Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 105 Let me tell you my honest thoughts

The power of deterrence is intangible, but its effect is visible to the naked eye. The person standing next to Wu Bing was considering whether to escape when Dong Yuanyuan's knife arrived. A strong wind with an oppressive force swept over him. His sword was still looking for Wu Bing's vital point. He had no choice but to twist his waist in an awkward posture and swing his sword to block the deadly long knife.

Wu Bing shrewdly took two steps back. He realized that Dong Yuanyuan's knife was indiscriminate, whether it was friend or foe.

The man thought that after blocking the knife, he could fly up and perform a sword flourish to deal with the intruder. However, although the sword blocked the knife, his current posture was too difficult to hold, and he could not use his full strength to block Dong Yuanyuan's brute force. Yuanyuan was holding the knife with both hands. With just this one move, even Gao Yuntian's iron ruler would have to think about whether it could withstand the attack.

As Jia Chuan watched the man slam into the ground, Dong Yuanyuan's anger did not subside. She did not yet know how to use combos, and seeing the man fall to the ground, all she could think of was to raise her leg and stomp down hard.

Jia Chuan hurriedly shouted, "Hold your ground!"

Dong Yuanyuan heard this and tried to ease up a bit, but her foot couldn't stop and stomped on the person. The person's head and body were lifted up by the stomp, and then they couldn't get up again.

At this moment, Chen Mo arrived with his men. These men's knives were still dripping blood. Before Jia Chuan could say anything, they naturally split into two groups and entered the left and right courtyards respectively. When Chen Mo saw Dong Yuanyuan on this side, he rushed directly into Gao Yuntian's courtyard.

"Go help Gao Yuntian," Jia Chuan shouted.

Dong Yuanyuan was originally full of energy, but after stomping, she remembered Jia Chuan's shout and was afraid that she had stomped the wrong thing. A wave of regret washed over her, and the strength in her body dissipated. When she heard Jia Chuan shout to save Gao Yuntian, she looked around again before picking up her knife and going to the second battlefield.

The battle here was much easier, especially with Chen Mo's arrival. Gao Yuntian had also rested for a while with the help of Wu Bing's men. Now, the two of them were working together to keep their opponent busy. Naturally, the man had no time to pay attention to what was happening to his companions. However, the collapse of the courtyard wall and Dong Yuanyuan's shout had distracted him. Gao Yuntian seized the opportunity and struck him with an iron ruler. Swords and knives can injure flesh, but an iron ruler can injure bones. After just one strike from Gao Yuntian, the man seemed powerless to fight back.

Wu Bing arrived a step earlier than Dong Yuanyuan, and with three against one, the man couldn't help but feel anxious when he saw that there were still quite a few people on the perimeter.

Chen Mo said to Wu Bing, "Don't get involved. This is Gao Yuntian's and my job."

Dong Yuanyuan arrived, holding a knife and standing to the side, asking loudly, "Where should I start? They're all our people."

Jia Chuan was worried about Gao Yunduo's injuries. Just now, Dong Yuanyuan had killed one and injured the other two people in front of him in the blink of an eye. He looked up to his right and, by the light of the torch in Old Zheng's hand, he could see that his own people were not in danger. So he shouted, "Yuanyuan, come here and take Duoduo back to the house."

Dong Yuanyuan threw down the knife and ran over. Gao Yuntian was also anxious and hurriedly asked, "Is Duoduo injured? Is she badly hurt?"

Wu Bing said, "There is a doctor in the house, so don't worry."

Hearing this, Jia Chuan breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they could still talk, things were under control. Seeing Dong Yuanyuan block out the light and pick up Gao Yunduo, Jia Chuan instructed, "Be gentle."

Dong Yuanyuan said, "I know, I'm holding it as gently as if it were cotton."

Wu Bing called out again, "Old Zhao, take him to see Doctor Deng."

One person led the way, and Dong Yuanyuan followed behind, disappearing into the night.

"How skilled is Dr. Deng? I've never seen him before," Gao Yuntian asked.

Wu Bing replied, "You've been living here for a while now, but I haven't had time to see you all."

Chen Mo said, "I've seen him. He looks quite old, so his medical skills must be quite good."

Jia Chuan got up and saw that the three of them still had time to chat. He stepped over the broken bricks and clods of earth, stood in the alley, and said, "Let's capture him first while we're chatting. There's a lot of work to do later. If we wait any longer, the Prince's Mansion will receive the news."

Wu Bing hurriedly said, "I've also arranged people around the perimeter, allowing them to enter but not leave. The Prince's residence won't get the news so quickly."

Chen Mo said, "I already told you, this is Gao Yuntian's and my job, so get out of the way!"

Wu Bing said, "Didn't you hear Jia Chuan say that we need to capture him as soon as possible? There are other things to do."

Gao Yuntian said, "The two of us are enough. You go and do other things."

