one's door

"But this position of teaching, can someone like me, who has a criminal record as a soldier, also be able to do it?"

When Li He heard Zhang Yan's words, he felt relieved.It can be heard that Zhang Yan does not have much resistance to joining the martial arts academy.This is good to continue to say later.

Chapter 159

After Li He explained, Zhang Yan finally understood the other party's specific arrangement.

Zhang Yan's identity as a criminal soldier is indeed a stain.Even if he has cleared his crimes in the Fishback Mountain Fortress and restored his innocence, he still cannot change the past.It is clear in the laws of Nanyuan Kingdom that they cannot hold any titles in the military or in the local area.Therefore, Zhang Yan could be a leading soldier in the army, or a servant or a pawn in a local yamen or a government-run shop, but he could not hold any position, not even a gang leader or a yamen servant.

Of course, under normal circumstances, it is almost impossible for a criminal soldier's resume to enter a local government office or a government-run shop.There are some big soldiers in the army.

In comparison with the military and local yamen, the Jiangwu Academy, which is more influential and relatively closed than the army and the local government, would not be able to accept Zhang Yan, who has a soldier's resume, from a common sense.Let alone what to teach.

However, according to Li He, there are loopholes to exploit.For example, there was a new post created by the Academy of Martial Arts from the year before last called "Guest Teacher".It means that it is the teaching name of the martial arts academy, but it will not be bound by most of the rules of the martial arts academy, and the content taught can be relatively flexible and not limited to the inherent combat skills, physical skills, Yuanqi and other categories.

And what Li He said to let Zhang Yan enter the martial arts academy is to let him go there as a "guest teacher".

This is because guest teachers are not trained or recruited by the School of Martial Arts itself, but are recommended by military forces from various places or places to the School of Martial Arts.Therefore, we can maximize the benefits and not follow the strict rules and regulations of the martial arts academy.At the very least, the limit of one criminal soldier can be directly omitted.Besides, with Shi Xuan's status as the commander of the Eastern Army, no matter how you look at it, it is impossible for the person he nominated to be rejected.What's more, Zhang Yan's Kongming Lantern and Bagua Formation have been published in military newspapers several times, which is a real reputation.

"If Mr. Zhang becomes a guest teacher, he can choose to stay in the martial arts academy in Langyuan City, or he can go to the martial arts academy in Xiangkou, and he can even choose the martial arts academy in any county as a "study tour" The various benefits will not change depending on the location. It's just that it's best to stay in the three northeast counties temporarily, so that the military commander has the greatest influence and can avoid more troubles.

Of course, the same sentence, everything is based on the opinion of the husband. "After Li He introduced the matter about the Martial Arts Institute and guest education in one breath, he added a few more words. There is no taboo, it can be regarded as very straightforward. Of course, if Zhang Yan disagrees with this plan, according to Shi Xuan's intention , you can think of other ways. After all, although it is impossible to hide the matter of Zhuanggudan in the end, as long as Shi Xuan and Zhou Cang cover it first, it will not spread in a short while. Still relatively abundant.

Zhang Yan was silent for a long time.Finally nodded, cupped his hands and said: "Then please trouble Master Li to report back to the military commander, and just say that Zhang Yan obeys the military commander's arrangement."

"Hahaha! Don't worry, sir, the military commander has settled this matter as soon as possible, and nothing will happen to disturb you during this period." Li He laughed, picked up the wine glass and had another drink with Zhang Yan.My heart is completely relaxed.Zhang Yan agreed to the plan of joining the martial arts academy, and his mission was completed.

"Shi Junshuai is really a good trick! How long did it take for such a leader in miscellaneous studies to emerge? Then he was stabbed into the martial arts academy. Tsk tsk, if the old man remembers correctly, the martial arts academy Those guys have been coveting our miscellaneous methods for a long time. Does this count as a gift from the military commander to the Military Academy?" Luo Changshan raised his head with a smile when he saw that the matter was finished, his words seemed to be joking, but they were actually expressing himself Opinion, it sounds quite dissatisfied.

