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

Chapter 392 News of the Matchmaker
"Before coming to Daxing, I heard that Prince Zhao was enjoying great favor with the emperor and was highly appreciated by him. How could he suddenly be reprimanded?"

"Sir, you don't know this. I heard that Prince Zhao went to the capital to suppress bandits, but he suffered a great loss."

Wu Chengyu raised an eyebrow. If there was any loss, it would definitely be the cavalry that Wanyan Honglie had sent out to ambush his wife.

When Wu Chengyu left Shaanxi, he instructed Old Man Liang to contact Hong Niangzi immediately. As long as Hong Niangzi knew it was a trap and didn't step into it, Wanyan Honglie's plan would inevitably fall apart.

Now it seems that this woman was disobedient; instead of avoiding the cavalry's advance, she turned the tables and did something.

The proprietress got excited, her eyebrows dancing, and she talked nonstop.

"I heard that Prince Zhao sent a large cavalry force to suppress the bandits, but who knew that they would be attacked at night on a key road near Chang'an."

First came the fire attack, then thousands of crossbow bolts rained down. It is said that the bandit army even had cavalry, and they managed to cut through the fleeing cavalry.

The most formidable force was the Jin army, which included heavily armored cavalry, while the bandit army somehow managed to form an entire unit.

It is said that there were only a little over two hundred men, who did not ride horses, but were clad in heavy armor and carried giant seven-foot-long swords. Most importantly, each of these men was over eight feet tall and incredibly strong. The heavily armored cavalrymen were all cut down by these strong men.

I also heard that the leader of these bandits was a woman named Hong Niangzi. I heard that she always led from the front, dressed in red, with a blue face and fangs, standing over 12 feet tall, wielding two large axes, each weighing over 100 pounds, killing people like chopping melons and vegetables.

I've always thought that women eventually get married, and I wonder which unlucky guy married her. If they ever argue, she'll probably get her neck twisted like a chick.

Wu Chengyu almost spat out the vegetable porridge in his mouth. Even the fierce Zhang Fei and Princess Yuzhu couldn't live up to the words "blue-faced and fanged." The unlucky guy the landlady was talking about was himself. Fortunately, although Hong Niangzi was capable and brave, she was still a beauty after all.

At the same time, Wu Chengyu understood that Hong Niangzi was clearly using these Jin cavalry to test the fighting strength of the rebel army, which had been lying low for several years and had been preparing for war.

Not knowing the enemy's true strength, yet still needing to rescue brothers captured by the enemy, is hampered by fear of harming others and unable to fully utilize their combat power—this is one issue.

Knowing full well that the prisoners were fake and that the enemy's forces were well-organized, how could Hong Niangzi, with her military strategy, not deliver a fatal blow? Hong Niangzi was far too confident and decisive; she was never Wu Chengyu's subordinate.

The strength of the rebel army is now vastly different from what it used to be. In terms of equipment alone, with the help of Lady Wen from Tongguan County, the use of the iron and coal mines in Tongguan County, and several smelting formulas that Wu Chengyu experimented with on bamboo slips, they have greatly improved.

The crossbows and weapons used by the rebel army are now comparable to those of the regular army of the Jin Dynasty.

Most importantly, the giant longsword mentioned by the proprietress is the horse-slaying sword that originated in the Tang Dynasty. This weapon has extremely high requirements. Wu Chengyu and the master craftsmen under Madam Wen worked together for a long time to develop the most ideal alloy ratio, which can definitely cut through the enemy's armor in one blow.

A knife weighs over 20 pounds. You can swing it a few times without much trouble, but if you use it to chop and slash on the battlefield for a long time, your hands and feet will quickly become weak.

Those burly men had clearly cultivated the Tiger Warrior Body left behind by Wu Chengyu, and incorporated some of the essence of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill and the Ox and Horse Stance. The individual martial arts skills of the practitioners may not be very high, but they were all tall and strong, with immense strength and long endurance.

Then, after long-term training by Yue Fei's army, using the tactics of the Beiwei Army, wearing heavy armor and wielding long swords, they became a formidable weapon on the battlefield.

As long as the charging distance of heavily armored cavalry can be limited, these strong men are the biggest nemesis of heavily armored cavalry on the battlefield.

Since Wu Chengyu left the Qinling base, leaving behind these martial arts skills, it has taken more than three years for the first batch of Tiger Guards to be successfully trained.

The current rebel army is no less elite than the Jin Dynasty. The only problem is that they are too few in number and need to continue to lie low. But this time, it can be considered an explosion of their accumulated strength over many years, and the results are remarkable.

Thinking that he had also contributed to this, Wu Chengyu couldn't help but beam with pride.

"How did the proprietress get this information? Ordinary people shouldn't know this."

"This kind of thing is a scandal of the imperial court, but someone in the court is at odds with Prince Zhao and spread it on his own initiative, so everyone in the entire Daxing City knows about it."

Now Prince Zhao has really lost face. Even the emperor said he was incompetent, and most of the prestige he had built up has been lost.

The young prince was ridiculed for this, and he had been getting into fights with people outside all this time.

However, Prince Zhao is the emperor's own son after all, and I heard that the emperor recently assigned him another task, apparently to go to the Mongols in the north.

That's a harsh, remote frontier region, and the journey is long. This trip will definitely be a tough one. But I heard they're still worried about him and have sent Prince Rong to go with him."

Upon hearing this, Wu Chengyu immediately knew that the plot of the original novel was about to begin. Wanyan Hongxi and Wanyan Honglie would go to the Mongolian grasslands to cause trouble. This was also Guo Jing's first real appearance on the historical stage. From then on, he was highly valued by Temujin and became the Golden Knife Prince Consort after this incident.

