"Ah - so ruthless and skillful! Someone must have tipped off the assassin in advance."
"Thunderbolt, where did she get the thunderbolt?!"
"Ye Qinglian, how could it be her?"
Before the sound of the explosion dissipated, three completely different exclamations sounded from the mouths of Li Yu, Wu Er and Han Qing at the same time.
As a former patrol inspector of Ziwu Village, Li Yu was surprised that the assassin acted viciously, was skillful, and knew the time perfectly.
As the former head of the Suppressing Army, Wu Er was astonished that the Bianliang Imperial City Division had just successfully trial-produced the Thunderbolt gunpowder shells, which were not even equipped with many for the Song Dynasty's border troops, but would actually fall into the hands of assassins.
But Han Qing, who had no hope at all in keeping the Song Dynasty court's secret work, was only surprised that the visitor was Ye Qinglian, the saint of the Red Lotus Sect who had died six months ago without any news!
The next moment, the three of them closed their mouths again, quickly closed the doors and windows, and drew the curtains to avoid suffering from the fish in the pond! At the same time, they also complained endlessly in their hearts.
It's a mess, it's a complete mess.
Next, regardless of whether the Liao envoy is dead or not, the new party leader Li Deming will probably have to give an explanation to the Liao State. A city-wide manhunt is inevitable.
Li Deming's attention must have turned from the border between the Song Dynasty and Xiazhou back to the city of Xiazhou. The trick that Han Qing had entrusted Li Jihe to do was completely in vain!
It would be even more difficult for Li Dezhao to continue contacting party ministers and elders without knowing it.
The leader of the party, Li Deming, is worried about his own safety. In a short period of time, he may not leave his palace easily. With only more than a hundred brothers, everyone wants to rush directly into the palace and kill Li Deming. It is basically a fantasy!
"This person named Ye, did I owe her a loan shark in my previous life?" Han Qing felt itchy to the core of his teeth when he thought that something bad would happen to him whenever he met Ye Qinglian.
"At least this person is not cross-dressing, and his figure is very obvious. Otherwise, it will definitely be more difficult for us to identify ourselves!" Li Yu's voice sounded in his ears again, but it reminded him from another angle.
.
When Ye Qinglian appeared, although she was dressed in black and covered her face with gauze, anyone with eyes could tell that she was a girl.
On Han Qing's side, Xu Ziling couldn't bear the long journey and had been ordered by him to go to Qingzhou in advance. At this moment, except Dou Rong, the rest of the team were all big men. And Dou Rong's figure and Ye Qinglian's figure were incompatible with each other.
The difference was very obvious before.
In other words, as long as the party officials who were tracking the assassins were not blind, they would definitely not mistake everyone and Ye Qinglian as the same group. However, Han Qing did not dare to take it lightly. She pondered for a moment and started to adjust her deployment based on the principle of being prepared.
"Inspector Wu, go and inform all the brothers to hide their long weapons and carry short weapons with them. When inspected by party soldiers, follow the previous unified statement and tell them that they are the swordsmen invited by me!"
"Yes!" Wu Er agreed and quickly carried out the order.
Han Qing quickly turned his attention to Li Yu and asked him to lead his men to move a batch of samples of the goods purchased in advance from the carriage and put them on public display in the lobby of the inn.
Immediately, he went to the next door to call Wang Wu, who was usually the most convenient, and ordered this person to wait until the chaos on the street subsided a little, and then quickly go to the meeting point agreed with Li Dezhao under the pretext of contacting the buyer of the goods, leaving a code, please.
This person came to the inn to discuss what to do next.
He had made up his mind to lead everyone to evacuate Xiazhou City immediately if the situation went bad. Even if he gave up this opportunity, he could not let everyone make unnecessary sacrifices. However, what happened next was far beyond his expectation.
Anticipate.