Originally.Many of the methods of miscellaneous studies can be of great use in the military and in the local area.It is not a day or two for the army to covet.But people of the miscellaneous learning line are very good at hiding, even those who show their heads tightly cover what they have learned. Except for the communication between their own apprentices and the same line, it is extremely difficult for the outside world to learn about it.And these people are not afraid of threats at all, just like the stones in the latrine, there is not much to do.Only by making friends, and slowly gaining friendship, can we get something out.

The main reason is that I was afraid of being killed before.

Just now Luo Changshan didn't interrupt Li He and Zhang Yan's words, it was for Shi Xuan's good friend's face.But after talking about the matter, Luo Changshan didn't have any nice words, didn't he know Shi Xuan's plan?It is true to help Zhang Yan block the troubles, but there are obviously a lot of selfishness in it.

"Mr. Luo, the commander-in-chief knows that you will say so, so let me tell you that he has hidden a jar of 15-year-old wine. Next time you come over, he will open the altar to drink together. This is to calm the anger of the old man. He also said that although Mr. Zhang and Mr. Luo came from the same line, there are obvious differences. Therefore, the military commander thinks that Mr. Luo does not need to use the rules of the same line of miscellaneous studies to demand Mr. Zhang. And that may not be against Mr. Zhang beneficial."

Li He didn't feel flustered when facing Luo Changshan, it could even be said that he was well prepared.A few words really blocked all Luo Changshan's words.

Luo Changshan opened his mouth and refused to mention it.After all, the last sentence is really irrefutable.Zhang Yan is indeed different from all the miscellaneous people he usually comes into contact with.Even the methods learned have their own skills.In addition, Zhang Yan's school is a fan, no one can suppress him.And joining the Jiangwu Academy now will indeed save Zhang Yan a lot of trouble in the future.

Luo Changshan was blocked and had nothing to say, but he was still upset. After catching Li He, he stomped over a pot of wine. After a fight, the words were all in the wine.

After the matter was finished, Zhang Yan basically had nothing to do with drinking.After doing it for a while, he said goodbye to the three people who had made love, and went outside to walk around the wedding banquet hall.Help maintain the scene of people coming and going.Otherwise, relying solely on the members of the Wang family to be busy, it would not look good.

"Brother! Don't you drink?"

As soon as he turned his head, a child with a thick head and a thick head ran by his legs, it was Wang Nian.He raised his head and looked at Zhang Yan expectantly.

"Don't drink, that stuff gets old quickly if you drink too much."

"..." Wang Nian wouldn't think about what it means to "grow old fast". In his opinion, Zhang Yan is "free" if he doesn't drink.So he happily tugged on Zhang Yan's trouser legs and said, "Brother, I feel the little caterpillar you mentioned last time!"

"Huh? Really?"

"Really! I, little stone, never lie!" Xiao Wa'er nodded seriously.

Seeing this, Zhang Yan raised his hand and placed it on top of Wang Nian's head. After a little sensing, he knew that the other party was really not lying.An extremely weak aura of spiritual energy has slowly swam away in Wang Nian's body.And this is the "little caterpillar" that Wang Nian said.Although this talent is far inferior to Zhang Yan's body, it can be regarded as a rare seedling, and it does not differ from Zhang Yan's previous judgment.

Chapter 160

The excitement of the whole day also ends in the evening.

Two of Wang Shi's family were drunk, leaving only Wang Shi and Wang Nian sober.He rejected Zhang Yan's arrangement to let them stay in the inn, put the two drunks on the cart, and put Wang Nian down, then Wang Shi pushed his hands vigorously and left.

At the time of parting, I sent a sentence "Live a good life, and come home if you are wronged, dad will make the decision for you!" to my daughter Wangqin, and then I followed the relatives of Wangjiazhuangzi laughing and rushing out of the city gate before the curfew to return Zhuangzi.

At this point, Wang Qin, the daughter of Wang Shi's family, is considered to be a member of the Zhang family.

There is joy everywhere in the new house.After the guests had left, the whole family hurriedly walked around the front and back of the courtyard.Except for Zhang Yan, everyone was full of curiosity about this new house.Including Wang Lanping, she stayed in the main room to entertain guests when she came here in the morning, and she didn't have time to look at her new home.

