Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 619 Idea
Su Man and Sang Mo flanked Xie Yuyan as they moved forward.

Behind them were pursuers, but they gave up after a short time.

After all, there was a distance between them, and it wouldn't be easy to catch up with them. Besides, they were probably afraid of falling into a trap to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

“We’ve attracted the local militia,” Guo Chuan said. “Will those militia help arrest the caravan members?”

Guo Xiong said, "If the Xiang Army were willing to help, they would have done so long ago. Why would they wait until now?"

Guo Chuan frowned: "The Xiang Army isn't with those people? Then why didn't the Xiang Army ask what happened when they saw that situation?"

Guo Xiong glanced at his younger brother: "You still know too little. If the local militia were involved in these matters, there wouldn't be so many bandits and smuggling caravans."

"Most of the garrison commanders do not interfere in the affairs of the local government. As long as there is no civil unrest or military riots in the area, they will take the benefits and leave without asking a single question."

The local military garrison was short of supplies and needed to be provided by the local government. Even if they knew that the government intended to make things difficult for a caravan, they would only use it as an excuse to ask for some money. They would not help the caravan get away, much less seek justice for them.

“They chose this place to besiege the caravan, so they must have taken care of all of this.”

Guo Chuan immediately understood what his brother was saying.

Xie Yuyan said, “I have already revealed my whereabouts, so they should have done everything they could to capture me. But the Xiang Army that came did not pursue us closely. This shows that the people who besieged the caravan are not closely connected with that Xiang Army, or at least the Xiang Army will not obey their orders.”

"The people who attacked the caravan were probably not sent by Xie Yizhi."

Xie Yizhi was a Privy Councilor; it would be incredibly easy for him to get a local militia to serve him.

“They are not members of the Demon Cult either,” Xie Yuyan continued. “If they were, Xie Yizhi would have secretly helped them, and things wouldn’t be like this now.”

"I'm more inclined to believe it's another force that's just trying to sabotage things and then take advantage of the situation when we're fighting the demonic cult."

Besides Xie Yizhi and the Demon Cult, there are other people who do sneaky things in the dark, and they haven't shown their faces for a long time since the Third Manager was arrested.

Whether this is true or not, Xie Yuyan only needs to obtain some information from the Demon Sect to confirm it.

The Guo brothers and Su Man were both seething with anger at failing to rescue Tang Xing tonight, but they couldn't vent it in front of Xie Yuyan.

After finding a place to rest in the woods, Xie Yuyan asked everyone to sit down beside him.

“I know you’re not comfortable with this, but under those circumstances, we had no choice but to withdraw.”

Guo Xiong's face was grim: "Those people are despicable. We...we saw the caravan members tied to wooden poles by them. They are using the lives of the caravan brothers to blackmail us."

They had kept this to themselves until now, when they finally dared to tell the old lady.

Xie Yuyan nodded: "The rest of the caravan will be arrested tonight... or at the latest tomorrow."

Guo Xiong almost stood up abruptly, a surge of adrenaline rushing to his head, making him want to immediately ride back into the mountains to rescue the people.

Xie Yuyan said, "In other words, next time we will be facing the lives of all the men in the caravan."

Su Man said, "So tonight is the only chance. If we miss it, we'll miss it." After Tang Xing and his men are all captured, if they still try to rescue them, they will be trapped. Because they will have to consider the lives of Tang Xing and the others, they will be constrained and end up getting trapped.

“If I ask Wang Yan for help, even more people will get caught up in it.”

"This is a perfect opportunity to wipe us out in one fell swoop."

The men's faces turned extremely grim. But they couldn't persuade Xie Yuyan not to rescue Tang Xing and his men.

They couldn't bring themselves to ask, nor did they want to watch the caravan men lose their lives.

“So we have to think of a way,” Xie Yuyan said. “Since it’s a struggle, no one knows who will win or lose until the very end.”

"If they can blackmail us like this, then we'll blackmail them in return."

That's true, but they don't know what to do. Guo Xiong asked, "Madam, have you thought of a way?"

Xie Yuyan nodded: "We have to set off tonight, heading east to meet those members of the Demon Cult." The Demon Cult members are not far from them, and if all goes well, things should take a turn for the better in three or four days.

……

One day later, at an inn beside the official road.

Master Wu was reading the secret letter in his hand. Then he held the paper up to the lamp, and after it burned, he threw it into the copper basin at his feet.

"This is the fifth letter already, isn't it? Isn't it going a bit too smoothly? They're all willing to betray the leader and conspire with you?" Yang Kuan said.

Master Wu glanced at Yang Kuan. Yang Kuan was bold and smart enough, but he spoke too directly, which was really unpleasant to hear.

"They have long been dissatisfied with the leader. This time, they followed the leader to deal with Xie Yuyan. The leader put them at the forefront and used their manpower first when encountering difficult situations, thus weakening their power. If they don't come up with a solution, they will end up like the Wu family in the future."

Yang Kuan advised, "You should have Xu Lai do more research and find out what's going on. Don't let the leader's people infiltrate the group. When you all gather together to discuss countermeasures, we'll wipe you all out."

"Pah!" Master Wu shouted, "What bad luck! You're already spouting discouraging words before you've even started anything."

Yang Kuan's expression remained unchanged: "I'm telling the truth. So many people suddenly disappearing, wouldn't that arouse the suspicion of the Supreme Leader?"

Master Wu stroked his mustache. To be honest, there was some truth to that: "We can't let them come. Let them send their trusted confidants to discuss this."

Yang Kuan shook his head again: "If this is a trap, can you still threaten them with the lives of your confidants? At least you should let their sons or nephews come to see you. I will guard the house with a few people, and if there is any disturbance, we will arrest them all."

"Even if they die, we'll make them pay with their lives."

Mr. Wu stood up and walked around the room. When the old man was alive, they were like brothers, but now it was different. Perhaps someone really did have ulterior motives.

Yang Kuan said, "You can't die, your son is waiting for you to save him..."

“Shut up,” Master Wu said, finally losing his temper. “If this is a trap they set, they will kill you first.”

Yang Kuan didn't care: "At this point, if we can't turn the tide, we'll have to run away. What difference does it make whether we live or die?"

Master Wu was too lazy to pay attention to Yang Kuan, but after Yang Kuan left, he began to write. Yang Kuan was right; he had to leave himself a way out.

If even his own nephews and nieces are unwilling to send someone, then don't expect him to rebel against the head of state.

Yang Kuan came out of the house and went to the backyard to check on the horses. He fed them some hay and slipped a note into a crack in the stone outside the stable. Then he walked away as if nothing had happened.

Before long, someone will come to collect this note, and then Madam Xie will be able to learn about the situation here.

(End of this chapter)