Chapter 202 What am I afraid of? At most, I'll get a beating.
No wonder Xiao Jinghong was angry.
Two days ago, she repeatedly reminded Li Changqing to guard the warehouse carefully to prevent it from being stolen by criminals.
Unexpectedly, upon arriving here, she saw the devastation surrounding the summer grain warehouse in Tiebi Town.
The initial joy at the safety of Canglang and Xuanjia towns vanished instantly.
Xiao Jinghong glanced around and asked, "What's the current situation?"
A soldier, his body blackened by smoke, immediately knelt down.
"Reporting to the general, of the nearly 500,000 shi of summer grain, only 200,000 shi have been salvaged..."
"However, thanks to the heavy rain, the fire has been brought under control, and there should still be a considerable amount of food remaining underground."
Xiao Jinghong's hand unconsciously rested on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
If Li Changqing were here right now, he would probably be struck by a sword.
Three hundred thousand shi of grain and fodder, equivalent to nearly four months' worth of rations for the soldiers of Tiebi Town.
Such a huge loss is enough to warrant Li Changqing's execution.
However, upon seeing the warehouse ruins before him and the charred marks on the faces and bodies of the surrounding soldiers, Xiao Jinghong sighed softly and gave the order:
"Let's continue to salvage the summer grain harvest; we'll save as much as we can."
"Also, when General Li arrives, tell him that I will be waiting for him at the General's residence."
"Yes, General."
Xiao Jinghong flashed to the General's Mansion in the town, sat upright in the hall, and looked at the torrential rain outside.
As her true energy circulated, she calmed down, and the events of the night inevitably surfaced in her mind.
If someone hadn't informed her beforehand, the losses would have been even greater.
The fact that less than 300,000 shi of grain has been lost is a stroke of good fortune amidst misfortune.
Furthermore, since all those who carried out the attack were wiped out, including the evil and heretical sects of Mingyue Tower, the outcome wasn't too bad.
Once the mastermind is found, the Xiao family's influence will surely make up for these losses.
However, Xiao Jinghong still felt somewhat annoyed.
She wasn't angry about the loss itself, but rather about Li Changqing's arrogance and stubbornness.
If Li Changqing had been as vigilant as Ma Kui, the general of Xuanjia Town, how could the fire have been allowed to start?
A moment later.
Li Changqing hurriedly led his men back, and after having the armored soldiers wait at the door, he tidied his appearance and solemnly entered the hall.
Kneel on one knee and bow with hands clasped in greeting:
"Li Changqing, General of Tiebi Town, pays his respects to the General."
Xiao Jinghong calmly observed him, and it wasn't hard to see that he didn't show any remorse for the impending punishment, so she spoke:
"Tell me about the situation this time."
Li Changqing breathed a slight sigh of relief; at least Xiao Jinghong hadn't directly slashed him with his sword.
Without hesitation, he knelt on the ground and said, "The summer grain in Tiebi Town was lost this time. The fault lies with me. I was careless and let the villains succeed."
"but……"
Li Changqing paused, took out a letter from his robes, stood up and placed it in front of Xiao Jinghong, then knelt back down and said:
"However, I have also made a discovery. I have found this, which should be able to help the general find the mastermind behind this incident."
Xiao Jinghong picked up the letter and began to read it; his eyes immediately narrowed.
[If you want to become the head of the Xiao family, cooperate with my young master... You need to show sincerity... Burn down the summer grain crops in three towns...]
[Three hundred thousand taels of silver upfront, with another three hundred thousand taels to be paid upon completion... Wishing you success—Xiao Dongchen!]
Xiao Jinghong's gaze fell on the end of the letter, on the blood-red handprint and the blood-stained signature, and a chill ran through him.
Xiao Dongchen, tonight's events were actually the work of an insider within the Xiao family?
Li Changqing looked up at her and hesitated before saying:
"General, the loss of supplies this time is indeed due to my dereliction of duty. I hope you will punish me."
