Heirs of the Seven Swords of the Qin Dynasty

The advantage of such an arrangement is that the Zhu family's behavior is more reasonable and less likely to arouse suspicion from others.

The downside is that the subsequent operation of "Tian Yan" will become more difficult, and there will be no "opposition" within the farming family to cooperate with her, so she can only perform a solo show.

Given the current situation, it is difficult to say whether this operation will do more good than harm or more harm than good.

However, Zhu Jia and Liu Ji chose this option without hesitation.

Because no matter how big or small the pros and cons are, the pros are theirs and the cons are Tian Yan's.

Since you can't get yourself into trouble, there's no need to be polite.

So the two of them not only did it, but also did it without informing Tian Yan beforehand, and just acted first and then reported to him.

This is also the reason why A Yan called the Zhu family over at this moment - everything was fine, but Liu Ji suddenly betrayed her, and she was at a loss as to what to do.

The Zhu family was not worried that Tian Yan would turn against them, so they told them everything calmly.

In fact, this is true. Although Ah Yan was speechless about their decision to act without prior notice, he did not intend to care too much about it.

There is no perfect plan in the world. It is normal for mistakes to occur and for things to deviate from the original route.

Besides, this is not a big problem - at least there is no problem in the general direction, it's just that I have more troubles.

After all, she was trying to use the farmers as cannon fodder, so she accepted the trouble.

However, in order to prevent the plan from going further off track, she had to make things clear with the Zhu family now.

Zhu Jia nodded with a happy face, responded to Tian Yan's question, and then took the initiative to explain:
"Brother Liu Ji has decided to go to Mangdang Mountain and become a bandit. He will temporarily become a bandit king... Of course, he will not rob the people or harm the innocent."

A Yan nodded slightly to show that she understood, but she ignored the second half of the sentence.

People in the underworld generally have some morals. People like Liu Ji who are loyal have a higher bottom line, but generally speaking, there are still not many of them.

The idea that knights break the law through force is by no means a term used only by the Legalists to slander people who practice martial arts - they are not inherently bad, but they just have no boundaries.

Confucians... or people who are knowledgeable and intelligent always like to play with the rules, distort the rules, and exploit loopholes in the rules, while martial artists who love physics simply ignore the rules, or neglect the rules.

They might beat someone to death just for stealing - it's not that they don't know that stealing is not a capital crime, nor is it necessarily that they want to beat someone to death deliberately. It is likely that they just want to take revenge, and on a whim, they swing their fists at the thief, and the thief can't withstand it and dies!

Liu Ji might not really intend to rob ordinary people, but he might not let go of passing merchants, and he certainly would not let go of people from the imperial court.

Leaving the latter aside, the former are definitely innocent - the individuals among them may have different morals, but the group is definitely neither good nor evil.

But Liu Ji would most likely follow the traditional idea of ​​robbing the rich to help the poor and take ruthless action against the former - perhaps he would not kill the person directly, but looting all the property would be not much different from killing the person.

Of course, Ayan is not a saint and does not intend to meddle in other people’s business.

Life and death are determined by fate, and everyone will receive retribution. There are millions of innocent victims in the world, and a mere Liu Ji is not worth mentioning at all.

"Why did he choose to become a bandit in Mangdang Mountain?" A Yan asked curiously.

Her most important task was to find out whether the Zhu family and Liu Ji had any other plans.

Zhu Jiale replied cheerfully, "He said the location is more suitable."

"Going east is too close to Jiaodong County. He thinks it is an ominous place and it is best not to get close to it."

These were Liu Ji's original words, and the reason was the chaos that had occurred in Sanghai before.

Although things have calmed down now, it is hard to say whether that area will become the center of the storm again. He thinks it is better to stay away from it.

Zhu Jia continued, "If he goes west, he doesn't want to get too close to Guanzhong, fearing that he will be attacked by the imperial court."

Dongjun is actually some distance away from Guanzhong, but Ying Zheng is about to make his northern tour, and his route will pass through the west of Dongjun.

Liu Ji was worried that the imperial court would launch a special campaign to crack down on crime and evil in these areas and target him.

He had 'defected' from a farm with a few hundred people and became a bandit. It would not be difficult for the imperial court to wipe him out if they really wanted to.

"As for going north, he was even less willing to do so, so he could only go south, and so he chose the area around Mangdang Mountain."

No normal person would choose the North. Going there to be a bandit is just asking for trouble. It would be difficult to open a business in half a year.

Since going east, west, or north was not an option, Liu Ji could only go south.

However, there are also some things to pay attention to when going south.

Firstly, because he was a 'traitor' of the Nong family, Liu Ji certainly could not find a place too close to the Nong family's headquarters, Daze Mountain, otherwise it would be easy for people to notice that something was wrong.

