Chapter 101: Fighting for the Head of the Family (III)

The next morning, someone came to report to Zhang Ruofeng about the matter in the clan, but suddenly found that Zhang Ruofeng and his wife had committed suicide by hanging themselves. This incident immediately shocked the Zhang family. Zhang Ruofeng had been in charge of the clan power for more than ten years and was the acting head of the family. When he died, the Zhang family seemed to have collapsed half of the sky, and the elders of the clan immediately reported to Taiyuan Yin.

Then, the Taiyuan Yin Han Yannian and the Jinyang County Magistrate led the yamen runners and coroners to the Zhang Mansion to inspect the situation. They quickly concluded that Zhang Ruofeng and his wife did commit suicide, and there was no sign of homicide. However, a letter found in his room caused Han Yannian to immediately order the government to withdraw from the case. At the same time, the elders of the Zhang Mansion Hall also strictly prohibited the people in the mansion from talking about this matter, attempting to reduce the incident of Zhang Ruofeng's suicide as much as possible.

But the more things were covered up, the more the rumors spread in private, and gradually, all the focus was on the letter, which was very likely to be the reason for Zhang Ruofeng's suicide. What exactly was in the letter?

At noon, another shocking incident happened suddenly. The dead Zhang Ruojin reappeared. He was not dead, but was slightly injured. As soon as he arrived at the Zhang Mansion, he immediately took over the power of the mansion and issued instructions, ordering nearly 100 Zhang family members who were officials in various counties in Hedong to rush back to the Taiyuan Sect.

One after another, the Zhang Mansion was filled with the silence and dullness of the storm coming, and it was so nervous that it was breathless.

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Three days later, a carriage appeared from afar under the escort of hundreds of soldiers on the official road thirty miles southwest of Taiyuan City.

They were Zhang Ruohao and his party who came day and night. Although they could not ask any valuable information from the woman, their appearance meant that Cui Yuan had taken action.

Taiyuan City is no longer calm at this moment. The closer it is to Taiyuan, the slower the team will be, and finally stopped.

Zhang Huan urged the horse to Zhang Ruohao's carriage and said, "Master, why not go to the military camp first, learn about the situation before entering the city."

Zhang Ruohao shook his head, "I don't want to pull the army in unless it is absolutely necessary to do so, so as not to make a statement."

He pointed to a manor in the distance and said, "It is the manor of former Prime Minister Miao Jinqing, and we can go there for a day to rest."

Miao Jinqing had passed away five years ago. The manor was managed by his second son. After the name was announced, Miao Erlang enthusiastically welcomed Mr. Zhang into the manor.

The hundreds of hectares of land around the manor are all the property of the Miao family. The entire manor is high in the west and low in the east. There is a dense forest on the east side of the wall. There is also a high hill to the west. The part surrounded by the wall is about hundreds of acres. It covers an active and large area, with many houses, many slaves and peddlers living in it, and more than a dozen huge warehouses. More than 300 people are not crowded at all.

In the room, Miao Erlang was telling Zhang Ruohao about the situation that happened to the Zhang family in the past two days. Although he didn't know the details, Zhang Ruofeng committed suicide and Zhang Ruojin was resurrected. These major events that happened to the Zhang family had already spread throughout Taiyuan City.

"I only heard that Uncle Zhang's suicide was related to a letter, but no one knew what the letter was about."

"Did you say Zhang Ruojin appeared at noon?" Zhang Huan, who was standing beside him, suddenly asked.

Miao Erlang spread his hands and smiled helplessly: "What I said is the news that has been circulated in Taiyuan City. There are 1,000 such things, and there are 1,000 statements, but they cannot be true."

Zhang Huan nodded gently, "Thank you, I will send someone to verify."

The room was very quiet. Miao Erlang had already left and Zhang Ruohao was extremely tired and went to bed first.

Zhang Huan paced back and forth in the room, thinking about the whole story. If Cui Yuanzhen had started with the 400,000 guan, Zhang Ruofeng shouldn't have committed suicide. He knew very well about the 400,000 guan. There was no other evidence except the approval form.

If Zhang Ruofeng destroyed the approval order, there would be no evidence that he had approved it. Besides, the head of the family did not investigate the matter, so what's the need for him to commit suicide?

However, there is another possibility, that is, the money given to the Wang family is far more than 400,000 yuan. The money I used to leave was handled, and this handle was most likely in Wang Yanluo's hands. But even if Wang Yanluo used the handle of the previous one to threaten Zhang Ruofeng and Zhang Ruofeng committed suicide in guilt, why does Aunt Zhang commit suicide? She is a very cheerful and enthusiastic person. She has a daughter, so how could she commit suicide with her husband? Let's take a step back. Even if she can't think about it and commit suicide, she should help her husband clear her grievances and die before she dies.

Thinking of this, Zhang Huan smiled coldly. He had already dared to assert that Zhang Ruofeng must have been killed, and Aunt Zhang San knew something and was silenced together.

The problem now is the letter that emerges. If you know the content, you will know Cui Yuan’s chess. Zhang Huan thought about it and wrote a letter, took out another 100 taels of gold, and handed it to a personal soldier, saying, "You go to the city overnight and find a way to see Zhang Can in the Zhang Mansion. Leave this letter to his own hands. Remember that there is a huge mole on Zhang Can’s seal hall."

The personal soldiers took the order and after lunch, Zhang Huan lay down to rest. After rushing for a day, he was really tired and soon fell asleep with his clothes.

