Chapter 325 Yang...
Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting made up their minds that they would go meet the two men when the boat was halfway across the river.
The rest of Su Fei's subordinates had already dispersed when Huang She and Su Fei boarded their boat, creating the illusion that they were fleeing in other directions.
Regardless of whether this can deceive the search team sent by Sun Ce, it is undoubtedly good news for Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting.
Because in this way, the two of them would be completely isolated and helpless.
If they had more subordinates, they could leave whenever they wanted, but right now there were only these two, and Huang She was only a mediocre martial artist.
It’s not so easy to walk.
Huang She, who was in the cargo box, had no idea that his current situation would be viewed in this way.
As the boat swayed in the waves, he climbed out of the box where he was hiding and huddled together with Su Fei.
Successfully escaping Sun Ce's capture made the cold sweat on his face less, and was replaced by hot sweat that was trapped in the cabin.
He reached out and wiped it, not bothering to lament that he would be in such a situation one day. He looked outside through the cabin window that was not closed.
It was already afternoon when they escaped onto the boat. The sun was setting in the west, allowing Huang She to clearly judge that he was now heading east along the river.
Huang She and Su Fei looked at each other and saw the relaxation in each other's eyes.
Although going downstream along the Yangtze River would put them further away from Jiangxia, and they might even be heading for Sun Ce's Danyang County or Wu County, the intensity of the search and arrest they faced would inevitably be greatly weakened.
How could Sun Ce have imagined that they were no longer in a place where they could be searched, but were on someone else's cargo ship.
Unfortunately, the Yangtze River is too wide, otherwise Huang She would really like to take advantage of the boatman's inattention and jump off the cargo ship and swim to the other side.
By then, the sky will be high and the birds will fly freely.
"As soon as the ship docks, we will find a way to jump into the water before they check the cargo." Huang She pointed out the window and said in a low voice.
Su Fei had served his father Huang Zu for a long time. Huang She already knew that Su Fei was good at swimming, so he didn't need to ask more questions about this issue.
Su Fei replied: "That's the way it should be, to avoid unnecessary complications."
But having said that, neither of these two people had any practical experience in this kind of operation, and even hiding in the cargo ship was just a spur-of-the-moment decision.
When they felt the boat approaching the shore and intended to jump into the water and leave, the noise they made when entering the water immediately alerted the local boatman.
The next moment they heard a loud voice: "There's a thief! There's a thief on the cargo ship!"
Su Fei: “…”
Huang She: “…”
Their way of escaping was already unique, so why did they have to face the situation of being treated as thieves?
If they could swim fast enough and escape during the capture, there would not be any problem. It was a dark and windy night and they were already in the water, so no one could see what they looked like.
However, no one knows what kind of precious items are being escorted on this merchant ship, which requires so many skilled swimmers to be included in the caravan.
These people's fighting power is obviously not low.
Su Fei was a military officer under Huang Zu. After fighting with two of the boatmen, he was not able to defeat them and was subdued on the spot.
Two fishing nets were thrown down from the passing boat, entangled both of them, and then they were dragged in front of the local owner with a rough attitude like treating thieves.
Huang She and Su Fei were really speechless.
They really didn't want to get involved in any lawsuits at this time. After all, they were still in Yangzhou. Once they alarmed Sun Ce, they would be completely finished.
But Su Fei thought again, anyway, he and the eldest master did not steal anything on the ship, so after searching them and confirming it, everything would be fine. At most, the position where they started diving was a little unusual.
What he didn't expect was that he had actually seen the owner of this caravan before.
He sat up straight from the restraint of the fishing net, wiped the hair on his face that was wet by the river water, and when he looked up, he saw two handsome young men sitting at the top of the cabin.
As the two looked at each other, one of them immediately stood up and recognized Su Fei's identity.
"Captain Su, why are you here?"
Qiao Ting "quickly" ordered someone to release Su Fei and Huang She.
