bullyxtreme Chapter 105 Kill the traitor first, then save the boy
Chapter 105 Kill the traitor first, then save the boy
Chapter 105 Kill the traitor first, then save the boy
The smartest person beside Lin Zhou was, of course, Lu You. Aside from being a bit of a mama's boy, this guy was a true all-rounder. Before meeting Lu You, Lin Zhou didn't believe in the existence of anyone who could master both magic and martial arts. But after seeing Lu You and learning more about his life, Lin Zhou realized that this guy was truly—
To put it another way, throughout the entire Southern Song Dynasty, there were only two people in his class: Xin Qiji and Wen Tianxiang.
None of the people whose lives are recorded in history were incompetent.
Cao Wenda may be shrewd, but if we're talking about brains, he's still somewhat lacking, and the gap is quite large.
"The current situation..."
Lu You even put on an act, holding a fan and fanning himself back and forth, giving off a feeling of being in control.
"We need to break the deadlock first. The current situation isn't a dead end yet. That Zhang only has eyes for Yue Fei's faction and uses it for everything. Since that's the case, we might as well change our approach and cut off his connections." Lu You folded his fan and patted it against his palm. "And we mustn't let him gain any merit."
Cao Wenda frowned silently: "How should we handle this?"
"First, let's talk about cutting off his leads. He should have several leads right now, and you need to cut them off one by one. As for what they are, we have no way of knowing."
"But—wouldn't that mean—"
"Brother Cao, I don't need to explain this. You know best whether those arrested are Yue Fei's faction members or not. The real Yue Fei faction members are Han Shizhong and Niu Gao's group. Do you dare to say that?" Lu You turned to look at Cao Wenda: "So since they are all insignificant people, what are you afraid of? Are you really waiting for your rivals to put you in a difficult position, and for you to be abandoned by Prime Minister Qin before you finally realize your mistake?"
At this moment, Lin Zhou added, "Old Cao, you know how the Prime Minister is. You know so much about him. Do you think he'll let you go home and farm?"
Upon hearing this, Cao Wenda felt a chill run down his spine. He was someone who helped Qin Hui deal with dirty business, so how could he not know Qin Hui's methods? That unpredictable person knew that if he were to be brought down by that Zhang, he would be finished.
"And then?" Cao Wenda pressed. "What happened next?"
"That's easy. Just stop him from doing whatever he wants. Qin Xiangxu doesn't care who it is. All he cares about is whether things can be accomplished."
At this moment, Cao Wenda's mind was in complete turmoil. When one's mind is in disarray, anxiety naturally arises, and when one is anxious, it is easy for one's mind to go blank.
He knew everything Lu You said, and even the moment Lu You spoke, he had already formulated an action plan. He could even rehearse some things in his mind.
After a couple of drinks, Cao Wenda had already made up his mind. After calming down, he did not choose to defect to the Jin. It had not come to that yet. Moreover, he was different from Lin Zhou. Even if he defected to the Jin, if Prime Minister Qin wanted to deal with him, the Jin people would not ruin their friendship with Qin Hui for such an insignificant person.
But the matter must be done. He's been at odds with that Zhang guy for years. Although they've had their ups and downs, neither of them has gone too far. But now it seems like he's going to start relentlessly attacking him.
Well, Cao Wenda has just been hiding his true abilities these past few years. He thinks he's really no longer capable of carrying a knife.
"Okay, brother, I understand. I'll take care of it."
Cao Wenda stood up, downed the wine in his glass in one gulp, patted Lin Zhou on the shoulder, and strode out. When he reached the door, he gave a cold laugh, then tucked his hands into his sleeves, lowered his head, and quickly left.
After he left, Lu You asked curiously, "Will this work? Will he be able to do it?"
"Who cares if he can do it or not? You can't really pin your hopes on him. I'm just saying this to him, to give him a little nudge. If he does it, great; if he doesn't, at least it'll cause some trouble for the other side." Lin Zhou leaned back in his chair and stretched. "I'm going to the Prince's Mansion later."
"Don't panic, this is not something you can talk about right now," Lu You shook his head and said, "This is a dead end."
"Three days, there are only three days left. Qin Hui's men will be coming to arrest them. I can't just watch Xiao'e and the others get arrested like this, can I? I told them I would protect them." Lin Zhou looked up at Lu You: "I don't have the ability to change the world, and I can't even protect a bunch of kids who call me brother. What have I done for nothing?"
I'll never be able to hold my head up high again.
"Brother Lin, don't get anxious or upset."
This is utter nonsense. In fact, the Marquis had already mentioned this matter at the beginning, and later moved them to the Quzhou area. But no matter how much he planned, he never expected that a traitor would emerge from the Imperial City Guard.
However, this was something Lin Zhou hadn't expected. But from the current perspective, Si Hou definitely knew about it. Otherwise, given Qin Hui's abilities, he wouldn't have said there was no substantial evidence. In other words, even the traitor only knew that such a thing happened, but he couldn't be sure whether Si Hou was involved or not.
Lin Zhou was definitely reported, but Qin Hui didn't consider Lin Zhou a threat at all. After all, someone like Lin Zhou was not even qualified to be a member of Yue Fei's faction.
