mtl008 Chapter 185 Stirring up the situation
Chapter 185 Stirring up the situation
After wandering around like this for two days, I finally got some clues.
There were many merchants traveling to Yiyong Township. At first, nothing could be found out until Master Wang was mentioned. It turned out that many people remembered him. This group of people spoke with an accent from other places. They were all tall and strong, and were very rude when drinking and eating meat.
He doesn't look like a merchant at all, but more like a hunter, speaking in a rough voice.
After losing the goods, this group of people wandered around Yiyong Township. No one knew what they were doing, but it was speculated that they were waiting for the government to close the case.
"If you're looking for someone, you'll definitely meet him in the tavern on East Street." The waiter at the inn pointed in a direction to Zong Yanli and others.
"Thank you." Zong Yanli happily took out a few copper coins to reward the waiter, then followed the direction given by the waiter. Sure enough, he saw the tavern he mentioned. He then asked the owner of the tavern, who nodded to indicate that such a person did exist.
"Your arrival is unfortunate. The king's army hasn't appeared for three to five days. I wonder if they have already left Yiyong Township." The tavern owner said angrily, "This group of people can drink a lot and are generous, but it's a pity that they are from afar..."
"Have you heard what they are talking about?" Zong Yanli asked with a slight frown.
"It seems like they are talking about buying something..." The tavern owner shook his head, and suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he clapped his hands and said, "Oh, oh, the last time Master Wang came to drink, he had no money on him, so he took something as collateral."
The tavern owner led Zong Yanli and the others to the warehouse. There was a box tied up with ropes in the warehouse. The owner pointed at the box in front of him and said, "I see that Master Wang is always willing to pay. I'm afraid he has encountered some difficulties and is in financial difficulties for the time being."
"He said he would use this thing as collateral and redeem it when he had money in the future, so I didn't look at it much." Honesty is the basis of business, and the coming and going of people is a kind of friendship. The tavern owner did not open the box, and just considered it as a help for safekeeping.
"General, it's weapons." Under Zong Yanli's instruction, Wen Nian stepped forward and untied the ropes that bound the wooden box. After opening the box, he saw that it was filled with weapons, which were the Wuhuan's military equipment.
"Sir, I know nothing!" The tavern owner turned pale with fright when he saw the box of swords and spoke hurriedly.
Zong Yanli narrowed his eyes and pondered for a moment before saying, "Restore this box to its original state."
Zong Yanli turned to look at the tavern owner and said, "Master Wang left this thing here, so he will not go far."
She nodded slightly and said, "Today, just pretend that we have never been here. If the king's master comes back to redeem this item, immediately send someone to Fubao Inn to report the news. Do you understand?"
The tavern owner probably felt that this matter was unusual, and when he heard Wen Nian calling Zong Yanli a general, he was very nervous for a moment and nodded to show that he understood.
Zong Yanli naturally would not place all his bets on an innkeeper. After leaving the tavern, he went to ask County Magistrate Cao for people. He specially arranged for two people to dress up as peddlers and wander around the tavern in case of emergency.
Zong Yanli and Wen Nian also dressed up and came to the tavern to buy wine in the morning and afternoon respectively.
After three days of waiting without any movement, Zong Yanli even began to doubt whether his inference was wrong and those people no longer intended to take back the weapons?
Just when Zong Yanli was about to expand the search range, a turning point occurred.
"Who is it? Who is it?" There were few pedestrians on the road due to the thunderstorm. Qian Linggen had closed the door of the pub early and was settling the bill at the counter when he suddenly heard someone knocking on the door outside. He walked over muttering to himself. It was dark outside and raining heavily. Who would come to the pub?
Qian Linggen walked over and opened the door a crack, and saw three people standing outside. They were all wearing straw raincoats and straw hats, and they looked very tall and strong because of their dark complexion.
Qian Linggen's heart skipped a beat and he was afraid to open the door.
"Boss Qian." It was not until Qian Linggen heard the familiar voice that the man standing in the front reached out and lifted his hat to reveal his face.
"Ouch!" Qian Linggen's eyes widened in surprise. He was panicked for a moment and said quickly, "Is it Master Wang? Come in quickly, come in quickly..."
Qian Linggen invited Master Wang to come in, and said with deep sigh: "Where did you go to make a fortune? Why haven't I seen you for so many days? Come and sit down. I'll heat up a pot of wine for you!"
