Chapter 87

One by one, Zhen Jizhi recounted everything he had done over the past two years.

"Two years ago, I was just a stable boy for Young Master Lan. He had fourteen horses, and each horse had three stable boys. Can you imagine how low my status was?" Zhen Jizhi recalled the past, no longer spouting nonsense.

"Hmm, a nobody," Tang Zheng nodded.

Zhen Jizhi nodded, half laughing and half crying, and sniffed, "At that time, my wife died in childbirth while giving birth to our second child, leaving me and our eldest son. Soon after, my mother fell seriously ill, and I felt like I couldn't go on living... It was then that Young Master Lan's people found me."

Zheng Qian and his brothers listened in silence.

Given their strength, how many of them didn't have a story to tell?

"Young Master Lan's people gave my mother medicine, saving her life just in time. When I was overwhelmed with gratitude, he asked me if I was willing to go on a long journey..."

"A business trip," Tang Zheng mused.

"On one hand, I couldn't bear to leave my mother and young child at home, but on the other hand, I couldn't ignore Young Master Lan's kindness. After thinking about it all night, I finally agreed." As Zhen Jizhi spoke, tears streamed down his face. "Young Master Lan gave me a hundred taels of silver and three days to prepare. I spent half the silver buying a small, rainproof house in Wulong Town and bought two sturdy and clever maids to help. After settling my mother and child, I returned to Yinlan Manor..."

"Then, Young Master Lan sent you to us?" Zheng Qian asked.

Zhen Jizhi shook his head. "Young Master Lan saw me personally and only said a few words. Afterward, he praised me, saying I had a good mouth, and then let me go."

Given Young Master Lan's status, there was no need for him to explain everything in detail.

So, everyone just nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"After leaving Young Master Lan, his top confidant, Lan Yan, told me what Young Master Lan wanted me to do." Zhen Jizhi glanced at Zheng Qian and the others. "He wanted me to mingle with the bandits in Wugreen Mountain and Longding Mountain, find the strongest but most foolish bandit leader, and join his gang. After that, I was to contact him again."

"What does 'strongest but most foolish' mean?" Zheng Qian looked frustrated. "If it weren't for the unexpected, my analysis would never be wrong!"

"..." His brothers all sighed heavily.

Zhen Jizhi quickly made a gesture of surrender with both hands.

Tang Zheng kicked Zheng Qian to make him shut up and then said to Zhen Jizhi, "Continue."

"At that time, there were about a dozen bandit gangs in the area between the two mountains. I wandered around Wugreen Mountain and Longding Mountain for over half a month and finally chose Zheng Lao Da's gang. After I contacted Lan Yan, he told me that Young Master Lan wanted to unify all the bandit forces in the area and bring them under his control. However, he and his confidants couldn't appear in public, so this task was given to me."

After that, things didn't differ much from what Zheng Qian and the others knew.

After joining them, Zhen Jizhi helped them strategize, both suppressing and recruiting the bandit forces in the area. With the secret support of Yinlan Manor, they progressed smoothly, and their size grew rapidly.

Zheng Qian, of course, credited Zhen Jizhi with the most merit, respectfully calling him Master Zhen and placing infinite trust in him.

After completing all this, Zhen Jizhi lived a comfortable life, getting along well in the bandit gang. No one dared to contradict him, and he could occasionally take time to return to Wulong Town to check on his mother and children...

Until tonight, more than two years later, when Young Master Lan personally summoned him again.

A thousand days of training, one day of use!

Young Master Lan's task for him was to have the bandits attack the convoy returning from the banquet at Yinlan Manor, killing all the Tang Family's young generation above the one-star high rank and bringing back Tang Zheng's head to hang on the gate of Xinglai Inn!

If he completed this task, Zhen Jizhi would immediately end his undercover life, return to Yinlan Manor, and be promoted to a confidant by Young Master Lan.

"Wow, your master is quite troublesome," Tang Zheng sneered. "Not only does he want you to kill people, but he also wants you to hang my head in a specific place..."

"Yes, yes, yes." Cold sweat broke out on Zhen Jizhi's forehead.

Tang Boyuan's face had turned dark.

Young Master Lan's plan was too ambitious!

If it weren't for the Tang Family's unexpected move to protect Tang Zheng, the outcome tonight would have been unimaginable.

Young Master Lan's plan had been set in motion two years ago.

He was preparing a surprise attack on the Tang Family!

