Catching Monsters

Chapter 242 Black Armor
An old man recently moved into a small house at the end of Tianhua Street in the inner city of Beijing, which made the neighbors feel a little strange.

The old man was alone and had no family or servants with him. When he arrived, he bought a lot of green bamboo.

However, nearby residents heard that eunuchs from the palace often came to visit, and everyone then realized that the identity of this old man might not be ordinary.

In the evening, outside the small house, Jiang Yun was holding some gifts in his hands and looking at the house.

The person living here is Ye Xiuyuan who was invited from Jiangnan Province.

As the top dignitaries in the capital, the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion naturally has a deep network of connections in the capital. After the incident, they also sent servants in the mansion to visit the homes of their good friends and even relatives through marriage.

But ever since the news of the Duke of Zhenguo's rebellion spread, all other dignitaries avoided seeing the Duke of Zhenguo's visitors.

Although the entire Zhenguo Mansion is located in the bustling city of Beijing, it seems like an isolated island in the ocean.

Jiang Yun also went to see Captain Yang, but Captain Yang just advised Jiang Yun not to get involved in this matter.

Finally, it was Feng Yu who reminded Jiang Yun that he could try to meet Ye Xiuyuan, perhaps there would be a turning point.

At this moment, Jiang Yun could only give it a try and come to visit old man Ye Xiuyuan. Although he didn't know Ye Xiuyuan well enough, he believed in Feng Yu's judgment.

In fact, Jiang Yun had also made the worst plan, which was to confiscate the Duke's Mansion and exterminate the entire family.

If it really comes to that, Xu Suwen will marry out of the Duke's Mansion, and then find a way to ask Feng Yu to mediate, perhaps Xu Suwen's life can be saved.

Thinking of this, Jiang Yun took a deep breath, walked to the door and raised his hand to knock.

"Enter."

Ye Xiuyuan's voice was heard in the courtyard.

Jiang Yun gently pushed open the wooden door, and a creaking sound was heard. Many green bamboos had been planted in the yard. Ye Xiuyuan was sitting among the bamboo forest with a set of Go in front of him. He held the white pieces in his left hand and the black pieces in his right hand. From a distance, although he was a mortal, he had an immortal air and a sense of transcendence of the world.

"Mr. Ye." Jiang Yun forced a smile on his face and then put the gift in his hand aside.

Ye Xiuyuan glanced at the gift wrapped in fine cloth that Jiang Yun brought, and said slowly: "Captain Jiang, you brought this gift here, you must have something to ask for, but unfortunately I am not in the government, I am afraid I can't help you."

"This gift is valuable, you should take it back."

Hearing this, Jiang Yun sat down opposite the chessboard, looked at the chessboard, and said, "Mr. Ye, I came here this time..."

"Play the next game with me first. I was forced to come to the capital by you. I have no relatives or friends here, so I feel lonely." Ye Xiuyuan said.

Jiang Yun scratched his hair and said, "I don't know how to play Go."

Upon hearing this, Ye Xiuyuan couldn't help but shook his head slightly and said, "Then Captain Jiang, please speak frankly. Why did you come here?"

"Mr. Ye, have you heard anything about the Zhenguo Mansion?"

Ye Xiuyuan said slowly: "I have heard some, but I don't know much about the situation in the capital. I just heard that when Xu Dingwu was young, he was loyal and righteous, and he made great contributions to Your Majesty. He is also a Duke of the State, and there is no room for him to be promoted. Logically speaking, he has no shortage of fame, wealth, and money."

"If they are traitors, there must be some special reason."

When Jiang Yun heard this, his heart moved slightly. It was indeed true, but now, he couldn't figure out why Xu Dingwu defected to the Northern Hu.

Jiang Yun said, "I would like to ask Mr. Ye to help me think about this. If Xu Dingwu really betrays the enemy, does the Duke's Mansion have any way to survive the crisis?"

Ye Xiuyuan smiled faintly and said slowly: "Yes, there is, but I have no friendship with Captain Jiang. After all, you forcibly abducted me to the capital, so there is no need for me to help you."

Jiang Yun understood immediately and said in a deep voice: "Mr. Ye, just tell me directly, do you want gold and silver or..."

Ye Xiuyuan looked at the chessboard and played chess with himself, saying, "It is said that more than ten years ago, seven meteorites fell into the world. I have always been interested in astronomy, and I want one to observe and study."

"If Captain Jiang agrees, bring me one."

After hearing this, Jiang Yun was silent for a moment, then stared at the other party, feeling confused. Coincidence?

Or did he know that he had a meteorite in his hand?

But logically speaking, I have never mentioned this to him...

Jiang Yun said: "Mr. Ye, I do have a meteorite statue here, but it was entrusted to me by a friend."

"I can't give it to you, but I can promise you that I will get a meteorite and give it to you later."

Ye Xiuyuan was silent for a while after hearing this, then nodded: "Then I hope Captain Jiang is not a man who breaks his promise."

"Although the situation of the Zhenguo Mansion is not good, I heard that the more than 100,000 troops at Jianchi Pass are only willing to obey the orders of the Xu family of the Zhenguo Mansion, right?"

"After all, these more than 100,000 troops are generals and soldiers of the Great Zhou Kingdom. If Xu Dingwu surrenders to the Northern Hu, they will be willing to obey the orders of the Xu family, but they will not follow Xu Dingwu to rebel against the enemy."

