Chapter 296

As soon as Wang Yang returned to the tent, gifts from the Left and Right Haya, the village elders, and several leaders were delivered.

Eight jars of fruit wine, three tubes of cinnabar, three jars of honey, ten catties of dried meat, four strong bows, a pair of silver-handled daggers, one white fox skin, two deer skins, two wolf skins, three oil-permeated cowhides (waterproof with oil-soaked cowhide), two pigs, two cows, two sheep, and medicinal materials such as Coptis chinensis, Polygonatum, Alpinia, and Asparagus.

This is what Wang Yang had heard clearly.

At this time, Wang Yang's palm was buried in the soft fluff of the white fox skin, watching the snow-white hair tips rise from between his fingers, a bit distracted, and he didn't pay much attention to the gifts read by the person who came later.

He was reflecting on a flaw in his previous conversation with Old Zou Ye, which was the part about swearing in the name of the Langya Wang clan.

Strictly speaking, it couldn't be counted as a flaw; it could only be said that the handling wasn't perfect. As a high envoy of the Heavenly Dynasty and a top noble son, although swearing by the clan in that situation wasn't inconsistent, it still appeared rash. A typical failure to be steady! Actually, there shouldn't have been a mistake here, but the other party's attack was too sudden, seizing the initiative, hitting his weak point, and the stance was very firm, not being led astray at all, which made Wang Yang feel a bit unsure. Moreover, his speed was too fast—not the speed of speaking, but the speed of changing moves. One move after another, various rhetorical tactics came one after another, soft and hard combined, virtual and real corresponding. Although he stabilized his position and wasn't broken, he was still led by the other party's rhythm unknowingly.

So when Old Zou Ye played the sincerity card, he also responded with a sincerity card, but because he had already played a few rounds of cards before, he had to change to something different this time, so he changed to swearing. Of course, this also had to do with his need to establish a sincere persona and pre-bury foreshadowing, but no matter what, it still wasn't steady enough. He must pay attention next time...

While Wang Yang was "reflecting on himself," the barbarian official opposite was a bit at a loss: he had hesitated for too long; he had to give a definite answer! Actually, he wasn't in a hurry, but the female guard beside Wang Yang, who was extraordinarily beautiful, had a really bad complexion. It was said that this woman had extremely high martial arts skills and was deeply favored by the Han envoy. Now, although she didn't say a word, the coldness in her eyes was like a cold pool, freezing people's spines. He knew he had offended someone, but he was also acting under orders; what could he do? He had to bite the bullet and ask carefully:

"May I ask the Han envoy, should the four female slaves be brought in now or..."

Before he finished speaking, the beautiful guard's hand pressed onto the hilt of her sword.

Gali! Won't she cut me?!

The tent was terrifyingly quiet, and the barbarian official felt great pressure. At this time, he heard Wang Yang speak: "What female slaves?"

The barbarian official was like receiving an amnesty and blurted out: "It is the beauties sent by the Right Haya to warm the Han envoy... sent to the Han envoy, saying it was agreed upon in advance, each one like a mountain sparrow, guaranteeing the Han envoy will like them..."

The barbarian official's voice became weaker and weaker. Seeing Chen Qingshan's icy face and her tight grip on the sword hilt, the barbarian official hurriedly added: "This is the original words that Haya-my lord asked me to convey."

Wang Yang smiled: "Thank your Haya for me, and tell him I appreciate his good intentions, but I don't lack beauties here. I will invite him to drink later."

Chen Qingshan quietly breathed a sigh of relief, the corners of her mouth slightly raised.

The barbarian official still wanted to persuade him, but saw Chen Qingshan's phoenix eyes slightly narrowed, as if there were frost blades shooting out!

"This little one will definitely convey the Han envoy's words! This little one takes his leave!"

The barbarian official quickly took his leave of the tent.

Wang Yang stood where he was, continuing to reflect internally.

Seeing that Wang Yang hadn't spoken for a long time, Chen Qingshan whispered: "Are you regretting refusing? If you regret it, I can go call him back."

Wang Yang was stunned, then pretended to sigh deeply: "Indeed regret..."

Chen Qingshan froze in place, her breathing almost stopping!

Then she heard Wang Yang say: "Should have asked him to convert it to cash..."

Chen Qingshan: ⊙. ⊙

The matter of submission had been settled, and there had been continuous banquets for the past few days, with a harmonious atmosphere. However, this was for the reception of Wang Yang. For the entire barbarian village, the atmosphere was a bit subtle.

