Tiger Owl

Chapter 45 Citywide Search
"what's up?"

Wang Xiaoman said, "I have a relative who was originally the chief clerk of Nanchang County, appointed by Liu Yao. After Hua Xin became the prefect, he was dismissed from his post and is currently idle at home. I promised to reinstate him, and he promised to help me get three hundred sets of armor."

Wang Ping frowned. "Is it necessary to do this?"

Wang Xiaoman nodded. "I think it's very necessary. Han Dang's defenses of the north city are very strong. Last night we found that there were at least three hundred soldiers on both the north and south city walls. Although we also have three hundred men, we don't have spears, only swords. We don't even have shields or armor. If we don't have long weapons, we simply can't defeat them."

"Aren't you afraid he'll betray you? Even if he betrays you, he can still get his job back."

"If he had betrayed me, the whole city would have been searched last night. The fact that it's been quiet until now means he didn't betray me. Besides, when we attacked Pengze County, didn't I also seek out Yao Jian'an?"

“That’s not the same thing. Yao Jian’an is facing the crisis of his daughter being kidnapped and he needs our help. Please don’t confuse the two.”

Wang Xiaoman knew he had made a mistake, and he whispered, "Luckily, I had a backup plan!"

"What did you leave behind?" Wang Ping demanded sharply, his gaze extremely stern.

“I didn’t tell the truth. I impersonated Tongzhi’s subordinate in Luling to buy weapons and armor in the Nanchang black market, and I didn’t tell the former registrar where we lived.”

As soon as Wang Xiaoman finished speaking, an innkeeper ran over and said, "The whole city is about to be under martial law. We just received the news that all inns will be subject to door-to-door inspections. You'd better prepare your identification documents. If you don't have any, leave quickly. We won't betray our guests."

Wang Xiaoman's face turned deathly pale. Her brother's worries were justified; they had indeed been betrayed.

Wang Ping glared at Wang Xiaoman and immediately ordered one of his men, "Go out of the city right now and inform the lord that tonight's attack will be changed to the East Gate, and the time will remain the same!"

His men were locals with business tax certificates, so they could leave as long as the city gates were open.

His subordinate immediately ran outside, with Wang Ping following closely behind. He watched his subordinate from a distance at the entrance of the inn. He saw his subordinate say a few words at the city gate, and the guards let him out.

Just as his men left the city, soldiers rode up at breakneck speed, shouting, "General Sun has ordered a citywide curfew and the city gates to be closed immediately!"

The city gates began to slowly close, and then yamen runners went out into the streets, banging gongs and shouting, "Everyone go home, close your doors and windows, and the whole city will be under martial law and searched in half an hour."

Wang Ping decisively said to Wang Xiaoman, "Gather all the brothers in one house and go quickly!"

"The three houses are all next to each other."

"We also need to bring everyone together."

"Brother, don't worry, I have a plan!"

Wang Xiaoman, along with Wang Ping and several of her men, left the inn and hurried towards their rented house.

In the northwest corner of Nanchang, there is an alley with three households, all of which were rented by Wang Xiaoman.

This was the residence of three wealthy brothers. The three brothers went to Wu County to do business, and the house had been vacant ever since. However, the old steward who looked after the house secretly rented it out to make money.

Wang Xiaoman spent thirty strings of cash to rent three houses for a month, and three hundred of her men hid in the three houses.

Once inside the house, Wang Xiaoman summoned the old steward, took out three hundred taels of silver, and said, "Help us cover for you. All three hundred taels of silver are yours. If you betray us, your grandson will die before us."

The old housekeeper and his wife lived here with their five-year-old grandson to look after the house. In a moment of desperation, Wang Xiaoman took their grandson hostage.

The old butler turned pale with fright and repeatedly promised, "Don't worry! I promise I will never betray you."

Wang Xiaoman ordered everyone to clean up their belongings and erase all traces before they hid in the underground warehouse in the backyard.

