Chapter 86: Withdrawal from Handan (4)

  Although the decision to withdraw from Handan has been made, there are still many things to be handled, among which the most important one is to rescue Di Jin, because Li Mu's promise to Mozi's disciples only has one day left.

  It has now been confirmed that Zhai Jin is not being held in the great prison of Zhao, but rather is being held in Guo Kai's mansion. Last time they robbed grain, Li Mu still hoped for a turn of events, so Gao Yuan only robbed back the grain and did not rush into Guo Kai's mansion to rescue people, but now there is no such scruple.

  The next morning, Gao Yuan and Li Yinghong led three thousand soldiers to Guo Kai's mansion again. At this time, Guo Kai was still hiding in the palace and had not returned to his mansion. Of course, Li Mu had already deployed troops to guard the gates of the palace, so even if Guo Kai wanted to come out, he couldn't do it.

  The current head of the Guo family is Guo Kai's eldest son, Guo Haoyong. Since Guo Kai fled to the palace, Guo Haoyong has been scolding his father in his heart, feeling that he was too unscrupulous. He ran away himself but left the whole family behind without care. However, Guo Haoyong had no other choice and could only order the closure of the mansion gates, arming all family members and strengthening their vigilance. There are over 2,000 people in the Guo mansion, including guests, with over 1,000 able-bodied men. Excluding the elderly and children, they can still gather around 700-800 people. After guarding for two days without incident, Guo Haoyong slightly let out a sigh of relief, thinking that this time they might be able to get away with it.

  But unexpectedly, they still came. Although Guo Yong also ordered the family and guests to resist with all their might, the household servants of the Guo Mansion were naturally no match for the regular army. Moreover, after the banquet in the palace, Guo Kai's guests were also disheartened and unwilling to make further efforts for Guo Kai. Therefore, as soon as the two sides clashed, they were defeated and fled in all directions. Subsequently, Gao Yuan ordered the gates of the Guo Mansion to be broken open, and he led his troops into Guo Kai's mansion. The family members and guests also surrendered one after another.

  Although Guo Yong's name has a "brave" character, he is actually very afraid of death. As soon as Gao Yuan led his troops into the mansion, his family and guests were unable to resist and immediately knelt down to beg for mercy.

  Actually, Gao Yuan didn't want to wipe out the entire Guo family, but since they had delivered themselves to his doorstep, he wouldn't let them off either. He was still unsure where Zhai Jin was being held captive. Moreover, if the people from the Guo residence were to capture Zhai Jin as a hostage, it would be troublesome for him. With Guo Yong in his hands, things would be much easier. So Gao Yuan immediately ordered Shi Jun to seize Guo Yong and bring him before him, asking: "Where are you holding Zhai Jin captive?"

  At this point, Guo Yong naturally did not dare to conceal it and hastily said: "I was locked in the dungeon."

  Gao Yuan Dao: "Alright, take me to the dungeon. As long as I find Di Jin, I won't kill you."

  Kuang Yong listened and was overjoyed in his heart, hastily saying: "Good, good, I'll take you there."

  Gao Yuan immediately ordered the soldiers to take control of Guo's mansion, and everyone else had to stay in their rooms without being allowed to move around freely. He also summoned soldiers to prevent anyone from bullying Guo's family members. Then, he made Li Yinghong pay a fine and lead the way, before bringing 100 soldiers to escort Guo Yong to the dungeon.

  The gate was opened, and indeed, Zhai Jin was locked inside. He sat on the ground with his hands and feet chained. Gao Yuan also stepped forward and said: "Zhai Gongzi, we are here to rescue you under the orders of Wu An Jun."

  Di Jin nodded and stood up, saying: "Thank you."

  Guo Yong was very clever and immediately ordered the jailer's family to unlock Zhai Jin's handcuffs. However, in the urgency of the moment, the jailer's family couldn't find the key, so Guo Yong kicked them several times and scolded them, saying "Useless slaves, it's a waste feeding you!" He then repeatedly sent people to search for the key.

  Gao Yuan furrowed his brow and said, "No need to go through so much trouble, I have my own way." With that, he drew out his military knife and swung it fiercely, only to hear the sound of "clang clang clang" a few times, cutting off all the chains binding Zhai Jin's hands and feet.

  Di Jin couldn't help but feel a little moved, saying: "Good sword, good swordsmanship."

  General Gao returned his sword to its scabbard and smiled: "Zhai Zhuozi is overpraising, how are you doing?"

  Di Jin moved his hands and feet, smiled lightly: "It's okay, we Mohist disciples are used to being simple and frugal. This little hardship doesn't count as anything. In fact, the food here in prison is even better than what I usually eat."

  Gao Yuan couldn't help but feel a little admiration for this guy, who could still joke and smile at a time like this. He was indeed a unique individual. Just then, Wang Hu rushed over and whispered in Gao Yuan's ear, "Sir, we've found the treasury in Guo Kai's mansion, and there are plenty of good things inside. Would you like to take a look?"

  Gao Yuan's heart moved, and he had the soldiers bring Di Jin and Guo Yong to the front hall, while he followed Wang Hu to the warehouse.

  The wealth in the warehouse was accumulated by Guo Kai over several decades, and of course, there were many good things. There were five large boxes of gold, four of which were full, and only one was half a box. Estimated to be around 4,500 taels, while copper coins had more than 100 boxes, which should be worth tens of millions. In addition, there were dozens of boxes of jade walls, thousands of pieces of silk fabrics, hundreds of animal hides, hundreds of barrels of fine wine, and a large number of pearls and bronze utensils. Calculated together, the total value should be close to 10,000 taels of gold. Such a huge fortune is comparable to the treasury of the Zhao State.