Secondly, he couldn't run too far. After all, he didn't really betray the Nong family. The Zhu family might contact him again and need his help or take action.

So he chose Mangdang Mountain.

Mangdang Mountain is located between Mang County and Dang County, which is why it got its name.

The two counties of Mang and Dang belong to Dang County, which is adjacent to Dong County, and are located in the southeastern corner of Dang County, which is equivalent to being separated from Daze Mountain on the eastern border of Dong County by one county. The distance is just right, neither too far nor too near.

At the same time, Dang County was adjacent to Sacheon County in the east, and Liu Ji’s hometown, Pei County, was located in the northwest corner of Sacheon County, not far from Mangdang Mountain.

He has a few good friends in his hometown who might be able to help him.

"Hehe, the distance is right and it's close to his hometown." Zhu Jia finally helped Liu Ji summarize the reasons.

Ah Yan understood as soon as he heard it.

It seems to be fine and reasonable. As for whether there are other plans behind it, we can only figure it out later.

It is definitely unrealistic to expect the Zhu family to confess voluntarily.

"What does Master Zhu plan to do next?" A Yan continued to ask the Zhu family.

"After that?" Zhu Jia smiled while pinching his beard. "After that, we will naturally follow the plan of the hero, but we will have to perform a few more scenes."

According to the original plan, A Yan was going to have a conflict with the Zhu family, and the contradiction between the two would continue to intensify in the process, and finally evolve into the Zhu family being forced to "leave" the Nong family with Shennong Tang.

The show is still going to be performed this way, except that a few more scenes involving Liu Ji will be added to provide a reason for the conflict between the two to break out and intensify.

Ah Yan nodded, "So, what else?"

Zhu Jia smiled and shook his head. "Other than that, that's all. Of course, if you have any other plans, that's another matter."

Ah Yan nodded, indicating that he understood, and continued to ask, "What happens after that? When you, Master Zhu, leave the farmhouse, do you have any other plans?"

"After I leave, everything will be left to Xia Kui to take care of. I can't do anything." Zhu Jia shirked all the subsequent matters without hesitation. He and Liu Ji acted first and then reported to the government, just to completely distance themselves from the farmers, so why would they get involved again?
When he leaves the farm, everyone will just look after themselves.

He helped Chen Sheng in the rebellion, while how to protect the farmers was Tian Yan's job.

As for whether Tian Yan would fail, the Zhu family no longer cared - if he failed, it would simply drag the Nong family into the quagmire of confronting the empire head-on.

This is not a good thing, but it is inevitable that farmers will reach this point sooner or later.

This was not the best outcome for the Zhu family, but it was not the worst either - the Nong family was still in danger, but at least he had gotten rid of 'Tian Yan' and didn't have to worry about both ends.

Ah Yan lowered his eyes slightly, and after thinking for a moment, he raised his eyes and said to Zhu Jia, "I understand everything."

"I'm sorry to bother you, Hall Master Zhu, to make this trip today. I don't have anything else to ask you. You can do whatever you want from now on."

To translate, it means telling the Zhu family to get lost.

The Zhu family was overjoyed and immediately said goodbye and left.

After the Zhu family left, A Yan thought about it for a while and finally put the matter aside for the time being.

Judging from the current situation, the incident caused by Liu Ji was caused by the Zhu family in order to completely break away from the Nong family - it may be that the Zhu family felt that the future of the Nong family was not optimistic, and instead were more optimistic about following Chen Sheng in a rebellion.

It may also be that the Zhu family simply wanted to completely get rid of the control of A Yan, the chivalrous leader - once the Zhu family also separated from the farming family, he and Liu Ji would no longer have to obey A Yan's orders.

Even though Ayan was still their, or Chen Sheng's, biggest direct supporter of the rebellion, the relationship between the two sides was different.

Even if Liu Ji of the Zhu family still needs A Yan's help, the two sides are still partners, except that the latter takes the initiative, but the superior-subordinate relationship is completely gone.

It would no longer be possible for Ah Yan to directly order the two of them to do anything in the name of the Knight-Errant - although theoretically the Knight-Errant could not directly order the Six Hall Masters, but she, the Knight-Errant who held great power, was obviously different.

As long as the Zhu family is still in the farmhouse, he can't just say "no" to A Yan, otherwise A Yan will make things difficult for him, and even make everyone in Shennong Hall uncomfortable.

This freedom is undoubtedly important to the Zhu family.

Therefore, A Yan judged that they secretly adjusted the plan in order to make things more drastic.

If that's the case, then she doesn't need to care too much.

As long as they are willing to rebel and be the first to stand out, everything else will be easy.

