Chapter 1397 After the rainstorm!

Night, three o'clock
Yang Tao woke up faintly on the bed, picked up the teacup and drank a sip of water, then walked into the east wing and said to Zhang Xinjian who was on duty:

"Go back to sleep! I'll keep watch for the rest of the night!"

Because Liu Dashan might appear at any time, the three of them discussed and decided to take turns on night duty to ensure that they could find Liu Dashan's whereabouts as soon as possible.

Hearing Yang Tao's words, Zhang Xinjian glanced at him and said with a smile:

"Captain Yang, you seem very curious about how Lord Zhao and I know each other!"

Yang Tao said calmly:
"I'm long past the age of being curious about everything!"

Zhang Xinjian smiled and said:

"Captain Yang, it's okay for you to be curious. Since Lord Zhao brought you to see me, it means he wants to recruit you. You will know the reason sooner or later. In fact, I am not satisfied with you. I am also very surprised that Lord Zhao brought you to participate in this mission!"

"Captain Yang, you are nicknamed the best constable in Yijing. I, Zhang, have long heard of your great name!"

Listening to Zhang Xinjian's words, Yang Tao frowned slightly and noticed his expression change. Zhang Xinjian didn't say anything more and left with a smile, leaving the east wing to Yang Tao, who also sat on the fire pit and began to keep watch.

Although this time under Zhao Yuan's arrangement, Yang Tao had to cooperate with Zhang Xinjian to hunt down Liu Dashan, Yang Tao did not forget his identity from beginning to end!

He is a constable and Zhang Xinjian is a criminal. If Yang Tao had met Zhang Xinjian at other times, he would have tried his best to arrest him and fulfilled his duty as a constable...

Therefore, although Yang Tao temporarily stopped the pursuit of Zhang Xinjian for Zhao Yuan's sake, he did not want to have too much contact with Zhang Xinjian.
As a middle-aged man with a family, a mother, a wife and children, Yang Tao inevitably thought of his family in the dead of night.

As the chief constable of the Yijing government office, Yang Tao did not leave home often for business trips, but he would leave once every two or three months. However, he would always give notice in advance and settle things at home before leaving.

But today is different. The salary, bonus and subsidy for August have just been paid out. Yang Tao took home three taels of silver. The whole family is very happy. Yang Tao went to the vegetable market to buy two pounds of pork, preparing to go home and ask his wife and concubines to make braised pork so that the whole family can have a good meat meal!
His children are now growing up and need a lot to eat every day, but the prices in Yijing are very high, so Yang Tao's income as a constable can only ensure that his children have enough to eat, but it cannot guarantee that his family can eat meat every day!
Therefore, a braised pork with good color, aroma and taste can be said to be a delicious meal for the whole family!
Just when Yang Tao was preparing to have a happy meal with his family, Zhao Yuan suddenly came to his door and wanted to take him on a secret investigation!

Although Yang Tao was somewhat reluctant, he had no choice but to follow Zhao Yuan. At that time, Yang Tao did not think too much and thought he could go home to spend the night, so before leaving, he did not forget to whisper to his concubine Wang, asking Wang to wait for him. ··············

Thinking of this, Yang Tao couldn't help but sigh inwardly. He had a wonderful night, but it was ruined by Zhao Yuan!

However, when Yang Tao thought of Zhao Yuan's promise to him, his heart became hot!

His Majesty has a famous saying that a soldier who does not want to be a commander is not a good soldier. Before, Yang Tao knew that due to his status, he would most likely only be a minor official in his life, so he did not have any big ideas about his personal career development. He only wanted to take the position of chief constable in Yijing Prefecture before retiring!

This is not only Yang Tao's dream, but also the unfulfilled dream of his grandfather and father. When his grandfather and father were working in the Yijing government office, they were promoted from ordinary police officers and constables to captains of constables, but they were never able to make the step of captain of constables to chief captain of constables, which is a regret for two generations.

Yang Tao will never forget that when his father passed away, he held his hand and urged him to work hard to realize his dream of becoming the chief constable!

In addition to being the chief constable, Yang Tao also wanted to save more money and buy a shop in Yijing, so that he would have an income after retirement.

For this reason, Yang Tao saved money silently, but he soon found that no matter how hard he tried, the speed at which he saved money could not keep up with the rising speed of housing prices in Yijing. This made Yang Tao quite frustrated, but he did not give up the idea.

