Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 139: Building momentum

The next morning, Captain Pei arranged the next plan.

Tan Tai Fang Tu and others continued to prepare and waited for the Qian Hu Suo to send the silver transport vehicle over.

Pei Yuan had to make another trip to Suzhou to put some pressure on the Suzhou prefect.

Manpower.

Naturally, the team is led by Cheng Leixiang, who has experience in the underworld, and Song Chunniang, who has operational experience.

It is no exaggeration to say that as long as Song Chunniang's nickname "Ten Miles of Fragrance" was known in the Suzhou prefectural government office, all the female members of the Suzhou prefect's family would be scared to tears.

At that time, no matter how unwilling Zhai De'an is to cooperate, he will have to obey.

But Pei Yuan didn't plan to do so.

Because Pei Yuan's requirements for Zhai De'an were clear, as long as Zhai De'an used this as a basis, it would be easy to determine the relationship between the lecher Shili Xiang and the Suppression of Evil Thousand Households.

Once this news is known to the people behind Zhai De'an, even if they cannot find Song Chunniang, it will be easy for others to take advantage of her.

Compared with this, Pei Yuan might as well just go ahead and have a talk with Zhai Dean.

Pei Yuan said to Sikong Sui, "I remember that after the last battle, those yamen runners and able-bodied men recruited from Yixing fled in the face of the battle, and many were killed by Lu Ting's cavalrymen who attacked from behind. At that time, I asked you to cut off their heads and keep them. Did you do it?"

Sikong Sui replied, "It has all been processed. The head has been packed in a sack, and the headless body has also been packed separately."

Pei Yuan had always intended to be a fence-sitter. He had originally considered that if both sides really wanted to make concessions, he could send these heads to the other side and let them take them as military merits.

Let's all fool around together, but don't make things too ugly for each other.

However, Pei Yuan later discovered that Lu Ting had Xiao Jing's help, so he didn't care much about the failure on the front line and didn't do these unnecessary things.

It comes in handy now.

Pei Yuan ordered, "Have someone load the sacks of human heads into a carriage. I want to send a great gift to the governor of Suzhou."

Upon hearing this, Sikong Sui asked someone to make arrangements.

Pei Yuan's trip this time was much more grand. In addition to bringing two general flags to serve him, he also brought a dozen of his personal guards.

Taking into account the strong metaphysical attributes of this world, Pei Yuan selected a few monks from among the obedient people in the martial arts world to escort the sacks of heads.

There was quite a commotion on Pei Yuan's side, and soon someone from the Hua family went to quietly inform Lu Dahua.

When Lu Dahua arrived, he asked in surprise, "Brother, are you going to Suzhou?"

Pei Yuan naturally couldn't tell him the truth.

Considering that they must have their people in the Suzhou and Hangzhou Weaving Factory, there is no need to lie about those obvious things.

Pei Yuan said, "I've been there before."

Seeing that he was avoiding everyone, he sighed again, "Now my men have suffered heavy casualties, and I can't order them around. I can only go and meet with Eunuch Hu in person about the transportation of tax silver. This is a task assigned by the higher-ups, and the responsibility is on my head. I have to go."

Lu Dahua thought Pei Yuan was still talking about the silver he mentioned last time, so he smiled and said, "Don't worry, brother. I have already reported the silver reward to the higher-ups. Although they haven't given me a direct answer, it seems like it will be a matter of the next few days."

Pei Yuan was pleasantly surprised and quickly expressed his gratitude again.

By the way, I talked about my trip to Suzhou.

"My trip to Suzhou this time has nothing to do with the escort of tax silver. It is an internal matter of the Imperial Guard."

Just then, Sikong Sui was seen commanding three loaded horse-drawn carriages to the side of the road, and he led Lu Dahua forward.

Pei Yuan pointed to the dozen sacks on the three carriages and said, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Brother Lu. But this is at least a contribution."

As he spoke, he untied a sack and gestured to Lu Dahua.

When Lu Dahua moved forward, he saw many human heads covered with lime.

Even though it was cold in winter and the food was slow to rot, a foul odor emanated from the bag.

Lu Dahua could roughly guess what happened to these heads.

He asked in surprise, "Brother, what are you doing?"

Pei Yuan spread his hands. "Although we all know what happened, since it was reported as a White Lotus Rebellion, and so many people were killed and injured on both sides. There must be an explanation, right? Moreover, if these people are really treated as White Lotus Rebellion cases, it will also be a great achievement. When I went to Suzhou last time, I contacted the Jinyiwei spies in Suzhou. This time, I will send some heads over for inspection."

After listening to this, Lu Dahua felt that it was reasonable and logical, so he smiled and said, "Do you want me to find someone to help?"

