Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 422 Unrelenting Instigation
After leaving the city through the east gate, Zhang Baiqi circled around and turned west.

He wouldn't actually go to Huayin.

They traveled quickly to Huaili, which was quite far from Chang'an and they had already entered Li Jue's defense zone. Zhang Baiqi burned the Yang family's carriage and led Tang Ji to a market town in western Huaili.

There are four underworld soldiers here to provide support, as well as a small garrison left behind by Li Jue.

Over the years, Liangzhou has experienced one rebellion after another. The imperial court often stationed large troops in the Huaili and Meiyang areas and frequently conscripted laborers. As a result, there are hardly any people living in Huaili County anymore, but there are still people in the western part of the county.

Xixiang used to be garrisoned by a large army, but it became deserted after the army was summoned to Mei County by Li Jue some time ago.

This place is also known as Xiaohuaili. It is still inhabited by several hundred households and is a large market town formed by soldiers' families and small vendors. It belongs to the 'military market'.

Every large-scale military mobilization involves not only the military itself, but also the movement of many times more personnel than the military itself. Some people want to avoid the ravages of war, while others want to make a living through the war.

Military markets are formed by people who rely on stationed troops for a living—the government dares not collect taxes in military territories, and the military has many high-profit needs, such as drug use, drinking, finding women, and treating warhorses, etc.

Zhang Baiqi and Mingzu were engaged in undercover espionage work. Many people misunderstand this kind of work, thinking that they always operate in the shadows or at night, always walk in deserted places, and dare not get close to regular troops...

Actually, that's not the case. Intelligence personnel rarely go to no-man's-lands and seldom operate at night.

In crowded places, spies are safer; they can hide in the crowd without being discovered, and they especially like to infiltrate the military.

Especially in military cities like Xiaohuaili, which are entirely populated by outsiders, it is the most suitable place for intelligence personnel to stay temporarily.

The four underworld soldiers who remained in Xiaohuai Village each had their own identities: one was Li Jue's retainer, one was a liquor merchant, one was a peddler who bought spoils of war, and the other was a veterinarian who maintained the warhorses.

With available manpower, Zhang Baiqi rested in the small locust tree for a while with peace of mind, but the longer he stayed, the more uneasy he felt.

Some abnormal people have appeared here.

Moreover, they came to Xiaohuai Village one after another, and it seemed that all kinds of people were there, including scholars, merchants, farmers, craftsmen, and even women.

They look like refugees fleeing disaster, perhaps caused by a large-scale search in Chang'an.

However, Li Jue had already transferred all the troops stationed in Huaili away, so even if they were refugees, they shouldn't be here.

There are large counties such as Lantian and Chiyang around Chang'an. It is unlikely that a normal person would come to such a place in the west where war is very likely to break out.

This is, after all, a military city. People who have lived here before may not leave, but most of the troops have been transferred away. What business would outsiders do here?
Zhang Baiqi planned to leave immediately.

But as soon as they left Xiaohuaili, they were stopped by a group of people.

There were only about a hundred people, and they were all sorts of people.

It looks a bit like a robbery.

Zhang Baiqi knew in his heart that this was no ordinary person, because he sensed the presence of someone of the same kind.

This group of people must be secret agents.

Zhang Baiqi was quite skilled in martial arts, and with a squad of Ming soldiers by his side, he was confident he could escape even if he faced hundreds of men.

But what about Tang Ji?
Tang Ji glanced at the chaotic group of people and suddenly spoke with intense hatred: "Li Ru?"

It was indeed Li Ru.

Right in the middle of that group of people.

Li Ru looked even more haggard, his hair almost completely white.

"Madam...it really is Madam!"

Li Ru pushed through the crowd and stepped forward, kneeling before Tang Ji: "Where does Madam wish to go?"

In fact, Tang Ji is very young, only twenty years old at the moment. She was not even sixteen when Liu Bian died.

Li Ru referred to her as "Madam" because she had always been Liu Bian's widow.

"Li Ru...you've come to kill me?"

Tang Ji's eyes were filled with hatred: "So be it. You murdered my husband. Now that I'm dead by your hand, perhaps I can see my husband again..."

"...Madam has misunderstood."

Li Ru was stunned for a moment, but then he bowed down: "I am guilty, but I would never dare to harm you, Madam... I deserve to die, but I no longer serve the Yuan family."

