Cheng Yan and Jin Deqiang were not on good terms to begin with, but now they were two grasshoppers tied to the same rope. He could only sigh and say, "Alas! This matter is of great importance, and there is absolutely no way to deceive. I have no choice but to report the truth to His Majesty."
Jin Deqiang also sighed, "I know this truth. But this matter is too serious. I am afraid that the emperor will be furious and issue an order. You and I will be beheaded in the market." He paused and added, "In fact, death does not matter. It just means that I can no longer serve the emperor in the future..."
Cheng Yan thought to himself: You are just saying nice things, but in fact you are just afraid of death. However, he thought carefully: Who in this world is not afraid of death? This eunuch, who has no parents, no children, and no grandchildren in this world, still cherishes his life. He has elderly parents and young children, so he has to care about this dear life.
Cheng Yan lowered his head and thought for a while before saying, "Fortunately, these bandits were brave but not wise, and revealed their identities for no reason..."
Jin Deqiang quickly interrupted and said, "Yes, they have said it several times, saying that they came down from Shilin Mountain. This Shilin Mountain has been to everyone, it is located northwest of Luoyang."
Cheng Yan took a breath and gritted his teeth and said, "But we can't tell the emperor about this."
"Why is this?" Jin De asked impatiently.
Cheng Yan glanced at him and said, "If the emperor knew the exact location of these bandits, he would have sent troops to encircle and suppress them. Why would he need us? We can only tell the emperor that we only know the general direction and we have to follow the clues to arrest them. In this way, the emperor may be able to spare our lives and let us make meritorious contributions while serving our sentence."
Jin Deqiang said: "But this is a crime of deceiving the emperor!"
Cheng Yan held back the pain and sneered, "If I deceive you, I will die. If I don't deceive you, I will also die. I have no choice but to take the risk and give it a try!"
Jin Deqiang listened, thought about it silently, and then said: "I have been disrespectful to General Cheng in the past, but I didn't expect that I would have to rely on the general's strategy at this time. I am really ashamed!"
Cheng Yan waved his hands and said, "These are all trivial matters. Your Excellency and I are both on the verge of death. How can we care about these things?" He then spoke loudly to the soldiers of the Persuasion Division who were also lying on the ground and groaning, "The same goes for you. If you want to stay alive, you must keep today's events to yourself and not utter a single word!"
Jin Deqiang also said viciously: "Did you hear everything? If anyone tells it to others, don't blame me for being rude!" After that, he whispered to discuss with Cheng Yan.
Yuchi Lianghong was hiding in the corner at the moment, hearing their conversation clearly. Hearing that they had made up their minds, he sneered in his heart, stood up, and quickly walked westward to catch up with Qiu Yizi and others.
Qiu Yizhi had already been untied, and rode on his own blue Ferghana horse, leading everyone to walk slowly towards Luoyang. Yuchi Lianghong was very skilled in Qinggong, and caught up with them in just a moment, and told Qiu Yizhi the conversation he had overheard outside the Taoist temple.
Qiu Yizhi listened attentively, nodded with a smile and said, "It seems that this plan has been completed. Thank you, brother."
Yuchi Lianghong was puzzled and said, "In my humble opinion, if you want to rescue Marshal Dai, you only need to set up an ambush and capture all the people from the Persuasion Department. Why do you need to do all these tricks? Isn't it just adding unnecessary trouble?"
Qiu Yizi smiled and said, "Brother, you are a martial artist. May I ask, if a strong man in his twenties or thirties were to fight a young girl, what moves should he use?"
"Well, how could a righteous person in the martial arts world do such a vulgar thing?" Yuchi Lianghong frowned and said, "If it were hypothetically... why would this strong man need any martial arts moves? He only needed to punch her straight, and the girl would have been seriously injured."
"Since this girl is not as strong as this strong man, how can she win if they really meet on a narrow road?" Qiu Yizi asked.
Yuchi Lianghong is proficient in various martial arts. After a brief thought, he said, "There are many methods. Every school and sect has its own moves to defeat the strong with the weak. It is impossible to list them all. The key lies in the eight words 'attack when the enemy is unprepared, avoid the real and attack the fake'."
After hearing this, Qiu Yizi couldn't help but admire him and said, "Brother is indeed an expert in martial arts. He doesn't dwell on individual moves, but can see the main idea. Since I met you, I haven't had a few days of leisure. If we are lucky, I will ask you for a few moves so that I can protect myself."
"Okay, okay, whatever martial arts you want to learn, I will teach you everything I know." Yuchi Lianghong said, "But what does this have to do with your strategy?"
Qiu Yizi laughed again and said, "This is just my ordinary comparison. Although our team is elite and we have a brother like you who is the best martial artist in the world to support us, we are only a few hundred people after all. But Kinki is the confidant of the court. There are no less than 100,000 Jiedu troops and imperial guards alone, and the number of officials in the prefectures and counties is countless. Compared with them, the gap between us is even greater than that between a girl and a strong man. If we don't use some tricks, how can we retreat unscathed?"
"So, it turns out that my dear brother's plan was also a feint?" Yuchi Lianghong was not a stupid man and he had already heard the hidden meaning of Qiu Yi's words.
"That's right, it's just a feint." Qiu Yizi said happily, "I planned it on purpose. Not only did I pretend to reveal the news that we were going to Shilin Mountain after rescuing Marshal Dai, but I also left some people alive to inform the court. In this way, the court will march to encircle and suppress Shilin Mountain, and we will take the opportunity to turn west, which will be easy for us!"