………………

A few days later, A Yan welcomed a new uninvited guest.

Yanri, wearing the armor of the imperial guards and holding his sword, broke into the entrance of Lieshan Hall uninvited.

He must have done some reconnaissance in advance. There was no one else in Lieshan Hall except A Yan - this situation was very common. A Yan would often clear out the hall and occupy the entire hall alone, either to think alone or to rest alone.

Seeing the sudden sun blocking, Ah Yan was not surprised at all and asked calmly:

"Master Yanri is here to visit, but is it Master Zhao Gao's order?"

In the past, A Yan would have referred to Zhao Gao as the Minister of the Imperial Chariots, but now that he has lost his job as the Minister of the Imperial Chariots, he can just call him by his name.

Yanri replied in the same cold tone, "My Lord asked me to ask you, what is going on with the farmers now?"

"How could a mere Liu Ji alarm Lord Zhao Gao?" Ah Yan did not answer directly, but asked back with a sneer.

"Of course, the Lord doesn't care about a ranger ruffian, but he is very concerned about the situation of the farmers."

"The emperor may be very sensitive recently. It is best for farmers not to make any noise at this time and attract his attention."

"Hmph!" Ah Yan snorted, unable to tell whether he was happy or angry, and then replied, "I don't understand the emperor's thoughts. I am just following Lord Zhao Gao's instructions and clearing up the last discord within the Nong family."

"But the old fox of the Zhu family is not easy to fool. He is indeed very sensitive now. He arranged for Liu Ji to make this noise to force me to stop my current actions."

"You have already controlled the five halls of the Nong family. Is it necessary to go through so much trouble to deal with just the Zhu family?" Yanri asked impatiently.

"If Lord Zhao Gao doesn't mind a separatist war with the Nong family, I can handle the matter roughly. The Zhu family is definitely not my opponent."

"But... Lord Yanri, please tell me clearly whether Lord Zhao Gao has this intention."

The face behind the sun-covering mask darkened.

Of course, Zhao Gao would not allow Tian Yan to stir up a large-scale internal strife within the farming family.

Not to mention that we can't make a big noise at this stage, even if we can make a noise, we can't waste the farmers' manpower like this - since it wasn't theirs before, of course they could do whatever they wanted to harm it, but now it's theirs, they have to cherish it.

"Wouldn't it be better to just get rid of one person from the Zhu family?" Yanri asked impatiently.

"No." Ah Yan retorted without thinking, "That will cause a riot in Shennong Hall!"

"What a joke!" Yanri refused to accept this. "Didn't you swallow up the Gonggong Hall and Kuiwei Hall after they lost their hall masters? Why would Shennong Hall riot?"

"The previous head of Gonggong Hall, Tian Zhong, never won the support of the people. The management of Kuiwei Hall, Tian Mi, was even more messed up. Chen Sheng had just taken over and had no time to rectify the situation. I had just made great contributions to the Nong family, so naturally I could take advantage of the vacancy of the head position and swoop in."

"But Shennong Hall has been run by the Zhu family for many years, and his prestige in the hall is unmatched. If he were to be assassinated suddenly, the blame would definitely be put on me, and the disciples of Shennong Hall would definitely riot!"

A Yan quickly explained that she couldn't let Yanri do anything wrong at this time.

Even putting aside the rebellion plan, she couldn't let the Zhu family die.

There are all kinds of rumors about her within the farming family now. After all, after she became the leader of the knights, although her achievements were outstanding, she was also outstanding in breaking the conventions.

The successive incidents involving Tian Mi, Tian Zhong and Chen Sheng made people even more suspicious.

Although everyone has their own reasons and explanations, as the biggest beneficiary, everyone would have some imagination.

Therefore, it is difficult to say how solid Ayan's control over the farmers is.

This was mainly due to the fact that most of the previous top leaders of the farming family had died, with only Tian Hu and Situ Wanli remaining, who were still loyal to her for their own reasons.

But it's all fragile.

If something happened to the Zhu family at this time, the doubts within the Nong family would instantly reach a peak, Shennong Hall would likely be completely out of control, and it was hard to say whether Tian Hu and Situ Wanli would not take this opportunity to have some ulterior motives.

She was confident that she could quell these unrests, but it was hard to say how much manpower the farmers would lose and how much time would be wasted during this period.

Yanri understood Ah Yan's concerns, but he sneered and replied, "It's been such a long time and you still haven't controlled the people under your command... Humph!"

Ah Yan replied indifferently, "Whether I can discipline my subordinates is my business, but I believe that Lord Zhao Gao's subordinates should be very loyal, so... Lord Yanri had better not interfere in the affairs of the Nong family." (End of this chapter)