This was the secret Wang Xiaoman discovered: the three wealthy brothers had dug a large underground warehouse in the back of their residence, connecting the three houses together. Wang Xiaoman found a lot of salt dust in the warehouse, indicating that the three brothers were ostensibly doing legitimate business, but were actually smugglers of salt. Wang Xiaoman and Wang Ping also hid in the underground warehouse. With the old steward's grandson as a hostage, they weren't afraid that the old steward would dare to betray them.

The underground warehouse was about ten feet high and covered an area of ​​more than eight hundred square meters. More than a dozen pillars were erected to support it from above, and clever ventilation openings were designed so that the three hundred soldiers could sit in the warehouse without feeling stuffy at all.

Wang Ping found an opportunity and was sternly criticizing his brother's dangerous behavior: "When carrying out a secret mission, you can't easily reveal your identity, and you can't put your fate in the hands of others. In particular, people's hearts are unpredictable, and you can't easily trust people in officialdom. You must remember today's lesson: as a scout, you can't trust anyone. You must see with your own eyes and do things yourself!"

Wang Xiaoman bowed his head and accepted his brother's criticism. After all, he was only seventeen years old. Although he was very clever, he did lack scout experience.

"I've got it, I promise it won't happen again!"

Seeing that he knew he was wrong, Wang Ping softened his tone and said, "I'm not saying you can't have ideas, I'm just saying you can't put your fate in someone else's hands. You can bring a knife into the city, so why don't you try to bring a spear and armor into the city?"

Spears can be hidden in the ship's hold. It's not wartime. As long as we pay more taxes and bribe the tax collectors, no one will search the hold. Have you forgotten how we captured Wan County?
Furthermore, you know you've taken the steward's grandson hostage, so why didn't you send someone to keep an eye on that official?

Wang Xiaoman looked dejected; he had indeed been negligent.

Wang Ping patted his brother on the shoulder and said, "No matter what, you must never let others decide your fate. You must take control of your own destiny. Whether you become a scout or lead troops into battle in the future, you must remember my words."

Wang Xiaoman nodded slightly; he remembered.

Just then, a series of knocking sounds came from above. Wang Ping shushed everyone, and they all fell silent.

The city of Nanchang is conducting a house-to-house search for spies. The former chief clerk, Wang Hong, secretly informed Sun Fu early in the morning that a spy from Luling Tongzhi was buying armor in the city, and wanted to buy three hundred sets. Sun Fu was furious and immediately ordered the city gates to be closed, the entire city to be under martial law, and the army to search house to house, determined to find these damned spies.

All the inns in the city had been searched, and then a house-to-house search was carried out. Anyone who was not from the county was immediately taken away for further interrogation. Soon, more than a thousand people were arrested, and the city of Nanchang was in chaos.

Before long, the search party reached the northwest of the county town. A group of soldiers knocked on the door, and the old steward bowed tremblingly, "Do you need anything?"

The head of the village said, "Search for the spies among the servants, and bring your master out!"

"Reporting to the general, my master has gone to Wu County to do business. He took his family with him and left. The house is empty. The two houses next door are the same. They are three brothers who do cloth business together. None of them are home. Their houses are empty. I am here to watch over them."

"Open all the doors, we're going to search them!"

The old steward had no choice but to open all the doors, and the hundred soldiers split into three teams and rushed into the three houses.

The house was empty except for some furniture. After searching around, there was no one there. All three squads of soldiers came out and bowed to the village chief, saying, "Reporting to the village chief, the house is indeed empty."

"Has the basement been searched?" the village head asked.

"No basement was found, only a vegetable cellar, which was also empty."

The old steward quickly explained, "My master's warehouses are all rented outside the city; there are no warehouses in the mansion."

"Where is the money for doing business kept?"

"Some were in the shop, and some were in the chests and cabinets in the room, but they were all taken to Wu County."

The village head waved his hand dismissively, "Let's go!"

Having failed to make any money, they went to find the next place.

Seeing that they had left, the old butler quickly closed the door, leaned against it, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and breathed a long sigh of relief.

(End of this chapter)