Dimension Paradise, I am a summoning apostle

Chapter 726 Death is the end of the story, whether intentional or unintentional
"Dad, Uncle Zhong has passed away!" The younger brother who was protecting Zhong Hao shouted anxiously to Zhou Siquan.

Zhou Siquan's eyes widened, and he asked in a rough voice, "What happened! You were fine when you came out."

He had fought his way through the enemy lines, and although he had the support of his old subordinates, he still had to put in his own effort.

As a result, they heard this news as soon as they left Yujian Pass.

"I don't know either." As Zhou Siquan's son, Zhou Qibing was also wronged.

He was only concerned with protecting Zhong Hao the whole way, so if he died because of open or covert attacks, then that was indeed his fault.

However, there were no injuries on Zhong Hao's body, which had nothing to do with him.

“It’s the poison bestowed by the emperor,” Zhong Lei stepped forward and said with a sorrowful expression.

She didn't even notice when Zhong Hao died.

As she spoke, she took the silver bottle that Zhong Hao was tightly gripping from his hand.

A small amount of blood-red liquid remained at the bottom of the bottle.

"Brother Zhong, you've been so foolish!!!" Zhou Siquan couldn't help but sigh.

Chu Danqing and the others did not react at all.

It's normal to die.

After all, Zhong Hao had been using the idea of ​​loyalty to the emperor and the country to numb himself and cover up his mental problems.

But today's events were too much of a shock for him.

Not only did it cancel out his paralysis effect, it also tore away the other party's fig leaf.

How could he accept this? Besides, once he left the pass, he would become a bandit.

He was quite sensitive about his status and position, and even after being detained for more than 20 years, he always considered himself an envoy of the Great Jin Dynasty.

Rather than suffer this humiliation, I'd rather die and be done with it all.

Chu Danqing despises this kind of person the most.

Zhou Siquan took such a great risk to save him, but this is how he repaid her.

It was precisely for this reason that Chu Danqing and all the apostles, including Elong, could see that Zhong Hao was a trap.

Otherwise, with their capabilities, rescuing people wouldn't be difficult at all.

It's better to let him die sooner rather than later than to leave him with a hole in the ground.

This is a good thing for Chu Danqing and the other apostles, as well as for Zhong Lei and even Zhou Siquan.

Zhou Siquan suddenly looked five years older, and in the end he could only cup his hands to Chu Danqing and the others and say, "Young heroes of the Fengyang Sect, if you don't mind, you can rest at my stronghold."

"Mr. Zhou is grateful for your help and was just about to express his gratitude properly."

The person is already dead, what can Zhou Siquan do?

However, these 'Fengyang Sect disciples' couldn't be fooled like that; they had to be given a banquet and some compensation.

Whether the other party accepts it or not is another matter, but the proper attitude must still be shown.

"Sure, sure." Chu Danqing asked for opinions in the public channel before agreeing.

After all, he is the senior disciple of the Fengyang Sect, so he has to be the one to handle this matter.

This time, the group moved much faster and soon arrived at the village that Zhou Siquan had mentioned.

Although it's called a village, it's actually more like a fortress, with everything from patrols to land reclamation built with military standards.

No wonder he was the former commander-in-chief.

With Zhou Siquan leading the way, they quickly entered the village and hastily buried Zhong Hao's body.

The subsequent carving of the inscription will also take time, and it can only be erected at a later time.

Chu Danqing and the others didn't say anything, after all, they didn't have a good impression of Zhong Hao.

After the event was over, the banquet was about to begin, and everyone took their seats.

"General Zhou, there is something I don't understand." At the banquet, Chu Danqing asked, "Why did the emperor kill Zhong Hao?"

Zhou Siquan paused for a moment, then said, "The one who wants to kill Brother Zhong is not His Majesty, but Wen Kang."

"But I never expected that this person would be so audacious as to dare to falsely convey an imperial edict."

“When Premier Wen Kang was in power, he first dismissed me from my post and investigated me, and then installed his men as generals.”

"The scheme has two parts: one is to deal with hidden dangers, and the other is to make money through smuggling."

“The people of Oirat are brave and fierce, but they lack salt and iron,” Zhou Siquan said. “Therefore, if we simply transport salt, iron, cloth and other goods from Dajin to Oirat, the benefits will be more than a hundredfold.”

"It is only because I refused to give in that I have ended up like this."

"If you're talking about Brother Zhong, I also bear some responsibility for his death."

"If my secret plans to rescue him had not been leaked, how could this treacherous eunuch have known about them?"

"That treacherous eunuch is certain that Brother Zhong is in Oirat, so he must know about his collusion with the Left Chancellor and Grand Tutor of Oirat."

“However, Brother Zhong was merely a horse groom in Oirat and was imprisoned. How could he possibly know these things?” Zhou Siquan said.

Hearing this, Chu Danqing felt that Zhou Siquan was a mixed bag.

It's not unfair to dismiss him from his post and investigate him.

Whose general has such a military fortress inside the pass?

Chu Danqing isn't blind; putting aside everything else, the construction alone would have taken at least several years.

Zhou Siquan had only been dismissed for a few months; extending the dismissal period to 12 months wouldn't be enough time. It's more likely that while Zhou Siquan was loyal, he had also left himself a way out.