Tang Ji remained silent, only shaking her head, her eyes overflowing with hatred.

Zhang Baiqi was originally prepared to fight to the death, but seeing this situation, it seemed that he was not there to capture Tang Ji.
"Since we are friends and not enemies, let's not delay any longer... Chief Minister Li, Chang'an is conducting a massive search, so it would be best to leave here as soon as possible."

Zhang Baiqi recognized Li Ru, mainly because Li Ru was only in his thirties but looked like an old man. His appearance was so distinctive that he was easy to remember after just one meeting.

Li Ru is now a wanted criminal, accused of murdering Dong Zhuo.

Li Ru looked Zhang Baiqi over carefully: "Are you going to Mei County? I think I've seen you before... Are you one of Minister Jia's men? Take me to see Minister Jia!"

When Li Ru was with Dong Zhuo, he did see Zhang Baiqi following Jia Xu.

But most people would find it hard to remember Zhang Baiqi's unremarkable face, and the two of them had never spoken before.

This brain is indeed very useful, but it's turned out like this.

"The troops under Li Jijiu and Dong Sikong are all in Mei County. If Jijiu leaves, I fear he will not survive..."

Zhang Baiqi offered a reminder.

Li Jue and others do not suspect Liu Bei at present, but Li Ru is indeed a major suspect.

The most critical issue is that Li Ru disappeared after Dong Zhuo's death, and now Dong Zhuo's family and his generals, including Li Jue, all suspect that Li Ru is indeed very likely the murderer.

“If I hadn’t met Madam, I certainly wouldn’t have dared to go, but now that I’ve met Madam, Minister Jia can protect me.”

Li Ru bowed to Tang Ji again: "Madam, I have made a grave mistake, but I was forced into it... I know that your whole family is in Yuan Shao's hands, but I can help you take revenge."

Tang Ji's eyes still burned with hatred, but tears streamed down her face: "How can I take revenge?"

……

Mei County.

In fact, Li Ru almost got killed when he arrived in Mei County.

When Dong Bai heard Li Ru's name in the county, he grabbed his sword and led his servants to kill his enemy.

After all, the news coming from Chang'an was that Li Ru had ordered the Bingzhou soldiers to assassinate Dong Zhuo.

Dong Bai is thirteen years old now. He is indeed spoiled by Dong Zhuo and has become unruly and unreasonable, but he is very filial.

Fortunately, Jia Xu grabbed her and said, "Young lady, would you like to hear me out?"

Dong Bai still held Jia Xu in some respect, after all, Dong Zhuo regarded Jia Xu as a friend during his lifetime, and even almost married her off to Jia Xu's son, Jia Mu.

Seeing Jia Xu blocking his way, Dong Bai cried out, "Lord Wenhe, the revenge for my grandfather must not go unavenged..."

"Dong Sikong was not killed by Li Ru, otherwise why would Li Ru dare to come to Mei County?"

Jia Xu reached out and took Dong Bai's sword: "If you want revenge, you must think calmly. If you kill the wrong person, wouldn't it make your loved ones grieve and your enemies rejoice?"

Dong Bai wiped away his tears and glared at Li Ru: "You are someone Grandfather relied on, and Grandfather treated you very well... but you couldn't protect Grandfather, yet you still live on in this world. Don't you deserve to die?!"

Li Ru remained silent for a moment, then knelt down: "I truly deserve to die, but I beg you, young lady, to allow me to avenge Sikong before granting me my death." Dong Bai cried out: "Who is the enemy?"

"Liu Ai, Feng Xun, Huangfu Song... and Yuan Shao."

Li Ru said in a low voice, "The officials and nobles of Chang'an and the gentry of the Three Auxiliary Regions are all involved. They hate that the Minister of Works is learning from General Wei's strategy of levying large amounts of grain tax, and they also hate that the Minister of Works is unwilling to collude with them."

"Sikong refused to establish a new ruler because that ruler was not the son of Shi Hou, but the youngest son of Yuan Shao."

"After Tang Ji was sent to Chang'an, it was Dong Sikong who protected her and her child. Sikong refused to conspire with the traitors to usurp the throne and originally planned to kill Feng Xun, Han Fu and others, but he did not expect Liu Ai to betray him... Ru also did not expect Liu Ai to betray him..."

