Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 210 Seeing the Dragon Qi

When two soldiers fiercely took He Shikai out of the prison, pressed him to the ground, and began to cut his ears and tongue with a knife, He Shikai finally completely believed Zheng Daoqian's idea.

This is indeed an attempt to cut some pieces from myself and send them to the king.

He Shikai hurriedly shouted: "I have something important to tell the general! After seeing the general, I will let you deal with me!!"

The soldiers went to report, and after a long time, they grabbed him again and escorted him to Liu Taozi.

The doors and windows of the house were wide open.

There were more than ten clerks. Some of them were kneeling not far away, concentrating on writing something. Two of them were sitting next to Liu Taozi, handing him something and whispering.

There were several people under the window, constantly organizing and classifying the documents in front of them.

In the main room, everyone was quite busy.

He Shikai knelt in front of Liu Taozi respectfully, "General! We know we are wrong!"

"General, you are such a brave man, we dared to try to intimidate you with words. You deserve to die!"

Liu Taozi looked at the people around him. They bowed and left. Then Liu Taozi looked at He Shikai.

"Since you know your sin, I will show mercy and let you choose for yourself: tongue, ear, or eye. You can choose one for yourself."

He Shikai hurriedly saluted again, "General! I am a lowly person, and I offended you for a moment. It is right for you to punish me. But even if you chop me into pieces, it cannot offset the crime of offending you. I really feel sorry for you!"

"Oh? Then what do you think we should do?"

"General, this offense is all because of those villains around the king. The king has always valued you, and he must be very upset if he didn't check it for a while. I think the king is willing to apologize to you!"

"Of course, the general is so powerful that even if the king pays ten thousand carts of gold as compensation, it cannot offset the crime of offending the general!"

"But this is worth much more than the small things I have. Your Majesty is a nobleman. Isn't it more worthwhile for him to apologize than for me?"

Liu Taozi glanced at He Shikai again.

"When did I ever ask you to atone for your sins? I cut off your things to give them to Prince Changguang so that he could atone for his sins!"

He Shikai shook his head, "General, it is clear that the king was wrong this time. If you hold me hostage to make the king apologize, then the king is not apologizing for offending you, but only apologizing because I was held hostage by you. If you are willing to let me go, I will certainly tell the king the truth. The king has always been generous in treating talented people. He treats people of average talent with the courtesy of a national scholar, let alone a general?"

"General, if I can go back this time, I will definitely convince the king to apologize for my offense. The general has made great achievements in the war and is in charge of the defense of two states, but he has not received any reward. I didn't know this before, but now that I have come here, I know that it is not easy for the general. I will tell him the truth!"

"As a humble person, I naturally dare not advise the general, but I know that the general has always been able to distinguish right from wrong, so he will definitely not make a mistake."

"It all depends on the general!"

He Shikai bowed deeply to him again.

Liu Taozi pondered for a long time.

"Okay, I'll let you go, but I'll spare you the death penalty and give you twenty lashes."

He Shikai didn't dare to beg for mercy, and hurriedly saluted, "Thank you, General!!"

He Shikai was taken away by the soldiers. Tian Zili then walked in from the side door, squinting his eyes and standing beside Liu Taozi. "Brother, no wonder Gao Zhan likes him so much. Apart from anything else, his eloquence is really amazing. I was almost convinced by him just now."

"Not all the people around Gao Zhan are useless!"

Tian Zili sighed and said, "This guy is just a servant. Apart from these servants, Gao Zhan has Gao Guiyan, Gao Rui and other important officials who are willing to work hard for him."

“It’s not easy to deal with either.”

Liu Taozi didn't respond, "Go ahead."

He Shikai was beaten, but he felt extremely relieved. He had finally endured these days of suffering. As long as he could leave this hellhole, he would accept being whipped fifty more times! !
Just as He Shikai was struggling to get up, Tian Zili walked up to him with a stern face and coldly said:

"My general is a straightforward person. He doesn't care about your petty tricks. But you think there is no one at the border?"

