Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 622 Premeditation
On the second day, Zhao Zhen met Gongsun Sheng, Qiao Daoqing and others in Baishi Valley. Zhao Zhen took them to the treasury to look at the precious medicines that had been offered by various prefectures over the years.

When Gongsun Sheng and others saw this, they were all delighted.

Gongsun Sheng asked, "Brother, where did you accumulate so many precious medicines?"

Zhao Zhen said, "Brother Chai Jin sent us many yesterday, and this thousand-year-old Polygonatum is one of them. The rest were either purchased, seized, given by others, or donated by subordinates. That's how we got so many precious medicines."

"I have asked Brother Chai Jin, there is a Yunfeng Valley in Mengzhou, which produces all kinds of precious medicines. I plan to send someone to buy some. It can be used to treat diseases and save lives, and for my senior brother to make pills."

Gongsun Sheng heard this and said, "Without the formula, it's not easy to try this kind of precious medicine. Since Yunfeng Valley produces medicine, maybe there is a formula there. Why not leave this to us?"

Zhao Zhen heard this and said, "Alright, ask Dai Zong and others to go with you. If anything happens, they can pass on the news."

Gongsun Sheng smiled and said, "That would be the best. Without further ado, I will go and ask Chai Jin today. It would be best if I could bring his steward with me."

Zhao Zhen nodded and said, "I'll ask Madam Wan'er to get some gold and silver. Senior Brother, you've got enough. As long as it's precious medicine, you can take as much as you have."

After seeing off Gongsun Sheng and his group, Zhao Zhen went to Cheng Wan'er's place at the back.

Just as he was about to leave, he saw Wu Yong, Bai Sheng, and Shi Qian walking in, led by Yu Baosi. When Zhao Zhen saw them, his eyes lit up, and he pointed at Bai Sheng and Shi Qian and said, "Is it done?"

Bai Sheng stroked his mustache and said with a smile, "Sir, I have fulfilled my mission."

Zhao Zhen was naturally overjoyed when he heard this. He asked someone to invite Lin Chong and asked Bai Sheng to tell him the details of the trip.

It turned out that since Gao Shide left Xingren Prefecture, he went to Fenzhou under Gao Qiu's arrangement and was still the governor of a state.

As for choosing Fenzhou, it was because Gao Shide was greedy for enjoyment. He heard that there was a palace built by Tian Hu in Fenzhou. Although there was war and the treasury was empty, the palace was largely preserved.

The assistant officials of the provincial government were all followers of Cai Jing, Gao Qiu and others, and no one made a fuss, so Gao Shide took over the position openly.

Since Wu Yong learned that Gao Shide was going to Fenzhou to take up the post, he began to prepare.

Bai Sheng and Shi Qian were ordered to each carry a wooden needle carved with a "Broken Poison Spear", and to act accordingly, taking advantage of its extremely poisonous properties that would kill people instantly upon contact with blood.

Wu Yong and his team decided to use poison needles after a long period of consideration. They tested it on death row prisoners and found that once the needle penetrated the skin, the person would not feel any pain if they were not prepared. However, if there was no antidote, the person would die in a short while.

Afterwards, there was no blood in the body, so it didn't look like death from poisoning, but rather like the result of witchcraft or some evil spell.

After Bai Sheng and Shi Qian arrived in Fenzhou, they were not in a hurry to act. They found out that the palace built by Tian Hu was not small, and Gao Shide went to various palaces to rest every day without a fixed number.

The two were also warned by Wu Yong not to show their true identities to anyone, and not to reveal their whereabouts. After much thought and observation for a long time, Shi Qian finally discovered that although Gao Shide's residence was heavily guarded, there was a loophole.

Gao Shide's family has many people, and now Wang Dengbang has led many soldiers to guard it, so there is a lot of feces in this palace every day.

Through observation, the two found that the night-time women and night-time men who came to Gao Shide's house every day changed frequently.

In addition, those who do this have their mouths and noses wrapped with towels, covering most of their faces, so they can blend in.

Bai Sheng pushed the cart, while Shi Qian hid in the manure cart, looking for an opportunity to come out of the compartment and hide in the palace.

Shi Qian had thought it through before entering the palace. After coming out, he quietly sneaked into the back kitchen, found out which palace had the most abundant food, and then secretly hid in it.

In the dead of night, they quietly came out of their hiding place, stabbed each of the people on the bed with a needle, waited for half an hour, and saw that both of them were no longer breathing, so they slipped out at night. At dawn, the two hurried out of the city, and rushed back to Liangshan to report the good news.