"Wow! What a big room! This bed is so spacious! And are these quilts new? Second brother, you secretly went shopping behind my mother's back, didn't you?" Looking around, I didn't see so many things in the house at that time.And many are new.

Although Zhang Huiyuan was the only one who was screaming, no matter whether it was Wang Lanping or Zhang Shun, they all smiled brightly when they saw this house.

This is my future home.

"Okay, Xiaoqin, you young couple go take a shower. I just boiled enough hot water in the back kitchen. Let's see if this bathhouse works well." Wang Lanping whispered in the new daughter-in-law's ear.In the past, Zhang Yan helped the elder brother wash and tidy up, but now Wang Qin naturally has to do the job.

"Well! Good mother!" Wang Qin's face flushed slightly.But not hypocritical.She was originally the daughter of a peasant family, and now she is pleasing to Zhang Shun's eyes, and she has known Zhang Shun's situation for a long time, so she nodded and pushed Zhang Shun, who was also blushing, back to their wedding room.I don't know whether to go to get a change of clothes first or to stop by and have a private conversation with the young couple.

Zhang Yan was not in a hurry to wash, nor did he care about his younger sister and his mother wandering around the house.He said hello and went back to his room.It is also a place that the rest of the house subconsciously avoids.

Pushing open the door, what comes into view is the dim light coming from the corner on the left side of the room.

There is nothing around the corner of the wall for half a foot, only the altar Zhang Yan built for Wu Yuan by himself in the corner of the wall, and the large candle as thick as an arm that has been replaced many times.This kind of candle has a small flame and can burn steadily for a whole day. It is most suitable for such long-term erosion rituals.

Walking into the room, closing the door, Zhang Yan went to the corner candles and sitting cross-legged in front of the altar after setting up a blindfold.

The four stacks of talismans that surrounded the altar with Bai Zhu before are now only the last stack.Including the stack that was burned at the beginning, Zhang Yan has already helped Wu Yuan spend four of the last five days of his life.Big brother Zhang Shun's big day tonight is also the last day for Zhang Yan's predecessor to settle the grievances of life and death, so he should be happy too.

If you look carefully at the few hairs in the altar, most of them have been covered by a layer of gray talisman paper dust. If you don't even look carefully, you won't find anything under the talisman paper dust.

In fact, it is not very reasonable for Zhang Yan to settle his grievances today.Because the situation did not unfold as he initially expected.Wu Yuan is even still in Langyuan City at this moment, instead of running away as he thought a few days ago.

This is what Zhou Cang took the time to tell Zhang Yan during the dinner today.It is said that it was a bit late to get the news from the county guard's mansion. After receiving Wu Yuan's sick note, the county guard Xiao Wangcheng did not confirm the sick leave with a wave of a red pen as everyone thought.Instead, let Wu Yuan continue to stay in Langyuan City with illness and not leave without authorization.

Zhou Cang is not from the local yamen, so he can't say much about whether Wu Yuan's complaint of illness was rejected or not.

But Zhang Yan had no choice but to shoot.

There are many ways to avoid victory.The Yansheng puppet who cursed Wu Qingling to death before, also known as the "little man", was available after obtaining sufficient spell-casting medium.Moreover, it is easier to succeed against ordinary people with low soul strength. On the contrary, if the medium is not complete or the target is a warrior, it may fail.

And once the technique of disgusting victory fails, there will be backlash.Otherwise, why was this method swept into the side door category?

Now Zhang Yan's method of cursing and killing Wu Yuan is not comparable to the "puppet of disgust" used to deal with Wu Qingling.He called it the "Five Decay Curses to Death", and it was not only aimed at ordinary people, it was also effective for monks and warriors.And only a small amount of casting medium is needed to cast it.As long as the opponent's soul strength is lower than Zhang Yan's, or if he doesn't know how to resist, he will surely die even if he senses something wrong.

However, the casting time of the Five Decay Curse Death Technique is very long, and the five days are fixed. Once it starts, it cannot be interrupted.

So even if Wu Yuan did not leave Langyuan City as best expected before, and became a temporary city administrator, Zhang Yan's ultimate move could not be stopped.Today, Wu Yuan will definitely die.