Thinking of this, Wu Chengyu, this street urchin, suddenly felt an urge to travel to the Mongolian grasslands. He suddenly remembered that the protagonist of this world was not him, but a simple and honest boy who was only fourteen or fifteen years old, who seemed to be his future brother-in-law, and related by blood.

Having transmigrated for many years, he still hadn't met the male protagonist of The Legend of the Condor Heroes. Back then, Guo Jing was just a little kid, but now he's fourteen or fifteen—the timing is perfect. Besides, he also wanted to meet the legendary Genghis Khan, who at this time was still Temujin, merely a powerful figure on the Mongolian steppe. Once Wanyan Honglie successfully instigated him, he would defeat Wang Khan and gradually become the sole overlord of the steppe.

Given the opportunity, how could Wu Chengyu let it slip by? However, Wu Chengyu always harbored a plan in his heart, a plan that could truly change history.

The killing of Shi Miyuan shocked the world back then, but in reality, nothing changed. The Southern Song court was still dominated by those who sought peace and were unwilling to make progress.

Killing Temujin would not have the same impact on the surface as Shi Miyuan. At that time, Temujin was just a tribal leader, and few people outside the Mongols knew him.

However, if Temujin were to die, the Mongolian steppe would inevitably descend into chaos, with various forces clashing and vying for the throne of the Mongol king.

When Guo Jing and Huang Rong wanted to assassinate Temujin in the later stages of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, they didn't do it because Temujin was nearing the end of his life and the Mongol Empire was already powerful and no one could resist it. However, the current Temujin still had to bow down to Wang Khan, which was not the Genghis Khan of later years.

Even after Temujin's death, the rise of the Mongols was still irreversible, but it could at least be delayed for a few more years. Or, to put it another way, there wouldn't be another person of Temujin's talent and ambition in the Mongols in a short time. Tolui was still a boy, and Kublai Khan wasn't even a protein.

Even if Mongolia were to reunify in the future, would the next Mongol king be able to achieve the same unparalleled feats as Temujin?

The rise of the rebel army takes time, and Wu Chengyu's subsequent plans also take time. All of this depends on Temujin's life.

Thinking of this, Wu Chengyu became uncontrollably excited, as if he could take Temujin's head off at any moment.

"Sir, have you come to Daxing City to visit relatives or friends?"

"No, I just want to find something to do and settle down in this capital of the Great Jin Dynasty."

"I see you're carrying a weapon, sir, so you must know martial arts. Do you see that flagpole over there? There's a Gathering Hall there, where the nobles of the Jin Kingdom like to recruit martial arts practitioners. Why don't you give it a try?"

After Wu Chengyu left the pancake shop, he unconsciously headed towards the Juxuan Guild Hall.

This guild hall is different in nature from the Yangwu Guild Hall of the Western Xia Dynasty.

Yangwu Guild Hall belonged exclusively to a certain faction within Western Xia; it was essentially a martial arts school.

This Juxian Guild Hall was a large inn that also served as a restaurant, gambling den, opera troupe, and even a brothel, housing many women, much like some guild halls in later generations.

Different factions mingle here, and martial arts practitioners love to hang out here, so the nobles of the Jin Kingdom also recruit their men from here.

When Wu Chengyu arrived at Juxian Guild Hall, it was noisy inside, especially with a strong smell of blood. Several waiters carried out a bloody and mangled corpse, and then someone familiar with the place pushed a cart over. The waiter threw the corpse onto the cart, and the person pushing the cart did not change his expression and slowly pushed the corpse away.

Clearly, death is commonplace in this area, and there's even a well-established procedure for burying bodies; everyone has become accustomed to it.

The waiter, who had just disposed of the body, greeted Wu Chengyu with a beaming smile as he saw him arrive. He didn't care that he was still covered in blood.

"Sir, please come in. Judging from your appearance, you are from out of town. You've come to the right place by visiting our Juxian Guild Hall."

If you come to Daxing City and don't visit Juxian Guild Hall, it's like you've wasted your trip. Are you here for a meal or to stay at an inn?

To be honest, things are quite expensive here. Food, drinks, and rooms are all more expensive than outside. Our girls are the most beautiful in the whole of Daxing City, but the cost of their gifts is also quite high.

Of course, if you're short on cash, we also have ways to make money here. There's a gambling den on the third floor. If you're lucky, you're guaranteed to make a fortune.

I can see you're a martial artist too. Look in the middle, there's a ring there. They just finished one match, and the next one won't be for another half an hour. When the match starts, bet on which side you think is stronger. If you have good judgment, you can make a lot of money.

Or you can personally go on stage to fight. If you win a match, not only will you receive a reward, but you'll also have all your expenses at our guild waived for the entire day, and we might even give you a girl to spend the night with.

The waiter rattled off a long string of words in one breath. Wu Chengyu was dressed as an ordinary martial arts figure and didn't seem to have much money, but the waiter didn't look down on him. Instead, he gave a detailed introduction on how a martial arts practitioner could make money here, clearly treating Wu Chengyu as a martial arts outcast who had come here to make a name for himself.

The services offered at this club alone piqued Wu Chengyu's interest. It really did resemble some of the brothels of his previous life, except that those were places a middle-level manager in a state-owned enterprise like himself could not afford to go.

Wu Chengyu had enough silver to enjoy himself to the fullest here, but that wasn't his purpose.

"Waiter, have the contestants for the next match been decided? I'd like to give it a try."

(End of this chapter)