In the bustle of untying the restraints, Huang She took advantage of the fact that no one else was noticing and squeezed Su Fei's hand, signaling him to be careful when speaking.
The news that Sun Ce was searching for the two of them had spread along with his troops' actions in the Poyang Lake Basin. However, in order to quickly take control of Yuzhang County and prevent certain cities that were still loyal to Huang Zu, or loyal to Liu Biao, from retaliating quickly against him, Sun Ce certainly did not tell the whole truth to the people being questioned.
In other words, the news of Huang Zu's death may not have reached the other party's ears yet.
In order to prevent the other party from handing them directly over to Sun Ce in exchange for sufficient benefits, they must speak carefully!
Sure enough, when Qiao Ting, or the Shuzhong merchant who used the alias "Huang Ting", helped Su Fei up, he heard him say, "May I ask Captain Su, did Sun Yangzhou have any conflict with Governor Huang? Why did he send people to search for you two by the Poyang Lake?"
Qiao Ting showed a bit of embarrassment on his face. "You also know that although our family still has some face in Shu, when we come to Xuzhou and Yangzhou, we still have to look at the faces of local officials. Otherwise, we would not have come to see you last year."
Last year, Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting did deal with Su Fei.
Because Su Fei was Huang Zu's confidant, these foreign merchants had to be reviewed by Su Fei if they wanted to do business in Yuzhang County.
Of course, it was called an audit, but in fact it was just a bribe for passing through. Otherwise, why did Huang Zu think that he had a good job in Yuzhang County?
At that time, Su Fei had also felt deeply that the two brothers from Shu did not have the habits of those who were in a secluded place. They were quite considerate and gave generous gifts.
But now that they suddenly mentioned this matter, Su Fei couldn't help showing a bit of embarrassment on his face.
Fortunately, when Qiao Ting mentioned this now, it was obviously not because he saw them in trouble and wanted to take advantage of them, but he continued: "We don't ask why you want to board our passenger ship, we just want to ask you for information. Is there going to be a war in Yuzhang County? If so, we will not go there for business in the short term."
How should Su Fei respond to this?
There was more than just a battle going on there, the most crucial one had already been fought, and ended with Sun Ce's capture of Nanchang City.
Yuzhang County will inevitably face a major reshuffle in the future.
After all, since Sun Ce had already taken over the seat of Yuzhang County, it would be impossible for Yuzhang County to remain independent from Yangzhou. It would even be closer to Liu Biao, and officials from various counties had to be replaced according to his needs.
It's going to be a big purge!
But saying such words in front of businessmen who instinctively seek profit and avoid harm is the same as telling them directly that Sun Ce is about to become a more qualified lord of Yangzhou. If they want to stand out, they might as well give the two people in front of them to Sun Ce as gifts as soon as possible.
However, the two people in front of him seemed to have a different understanding of Su Fei's silence.
"Captain Su, there is no need to say more. We can guess what you mean. It seems that we don't need to go to Yuzhang County in the near future. As for the whereabouts of you two, we will not tell anyone else." Qiao Lan took over.
The young man smiled peacefully while speaking, which made Su Fei understand why he was able to set up business in both Yangzhou and Xuzhou.
This ability to read people's expressions and the way of talking that is just to the point really makes people feel comfortable.
Qiao Lan pointed to the night outside and said, "But you two better not go ashore here. It's not very safe here."
Huang She quickly asked: "Why is this?"
Qiao Lan replied, "This is the Congyang Ferry in Lujiang County. Recently, Lujiang Governor Lu Kang has been inspecting various places for the autumn harvest and happened to pass by here. If you two accidentally run into each other and are recognized, you might get into some trouble."
Although it is not so easy to meet the chief who is inspecting the harvest and tax payment in this county, Huang She and Su Fei were both rescued after jumping into the water to escape, so they were a little nervous and thought that they should not take such a risk.
It is hard to say whether others will strictly follow Sun Ce's arrest order, but Lu Kang will definitely do so.