There was no procrastination either. After sitting cross-legged, Zhang Yan began to chant the mantra silently. At the same time, he picked up the last stack of five talisman papers and started to light them one by one. Wisps of paper ashes also floated into the altar along with the power of the ritual. Place those few hairs.

When the last piece of talisman paper was burned out, the pattern of the magic circle on the altar also became hot like a brand and then ignited, then quickly collapsed and covered the paper ashes and hair inside, and after a few breaths, Only a small handful of ashes remained, and the original appearance was no longer visible.

At the same time, the white candle that had been burning in front of the Dharma altar also gradually became smaller with the flame of the candle, and finally extinguished by itself.

At the same time, Wu Yuan, who was sitting in his study and writing hard, suddenly felt a piercing pain in his chest, which was more painful than all the times in the past few days combined. He could even hear the heartbeat in his chest. tearing sound.He knew that he was going to die, but the severe pain took all the strength out of his body, he could only grab the paper on the table that he was writing on just a moment ago, and then fell down along the chair in the dark.

After two gasps, he lost his breath.

After the time for a cup of tea, the warrior on guard at the mansion found that he could not detect the aura in the study room that should belong to Wu Yuan, and suddenly yelled in his heart that it was not good.But when they rushed into the study, they had time to see Wu Yuan's rapidly cooling body.It has long been exhausted.

But when they saw the paper tightly held in Wu Yuan's hand again, their hearts beat wildly.While telling no one in the house to leave, he notified the yamen and the urgent report guard.

The magistrate of Langyuan City died at home.This matter is no small matter.Not only did everyone in the yamen get up from their beds in panic, even the city guard Zhou Cang went to the city overnight to investigate the scene in person.

Chapter 161 Death Note

The garrison is responsible for city defense, not including various security incidents in the city.But at the same time, the city guard can also take the initiative to intervene in case of emergency in the city.For example, when the city magistrate is unable to perform his duties, or when there is chaos in the local yamen.

Therefore, Zhou Cang entered the city overnight and went straight to Wu's mansion. However, afterward, he had to go to the Yamen of the Eastern Army's Taoist Office and the Beijiang County Sheriff's Mansion to explain and report.

However, after Zhou Cang got the news of Wu Yuan's death and doubts, although there were no traces on his face, the first reaction in his heart was Zhang Yan's hand.It's just that Zhang Yan was really impulsive. He reminded him repeatedly, but Wu Yuan was still killed in Langyuan City like this.And it seems that there are still leftovers?

This guess is also one of the reasons why Zhou Cang reacted so quickly and immediately went to the city to go to the Wu Mansion.

Entering the Wu Mansion, the person who greeted him was the head arrester in the local yamen of Langyuan City who was in charge of investigating such cases.This person Zhou Cang has some impressions.While walking, while communicating with each other.At the very least, he must know the situation immediately.

"My lord, Mr. Wu died in the study room at home. According to the guards, Mr. Wu died within the time of a cup of tea. During this period, no abnormalities were found at home. And when Mr. Wu died, he was holding his chest with one hand and his face was closed. The painful expression is obvious, and the eyes are bloodshot. It should be caused by the severe pain in the chest. Combined with the fact that Mr. Wu has visited the doctor several times in recent days, it should be the same reason. However, it is still not sure whether it is the cause of Mr. Wu’s death .

But before Master Wu died, his other hand was clutching an unfinished... suicide note, the words on it were quite urgent, obviously Master Wu had anticipated his own death.And there is a guess that it was done by a criminal soldier named Zhang Yan in the city..." When he said Zhang Yan's name, the head catcher subconsciously glanced at the city guard next to him. Everyone in Langyuan City is better informed now Who doesn't know the relationship between Zhou Cang and Zhang Yan?

"Where's Wu Zuo?" Zhou Cang interrupted suddenly.

"My lord, Mr. Wu is a local high-ranking official, the body is decent..."

"Everyone is dead, and the situation is suspicious. If you don't know the cause of death, how do you judge? Or do you stare blankly when you are going to wait for someone from the Sheriff's Office to investigate? You have to figure it out yourself."

Catcher swallowed subconsciously, knowing that if the higher-ups found out that he couldn't even explain the cause of Master Wu's death, then he would be finished.Although the decency of the body is important, it seems that the Wu family has no immediate relatives at the moment. It is urgent to deal with the matter, and Master Zhou is on the side to suggest that we really can't delay.

