Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 172 Just Once

"One thousand taels, no less than that," said Bald Qiang.

Jia Chuan let out a long breath and made a troubled expression, saying, "A thousand taels? Let alone that I can't raise the money right now, even if I could, how would you transport it? I'm not trying to criticize you, but everything has to have a beginning and an end. You can't just think about the beginning and not how to finish."

"You don't need to worry about that. Once it's ready, just place it at least ten miles southeast of the city gate."

"What about these people?" Jia Chuan pointed behind Bald Qiang.

Bald Qiang thought for a moment and said, "They have nothing to do with me."

"We were just about to save them, but now... we're just going to abandon them?"

"The more one person lives, the more people will share the money. If you have the ability to keep them all, I will thank you."

Jia Chuan chuckled and asked, "You think you can take a thousand taels of silver by yourself? If so, I'd have to suspect you have people outside the city."

"What do you care if we have manpower or not? You want to save your life, I want money."

"I'm really curious who hired you? This person is really not very bright. They didn't understand me or you properly, but you're too confident. How can you be so sure you can kill me this time?"

"If you didn't know I could do it, why would you be negotiating a price with me?"

Jia Chuan smiled nonchalantly and said, "Why would a monk like you get involved in this mess? Since you know you're after me, shouldn't you at least ask who I am? I don't think you can safely take the silver. You haven't become a Buddha, have you? You're still in your physical body, aren't you? Big Yellow, come out!"

After shouting, Jia Chuan turned and ran.

Bald Qiang was stunned for a moment. Big Yellow? He instinctively wanted to turn his head to look, but then he felt a force that made his heart skip a beat rush towards his back. He quickly tensed up, preparing to take the hit, but what was sprayed onto his back? It hurt quite a bit…

The instant he turned his head, it was as if a tiger roared in his ear, making his brain slosh around. He couldn't even tense up his body. In that instant, he felt a sudden burning sensation on his back. Before he could savor the feeling, he tasted a sweet, metallic taste in his throat. He opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood. Then, everything went black. He took one last look at Jia Chuan before collapsing heavily to the ground.

Jia Chuan felt his heart pounding uncontrollably, and he quickly looked at Dong Yuanyuan.

"Big brother, this is the only way..." Dong Yuanyuan said and fell backward. Shunzi quickly tried to catch her, but he couldn't. He could only cushion her fall to the ground.

Dong Yuanyuan wasn't carefree. She only glanced at Bald Qiang and then at the fallen Imperial Guards, and she understood. When she saw Gao Yuntian and Chen Mo clearly, she understood even more. They were both exhausted, and no one could deal with that person.

Dong Yuanyuan forced herself to eat a lot, hoping to recover some of her strength. She knew her sister was injured and now only she could help, but that person was getting closer and closer to her older brother…

Dong Yuanyuan was anxious, but her hands were still trembling. She took a deep breath, but her chest still felt empty. The torchlight couldn't reach the glistening tears in Dong Yuanyuan's eyes. She put everything edible from the food box into her mouth, chewed it forcefully, and then swallowed it. Then she picked up the knife and said to herself: If I can't kill him by cutting him, I'll smash him to death!

She tried to scream as fiercely as ever, but with a burst of effort, all the food she had just swallowed sprayed out and hit Bald Qiang's back. After clearing the contents of her throat, Dong Yuanyuan's scream finally came out...

……

The tree that Mu Lian lit has stopped burning, leaving only its blackened trunk.

The guards of the Prince's Palace played a stabilizing role in this battle, acting as a source of light, but now, while they won't be killed, they are easily exhausted.

Jia Chuan and Shunzi, who were the lightest at the scene, were still standing, while the rest of them had collapsed. They needed to carry all of them back.

Chen Mo could have held on a little longer, but one of the two men Gao Yuntian was chasing was still alive. The two Imperial Guards bent down to carry the man to Jia Chuan's side, but the man suddenly stood up. Chen Mo instinctively drew his sword to meet him, using his last bit of strength on the man. If it weren't for the Imperial Guards beside him protecting him relentlessly, he probably would have said goodbye prematurely.

Gao Yuntian was exhausted, but fortunately all his enemies fell before him.

These two are tall and strong, and it was already quite a struggle for the guards of the Prince's Mansion to carry them. But there's also Yuanyuan and Bald Qiang.

Bald Qiang wasn't dead; he was still breathing. Jia Chuan didn't have time to analyze why the guy was still alive; he was filled with lingering fear.