"You are so good at talking that you came up with this plan to get away. How could you hide it from me?!"

He Shikai said with a bitter face, "What are you talking about, Mr. Tian? How dare I deceive the general? The general is extremely intelligent, how could I deceive him?"

Tian Zili sneered and waved his hand, "Since the general has forgiven you, I won't say much, leave quickly!"

He Shikai thought of something, stepped forward, and whispered: "Inside the prison, I met an acquaintance. This person is my old friend. I wonder if Mr. Tian can help me take him away?"

"Heh, what do you think this place is? You let me leave by myself, but you still want to take people away?"

He Shikai said hurriedly: "Please don't misunderstand me. The crime this person committed is not serious. He just needs money to redeem himself. I am willing to pay for him!"

"No! Let's go!"

Tian Zili immediately turned around and was about to leave. He Shikai then said, "When I first came here, I heard that the general's subordinates were strict in law enforcement, fair in doing things, and everything was in accordance with the law. I never thought that he would ignore the law and not allow redemption because of his own personal affairs."

Tian Zilie was furious and stopped immediately. He looked at He Shikai.

I saw a bit of confusion on his face. He was silent for a long time before he squeezed out a word, "Okay."

He Shikai started laughing.

Soon, Tian Zili brought him to the prison. When He Shikai entered here again, his mind was full of humiliating memories, but he did not dare to delay and quickly took Zheng Daoqian out. Zheng Daoqian was deeply moved and held He Shikai's hand and burst into tears.

Tian Zili waved his hand impatiently, signaling them to leave quickly.

He Shikai took Zheng Daoqian and fled quickly without looking back.

After they left, Tian Zili looked at the soldiers on his left and right and said, "Let them go."

The soldiers moved out quickly and opened all the fence gates. Everyone walked out slowly from each fence. The soldiers lit a few more torches to illuminate everyone's faces.

Tian Zili bowed slightly towards them.

"I'm really sorry to have wronged you all. I have asked someone to prepare some gifts."

"We dare not. It is our honor to work for the general!"

He Shikai was lying on the carriage at this moment, and Zheng Daoqian was sitting beside him, treating his wounds.

"These thieves are really hard on us."

He Shikai grimaced in pain; the carriage was shaking so violently that he almost flew out of the sky.

"I'm never coming again. Never coming again."

"This time it's all thanks to Mr. He. If it weren't for you, I would have died in prison."

"Don't say that. I was able to get out thanks to you. From now on, you stay by my side and give me more advice. Sooner or later, all the major events in the world will be in our hands!!"

He Shikai became optimistic again.

With an injury on his back, he naturally couldn't ride his horse any further. The carriage ride was simply torture, and he could only endure it.

The two chatted about what was happening here as they moved forward. Just as they walked out of the Beishuo border and came to the familiar valley entrance where the two armies were facing off, they ran into a group of people from Shuozhou.

Both parties stopped immediately.

Guo Yuanzhen leaned out of the carriage and asked loudly, "But are you here with me?"

He Shikai recognized the voice, asked Zheng Daoqian to help him get out of the car, and limped over to pay his respects.

"Guo-kun!!"

"Hejun! What's wrong with you??"

When the two met, He Shikai burst into tears again and complained about all the things he had suffered. Then he held his hand and asked, "Did the governor send you to save me?"

Guo Yuanzhen was about to speak, but looked at Zheng Daoqian standing beside him.

He Shikai said with a smile: "This man is a great man in Yecheng, Zheng Daoqian, the Zheng Gong who predicted good and bad luck for Emperor Wenxuan in Yecheng was him."

Guo Yuanzhen was shocked and hurried to meet him.

Another round of high-level greetings.

Upon learning about the other party's experience, Guo Yuanzhen couldn't help but shake his head. "How can the people here know anything about divination? They just mess around with some stones and wood. They don't know Yi, let alone Taixuan. Their divination is just a trick to deceive the ignorant people. You shouldn't come here."

The masters in the Central Plains thought that the warriors on the border were very superstitious because they did not use classics for divination.

