Chapter 105: The Banquet's Sudden Change (Part 1)

  "Hmm!" The young guard nodded, beckoning the city gate officer to come over. Then he said in a low voice: "Two brothers, these five boxes of silver are worth at least several thousand taels. Even if we take out a few hundred taels less, it won't be too noticeable. Would the young master or General Tian still need to weigh them one by one? At present, there are only three of us here, why not take some out and divide it among the three of us?"

  Yang Bo and the city gate officer's eyes lit up at the same time, they followed Tian Shizhong in Huainan, not only eating empty salaries, embezzling military materials, but also robbing civilians' property, but Zhang Jun was always laissez-faire, just throwing out a sentence: "Don't make it known to everyone, as long as no one dies, that's fine."

  After arriving in Xiangyang, the surrounding Yue family army did not plunder or disturb the people. All the materials in the army were fully distributed to the neighboring troops, and if they wanted to deduct or embezzle, they would immediately become the target of public criticism. Moreover, there were still 7,000 original soldiers from the front army in the city, who also didn't have the guts to do so, and had long been ashamed.

  Yue Yun's young guard actually came up with a get-rich-quick scheme. They could get so much silver in one go, how could they not be tempted.

  The greedy desire filled the sky, and neither of them thought carefully about how Yue Yun's guard could behave so abnormally. They also thought that this young guard was like themselves, seeing a rare opportunity to make a fortune, and would not miss it.

  However, Yang Bo's son had more concerns than the city gate officer. He thought for a moment and asked in a low voice: "What about the soldiers carrying boxes and the soldiers guarding the city gate?"

  The city gate officer smiled and said, "General Yang, you're being too cautious. We can just give these people two taels of silver each and that's it. After all, our superiors get to eat meat, while we underlings are content with just drinking soup - what can they possibly complain about?"

  Yang Bo thought for a moment and couldn't help but smile: "It seems I was overthinking."

  At this time, the young guard had already ordered ten soldiers of the Imperial Guard to carry the box to a quiet place beside the city gate.

  The officer in charge of the city gate ordered his subordinates to guard the gate properly and not to leave their posts, then followed Yang Boson with this young attendant to this place.

  They were just about to open the box and look inside when they saw the young guard pointing behind himself and exclaiming, "Who's there?"

  Yang Bo's son turned his head to look, but there was nothing. He knew something was wrong and was about to draw the knife from his waist when he felt a severe pain in his lower back, then saw a dagger piercing through his own back, all the way to the hilt...

  "Ah!"

  He let out a miserable cry, his eyes filled with intense unwillingness and yearning for life as he fell over, fresh blood spraying wildly from his waist and dyeing the ground red.

  The city gate officer suddenly stretched out his hand and was about to draw his sword, exclaiming: "Not good! They are——"

  Before his words had fallen, he felt a flash of cold light in front of him, and a large knife came towards his neck.

  He was about to lower his head and dodge, but suddenly felt someone grab his arm from behind like a iron clip, making him unable to move.

  Only the bright big knife was seen to have cut through a beautiful arc in the air, flying over from the neck of this city gate officer. His head flew into the air with a stream of fresh blood, his eyes still wide open as if he couldn't believe he had already entered the realm of ghosts.

  At this time, the ten Beidi soldiers who were originally carrying boxes opened the five boxes and took out several rockets and longbows. Then they rushed to the young guard and bowed: "General Guan, everything is ready!"

  That young guard was Guan Ling. He immediately said in a low voice: "Go! Hurry up and seize the city gate! Let our people in!"

  In the banquet hall of the governor's mansion, Tian Shizhong finally opened the box in front of everyone. However, unexpectedly, there was no silver with white flowers inside, but a lean man suddenly jumped out, holding a blue gleaming dagger. Amidst the crowd's cries of surprise, he swiftly placed the blade against Tian Shizhong's neck.

  Just then, Yue Yun shouted: "Take action!" The guards who were originally carrying the boxes rushed to the five boxes and opened the lids.

  Four lean men jumped out of it again and distributed the blades in the box to a group of companions around them.

  These men let out a loud shout and immediately followed Yue Yun to kill Tian Shi's trusted military officers.

  This sudden change left the officers under Tian Shiming unprepared. They saw that Yue Yun had only brought ten box-carrying guards, and they didn't take any precautions. During the banquet, they wanted to drink and eat meat, but it was inconvenient with their weapons, so they handed them over to their personal soldiers, who were now all outside.

  Yue Yun and others came to kill with knives, they had to fight back while retreating, but there were many tables and benches in the hall, and the wine and dishes had not been removed, making it inconvenient to escape. In an instant, many people had already fallen to the ground with knife wounds, bleeding profusely.

