Chapter 441: Shen Jianzhong’s Sorrow (1)
Shen Jianzhong did not dare to stop for a moment, for fear of being pursued by soldiers, and ran for more than 20 miles with his men. Seeing that everyone could not hold on any longer, he stopped to let everyone take a break. Although they finally stopped, Shen Jianzhong still did not dare to show up in the nearby town openly...

Shen Jianzhong knew very well that he was able to escape from Liujing City because others had not yet learned the news and reacted. After the next few hours, others would also learn the news and know that he and Wang Kangxin were completely finished. Then countless people would chase after them and try to use his head to flatter Ye Mingsheng!
Although he wanted to leave no traces, seeing that the team members were restless, Shen Jianzhong hesitated for a moment in order to calm people down. He decided to send a few unfamiliar men to the town in batches to buy some wine, meat and non-vegetarian dishes to ease everyone's nervous mood.

Once the wine, meat and non-vegetarian dishes were bought back, although the current situation was still not optimistic, after a few glasses of wine and a few bites of meat, everyone's mood improved a little as Shen Jianzhong had expected. This also comforted Shen Jianzhong a little, and he felt that the risk was worth taking!
Just as Shen Jianzhong was about to lead his team on their way again after having a good meal and a few drinks, a captain in his team named Han Shitou, who was from the Supervisory Department, walked up to Shen Jianzhong drunkenly and asked:
"Sir, may I ask where you are taking us?"

As soon as Shen Jianzhong said this, his face darkened. He opened his mouth and wanted to scold you for being so bold. How could you, a small centurion, interfere with what I, Shen Jianzhong, do?

However, before Shen Jianzhong could finish his words, he felt that the other subordinates around him, without exception, seemed to be looking at him quietly...
There is no doubt that the more than one hundred men he brought with him are all very interested in the answer to this question which concerns their future and destiny!
Han Shitou seemed to feel the support of the people around him, and became even bolder. He mustered up the courage to bow and loudly asked Shen Jianzhong:
"I would like to ask the pacification envoy, would you like us to go to Kangshan Port and meet up with the Black Dragon Society before heading to Japan?"

This question undoubtedly spoke to the thoughts of most people in the team. Those who were eager to know the answer to the question no longer looked at Shen Jianzhong secretly as they did before, but looked directly at Shen Jianzhong, waiting for Shen Jianzhong to give them the answer.

The Supervisory Department and the Black Dragon Society, one is the national security department of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the other is a spy organization of Japan. From a fundamental standpoint, the two sides are absolutely incompatible and will fight to the death. Therefore, when in Liaoyang, although Shen Jianzhong secretly colluded with Sato Kaga of the Black Dragon Society, they had many secret deals and helped each other do things that were not easy for each other to do openly, such as eliminating dissidents...

But at least these have never been made public. Under the bright lights, the two sides are still incompatible and at war with each other!

However, since Shen Jianzhong and the remnants of the Supervisory Office fled to Gongdu, in order to accumulate strength to retaliate against Ye Mingsheng as soon as possible, Shen Jianzhong borrowed a lot of power and connections from the Black Dragon Society. There is no wall that is impenetrable. At the beginning, when you have little contact, you can still disguise yourself.

But as the contacts between them increased, it could no longer be hidden, so that now the collusion between the pacification envoy Shen Jianzhong and the Black Dragon Society has become a semi-open secret among the remnants of the Supervisory Office, and at least five or six out of ten people know it!

Many people in the Supervisory Office were indignant that Shen Jianzhong had betrayed the court and Da Zhou while they were fighting desperately on the front line while their boss was secretly colluding with the enemy and drinking happily. However, given Shen Jianzhong’s prestige and ruthless methods, everyone dared not speak out, for fear of retaliation from Shen Jianzhong...
Now that Shen Jianzhong's defeat is certain, he is leading everyone to Kangshan Port. Going to Kangshan Port means going out to sea. Considering the collusion between Shen Jianzhong and the Black Dragon Society, not only Han Shitou, but many of the more than 100 people in the team are worried that Shen Jianzhong will take everyone and run away to Japan. It was only Han Shitou, under the influence of alcohol, who took the lead in standing up and speaking out what everyone was thinking!