  Although Gao Yuan did not want to exterminate the Guo family, he would not let go of their wealth. Following Shen Zhi's suggestion, Li Mu retreated to Dai Commandery and used it as his base to regroup and prepare for war against the Qin army. However, relying solely on Dai Commandery was definitely insufficient to support a large-scale war effort, so a huge amount of financial resources were needed. The current batch of wealth in Guo Kuo's mansion was exactly what they needed, and since it all belonged to Guo Kuo anyway, Gao Yuan decided to take everything. He immediately ordered his men to bring away all the items from the warehouse, leaving nothing behind.

  Li Yinghong also couldn't help but smile when she saw this, originally according to her idea, it would be best to kill the entire Guo Kai family, so she was somewhat dissatisfied with Gao Yuan's approach, but seeing Gao Yuan order all of Guo Kai's wealth moved away, she finally felt a bit better.

  After a flurry of activity, the wealth and goods from Guo Kai's residence were finally completely cleared out. Fortunately, this time Gao Yuan brought 3,000 soldiers, and Guo Kai's residence was not far from Li Mu's mansion; otherwise, this number would really have been insufficient. As Guo Yong watched his family's wealth being carried away one by one by the soldiers, his face turned deathly pale, his lips trembled, and he swayed unsteadily on his feet, yet he did not dare to speak. In the end, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.

  He was actually quite good, but later Guo Kai returned to his own mansion and looked at the empty warehouse. He suddenly spat out blood on the spot and fainted. Later, he lay in bed for more than half a month before he could get up.

  After leaving the Guo Mansion, Di Jin bowed to Gao Yuan and Li Yinghong, saying: "This time I was able to escape, thanks to the help of Wu Anjun and the two of you. Great kindness doesn't need to be thanked, in the future if there's a chance for me, Di Jin, to be useful, I will not decline. As long as Wu Anjun gives the order, Zhao Mo's tens of thousands of Mohist disciples can all serve Wu Anjun."

  Gao Yuan nodded and said, "Ju Zi's words are heavy. Wu An Jun rescued Ju Zi without seeking repayment from him. However, during the time Ju Zi was imprisoned, the Mohist disciples had planned to use force to rescue Ju Zi by storming the prison. Therefore, we hope that Ju Zi can restrain the Mohist disciples and maintain order in Handan City, so as not to cause chaos. Moreover, Wu An Jun will leave Handan tomorrow, and from then on, please be careful yourself."

  "Alright, please be at ease, I will rush back to the Mo family now and definitely restrain the Mo family's disciples, not letting them cause trouble. Tonight, I will go visit Wu Anjun and thank him in person. I bid farewell to you two first." With that, Di Jin bowed deeply to the two of them and turned around to leave.

  Gao Yuan and Li Yinghong also led the soldiers back to Li Mu's mansion. The goods brought from Guo Kai's house were naturally placed in the courtyard, as they would be packed up and loaded onto carts soon, following the main troops to withdraw from Handan.

  At this time, Ning Qi also heard that Xun was rushing out, took a look at the full yard of things, and couldn't help but be startled, saying: "How did you bring back so many things?"

  Li Yinghong smiled and said: "Uncle Ning, we've moved everything out of the warehouse at Guo Kai's place and brought it all back."

  Gao Yuan also said: "After we retreated to Dai Prefecture, there were many places where money was needed. This sum of money happened to be useful, anyway, it was all looted from the Governor's mansion."

  Ning Qi's eyes lit up and he said, "This is great."

  Because Ning Qi was the general manager of Li Mu's mansion, all the income and expenses in the mansion were his responsibility. Of course, after retreating to Dai Prefecture, he had to consider how to arrange things in order to establish Li Mu's governing order, maintain the huge military expenses, and the expenditures must be enormous. These matters required a lot of money, but there was not much money available for use in Li Mu's mansion at present. Although Gao Yuan took out more than 3,000 taels of gold, it was all used in the Jingdian and Fanwu camps. Therefore, Ning Qi was also worried about this matter. Now that Gao Yuan and Li Xuanhong brought back such a large sum of money, it was just what they needed, and it also solved a big problem for Ning Qi.

  Gao Yuan Dao: "Ning General Manager, hurry up and order people to sort out these things and load them onto the vehicle, preparing for withdrawal tomorrow."

  Ning Qi also nodded and said: "Don't worry, just leave it to me. With this sum of money, things will be much easier when we arrive at Dai Prefecture."

  "By the way, what about Father? Where is he now?"

  Ning Que said: "The general is currently hosting guests in the main hall?"

  Li Yinghong said: "Guests have arrived, are they Wen Qing and her sisters?"

  Ning Qi shook his head and said, "No, it's someone sent by Young Master Jia."

  Li Yinghong was taken aback and said, "Why did he send someone to see Father? He and Father have never had any deep dealings before. Why would he send someone to see Father at this time?"

  Ning Qi smiled and said, "He sent someone to persuade Generalissimo to lead troops into the palace, kill Guo Kai, depose King Zhao, and establish Gong Shu Jia as the new King of Zhao."

  Li Yinghong also couldn't help but say, "He's thinking beautifully, wanting to take advantage of the situation and gain an easy victory?" Turning her head to Gao Yuan, she said, "Let's go, we'll go take a look." As she spoke, she pulled Gao Yuan towards the main hall.