The two hundred taels of silver given by Zhang Xinjian before also greatly accelerated the progress of Yang Tao's plan to buy a shop. It also made Yang Tao understand a truth: a man cannot become rich without unexpected wealth, and a horse cannot become fat without night grass...

This time, Zhao Yuan also promised that as long as he successfully killed Liu Dashan, he would not only give all the silver rewarded by the government to Yang Tao, but he would also recommend Yang Tao to become the chief constable of Yijing government!
Through the last incident, Yang Tao had already guessed who the noble person behind Zhao Yuan was, so he had no doubt that Zhao Yuan had the power to recommend him to become the chief constable!

Yang Tao knew very well that Zhao Yuan's plan was very dangerous, but as the saying goes, people die for money and birds die for food. How could he not take some risks if he wanted to get to the top?

The captain of the Yijing government office had a plan in mind. He had calculated that if he succeeded this time, he would not only become the chief captain of the police, but also get the silver rewarded by his superiors. With the silver he had saved in the past, he would have enough money to buy a shop!
So faced with this opportunity to kill two birds with one stone and realize his two major life goals, Yang Tao also tried his best!

At this moment, Yang Tao couldn't help but fantasize about becoming the chief constable and standing in his own shop with a proud look on his face. Yang Tao had already decided that as long as this moment came true, he would go to the graves of his ancestors and let them rest in peace!
Just as Yang Tao was fantasizing about the beautiful moment, he suddenly had a bad premonition in his heart. He turned his head subconsciously, and the next second he saw a flying knife brushing past Yang Tao's cheek and hitting the wooden wall behind him...

Seeing this, Yang Tao was also scared. He drew his sword from his waist and shouted to the two people in the room to warn them:

"He's coming! He's coming!"

Before Yang Tao could finish his words, a black shadow broke through the door and slashed at Yang Tao with a knife. Yang Tao had no time to think and raised his knife to block. In an instant, a powerful force was transmitted to Yang Tao through the weapon. Yang Tao was immediately forced to kneel on one knee and almost couldn't hold on.

At this moment, while Yang Tao was amazed at the other party's strong internal strength, he also saw the other party's appearance clearly. This person was Liu Dashan, the wanted criminal in the previous Zhou Dynasty!

Seeing that his full-strength attack was blocked by Yang Tao, Liu Dashan seemed a little surprised, but he did not hesitate and immediately swung out two consecutive swords. Yang Tao, the number one constable in Yijing, who was always known for his superb martial arts, had no power to fight back in front of him and could only grit his teeth and hold on!
Just when Yang Tao's sword failed to block completely, the sword in his hand was shaken off, and his arm was scratched, thinking that he was dead, Liu Dashan stopped chasing unwillingly. It turned out that Zhang Xinjian and Zhao Yuan had already arrived. The three of them were fighting together. Liu Dashan was fighting one against two but was not at a disadvantage. Seeing this, Yang Tao immediately picked up his sword and joined the battle...

Although Liu Dashan had shown his strength when facing Yang Tao just now, he also felt a little tired when facing the siege of three people. At this time, he had realized that this was a trap set by Zhang Xinjian for him, and immediately said bitterly:

"Zhang Xinjian, you are really brave! But no matter how hard you struggle, I will use your head to commemorate my brother today!"

Zhang Xinjian sneered when he heard this:

"Liu Dashan, this is where you will be buried today!"

"You guys are just a bunch of losers and you think you can kill me? You are really overestimating yourself!"

After saying that, Liu Dashan shook the sword in his hand, and a powerful force immediately forced Zhao Yuan and Yang Tao to retreat.

Liu Dashan took advantage of this opportunity and slapped Zhang Xinjian. At this time, Zhang Xinjian's old strength had worn out and his new strength had not yet been generated. He had nowhere to retreat and could only bite the bullet and slap Liu Dashan!
Although Zhang Xinjian is the number one shadow killer under An Miaoyi and his martial arts are very powerful, he is still far inferior to Liu Dashan. After a head-on collision, Zhang Xinjian immediately vomited blood and was knocked to the ground.

Just when Liu Dashan was about to chase, Yang Tao arrived in time to block the knife for Zhang Xinjian, and at this moment, Zhao Yuan had a pistol in his hand. Zhao Yuan, who had been a soldier for several years, did not bother to aim and immediately fired at Liu Dashan.