However, if those orphans can be captured, the Marquis of Si will surely fall. As the place where the conflict between Han Shizhong and Qin Hui was most intense, if the intelligence department can be completely taken down, then there will be no one to threaten him in the future.
"Brother, this isn't about getting angry or not." Lin Zhou paced back and forth. "If you have a plan, then think of one; if you don't, then you're dead."
"There's no need to alarm the King of Jin." Lu You looked up at Lin Zhou: "One step is all it takes to turn the tide."
"You know, you need to change this habit. Just say everything you have to say at once."
"It's actually very simple; we just need to settle them in the southern part of the city."
Lin Zhou looked up: "Are you alright?"
"After my brother told me yesterday, I pondered for a long time how to break this deadlock. The safest way right now is to place them in the south city and inform Niu Gao, the military commissioner of Ningguo."
"What the hell?"
"Niu Gao is the brother who risked his life for General Yue back then." Lu You raised his head: "Tell Niu Gao first, and then settle him in Nancheng. There are many in the army who are dissatisfied with General Yue, and Nancheng is the only place that Qin Hui cannot enter. It is full of refugees, and most of them do not have travel permits. Brother Lin naturally knows the situation there."
"Just leaving them there is fine? But how do we bring them back?"
"General Niu has his own methods."
Lin Zhou steeled his resolve: "Where is he? I'll go find him right now."
"How can you go? There are Qin Hui's spies everywhere outside." Lu You pressed Lin Zhou's shoulder: "I have met General Niu several times, I will go."
"Don't try to make yourself look like a member of the Yue family!"
"The Yue Faction?" Lu You raised his head: "The Yue Faction is everywhere in the world. Anyone who cares about the country is a member of the Yue Faction. They can't be killed off. I learned this from Brother Lin's book: going it alone is not advisable; you need allies."
Lu You didn't linger. He picked out some things from Lin Zhou's shop and left, adopting the posture of giving New Year's gifts.
In fact, not many people paid attention to Lu You. Firstly, he didn't have a wide social circle, and secondly, he had a consistently eccentric temperament and never came into contact with any strange people. He spent his days writing books in his room and then going to the old lady Li's house outside the city to ask for advice.
When he went out this time, even those who were tailing him were reluctant to look at him. However, this inconspicuous little loophole allowed a major piece of news to leak into General Niu's mansion.
"What?! Second Sister is still alive?!"
Upon hearing Lu You's words, Niu Gao's eyes widened in shock. The general, who came from a hunter background, was now flushed, and the veins in his neck were throbbing.
"They are still alive. Then, a group of generals' children were gathered together. Originally, they were living in a deserted village outside the city. Later, Qin Hui intensified the investigation, and they were transferred to Quzhou by General Xu. However, now there is a traitor among General Xu's men, and Qin Hui is ordering his men to arrest him. General Niu, there are three days left."
If it were someone like Lin Zhou, Niu Gao might not have met him, but Lu You was different. His father had some connection with Niu Gao in his early years, so it was understandable that he came to pay a New Year's visit.
Niu Gao sat in the hall, his eyelids lowered: "Where is the location? I will send someone to fetch them. But I will be going to Jingnan to take up my post after the New Year, and I cannot take these children with me."
"My brother plans to temporarily settle them in the south of the city."
Niu Gao frowned: "South City? The South City of Lin'an? Isn't that right under Qin Hui's nose?"
"General Niu, please don't worry. My brother has the ability to protect them."
"Alright! If we can't do it, we'll take their lives to avenge them."
"General Niu, please calm down. My brother would never harm Miss Yue. Between him and Miss Yue—"
"Well—" Lu You paused here to leave things in suspense: "If it weren't for the limitations of the times, he would probably call you 'uncle' if he met you."
"Huh?" Niu Gao was taken aback. "Is that so?"
"If General Niu doesn't believe me, he can ask Miss Yue himself when she returns. As the saying goes, even if the father is not here, all uncles and elders are like fathers. Now that Miss Yue calls you 'father,' it's not an exaggeration. You can just ask her."
Niu Gao didn't say anything more. He nodded and said, "Alright, I'll take care of this right away. If I can't protect Commander Yue, and I can't even protect Er Yatou, I might as well just kill myself."
Lu You placed the letter indicating Xiao'e's current location on the table, then nodded and left the Niu residence.
After leaving the Niu residence, he went to the street of the Imperial City Guard, ordered a bowl of soup noodles, and sat down to eat and drink.
After a while, he roughly calculated the time and went out onto the street. He happened to run into Xu Cheng, who was off duty. The two looked at each other, and Xu Cheng, with the keen sense of an old spy, immediately realized that Lu You was coming for him.
He turned around and called to the dog that was patrolling with him, "You guys go back first, I'll go to the tavern and buy you some wine."
He then went into a tavern not far away, with Lu You following closely behind.
"Bring me ten catties of liquor," Xu Cheng called out, then turned around and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
"Brother Lin has already sent General Niu to pick up those children. He told me to tell you that you must not make any moves these days. Qin Hui wants to target Si Hou, and he wants to take those children to prove that you have been protecting them all along. As for who the traitor is, Brother Lin, you can deal with him yourself."
Xu Cheng's face remained expressionless; he simply turned his head and said, "I'll go over tonight. It's not convenient to talk here; those spies can't do anything to me."