Xiao Jinghong snapped out of her daze and looked at him, asking in a cool tone, "Where was this letter found?"
Li Changqing paused, then clapped his hands and ordered towards the outside, "Bring them in."
Several armored soldiers quickly carried the bodies of Liu Wen and the others and placed them in the hall.
Li Changqing pointed to Liu Wen, who was soaked by the rain, and said:
"This humble general found the letter on this man, and he also had a jade pendant on him."
As he spoke, he placed the jade pendant on the table.
Xiao Jinghong remained unmoved, his gaze fixed on Liu Wen and the others, carefully examining their wounds.
He mastered the art of gunplay.
Great achievement in the art of swordsmanship...
Does it smell familiar?
"Liu Lang? Is that him?"
The image of the knife outside the trade market flashed through Xiao Jinghong's mind, making him even more puzzled.
Then she picked up the jade pendant and glanced at it, her brows furrowing slightly beneath the mask.
"A jade pendant identifying a person from the Liu family of Jingzhou."
As the thoughts raced through Xiao Jinghong's mind, he had already deduced most of what would happen tonight.
The burning of the summer grain in the three towns was likely the work of a young master from the Liu family of Jingzhou, in collusion with Xiao Dongchen.
But she had even more doubts in her heart.
The thieves in the three towns and the evil spirits of Mingyue Tower were all brought by Xiao Dongchen.
Why was Liu Lang and his gang members killing the young master of the Liu family?
What other secrets are hidden within?
Xiao Jinghong had a vague feeling that something was strange about what happened tonight, and that there seemed to be another group of people with ulterior motives.
Especially the death of the Liu family's young master here, and that letter that Xiao Dongchen deliberately signed and sealed.
It was as if someone had planned it all in advance, leaving the mastermind behind tonight's events to her and the Xiao family.
What is its purpose?
After thinking for a long time.
Xiao Jinghong said, "This matter will be kept secret for now. Anyone who leaks information will be subject to military law."
Li Changqing responded with a "yes," then hesitated before asking, "And what's next..."
Xiao Jinghong stood up, looked at him and said, "Let's ensure the summer grain is not lost first, then we can discuss other things."
"As for your punishment... I will report to the Marquis and let him decide."
"I hope you will remember tonight's lesson and not repeat the same mistake in the future."
Li Changqing's face fell. Compared to the old Marquis, he would rather Xiao Jinghong punish him at this moment.
Fortunately, he found something tonight. His crime was serious, but not punishable by death.
Xiao Jinghong ignored his thoughts, put away the letter and jade pendant, and then took Liu Wen's body straight to Shuzhou Prefecture.
Tonight's events are far too significant, involving not only Xiao Dongchen, the second son of the Xiao family, but also a young master from the Liu family of Jingzhou.
Furthermore, the summer grain harvest in Tiebi Town was burned, and there are still some people with unclear motives hiding behind the scenes.
For both public and private reasons, Xiao Jinghong needed to meet with the old Marquis to discuss and decide on the next steps.
"This matter must be thoroughly investigated and brought to the bottom of!"
...
The fourth quarter of the Yin hour.
Chen Yi had just carried Lou Yuxue and arrived at Chunyu Tower with Liu Lang.
The round trip took only four hours, but many things happened during that time, inevitably causing him mental and physical strain.
Therefore, after returning to the quiet room, Chen Yi did not stand on ceremony and directly asked Liu Lang to pour a basin of cold water on Lou Yuxue.
"Cough cough..."
Lou Yuxue instantly woke up, looked around, fixed her eyes on Chen Yi, and said angrily:
"You bastard, why did you knock me out?"
Chen Yi sat calmly in his chair, waving his hand to signal Liu Lang to go outside and keep watch, and replied:
"You talk too much, you're too verbose."
Lou Yuxue: "..."