The short gun had a low accuracy and range, but the bullet still hit Liu Dashan’s arm at a distance of one or two meters. Liu Dashan’s arm and his entire palm were covered in blood, and he looked extremely miserable...
However, Liu Dashan was also a ruthless man. Without even a grunt, he threw a flying knife and knocked the pistol out of Zhao Yuan's hand.

Even though the short gun fell, Zhao Yuan still did not give up and immediately called out:
"Yang Tao, let's go together and kill this beast today!"

Yang Tao gritted his teeth upon hearing this, and followed Zhao Yuan to rush up and fight with Liu Dashan. The arm injury had a great impact on Liu Dashan, making him lose the prestige of fighting one against three just now, and he even began to make mistakes in a hurry.

At this moment, Zhang Xinjian, who had just been knocked to the ground by him, stood up, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and was about to join the battle again.

Liu Dashan was very angry when he saw that Zhang Xinjian was still able to stand up, but he did not lose his mind at this moment. He knew that his arm was injured and it was already a stretch for him to fight two people alone. If he fought Zhang Xinjian again, he might really be doomed!

Thinking of this, Liu Dashan's heart was filled with helplessness and frustration, but he still acted quickly. Without waiting for Zhang Xinjian to come over, he forced Zhao Yuan and Yang Tao to retreat, then flashed out of the yard and disappeared into the night.

Zhao Yuan instinctively wanted to chase after him, but was stopped by Yang Tao who remained calm.

"Lord Zhao, don't chase after the desperate enemy!"

Zhao Yuan, who was stopped, could only watch Liu Dashan disappear without a trace in the darkness, and then angrily punched the big tree in the yard!
For this operation, he really put in a lot of effort. He even persuaded Zhang Xinjian to be the bait and then brought Yang Tao to set an ambush, all for the purpose of killing Liu Dashan and using Liu Dashan's head to earn more credit for himself in the Ministry of Justice and with the Queen.

Before this battle, Zhao Yuan was full of confidence. He felt that with his careful planning, he would be able to kill Liu Dashan. But now everything is gone. The greater his confidence was before, the more depressed Zhao Yuan is now...

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“Boom!” “Boom!”

Ye Mingsheng, who was jogging in the Imperial Garden, subconsciously raised his head when he heard the thunder in the sky. He saw that the sky, which was clear just now, was now covered with dark clouds.

Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng felt a little emotional. It was already September, but the weather was still as changeable as in midsummer, leaving no room for buffer time at all.

Zhang Hu, the guard who was jogging with Ye Mingsheng, also realized the change in the weather. He immediately suggested to Ye Mingsheng:

"Your Majesty, it's going to rain soon, shall we go back?"

Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly when he heard this, then stopped jogging and walked towards the exit of the Imperial Garden with Zhang Hu and other guards.

Due to his busy official duties during this period, Ye Mingsheng had no time to exercise, so Ye Mingsheng could feel that the fat on his abdomen was becoming more and more obvious, and his physical strength was beginning to decline. Ye Mingsheng was highly alert to this and immediately prepared a jogging exercise.

Ye Mingsheng planned to gradually increase his intensity, starting with running one lap around the Imperial Garden every day, and eventually increasing to running two laps a day.

Ye Mingsheng didn't know how long he could stick to this running plan, but he would try his best to stick to it and try to get rid of the fat around his waist. Today was also the third day that Ye Mingsheng started jogging. Ye Mingsheng had already run most of the lap in Yijing. The remaining exercise could be achieved through other means. There was no need to continue running in the rain.

After Ye Mingsheng and others left the Imperial Garden, they were about to return to the Imperial study, but unexpectedly it started raining. At first the rain was not heavy and Ye Mingsheng did not take shelter from the rain, but continued to move towards the direction of the Imperial study.

However, as Ye Mingsheng moved forward, the rain was getting heavier and heavier. Because the sky was clear just now, Zhang Hu and others did not bring an umbrella, so they tried their best to shield Ye Mingsheng from the rain, but it was basically useless, and Ye Mingsheng was still soaked like a drowned chicken.

Feeling that his whole body was already wet, Ye Mingsheng did not insist, but walked into the nearest yard...

(Those who are interested can guess who you will meet in the next chapter!)