Before Wang Wu, who had gone out to leave a mark for Li Dezhao, came back, there was suddenly another burst of people shouting and neighing outside the window. Immediately afterwards, more than two thousand fully armed party soldiers, led by a bearded general, marched the entire line.
The front and back doors of the inns, big and small, on the street were all blocked up.
Immediately some traders tried to settle their accounts and leave Xiazhou to avoid suffering disaster. As a result, all good words and even a guarantee document from an official who had moved out of Xiazhou could not make the soldiers outside the door let them go.
A group of merchants from Taohuashi were so courageous that they failed to negotiate, so they began to push and shove the soldiers blocking the road. They thought they could test the bottom line of the ban. Unexpectedly, the bearded general immediately turned his face. On the spot
He drew his sword and chopped down four or five of the troublemaking peach blossom stone men with his own hands. The rest were all handed over to his soldiers to be tied up with ropes. They were directly treated as associates of the assassins and taken to the prison in the city.
"This Li Deming, I'm afraid he has to give an explanation to the Liao Kingdom at any cost." Han Qing became more and more anxious after seeing all the behavior of the bearded man.
Ye Qinglian is very skilled and she is alone. It is not easy to catch her. However, if you want to give an explanation to the Liao people, you do not necessarily have to hand over the real murderer.
As long as the movement is big enough, enough people are killed, and the officials implicated have enough weight, the anger of the Liao Emperor will naturally be alleviated. If a large amount of property can be handed over, it will further reflect the sincerity of Dang Xiang.
As if someone wanted to verify his speculation, not long after, another group of party soldiers came to the street. The size was also in the early 2000s, and the entire street was increasingly blocked.
Immediately afterwards, several civil servants took abacus, account books, paper and pen, and began to go to the inn, registering the name, origin, quantity and value of the goods they carried. They also ordered all registered traders to prepare.
Lijin payment receipts along the way can be compared with the goods in the future for verification and inspection. (Note: Lijin, various taxes and fees.)
The traders relied on bribes all the way to clear customs. How could they pay the kilograms based on the actual quantity of goods? If the vouchers were checked, I am afraid that all of them would have to suffer heavy penalties for tax evasion. Immediately, someone with clever ideas pulled the clerks aside.
He secretly stuffed gold ingots, silver ingots and other objects into his pocket and asked for guidance.
The latter, however, changed from the "good tradition" of doing things after receiving money, and actually returned the gold and silver on the spot. Only in the end, after being begged by the traders, did some soft-hearted officials look around.
After taking a look, he reminded in a very low voice, "Since you and I often take this trade route, you will naturally not be alone in Xiazhou. Hurry up and find a way to find a noble person to clear the relationship. It is important to leave here first. You two
The envoys from the Liao Kingdom are all dead in the streets today, and the King of Xia is furious. If the real culprit is not caught by tomorrow morning, all people from other places, no matter which country they are, will be implicated."
As the news spread, cries immediately erupted in the inn. Especially some merchants with small capital, if they lost their goods and profits, they might not be able to face their parents, wives and children back home, and they would be desperate to die.
However, after crying, the vendors could only accept their fate. Wiping away their tears, putting on smiles, they discussed with the party soldiers blocking the door and let some of them go out to report to their relatives and friends in the city that they were safe.
Those party soldiers had already received the instructions. They responded immediately and went to find someone to report that they were safe. The goods, personal belongings, and animals for transportation must all be left behind. And every five people have one armor, guaranteeing each other, and leaving one at a time.
4. If the person who goes out to find relatives escapes, the four people left behind will be directly regarded as the assassin's accomplices.
After hearing this, the vendors cried again and begged. People staying in the same inn may not be familiar with each other. It was difficult to find four other people as guarantees in a short period of time. But the party soldiers turned cold and touched their hands.
He had a steel knife on his waist.
The traders had no choice but to surrender again. Then they looked for companions or fellow villagers, gathered five people, and formed armor on their own. They guaranteed each other to receive wooden access cards, and took turns going to the city to find nobles to help intercede.