It was because he was rescued by Sun Ce when he was besieged by Yuan Shu.
Today, the relationship between Sun Ce and the four surnames of Wujun can still be maintained, all thanks to the help provided by Lu Kang.
With Qiao Lan's reminder, Huang She couldn't help but feel a little more grateful when he looked at the pair of business brothers.
According to his previous status, these businessmen would not be qualified to appear in front of him, but in the current situation, the other party is no different from a life-saving straw.
He asked tentatively, "Where is your next port of call?"
Long before she officially met the two men, Qiao Lan had already discussed the strategy with Qiao Ting, so there was no sign of lying on her face at this moment.
She replied calmly, "We were originally going to Jing County. Several wealthy families there have made a deal with us. The deal was originally agreed to be completed in the fall, but we have nothing to do recently so we might as well complete the deal as soon as possible. So the next ferry crossing is Tongguan Town, which is not far from Jing County. If you two don't mind, you can actually get off the boat there."
Su Fei and Huang She exchanged glances and replied, "Then I'll trouble you two."
If they can recover their former glory, they will definitely reward these two people.
This is too sensible.
After leaving the Congyang ferry, Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting even prepared a separate boat and enough food for them, and pulled the boat behind the big ship to prevent the boatman from eavesdropping on their conversation.
After arriving at Tongguan, they can leave on their own.
This careful arrangement made Huang She thank the two of them in a low voice, but he didn't know that Qiao Lan didn't need to mention Jing County at all, and could directly mention Tongguan Ferry.
So she naturally had her own intention when she uttered these two words. “
When Su Fei and Huang She were in an environment that was safe and private for them, they discussed their next plan.
According to their previous idea, once they reached the Tongguan Ferry, they would immediately return to Jiangxia while Sun Ce had not yet delivered the message to the entire Yangzhou. But at this time, they seemed to have another possibility.
"Jing County..." Su Fei pondered the destination mentioned by Qiao Lan and asked, "Young Master, do you remember who occupied Jing County in Danyang County?"
Huang She usually did not leave Yuzhang County, but he was always aware of the various forces in Yangzhou. Zu Lang, who called himself the Marshal of Jing County, was one of them.
The Marshal of Jing County is naturally in Jing County!
In the past few years, Sun Ce's growing prestige in Yangzhou did not affect the other party's continued expansion of its team.
Especially among the Yan Baihu tribe that was almost wiped out by Sun Ce back then, there were always a few who escaped the net. Although they were from different clans, many of them went to Danyang and joined Zu Lang's army.
This is where some of his subordinates come from.
In addition, during the Xuzhou Incident, Zu Lang also went to Xuzhou and got a few free meals from Zuo Rong, intending to see what Zuo Rong said could be done to make Sun Ce unlucky.
However, Zuo Rong became a victim of Zhang Yi and Liu Bei's respective occupation of Xuzhou from the north and the south, and was eventually killed by Zu Lang.
However, despite this accident, it did not affect Zu Lang's further expansion of his power.
He is not a mediocre person.
So after taking Zuo Rong's head, he took the opportunity to have people cross the river, and led some of the Xuzhou people who had been deceived by Zuo Rong to Jing County. He also looted a batch of money and weapons from Tongguan and armed these new followers.
In the following two years, he also secretly purchased a batch of Yizhou materials from Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting and stockpiled them in Jing County, making him look more and more like an independent large-scale fortress force.
These actions, coupled with the fact that Sun Ce had no time to take care of this sometimes scattered and sometimes gathered force, turned him from the original commander of Jing County into the most likely leader of the Shanyue bandits to compete with Sun Ce!
If Huang Zu of Yuzhang County died and the remaining resistance forces in the southern part of Kuaiji County were eliminated by Sun Ce, then according to the degree of threat, Zu Lang in Jing County would definitely be Sun Ce's next target.
The principle of pacifying the country before resisting foreign aggression is true both within the country and within a state.