Master Wang walked into the tavern, all wet, with water dripping from his hat. He raised his hand to stop Qian Lingen and said, "I'm busy today. I'm here to redeem my things."
As Master Wang spoke, he reached out from his bosom and took out a wet purse and handed it to Qian Lingen. Qian Lingen looked down and swallowed nervously, saying, "I'll keep that thing safe for you! Wait, I'll get it for you right away."
"It really takes up space. You should have come and taken it away earlier." Qian Linggen said as he turned and went to the warehouse in the backyard.
Qian Lingen had been gone for a long time. Master Wang waited for a while and suddenly seemed to sense something was wrong. He felt a creepy feeling. He lowered his brows vigilantly and walked forward, wanting to go to the backyard of the tavern.
I didn't expect that just as I made the move, I heard footsteps coming from the back door.
The steady and gentle pace was completely different from Qian Linggen's.
Master Wang looked intently and saw a man bending over and walking out of the short doorway. He was wearing very ordinary martial arts clothes and holding a long black sword in his hand. The candlelight reflected on his face, revealing his appearance.
He has a straight and slender figure, his eyebrows and eyes contain a stern look, his face has a heroic and handsome look, and his dark pupils are as sharp as an eagle.
Master Wang unconsciously touched the hilt of the sword at his waist, staring at the person who suddenly appeared in front of him and asked, "Who are you?"
While the Royal Master was sizing up Zong Yanli, Zong Yanli was also sizing up the Royal Master in front of her. Her sharp eyes quickly scanned the three people from head to toe, and finally raised her eyes to his ears, raised her eyebrows and squinted her eyes and said, "Wuhuan people?"
It only took Zong Yanli a short encounter to reveal the origin of Master Wang.
Master Wang's face changed drastically in an instant. He drew out the soft sword from his waist and rushed towards Zong Yanli with a fierce look on his face.
Clang——!
Zong Yanli's eyes darkened, and he had no intention of being arrogant. He drew the long sword in his hand and attacked with all his strength. The two people behind Master Wang also quickly attacked after a moment's pause.
In the small tavern, Zong Yanli was a little constrained when fighting with the three people. The place was too small and it was not easy to avoid. If he exerted a little force, everything everywhere would be smashed to pieces.
Zong Yanli still remembered that this was a tavern run by someone else. What would he do if it destroyed the people's livelihood?
He immediately took advantage of his weakness and rushed sideways towards the door, then rolled out of the door and rolled onto the street outside.
Zong Yanli had already revealed their identities and origins, so there was no way Master Wang would let Zong Yanli go. He immediately followed him and chased him. It was raining heavily outside on the street, and the bean-sized raindrops hit people's faces and caused pain.
Zong Yanli took a long breath, shook off the rain on his sword, held the sword horizontally in front of him, and looked at Master Wang and others with a cold and sharp gaze.
"Who... are you?" Master Wang was frightened by Zong Yanli's murderous aura. He thought for a long time but couldn't figure out when he had provoked such a person.
"Perhaps you have heard of my name." Zong Yanli looked at him and smiled, and instantly murderous intent appeared: "My name is, Zong Yanli!"
The pitch-black sword flashed with a cold light and slashed towards Master Wang with such ferocious force.
The terrifying force of the attack was so overwhelming that even Master Wang and his two men could hardly resist.
At the same time, when he heard Zong Yanli introduce himself, his heart was shocked!
"Are you Zong Yanli!?" Affected by the aftershock, Master Wang's knuckles were shattered in an instant in order to block Zong Yanli's attack. He felt a sudden heaviness in his chest. He staggered back and raised his eyes in shock, his gaze falling on the long sword in Zong Yanli's hand.
“…Wolfque Knife, Zong Yanli!?” Master Wang’s face changed again and again. He had no intention of staying at all and turned around to run away.
Om-!
At the moment when Master Wang turned around and tried to run, the long spear that broke through the air in the darkness seemed to break through the rain curtain and headed straight for Master Wang's front.
Master Wang was horrified and had no choice but to block the spear. The spear grazed his neck. Zong Yanli followed closely behind and chopped at him with a knife. Master Wang had no chance to resist and could only watch the knife falling from his head.
With a clang, the long knife brushed past his arm and fell onto the open space next to him.
His knee suddenly felt a pain, and a spear was suddenly pressed against his throat. A pair of large hands grabbed his chin like iron pliers and easily broke his jaw.
