seventy-five
You Shu stayed in Mianzhou City for three days, leaving early and returning late every day, looking like an ordinary traveling merchant. On the fourth night, he extinguished the candles in the room on time, but did not go to bed as usual.
After lying by the door and listening carefully for a while, and confirming that the shopkeeper had closed the door, You Shu carefully opened the window and climbed out. The cool breeze in the late summer and early autumn nights was very comfortable, but You Shu had no intention of enjoying this cozy atmosphere. Tonight he was going to explore the camp for the first time at night, so he had to be very alert.
The moonlight was dim, and the sky was covered with dark clouds, which was a perfect condition to conceal his figure. You Shu, dressed in black, wandered around the roofs like a ghost. The streets below were empty, except for the occasional night watchman passing by. He stepped carefully on the tiles without making any sound. He had almost walked the route to the camp in the past few days, and it only took him an incense stick of time to reach his destination.
You Shumiao stared at the soldiers guarding the gate. There were eight of them in total. It seemed impossible to enter through the main gate, but he found another entrance yesterday.
Looking at this small dog hole, You Shu sighed deeply in his heart.
Alas, it seems that I can't escape the fate of crawling through a dog hole.
In a sense, what they do is similar to that of spies. Sometimes they will do anything to achieve their goals, and will find a way to get through, let alone a cat hole or a dog hole, even a rat hole. They have absolutely no dignity at all.
Fortunately, his prince was not at home, otherwise if he had seen him crawling through the dog hole with his butt sticking out, the cool boyfriend persona he had been trying to market these days would have collapsed.
The dog hole was very small, and it looked as if it could not accommodate an adult man. However, You Shu knew a little bit about bone-shrinking techniques, and he took some effort to get in without wasting any time.
After entering smoothly, You Shu looked around. A team was about to come over for patrol about ten steps away. He was quick-witted and quickly hid in the weeds on the side and squatted down. His black coat blended perfectly with the surrounding darkness.
The patrolmen happened to be patrolling here, and the one in the lead said in a gruff voice: "Wake up! Don't let any random people sneak in!"
"Now, everyone, turn around!"
After saying that, he walked to a dark pile of weeds, untied the sack around his waist and started taking things out.
You Shu was lying there peacefully, when suddenly a fishy smell came from the side. In the dim moonlight, he could see the patrol captain holding his match and diverting water, only a few steps away from him.
You Shu: “…”
Damn it.
He endured the fishy smell and remained motionless until the captain finished and turned away. Although it was probably just an illusion, he felt as if he was covered in the smell of urine and his mind was filled with lingering matchsticks.
After this trip, I will look at the prince more often.
After the patrol team had completely gone away, You Shu carefully shuttled between the tents, avoiding the patrolling soldiers. He moved so fast that only his afterimage could be seen. Not everyone else could do it so well.
As expected of me.
You Shu couldn't help but brag shamelessly again.
Seeing the commander's tent right in front of him, he squatted down and began to think about how to approach it. The tent was surrounded by soldiers guarding it. Unless those people were blind, they would not be able to see him. The patrol soldiers almost all appeared in teams. He could hardly find a lone attacker, and it was not easy to disguise himself and sneak in.
You Shu hid in a corner of another tent, thinking about how to get closer. Perhaps it was God's will that helped him, as a strong wind suddenly blew up, and the dark clouds overhead completely blocked out the moonlight. The torches in the camp were blown away, and the visibility around suddenly dropped a lot.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, You Shu stood up and ran through the gap when the patrol soldiers turned around, so fast that people could only feel a gust of wind.
Hiding in the corner behind the big tent, You Shu breathed a sigh of relief, his palms full of cold sweat. If he had not grasped the moment well, he would have been easily discovered. Fortunately, although he was in love, his skills were not rusty, and he found his hiding place steadily before the wind stopped.
He took out the small knife he carried with him, cut a small hole in the tent, and looked inside through the gap.
There were voices talking in the tent. He could see a burly man sitting at the table drinking. It was Liu Tiezhu whom he saw that day. There was another man sitting opposite him, but his face could not be seen clearly, and he did not know if he was the military advisor.
The wind outside started to blow again. There might be a heavy rainstorm tonight. All You Shu could hear was the sound of the wind. He couldn't hear what the people inside were saying and could only guess through lip reading.
While drinking, Liu Tiezhu enthusiastically invited the man opposite to eat together. He was very respectful in his words and called him "Sir". It seemed that he was most likely a military advisor.
"Thanks to you, we were able to accomplish such a great cause!" Liu Tiezhu drank a little too much and began to speak with a lisp, "If it weren't for you, my brothers would have died at the hands of Zhang Mazi."
"Come on, when can we stop?"