Zu Lang is the one causing the internal strife.
But for Huang She and Su Fei, who were like lost dogs at this time, Zu Lang was truly a savior!
If Qiao Lan hadn't mentioned the other party's location, they would not have thought of the other party's name at all during their previous hurried escape.
"Zulang..." Huang She read the name and his heart moved.
The hatred that he had tried hard to suppress when he left Nanchang City reappeared on his face as the possibility of revenge increased.
While hiding in the cargo box of the cargo ship, Huang She actually thought about a very realistic problem.
It is true that Liu Biao is the governor of Jingzhou, but he is not like Qiao Yan or Sun Ce, who obtained this position through suppression by force. Instead, he had to rely on people like Cai Mao and Kuai Yue from the Xiangyang family to stabilize the situation in Jingzhou through the support of their family power.
So, would Liu Biao really mobilize troops against Sun Ce because of Huang Zu’s death in Yuzhang County?
Even if Liu Biao was dissatisfied with Sun Ce killing his subordinates, Cai Mao and Kuai Yue, as well as the family forces behind them, would never allow Liu Biao to make such a rash decision.
Anyway, Jingzhou is now protected by the imperial court. Even if Sun Ce really wants to avenge Sun Jian, he has to consider whether he can withstand the wrath of the Grand Marshal. There are only so many interests in Jingzhou. If the Jiangxia Huang family can be eliminated, will it be beneficial to others?
This way of weighing the pros and cons is not uncommon in the interactions between aristocratic families, and it is very likely to appear when he seeks help after returning to Jingzhou.
But what if we try another way? If we take advantage of the existing internal troubles in Yangzhou to retaliate against Sun Ce, wouldn't it sound more likely to achieve our goal?
He had to give it a try.
Although Zu Lang was a Shanyue, he was closer to a clan leader in nature, and could be considered to be the same kind of person as his father Huang Zu!
This gave them more impetus to start their conversation.
Zu Lang has not yet surrendered to Sun Ce, and he probably won't change his mind because of Huang Zu's death.
If he had the support coming from Jingzhou, he might be able to stir up some trouble in Danyang County!
The more Huang She thought about it, the more he felt that his originally bleak future had a glimmer of light because of the emergence of this bright path.
So on the next morning, when the "brothers" Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting invited them to have breakfast, the mental states of both parties seemed to be reversed.
Huang She said that he had figured out one thing, which was that Sun Ce would sooner or later pay the price for his careless advance, so there was no need to be depressed over a temporary victory or defeat.
Qiao Lan said that their unhappiness was due to the news they received from a speedboat last night that a batch of their goods in Lujiang County had been looted.
"It was the Shanyue who looted the goods." Qiao Ting continued, showing a bit of frustration in his expression. "In Yizhou, the southern barbarians rarely do such things. It's a relief that such a situation can still happen in Yangzhou."
"If it happened in Danyang County, we could still go to the commander of Jing County to seek justice, but since it happened in Lujiang County, we can only consider ourselves unlucky. We should just hire more thugs to escort the goods next time."
Once these words were spoken, it naturally explained why the guards who jumped into the water to capture Huang She and Su Fei last night had such strong martial arts.
If it is used to prevent thieves, then everything can be explained.
It seems that this is a last resort after their losses increased.
It was according to the principle of reciprocity that Huang She and Su Fei were treated by Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting. They should have expressed some regret for the situation they encountered.
But perhaps because they had been thinking about how to persuade Zu Lang to start an uprising with their support last night, the two of them actually felt that these Shanyue forces could rob merchants with impunity, which showed that they were all people with some temper.
With this kind of performance, it was more likely that Zu Lang would be persuaded by them.
After arriving at Tongguan, Huang She and the other two pretended to leave, but in fact they followed Qiao Lan and her team. They saw that the other party went to Jingxian first and then set out to return to Xuzhou in the north. Only then did they go to Jingxian and threatened to meet Zu Lang.