The man, already struggling with a broken arm, was further distracted by the three men's banter. In truth, he was already quite formidable; the three men he faced were all skilled fighters, taking turns attacking him with swords, knives, and iron rulers, yet he remained standing, demonstrating his strength.

But he was at his last gasp. The three of them seemed to be arguing, and he couldn't concentrate even if he wanted to. Especially when he heard the sarcastic words, he was furious and wanted to retaliate, but he pulled on his injured arm. The pain made his longsword tremble. It was at this moment that Chen Mo's knife pierced his right shoulder. Gao Yuntian's iron ruler stopped in mid-air and did not strike down. Wu Bing's sword was withdrawn halfway.

They all knew that Jia Chuan wanted to spare some people.

……

The three masters from the manor, both alive and dead, were quickly brought back to the manor. Jia Chuan chose the one with a shoulder injury and a broken arm to send to the capital, leaving behind the one who had been stomped on by Dong Yuanyuan and was on the verge of death.

Jia Chuan hurriedly wrote a letter, saying that Old Zheng had written it for him. The letter first introduced the situation of the people in the Han King's manor, then expressed his doubts, saying that there must be something important in the manor, and he must find out what was hidden there, as well as the defenses in the manor. He also talked about the actions of the Han King's manor in the past two days, gave a detailed account of tonight's situation, and finally said that a seriously wounded survivor had been left in the manor, hoping to get some information out of him so that he could formulate a corresponding plan. Perhaps the manor was the last straw that broke the Han King's back.

After the letter was written, Jia Chuan instructed Chen Mo: "Make sure to send many people to escort it to the capital. It must not be lost."

Chen Mo led a few people to carry the man out of the city through the tunnel.

Meanwhile, Gao Yuntian was leading his men on their way to the prefectural government office.

That night, the patrolling soldiers had to pretend to be blind countless times. Gao Yuntian and his men rode past them on horseback, and they pretended not to see him. Then, when Gao Yuntian returned with a group of constables and yamen runners from the prefectural government, they had already hidden on another street. How could they possibly run into him again?
Of course, it was almost dawn when Gao Yuntian and the others returned.

……

Several others left the city through a secret passage with Chen Mo and the others to deliver a letter to the Shandong Provincial Judicial Commissioner. Such a major case naturally required reporting to Zhang Zheng in addition to reporting directly to the capital, so that Zhang Zheng could bring people to help.

This time, Lin Wei was truly ill, though his previous illnesses weren't entirely untrue either. But being awakened in the middle of the night by such a horrifying event still caused him to collapse. Hao Wen wasn't at the prefectural office, so after being jolted awake, Lin Wei could only order someone to be sent to the crime scene.

All the constables and yamen runners that the state government could mobilize were woken up, totaling more than thirty people. Gao Yuntian led these people back to his residence in a grand procession.

By this time, some commoners had already stood up and spread the news. If even the parties involved helped, the speed of spreading the news would be faster than that of the Imperial Guards who were already on their way back to the capital.

The Prince of Han's mansion received the news faster than the common people. Shortly after Gao Yuntian arrived at the state office, Zhu Heng received the news. At that moment, he refused to accept it no matter what. He believed that Wei Da's people had made a mistake, and he immediately arranged for people to go and find out the news again.

This time, he received the news almost as well as the common people. He not only knew that they had been defeated again, but also that none of the people who went there had escaped.

Zhu Heng couldn't understand how he had fallen into an ambush when he had only ordered these people to lie in wait.

He sat blankly in the chair, his heart ice-cold. He had followed the Prince of Han for many years and finally climbed to the Prince's side. He had participated in the plot to intercept Zhu Zhanji before. After the failure, the Prince of Han did not blame him. But Zhu Heng knew that he was not blamed because it was rushed and most of the arrangements were made by the Prince of Han himself. But this time was different. He had failed repeatedly in killing Jia Chuan. Would the Prince of Han still use him?
He could change his appearance completely... Once he left the Prince of Han's mansion, Zhu Heng had nowhere to stand.

It was impossible for Zhu Heng to keep this news from him.

Wei Da was discussing with Wang Bin how to deal with the situation. Only after reaching a proper conclusion could they report back to the Prince of Han. Otherwise, without a plan, if the Prince of Han lost his temper and acted recklessly, the consequences would be even worse. They were now in the same predicament as Zhu Heng, with no way out.

Mei Qing also received the news. He hurriedly went to find Zhu Heng, hoping to discuss the matter with Zhu Heng before dawn, and then go to find Wang Bin. This was not the time for infighting. If the two of them could not reach an agreement before reporting back to the Prince of Han, and started arguing again in front of the Prince of Han, Mei Qing felt that they should do nothing and just follow the example of the Prince of Zhao.

Zhu Heng remained calm. Although he still couldn't figure out why he failed, he didn't try to shift the blame. Mei Qing spoke with him for a few minutes, and he only expressed his frustration at not being able to kill Jia Chuan. He said that he had arranged for someone to go find Hao Wen and find out how many people he sent had survived, how many had died, and whether any had escaped.