Pei Yuan glanced at the three carriages and said, "I don't mind, but I'm afraid that my brother's people will think it's unlucky."

When Lu Dahua heard this, he realized that this was indeed the truth.

Although his men were used to living on the edge of a knife, who would be willing to escort these smelly heads?

If you force people to do something, you are bound to offend some people.

He deliberately sighed, "Brother, I have difficulties too, I have difficulties too..."

Having said this, he walked away staggeringly.

Pei Yuan watched him leave with a calm expression and waved to Sikong Sui.

When Sikong Sui came over, he said, "When I ask you to go to Suzhou, be careful of these people. Going to Suzhou to collect tax silver is a smart move, so there is nothing to be afraid of. Instead, you should pay more attention to some small details. When you talk to the subordinates, you should also pay attention."

Sikong Sui also had some complaints when he heard this.

"It's better to have one more enemy than one more ally. It's better to treat them all as enemies and save yourself the trouble of having to be on guard every day."

Pei Yuan thought about it and decided that showing the soldiers' dissatisfaction a little bit would not be a bad thing, and it also matched what he said before, so he said to Sikong Sui, "You can use this to test them when you have a chance."

"I told you before that the promised reward money still has to fall on him."

Sikong Sui responded and perked up.

After his men were ready, Pei Yuan mounted his horse and led the group out of the Hua family's farm.

This time, there were more than twenty people and three horse-drawn carriages, so the speed was much slower. It was no longer realistic to reach Suzhou on the same day.

Pei Yuan was impatient to follow the main group, so he led a few people on horseback to find a place to stay.

This time they brought three carts full of heads, so it was not convenient for them to stay overnight in a village, so they could only find an inn.

Fortunately, Pei Yuan arrived neither too early nor too late, so there was still some free time.

The postmaster was very polite and asked how much luggage we had so that he could arrange accommodation for us.

Pei Yuan knew that this was normal.

Because many officials who were taking up or leaving office used the post stations, many of them brought their families and a lot of luggage.

The most headache for the postmaster is to arrange the courtyards reasonably.

Pei Yuan did not embarrass him and said truthfully, "There is not much luggage, and it can all be carried with us. In addition, there are only three carts of heads reported for merit, with a total of about a hundred."

When the postmaster heard this, his face turned green.

Thus, Pei Yuan obtained a precious private courtyard merely by virtue of his fifth-rank official position.

Some people who were indignant about this dared not say a word when they heard that the Jinyiwei officer carried over a hundred heads to report his achievements.

Not to mention how taboo they were about those things, just the fact that the Jinyiwei, who killed so many people, were so treacherous that few of them were willing to live in the same courtyard with them. Many of them even moved out of the post station.

When the sun was setting, the convoy slowly arrived and everyone stayed there to rest.

Pei Yuan couldn't sleep at night.

On the one hand, living in the post station during this period was really scary, and the post station was raided many times.

On the other hand, he was trying to figure out what was going on with Song Chunniang.

What happened last night was just a piece of cake for her, but it tasted really good.

While Pei Yuan was daydreaming, he felt a little bit like he had tasted the sweetness of the food.

Unfortunately, Pei Yuan discovered something was wrong too late last night, and Song Chunniang had already recovered. Otherwise, he might have been able to offer some better conditions.

Compensation after the fact is often symbolic.

Pei Yuan often observed Song Chunniang's performance today.

Song Chunniang didn't seem to take what happened yesterday seriously. When she noticed Pei Yuan looking at her, she continued to flirt with him.

How can I describe this feeling?

It seemed that the longer Han Qianhu left, the Qianhu filter on Pei Yuan was quickly dissipating, and his attraction to Song Chunniang was declining.

Pei Yuan waited carefully for half the night, but there was no movement in Song Chunniang's room next door.

Damn it, go to sleep.

On the second day, just after noon, the group arrived in Suzhou City.

Because of its large population and prosperous economy, Suzhou City was divided into two affiliated counties, one was Wu County and the other was Changshu County.

Changzhou County is located in the north, and Wu County is in the south.

This time, Pei Yuan was going to deal with Zhai Dean, the Suzhou prefect. His Suzhou prefectural government office was located in Wu County in the south, which was a little further away.

But there is also a good aspect, that is, the Suzhou-Hangzhou Weaving Factory is in Changshu County, which means that Pei Yuan can take the tax silver and leave Suzhou in a relatively shorter process, and the chance of encountering risks is greatly reduced.

When entering the city, a soldier came forward to check. Pei Yuan did not hide it and directly showed his Jinyiwei badge.