After a while, the closeness and distance between them were all clearly exposed.
"What should we do if we are to be punished? If we continue like this, we will be exposed before tomorrow morning." Dutou Wuer was so anxious that he couldn't help but touch Han Qing again and urged in a low voice.
"No matter what, we have to wait until dark. There are experts around Li Deming. This strategy kills three birds with one stone. It is really vicious!" Li Yu had been in the officialdom for a long time and had rich experience. He immediately spoke again, reminding Han Qing to worry again.
Don't act rashly.
"On the surface, it looked like a simple move to form an armor and protect each other, but it turned all the vendors into a mess." Han Qing was afraid that because of his inexperience, he would not understand the twists and turns. After thinking about it for a while, he quickly added, "Li Dezhao agreed.
Those noble people's request naturally made those noble people appreciate his kindness. And when vendors ask local noble people for help, they can't just talk in vain."
"In this way, Li Deming gained the hearts of the people, and the nobles in the city gained money. Although the vendors suffered losses, they were not in danger, and they must be grateful to the nobles in the city for their help." Han Qing was far more mature than Li Yu imagined.
Not only did she understand instantly, but she also followed his words and added, "And those who can establish relationships with the city's party members and nobles are basically real traders. Fake ones like us, as well as Ye Qinglian's accomplices, will definitely end up...
Being left alone!"
"The rest, besides us and the assassins, there must be others. If someone can't find a party noble to help intercede, won't they be wronged in vain?!" Dou Rong heard such a complicated story for the first time.
Conspiracy, I couldn't help but stare and ask.
"Then it is better to kill by mistake than to misplace. The goods and property just belong to Li Deming. Let him use them to control important officials in the Liao court or win people's hearts. And the heads of these unjustly killed people can be used as envoys of the Liao to be assassinated.
The explanation!" Wu Er finally understood and took over the topic, gritting his teeth with hatred.
"Ah——" Beads of sweat immediately appeared on Dou Rong's forehead. It was not because she was frightened, but because she didn't expect that the majestic leader of "a country" would act in such a dirty way.
"He can force Li Dezhao to flee. Of course he cannot be a good person." Han Qing's performance was neither as surprised as Dou Rong nor as indignant as Wu Er. He smiled and straightened things out for Dou Rong.
"But that's okay. If Ye Qinglian's accomplices are really hiding in a nearby inn, they will definitely have a harder time than us. As long as they start a fight with the officers and soldiers outside, we can take the opportunity to kill them out.
Fishing in troubled waters.”
After that, he turned his attention to Wu Er and Li Yu, "You two, tell everyone to fill their stomachs and replenish their mental and physical strength. After dark, even if the people of the Red Lotus Sect don't fight with the officers and soldiers outside, we
We also burned down the inn and broke out collectively!"
"Yes!" Wu Er, Li Yu and others agreed and immediately started to prepare for the worst.
Before their footsteps could sound far away, the door of the guest room was suddenly pushed open, and a Dangxiang Dutou, who was completely covered in iron armor and had a short beard on his chin, entered with a clang. He pointed the scimitar in his hand towards Han Qing.
Pointing his finger, he asked sharply, "Who are you? Why did you vouch for each other with other vendors, and then go to the city to find noble people to help testify? But here you are, sneaking around?"
Han Qing was already prepared in his heart. He bowed his hands and explained calmly, "My surname is Han. I come from Chang'an. I sell silk. After selling the goods, I want to buy a batch of cattle and sheep. This is my first time in Xiazhou City.
,have no idea……"
Only halfway through his words, he suddenly felt that something was wrong. He raised his head instinctively, only to see the party head, gently kicking the door with his heel, and at the same time, he raised the scimitar in his hand and said, "The surname is Han."
Yes, give me a knife! My aunt was worried that she had no place to look for you, and you actually brought it to her door yourself!"