Liu Tiezhu's face was red from drinking. "Now my brothers all have meat to eat and have married wives. What we want has been satisfied. If we continue like this, the emperor will be angry, right?"
You Shu interpreted Liu Tiezhu's words through lip reading, but was unable to determine what the military advisor said because Liu Tiezhu's expression was obviously embarrassed.
"Sir, we didn't really want to rebel at first, but we had no choice but to do it because we couldn't survive anymore. But now we are living a good life, and the brothers in the village still want to go back to farming and don't want to go against the emperor."
"I heard that two princes are coming this time, with 50,000 people! We... We are a little scared."
The military advisor on the other side said something else, but Liu Tiezhu was still in a dilemma: "Sir, do you really want to support me to be the emperor? But I just want to farm, hug my wife and children and have a warm bed. I can't do anything else."
After a while, Liu Tiezhu quietly drank and listened to the military advisor talking opposite him, and then said: "The dog emperor is not kind and righteous, and doesn't care about the lives of his subordinates. Sir, you are right. I have to live a good life, and let others live a good life too!"
"Don't worry, I'll still follow you! Whatever you say is what I'll obey you!"
"What's more, I want to go to the capital to find my benefactor."
You Shu watched Liu Tiezhu and the military advisor drinking and chatting in the tent, but they didn't talk about the deployment of the defense. He felt a little disappointed. He hid in his original place and continued to peek. Liu Tiezhu probably drank too much and fell down.
But the military advisor sitting opposite stood up. Judging from his steady steps, he was not drunk. He stood up and walked to Liu Tiezhu, finally showing his face.
To You Shu's surprise, the military advisor looked ordinary. He was not as vigorous and capable as he had imagined. He was so ordinary that he might not be recognized if thrown into a crowd of people. There was no sign of talent on his body.
However, looking at his face, You Shu had an inexplicable feeling. He seemed to have seen him somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where. Logically speaking, it was impossible for him to have seen a rebel's military advisor before.
You Shu continued to watch while wondering. The military advisor looked at Liu Tiezhu, who was sleeping on the table with drool and snoring, with contempt. He kicked him on the waist, cursed him with a very vulgar word, put on his cloak and walked out.
After a while, he heard the voices of the guard talking to the military advisor in front of the tent, and the military advisor seemed to be about to leave.
You Shu really wanted to follow, but it was bright all around and he would be discovered if he went out rashly. He could only watch the military advisor walk away.
He hid behind the big tent for several hours, listening to Liu Tiezhu's snoring and sighing silently. This guy sleeps too much. If someone really wants to assassinate him, no one will know how they died.
The reason why You Shu did not kill him was that he realized that Liu Tiezhu was not the key to the rebellion. Although he was the leader, the real core was still the military advisor. Killing Liu Tiezhu now might alert the enemy.
Only when it was dawn could You Shu run out while the patrol soldiers were changing shifts and return to the inn along the same route.
I climbed in through the window and just heard the first rooster crow outside.
You Shu changed out of his black nightgown, sat at the table, poured himself a glass of water and drank it in one gulp. Only then could he think about organizing the information he had gathered overnight.
First of all, Liu Tiezhu had no determination to rebel and become emperor. From his tone, he just wanted to make a living and live a good life. Neither in the past nor now, he had any intention of continuing the rebellion. Instead, it was the military advisor who brainwashed him time and time again, tempting him to go to a higher place.
You Shu originally thought that the rebel leader Liu Tiezhu and the military advisor should be of one mind, but from what he saw last night, it was clear that Liu Tiezhu was being led by the military advisor, and he could be considered a complete puppet.
Secondly, that military advisor did not look like a real military advisor. You Shu believed that appearance reflects the heart. A truly talented person would show a different temperament from ordinary people no matter how he tried to hide it.
For example, no matter how much he disguises himself, his prince can see at a glance that in addition to his handsome appearance, he also has an excellent soul full of connotation.
But the military advisor's eyes were filled with sarcasm and judging from his series of behaviors and expressions towards Liu Tiezhu after he drank, he was by no means an expert and looked like a cannon fodder villain no matter how you looked at him.
Too strange.
You Shu couldn't figure out what was going on. He had heard from Yingba before that Huzhou was a very strange place, and now it seemed very strange indeed.
If only his prince were here, he would definitely be able to guess the reason.
You Shu sighed, got up and washed his face with cold water. Even though he hadn't slept all night, he still wanted to cheer up. He opened the window and just happened to see a red sun rising over the horizon. It looked like it would be another sunny day today.
You Shu took a deep breath, his chest filled with the fresh morning air, still with that strange fragrance.
It seems very fragrant, but also very light.
It is refreshing and makes people happy.