He knew that luck played a big part in the previous crises he had managed to escape unscathed, but the abilities of the people around him were also a major factor. But this time… Jia Chuan sat on the ground watching the guards of the Prince’s Mansion shouting as they carried Bald Qiang. He hadn’t wanted to rely on others, so he and Shunzi had used all their strength to try to move Dong Yuanyuan to the stretcher next to them, but they couldn’t move her an inch. Shunzi was unwilling to give up, so he came up with the idea of ​​rolling her. He whispered something in Dong Yuanyuan’s ear, and then he and Jia Chuan shouted one, two, three, and finally rolled Dong Yuanyuan onto the stretcher.

Then Shunzi hurriedly followed the stretcher away, and Jia Chuan plopped down on the ground.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down, and then reviewed the day's events. In previous encounters, someone would get injured, but none of them had been injured like today. He hadn't anticipated such a difficult situation.

Jia Chuan rubbed his face in self-reproach. In his opinion, there could be no more dangerous situation than Le'an, nor a more difficult battle than the manor. So he relaxed. Although he knew that the people around him were not invincible, the masters and apprentices of the manor had been summoned by the court and would not cause him any more trouble. Who could a herb-gathering bureau find?

Jia Chuan recalled the words the old man's apprentice and the old man himself had spoken in the darkness. They seemed to be guiding Jia Chuan to think of the experts around the Prince of Han. The more they did so, the less Jia Chuan believed it. If it really was those people, they would only try to prevent Jia Chuan from thinking of the Prince of Han, especially at a time like this.

Who wants to frame the King of Han?

If these people weren't relatives or friends of the experts around the King of Han, then it's just that there are always people more skilled than you. The times create martial arts masters. If he wants to avoid going to the gates of hell in the future, he'll probably need to have more talented people around him.

Fortunately, luck was always on his side. If these people came together, even if all his men were present, he couldn't figure out how to divide the tasks to save his life. It seemed that only with this order of appearance could they have a chance to win.

"Are you waiting here for another group of people to come and kill you? Are you afraid they won't know which courtyard to look for you in?"

Mu Lian's voice came from the distance. Jia Chuan looked up and saw Mu Lian standing to the side, panting and grimacing as if she had just run a kilometer.

"How is Duoduo?" Jia Chuan stood up and asked.

"I told you, she hurt her back. I took her back. I was going to get her some medicine, but she was worried about you. I saw everyone being carried back, but I hadn't seen your body yet, so I came to check on you."

"Are you afraid that if I die alone and find peace, you'll continue to bother me?"

"I wanted to see how insensible you are. They're all too sick to get up because of you, and you still dare to stay here alone!" Jia Chuan slowly walked towards the courtyard, saying as he went, "Who do you think I am? They've already given me enough face by finding two such capable people. What more could they ask for? How well do they know my situation to make such an arrangement? If they know me that well, how could they have allowed someone to kill Zhou Cheng after I arrived in Kaifeng?"

Mu Lian frowned and asked, "Are you saying they were in cahoots with the fake Shunzi I killed?"

"What else could they be? Just passing by, with nothing better to do, coming in to get themselves killed?"

"Can't you explain this to me properly?" Mu Lian was getting a little impatient.

"I told you I have a phobia of stupidity!"

"You still have the nerve to call me stupid? We could have prevented them from getting hurt tonight. You were the one who said those people must still have things they hadn't had time to clear away, and you were in a hurry to go down and find the secret passage. Otherwise, they would all be in the courtyard. So what if they went into the herb-gathering bureau? Zhou Cheng's courtyard is indeed a bit remote, but it's just the right distance. Even if the herb-gathering bureau is full of secret passages as you think, they wouldn't go down to Zhou Cheng's place to cause trouble. Didn't you see that he blocked off all the secret passages in his own courtyard?"

"What exactly do you want to say?" Jia Chuan asked impatiently.

"I want to say that these people can come and go freely in that small house, but once they get to Zhou Cheng's courtyard, it's easy to get in but difficult to get out. As soon as a fight breaks out in the courtyard, the Prince's Mansion and the government office will receive the news very quickly. Even if they are not afraid of swords, what about bows and arrows? The courtyard walls are densely packed with archers. Can they just hide underground?"

Do you usually enjoy reading novels?

"what?"

Jia Chuan waved his hand and said, "Can you shut up for a bit?"

Why can't you listen to good advice?

Jia Chuan ignored Mu Lian and let her nag on.

As Jia Chuan approached the courtyard, he saw more and more soldiers and knew that his leaders had arrived.

……

Not only did Prefect Cai come in person, but even Prince Zhu Youdun of Zhou was present.

