A fierce man swore a deadly oath in the hidden sewer; a Hongmen banquet awaited at Dengzhou's docks
The underground sewage culverts of the Western Silver City.
Zhaxi Dawa spat out the last mouthful of dark, stagnant blood from his mouth and wiped it on his stubble with his sleeve.
He looked down at Chen Qing, whose breath was faint, in his arms, then reached out and gently pulled off his sheepskin coat, wrapping it around Chen Qing's thin shoulders. His large hand, which usually wielded a heavy sword, paused in mid-air before finally landing on Chen Qing's back, patting it repeatedly.
Chen Qing had just caught his breath from the excruciating pain when that calloused hand touched him, and the hairs on the back of his body stood on end.
His eyes twitched, and he forced a weak, bitter smile. His right hand trembled as he reached into his robes, pulled out a sheepskin map of a secret passage that he had drawn long ago, and stuffed it into Zhaxi Dawa's palm.
"General..." Chen Qing clutched the arrow wound on his left shoulder with his left hand, gasped for breath, his voice terribly hoarse.
" Yang Tie and his gang of drug users... when they get sick, they can only rely on their ears to hear sounds."
Zhaxi Dawa clutched the sheepskin map tightly, his rough fingertips rubbing against Chen Qing's cold hand, nodding repeatedly:
"Strategist, speak slowly, I'm listening!"
You've lost too much blood, don't overexert yourself!
Chen Qing suppressed his impulse and pointed to the red cross on the west side of the map. "Their bodies are full of corpse worms, and they are most afraid of raging fire."
The commander followed the hidden canal out of the city to the West Mountain camp, where he mobilized five thousand veteran cavalrymen who had never tasted the Red Elixir.
Tomorrow at noon, slaughter dozens of cattle and sheep, use their blood as bait to lure all the drugged people to the underground kerosene depot in the west of the city...
A single fire could burn them to ashes.
Zhaxi Dawa stared at Chen Qing's bloodless face, his eyes instantly turning red.
Having grown up witnessing countless acts of deceit and treachery in the Tubo royal court, he had never seen a scholar so willing to risk his life for his own sake.
Zhaxi Dawa's Adam's apple bobbed twice, then he pulled Chen Qing into his arms, drawing her completely close.
With his other hand, he pounded his chest loudly.
"Strategist! The Eternal Heaven has seen your loyalty and affection for me!"
Don't worry, as long as we burn that bastard Yang Tie to death tomorrow and retake Silver City, I will immediately lead my men to rebel against the Tubo royal court!
Chen Qing's chest ache from being constricted, and before he could even open his mouth, he heard a deafening roar from above.
"When the time comes, I will welcome you into the royal city in a grand sedan chair carried by eight men."
I will make you the Queen of Tubo!
Whether it was the old guard in the royal court or the centurion below, who dared to utter a single word of dissent?
I'll chop his head off and use it as a chamber pot for you!
Upon hearing this, Chen Qing was completely agitated.
queen?
Eight-bearer sedan chair?
His eyes rolled upwards suddenly, and due to excessive excitement, his head tilted to the side and slammed into Zhaxi Dawa's hard chest muscles, causing him to faint on the spot.
"Strategist! Strategist!"
Zhaxi Dawa checked his breathing and, seeing that he had only fainted, grinned widely and chuckled.
"I knew it! The strategist must be overjoyed!"
Come on, I'll carry you out to find a doctor!
Meanwhile, in the East China Sea, at Dengzhou Port.
As the morning mist dissipated over the sea, more than sixty warships lowered Prince Yi's banner and replaced it with the black banner of the Ministry of War's military governor, slowly approaching the pier with the tide.
Inside the main cabin of the ship, a corner of the gold-threaded soft curtains was lifted.
Murong Xue lay on the edge of the bed, one of her long, white legs sticking out from under the brocade quilt, trying to hook her toes at the embroidered shoes on the floor.
She glanced back at Kim Seon-a, who was still fast asleep. The Goryeo princess was resting her head on Shen Ling'er's arm, and large patches of her fair skin still bore the red marks from the previous night, rising and falling with her breath.
"Wake up, everyone, the ship has docked."
Gu Moran pushed open the door and walked in, carrying a bowl of ginseng soup that the kitchen had just prepared.
He sat down on the edge of the bed, reached out and pinched Murong Xue's smooth waist, then pulled her up to lean against him.
Murong Xue gave a soft hum, her white hair brushing against his python robe.
"Your Highness, has the Ministry of Revenue outside set up his troops?"
"It's all set up, and it looks very grand."