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I don’t know how long it took, a slight quarrel woke him up. It was already dark outside, the lights were weak, and it was making a sudden sound. Zhang Huan listened carefully. The voices of personal soldiers came from outside the door, "The general is already asleep, let’s talk about it tomorrow!"

"But the general asked me to come back and report immediately." This seemed to be the personal soldier who went to Taiyuan.

‘Here I’m back so soon,’ Zhang Huan immediately got up and opened the door. It was indeed the personal soldier standing outside the door. He smiled and said, “Let him come in!”

The personal soldiers walked into the house and saluted Zhang Huan, "Fortunately, my subordinates have fulfilled their orders and have handed the letter to Zhang Can."

"Thanks a lot!"

Zhang Huan lit the lamp again and smiled, "Isn't it given to the wrong person?"

The personal soldier took out a small silver medal from his arms and gave it to Zhang Huan, saying, "This is the silver medal that his subordinates asked him for. It is indeed him. Please don't worry."

Zhang Huan took the silver medal and looked at it. The words "Zhang Can" were engraved on it. He couldn't help but ask curiously: "How do you know he has a brand?"

"Report to the general, my subordinates have already greeted him in advance."

Zhang Huan nodded in praise, "I did a good job, bold and meticulous. I would like to reward you with the remaining gold, go!"

"Thank you, General!" The personal soldiers hesitated for a moment and said, "I have something to report to you."

"explain!"

"I saw many carriages in front of the Zhang Mansion. They just arrived today. If I had some coachmen, they were all from the Zhang family officials and came from all over the place."

Zhang Huan pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "I understand, go down and have a good rest!"

The personal soldier bowed and retreated. Zhang Huan looked at the personal soldier named Chen Ping and couldn't help but think inwardly, "This person is as meticulous as a hair, but it can be of great use."

As soon as the personal soldiers left, Li Psyche, the personal soldiers, rushed over. He saluted and whispered: "General, it seems that something is happening!"

"What's going on?"

"The brothers who were inspecting just now found that there were birds flying in the woods on the east side of the manor."

"The birds flew in shock?" Zhang Huan smiled coldly, and he was about to fight each other so quickly.

"Order brothers to be prepared immediately!" Zhang Huan ordered and walked towards the head of the family's room. Unexpectedly, he had just walked a few steps and suddenly thought of something. He couldn't help but stop. Since Cui Yuan sent all the martial arts people with great skills and good at doing secret things, how could he alarm Sudeng? There must be other articles here.

He grabbed the knife and said, "Let's go! Look."

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The place where the situation was discovered was in the woods on the east side. The terrain was low and the walls were easy to climb. Zhang Huan climbed the high whistle tower, and a personal soldier pointed to the front and whispered: "Another of the birds caught fire just now, I guess two groups of people came."

Zhang Huan looked in his fingers and saw a shallow stream outside the wall. After passing the stream water, a large black pine forest stretched for three miles. It was pitch black at night and could not see the situation in the pine forest.

Zhang Huan pondered for a moment. The Tianqi Camp was the elite of 30,000 Hedong Army, and his 300 personal guards were the elite of the Tianqi Camp. They could all block ten. Cui Yuan could not know that there were only hundreds of people in the pine forest. If they launched a frontal attack, they might not be able to avoid the rain of arrows. However, if the other party launched a gamble, they would probably suffer from the enemy's attacks on the other side and engage in close combat.

"General, look!" A personal soldier suddenly discovered the situation.

Zhang Huan looked at it intently and saw some black shadows shaking on the edge of the pine forest. Zhang Huan smiled coldly. The other party must have seen someone on the guard post before deliberately showing up.

"You think you are smart, and you will be able to show off your strength in one go." He murmured in a low voice.

After the Anshi Rebellion, most of the manors of the wealthy families of the Tang Dynasty were rebuilt, and they were often built according to the terrain. They were easy to defend but difficult to attack, just like small castles. The same was true for the Miao family. They were built on a high ground, backed by a hill, and the east was the main gate. The terrain was low and there was a large forest. There was a flat river on both sides of the north and south, and there was nowhere to hide.

Zhang Huan's eyes fell on the hills to the west. If the people in the woods to the east were void soldiers, the real killer would inevitably be ambushed on the hills. This is an opportunity. If they can take advantage of the situation to wipe them out, things will be much smoother in the future.

At this time, Miao Erlang also climbed the post, "General Zhang, they told me what happened to you here?"

Zhang Huan glanced at him and said, "Someone wants to be unfavorable to the head of the family."

Miao Erlang's face turned pale. The servants in the manor just escorted money and grain into the city this morning. What should I do? When he changed his mind, he suddenly thought of Zhang Huan's three hundred cavalry again, and then he felt relieved.

"What does the general need me to do?"

Zhang Huan thought about it and asked, "How many people are available in the village?"

"There are still hundreds of slaves." Miao Erlang hesitated and added: "But they are all farmers, so they may not be of great use."

"You might as well! You pick two hundred young and strong people and tell them that there are thieves who want to steal food. If they can fight for the thieves, give them freedom."

Speaking of this, Zhang Huan smiled apologetically again, "The President of the Miao family will compensate for the losses in the future."

Miao Erlang nodded and agreed, then climbed down from the post. Zhang Huan suddenly called him again, "Is there a hidden place in the manor?"

"Yes! There is a basement that my father built during the Anshi Rebellion to take refuge. It was very hidden, only my family and I knew about it."

Zhang Huan nodded, "There may be danger later, and you and the head of the family will hide in."

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To be continued...