If it didn't happen today, it would happen on a day when the Tang Family and Yinlan Manor had a large-scale conflict.

"Young Master Lan's plan is deep, and the timing is perfect," Tang Zixie gritted his teeth. "Today, the Tang Family was at its most complacent, so we all drank and let our guard down..."

No one is perfect; everyone makes mistakes.

But in Wulong Town, the cost of making a mistake was too high!

"The timing is one aspect, but the target is even better," Tang Boyuan said coldly. "Even if the Tang Family loses a three-star warrior like me, it's not as damaging as losing you all. The Tang Family would suffer a great blow!"

Tang Xiaotang and the others are the future of the Tang Family!

Killing Tang Boyuan would require a greater cost, but for the Tang Family, it would only be a temporary setback.

But if Tang Xiaotang and the others were all wiped out, the Tang Family might not have any immediate problems, but in twenty years, when Young Master Lan takes over Yinlan Manor, the Tang Family would no longer be a threat to him!

"Hmm, a strategy targeting the future heroes..." Tang Zheng couldn't help but whistle.

Whether or not Tang Zheng was involved, Young Master Lan would have made this move.

It's just that Tang Zheng's presence made Young Master Lan pull out this knife a bit earlier.

"Uncle, please take them back to the Tang Family and interrogate them separately," Tang Zheng said to Tang Boyuan.

"Of course!" Tang Boyuan knew that although Zhen Jizhi's story had no obvious flaws, it should still be confirmed again.

Not only should Zhen Jizhi's story be re-examined, but his family should also be found as soon as possible.

Because there was also the possibility that he wasn't Young Master Lan's man but was deliberately trying to incite a conflict between the Tang Family and Yinlan Manor.

"Wait, wait." Before being taken away, Zheng Qian grabbed Tang Zheng's sleeve. "Before I die, I have one last question..."

"Go ahead," Tang Zheng said.

"I listened for a long time and understood how we fell into the trap, but I still don't understand one thing... Why did you stop the convoy before our ambush? Not a step more, not a step less!"

The Tang Family's remaining members also looked at Tang Zheng in confusion.

Everything that happened today was extremely dangerous.

If Tang Zheng hadn't stopped the convoy in advance and they had plunged into the ambush, even with their preparations, they would have surely lost people.

Tang Zheng's foresight gave them the upper hand, allowing them to avoid the best-planned attack.

Tang Zheng shrugged, not in the mood to act cool. He simply spread his hands and said, "Sorry, I have precognitive abilities."

Zheng Qian let out a long "Oh..." in thought.

The Tang Family's members all shook their heads and smiled, knowing that although Tang Zheng wasn't seriously injured, he was still weak. They quickly helped him into the carriage to rest at the Tang Family.

Zheng Qian and the others were handcuffed and slowly escorted to the Tang Family.

Azhi fell a few steps behind. Seeing Zheng Qian's bewildered look, he couldn't help but say, "Hey, you don't really believe that, do you?"

"Why not believe it?" Zheng Qian looked at Azhi strangely.

"Listen, you're not a kid anymore, but your IQ is like a twelve-year-old. How can you believe his nonsense?" Azhi, hearing that Zheng Qian actually believed it, felt a complex emotion and blurted out his thoughts.

Zheng Qian looked at Azhi for a moment. "How do you know he's lying? I often tell my brothers not to deny something just because you don't understand it. And... is it impossible for someone to have precognitive abilities?"

Azhi's eyebrows twitched. "Right! There are people who can do it, but he's clearly not at the two-star level, and he doesn't have a single Tianji Star in his destiny palace. He doesn't even practice water tray techniques..."

Zheng Qian blinked. "Hmm, what you said makes sense... but, does that have anything to do with whether he can predict the future?"

Azhi wanted to bang his head against the wall.

He couldn't understand how this person had reached the peak of the two-star level!

What he had said were the necessary conditions if "precognition" really existed, and even then, it wasn't true precognition but more like predicting the flow of star power.

But Zheng Qian asked with an innocent face, "What does that have to do with it?"

Azhi was extremely doubtful that this person hadn't even finished reading "Yin Xing Shi" before starting his star cultivation.

"Sigh, you're still young and haven't experienced much. Your views are too naive and simple. Come, don't rush, let me explain to you..." Zheng Qian continued to talk to Azhi.

"..." Azhi rolled his eyes and ran a few steps, jumping onto Tang Zheng's carriage.

... (To be continued)