"Your Majesty, what you are most worried about right now is these more than 100,000 soldiers. After losing their backbone, they have become a pile of scattered sand."

"If someone from the Zhenguo Mansion can replace Xu Dingwu and take charge of these more than 100,000 troops."

"Will there be any more trouble at the Zhenguo Mansion?"

Listening to Ye Xiuyuan's words, Jiang Yun was slightly stunned. It was true that those who are involved in the matter are often confused, while those who are not involved can see things more clearly.

After hearing that Xu Dingwu had defected to the Northern Hu, everyone's first reaction was that the Zhenguo Mansion might be confiscated and exterminated. But soon, Jiang Yun frowned. Should he continue to let the people of the Zhenguo Mansion take charge of the 100,000 troops at Jianchi Pass?
After all, Xu Dingwu has already betrayed the enemy. Your Majesty is still willing to trust the Xu family? Will you let the Xu family take charge of this 100,000-strong army?

Ye Xiuyuan saw the doubt in Jiang Yun's eyes and knew that this matter was not easy. He said slowly: "It depends on the young Duke of Zhenguo Mansion. Can he convince His Majesty and the ministers?"

When Jiang Yun heard this, he thought of how distraught Xu Xiaogang was after hearing the news...

After Jiang Yun stood up and said goodbye, he rushed back to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion as soon as possible.

As soon as I returned to the gate of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion, I saw many servants kneeling outside the main hall.

"Ma'am, we are not leaving."

There were at least fifty or sixty people kneeling here, most of them were veterans from the northern border. Many of them were old or disabled, and had no children or relatives, so they were taken to the Duke's Mansion by Xu Dingwu.

Although the servants were nominally doing odd jobs, on weekdays, the Duke's Mansion was not as harsh to them as other mansions.

"We absolutely do not believe that the Duke will defect to the Northern Hu!"

"The Duke is in the northern border, where it is freezing cold. If a soldier is freezing, he will never wear a cotton coat."

"If one soldier is hungry, the Duke will go on a hunger strike for a day."

"Local officials and generals have been withholding military pay to fill their own pockets, but the Duke has been using the Duke's Mansion's money to subsidize the border troops."

"This was all witnessed by the border troops themselves."

"How could such a person betray his country and surrender to the enemy?"

Although Tao Yuelan's face was pale and she was unwilling to believe this, she still walked out of the main hall with the help of Xu Suwen and said slowly: "Everyone, if our mansion can survive this disaster, we will definitely ask you to come back as soon as possible."

"But if you stay, I'm afraid you will be implicated by us."

The servants all shook their heads and said, "We have received so much kindness from Madam over the years. How can we just go our separate ways when things get tough?"

Looking at the many servants, none of whom were willing to leave, Tao Yuelan just stroked her forehead gently.

Xu Suwen also saw Jiang Yun coming back. She hurried to Jiang Yun's side and asked in a low voice, "Did you go to see Mr. Ye?"

"Yeah." Jiang Yun took a deep breath and said, "I'll go see Xiao Gang."

After saying that, Jiang Yun came to the outside of Xu Xiaogang's yard, raised his hand to knock on the door, and then pushed it open.

The whole yard was filled with a strong smell of alcohol.

Jiang Yun pushed open the door and looked inside. Xu Xiaogang was lying on the bed drunk and snoring.

"Why are you so drunk?" Jiang Yun hurried forward and shook his arm.

Xu Xiaogang opened his eyes dazedly, and when he saw Jiang Yun coming, he burped and said slowly: "Brother-in-law, you are here. This, this wine is a good wine that I have stored for a long time. It would be a pity if I don't drink it now."

"Would you like a bite?"

Jiang Yun quickly pulled Xu Xiaogang up from the bed and said in a deep voice, "Xiaogang, the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion can still be saved..."

"The premise is that you can't do this..."

Xu Xiaogang pushed Jiang Yun away, lay on the bed, and said slowly: "Brother-in-law, you said that the people guarding us are Jinyiwei, right? After all, they are colleagues. Can you let me go out and have some fun..."

Jiang Yun took a deep breath, looked at the drunk Xu Xiaogang, and said slowly: "I went to Mr. Ye's place once."

"If you want to save the Duke of Zhenguo Mansion, I'm afraid you are the only one. The 100,000-strong army at Jianchi Pass, all the generals obey the orders of the Duke of Zhenguo Mansion. As long as you can convince His Majesty..."

Seeing Xu Xiaogang turning around drunkenly and facing the wall inside, Jiang Yun sighed slightly.

It seems that we have to think of other ways.

Jiang Yun closed the door and turned to leave.

After Jiang Yun left, Xu Xiaogang slowly sat up from the bed, his eyes clear and clear, without any trace of drunkenness from before.

He slowly stood up, walked under the bed, and pulled out a black wooden box.

The wooden box was covered with dust, and when he blew, the dust flew up.

Opening the wooden box, a piece of black armor was revealed inside. This black armor was made of black iron and shone with a black luster.

This is the military armor that had been made for him long ago. His parents had long wanted him to join the army, but he coveted life in the capital and was unwilling to go to the north to suffer. This armor has been gathering dust for a long time.

Xu Xiaogang took a deep breath, touched the black armor, and looked at the Jinyiwei Feiyu uniform at the head of the bed with some reluctance.

He picked up the Feiyu suit and stroked it, sighed, and said slowly: "I'm afraid that the comfortable life in the capital will be gone forever."

Then he put on the black armor, which fit him perfectly.

(End of this chapter)