"After experiencing Zuo Rong's false propaganda last time, Zu Lang should be more careful. It won't be easy for these two to convince him." Qiao Ting sighed after receiving the letter from the subordinate in charge of surveillance.
"So you revealed some information to Zu Lang during the dinner." Qiao Lan smiled and continued.
"But I am not even sure whether it will succeed. I can only make sure they receive the information I want to convey to them subtly, but I can't force them to act according to my ideas." Qiao Ting said with emotion: "So I am afraid we have to go to Wujun again to add fuel to the fire in Yangzhou."
Is Zu Lang really the only one who can help Huang She?
Not necessarily.
Sun Ce's current progress is smooth, but it is also a huge threat to some Yangzhou families who still think he is a warrior and look down on him.
Now it depends on how far the counterattack triggered by these three forces within the country can go.
Qiao Lan replied: "Before that, let Lord Yu know the news first."
Sun Ce's dispatch of troops was too sudden. Even though Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting received the news and responded quickly enough, their reaction of saving Huang She and Su Fei could be said to be prompt and decisive.
However, due to the distance between Yangzhou and Chang'an, they still had no chance to consult Qiao Yan whether their actions were appropriate, so all their actions before this could be regarded as acting on their own initiative.
Now that the two people have finally been sent to where they should go, and their identities have not been exposed by giving direct advice, it is time to make a report to Qiao Yan.
Qiao Yan was still in Bingzhou at this time, so one of the secret letters was sent directly to the place where the pigeons were raised in Leping Academy, and then sent from Leping to the capital of Bingzhou.
Qiao Yan was slightly stunned at first when she saw Sun Ce's move of imitating her way of sending troops, and then she couldn't help laughing.
Perhaps Sun Ce was not only imitating her, but also Cao Cao.
After all, Cao Cao's attack on Yuan Shu and Sun Ce's advance into Yuzhang were both attacks by the party with more complete means of dealing with the disaster in the year of disaster against the other party that did not care about production.
This is the act of a tyrant!
He is now a young man in his twenties, but he has made more progress than in his early years!
However, the expansion of Sun Ce's territory was not entirely a bad thing since the territory she actually controlled was not adjacent to it.
She had also been waiting for Sun Ce to reorganize Yangzhou so that she could manage it better in the future.
She read the letter word by word, and understood all the actions of the Qiao sisters. She saw that they asked at the end whether these actions were appropriate.
"What's wrong with that? You should be more confident in yourself." Qiao Yan's eyes flashed with a smile, and he placed the letter in his hand on the candle in front of him and burned it. "If you need to ask me for everything, unless there is a phone that can transmit information in an instant, otherwise, how can I take care of everything in this huge world."
Fortunately, although they still lacked a little confidence, she was very relieved that -
Whether it's passing the message to the people who should know, making a quick and accurate assessment of the situation, or hiding their identities, Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting have already mastered the art.
Sooner or later, the Leping Qiao family, which still has a small number of members, will become an existence that cannot be underestimated by people all over the world.
She picked up her pen and began to write a reply to the two of them.
The letter stated that they could make their own decision on how to unite "some" of the Wujun aristocratic families, the remaining forces of Xu Gong, Yan Baihu and others, "Jingxian Marshal" Zu Lang and Huang She, who was supported by the Jiangxia Huang family, in the territory of Yangzhou.
The only thing they need to do is not to put themselves in danger by directly pushing things in the direction they expect.
Thinking of the possible consequences of this alliance, Qiao Yan paused slightly.
When she allowed Jia Xu to carry out his plan to kill Sun Jian, she also had such hesitations.
But the world struggle has come to a point where there is no room for retreat now than before.
She must also be responsible for her subordinates and the people under her command!
This momentary pause seemed to be just a slight reversal of the pen stroke before he continued writing.
Tell Jia Wenhe that when there is a change in Yangzhou, keep Zhou Yu in Xuzhou at all costs!
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