"That's tough for those bandits on Shilin Mountain. They were attacked by the imperial court for no reason. I'm afraid they won't be able to figure out what happened even after they die!" Yuchi Lianghong also laughed.
Qiu Yi said: "This is my lack of consideration. I wonder if these bandits on Shilin Mountain have any relationship with you? Can you send someone to tell them to flee into the mountains to avoid a catastrophe? Anyway, my plan has been successful, so this is just a piece of cake."
Yuchi Lianghong waved his hands and said: "Those people on Shilin Mountain are just evil villains who bully men and women and bring trouble to their neighbors. It is a worthy death that they are wiped out by the court!" After saying that, he laughed.
As he was talking, even Qiu Yizi was very proud of his own ingenious plan and laughed out loud.
Dai Luanxiang, who was sitting on his horse with his hands tied behind his back, was only a few steps away from Qiu Yizhi and Yuchi Lianghong. Dai Luanxiang heard their conversation clearly and finally couldn't help asking, "So these warriors are not the wild men on Shilin Mountain?"
After hearing what Dai Luanxiang said, Qiu Yizi remembered that he had tied up a general of the imperial court to his side. He said "excuse me" and hurriedly ordered people to untie Dai Luanxiang.
After untying his restraints, Dai Luanxiang stretched his arms and legs and asked, "Excuse me, who is this gentleman, and why did you save me?"
Qiu Yizhi smiled but did not answer. Instead, he took a torch from someone else and moved closer to illuminate his face. Then he replied, "Marshal Dai, after not seeing you for a few days, have you forgotten me?"
Through the flickering firelight, Dai Luanxiang carefully identified him and finally said in shock: "I recognize you, aren't you the adopted son of Prince Youyan, called... Qiu Yizi?"
Qiu Yizi's face was a little hot from the heat of the torch. When Dai Luanxiang recognized her, she quickly raised the torch higher and said with a smile on her face: "Marshal Dai really has a good memory. I am just a brat, but Marshal Dai can still remember me."
Dai Luanxiang ignored Qiu Yizhi's empty greetings and continued to ask: "If that's the case, then Your Highness must have followed the orders of the prince, right? However, Dai was the prince's enemy half a month ago. Why did the prince send Your Highness to rescue Dai?"
Qiu Yizi was a little flattered by being called "Your Highness" by this world-famous general, and replied: "Marshal Dai's military tactics are world-famous and feared by China, but what you said just now is really wrong. Marshal Dai and my adoptive father, the prince, have never been enemies, and now we should be united against the common enemy."
"Oh? Your Highness, what do you mean by this?"
Qiu Yizi did not answer, but said: "I am the son of Prince Youyan. I have heard for a long time that Marshal Dai used to call my adoptive father brother. Although I am stubborn, I still have some respect for superiors and subordinates. I dare not call myself "Your Highness" anymore. If my adoptive father knew that I was so arrogant in front of the marshal, he would definitely punish me. I am afraid that I can't bear the blame!"
Dai Luanxiang heard Qiu Yi's roundabout way of answering his question, but he knew some manners when speaking, which was much better than those ignorant young men in the capital. So he patiently said, "The prince's family education is indeed strict... The young master has indeed learned a lot from his parents. But the young master has not answered Dai's question. How come Dai and the prince are enemies instead of friends? Why did the prince think of saving Dai?"
Qiu Yizi saw that he had almost aroused Dai Luanxiang's curiosity, so he let out a long sigh and said slowly: "My adoptive father was imprisoned a few months ago. Fortunately, thanks to his good fortune and the help of this junior, he escaped from the capital without any danger. The one who framed my adoptive father at that time was none other than the current emperor Zheng Yao. And Marshal Dai is also being framed by a traitor, and his life is in danger. This traitor is also none other than the current emperor Zheng Yao!"
Dai Luanxiang was about to say something, but Qiu Yizhi stretched out his hand to stop him. Qiu Yizhi continued, "The Marshal and my adoptive father are both sworn enemies with Zheng Yao, and they have a deep connection with each other. I am stupid, so I want to ask - are my adoptive father and the Marshal enemies? Are they friends?"
Dai Luanxiang was stunned by Qiu Yizi's rapid-fire words. After thinking carefully, he felt that the reasoning was a bit forced, but he had no way to refute it. He sighed and said, "What you said does make sense. However, if the emperor orders me to die, I have to die. The Dai family has been loyal to the court for generations. Since the emperor has issued an order, although I am unwilling, I have no choice but to submit to the death!"
"Foolish loyalty! Marshal, what you said is rather petty!" Qiu Yizi scolded angrily.
Dai Luanxiang enjoyed a very high prestige in the court and the country, and had never been scolded to his face. Even the eunuch Jin Deqiang who escorted him all the way to Beijing only dared to play some tricks behind his back and never dared to confront him head-on.
But the young boy in front of him spoke to Dai Luanxiang so ruthlessly that he was really frightened and speechless for a long time.
But Qiu Yizhi continued, "The sage said: The people are the most important, the country is second, and the emperor is the least important. The Marshal is a man of both civil and military talents, and a pillar of the court. Doesn't he understand this truth? If the Marshal loses his life in vain because of the reckless decree of Zheng Yao, the foolish emperor, the pen of history is as hard as iron. A hundred years later, the common people will only say that the Marshal is a fool who does not know the times! The Marshal's death is a relief, but how will the people of the Han Dynasty deal with themselves? How will the soldiers who followed the Marshal deal with life and death? How will the Marshal's old mother and children deal with themselves? May I ask, has the Marshal ever thought about them in the slightest?" (To be continued)