Volume 1: Zhu Xian Town Crisis Chapter 83: Three Returns to Chu Zhou

  Inside the post house in Chuzhou City.

  "How could this be? Actually lost hand? Letting that little rascal Yake Yun escape? Were you all raised on dry rice?" Qin Xi angrily shouted at Zheng Song, the housekeeper who had returned to report.

  Zheng Song said with a wronged expression: "Young Master, we indeed set up ambushes in various places according to your orders. Who would have thought that Xiao Da's subordinate Xie Dong would launch a preemptive attack before Yue Yun and the others had even entered the valley, causing us to fail to intercept Yue Yun."

  "Zheng Song, don't you dare shift the blame! It was clearly your subordinate who failed to clean up Yue Yun's scouts, allowing them to escape towards Hezhou. I'm afraid that the Song army in Hezhou will come to their aid, which is why we were forced to launch early." Xie Dong's face turned red with rage as he heard Zheng Song push all the blame onto him.

  "Xie Dong, can't you just wait a bit longer? My people have told me that Yue Yun's men are already on their way! I don't believe you can't even wait for a moment!" Zheng Song said with an angry face.

  Xie Dong retorted, "You weren't at the valley entrance at that time, do you know what really happened? Yue Yun only sent a dozen or so people into the valley, and they were walking slowly while searching for any unusual situations. I was also afraid of being discovered, so I launched a preemptive attack..."

  "Alright! Alright! We're all together, don't quarrel to the point of being red-faced and ear-red. It's just one failure, isn't it? There will be plenty of opportunities in the future!" Xiao Yi saw that continuing to argue would be pointless. Looking at the two people's posture, he didn't know when they would stop arguing, so he hastily spoke up to mediate.

  Zheng Song and Xie Dong finally stopped talking.

  Qin Xi then asked the question he was concerned about: "Zheng Song, have any of our people been captured?"

  "There were two people captured, but they are our carefully trained dead men who have poison in their mouths. They are extremely loyal to Master Xiang and the young master. Once captured, they will bite open the poison and kill themselves, so there's no need to worry about them leaking secrets! Moreover, we took away all the dead and wounded at the valley entrance during our retreat, leaving no traces behind!" Zheng Song said with a bow.

  "Then I can rest assured!" Qin Xi let out a long sigh, he was just afraid that if the matter leaked out, his father would be blamed. Although this was only an unsuccessful event, if it were to be seized by Zhao Ding and Zhang Ju's parties in the court, it would be very unfavorable for his own father.

  "Prince Qin, originally the condition we agreed on was that you would kill Yue Yun and then reduce the annual tribute of your Southern Dynasty. But now you haven't killed Yue Yun, so this tribute..." Xiao Yi glanced at Qin Yi coldly and said.

  "Let's discuss this later, Xiao. For now, let's head to Lin'an." Qin Xi hastily changed the subject: "Originally, my father sent me to Chu Prefecture to meet with you because there are many prying eyes in Lin'an and he was afraid that our meeting would attract the attention of the Zhao and Zhang factions. That's why I used pursuing Li Yu Rong as a cover and followed her to Chu Prefecture. But now your identity has also been exposed, and I see that there are many more people lurking around the post house. If we occasionally meet, it won't be a problem, but if we meet several times, it will surely raise suspicions among people like Han Shizhong and Liu Mingcheng in the city. You see..."

  "Alright! I understand what you mean! How about we set off the day after tomorrow?" Xiao Yi said impatiently.

  "Xiao Daren, why must it be the day after tomorrow?" Qin Xi heard this and was slightly taken aback. He had originally planned to set out tomorrow.

  "Heh heh, Chuzhou Langui's talented woman Xiaotao Hong has not yet tasted the freshness, but she is already infatuated with Benmou's poetic talent. I estimate that in these two days, she will be willing to surrender to Benmou!" Xiao Yi said proudly.

  "Oh, I see. Then let's wait for two more days. I hope General Xiao will achieve great success and bring back a beautiful woman!" Qin Xi hurriedly congratulated with a hint of mocking smile at the corner of his mouth. However, Xiao Yi didn't notice it.