Zhao Zhen listened to the two men's words and praised them, "Thank you for your hard work, brothers. I have always felt guilty for letting Gao Shide go. Today, I finally made him surrender. I am very happy."

Lin Chong also said, "It's a pity that I didn't do it myself. When I was under the command of General Gao, although I endured this anger, it was not happy. Today I make this fellow surrender, it's a relief!"

But in Bianjing, Gao Qiu heard the news from Fenzhou and was furious: "You useless people, you don't even know how my child died, what use are you?"

Wang Dengbang, who reported the news, cried out in grievance, saying, "Captain, the death of the young master is very strange. The doctor and the head of the regiment all said that the young master seemed to have died of evil spirits."

"Nonsense. Why are you talking about ghosts and gods for no reason? If you can't give a reason, I will have to punish you." Gao Qiu said.

Wang Dengbang said quickly, "Captain, I am not talking nonsense. We heard that the young master was dead and we dared not neglect it. The famous doctors and the head of the autopsy team in the city came to see it. The young master and the young lady were all bloodless, and there was no blood in the room. I heard from the maid that the young master was playing around as usual and went to bed in the middle of the night. There was nothing unusual. When we called the young master to wash up in the morning, we found that the two were dead in bed."

After hearing this, Gao Qiu asked Wang Dengbang to stay in his mansion and secretly had someone monitor him.

Gao Qiu summoned Sun Jing, the Hedgehog, and repeated Wang Dengbang's words. He then asked, "Sun Yuhou, have you ever heard of such a situation?"

Sun Jing listened and shook his head, saying, "General, I have never heard of this. Perhaps it is really caused by evil magic. Moreover, the general is in a high position. I don't know how many people want to harm him. Now that they have found an opportunity to secretly harm the lord, even if they send people to investigate, I am afraid that after so many days, it will be difficult to verify."

"The commander has recently recruited a Taoist master. Perhaps we can ask him something about him. It would be best if we could lead him to Liangshan." Sun Jing became calmer as he spoke.

After hearing this, Gao Qiu nodded, suppressed his anger, and sent someone to invite the newly recruited [Poison Flame Ghost King] Kou Wei.

Speaking of Kou Wei, he was a strange man that Gao Qiu had recently recruited with a Soul-Calming Bell from Mount Longhu. He could spit fire from his mouth, and wherever his magic sword pointed, flames would rise into the sky.

After a while, Yu Hou Li Yan led a man in. The man had fluffy short hair, an iron hat on his head, a red Taoist robe, and a rough, dark and ugly appearance.

When he saw Gao Qiu, he bowed and said, "General, you called me here, but have you set a date for the duel?"

Gao Qiu said, "There's no rush for this. He's injured now, so I'm afraid he won't agree. Let's wait until he's recovered and then we can have another fight."

"I invited the Taoist priest to come here, but I want to ask him if he knows any Taoist magic that can drain all the blood from a person's body? Nowadays, most people who have Taoist magic are in Liangshan, but how can they do it?"

Kou Wei listened and said, "I have never seen it, but I have heard from fellow Taoists that there are many strange arts in southern Xinjiang, including blood curses, which can drain the blood from a person's body without damaging the flesh, and the body will turn as pale as paper after death."

Gao Qiu heard this and said quickly, "My son is like this. Taoist priest, do you know anyone who has this ability?"

Kou Wei said: "This kind of magic will definitely cause many problems if used. The spell will not be cast too far away. If we search for it, we may find some clues. If the person the general suspects is not here during this period, it may be this person who did it."

After hearing this, Gao Qiu said bitterly: "Three days have passed, there is no sign that cannot be erased. I will send someone to investigate right away."

Sun Jing said, "General, besides that, we should first bring the young master back and report to His Majesty. Although we are not sure, the only one who knows the Taoism is the one in Liangshan. The general wanted to challenge him to a fight anyway, so what's wrong with framing him?"

"The Taiwei's brother died at the hands of Zhao Ze. Now he is guarding the area for His Majesty, and Yanei is also being plotted against. The Taiwei lost his brother and son one after another, so His Majesty must make some response. If nothing else, just don't be biased towards Envoy Tong."

"Besides, His Majesty has been deploying troops these days and has long been wary of the man from Liangshan. The Grand Commandant is now challenging him to a duel. Although His Majesty has not said anything, he must be satisfied in his heart."

(End of this chapter)