"Where is Governor Zhang? Bring him to me. I have something to ask him."
Wang Chong said.
Everything that had happened in the southwest could be traced back to the battle of Dao Sword Pavilion, where Zhang Wentuo had raped and murdered Gelofeng's wife and daughter.
Right now, the entire Tang dynasty was under the impression that Zhang Wentuo had died in the battle with Gelofeng in Sword Pavilion. Shielding and detaining an important official of the royal court was a heavy crime, and this was also the reason why Wang Chong was unwilling to let others know.
Even his own father, Wang Chong didn't want to let him know. Given his father's personality, there was a high chance that he would report this matter to the royal court.
Given the 'crimes' that Gelofeng had committed, if the royal court were to learn that he was still alive, he would surely be executed.
Thus, no one could know that Zhang Wentuo was still alive.
"Gongzi, thank you for saving my life, but there is no longer a Zhang Wentuo, only a faceless man who has no face to see the world."
Suddenly, a deep voice came from the cellar. In the light of the fire, a tall figure slowly approached. Even Wang Chong was given a fright upon seeing that person's face.
"Governor Zhang! What are you doing? "
Wang Chong stared at the figure before him. Where the face should have been, it had been replaced by a bizarre black mask. The black mask had no eyebrows or beard, as if it had been branded onto the flesh of the person's face.
If not for the fact that Wang Chong had met Zhang Qiantuo in the capital and recognized his voice, it would have been hard for him to believe that the black-masked man before him was the earnest and upright Jiannan Governor, Zhang Qiantuo.
"Gongzi Wang, this is my own choice, so please do not interfere. If I, Zhang Wentuo, don't find out who killed my wife and daughter, don't find out the background of those black-clothed men, don't find out the true identity of those bastards who accused me of being disloyal, unfilial, heartless, and unjust, I will never remove this mask from my face.
"Zhang Wentuo has no face to face the world, no face to face his wife and daughter in death. Gongzi, please don't call me Zhang Wentuo anymore. Zhang Qiantuo has already died in battle in Jiannan, and the only thing gongzi sees now is a faceless man who has given up all hope. I only have one goal in life, and that is to kill those bastards and uncover the truth behind Jiannan. Before that, I will never fall, never! "
The faceless man fiercely clenched his fists, which made a series of cracking sounds. His whole body trembled, and his eyes were bloodshot. The kind of anger and hatred that seemed to never be extinguished was enough to frighten anyone.
"My Lord!!"
Suddenly, Wang Chong and Lone Wolf exclaimed at the same time. They saw two streams of tears flow down from Faceless's black iron mask. However, the tears were extremely red. They were actually blood!
"Bin 'er, Tong' er, Madam, wait for me. I will definitely avenge you! Definitely!! "
The faceless man almost roared out the last sentence.
At that moment, Wang Chong and Lone Wolf were deeply moved when they saw the faceless man weeping blood.
A man does not shed tears easily, but only when he is deeply hurt. This was the first time Wang Chong had seen a man sobbing. No one could have imagined that the upright and courageous Jiannan Commandery Chief of the capital would turn into this blood-weeping faceless man.
Even after many years had passed, this sight still left a deep impression on Wang Chong.
"Mister, rest assured! This matter isn't just mister's matter, it's also a matter of the entire Tang dynasty. As long as Wang Chong still has a single breath left in him, I will definitely help mister uncover the truth! "
Wang Chong said solemnly.
Zhang Wentuo was a loyal and upright official of the Tang dynasty. If not for Lone Wolf saving him in time, he would have already committed suicide by now. As a loyal official of the Tang dynasty, he had guarded the borders for the Tang dynasty for decades. Such a person should not end up alone, with his entire family wiped out, carrying infamy, and feeling ashamed to face the world.
Even if he had never met him before, Wang Chong would never allow such a thing to happen to any member of the Tang dynasty, let alone a loyal and courageous official of the Tang dynasty!
"Young Master, words cannot express my gratitude. If I can avenge my wife and wash away the infamy, I am willing to do anything for you, even if I have to work like an ox or a horse! "
The former Prefect of Jiannan, Zhang Wentuo, or rather, Faceless Man, clenched his fists and said.
Wang Chong was the son of a noble, born in a family of ministers and generals, and also the son of a virtuous minister of the Tang dynasty, Duke Jiu. Now that he had made great contributions in the southwest, if there was anyone in the world who could help him wash away the infamy of the world, it would be Wang Chong.
"There's no need for that."
Wang Chong shook his head. If it was just about serving as an emissary, he already had plenty of subordinates under him. Not to mention, he had the growing Kunwu Training Camp and the Deflecting Blade Manor at his disposal.
In this war of the southwest, the people of the Deflecting Blade Manor would be able to play their role and assist him. Their future growth would surely be even more limitless.
"The reason why Wang Chong came here to look for Mister is also because of the matter regarding Jiannan. Mister, as long as you continue to investigate those people and uncover the truth about Jiannan, you will be doing Wang Chong a great favor. "
Wang Chong said.