Mei Qing breathed a sigh of relief, offered a few words of advice, and then went to see Wang Bin.

Wang Bin knew that this was not the time to argue with Zhu Heng, but he also couldn't understand why Jia Chuan was so hard to kill.

Weida said, "Even we think so, let alone the prince. The prince's temperament... I'm afraid he'll really get into a fight."

Mei Qing sighed and said, "It's clear that Jia Chuan made thorough preparations for his trip to Le'an. Don't forget that the Prince still has a son in his hands."

Wang Bin waved his hand and said, "You can't pin this on him. He did live in the Prince's Mansion in Nanjing, but he's never been inside this Le'an Prince's Mansion. He doesn't know much about the people and things inside. He's barely spoken a few words to Zhu Heng either. Now is not the time to talk about these things. We need to think about how to deal with this. With such a big commotion, that kid won't let the opportunity slip by. Those three from the manor haven't returned yet. I guess the rumors are true. They've all been arrested. If those three are sent to the capital..."

Mei Qing said, "Zhu Heng's idea is to guard the city gates well. Once they are found to be leading people out of the city, we should take action outside the city as soon as possible. We should also contact the people in the capital to make full preparations. Right now, Zhang Xing's words alone are not enough to convince the public. If these three speak up, the manor will definitely not be able to be saved. In my opinion, the people in the manor... need to be moved to a different place."

Wei Da interrupted Mei Qing, saying, "These things should be reported to the Prince before making any plans. There's no point in you discussing it here. If the Prince doesn't agree when you see him later, it will all be for nothing."

Wang Bin sighed and said, "Your Highness would have had an easier time succeeding than Emperor Taizong, but you lack Yao Guangxiao!"

Mei Qing and Wei Da exchanged a glance, both understanding that Wang Bin was still blaming Zhu Heng for his momentary outburst. They wondered if there was still a chance to change things.

……

Meanwhile, the constables and yamen runners had completely sealed off that secluded alley, and no one was allowed to enter except for officials from the state government.

Before the constables arrived, Wu Bing's men had already cleaned up the scene. The injured of their own men were taken back to the mansion for treatment. Jia Chuan inquired about the situation carefully. Some of the seriously injured were in critical condition, while the remaining injuries were not life-threatening. The dead members of the Wang Mansion were left at the scene, while the survivors were taken back to the mansion.

Jia Chuan took some time to stay by Gao Yunduo's bedside. He asked Dr. Deng about Gao Yunduo's injuries in detail. Dr. Deng said that the injuries were quite serious, but her life was not in danger.

Jia Chuan was worried about the wound getting infected, but he didn't know how to say it here, so he could only tell Dong Yuanyuan to be careful when cleaning the wound.

Despite her large frame and thick waist, Dong Yuanyuan is very meticulous. Knowing that her sister was seriously injured, she held back her tears and carefully cleaned the wound, applied medicine, prepared the medicine, and fed it to her sister, following Dr. Deng's instructions.

Jia Chuan was initially hesitant to entrust Gao Yunduo to Dong Yuanyuan, but he didn't dare ask Yu Yan for help. Yu Yan had been separated from Zhu Zhanqi for some time, and she had asked about Zhu Zhanqi's situation several times, even thinking of going to see him. Jia Chuan couldn't trust such a woman.

While Dong Yuanyuan was cleaning the wound, Gao Yunduo didn't utter a sound. She didn't fall asleep immediately after taking the medicine. When Jia Chuan came to visit, Gao Yunduo even joked, "This time, you've reaped quite a harvest."

Jia Chuan felt a strange pang of pain in his heart. He took a deep breath and asked, "Is the pain keeping you awake at night?"

"Kind of."

"You said you couldn't even beat them, so how come Yuanyuan took care of two in just two moves?"

Gao Yunduo smiled and said softly, "If it's a head-on confrontation, Yuanyuan can't even dodge a single sword strike. But in chaos, she's invincible."

Jia Chuan understood that without preparation, even a novice could defeat a master.

"She has superhuman strength. Her mother didn't feed her enough before, otherwise..."

Jia Chuan quickly stopped him, saying, "Don't talk, listen to me. Close your eyes and see if you can fall asleep."

Jia Chuan looked around, and Dr. Deng tactfully withdrew. Dong Yuanyuan was already asleep beside him.

"I worked at the Huangluling Patrol Station for three years. When I first arrived, I had a serious illness and couldn't remember anything after waking up... or rather, everything was very vague. It was only during those three years that the memories were truly imprinted in my mind. The people at the Patrol Station were cowardly, troublesome, opportunistic, boastful, cunning, and bullies who preyed on the weak... They all had one problem: they were smelly. I was smelly too, especially in the summer. It was impossible to stay in the dormitories. People would grind their teeth, fart, and talk in their sleep. It was so annoying!"

Jia Chuan glanced at Gao Yunduo, who closed her eyes and said, "I'm listening."

(End of this chapter)