Liu Lang, who had not yet left the quiet room, couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Boss, you really don't know how to cherish women."
Chen Yi glared at him: "Get lost."
"Okay."
After Liu Lang left, Lou Yuxue suppressed her anger and asked, "What was the final outcome over there?"
Chen Yi didn't hide anything from her, "The summer grain in Tiebi Town was burned, the young master of the Liu family died, and those evil spirits and several soldiers also failed to escape."
Lou Yuxue's eyes narrowed. "You killed all those people, didn't you?"
Chen Yi nodded and sighed, "It's not good for anyone to know that I killed Young Master Liu."
"Then why aren't you afraid I'll leak it?"
"I was scared, that's why I gave you some silver, otherwise all 30,000 taels of gold would have been mine."
"...Despicable, shameless!"
No wonder Lou Yuxue gritted her teeth at Chen Yi.
This time, she and Ge Laosan spent a great deal of money, mainly because of those Iron Flag Officers hidden in the Dingyuan Army.
Even if not all of them, it still meant that their years of hard work had been wasted.
Despite such a huge loss, they only managed to recover 50%, approximately 150,000 taels of silver.
That's fine.
How could she not be furious that this bastard was trying to pin the blame for tonight's events on the White Tiger Guard?
Chen Yi had some idea of what she was thinking and said with a smile, "We're in the same boat."
"Who says 'we' are you?"
"We went to Iron Wall Town together, and we killed Liu Wen and the others together. How can you not call us 'us'?"
"You, you, you... I, I, I... I'll fight you to the death!"
Seeing Lou Yuxue charging in furiously, Chen Yi shook his head and pressed his fist down on her with the force of a mountain.
*Smack*
Lou Yuxue was caught off guard and fell face-first to the ground.
The more she resisted, the angrier and more she struggled, yelling, "Let me go!"
"You did all those things, yet you want me to take the blame? How could you be so shameless?!"
Chen Yi grinned. "Miss Yuxue, compared to the trouble your White Tiger Guards are causing in Shu Prefecture, what I've done is nothing."
"Besides, after today, you and the third young lady of the Liu family in Jingzhou will be allies, which is to your advantage."
Lou Yuxue struggled to lift her head, stared at him, and asked through gritted teeth, "But are you really a member of the Liu family?"
Chen Yi replied without batting an eye, "Absolutely genuine."
One of his objectives was to use the Liu family of Jingzhou to distract the hidden guards.
Let them fight like dogs, so that these two groups won't bother the Xiao family for no reason.
Lou Yuxue could not possibly believe him completely, and snorted, "No matter who you are, as long as I am alive, I will never let you go."
Chen Yi smiled and said, "Miss Yuxue, it's too early to say that."
"Maybe after a while I'll abandon the darkness and join the White Tiger Guard, becoming one of your 'own people'?"
"Then I won't let you off the hook either!"
Chen Yi pursed his lips, "Whatever you want, I..."
Just as he was about to exchange some more pleasantries, several lines of large, dazzling golden characters suddenly appeared before his eyes:
[This document details the story of Zheng Yuelou Heiya gathering demons and heretics, joining forces with the White Tiger Guard of the Great Wei Dynasty to burn down the summer grain crops of three border towns in Shu Prefecture. Reward: The Falling Dragon Spear Technique is upgraded to the Heavenly Rank, and the chance bonus is increased by 433.]
[Comment: The arrival of the person brought their voice and created a spectacle.]
[They joined forces with Xiao Jinghong to thwart Black Fang and White Tiger Guard's plans for the summer grain harvest in Canglang and Xuanjia towns, and indirectly killed Black Fang and other evil spirits.]
He plotted against Liu Wen and had him killed. He then framed Xiao Dongchen, ruining all of the White Tiger Guard's plans.
Performance – commendable.
After reading it carefully, a smile appeared on Chen Yi's face.
That's quite remarkable, a rare find.