So the head catcher hurriedly ordered the servants around him to run to find Wu Zuo.In fact, they have been in this business for a long time, and they can more or less see the cause of death.At the very least, it is clear that Wu Yuan's body has no trauma, no signs of poisoning, no signs of struggle or invasion at the scene.Coupled with Mr. Wu's frequent angina pectoris and consultations in the past few days, it seems more likely that he died of a sudden illness.

But that suicide note... and the people involved... made the head catcher subconsciously want to cite "homicide".At least take someone to talk about it?Otherwise, without Mr. Wu standing in front, the mess would be too big, and the hozen below them would probably be affected by the fish in the pond.

Zhou Cang didn't think about the other party's little thoughts.Whether the local yamen of Langyuan City is bad or not has nothing to do with him.What he cares about is not to burn Zhang Yan so quickly.

After entering the study, Zhou Cang could only see an arm hanging out from behind the desk.

Going around behind the table, you can see the whole body of Wu Yuan's body.The eyes on the pale face were wide open, bloodshot in the eyes, and the other hand was tightly grasping the clothes on the chest, and did not let go until death.It can be seen that his chest must have been very uncomfortable before his death.

"Didn't you say you found a suicide note? Where is it?"

"Responding to my lord, here we are comparing the handwriting with someone, and it has been confirmed that it is Mr. Wu's handwriting." At this moment, the head catcher was very panicked, and the sweat on his cheeks was dense.He led Zhou Cang to the other side of the study, where there were two yamen servants on the desk looking at something carefully.

"how?"

"Head. Ah! I have seen Mr. Zhou!" The two turned their heads and saw Zhou Cang bowing quickly.

"Where is the suicide note? Is it Master Wu's own handwriting?" Zhou Cang waved his hand to prevent the two of them from continuing to be polite.

"Yes, sir. The paper that Master Wu's body was dragging was indeed written by Master Wu himself. Even based on the ink stains on Master Wu's hands and the scratches on the suicide note, it can be confirmed that Master Wu was writing this suicide note when he died. But I haven't had time to finish it." The two introduced the incomplete suicide note and handed it to Zhou Cang.

Zhou Cang heaved a sigh of relief after watching it intently.Things were much better than he had imagined on the way here.Not to mention that there was no trace of what he thought would be left behind.The so-called "doubt" refers to the words "someone is going to kill me" and "my only son Wu Qingling also died at his hands" in the suicide note.But the whole article is full of Wu Yuan's guesses, even unfounded guesses, such as "it must be a sinister method in miscellaneous studies" is completely imaginary.

Of course, another reason for Zhou Cang's relief is that Wu Yuan was still alive when Wu Qingling died, so he didn't find any clues?Now if Zhang Yan did the two things, it should be impossible to find out the same.So the conclusion of waiting for the author is the most critical.

Soon, two assistants came.They were the best two in the yamen of Langyuan City, even Wu Qingling's accident was the two of them who came for the autopsy.Seeing Wu Yuan's body now, the two of them suddenly felt that the world was unpredictable.

"Just check here, be careful, and don't make mistakes."

"Don't worry, my lord, I will do my best to find out the cause of Master Wu's death."

Zhou Cang didn't leave either, just watched Wu Zuo start.Zhou Cang naturally had no ripples at such a bloody scene.Waiting to hear Wu Zuo's first-hand conclusions.

Although the two foremen worked very carefully, it was not a complicated matter after all. Based on the shape of the corpse and what they saw after the chest was opened, they quickly found the cause of Wu Yuan's death based on their years of experience.

So after the two exchanged glances, one of them got up and took off the thin leather gloves, and reported: "Master Zhou, the younger two have found out that the cause of Master Wu's death was a heart attack in the thoracic cavity, which caused massive hemorrhage." Showing the open chest cavity to Zhou Cang, the inside was bloody and not a normal cavity at all, and there was an obvious sign of bleeding on the heart.

Zhou Cang secretly smiled when he heard this, but his face remained tense.He turned his head and glanced at the catcher next to him, but he didn't speak, but his eyes had already expressed his meaning.That is, the cause of death has been determined, and the contents of the suicide note are worth pondering.

