Chapter 25

"Take them away and interrogate them thoroughly. I want to know who sent them," Zhang Hao said sternly, his voice slightly trembling, but the high pitch masked it from others. At this moment, Zhang Hao was filled with lingering fear, his heart pounding like a drum.

This time, his escape was purely by luck. If the assassin had been more composed and waited until Zhang Hao was helping him, Zhang Hao would have been dead. Thinking about how close he came to losing his life, and how all his dreams and ambitions would have been snatched away, Zhang Hao's anger flared up.

"Investigate how these people managed to infiltrate. Also, find out what's going on with this old man. We need to get to the bottom of this."

Zhang Hao noticed the old man kneeling on the ground, still unperturbed, and immediately sensed something was amiss. He also realized that he might have been too careless. Recently, due to the numerous and complex tasks, he had been accepting all refugees without much scrutiny, which could have allowed some people with ulterior motives to slip in.

Previously, he only investigated the backgrounds of the guard members, but not the other refugees in such detail. Continuously accepting refugees made it too difficult and cumbersome to gather detailed background information. Moreover, in this era, there were no household registration or identity documents, making it very inconvenient to verify backgrounds.

But regardless, after this incident, Zhang Hao felt he had to take this issue seriously.

After all, this place was his base, and these refugees were his first subjects. If something went wrong here, the consequences would be severe.

"I apologize for the disturbance. I am truly sorry," Zhang Hao, now calmer, noticed the anger and worry on the faces of the surrounding civilians and immediately guessed that the assassination attempt had made the recently settled refugees uneasy, especially since the assassins had used the refugees' name.

No matter how things were arranged afterward, he couldn't let this shake the foundation. Zhang Hao turned these thoughts over in his mind and, with a calm smile, reassured them:

"Don't worry, everyone. The schemes of these ambitious scoundrels will not succeed. No matter what their motives were for the assassination, they cannot stop us from striving for a better life. I will continue to take care of all of you, because I know that such people as these assassins are only a tiny minority."

Hearing Zhang Hao's words, the surrounding civilians relaxed a lot. After all, Zhang Hao still had a good reputation among them.

"Thank you for your leniency, young master."

"These heartless and ungrateful scoundrels should be chopped up and fed to the dogs. How dare they try to assassinate such a good person as you."

"Rest assured, young master. After we return, we will gather our neighbors and strictly investigate everyone's background to prevent such incidents from happening again."

"Young master, you are a star descended from the heavens, naturally protected by the gods."

The crowd chattered, and some people even knelt down, their faces full of reverence as they bowed to Zhang Hao. The appearance of the spatial gate had truly shocked them. So much had happened in such a short time, and when someone suggested that Zhang Hao was a star descended from the heavens, everyone reacted and fell to their knees.

Not just the civilians, even the guards and servants who were not as familiar with Zhang Hao knelt down, thinking of the divine miracle they had just witnessed.

With his heart finally settling, Zhang Hao did not want to linger. After calming everyone down, he hurried back to the estate.

He imagined that the rumors of Zhang Hao's mysterious abilities and divine protection, along with today's assassination attempt, would spread throughout the area.

In a short time, Zhang Hao broke out in a cold sweat. He went back, took a bath, and changed his clothes. Xiao Zhu and Xiao Cha, who had clearly heard about what happened, both had pale faces and carefully examined Zhang Hao for injuries. Finding no wounds, they sighed in relief and began to denounce the assassins.

Listening to the two girls' concern and their clear voices, Zhang Hao's tense nerves gradually relaxed.

At this moment, he also pondered who had sent the assassins. The first person he thought of was Yuan Shu, who was a strong suspect. Despite the official efforts, it was possible that he had taken a dual approach.

However, Zhang Hao could not be certain. Besides Yuan Shu, there were other suspects. Those who had initially seen Zhang Hao's wealth, as well as some of his current business partners, were also possible.

But no matter who it was, Zhang Hao had to be more vigilant in the future. After all, he only had one life, and he could not afford to be careless.

After changing his clothes, a servant reported that Huang Zhong and others had returned. Even Tian Feng and Xi Zhicai, who had been diligently reading the books Zhang Hao brought from the modern era, hurried over.

As Zhang Hao entered the hall, Huang Zhong and others stopped their discussion. Dian Wei immediately knelt down:

"My lord, this is all my fault. I failed to arrange the guards properly and did not detect the danger in time."

"That's enough, E Lai. Don't take the blame on yourself. The guards were negligent, but I was also negligent," Zhang Hao helped Dian Wei up.

"Regardless, the guards were negligent this time. They must be punished to set an example. Similarly, the managers responsible for the refugee resettlement also bear responsibility. Even if we cannot verify the identities of the refugees, there should be some supervision in each residential area to prevent such incidents."

"The identity of the old man has been investigated. He is a recent refugee from Xu Province, and he has a son who works at the shipyard. The old man is already senile and was brought in by the assassins as a cover. If there were local leaders responsible for each area, they would have known the situation of each household and the assassins would not have been able to take advantage," Tian Feng looked somewhat haggard, clearly having been fully engrossed in his reading. His words were firm.

"Regardless, the management of the refugees must be strengthened. Verify their identities through their fellow townspeople. Those whose identities cannot be confirmed must be closely monitored. Additionally, as Yuan Hao suggested, the management of the resettlement areas must be improved," Zhang Hao nodded in agreement.

"Money and wealth can sway people's hearts. The world is not at peace. Not to mention that Ziguang has some enemies, even if he doesn't, vigilance cannot be relaxed. As our business gradually stabilizes, ordinary people may not notice, but those with ulterior motives can see the potential. Many people will covet our technology and wealth," Xi Zhicai said.

The group immediately began discussing the management of the refugees. Huang Zhong and Taishi Ci also indicated that the guards needed to be more rigorously inspected. The army must not have any issues.

After making the decision, they summoned the various managers of the estate and assigned the tasks.

This time, Tian Feng personally took charge of coordinating the matter.

Regarding the identity of the enemy, there were many speculations, but no confirmation. They could only hope to get answers from the two captives.

The assassins were stubborn, and various forms of torture were ineffective. In the end, Zhang Hao came up with the idea of confining them in a small, dark room. After a few days, one of them finally broke.

"Truly, a petty person seeks revenge day and night!" Zhang Hao said, looking at the confession. It was indeed Yuan Shu.

The initial conflict had led to this prolonged entanglement, and Yuan Shu was indeed persistent.

"Such a noble son has never suffered a loss. Being hit where it hurts, he naturally won't let it go," Xi Zhicai smiled.

"Ziguang, send someone to contact Zhang Rang and inform him of the situation. He can apply some pressure," Tian Feng suggested.

"If we want to retaliate, a direct counter-assassination is not practical. Not only is Yuan Shu well-protected, but even if we succeeded, the retaliation from the Yuan family would be severe. Besides the pressure from Zhang Rang on the Yuan family, Ziguang can send people to Luoyang to cause trouble for Yuan Shu. For example, spreading rumors,"

Xi Zhicai said with a mischievous smile, "You know about the conflict between the two sons of the Yuan family. Focus on that. You can promote Yuan Shao and smear Yuan Shu. This way, he won't have the energy to deal with you."

"If he still can't let it go, you can wait until your foundation is solid before considering other forms of retaliation," Xi Zhicai added.

Zhang Hao nodded. For now, he could only do this. He would have to endure this for now and focus on laying a solid foundation.