As the people of the Great Zhou, everyone looked down on Japan from the bottom of their hearts, so naturally they were unwilling to abandon their homes and careers to go to Japan to survive. What's more, the Liaoyang Supervisory Office and the Black Dragon Society had been fighting for so long. Among the more than one hundred people present, six or seven out of ten had the blood of Japanese pirates on their hands. If they went to the Japanese pirates' lair in Japan now, what good would they get?

Feeling the gazes of his subordinates all around him, all focused on him, even a shrewd Shen Jianzhong felt unprecedented pressure. He knew that he could no longer avoid Han Shitou’s question, and if the question was not answered well, the already impetuous morale of the team would be completely dispersed, and it might even lead to some more serious consequences...
Shen Jianzhong took a deep breath and looked around at everyone present, then pretended to be sincere and said loudly:
"Everyone here is the elite of my Liaoyang Supervisory Department. It's not easy for you to follow me, Shen Jianzhong, from Liaoyang to Gongdu. I am very grateful to you for your loyalty to the Supervisory Department and to me!"

At this point, Shen Jianzhong clasped his hands together in a pretentious manner and bowed slightly to the people around him. Although Shen Jianzhong's flexibility was a little fake, many people really fell for it. Many of them either bowed in return or said, "Sir, this is not allowed."

After winning back some of the people's hearts, Shen Jianzhong pretended to be very frank and said:
"I did have some connections with the Black Dragon Society, but that was only after I came to Gongdu! Before I came to Gongdu, I was just like everyone else and wanted to kill every single Japanese pirate. Even now, I still want to kill those bastards from the Black Dragon Society with my own hands!"

"But! Brothers! The situation is stronger than us! Ye Mingsheng wants to kill us all and leave us no chance to survive! All the brothers who stayed in Liaoyang were captured and beheaded by Ye Mingsheng without exception, and their wives, children and the elderly were also implicated..."

"We didn't come to the palace to live in fear all day long. We want to accumulate strength here to avenge our dead brothers and that bastard Ye Mingsheng! Blood debt can only be repaid with blood. We want Ye Mingsheng and the Fengwu Army to pay tenfold and a hundredfold for the sins they committed today!"

"So, for extraordinary things, we must take extraordinary actions. I, Shen Jianzhong, can only risk the world's disapproval and have contact with the Black Dragon Society. But I, Shen Jianzhong, can swear to heaven that my contact with the Black Dragon Society is not selfish at all, let alone for personal gain. If I break my oath, I, Shen Jianzhong, will be punished by heaven and earth, and my body will be destroyed!"

Hearing that Shen Jianzhong had made such a vicious oath, everyone was shocked and seemed to be able to accept the reasons given by Shen Jianzhong. Some people who were already loyal to Shen Jianzhong also began to speak for him.

"It's really hard for Lord Shen!"

"Yes, if it weren't for you who endured the humiliation, it would be even more difficult for us to stay in the palace!"

"Lord Shen is so willing to compromise and serve the public, but he is still doubted by his own people like you, Han Shitou. People's hearts are really not as they used to be!"·················
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As these people talked, most of the people in the team looked at Shen Jianzhong's expression, and many of them changed and returned to their previous state. Han Shitou seemed to be half sober at this time, and seemed to be a little scared of what he had done. He could only stammer and worry there, not knowing what to say.

Seeing this, Shen Jianzhong felt relieved, and then quickly continued:

"Shen knows what everyone is worried about. Please rest assured that after we arrive at Kangshan Port, I will never lead you to flee to Japan. I will take everyone back to Liaoyang by boat, back to our hometown!"

When the voice fell and they heard that they were going back to Liaoyang, everyone was immediately excited. However, the next second, they seemed to have thought of something and began to whisper. Then someone in the crowd mustered up the courage to speak:
"Sir Shen, how dare we return to Liaoyang with Ye Mingsheng here? If we go back to Liaoyang, it will be a dead end..."

