mtl008 Chapter 648 The Showdown in the Hutong
Chapter 648 The Showdown in the Hutong
The negotiations, which did not last long, ended hastily. Liu Ye's demands were something Yang Sichang could not answer and had to consult Chongzhen. The group parted on bad terms.
Yang Sichang, Wen Tiren, Fang Zhenghua, and others returned to the palace heading north, while Liu Ye returned to the military camp heading south. They parted ways at the entrance of the Northern Garrison Command. Before leaving, Wen Tiren gave Liu Ye a look that said, "Watch me next," indicating that he would go to the palace to push this matter to Emperor Chongzhen. Liu Ye nodded slightly to indicate that he understood.
After leaving the Beizhenfusi Yamen, Liu Ye felt uneasy all over and kept looking back.
Yan Guang asked in bewilderment, "With the secret assistance of Grand Secretary Wen and Eunuch Fang of the Directorate of Ceremonial, today's matter is almost certain to succeed. At that time, General's power will span the north and south, and he will be able to influence the general trend of the world. He can be called the number one military general in this dynasty. Is there anything else you are dissatisfied with?"
"It's not because of that, but it's strange that I came to the Jinyiwei's stronghold and nothing happened," Liu Ye explained. "In Guangzhou, you could run into the Jinyiwei just by eating out; in Nanjing, I was assassinated and had a student disturbance while drinking with the Duke of Wei; and in Beijing, I was even threatened with a knife by a young maid while visiting a brothel. Now I'm always wary of going out. And now I've just been to the infamous Beizhenfusi and nothing happened? And don't you guys think the whole street is unusually quiet?"
Yan Guang and the others looked around, inwardly unconvinced. Officials and commoners alike feared the power of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and dared not pass through this street, so it was normal to see few pedestrians. It was the same before they arrived. However, they dared not criticize the general for overreacting, and merely echoed his sentiments.
"Yes, it seems quite quiet..."
Liu Ye glanced at the two stone lions at the entrance of the Northern Garrison Command, grinned widely as if mocking his overreaction, shook his head, and thought that he might have developed paranoia due to the trauma of being attacked several times.
The group arrived at a long alley, the only way to the adjacent street. The alley wasn't long, only about a hundred steps long, and standing at one end, they could almost hear the noise coming from the other street.
As I reached the middle of the alley, I heard light footsteps from both ends. Suddenly, a group of masked men wielding sharp knives appeared and blocked the exits at both ends of the alley.
Liu Ye lightly slapped his cheek, "Look at my jinxed mouth..."
Yan Guang and the others' expressions changed. The general's worst fears had come true. Now they were trapped in the alley.
The masked men slowly approached, and one of the tall men spoke up: "We're here for revenge. As long as you take him away, it's none of anyone else's business. If you know what's good for you, don't get involved." As he spoke, he pointed at Li Fei.
The fish has finally taken the bait! Liu Ye was secretly delighted; he had brought Li Fei along precisely to achieve this goal. However, he didn't intend to hand him over obediently, because that would mean he would never know Li Fei's background. After all, Li Fei was a rare talent; as long as his origins were investigated and he posed no threat, he could still keep him and give him important responsibilities. Even if there were problems, he needed to know the whole story to avoid future troubles.
He tentatively asked, "Can you tell me why? This is my subordinate; I couldn't have handed him over to you for no reason."
The speaker said impatiently, "Enough with the nonsense. You only have two choices: hand over the person or die with him. If you want to stop us, try and see if you can get out of this alley today."
Liu Ye looked around and asked, "How many of you are there?"
"What's the point of asking this? We have more than you anyway." The man waved his hand, signaling the people opposite to press forward, and then he led his group closer. Dozens of masked men blocked Liu Ye and his group from both sides.
The man smiled smugly: "Unless you can scale walls and roofs, you'll have no choice but to surrender. I'll give you one last chance: hand over the person we want, or we won't be polite."
“You wouldn’t dare kill me!” Liu Ye suddenly blurted out.
The man was stunned for a moment. "What did you say?"
“I’m telling you, you wouldn’t dare do anything to me.” She stared at him. “If anything were to happen to me, and the army outside the city rebelled, you wouldn’t be able to bear that responsibility, would you?”
"This..." The leader was none other than Wei Zhong, a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Hearing Liu Ye's words, he was completely stunned, as if what the other party said was true.
Although the Embroidered Uniform Guard (Jinyiwei) is incredibly powerful, that power is only applied to officials without military authority, and their backers are the Emperor. Now, they're investigating a treason case that the Embroidered Uniform Guard has been pursuing for nearly ten years. They seem to have a legitimate claim, but the person involved isn't Liu Ye himself, just one of his subordinates. What can they do to him if he simply claims ignorance? If they had no scruples, they wouldn't need to wear masks. If they really harm Liu Ye and force the army in Qionghai Town to rebel, what benefit would the Embroidered Uniform Guard gain? Perhaps the people in charge of this operation would be used as scapegoats by the Emperor in his rage and executed.
Liu Ye chuckled. "Your reaction tells me the answer. In that case, I have nothing to fear." He turned to Shimazu Chiyo and ordered, "Send the signal to call for reinforcements."
Shimazu Chiyo pulled a long, tubular object from her bosom, lit it with a tinderbox, and then raised it high into the air.
"Chirp—pop!" A ball of fire exploded in the air, visible for miles around.
Wei Zhong was stunned. He asked, "This is the capital, under the Emperor's nose, not some backwater place like Qiongzhou. Are you crazy? If this thing goes off, the Five Cities Garrison and the Shuntian Prefecture will all come. If they find a large number of troops gathering, they might even mobilize the capital's army..."
Liu Ye answered him seriously: "I'm not crazy. I know what I'm doing. Aren't you just a bunch of highway robbers? I'll kill you and run. I don't care about the Five Cities Garrison or the Capital Garrison. By the time they come, they won't even see a hair on my head."
Highway robbers? Kill them all? Wei Zhong was speechless. He had an urge to remove his mask and tell them, "We are the Embroidered Uniform Guard, investigating a major treason case. Don't mistake us for street thugs."
Before he could come up with a plan, a flurry of footsteps sounded behind him, and a large group of strong men poured into the alley, surrounding Wei Zhong and his men completely.
Wei Zhong could tell at a glance that although these people were dressed in the clothes of ordinary people, they were all very fierce and moved in an orderly manner, clearly elite soldiers from the army. Liu Ye, that damned man, actually ambushed so many people nearby. Did he just bring the whole army here?