On the other end …
In a village on the outskirts of Chang 'an City.
This was the best time for autumn planting, and a light rain was drizzling down. The air was still filled with the stench of burnt ash from last night's Chang 'an City.
But this place was extremely quiet, paying no attention to the earth that was thirstily sucking on the dew bestowed by the heavens.
In a rather magnificent house in the village …
A black-robed elder was seated with narrowed eyes.
Behind him, a large group of men in black anxiously stood, not saying or doing anything. They were all waiting for the black-robed elder's reply.
They continued to sit until the teapot on the tea stove in front of the black-robed elder began to boil.
Only then did the old man move slightly. He lowered his head, and the black cloak on his head slid down, revealing his white hair and a familiar face!
He was Hou Junji!
Hou Junji glanced at the teapot and then at the light rain outside, a hint of disappointment in his eyes. He slowly asked, "Has there been any news from Great General?"
"No …"
"Last night, none of the people we sent out found any clues. It's the Chen hour today, so the morning court should have already …"
"Forget it!"
Hou Junji somewhat dejectedly sighed.
He then began to tidy up the exquisite tea set on the table.
After drinking a pot of tea, Hou Junji indifferently said, "Quickly pass down the order. Everyone is dismissed!"
Everyone was alarmed by these words.
One of them even anxiously got down on his knees and said, "Milord, we haven't lost yet! As long as we have a year to prepare, Li Shimin will definitely go to Mount Xiao. Once the little ones open up a path to Mount Xiao, we'll still have a chance. Moreover, we still haven't used the layout we set up on Mount Xiao, so we're not sure … "
Hou Junji indifferently waved his hand. "The winner is king while the loser is a bandit. It was the Old Man who underestimated Zhang Feng, and it was the Old Man who underestimated him from the very start. Although this person seems to be in his late twenties and seems sloppy, he was the one who drugged the Old Man from the very start!"
Hou Junji instantly recalled the first time he had seen Zhang Feng in the separate estate, Zhang Feng's conflicted mood, and then how Zhang Feng had intentionally distanced himself from him.
He was confident that he had never offended Zhang Feng, nor had he interacted with Zhang Feng. But he couldn't understand why Zhang Feng was so conflicted.
At the time, he had believed that this was the arrogance of all youths.
Thus, Hou Junji had been trying to probe Zhang Feng this entire time.
Last night, he had never planned to do anything. He had been nurturing so many factions precisely so that he could help the Crown Prince ascend the throne. He had ambitions, but he also understood that there were some things that couldn't be achieved just because he wanted them.
Thus, from the very start, he had intentionally found some difficult problems for Zhang Feng. After all, he was the Crown Prince's esteemed teacher and the person the Crown Prince valued the most. If he didn't recruit this person, he would have truly miscalculated.
Moreover, this person had accomplished so many feats in less than half a year that he had completely upended the Tang Dynasty, particularly that mystical mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Although he didn't understand these things, he could vaguely sense that they were destined to be extraordinary.
Thus, Hou Junji wanted to test everything about Zhang Feng. In truth, he had prepared everything last night for Zhang Feng.
If, if this Wang Junke did not appear in the middle, then even though last night had failed, he and his plan would not have suffered any losses. That gold … …
And that underground palace had been a test for Zhang Feng. If Zhang Feng could see through everything last night and fight with him, then whether he won or lost, Hou Junji would have spared no expense to bring Zhang Feng to his side.
But at this moment, Wang Junke …
Hou Junji couldn't help but sigh. He had never imagined that this Li Chengqian, who he had always found to be a good puppet Crown Prince, would actually lose to him!
He couldn't understand how Zhang Feng had managed to wake Li Chengqian up in just one night.
But there was no point in thinking about this now.
Regardless of whether Wang Junke had sold him out or not, there was no other choice. He had lost!
He had completely lost.
Zhang Feng was certain to connect him to this matter.
This was fated.
Thus …
Regardless of whether Wang Junke had sold him out or not, today could be considered a failure, and the fact that there was no follow-up to the assassination meant that he was doomed to fail …
Hou Junji somewhat sighed as he stood up and turned to the people behind him. "The Old Man has issued one last order for yesterday's matter … Everyone must abide by it. Everything that happened before yesterday must be buried in your stomachs. Everyone must obediently live their lives. Once the Old Man is fine, the Old Man will ensure everyone's safety, and we might even have a chance to rise again.
"But remember, you must bury it in your stomachs!"
"Lord!"
All of them were choked with sobs.
These were all former subordinates of Hou Junji and had always been loyal to him. What did it mean to hear Hou Junji speak like this and have such an expression on his face?
It meant that they had failed!
Hou Junji turned around and coldly said, "Prepare a horse for the Old Man. The Old Man must return to Luozhou as quickly as possible. All of you must remember that without the Old Man's orders, all of you must obediently live your lives. Understood?"
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