However, aside from a few words of praise and rewards, he was even happier that Xiao Jinghong had not disappointed him.
Not only did Black Fang die, but the summer grain harvest in Xuanjia and Canglang towns was also unharmed, so the outcome wasn't too bad.
If we also consider the 300,000 taels of silver he left to the Xiao family, it would be enough to make up for the losses in Tiebi Town, with a considerable surplus.
"Not bad, not bad..."
Lou Yuxue, seeing him laugh for no apparent reason, asked, puzzled, "What kind of wicked idea are you up to now, you bastard?"
Chen Yi glanced at her, then withdrew his true intentions from his fist technique and said, "You should go get the money."
Lou Yuxue felt the pressure on her body dissipate and abruptly stood up, about to make a move, when she heard Chen Yi continue:
"My lady tiger, you don't want to end up with nothing, do you?"
Lou Yuxue's fist stopped in front of his face. Looking at that hateful face, she gritted her teeth and said, "You wait!"
Seeing her turn to leave, Chen Yi calmly reminded her:
"Lady Tiger, 150,000 taels... I almost forgot, you also need to give me the 10,000 taels I gave to Black Fang earlier."
"The total is 160,000 taels of silver. Don't give too much."
"...You just wait!"
Chen Yi smiled and shook his head, assuming that she was just telling him to wait there and get the money.
Not long after.
Lou Yuxue walked over quickly, carrying an ebony box, her face still showing extreme displeasure.
But upon seeing Chen Yi, she still snorted coldly, opened the box, took out a stack of gold notes, and prepared to count out 160,000 taels.
But before she could even start counting, she caught a glimpse of a dark shadow out of the corner of her eye, followed by a sharp pain in her neck.
Lou Yuxue stared blankly at Chen Yi, "You..."
The next moment, the familiar dizziness returned.
On her deathbed, her last thought came to mind.
That bastard is trying to kick us while we're down!
Chen Yi didn't think too much about it. After settling her in, he sat down at the table and started counting the box of gold notes.
The general methods are as follows:
"One for you, one for me, one for me, one for me, one for me..."
"One for you, one for me, one for me, one for me, one for me..."
Finally, Chen Yi finished counting the money, looked at the thin stack of gold and silver notes, and his smile deepened.
"Leaving you 50,000 taels of silver should be enough to make up for your losses, right?"
Then he looked at the thick wad of gold and silver notes in his hand and couldn't help but sigh, "Making money is really hard."
"After working for almost half a month, I've only earned... less than 300,000 taels of silver?"
The reason there were more was that the box contained not only the 30,000 taels of gold notes from this transaction, but also what Mingyue Tower had acquired recently.
As Chen Yi spoke, he put away the silver and gold notes, stood up, and beckoned Liu Lang to leave Chunyu Tower.
"Boss, have you received the money?"
"Well, I did make some progress."
Liu Lang rubbed his hands together and chuckled, "How much?"
Looking at the faint light emerging in the east, Chen Yi casually replied, "Two hundred and ninety thousand taels."
"Twenty... um? Would that Miss Yuxue agree?"
"Of course she disagreed."
"Then how come... uh, did you steal this?"
Seeing Chen Yi nod, Liu Lang was secretly amazed, but couldn't help feeling some sympathy for Lou Yuxue.
I reckon she'll be furious, right?
Chen Yi didn't care about anything else. After calculating the time, he gave the instructions:
"Do as I say, hide first, be careful, and don't let anyone notice you."
Liu Lang nodded and said with a smile, "Don't worry, boss. I can hide myself so well that even Mingyue Tower can't find me."
"That would be best, you..."
Before Chen Yi could finish speaking, he suddenly looked up at the sky.
The willows beside them were the same.
In the distance, shrouded in dark clouds, a figure moved with incredible speed, hurtling towards the north.
One could vaguely sense the sharp and domineering aura emanating from her.
Chen Yi and Liu Lang dared not make any move.