In response to this question, Shen Jianzhong smiled and nodded and said:

"That's a good question. Liaoyang has now completely fallen into Ye Mingsheng's clutches, and the people are suffering!"

"If we go back now, it seems like we are walking into a trap! But you know what Ye Mingsheng said to me when he was by my side, that is, the most dangerous place may be the safest place, so we have to play a trick on Ye Mingsheng now!"

"I will give them a taste of their own medicine! No one could have imagined that we would return to Liaoyang now. Ye Mingsheng would never have thought that I would dare to return to Liaoyang! So returning to Liaoyang now is the safest option!"

"When we get to Liaoyang, we will split up into small groups and hide in various towns and villages in Liaoyang! When Ye Mingsheng leads his troops into the pass in the spring of next year, we will act together to lead the people to rise up. A single spark can start a prairie fire. We must overthrow the tyrannical rule of Ye Mingsheng's Fengwu Army! Save hundreds of thousands of people in Liaoyang from the water and fire!"

Shen Jianzhong spoke these words forcefully and passionately. People who don't know him well might think that Shen Jianzhong is a generous hero who serves his country and his people. Little do they know that he is actually a big intelligence chief who has been scheming and scheming for half his life, using all kinds of insidious means to the extreme...
Although these words sounded a little strange coming from Shen Jianzhong's mouth, it must be said that Shen Jianzhong's words seemed to make sense when heard. Combined with Shen Jianzhong's past prestige in the Supervisory Department, the more than 100 men around him almost all believed the big plan that Shen Jianzhong had drawn for them to defeat Ye Mingsheng.

The subordinates who had hope again came to Shen Jianzhong excitedly. Even Han Shitou, who had just questioned Shen Jianzhong, knelt down obediently in front of Shen Jianzhong.
He cried bitterly and said that he was blinded by greed and didn't know his place and recklessly questioned Shen Jianzhong. He kowtowed more than ten times in a row, until his head was broken, and begged for Shen Jianzhong's forgiveness...
In response to this, Shen Jianzhong started to put on a show. Not only did he easily accept Han Shitou's apology, he also smiled and comforted Han Shitou for a while.

However, after this little episode, when everyone had rested for a while, Shen Jianzhong quietly called over a trusted subordinate and whispered:

"When we get to Kangshan Port, we'll find a chance to create an accident and kill that bastard Han Shitou! Do it cleanly and beautifully so that no one can see the flaws!"

"Yes!"

The subordinate responded in a deep voice:

Patting his men on the shoulders, Shen Jianzhong's eyes flashed with murderous intent. Han Shitou actually dared to offend him in public and almost made him deserted by his friends and relatives. Although he knew that killing him now would easily arouse other people's attention, Shen Jianzhong was still determined to kill him to vent his hatred and vent the frustration and depression of the past few days.

As for whether others noticed it or not, Shen Jianzhong couldn't care less for the moment. If they did, it would be like killing a chicken to scare the monkeys. With Han Shitou as a precedent, Shen Jianzhong still had to see who else among those around him dared to take the lead in causing trouble...
What Shen Jianzhong said to everyone today was half true and half false. When he had not yet become the pacification commissioner of the Liaoyang Supervisory Office, he colluded with Sato Kaga of the Black Dragon Society and killed his rival Wang Zhongsen. After becoming the pacification commissioner, he colluded with Sato Kaga and gained a lot of benefits for himself. He was not at all as righteous and public-spirited as he said!
However, there was one thing he said that was true, and that was that he really did not plan to take everyone to Japan to escape Ye Mingsheng's pursuit!

Although there were many collusions and exchanges of interests between him and Sato Kaga, the two sides simply used each other and had almost no personal relationship at all.

Although he had fled to Gongdu before, Sato Kaga was still willing to cooperate with him because he still had some power in the Gongdu Supervisory Office and could also deal with the threat from Ye Mingsheng. But if he wanted to go to Japan now, it would mean that he would have no use to Sato Kaga...
Therefore, if he really planned to go to Japan, Ye Mingsheng would not have to kill him. Sato Kaga of the Black Dragon Society would have taken action to chop off his head!
(End of this chapter)