The bandits were only happy for nothing.
In the cell, Ye Huaijin asked in confusion, "Why do I feel that Xuan Ye is very familiar with this chieftain?"
Jiang Nianrou said, "I feel the same way as you."
Xie Xuanye opened the door again, and after confirming that no one was outside, he closed the door and whispered in Su Yuexing's ear, "I'll help you escape tonight."
Su Yuexing frowned and asked, "How do we escape?"
"My leg is injured, and it still hurts a little when I walk, let alone run."
Xie Xuanye's gaze fell on her legs, and he said with concern, "This is really a bit difficult."
He slapped his thigh and said, "Forget it, let's not worry about that for now."
"Let's take a nap first. You sleep on the bed, and I'll sleep on the floor." With that, he took the blanket and spread it on the floor.
The environment here was much better than in the prison cell, and Su Yuexing quickly fell asleep.
In the darkness, Xie Xuanye opened his eyes. He desperately hoped that Ye Huaijin and Jiang Nianrou would not get into trouble here, or how he would explain it to the Ye family!
Cai Zhicai was so excited about seeing piles of silver the next day that he couldn't sleep all night.
The next day, what they found was an army of ten thousand men.
Cai Zhicai rubbed his eyes in disbelief, looked at the army below, and said angrily, "How did they find our location!"
His men were terrified, exchanging puzzled glances.
Xu Mingwen stepped forward and said, "Could it be Xie Xuanye who did it? He has always wanted our Leiyu Village to submit to the imperial court."
"When he saw that his elder brother disagreed, he told the people in the imperial court about our location."
Upon hearing this, Cai Zhicai felt that what he said made sense, and his eyes were filled with murderous intent. "Men! Bring Xie Xuanye and that woman here!"
In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Su Yuexing and Xie Xuanye were escorted over.
Cai Zhicai pointed at the army below and said, "Brother Xie! Tell me honestly! Did you reveal our location?"
Xie Xuanye frowned slightly as he looked at the vast army below.
How did they find this place? Xie Xuanye shook his head and said seriously, "It wasn't me."
Xu Mingwen sneered, "Even at this point, you're still pretending with us!"
"You know everything about our Thunderstorm Village, but we know nothing about you."
Xie Xuanye's eyes flickered, and he said, "Brother Cai, don't you trust my character?"
Xu Mingwen stepped forward and said mysteriously, "Whether he betrayed us or not, we'll find out by testing him."
Cai Zhicai asked, "How do we test it?"
Xu Mingwen smiled and said, "Hang him up, then let the enemy leader into the village."
“If he were truly a member of the imperial court, they would naturally not dare to treat him that way.”
“If not, then it’s easy to handle. We, Leiyu Village, have misunderstood him. I apologize to him.”
Upon hearing that it was a good idea, Cai Zhicai quickly said, "Great! Let's do it that way!"
Xie Xuanye could only hope in his heart that the people below wouldn't recognize him.
Several men tied Xie Xuanye up tightly with ropes and slowly lowered him down from above.
It's true what they say: what you fear most is what happens most often.
The leading general initially mistook him for Ye Huaijin, but upon closer inspection, the bound man looked somewhat familiar.
“That…that’s the Crown Prince!” Nan Quan excitedly pointed to Xie Xuanye in the distance.
"Young Master! How did you end up in the bandits' den? The Marquis and I have been searching for you everywhere!" Nan Quan said, tears streaming down his face.
The other generals had different expressions.
The man above shouted, "If you want this man to live, let your leader in to negotiate with us!"
"You'll have the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, or he'll be dead!"
Xu Mingwen winked at the person pulling the rope, and Xie Xuanye suddenly descended.
"Thank you, Xuan Ye!" Su Yuexing said nervously.
"Your Highness!" Nanquan called out.
Xie Xuanye quickly stopped in mid-air again, cursing: These bastards!
Nanquan approached the two lieutenants and said, "You two must think of a way to save my young master!"
Both Deputy General Zhou and Deputy General Zhang looked troubled. "Wait a moment, let's discuss it."
Nan Quan said impatiently, "What's there to discuss! My young master's life is the most important thing!"
Deputy General Zhou comforted him, "Brother Nan, don't worry, we will definitely protect the prince's life."
"But……"
Nan Quan interrupted, "No buts, you and Deputy General Zhang, one of you go to Lei Yu Village and rescue the young master."
Deputy General Zhang immediately refused, saying, "No! General Ye has already gone in. If another deputy general goes in, the entire army will panic."
"We've already lost two generals before the battle even started. What will the soldiers think of us now!"
Nan Quan threatened, "If anything happens to the young master, the Marquis will not let you off the hook!"
Deputy General Zhang stepped forward and said, "Since Brother Nan is so worried about the young master, why don't you go to Leiyu Village in place of our deputy general?"
Nan Quan answered without hesitation, "I'll go!"
So the deputy general sent someone to communicate with the people of Leiyu Village and sent Nanquan there.
Cai Zhicai looked at Xie Xuanye in front of him, gritted his teeth in anger, and kicked Xie Xuanye in a fit of rage, "I even considered you my brother!"
Su Yuexing tried to step forward, but was held down by the people next to her.
The others from Leiyu Village glared angrily at Xie Xuanye, as if they wanted to tear him to pieces.
Cai Zhicai grabbed his collar, angrily demanding, "What is your true identity?!"