Everyone present heard these words.

"Then I'll send you my head..."

Dong Bai let Li Ru go, then turned to look at Tang Ji's child, his eyes reddening.

Jia Xu stepped in front of Dong Bai again and whispered, "Young lady, the infant is innocent. Tang Ji and her son share a common enemy with you, and the suffering she has endured is far greater than yours."

Dong Bai squatted down, hugged his knees, and cried bitterly.

But then Tang Ji's child reached out in front of her.

"...Not selling..."

A two-year-old child doesn't understand anything and can't speak clearly, but when he sees someone crying, he knows to hand them a handkerchief.

Dong Bai hesitated before taking the handkerchief, but he couldn't wipe away his tears.

……

When Li Jue saw Tang Ji arrive, he was both surprised and delighted, for he truly admired her.

Knowing that it was Jia Xu who had Zhang Baiqi 'rescue' Tang Ji, he became even more obedient to Jia Xu.

Tang Ji remained indifferent to Li Jue, but trusted Zhang Baiqi implicitly.

Jia Xu simply appointed Zhang Baiqi as Tang Ji's bodyguard to prevent Li Jue from acting out of lust and ruining things.

In fact, Zhang Baiqi's official rank and status are no lower than Li Jue's.

Zhang Baiqi's rank was also equivalent to a captain with a salary of two thousand shi (a unit of grain), and his position was the Director of the Imperial Guard of the Han Dynasty.

The spy agency, also known as the espionage agency, was not a formal government office. Because it did not have a fixed office location and was not suitable for people to know about, it was essentially a spy department.

However, the position of "Cijian Xiaoshi" was a legitimate official post, also known as "Cijian Xiaoshi"—this is a homophonic mispronunciation, where "Ci" means to spy and "Jian" means intelligence.

These were secret inspectors directly under the emperor, responsible for covert investigations, intelligence gathering, and reporting illegal activities. They were essentially the heads of the secret investigation bureau, an existing system in the Han Dynasty, and were usually under the control of the prime minister's office or the Sili Xiaowei.

Although Liu Bei has not yet been promoted to the position of Chancellor, he is effectively in charge of the Chancellor's office. Moreover, Liu Bei also holds the position of Commandant of the Capital Region, a position he assumed before the ancestral worship ceremony at Mount Tai.

Of course, in reality, the work of the Commandant of the Capital Region was done by Zuo Yuan and Jia Xu.

"On that day, Liu Ai lied and said that he had made a breakthrough in the interrogation, and lured Ru into the residence."

Li Ru was explaining the situation to Jia Xu privately: "Feng Xun threatened me with the matter of Shi Hou, forcing me to conspire with him..."

"The matter of Marquis Shi?"

Jia Xu frowned: "Back then...were you the one who poisoned me?"

"Yes... but precisely because Ru has already committed the crime of murdering his master, he knows the suffering it causes and is unwilling to do it again."

Li Ru nodded slightly: "When Liu Ai saw that I did not comply, he detained me, seized my military command, released the Bingzhou soldiers from Chang'an prison, and incited the people of Bingzhou to murder Lord Dong."

How did you escape?

Jia Xu nodded and then asked.

"Ru led the ambush of the Sikong Mansion, and no one except the Sikong himself knew about it. After the Bingzhou soldiers killed Dong Gong, his subordinates' spies got the news and rescued Ru, allowing him to escape from Chang'an."

Li Ru smiled bitterly and said, "I know that if Lord Dong is murdered, I will be falsely accused of murdering him... But I must escape, or I will surely die."

Dong Zhuo's office also had an intelligence network, and it was normal for the chief minister to be in charge of secret agents. Li Ru's working style was actually very similar to Jia Xu's, and the two had something in common.

Who is in charge of Chang'an right now?

Jia Xu thought for a moment and then asked, "Although Yang Biao is the Minister of Works, it is difficult for him to win over the various tribes in Liangzhou; Huangfu Song has the talent of a general, but he does not have the trust of the officials; Liu Ai is too inexperienced to command respect; Feng Xun is nothing more than a lackey... Now they want to establish Yuan Shao's young son as the ruler. Could it be that Yuan Shao is in Chang'an?"