The three of them got on the car together, and He Shikai said slowly: "Since Liu Taozi didn't kill me, it shows that he has no intention of rebelling. However, he is recruiting soldiers here, and the people in the countryside have been mobilized by him. We must be on guard."

"In the future when you are in Shuozhou, you must keep an eye on this person."

"It would be best if we could send some people to keep an eye on him secretly."

"He's in great need of officials." The two men chatted in low voices, and the carriage continued to rush towards the city.

From time to time, cries and shouts could be heard from both sides.

Armored soldiers were escorting the civilians who had failed to escape to Beishuo, and were driving them in groups towards the city.

Zheng Daoqian sat aside, listening to the noise outside and what the two men were saying.

At this moment, a scream was heard from a distance, interrupting the conversation between the two people in the carriage.

He Shikai rolled up the curtain of the carriage suspiciously, and saw a few people outside the dense forest in the distance, fighting with the armored soldiers. A few of them took the opportunity to ride their horses towards the border. Some knights reacted and shouted to charge.

There was chaos in the distance, but He Shikai didn't dare to stay for long and hurriedly urged his servants to speed up.

He complained, "When I passed through the dense forest earlier, I felt that someone was spying on me. Sure enough, there are bandits hiding in this dense forest!"

"This frontier is really in chaos. I don't know what tricks Liu Taozi is using!"

Guo Yuanzhen said, "Not only Shuo and Heng, but also other places farther away, there are deceased people running thousands of miles to him."

"This fellow took great pains to recruit soldiers and horses, and fabricated many lies to deceive the people in various places. It would be fine if he only deceived the dead, but many people who originally had their own property and no worries about food and clothing abandoned their farmland and houses and fled to Beishuo and Beiheng after hearing those false rumors. The Tyrant Lord of Hengzhou wrote a letter complaining not long ago, saying that nearly 30,000 people under his command had fled, and many villages and towns were left empty."

"This General Anxi really doesn't care about the lives of the people at all."

He Shikai nodded, "Yes, these people are so innocent. Liu Taozi can settle them now because he looted a lot of things. But Beishuo and Beiheng are both bitter and cold places. He tricked so many people to go there. What should he do if the looted things are not enough?"

"Look, now the common people dare to fight with the soldiers, and those who commit capital crimes have to flee to Beishuo. How shameful it is."

Guo Yuanzhen stroked his beard and nodded slightly.

Zheng Daoqian suddenly smiled and said, "When I came here, I saw the aura of the Wuchuan General's Mansion."

The two were stunned and looked at him.

Zheng Daoqian said: "He seems to be full of vigor, but he is weak inside. General Anxi is short-sighted and has no foresight!"

"I traveled all over Beishuo and found a big problem: insufficient arable land and houses!"

"Oh?"

"He can accept these people now because there are not many people in these two places. Let him cheat like this. Sooner or later, there will be not enough arable land in his place. The people will gather in the wild without food. When they find out that they have been cheated, they will cause chaos sooner or later!"

Hearing Zheng Daoqian's words, He Shikai's eyes lit up and he looked at Guo Yuanzhen standing beside him.

"Mr. Guo, I suddenly have an idea."

Guo Yuanzhen shook his head. "I know what you are thinking, but the people of Shuozhou cannot escape too much, otherwise it will be bad for the governor."

"Then find somewhere else!"

"He wants people, right? Give them to others! There are many dead people in Sizhou, Xianzhou, Yanzhou, and Nanyingzhou! These people just don't have the ability to reach Liu Taozi's territory alive!"

"Why don't we help him?"

The two were chatting in low voices, but Zheng Daoqian no longer participated in their conversation. He just looked into the distance.

Those people in the distance seemed to have escaped successfully, and all that could be heard were roars and the sound of horse hooves.

He looked there.

All I saw was the dragon energy rising into the sky.

The knights galloped on their horses, pressing down their bodies, arrows constantly flying over their heads, and they rushed into the territory of Beishuo.

The knights guarding the opposite side were a little hesitant when they saw them.