Gu Moran scooped a spoonful of ginseng soup and fed it to her, then patted Kim Seon-a's rounded shoulder.
Kim Seon-a groggily opened her eyes, and upon seeing that the person in front of her was Gu Moran, her face flushed red to the roots of her ears. She quickly pulled the blanket over her chest and asked softly, "Your Highness, are we going to use troops? I'll go put on my armor..."
"Why are you wearing armor? You did the work last night, so just lie there quietly."
Gu Moran reached into the blankets.
"That little scene outside."
"You four rest well in the cabin. Once I win back that 100,000 taels of silver, I'll have gold jewelry made for you tonight."
After saying that, Gu Moran handed the ginseng soup to Shen Ling'er, who had just woken up, got up, straightened his clothes, and turned to walk down to the lower deck.
At this moment, three flags fluttered in the wind at the Dengzhou Port wharf.
Unlike other officials who would typically stand by the pier to welcome guests Sun Chengzong, the Ministry of Revenue, did not stand at the pier.
Instead, they mobilized three thousand heavily armored archers from the Capital Garrison to completely surround the stone platforms on both sides of the dock.
All three thousand crossbows were nocked, their dark arrowheads pointing straight at the gangplank of the main ship that had just docked.
A tiger-skin armchair was placed in front of the military tent a hundred paces away.
Sun Chengzong, dressed in a scarlet official robe, sat upright in a chair.
He slowly and methodically fiddled with the lid of the teacup.
To his left were twenty large wooden crates, each sealed with a seal from the Ministry of Revenue.
To his right stood two old eunuchs, dressed in gray Daoist robes, with prominent bulging temples.
He was Second Rank official sent by the Crown Prince's Faction, and had often seen Gu Moran's true face.
Click.
The warship's thick wooden gangplank crashed onto the bluestone slabs of the pier.
Zhou Yanru and Gu Debai changed into clean, faded official robes and were carried off the springboard.
A sea breeze blew, Zhou Yanru's large belly trembled. Cold sweat had already soaked through his undershirt.
As the two approached the military tent, about to exchange pleasantries, the archers of the Capital Garrison on the high platform all stepped forward in unison, the creaking of bowstrings being drawn taut filling the air.
Sun Chengzong put down his teacup and slammed his right hand on the wooden box containing silver beside him.
He raised his eyelids and glanced at Gu Debai standing next to Zhou Yanru, showing no surprise whatsoever.
It was obvious that they had known all along that the former Qi and Lu Guard Commander, who had supposedly sunk into the sea years ago, was not dead at all.
It's a hidden piece of chess buried at sea.
"Lord Zhou, Commander Gu, the sea breeze is quite fishy, so I won't stand on ceremony with you."
Sun Chengzong gave a forced smile and held up two fingers.
"His Highness has ordered that if we want him to hand over the 100,000 taels of silver intended as a reward for the troops, we must first accomplish two things."
Zhou Yanru swallowed hard and forced a smile:
"Please speak, Lord Sun. I will certainly comply."
"First," Sun Chengzong pointed to the warships behind them,
"Drag that little beast Gu Moran off the boat right now, open the cage, and let the two old palace officials verify his identity!"
He paused, his gaze fixed on Zhou Yanru's face like a hook:
"Secondly, after you have verified the people, you two should now lead me and these two thousand personal guards onto the ship and count the three million taels of official silver that Iwami Silver Mine has brought back, box by box!"
If you fail to complete even one item, my three thousand Capital Garrison troops will not budge an inch, and you won't get a single tael of silver from this box!
Sweat dripped down Zhou Yanru's forehead, his lips trembling as he prepared to improvise the lines Gu Moran had taught him.
Suddenly Gu Debai, who was next to him, widened his eyes, drew the sword from his waist, and held it against Zhou Yanru's thick neck!
"You surnamed Zhou! I've put up with you the whole way!"
Gu Debai spat in Zhou Yanru's face and yelled insults at the other end of the military tent.
Lord Sun!
Don't listen to that pedantic scholar's nonsense!
At Tsukushi Port, it was I who led my brothers in a desperate battle, personally capturing that traitor Gu Moran with an iron net!
This guy surnamed Zhou wanted to hide people on the ship so he could take all the credit for suppressing the Japanese pirates back to the capital!
I'm going to chop him up today!
Zhou Yanru's neck ached from the blow from the back of the knife, and he also shouted his grievances:
You're spouting Gu Debai!
If I hadn't used Eunuch Shuangxi's poison to knock Gu Moran, how could you, with your paltry skills, have even gotten close to him?
Someone come here!
"Bring the cage down for me, and let Lord Sun be the judge!"