Chapter 162 Major Events

If it was said that Wu Qingling's death caused a stir in Langyuan City, then Wu Yuan's death made many people in Langyuan City feel restless.

How could Wu Yuan die?Even if he was sick, he wouldn't die in just three or two days, right?A few days ago, I saw Wu Yuan go to the Yamen to work!

But the closed Wu Mansion, the officials in the yamen who looked as if their own family had died, and countless gossip all indicated that Wu Yuan might really be gone.And the appearance of city guard Zhou Cang directly confirmed this guess.

What has affected the whole city is that the four doors were closed early in the morning.No entry, no exit.It didn't even say when it would reopen.Obviously this is a contingency measure implemented by the garrison in case of emergency.

In this way, people in the streets and alleys, whether they want to know it or not, cannot escape the big incident that happened overnight in Langyuan City.

The common people are still okay, they are concerned about when the city gate will be reopened, not what will happen after a city magistrate dies.It has nothing to do with them anyway.

Except for the households along the streets around the Wu Mansion who were checked and questioned door-to-door.A restaurant named Manxianglou was also questioned, including several members of the Zhang family who moved into the new house.Without saying why, I just asked where you were and what you did from yesterday afternoon to night.The words were blunt, and the eyes were scrutinizing.Fortunately, there was no other action, and he left after asking.

Wang Lanping and Zhang Huiyuan were baffled, and the new daughter-in-law Wang Qin blinked her eyes curiously. It was the first time for her to experience being approached by an official. She asked some inexplicable questions and left without understanding.

Only Zhang Shun's heart beat wildly.He guessed that if the official came to the door, could it be his second brother who did something?Last time Wu Qingling's death made him frightened for several days, what about this time?

After Zhang Shun was pushed out by Wang Qin to go to the store, the news that city administrator Wu Yuan died last night made Zhang Shun feel like his heart almost jumped out of his throat.

"Sanggong, why is your face so bad all of a sudden? Is there something uncomfortable?"

"No, no, hehe, I was too tired yesterday. You follow my little sister to familiarize yourself with the accounts. She is learning from the accountant recently, so you should follow suit." Zhang Shun quickly cleared up his mood and put on a smile to comfort his daughter-in-law.At the same time, there is work for her in the store today.The family stall seems to be getting bigger and bigger. It is impossible to rely on him and the younger sister alone. Wang Qin also has to learn everything that needs to be learned.

"Ah? Tired, tired?" Wang Qin didn't know what to think of, and his face was flushed.Then hummed.Then he took Zhang Huiyuan's hand and went behind the counter to find the cashier.

Business people, there is no such thing as newlyweds resting.Yesterday's big wedding was already a day off, and today's business must continue as usual.But Zhang Shun was a little more worried.

When it was close to noon, the closed north gate opened an opening, and a group of people came in from the outside.The people who were waiting to leave and enter the city along the road were also upset when they saw this situation.Because some knowledgeable people recognized that the guards in the group of people who made an exception and entered the city were wearing the robes of the guards of the sheriff's mansion.This shows that things in Langyuan City are very troublesome, and all the people from the Sheriff's Mansion have come.So who knows when the city gate will be reopened?

Immediately after this group of people entered the city gate, the guards of Langyuan City opened the way in front of them, they rushed all the way, and finally stopped at the gate of Wu Yuan's mansion.

Zhou Cang had already received the news in advance and was waiting at the door.Because the person who came was unusual, it was Yang Jie, the official of Zuojun, the prefect of Beijiang County.

But no one who went on an official career in Beijiang County would not be familiar with the names and taboos of the bigwigs and their general behavior styles in this area in advance.The same goes for Zhou Cang.So even though the army and the local government are on different paths, he still hopes to leave a good impression on Yang Jie.As the saying goes, people do not smile when they reach out for this reason, and it is easy to talk when they meet in the future.

The three chief officials of the Sheriff's Mansion.The first one is County Sheriff Xiao Wangcheng.Along the way, Yang Jie, the official of Zuojun, ranked second, and Wen Xian, the official of Youjun, ranked third.