Then I saw them jumping off their horses.

The leader walked quickly up to them and bowed his head.

"General!! We are from Cheng'an, here to see Lord Tian!"

"Mr. Tian?"

The knights immediately made a plan and hurriedly sent people to send them to the rear. A moment later, the Shuozhou knights had already arrived in front of them.

"What about people?!"

"Someone killed our knight! And escaped into your territory! Catch him now!!"

While they were still arguing, those people were already being led towards Wuchuan.

Wuchuan, Pingshan Town.

Tian Zili was wearing official uniform. There were more than forty cavalrymen stationed in the distance, and beside him, there were seven or eight officials, who were walking beside him with their heads bowed.

"Mr. Tian, ​​this is our school, which is managed by the prince. There are currently 19 students."

Ahead was a simple courtyard where a scholar led a group of young men, standing there, at a loss as to what to do.

The scholar was obviously old, looking to be over fifty years old, with white hair and a hunched body. The young men standing behind him were all very restrained, lowering their heads timidly, not daring to look at Tian Zili. They were wearing tattered clothes, and they exuded a sense of frontier culture.

"Greetings to Mr. Tian!!"

The old scholar bowed deeply and Tian Zili hurriedly helped him up.

"Don't be so polite, sir. Judging from your accent, you are not a local?"

"I am a criminal who came from outside Jinshan in the third year of Tianbao. I came here from Yingzhou to do corvée labor. In the spring of the fourth year, I was sold to the Rouran people. Later, I made a living under the Rouran people. Later, I was kidnapped by the Xi people. It was not until the first year of Qianming that I was able to escape."

When he talked about this not-so-glorious incident, his voice became weaker and weaker.

Tian Zili held his hand and said gently, "You are a very lucky man to have escaped from the Rouran people!"

The officials around nodded, "That's true."

"Is there anyone here who is making things difficult for you?"

"No, no."

"If you have any, please let me know."

"Thank you, Mr. Tian!"

Tian Zili looked at the young men in the distance again. An official came forward, pulled a young man forward, and said with a smile: "Mr. Tian, ​​this person is quite outstanding among all the students. He learns the fastest. He plans to go to the Law School next month."

Tian Zili asked him again with a smile while the two were chatting.

A knight walked up quickly and whispered something in his ear. Tian Zili nodded slightly and continued to ask questions and talk.

After going around in circles like this, he finally decided to leave. The officials escorted him all the way out of the town, not daring to neglect them.

Tian Zili led everyone back to Wuchuan. As soon as he came back, someone brought in the Cheng'an people who had asked to see him.

The bandits walked into the government office and looked around secretly. When they saw Tian Zili in official uniform, they did not dare to recognize him for a long time.

When Tian Zilie returned to Cheng'an before, he was wearing casual clothes, not as formal as he is now.

When Tian Zili saw them, he was horrified.

"Why are you here?"

These people are all Tian Zili’s old brothers in Cheng’an.

The leader bowed and cried, "Brother, we have been traveling for a long time, but we have not been able to get through any place. We hid everywhere and came to Shuozhou. Soldiers blocked our way, so we hid in the woods and waited for several days. Today, an official escorted a carriage and passed by, so we took advantage of the chaos and ran away."

He hurriedly started talking about Cheng An.

"Brother, the king showed up again not long ago. He brought some people with him and said he wanted to do something big."

"He told us that King Pengcheng Gao Yu is the son of Emperor Shenwu and has great reputation. If we can hold him hostage to start an army, the whole country will respond and we will surely be able to capture Jinyang. He also told us to be prepared, saying that King Pengcheng will soon go to Yecheng. When he arrives in Yecheng, he will arrange for us to go to his mansion so that we can hold him hostage. They will set fire inside and outside the city in response."

"When did this happen?? I need the exact date!!"

"It's been fifty-three days, brother. We really have been traveling day and night."

Tian Zili's expression became particularly solemn, "Okay, the rest of you go and rest first, you follow me."

He led this person and hurried to Liu Taozi.

(End of this chapter)