  Cries of agony and curses filled the air.

  At this moment, the soldiers outside heard the killing sounds inside the house and knew something was wrong. They rushed in hastily, only to see their superiors mostly lying in a pool of blood, with those who were still alive fleeing in disarray.

  They were shocked at the sight and hastily raised their long guns, preparing to rush towards Yue Yun and the others.

  But then Yuke Yun shouted loudly: "Halt!"

  They looked up to see Yue Yun holding a large knife at Tian Shizhong's neck, coldly saying: "Tian Shizhong has been captured by me! Don't you hurry up and throw down your weapons and surrender!"

  Those bodyguards were at a loss when several officers came to their senses, snatched the weapons from their own bodyguards, and shouted: "Everyone shoulder to shoulder, kill these traitorous soldiers! They have already killed many of our brothers!"

  These personal soldiers were originally people without a master, just as they were about to move forward, they heard Yue Yun's face twisted and his hand grasping a steel knife, saying in a stern voice: "Don't take Tian Shizhong's life anymore?"

  Tian Shizhong only felt that the big knife on Yue Yun's neck seemed to be getting closer and closer to his own neck, while the blue dagger on the other side, which looked terrifying, also seemed somewhat unstable.

  He immediately shouted in fright: "All of you retreat! Don't you still have me, your governor, in your eyes?"

  The soldiers were stunned for a moment and looked back at their officers.

  Those officers were also drenched in sweat and, after bowing to Tian Shizhong, trembled with fear and said: "Governor, we..."

  "Tell them to lay down their arms and get out of the house!" Yue Yun shouted sternly.

  "Good! Good!" Tian Shizhong was so frightened that his soul left his body, and he hastily ordered the officers and soldiers under him: "Did you hear? Quickly retreat! Retreat to outside the house!"

  Those officials and soldiers looked at each other, then slowly backed out of the house.

  Tian Shizhong only then realized that the two blades were a little farther away from his neck skin.

  He panted heavily, a cold glint flashing in his eyes as he asked: "Yue Da Gongzi, I treated you to good wine and meat, but why did you kill my subordinates again and come to hold me hostage? Although in the military camp's protectorate, your position is higher than mine, but in terms of official rank, I am a legitimate fifth-grade Xiangyang Governor, while you are only an eighth-grade clerk. This is a case of a subordinate offending a superior, and I will report it to the Imperial Secretariat - Prime Minister Qin will not let you off lightly!"

  Yue Yun listened and smiled coldly, thinking to herself that it seemed Tian Shizhong indeed had some connection with Qin Hui. Even if he wasn't a member of Qin's party, he must be under his control; otherwise, Tian wouldn't have used Qin to threaten her.

  He said with a slightly indignant tone: "Tian Shizhong, you have a big nerve, daring to detain the army's grain and not issue it, and also arresting General Tang and over a thousand brothers of my Yue family army. This is an unprecedented event in my Yue family army, I don't know where you got such courage to commit this treacherous act!"

  Tian Shizhong knew that the matter of detaining Tang Huai had already been exposed as soon as he said this. At present, both sides have torn their faces, and the only thing that can make Yue Yun throw a rat into the device is: Tang Huai is still under his control.

  He rolled his eyes and immediately had an idea, saying in a deliberately calm tone: "Young Master, you're taking a great risk alone, isn't it just to get me to release the grain? Why don't we make a deal: I agree to release the grain and let General Tang and his men go. You also let me go, and I'll let you take all the grain and grass out of the city, how about that?"

  "Haha! Do you think I'm a three-year-old kid?" Yueshan burst out laughing three times, with a sharp glint in her eyes.

  He stared straight at Tian Shizhong and said, "You are now my captive, with no capital to discuss conditions. Cooperate well with me, and I might spare your dog's life. If you try any tricks, don't blame me for not being polite! I, Yue Yun, have never been soft on killing people!"

  Tian Shizhong gazed at the blood-soaked corpses on the ground, and he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart. However, he still forced himself to say: "Young Master, Tian's life may be in your hands, but if you want to transport such a large amount of grain to Zhuxiantown, you must prepare large carts, carters, and arrange for escorting soldiers and horses. With just these three hundred people, it's probably not enough. Although Tian is not talented, he can help Young Master make arrangements for all this."

  "Oh? You think I only have about 300 people?" Yue Yun's mouth corner revealed a hint of a profound smile.

  Could it be that there were still people and horses behind him? Tian Shizhong only felt a tightening in his heart.