“Yuan Shao is not here, but his son Yuan Tan may be in Feng Xun’s army monitoring him, otherwise Feng Xun could not have devised such a grand scheme.”

Li Ru nodded: "The reason they have now elected Yang Biao to take charge is simply because Yang Biao protected the officials from Luoyang to Chang'an and is the most trusted by them. However, Yang Biao has no real power; he can only mobilize the officials' private troops."

Do you know where Yuan Shao is?

Jia Xu asked, "If General Wei knows the whereabouts of Yuan Shao, he can wipe him out in one fell swoop."

"It should be in Liaodong. Feng Xun has people from Liaodong under his command, and Tang Ji's clansmen are also in Liaodong. Feng Xun said this himself."

Li Ru replied, "It's tens of thousands of miles away... Although General Wei is currently in Hebei, it would be difficult for him to launch a full-scale attack into the remote Liaodong region."

"Then we should first stop Feng Xun and others from incorporating Dong Gongyu's troops, so as to prevent them from growing stronger."

Jia Xu glanced at Li Ru: "Now that Tang Ji and her son are here, their desired status is impossible to obtain. Perhaps we can devise a plan... Is Tang Ji's son truly Yuan Shao's youngest son?"

"Yes, Tang Ji... is a pitiful person."

Li Ru nodded: "What scheme does Minister Jia intend to devise? Will he use Tang Ji's son?"

"No, I, Jia, am not that shameless..."

Jia Xu shook his head: "Li Jue is infatuated with Tang Ji. I sent Zhang Baiqi to visit Tang Ji in Li Jue's name. Now that Feng Xun and the others don't know Tang Ji's whereabouts, they will definitely suspect that Li Jue is behind it..."

“Li Jue will inevitably be threatened by Chang’an… Although Li Jue has the talent to lead an army, he lacks the will to fight to the death. If Chang’an attacks, Li Jue may abandon his army and flee.”

Li Ru thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Moreover, we are all in Li Jue's army. If Li Jue is defeated, I should die, and I would gladly fight to the death. But Lord Jia, Lady Tang, and Lord Dong's relatives are all here..."

"It's not about making Li Jue fight to the death with Chang'an, but about using Song Jian of Longxi... Song Jian's Buddhist sect has the concept of reincarnation, and Song Jian has already proclaimed himself the King of Pinghan, and even claims to have reincarnated into thousands of immortal beings... Just then, General Wei passed on the scriptures of the demonic sect, so we will say that Song Jian is using the methods of the demonic Buddhist sect to eat the bones and blood of the Han emperor to replenish his life force, and call 'the posthumous child of Marquis Shi' the reincarnated spirit child..."

Jia Xu pointed to the west: "No matter where Yuan Shao is, as long as we make him believe that his young son has been kidnapped by the Buddhist sect, we can send the traitors of Chang'an to attack Song Jian."

"Is the Buddhist sect really that evil?"

Li Ru was somewhat surprised: "They really feed on young children?"

"Yes, they not only feed on young children, but also use human skin to make drums and human bones to make utensils... The Yuezhi Buddhist religion is a way of fooling the people and ghosts. Its followers search widely for children, claiming to be looking for reincarnated spirit children."

Jia Xu nodded: "But they have not found the spirit child, but instead kidnapped thousands of infants, cooked them, made ritual implements from their skulls, flutes from their leg bones, and beaded necklaces from their toe bones... This is all true."

Li Ru was stunned: "...This is not the way of ghosts, it is truly the way of demons..."

"It is just right to let the wicked rebels punish the evil ones. Since Chang'an is making a big fuss about Tang Ji's whereabouts, let your secret agents spread rumors in places like Huaili that Song Jian's Buddhist sect is kidnapping and abducting mothers and infants everywhere. This is the truth, there is no exaggeration."

Jia Xu looked at Li Ru's white hair: "Li Jijiu now has white hair and a youthful face. If the Qiang and Di people see this appearance, they will surely worship him as a god. Why not become a magician and immortal again, go to Longyou and give those Qiang and Di people some pointers, and say that the posthumous son of Marquis Shi is a reincarnated spirit child who is now in Chang'an... Let the Buddhist sect of Longxi attack Chang'an."

Li Ru smoothed his hair, held it up to his eyes, and nodded: "Very well, then I, Ru, will act as a diviner once more."

(End of this chapter)