"Check if there is anything in his mouth." Zong Yanli kicked him to his knees. After removing his jaw, he turned around and knocked down the other two in the same way. He then raised his chin and gave Wen Nian the order.
"No." Wen Nian reached out his hands very roughly and grabbed the tongues and teeth of those people and checked around, but he did not find any poison in their mouths.
"Tied him up." Zong Yanli nodded, sheathed his knife neatly, turned around and said.
Master Wang and others were directly escorted to the county jail.
Zong Yanli didn't even change his soaked clothes, and walked into the cell. He asked Wen Nian to put Master Wang's chin back, and then he asked, "Tell me, why did you sneak into Wu State?"
Master Wang cried out in pain, his hands and feet tied as he knelt on the ground. He spat viciously at Zong Yanli's words and said, "Kill me or chop me up, it's up to you. I won't say a word!"
"Okay, I'll cut it off twice." Zong Yanli didn't waste time talking to him. She drew out her long knife and walked towards Master Wang. The cold long knife was just under Master Wang's nose. She sneered at Master Wang and said, "I'll cut off your nose first."
Master Wang's whole body tensed up, and his breathing suddenly quickened.
Zong Yanli clenched his sword tightly and was about to use force when Master Wang suddenly shouted, "Wait a minute!!!"
Zong Yanli raised his eyebrows and paused, looking down at him. Master Wang said in a panic, "I, we are just here to get information."
Master Wang swallowed his saliva and quickly said that he was acting on orders, and that they had not received orders from above for a long time since Wu State lent troops to Gao State. He also said that he was going to leave Wu State immediately after returning this time.
"You're lying." Zong Yanli stared at Master Wang with sharp eyes and almost instantly found the loophole in his words.
"What information are you trying to find out and what do you want to do?" Zong Yanli was obviously not satisfied with Master Wang's answer.
Master Wang insisted that this was all he knew, and no matter how Zong Yanli questioned him, he kept saying the same things over and over again. Finally, Zong Yanli became impatient and cut off one of Master Wang's ears. The severe pain made Master Wang scream in pain.
At the same time, screams were heard from the cell next door. It was Wen Nian interrogating his companions.
Zong Yanli looked at Master Wang with interest and said, "It looks like your companions can't hold on any longer. I, your deputy, have quite a few tricks up my sleeve."
"Why not let him interrogate you?" Zong Yanli threw the severed ear at Master Wang's feet and said with a smile.
"..." Master Wang covered his ears, curled up on the ground in pain, and gasped for breath as he listened to Zong Yanli's words. After a while, Master Wang saw Wen Nian walking in from outside, wiping the blood off his hands with a handkerchief.
"General, I found out." Wen Nian had no expression on his face. He glanced at Master Wang coldly and said, "Someone is colluding with Wuhuan."
Zong Yanli's heart suddenly skipped a beat and he couldn't help but clench his hands.
His eyes darkened as he asked, "Who?"
Wen Nian shook his head. It was obvious that these were just minions, only informants, and they didn't know the people behind the scenes.
Zong Yanli paused and asked again: "What is the purpose?"
"We need to create civil unrest in Gao and Wu to disrupt the situation." Wen Nian explained simply.
“Hehehe…” At this moment, the King’s Division lying on the ground suddenly laughed, his eyes full of mockery as he said, “Even if you knew, it’s too late, because… the plan has already been launched, and our King’s Division has already arrived at the battlefield.”
"Haha!" Master Wang laughed out loud. If the plan hadn't been implemented, how could they have received the order to evacuate?
If I hadn't received the order to evacuate, I wouldn't have come back to get my things...
Zong Yanli's eyes suddenly darkened, and he tried to interrogate Master Wang about the news about the troops in the north, but Master Wang could not say anything. In the end, he was tortured beyond recognition and only revealed some fragmentary information. It was obvious that Master Wang and his men were just pawns.
Since the Wuhuan released the people into the Wu Kingdom, they never thought that they would leave the Wu Kingdom alive.
Zong Yanli was fully aware of the seriousness of the situation, so he brought these people back to the imperial city that night, and asked Wen Nian to urgently contact his father and Kuang Xingquan who was already in the battle.
After returning to Beijing, Zong Yanli went to the palace to meet Gao Jiayue immediately. However, before Zong Yanli could report the matter, the death knell suddenly rang in the palace.
The old emperor has passed away.
The series of events caught Zong Yanli off guard, and Gao Jiayue obviously did not expect that at this critical juncture, the old emperor's life would suddenly be cut off.