Only after they could no longer feel that power did they exchange a glance, both feeling somewhat relieved.
Liu Lang chuckled twice. "Boss, that, that's General Jinghong?"
Chen Yi nodded, "It's her, but she returned to Shu Prefecture earlier than I expected."
"Her imposing presence is truly intimidating... Aren't you afraid?"
"What am I afraid of? At most, I'll just get a beating."
Even if Xiao Jinghong and the Xiao family discover what he has done, they will not do anything to him.
Ultimately, this can only be considered a "family dispute".
Of course, Chen Yi couldn't say this aloud; he simply waved his hand, signaling Liu Lang to proceed according to plan.
He himself quietly went to Quchi and boarded the painted boat that had been prepared in advance.
About half an hour later.
Chen Yi changed his clothes, washed himself, and cleaned up all traces before finally relaxing completely.
As he listened to the pitter-patter of rain on the pleasure boat, the image of the beautiful woman he had just seen floated into his mind, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.
"Xiao Jinghong returned with Liu Wen, so he must have already obtained Xiao Dongchen's letter."
"The rest depends on how she and the old man handle it."
"I reckon that even if the old master still cherishes old friendships, he would still be ruthless enough to kill someone as treacherous as Xiao Dongchen."
"The worst-case scenario is that the second wife might intervene or plead for him, in which case he might not die."
"Fortunately, the hidden guards will take action."
"As for the Liu family of Jingzhou... well, they're in big trouble."
Thinking about these things, Chen Yi leisurely lay down on the bed.
As the Xuanwu Concealing Breath Technique circulated within his body, it concealed all martial arts aura.
During Xiao Jinghong's return, he dared not reveal anything, lest it cause unnecessary trouble.
Of course, this is definitely not a matter of fear.
It was purely because he held his wife in high esteem.
Ultimately, they had to consider the reputation of Xiao Jinghong, the commander of the Dingyuan Army, and couldn't take all the credit.
The image of the figure he had just seen, along with the sharp and domineering sword intent, flashed through Chen Yi's mind, and he muttered a few words to himself.
"Xiao Jinghong's cultivation is at the upper third rank, and his sword intent is at the perfect level. Tsk, he's really strong."
When will I be able to regain my husbandly authority?
As Chen Yi thought this, he gently exhaled.
Sigh, I'm exhausted after a long night, time for bed.
You can have anything in your dreams.
...
While Chen Yi slept soundly, someone in Shuzhou City was destined to have an uneasy sleep.
Inside Mingyue Tower.
Lou Yuxue slowly woke up, and only after realizing that there was no sound around her did she sit down at the table.
Looking at the few dozen gold and silver notes on the table, her charming and beautiful face remained expressionless.
It was roughly a calm that came from extreme anger.
"Liu Wu, hehe!"
That's a whopping 340,000 taels of silver!
In the end, Lou Yuxue received only a paltry fifty thousand taels of silver.
If the profits from Mingyue Tower are excluded, she can only afford to supply the hidden guards with 30,000 taels of silver.
This is ten times different from the number she and Ge Laosan had previously planned.
As Lou Yuxue thought about it, a smile appeared on her face.
Charming, alluring, gorgeous, and stunningly beautiful.
She was clearly furious.
She never imagined that there could be such a shameless bastard in the world.
Even though she had seen many different kinds of evil spirits and heretics in Mingyue Tower, none of them made her angrier than "Liu Wu".
"Killing someone is just a matter of beheading them, but he... he went even further than killing me! He's utterly wicked!"
"Son of a bitch!"
"No matter where you hide, no matter if you are a member of the Liu family of Jingzhou or not, I will find you and repay this humiliation in full!!"
Please give me a monthly ticket, please give me a monthly ticket, please give me a monthly ticket.
There's only one week left until the monthly ticket lottery, so please vote!
There are lots of prizes to be won; you might just win one.
(End of this chapter)
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