The soldiers escorting the heads also changed into their iconic brocade uniforms on the spot.

When the soldiers saw the car full of heads, they were so frightened that they let the people pass obediently.

Seeing that there were many people watching, Pei Yuan deliberately opened the sacks and asked people to count them.

Even though the soldiers repeatedly told him not to do so, Pei Yuan still ignored them.

Looking at the heads of people who died with their eyes open, many of the onlookers were frightened out of their wits, and some even vomited on the spot.

But despite being afraid, many people ran back and watched from a distance after vomiting.

Stimulate!

Pei Yuan could imagine that within half a day, this matter would spread all over the city.

He smiled slightly, which was not a bad thing.

Pei Yuan had his men pack up the sacks slowly and methodically, called Cheng Leixiang over, whispered a few words in his ear, and asked him to find a place to stay in advance.

In order to facilitate the movements of Cheng Leixiang and Song Chunniang, the place they stayed this time could not be too far from the Suzhou prefectural government office, so Pei Yuan did not go back to Hou Qing and the others.

After Cheng Leixiang and his men left, Pei Yuan signaled to tie up the sacks and have someone drive the carriage to slowly enter Suzhou City.

Many onlookers still followed from a distance, talking to others and watching along the way.

Pei Yuan deliberately led his troops around the city, and asked people to take out the straw felts that had been prepared long ago, and cover the sacks tightly.

After going around a few times, the original onlookers gradually dispersed, and the new ones who came to watch the fun had no idea what the scene would be like with a car full of people, so the attraction gradually disappeared.

By the time the convoy entered Wu County, no one was following behind.

When they were almost at the Suzhou government office, they met the people left by Cheng Leixiang to pick them up.

The captain hurried forward to lead the way and took everyone to an inn.

This inn looks like a place where scholars gather. Not only is the environment quiet and peaceful, but even the servants seem neat and energetic.

According to Pei Yuan’s standard for judging quality, it is not cheap at first glance.

Cheng Leixiang also came over and whispered to Pei Yuan, "Captain, this is the closest to the government office. Besides, only respectable people come in and out here, and they won't check the guests' luggage."

Pei Yuan didn't care. "It's okay. I'll just go to the Qianhu Office to settle the bill when the time comes."

Cheng Leixiang had already given instructions in advance, and the servants of the inn quickly opened the back door of a side courtyard and removed the threshold.

Only after they were far away did Pei Yuan signal the carriage to be driven into the yard.

Cheng Leixiang said loudly to the servants, "We have brought our own people to serve us, so we don't need you. My master likes quietness, so if you don't make any noise, you will be rewarded."

When the servants heard this, they all dispersed with joy.

Pei Yuan asked the Jinyiwei soldiers to clean up the accommodation and stop the carriage.

He did not waste any time and changed into casual clothes with Cheng Leixiang and Song Chunniang and left the inn.

Still following the rules, they wandered around outside for a while, making sure that no one was paying attention to them. Then Pei Yuan took the two of them to the prefectural government office to scout the area.

While walking, Pei Yuan asked the two, "Which of you two is more familiar with the matter I'm talking about?"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Leixiang looked at Song Chunniang in surprise.

Pei Yuan then remembered that the fact that Song Chunniang was Shili Xiang was a secret between him and her and he had never told anyone else.

Cheng Leixiang naturally didn't expect that Song Chunniang, a courier girl, would have experience in doing dirty work.

Song Chunniang remained calm and explained to Cheng Leixiang, "It's a case of robbing robbing robbing."

Cheng Leixiang felt relieved after hearing this.

This is inevitable when it comes to escorting a caravan.

People in the underworld don't have any sense of morality.

If they find a big shot who can be attacked while escorting goods, they will not care about their reputation.

Cheng Leixiang said honestly, "I once handed over a complaint to someone and threw it at the head of the bed."

Pei Yuan reminded, "Putting more than a hundred heads in his inner house is not an easy task. Not to mention the arrangement in the government office, there are also many night patrols around here. How many people should we mobilize to transport them, what route to choose, and how to get them to the inner house of the government office are all things that need to be considered."

Song Chunniang hesitated for a moment and asked, "How many more do you want to put in?"

Pei Yuan shook his head decisively, "No. I still have to negotiate with Zhai Dean tonight. If I don't give him a shocking warning first, I'm afraid it will be difficult to make him compromise."

After hearing this, Cheng Leixiang thought silently, is this a show of power?
No matter who you are, if you are woken up in the middle of the night and find hundreds of rotten human heads in your bedroom, who can bear it?
I'm afraid Zhai De'an must have been so scared that he peed his pants.

I can handle this kind of negotiation.

(End of this chapter)