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

Chapter 169: Hard to eat soft food
Pei Yuan thought for a while, but didn't catch any inspiration.

He made a rough estimate.

The information is from yesterday.

It would take Captain Han one or two days at most for him to prepare in Huai'an. If one day of travel was included, he would be able to reach Huai'an Prefecture the day after tomorrow at the latest.

It’s a good thing that Captain Han arrived in time.

Pei Yuan then told everyone, "The contents of the bottle are a bit tricky, we can only deal with them after Captain Han arrives. We can also make up the money from the court when the time comes."

"It's just that although there were reasons for what happened before, it took a lot of time. I'm afraid that Han Qianhu will blame me. Those silver transport vehicles that were damaged before must be repaired before Han Qianhu arrives."

Pei Yuan glanced at Sikong Sui and the others and said, "I'll leave this matter to the three of you."

Sikong Sui knew that Pei Yuan was using some excuse to order the three of them around, so he readily agreed.

After the three hundred households left, Cheng Leixiang and the others also joined them.

Cheng Leixiang felt a little regretful, "I didn't expect to get that treasure. It would have been better if I hadn't called those three."

Pei Yuan shook his head. "Forget it. We'll discuss this later. You guys can go back."

Chen Toutie asked, "Captain, is this wall still going to be preserved? Do you want to dig it up and have a look?"

Pei Yuan glanced at the wall and said, "Let's wait until Captain Han arrives."

Pei Yuan returned to his residence in displeasure, and the three general flags also left separately.

Pei Yuan stared at the backs of everyone and thought to himself, the only one who can accomplish great things with me is Song Tie.

It seems that I need to strengthen her strength as soon as possible.

Pei Yuan had been somewhat unsure about these people from the Jinyiwei before, so apart from asking Cheng Leixiang and Chen Toutie to capture a few people as his personal guards, he did not take the initiative to fight for power from Tan Tai Fangtu and Sikong Sui.

He planned to build a base with his own hands that would allow him to gain a foothold in the Suppressing Evil Thousand Households.

As for the selection target, it is a powerful warrior like Cheng Leixiang’s father Cheng Zhihu.

In order to gain amnesty, Cheng Zhihu betrayed many powerful people in Huaishang, and Yue Qingfeng still feels resentful about it to this day.

There are many people like Cheng Zhihu who are ambitious and willing to pay the price to gamble their future.

Pei Yuan's original plan was to find an opportunity to set up a separate team of underworld figures under Song Chunniang to be used in emergencies.

He understood that the people who followed him halfway might not be loyal and reliable.

But it's still the same sentence.

Pei Yuan doesn't care whether others are loyal or not, as long as they can be used.

After returning to the room, Pei Yuan thought about Song Chunniang's matter for a while and then decided to go to bed.

Then as expected, I suffered from insomnia again.

Captain Pei stared at the roof and fell into deep thought.

Now Pei Yuan is no longer too worried about his debts. Although the debt of more than 30,000 taels of silver is a lot, he already has hope of paying it back.

What bothers him now is still the feeling of powerlessness when facing Han Qianhu.

More than half a year ago, he was still heavily in debt and lived a precarious life every day. Now, after experiencing so many things, Pei Yuan can be said to have achieved something.

But precisely because we have it, we become more and more worried about losing it.

Pei Yuan silently took stock of his current achievements.

Identity: An idle centurion of the Jinyi returned from the East Factory, he became the deputy centurion of the evil-suppressing centurion. If all the Taoist priests in the world are counted, he is in charge of thousands of people.

Wealth: Not counting the few taels of silver he earned on the journey south, when Han Qianhu takes the risk to go to Huai'an to speculate in nuts, the profit share she gives him will be enough to achieve financial freedom.

Treasures: First of all, it was the green-glazed porcelain vase that he had obtained from Cheng Zhihu under the name of Han Qianhu. After what happened today, Pei Yuan knew how powerful this treasure was.

Secondly, it was the Heart Demon Robe that he used most conveniently. Although it was only borrowed at the beginning, Han Qianhu later made it clear that it was a gift to him. Although Han Qianhu took it away temporarily in order to solve Yue Qingfeng's problem, he would probably return it to him when they met again.

Next, it was this rat pocket. Pei Yuan didn't know how to control that thing yet, but it shouldn't be a problem for Han Qianhu.

so.

Pei Yuan stared at the roof in the night with his bright eyes.