Faceless Man's eyelids twitched, unable to understand what Wang Chong meant.
"Hehe, I won't hide it from Mister. I have something that I need to investigate as well. And I suspect that it has something to do with the people who are pursuing you. "
Wang Chong chuckled. Without beating around the bush, he took out the pitch-black and incomparably deep broken arrow from his bosom.
"This is?"
In an instant, Solitary Wolf and Faceless Man turned their gazes over. The broken arrow Wang Chong had taken out was forged with an extremely bizarre craftsmanship. It seemed to far surpass the current standard of arrow forging, and for some reason, the arrowhead was missing as well.
However, the duo knew that Wang Chong had his reasons for doing so.
Without hiding anything, Wang Chong told them about how he had been ambushed by a mysterious black arrow after the war of the southwest, and how he had managed to dodge it with his keen intuition, only for the black arrow to accidentally kill Luoji.
"Gongzi!!!"
Solitary Wolf was shocked. The Eagle had never mentioned this matter to him, so this was the first time he was hearing about it. Even Faceless, who was next to him, was shocked.
"Gongzi means that this matter wasn't done by Mengshe Zhao or Ouzan, but by the same group of people?"
Faceless Man asked doubtfully.
"I can't be certain. It's all just a guess. "
Wang Chong slowly said, his eyes bursting with a blazing light.
"But there's one thing I can be sure of. In that state, whether it was Gelofeng, Duan Gequan, Dalun Ruozan, or Huoshu Huizang, none of them would have been in the mood to do something like an ambush. And such a thing wouldn't have happened. More importantly, this matter was definitely not done by them! "
As Wang Chong spoke, he suddenly twisted the other side of the broken arrow, revealing something that Solitary Wolf and Faceless Man had not noticed.
"Chinese characters!!"
"No, it's the Bird Seal Script of the Qin and Han!"
Seeing the symbols on the broken arrow, Solitary Wolf and Faceless Man were both alarmed. Near the feathers of the arrow, several characters were inscribed. These characters were definitely not Mengshe Zhao's or Ouzan's.
They were the characters of the Central Plains!
Faceless Man could even tell at a glance that it was from the early Qin and Han Dynasties, when only a small number of people used the cloud-patterned bird seal script. This type of script was very ancient. Legend had it that it originated in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods. By the time of the Qin and Han Dynasties, because of the complexity and difficulty of writing, it was gradually abandoned and replaced by the more square early ancient seal script and small seal script.
But no matter which seal script it was, it was not the script used by the current Tang dynasty.
It was at this moment that the two of them suddenly understood why Wang Chong said that the people who ambushed and assassinated him were not Mengshe Zhao's or Ouzan's people.
For a moment, there was dead silence in the cellar.
Be it Lone Wolf or Faceless, neither of them spoke. The broken arrow was still the same broken arrow, dark and deep, but in the eyes of the two of them, they only felt that it was mysterious and had a fatal killing intent. It was completely different from before.
"But, why?"
Faceless Man finally raised his head and looked at Wang Chong said.
There were too many mysteries in this.
Could the people who were pursuing him and those who were pursuing Wang Chong be the same people? If not, why were they targeting Wang Chong?
He was just a seventeen-year-old boy.
And why was it him? There had to be a reason for killing. Faceless Man was one thing. After all, he was once the Jiannan Prefecture Chief and had an illustrious status. But Wang Chong was originally just a hedonistic son of a wealthy family in the capital.
Although he came from a family of ministers and generals, he did not have an official position or a noble title. In the capital, there were countless children of nobility like him.
Moreover, if it was just targeting the Wang Clan, why not Wang Fu, or even Wang Yan?
These two were also children of the Wang Clan, and their status was even higher than Wang Chong's!
Isn't this too sudden?
"I'm not sure about this either."
Wang Chong shook his head, his eyes gradually turning deep under the light.
"But one thing is certain. This matter is very likely related to the war in the southwest. And I have a feeling that the people who pursued you and those who ambushed me are the same people. This is the only way to explain why the two of us were ambushed at the same time.
"I don't think the war in the southwest is that simple. There seems to be another power hidden in the shadows, controlling everything from the shadows."
Wang Chong said.
Gelofeng truly did have ambitions for the Tang dynasty, but this ambition was not so great that he would immediately act against the Tang dynasty. Gelofeng had not been prepared. Otherwise, he would not have gone to seek help from Ouzan.
And he would not have volunteered to fight the Annam Protectorate on the Erhai plains in order to obtain Ouzan's alliance.
It was precisely because his wife and daughter had died in the Tang dynasty, "raped and murdered" by Zhang Wentuo, that Gelofeng's wrath had been ignited, leading to the war in the southwest. And according to Lone Wolf, when he had entered Zhang Wentuo's residence, he had indeed discovered the corpses of Gelofeng's wife and daughter.
From this, it could be seen that although Gelofeng was ambitious, in the Jiange incident, he had been open and aboveboard. He had not used any underhanded methods.
"But if that's the case, just who could it be? What good would this do them? And who could have so much power? "
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