There's no need to harbor bandits; after all, no bandit, however powerful, can compare to Oirat.

However, to some extent, Zhou Siquan's move was indeed correct.

If he doesn't have a village to rely on, after being dismissed and investigated, he will be the next Zhong Hao.

Upon hearing Zhou Siquan's explanation, Chu Danqing casually took out the wax pill given to him by Grand Tutor Zhu Shichang and crushed it.

They took out the slip of paper, which indeed contained information about Wen Kang smuggling salt, iron, and other goods.

He also stated that if they could find Wen Kang's account books, the chances of Wang Jie'an impeaching him and saving Zhong Hao would be much greater.

Unfortunately, this Grand Tutor made a miscalculation.

The first two points were accurate, but he miscalculated Wen Kang's methods in the last one.

The other party had no intention of arresting Zhong Hao at all; they simply wanted to silence him.

More importantly, Zhu Shichang overestimated Zhong Hao. He thought Zhong Hao was determined, but he didn't expect that he was already deeply ill.

Ultimately, he was overwhelmed and committed suicide.

If he had truly been determined, he wouldn't be dead now, and he wouldn't have strained his relationship with Chu Danqing and the others so much.

Otherwise, given Chu Danqing and Elong's ideas and plans, helping Zhong Hao to clear his name and even restore order to the court would not have been difficult.

"I see, that makes sense now." Chu Danqing replied, then asked, "Then why did General Zhou come to see our Fengyang Sect?"

Zhou Siquan gave an awkward smile upon hearing Chu Danqing's words.

“Please forgive me, young heroes, this is a last resort for me,” Zhou Siquan said. “I not only begged the Fengyang Sect, but also sent letters to various outlaw groups and some more distant sects and families.”

"In the end, only the young heroes of the Fengyang Sect were willing to lend a helping hand."

Chu Danqing's smile slowly faded, and he said, "General Zhou is indeed a righteous man, willing to go to such lengths for his friends."

When Zhou Siquan first heard this, he thought Chu Danqing was praising him, but upon closer listening, he realized that the tone was off.

"However, you only considered Zhong Hao. Did you ever think that my Fengyang Sect would suffer annihilation because of this?" Chu Danqing slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly to question him.

“That Zhong Hao, who only had some interaction with you, suffered such a great calamity, and even went so far as to falsely convey an imperial edict to silence him.”

"Now that our Fengyang Sect is involved in this matter, how many of us do you think will survive?"

"Is this forcing us to die, or forcing us to surrender to Oirat with General Zhou's head in hand?"

Upon hearing Chu Danqing's words, Zhou Siquan's expression changed.

The main point is that what he said makes perfect sense.

Zhou Siquan only cared about his own loyalty, without considering what would happen to the Fengyang Sect afterward.

With so many people from Fengyang coming to help, how could it possibly be kept secret?

"This...this..." Zhou Siquan was speechless. At this moment, he understood why only the Fengyang Sect had gone.

The bandits in the Green Forest were naturally unwilling, but the larger sects and families knew the situation to some extent. Only the Fengyang Sect, being small and insignificant, foolishly went to rescue them.

If he hadn't said anything, these people might not have realized what was happening.

“We’ve rescued the person,” Chu Danqing said, “but now you have to give us an explanation.”

Zhou Siquan said with a wry smile, "It was indeed my oversight in this matter that caused such a great calamity for you young heroes and the Fengyang Sect."

He then stood up, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Since it was Zhou who caused this trouble, it is Zhou who should resolve it."

“If you all don’t mind, you can move the Fengyang Sect to my stronghold. As long as my stronghold stands, I will protect the Fengyang Sect.”

Knowing it was time for him to speak, Elong said in a sarcastic tone, "What a brilliant plan to kill three birds with one stone."

"You've saved your friend without having to risk leaving the pass, and you even have my Fengyang Sect merge with your stronghold to serve you. Ha!"

These words were so blunt that Zhou Siquan quickly tried to explain that he didn't have such thoughts.

However, before he could speak, Cretaceous interrupted him.

"Don't say it wasn't intentional. We don't care about the process, we only care about the result," Elong continued. "It's simple to settle this matter."

"Give us enough resettlement money, and we'll all go our separate ways to make a living."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Siquan fell silent.

"The village doesn't have much money. Could you give me a little more time?" Zhou Siquan didn't haggle, knowing he didn't have enough money.

"We don't want money, we just want resources for cultivation," Chu Danqing added.

Gold and silver are useless to them; even if they can't use resources, they can still sell them.

Zhou Siquan narrowed his eyes upon hearing this.

Then he said, "Alright, I'll take care of it, but I might need the help of you young heroes."

"What? Do you really think we're fools?" the dinosaur continued sarcastically.

Chu Danqing then said, "Second Junior Brother, don't be impatient. Let's hear what General Zhou has to say."

The two of them are putting on a show, but in reality, they don't suffer any significant losses.

This is considered compensation for emotional distress.

“A batch of grain, medicine, and provisions will be transported to the interior by noon tomorrow,” Zhou Siquan said. “You can divide the medicine and provisions among yourselves, and the grain and provisions will be converted into silver, which my village will then use to exchange for various resources for you.”

"You don't need to lift a finger; you only need to provide cover for the men of my village."

(End of this chapter)