The prince is more stable

Chapter 281: Peeling off the cocoon
Zhao Xiaoqian felt very depressed as he watched this commander, whose name remained unknown until his death, die resolutely in front of him.

Such a brave man should die on the battlefield fighting against foreign enemies.

The internal fighting among Chinese people is always among the experts among the experts, because everyone has a very clear understanding of the "pros and cons".

Expanding territory is risky, but internal fighting is risk-free, right?

Zhao Xiaoqian suddenly felt a deep disgust towards the court.

He didn't know who was trying to kill him, nor did he know whose way he was blocking or whose interests he had touched.

But this life-and-death internal struggle is openly displayed.

There were so many talented people in the Song Dynasty who should have become famous and served the country, but died in this meaningless internal strife.

Is this interesting?

Maybe it's interesting. From the perspective of personal interests, perhaps Zhao Xiaoqian really touched the interests of some people, and touched them very seriously, otherwise others would not want to kill him again and again.

But Zhao Xiaoqian really didn't think about seeking any personal gain for himself. The only thing he wanted to do was to stop history from happening and change the future destiny of himself and his family.

That’s all, but others just don’t believe it. They always feel that the dead Zhao Xiaoqian is in his best interest.

The commander fell in front of him, the blood on his neck had slowed down a lot, the ground was a glaring red, and the blood had slowly flowed to the soles of Zhao Xiaoqian's shoes.

Zhao Xiaoqian's expression was calm, neither sad nor happy.

He didn't feel any emotion for a stranger who wanted to kill him, he just felt a little sorry.

The remaining dozen or so enemies were surrounded by the soldiers of the Dragon Guard Camp with wooden expressions. Zhao Xiaoqian looked into their eyes.

As expected, just like the five thieves captured in the canyon last time, their eyes were numb, empty, and lifeless, like a group of zombies whose minds were controlled.

There is probably nothing valuable to be gained from them.

"My Lord, what should we do with these dozen survivors?" Wei Jie came up and asked.

Zhao Xiaoqian was somewhat disinterested and waved his hand lazily: "The Imperial City Division should follow the procedure, take him back to Bianjing, and imprison him in Bingjingwu, and let Liu Dan try his hand at it."

Wei Jie sighed, "Old Liu is going crazy again..."

Zhao Xiaoqian turned around and looked around at the battlefield which was still filled with the smell of gunpowder. The battlefield was littered with corpses, both enemy and Imperial City Administration corpses.

The shrill cries of crows could be heard from the distant mountains. The jungle was dead silent, and the lingering murderous aura still made the animals in the forest silent.

"Send someone from the Imperial City Office to investigate Xiangzhou City to see if there are any clues. The rest of you, follow me back to Bianliang." After Zhao Xiaoqian gave the order, he mounted his horse.

Suddenly, Zhao Xiaoqian pulled the reins, staring at the commander who had committed suicide on the ground. He said, "Give this man a proper burial. Even if he's an enemy, he deserves respect."

"He's a man, what a pity..."

…………

Clean up the aftermath, close the mountains and search the city.

As a spy agency, even if it is unlikely to discover any new clues, the necessary procedures must be followed.

The Imperial City Administration stayed in Xiangzhou City for several days. Zhao Xiaoqian left a group of people to continue the investigation, while he led the remaining Imperial City Administration and Dragon Guard Battalion soldiers back to Bianliang.

This time, more than a thousand enemies were wiped out, which was a considerable gain, but there was still no clue about the person behind the scenes. That person was very cautious and would always protect himself first and would never reveal any clues. For this, Zhao Xiaoqian couldn't help but want to write a "surrender" to him.

If you have this ability, you can be a general on the front lines. With such strategy, is it difficult to win a few battles? Is it difficult to achieve wealth and glory? Do you have to fight among yourself to be happy?
Being so determined to kill him again and again, Zhao Xiaoqian really suspected that this might have nothing to do with interests. Could it be that before he traveled through time, his predecessor had dug up his family's ancestral graves?