Jia Chuan didn't trust the pharmacist at the herbal medicine bureau, nor did he trust the one sent by the government. He had originally planned to have Commander Lu ask the Prince's Mansion for a royal physician, but now, Zhu Youdun had brought him along.

So when Jia Chuan entered the courtyard, he knew that everyone was out of danger. Gao Yuntian and Chen Mo were exhausted and had some internal and external injuries. Dong Yuanyuan... could recover after a good rest. Only Gao Yunduo had injured her back and would need some time to recover.

Upon entering the courtyard, Jia Chuan did not immediately pay his respects to the prince and the prefect. Instead, he first looked everyone over and inquired about the whereabouts of the living and the dead, as well as who was in charge of their care. Only then did he go to the main hall to meet the leaders.

After bowing, Jia Chuan looked at Zhu Youdun and said, "Some of the invaders are still alive. Many of the Embroidered Uniform Guards are injured, and the Bureau of Herbal Medicine needs guards at all its key locations. The Embroidered Uniform Guards are already short-handed, and now there are many more people who need to be guarded. I will question them one by one; they are all very important..."

When Prefect Cai realized that Jia Chuan wanted to borrow guards from the Prince's Mansion, he quickly said, "We've already sent quite a few yamen runners. Aren't they enough?"

"Can't believe it."

Not only was Prefect Cai taken aback by Jia Chuan's answer, but even Zhu Youdun was momentarily stunned.

Jia Chuan glanced at the teacup on the table, and without caring whose it was, picked it up and drank it all.

"What do you mean by that, Vice Envoy Jia?" Prefect Cai asked, somewhat annoyed.

"There's no beating around the bush, it's exactly what it sounds like. Prefect Cai knows very well what Zhou Cheng did during his lifetime. Don't worry, you're not under my jurisdiction, but someone else is. I just need to provide the person who came with evidence of Prefect Cai's collusion with Zhou Cheng..."

"Where did you get your evidence? Don't make baseless accusations!" Prefect Cai stood up and pointed at Jia Chuan, rebuking him, "I know you were powerful in Le'an, but does that mean you can do whatever you want in the world? This is Kaifeng!"

Jia Chuan ignored Prefect Cai's attitude and acted as if Prefect Cai was invisible, continuing to discuss the matter of transferring people with Zhu Youdun.

"The guards originally transferred here were enough, but we need to hold out for a few more days. Once the imperial decree from the capital arrives, we should have enough manpower. These survivors are very important. My mind is a bit muddled right now, and I need to rest, so..."

"On what grounds did you request the Prince's Mansion to borrow manpower?" Prefect Cai was furious, his beard trembling visibly.

Jia Chuan looked at Prefect Cai, his face slowly darkening. He stared coldly at Prefect Cai and said in a cold voice, "I originally thought you were just embezzling some money through Zhou Cheng. I underestimated you. Old Zheng! See if Commander Lu has arrived yet?"

"We're here!" Old Zheng called from outside the door.

"Come in!"

Lu Baihu pushed open the door and entered.

On this day, Jia Chuan did not see Commander Lu, nor did he think much about how the Embroidered Uniform Guards took turns on duty. He did not know, but he assumed that Commander Lu was busy with these matters, especially after so many skeletons were discovered in the Grass and Tree Garden. There were several more places to guard, and the yamen runners could not be trusted, so they could only be placed in insignificant places. The rest had to be discussed and arranged with the guards of the Prince's Mansion.

But when Jia Chuan saw Commander Lu, the two exchanged a glance, and Jia Chuan immediately understood that Commander Lu had not been seen all day and must be intentionally avoiding him.

Jia Chuan frowned, knowing that now was not the time to ask about these things. He simply patted Lu Baihu on the shoulder and said, "Take some men to the city gates immediately. There's no need to question them one by one. Just bring back a few soldiers from each gate and have them meet with those brought back tonight, whether they are dead or alive. Let them recognize them and see if they remember which city gate they entered through, when they entered, and who issued their travel permits."

Prefect Cai plopped down in a chair.

Seeing that Prefect Cai seemed to have confessed without being asked, Commander Lu looked at Jia Chuan with a questioning gaze, as if to ask: Do we still need to go?

Jia Chuan said, "Prefect Cai just asked me if I had any evidence. I need to get some evidence. Those people only entered the city today, and they arrived at different times. If these people are locals of Kaifeng, how could I have survived until today? But they are not from Kaifeng, yet they have travel permits from Kaifeng. That must be the work of an insider."

Lu Baihu understood that Jia Chuan had no intention of leaving the prefect a way out. Since the leader had pointed out the direction, Lu Baihu naturally had to carry it out effectively to make up for his anxiety.

(End of this chapter)