The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 66 The Assassination (1)

Maple Courier Station, 180 miles west of Luoyang City.

It was a large-scale courier station. There were 20 horses and rooms that could accommodate 100 people.

At dusk, the sunshine was still a little hot and spreading on the old mottled walls. The smell of the earth was fresh.

On the other side of the official road in front of the courier station, there was a small river. At this time, a young servant in grey clothes was picking up some fishes from the fish pond beside the river. He dug their intestines and scales over there. The blood flowed into the river and went with it.

“You are very skillful in cutting fish.” An elderly man paced up and saw the young servant’s flexible tactics. He was somewhat surprised. “Did you specially practice it before coming?”

The young servant in grey didn’t take it seriously. “I could kill people, let alone fishes.”

The elder man squatted beside him, pulled out a tobacco pipe from his waist, and knocked it on the wooden fence to shake off its dashes. Then he took out tobacco leaves from a small bag. He tore them, rolled them and put them into the tobacco pipe. Hearing the young servant’s words, he sniffed, “Your words are unreasonable. Killing fish has nothing to do with killing people.”

The young servant in grey looked up at the elder man. Seeing that the elder man spit out a smoke ring, he couldn’t help laughing and saying, “It’s an old tobacco pipe, why haven’t you touched this thing before?”

The elder man was a little arrogant. “The bridge I have traveled is longer than the road you have traveled. I’ve been in Jianghu for years, I have more skills than I can count. The Face Shift Method you saw is only the tip of the iceberg. Smoking is not worth mentioning.”

“Master, you’re really a master!” The young servant in grey showed his admiration on his face, but he didn’t stop his actions.

The elder man became more proud and was going to say something. But he suddenly chocked on the smoke and coughed. In an instant, his face turned red. He felt so embarrassed that he quickly changed the topic. “The order of the Ministry of Appointment has come. Speaking of it, it’s time for you to take office. When will you go to the office to check in?”

The young servant in grey was calm. “Tomorrow morning I’ll go to the office to check in and take office formally. If things go well, I’ll come back to Chang’an tonight.”

“You killed people and broke the law and you are going to be an official tomorrow. I’ve been traveling in Jianghu for many years, but I haven’t had that experience yet.” The elder man sighed and wanted to say something, but was choked again. In order to save face, he restrained himself from coughing. But his eyes were full of tears because of the choke. He angrily took back the tobacco pipe and was annoyed. “This tobacco pipe is difficult to use. I’m not lucky to masquerade a smoker.”

The young servant in grey laughed and strung up these fishes that he had cleaned. Then he got up, took a wine bag from his waist and drank. He was very refreshing. “I’m lucky to be able to replace an alcoholic. I’m happy.”

The elder man stared at the young servant in grey and gritted his teeth with unhappiness. Suddenly, he looked up to the east of the official road. After a moment of concentration and perception, he said leisurely, “Here they are.”

After a while, a cavalry of more than ten people appeared at the end of the official road. They were in luxury clothes and had endured the hardships of a long journey. They dashed and stopped at the gate of the courier station.

Their momentum was extraordinary, either serious or frightening. They were not ordinary people at first sight. After getting off the horses, they rushed through the door like robbers. They caught an officer of the courier station and shouted to him, “The commissioner of Hedong has come, ask your head to welcome!”

Because of the arrivals of these people, the courier station was in chaos and all the pedestrians avoided them. Officials and travelers who were enjoying meals in the lobby unconsciously stopped talking. Some people even put down their chopsticks and kept silent, afraid to annoy them.

Kang Chengxun, the leader, stood at the entrance of the lobby and looked inside. Seeing a lot of officials and travelers in it, he frowned and showed disgust. He sneered and said to the arriving Head of Courier Station, “Take me to the best room!”

“Yes, yes!” The Head of Courier Station answered hastily.

After leaving the lobby, the Head of Courier Station took Kang Chengxun to the B-level room. He opened the door, and bowed himself to invite Kang Chengxun to enter.

But Kang Chengxun stood still outside the door with his hands behind his back. He looked at the Head of Courier Station coldly and fierceness appeared in his eyes. “B-level room?”

The Head of Courier Station was sweating, but he didn’t dare to wipe it. He bowed his head and equivocated, “The A-level room has been occupied.”

“Who occupied?”

“Vice Director of Military Department.”

“Vice Director?” Kang Chengxun didn’t conceal his anger. He stared at the Head of Courier Station ferociously. “In your heart, a Vice Director of Six-class can be compared with me? Let them go!”

The Head of Courier Station didn’t know what to do. The Vice Director was also an official of the Imperial Court and he had already lived in the A-level room. There was no reason to ask him to move out.

Seeing that the Head of Courier Station was hesitating, Kang Chengxun immediately slapped him. The Head of Courier Station was in the Mortal Realm and had low cultivation, he couldn’t stand up and immediately spat blood and flew backward, knocking down the door frame directly.

Kang Chengxun’s anger did not diminish. “I am the Commissioner of Hedong, Kang Chengxun, you dare to disobey my order? Do you want to die?!”

