The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 125 The Fourth Ambush

When Shi Shun talked about the fourth ambush, he became much more serious, no longer showing the same frivolous and disdainful attitude he had when discussing the outlaws of the martial world.

He finished the crispy dates in his hand and said, "This fourth route is aimed at the remnants of Yue Fei's army."

Upon hearing the words "Yue Family Army," Wanyan Shang straightened up. For the Jin Dynasty, Yue Fei was an unavoidable topic, even though Yue Fei had been dead for many years.

Shi Shun continued, "After Yue Fei's Fengbo Pavilion incident, the generals of Yue Family Army either committed suicide or retired from the army and went into hiding among the people, harboring much dissatisfaction with the imperial court."

It wasn't until Emperor Chengxiao ascended the throne that the country's army invaded the south. The court was dominated by the pro-war faction. In order to resist the invasion and to comply with the court, Emperor Chengxiao personally exonerated Yue Fei. Later, because of Han Tuozhou, the current emperor directly abolished all of Qin Hui's titles and changed his posthumous title to Miu Chou.

Some of the generals of Yue Fei's army returned to the army and led troops north, which led to Yue Lei's conquest of the north.

However, some descendants of Yue Fei's army were unwilling to serve the court and refused to be summoned. The court was always wary of them and secretly sent people to monitor them.

After Emperor Chengxiao, Emperor Guangzong ascended the throne, and now the current emperor has taken the throne. The Yue Family Army, which returned to the court back then, has long since disappeared, while these guys who were not convinced by the court have taken root and sprouted in various parts of Jiangnan.

The Fourth Prince has condescended to come to Hangzhou to negotiate peace with my master. His first demand is that the court restore Qin Hui's title and posthumous name, which puts my master in a difficult position.

However, we also know that this is to show our Great Song Dynasty's sincerity in seeking peace with your country, and the Emperor and my father are still willing to bow their heads.

However, once Qin Hui's reputation is restored, the consequences are predictable: the court and the public will be in uproar, and public resentment will rise up.

This infamy shouldn't fall on the officials; it should naturally fall on my father.

The strongest public reaction will undoubtedly come from the descendants of Yue Fei's army, who are hidden in various places.

At that time, I will not mention the safety of my family members.

But what if these people were to rebel? No one can guarantee that it's not a possibility.

They were not those roughnecks from the martial world; they were skilled in archery and horsemanship from a young age, well-versed in military strategy, and the Yue Family Army was renowned throughout the world.

What if they recruited soldiers in Yue Fei's name? In terms of popular support, no official in our Great Song Dynasty can compare to Yue Fei.

The sudden emergence of a rebel army that inherited the tactics of Yue Fei's army not only threatened the emperor and the court, but also something the Jin Dynasty would certainly not want to see.

After listening, Wanyan Shang suddenly sneered: "As expected, you are hypocritical Song people. Your emperor is even more hypocritical. When our Great Jin invaded the south, he could not seek peace but advocated war, and he dragged out Yue Family Army to fight to the death again."

Now that our Great Jin Dynasty no longer wants war, it should immediately sue for peace. Before sue for peace, first kill off the descendants of Yue Fei's army. Very well, our Great Jin Dynasty likes people like you.

Shi Shun ignored Wanyan Shang's sarcasm and maintained a smile throughout, saying, "Therefore, before the restoration of Qin Hui's title is announced, these remnants of Yue Fei's army must not be allowed to live."

My court spies have been monitoring them for years and know that these people have been searching for the Wuyue Manual for many years. So I used the Wuyue Manual as bait to lure them all to Suzhou. As for the bandits of the Jin Dynasty, they were just an afterthought.

It's a pity we don't have the "Military Manual of Yue Fei," otherwise this bait would be even more convincing.

Wanyan Shang, his eyes gleaming, interjected, "You really don't have the Military Manual of Yue Fei? If you're willing to offer it to my Great Jin, I wouldn't mind relaxing the terms of the peace talks a bit."

Shi Shun bowed respectfully and replied, "If it weren't for our spies discovering the movements of the remnants of Yue Fei's army, we wouldn't even know if the 'Wumu's Legacy' existed. My master has searched the entire palace to no avail." Wanyan Shang stared intently into Shi Shun's eyes. After a long while, he finally stopped pursuing the topic of the "Wumu's Legacy" and continued, "Then how did you deal with those remnants of Yue Fei's army with your fourth ambush?"

Shi Shun regained his confident demeanor: "The reason these people are so feared is because of their ability to lead troops into battle. Once they have troops under their command, they become a major threat."

However, if we only consider individual combat skills, their battlefield skills are not worth mentioning.

I used the Yue Fei Manual to lure them all here, and then used real martial arts masters to ambush them along the way.

The Emperor tacitly approved of dealing with them this time, so my master invited many experts from the Imperial Palace.

They must already be fighting right now.

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There are three roads from Gusu City to Tiger Hill. Besides the main road we just saw, there are two smaller roads. Wu Chengyu didn't know which road Sister Niu and the others had taken.

But Wu Chengyu had his own method. Since it was a narrow path, surrounded by mountains or dense forests, the space was relatively small. Wu Chengyu first walked swiftly for a mile on one path, then shook his head and immediately used his lightness skill to turn onto another path.

This time, Wu Chengyu's face lit up with joy. He wanted to use his sense of smell to find the person by following the scent.

There were so many people on the way to Tiger Hill today, especially on the main road ahead. Three or four hundred people passed by in one go, along with those Beggar Clan disciples, whose smell was really pungent.

With so many body odors mixed together, even Wu Chengyu couldn't tell which direction Sister Niu and her group were heading.

But after turning onto the side road, Wu Chengyu quickly found a clue, thanks to Yu Xiaowu.

Ever since Yu Xiaowu obtained the recipe for Thirteen Spices, his restaurant has been selling roasted meat every day for five years. He himself is like someone who has been thoroughly marinated and smoked. No matter how he changes his clothes or takes a bath, he always carries the smell of Thirteen Spices roasted meat.

The smell of Thirteen Spices is not easy to dissipate. In my past life, people who went out to eat skewers would have clothes that smelled of barbecue for days if they didn't wash them.

Since Thirteen Spices was originally made by Wu Chengyu, no one in the world was more familiar with it than him, so Wu Chengyu quickly found the right direction.

He used all his strength to unleash the Crane Shadow Flowing Light technique, and rushed forward for nearly a mile, but suddenly stopped, his face solemn. He smelled the blood ahead.

Wu Chengyu dared not delay and quickened his pace. After walking a few hundred meters, he immediately saw several corpses lying by the roadside.

There were six people in total, one of whom Wu Chengyu knew and had been drinking with him at Wuweilou that day.

This man was an archery master, wielding a two-stone bow, whose arrows never missed, hitting the bullseye from a hundred paces away. He was one of the Black Wind Duo who ambushed the Black Wind Duo in the woods behind Xiaoling Mountain, and Mei Chaofeng died by his arrow.

But now this brother lies dead here, clutching his ever-present hard bow, his eyes gazing resentfully at the heavens.

Wu Chengyu observed closely and found that the other five men, like him, were all holding bows. All six of them died in the same way: their throats were slit by a single sword.

Most importantly, they all had a bloody mark on their faces. The bowstrings of their bows had been cut off the moment they drew their bows to shoot. The broken bowstrings snapped open instantly, leaving deep marks on their faces.

Not far in front of them lay fallen arrows, which had not yet been fired.

(End of this chapter)