Otherwise, how could there be such a huge hatred? If we march quickly from Xiangzhou back to Bianjing, we can usually reach there in two days.

But Zhao Xiaoqian was not in a hurry. He sent out batches of scouts on the road to prevent the mastermind behind the scenes from giving him a sudden and fatal blow on his way back.

When setting up camp on the road, Zhao Xiaoqian also had a conversation with Wei Jie.

If the assassination attempt by the sharp arrow in the dark alley is counted, Zhao Xiaoqian was assassinated three times in total.

Even though there are no clues, some common points can be summarized.

First of all, the mastermind behind the scenes is extremely cautious. Regardless of success or failure, he will never leave any traces or clues. Anyone who participates in the assassination or has any connection with him will be silenced by him.

This means that this person must be an acquaintance, or at least someone Zhao Xiaoqian knows, otherwise he would not have spent so much effort on hiding his tracks.

Secondly, this person has a lot of assassins at his disposal. They cannot be said to be loyal, but he must have used some means to control them, so that they would rather die than reveal any information.

This means that this person must be powerful. It is impossible for a person without power to support so many assassins.

Third, each of the three assassination attempts Zhao Xiaoqian encountered was carefully planned. The timing, location, and even the psychological calculations were all just right. Zhao Xiaoqian was almost killed in the first two attempts.

Such sophisticated planning and calculation is difficult to accomplish with one person's talent.

This means that this person definitely did not make the decision alone. He must have a group of talented military advisors under his command, and the three assassinations were the result of joint planning by everyone.

Fourthly, Zhao Xiaoqian's travel routes and times were all known in advance, so this person had enough time to calmly plan an ambush.

This means that this person not only has military advisors and assassins, but also has his own intelligence system. It is possible that this intelligence system has infiltrated the court and the army, and even... he may have spies in the Imperial City.

After analyzing the situation with Wei Jie, Zhao Xiaoqian discovered that this enemy he had never met seemed very powerful.

What puzzled him even more was that this man was so powerful. How had he violated his interests that he had to kill him?

With this man's ability and power, he could easily get everything Zhao Xiaoqian has now. Why does he have to hold on to him?
In the dimly lit general's tent, Zhao Xiaoqian and Wei Jie analyzed for a long time and narrowed the scope of suspects, but some questions remained unexplained.

"This humble official believes that this person must be a powerful figure in Bianjing City. If he is a court official, he must be at least a senior official of the third rank or above. In this case, the scope of the Imperial City Bureau's subsequent investigation will be much smaller..."

Zhao Xiaoqian's thoughts drifted in another direction, and he stroked his smooth chin and pondered.

"I think we're heading in the wrong direction..."

Wei Jie was surprised: "Oh? I would like to hear your opinion."

Zhao Xiaoqian frowned. "I always feel that he wants to kill me. It has nothing to do with profit... With his ability, he should be able to easily obtain what I want, whether it's official title or money. Why does he have to kill me?"

"You know, his power has been exposed right under the noses of the government. This is a major taboo for the government. Once caught, it will definitely be a heinous crime that will lead to the extermination of all nine generations of his family. Taking such a huge risk to kill me, if it is for profit, it is simply not worth it."

Wei Jie was stunned. After thinking about it carefully, it seemed to make sense. If it was purely for profit, it would not be worth it.

Zhao Xiaoqian frowned and pondered, "If the situation changes and there's no interest involved, what reason would he have to kill me?"

After a long while, Zhao Xiaoqian suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "Fuck, I got it!"

Wei Jie's spirits perked up, and he asked excitedly, "What do you think, Lord?"

Zhao Xiaoqian suddenly gritted his teeth, revealing a look of resentment: "It must be my useless father. He fathered an illegitimate child many years ago. Now that he's grown up, he wants to kill me just to be seen in public. If I die, he will be the only heir to the palace!"

Wei Jie was stunned.

"Doesn't that make sense?" Zhao Xiaoqian asked. "Look, this isn't about profit, is it? What he wants is a legitimate identity and recognition of his origins from my father, right?"

(End of this chapter)