Xie Xuanye felt a dull pain in his chest and said, "No matter what my identity is, I have never betrayed Brother Cai!"
Cai Zhicai no longer believed him and ordered, "Men, lock them both in the dungeon!"
"Mingwen! Come with me to see the leader of the imperial court!"
Xie Xuanye and Su Yuexing were imprisoned again.
Ye Huaijin asked, "Why are you back again?"
Xie Xuanye stared at him without speaking for a long while before questioning him, "What is your real purpose in coming to Pingchun County?"
Jiang Nianrou said, "Xuan Ye, didn't I tell you that he came with me to see Jing He?"
Xie Xuanye scoffed, "The imperial army has already surrounded Leiyu Village."
"Things have come to this point, do you think I would still believe such nonsense?"
"Did you expose the location of Thunderstorm Village?" Xie Xuanye asked definitively.
Ye Huaijin smiled and said, "Thank you for coming to tell me this news."
"I can tell you frankly that the location was transmitted through military coded language when I wrote the letter."
"Now I should ask you a question: what is your relationship with the people of Leiyu Village?"
Xie Xuanye's eyes darted away as he said, "Just ordinary friends."
Ye Huaijin repeated, "Ordinary friends!"
"You, a dignified prince, are friends with bandits!"
Ye Huaijin pressed on, "The magistrate of Pingchun County was robbed at his home. Were you involved in this?"
Xie Xuanye readily admitted, "I was involved!"
“That corrupt official took money he shouldn’t have taken. I’m just returning the money to the rightful owner.”
"What's wrong with what I did!"
Ye Huaijin rebuked, "You still show no remorse! I will definitely tell the Emperor about this!"
Jiang Nianrou, who was standing nearby, stopped him, saying, "Huaijin! You mustn't!"
"If you do that, the entire Xie family will face a terrible disaster!"
"Please, for my sake, let Xuan Ye go this time."
Su Yuexing glanced at Ye Huaijin, then at Jiang Nianrou. It seemed that the two had a special relationship.
Soon, Nan Quan was also brought in. "Your Highness!" Nan Quan shouted excitedly.
Xie Xuanye saw him and exclaimed in shock, "Nanquan!"
What are you doing here?
Nan Quan cried out, "The Marquis sent me to Pingchun County to find you."
"He said he wouldn't force you to get married and told you to come home quickly, as the old lady misses you very much."
Cai Zhicai looked at Xie Xuanye and said, "I didn't expect Brother Xie to have kept this so well hidden from us."
"All those lofty ambitions they kept telling us were just a ploy to get close to us! To give themselves a chance to make a name for themselves!" Cai Zhicai was so angry that his veins bulged.
Xie Xuanye quickly explained, "No, Brother Cai, please let me explain!"
"All the ambitions I told you about are real!"
"I genuinely want to be friends with you!"
"Brother Cai! If you surrender to the imperial court with your brothers, the court will surely treat you leniently!!"
"Enough!" Cai Zhicai said angrily.
“I won’t kill you, after all, you’re still somewhat useful!” Cai Zhicai picked up the knife in his hand and continued, “From this day forward, our friendship is severed!”
He cut off a lock of his hair, threw it on the ground, and resolutely turned and left.
Outside, the bandits were already engaged in a fierce battle with the army.
Faced with a well-trained army, the bandits had no choice but to retreat step by step.
The battle lasted three days, and the army captured Leiyu Village.
Cai Zhicai and Xu Mingwen, along with more than ten others, returned to the prison cell.
Xu Mingwen had already lost an arm. They escorted Nan Quan and Xie Xuanye out of the prison and ran desperately towards the back mountain.
Su Yuexing secretly followed, and Jiang Nianrou wanted to stop her, but Ye Huaijin next to her gave her a wink.
Deputy General Zhang and Deputy General Zhou found Ye Huaijin in the prison cell. The two knelt on the ground and respectfully said, "Your subordinates pay their respects to the General!"
Ye Huaijin said calmly, "Get up, prepare to go save the young master."
"Yes!" the two replied in unison.
Seeing that no one was following behind, Cai Zhicai found a place to rest.
Su Yuexing observed them from a distance, marking the way along the way, hoping they would arrive soon.
Cai Zhicai took a sip of water and noticed that Xie Xuanye's expression wasn't good, so he tossed the water bottle at him and said, "Speak up if you're thirsty."
Xie Xuanye held the water bottle in his hand, "I truly consider myself your brother!"
Xu Mingwen sneered, "Bullshit!"
Cai Zhicai said, "I have a clear understanding of what you have done."
"You don't need to be so hypocritical."
Ye Huaijin looked at the mark on the tree and smiled. That woman wasn't a fool after all.
Hearing the commotion behind her, Su Yuexing was about to react when she was grabbed by the person behind her. "Boss, that woman is following us!"
Cai Zhicai looked at Su Yuexing, then at Xie Xuanye, and said, "She really is a woman of deep affection and loyalty!"
Xu Mingwen's lewd smile appeared on his face as he said, "Boss, the brothers are going to die eventually anyway, so why not taste a woman before we die?"
Xie Xuanye was immediately filled with panic. She was Jing He's woman. If Jing He found out that Su Yuexing had suffered such humiliation because of him, she would be in serious trouble.
Jinghe will definitely hate me!
"No! Brother Cai! You can't do this!" Xie Xuanye stopped him.
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