Kang Chengxun was plotted by Li Guochang in Hedong. Although there was no evidence and he didn’t arrest anyone, some clues were indicating the identity of the other party. He thought highly of himself. Now he was forced to leave Hedong by a Shatuo and had become angry. This time, he returned to Chang’an in a hurry. Thinking that it was Li Guanshu who had harmed him, his grievance was already very strong. Now he saw a Head of Courie Station that was in Nine-class dared to question his words, of course, he would be outraged.

Usually, people were most unwilling to be looked down upon in two times. One was when they achieved their ambitions. At that time, they naturally hoped that everyone in the world knew how great they were and flattered them. The other was when they were in comedown. At that time, they hoped that everyone in the world didn’t know their fall and still regarded them as Big Shots. When they met disobedient small potatoes, they would be extremely distorted and angry.

Kang Chengxun was in the second condition now.

He knew that there would be a lot of trouble when he returned to Chang’an, because the expelled commissioner never came to a good end. He might be demoted, sent to remote places and could not be reused for a lifetime.

Along the way, Kang Chengxun’s mood was extremely unstable.

The Head of Courier Station stood up with the help of officers. Looking at Kang Chengxun and his followers, he didn’t dare to speak. He wiped the blood stains on the corners of his mouth and rushed to arrange.

After a while, Kang Chengxun came to the A-level room.

Sitting down in the room, Kang Chengxun didn’t become happy, but angrier. He gritted his teeth and asked his followers, “Who is the Vice Director of Military Department? Knowing that I’m here, he still doesn’t come to see me. Does he know I’m his superior? Or is he dissatisfied with the fact that I occupied his room? He’s so bold! Find him out, hit him severely and drive him out of the courier station! ”

The followers immediately obeyed his order and left.

The young servant in grey took the fish back to the kitchen and handed it to the cook. After that, he moved a pot of vegetables and sat at the gate of the backyard to clean it. The laborer had no spare time. As long as there were things needed to be done in the kitchen, it would fall on him, but he didn’t mind.

In contrast, the elder man was much more leisurely. After all, he had worked for a long time, so now he could be lazy. He moved a stool and sat beside the young servant in grey, playing with his old tobacco pipe. He smoked from time to time. He was leisurely now, but had no intention of helping.

The two talked from time to time. Suddenly, they heard a scream. Then someone flew backward and spat blood and fell into the front yard. And a group of strong men flocked to the front yard and punched and kicked him. Some women and children came forward to stop them, but they were pushed aside. The children fell on the ground and wailed loudly, causing everyone to watch.

“Look at what? Look at it again and I’ll dig your eyeballs!” A strong man stared at the crowd fiercely and immediately people bowed their heads and avoided him.

The young servant in grey sitting at the door of the backyard saw this scene.

“Isn’t he the Vice Director of Military Department? He’s very polite to us. When a fellow served him food and the soup spilled on him accidentally, he didn’t get angry. How did he offend Kang Chengxun?” The elder man was curious.

The grey-coated young servant kept his expression unchanged. “Women are always gossips. Now you’re an old smoker with poor life, why are you so curious?”

The elder man stared at the young servant in grey. Although he didn’t understand the meaning of gossip, he still could figure it out according to the young servant’s tone. “You said I was meddlesome?”

The young servant in grey shook his head and concentrated on the vegetables in the pot. He wisely chose not to argue with the woman.

The elder man was still not satisfied and snorted. “Kang Chengxun is really domineering to the extreme. He not only beat the Head of Courier Station, but also dared to hit the Vice Director of Military Department. He really didn’t respect the Imperial Court. He really thought that he could be unruliness with Wei Baoheng’s protection?”

After a while, Vice Director Zhang and his wife, with the help of their servants, left the courier station. He vomited blood in every three steps, showing that he was severely hurt.

After they left, no one dared to talk about it anymore. Now they all knew that it was the Commissioner of Hedong who ordered people to beat the Vice Director.

An hour later, it was dark, and the dishes and wine for Kang Chengxun were ready. The fish brought back by the grey-clothed young servant also was one dish. However, the matter that who would send these dishes and drink to Kang Chengxun caused a controversy among the staff, because everyone dared not go, afraid to offend Kang Chengxun and be beaten by him.

After all, the Head of Courier Station and Vice Director Zhang were beaten seriously before.

Therefore, in the end, this arduous task fell to the most inferior gray-clothed young servant.

The young servant in grey looked at the tray in his hand. Under the gazes of all the fellows, he pretended to show fear on his face, but sneered in mind. “I thought about how I could enter Kang Chengxun’s room before. Now it isn’t a problem.”

The elder man knocked his tobacco pipe on the threshold, took it away and hung it on his belt, and said to the grey-coated young servant, “I’ll go with you in case that you don’t know the rules and offend the Commissioner.”

The young servant in grey was naturally grateful.

Under the concerned gazes of a group of staff of the courier station, the grey-dressed young servant, holding a tray, went up to the second floor, came to the door of the A-level room, knocked on the door, and whispered, “Commissioner Kang, your dishes and drink have arrived.”

Kang Chengxun’s impatient voice came from the room. “Why you come so late? Come in!”