  Zheng Song and Fan Tong behind him were also holding back their laughter, trying not to make a sound.

  "Haha! Alright, alright, it's still the women of Southern Dynasty who are gentle and considerate, charming to the bone. The women of my Da Jin are far inferior, they just don't understand romance!" Xiao Yi sighed.

  "Then we won't disturb General Xiao's rest, I'll take my leave first!" Qin Yi said, and then led Zheng Song and the others to quickly leave the post house.

  After leaving the inn, he and Zheng Song and Fan Tong burst out laughing.

  "Good fellow! That Xiao Yi actually thinks Xiaotao Hong is a talented woman, it's laughable!" Zheng Song laughed loudly.

  Fan Tong also smiled and said, "Xiao Tao Hong is very famous in Chu State for being good at deceiving people out of their money. She often disguises herself as a talented woman, a damsel in distress, or a chaste widow to swindle wealthy travelers who come from afar. I've heard about her before I came to Chu State. But Xiao Yi was completely enchanted by her the moment he saw her. It's probably because there are so few women in the Jin State brothels who understand literature that he actually thought Xiao Tao Hong was a talented woman."

  "Mind your own business! If he's really infatuated with Xiaotao Hong, I wouldn't mind buying her out and then giving her to Xiao Yi. As long as he can lower the price!" Qin Xi said with a faint smile.

  "Hmm, then let's wait for two more days!" Fan Tong also nodded in agreement.

  The next day at dusk, a group of horse merchants came from the west gate of Chu State, with more than thirty people, holding wolf-tooth clubs and curved knives commonly used by Jin people. They drove over seventy horses and told the city gate guards that they were transporting horses from the north.

  The Great Song lacked horses, so the border towns were lenient towards horse merchants who smuggled horses from the Jin State.

  It was only recently that Chu State had been infiltrated by Jin army spies who, under the guise of selling horses, brought in infected horses and caused a plague to break out throughout the city. As a result, the city gate's inspection of horses has become even more meticulous, especially looking for sick or dead horses mixed in with the others.

  However, the horses brought by these horse merchants were all healthy, except for a few with knife wounds and arrow injuries. There was no sign of illness among them. The trunks they carried contained clothes commonly worn by people from the north.

  The officer guarding the west gate carefully examined the wounded horse and found that there was no festering wound, so he felt a little relieved, but still asked sternly: "How did these horses get injured?"

  "Alas! General, we came from Yan territory and encountered many bandits on the way. Near Xuzhou, we were robbed by mountain bandits who wanted to seize our horses by force. We fought back desperately and barely escaped with our lives. However, several of our horses were injured by the bandits' swords and arrows... these horses will probably not fetch a good price now!" The horse merchant sighed and lamented.

  "Alright, alright! You can enter the city now! I think these few horses are not seriously injured, they will recover after a few days of rest!" The officer didn't notice anything unusual. He waved his hand, signaling the horse merchants to drive the horses into the city gate.

  The leader of the horse merchants immediately took off his hat, smiled fawningly and made a bow, then led a group of subordinates to drive the horses into Chu Prefecture.

  They found a guest house near the post house and stayed there. One of them, a young horseman named Fang, who covered most of his face with a large hat, said to a thin companion beside him: "Guan Ling, take a few people to keep an eye on the post house and see what Xiao Yi is up to."

  The thin little companion nodded hastily and then led several other grooms away.

  Then the young horseman wearing a big hat said to another sturdy and dark-skinned companion in a low voice: "Niu Tong, send someone to keep an eye on Qin Yi's residence. I think Qin Yi came to Chu State, it's probably not just for pursuing Li girl that simple. Since he sat at the same table with Golden Envoy Xiao Yi at the banquet, there must be some connection between them."

  Niu Tong also hastily nodded and then led several people away.

  At this moment, the young horseman took off his big hat and revealed a handsome white face. It was not Yue Yun but someone else. He led a group of elite soldiers disguised as horse merchants to sneak back into Chu State, just to give Xiao Yi a fatal blow.