Although the official position was given by Han Qianhu and the money was earned by Han Qianhu through hard work and risk, these treasures also have various entanglements with Han Qianhu.

But how can I eat soft rice hard?

Captain Pei didn't sleep well that night, and when he woke up in the morning, he still felt a little tired.

The plan to check and balance Han Qianhu was also temporarily shelved.

Pei Yuan looked around and saw that the Jinyiwei were busy with preparations.

Some were feeding and washing the horses, some were repairing the carriage frames, some were maintaining the weapons, and some were taking out some spare clothes to dry in the sun.

Pei Yuan knew that the warning he gave to the three centurions yesterday had taken effect.

He was too lazy to pay attention to these people.

He strolled to the courtyard where the monk Daigo and the Taoist Zhiwei were.

These two groups of gangsters were just trash that Pei Yuan used to absorb firepower, and he hadn't taken them seriously before.

Later, these people gradually participated in some of Pei Yuan's actions, which made Pei Yuan's impression of them much better.

Well, at least he has gone from being a mere trash that absorbs firepower to being a usable cannon fodder.

These gangsters were quite ambitious at first, thinking that if they were appreciated for their abilities, they might have a chance to rise to the top.

Although this idea is somewhat shameful and people usually deny and despise it, who doesn't want to get out of this and live a stable and prosperous life?
From the beginning, Pei Yuan only had two small flags under his command, and later on it was expanded to a lineup of three general flags.

This lineup may seem a bit unremarkable, but the small flag officers are of the seventh rank, and the chief flag officer is of the seventh rank.

These are all serious court officials.

You know, the characters like the Godly Constable and the Chief Constable that these underworld figures deal with don’t even have a rank!
If they could be appreciated by Captain Pei and promoted a little, I don’t know how many people would wake up laughing in their dreams.

However, the morale of these martial arts figures has been completely worn out since the battle outside Jiangdu City.

What kind of ability can withstand the blast of arrows and the hacking of cavalry?

How could the leader of the Jinyiwei think highly of their abilities?

Many people now have only one thought in mind, that being able to complete this mission safely and return home would be a blessing.

Unexpectedly, just when they had no other ideas, the captain of the Imperial Guard in charge of this mission became interested in them again.

Not only did he walk around here a few times, he also specifically asked a few people who were exercising and asked for their names.

Now everyone couldn't help but start thinking again.

Pei Yuan did not see the monk Daihu, so after asking a few questions, he learned that Hou Qing had taken him to Jiangdu.

Pei Yuan thought about it and knew the truth.

The figure on the mural was suspected to be the Greedy Monk. Pei Yuan had previously mentioned his concerns to several of his subordinates, and he guessed that they would simply find an excuse to send the Greedy Monk away.

Pei Yuan was a little disappointed that he didn't see Taoist Zhiwei. He didn't know whether the Taoist happened to be out for a walk or he felt embarrassed and just ran away.

Both possibilities are quite likely.

Pei Yuan got a general idea from those people about the distribution of these so-called underworld figures, but he did not discuss it in detail and returned to his own courtyard.

Not long after returning, Sikong Sui came hurriedly to report, "My Lord, Captain Han has arrived."

"What?" Pei Yuan stood up quickly.

He said to Sikong Sui, "Where is Captain Han? Where are the others? Have they all been notified?"

Sikong Sui said, "It was discovered by the Jinyiwei on duty. Someone was left there to welcome them, and someone came to inform them. The others were also notified."

"Wait a moment." Pei Yuan hurriedly rummaged through his luggage and changed into his official uniform.

Then he left the yard and joined Tan Tai Fang Tu, Cui Bo Hou and others.

Because they had known that Captain Han would be coming over in the next two days, everyone had made some preparations. Even the Jinyiwei rushed out to greet him in their full armor.

As soon as Pei Yuan led his men out of the post station, several riders on fierce horses approached them.

As soon as Pei Yuan caught a glimpse of the figure in the Feiyu suit, he immediately led everyone to salute, "I am your humble servant, greeting the captain!"

Han Qianhu smiled, glanced at everyone, and said, "No need to be polite."

Having said that, he jumped off the horse and walked into the post station.

Pei Yuan quickly made way for the door and led everyone to follow Han Qianhu into the post station.

Captain Han took a few steps, paused, turned around and ordered, "Everyone go down. Captain Pei, I have something to say to the three captains."

As soon as Han Qianhu finished speaking, the Jinyiwei immediately shouted, "We will obey your orders!"

