pale face.

With just one glance, his face turned from pale to red at a speed visible to the naked eye.

He hadn't noticed it before, but now, with the dim candlelight in the room, he finally saw the other person's face clearly.

"you you……"

Ding Hui raised his hand and pointed at his swordsman, unable to utter a complete sentence.

All you can see on his face is endless fear and anger.

"Master Ding, long time no see."

The swordsman spoke slowly, his voice in a low tone.

Ding Hui found the identity of this person from his memory. He once went to a secret manor in the north of the capital to meet Li Shizhi, and saw this person among the other party's guards.

He looked at the swordsman for a while, then looked at Chen Zhaochang, his eyes moving back and forth, and then asked in a trembling voice: "Why do you want to kill me?"

The swordsman replied indifferently: "The master needs Lord Ding to die."

Ding Hui was able to stand firm in the court for nearly ten years, so he was certainly not a naive person. Just a little thought would tell him that Chen Zhaochang had been Li Shizhi's man many years ago, or that Li Shizhi had managed to bribe Chen Zhaochang after he joined Li Shizhi.

He suddenly smiled sadly and squeezed out three words from between his teeth.

"Li Shizhi!"

(End of this chapter)