After saying this, except for a few personal guards guarding the gate, everyone else retreated back to their respective courtyards.

After hearing this, Pei Yuan frowned slightly and corrected Han Qianhu's mistake without any hesitation.

"How can you say such a thing, sir? I have already mentioned that in front of the captain, I will always be the captain Pei who follows the captain's orders."

Han Qianhu rolled his eyes imperceptibly.

Then he said calmly, "It's up to you."

After the soldiers had all left, Captain Han looked at everyone and asked, "The letter you sent earlier didn't explain clearly what's going on here? What's the problem with the tax money?"

Although Pei Yuan's posture of kneeling and licking was ugly, making Sikong Sui and others look down on him, he was indeed the deputy captain.

At this time, naturally no one dared to interfere.

Pei Yuan said quickly, "It's like this. When I led people to stay at this post station, we suddenly found that rats had dug a hole in the ground at night, bit open the box containing the tax silver, and stole the silver through the hole."

"So I and several of my subordinates carefully investigated and found that the rats actually crawled out of a mural."

"Murals?" Han Qianhu's expression finally changed slightly, and he asked in detail, "What kind of murals are they?"

Pei Yuan gave a rough description, "It was a strange-looking monk, with one hand making a seal and the other holding a bowl."

Han Qianhu became interested and asked again, "What kind of seal is it?"

"Uh." Pei Yuan was stunned and turned to look at Sikong Sui and Tan Tai Fangtu.

At that time, Pei Yuan's attention was only on money and his mouse pocket, and he really didn't notice the seal on the monk's hand.

Sikong Sui and Tantai Fangtu were also a little confused.

Pei Yuan said, "I have seen the three generals under my command many times. Why not call them over and ask them?"

Han Qianhu said nothing.

Pei Yuan hurried outside the yard and was about to look for someone, but he saw the three of them squatting and chatting not far away.

So he quickly waved his hand and brought them in.

When they arrived in front of Captain Han, Pei Yuan asked the same question again, and the three of them were a little confused.

Han Qianhu smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. Go on."

Pei Yuan was slightly stunned. He remembered that when Monk Daihu fought back desperately, he had used a Dahui sword seal to try to attack Han Qianhu.

At that time, the monk Daigo's reaction was very strange.

Could it be that there is some secret behind the seals in the hands of this greedy monk?

Captain Han glanced at Pei Yuan.

Cheng Leixiang hurriedly pushed from behind, and Pei Yuan continued, "There is a pocket on the mural, and there are some mice painted inside. Not only are those mice painted vividly, but they can also crawl out of the painting directly."

Han Qianhu listened but did not say anything.

This made Pei Yuan, who was secretly paying attention, even more interested.

Han Qianhu thought the Mouse Pocket was just a normal magical weapon, so why did he care so much about the seal?

Then his heart moved again and he suddenly remembered something.

Although the mural was destroyed, the greedy monk was kept in a green-glazed porcelain vase. If the greedy monk can be taken out later, the seals on his hands may not have changed yet.

Please pay more attention to it later.

Perhaps noticing Pei Yuan's absent-mindedness, Han Qianhu raised his voice slightly, "Are you saying that the rat in the painting not only managed to escape from the mural, but also dragged the court's money into the mural?"

Pei Yuan perked up, "Yes."

Han Qianhu then said, "It's interesting. Take me to see it."

Pei Yuan said quickly, "Sir, I have already solved this matter."

"Solved?" Han Qianhu was stunned, with a silly look on his face.

I couldn't help but blurt out, "Just you?"

For a moment, Pei Yuan felt his self-esteem hurt a little.

No, Qianhu you.

Han Qianhu also felt that it was a bit hurtful to say this in front of so many people, so he quickly changed his words, "Just you guys?"

Now Sikong Sui, Tantai Fangtu and Cui Bohou were also shot innocently.

The three of them felt so angry that they vomited blood. They looked at the two men with resentment.

Pei Gou is not a shameless person, so just scold him if you want, why drag so many people into it?

Han Qianhu realized that the more he explained, the worse it got. He could only cough lightly and pretend to be calm, "How did you do it? Tell me about it."

Pei Yuan was depressed for a while, and could only say, "I once accidentally got a treasure that happened to be able to restrain the above method. This allowed me to take down the money and the rat bag on the mural."

As he spoke, Pei Yuan took out the green-glazed porcelain bottle from his sleeve and presented it to Han Qianhu.

(End of this chapter)