The Wenyang barbarians neither hated nor were close to the Han. Since the upper level had reached a unified opinion, as long as they started to promote the benefits of the Han and barbarians being one family and mutually beneficial trade, letting everyone know and gradually accepting it would be fine. But for some reason, the news that the Han court's great army was preparing to surround and suppress them quietly spread throughout the barbarian village, making the tribespeople nervous all of a sudden.

The original "harmonious" friendship now had a bit of the taste of a covenant under the city walls. Although from a certain point of view, the fact was indeed so, it was one thing for the upper level to have a tacit understanding, but it was another thing to clearly expose it.

On the one hand, this made many people feel fearful, worried that the Qi army would come to attack, and only hoped to submit quickly, reducing the resistance of opposition. But on the other hand, it also provoked the rebellious mentality of some barbarians, especially some young warriors who loved war, whose innate arrogance was stimulated. The better ones would say a few harsh words and spit a few times. Those with stronger tempers would fight and cause trouble, and there even appeared attempts to rush to Wang Yang's camp to provoke. As for gathering to ask to see the Young Zou Ye, demanding to negotiate with the Han people to fight for various conditions, etc., it was also endless.

Although these were all small things and there hadn't been any major chaos so far, Tuoshan, Le Luo Luo, Wu Erke, and others all saw the signs of instability and smelled the scent of conspiracy. It couldn't be ruled out that someone was secretly stirring up trouble, deliberately destroying the possibility of peace. After discussing, several people came up with a good idea and decided to hunt and gather troops, gather the barbarian army, and station them in important border areas such as Wenyang Gorge, Qingshi Ridge, and Deer Hill.

First, as a response to the Han court's suppression, showing a tough stance to the outside world to the tribespeople. Second, to stabilize people's hearts, telling everyone not to be terrified, that the barbarian army had the ability to protect the barbarian village, and that they could live their lives steadily. Third, to take this opportunity to send away the troublemakers, which not only cut off their excuses for fanning the flames but also followed their wishes to protect the barbarian tribe, appeased their restless blood, and could also use military discipline to restrain their words and deeds. More importantly, it could prevent them from continuing to bewitch people in the village and expand their influence.

In order to prevent these people from making noise in the army, some "key figures" received "special care," either being sent to distant sentry posts, being broken up and reorganized, or being strictly supervised. Although the possibility of a mutiny in the army was not high under the current situation, it was better to be careful. Therefore, dividing the barbarian army into several parts and stationing them in different important areas, in addition to the fact that the defense objects were not only aimed at the Han court, also contained the consideration of dispersing military power and guarding against changes in the army.

The above was internal, and there were also two considerations externally. First, to prevent the Han court from using the opportunity of peace talks to send troops to sneak attack. Second, the talks with the Yongning Tribe were imminent, and showing military power would add chips. In short, it was killing many birds with one stone.

Once the barbarian army left the village, the atmosphere in the village immediately relaxed, and the previous fine disturbances retreated like the tide, returning to calm in the blink of an eye. The village was calm, but Wang Yang's side was still lively, with wine banquets every night. Tuoshan, Da Da Damu, Le Luo Luo, and others accompanied him every day, on the one hand, to close the relationship, and on the other hand, to finalize the specific matters of the barbarian road trade.

On this day, after the banquet, the pine wind entered the night, the bonfire was slightly bright, and Wang Yang and Chen Qingshan, with four barbarian guards, were walking on the way back to the tent.

Wang Yang was slightly tipsy, seeing the mountain moon following people and the silver brilliance covering the ground, he couldn't help but think of a cool night staying in an ancient temple a thousand years later. It was also summer, also in the mountains, also the breathing of the mist shadows, also the ripples of moonlight on the clothes. It's just that the Buddhist temple a thousand years later hadn't been built yet, and what he saw with drunken eyes at this moment was perhaps already another millennium...

Wang Yang was thinking about his heart, and unknowingly he was near the tent. He glanced at the guard figure by the fence, tapped his palm, stopped, and called out: "Oops! I dropped my jade pendant!"

After speaking, he turned around and walked back, searching the ground by the moonlight. Several barbarian guards wanted to come up to help, but Wang Yang pointed forward: "You help me look along this road, and there will be a heavy reward for finding it."

A tall barbarian guard said: "The young master's jade pendant is hanging on your waist."

Wang Yang said irritably: "Not this one, I also brought a piece of white jade, you go to that grass and see if there is any."

"Yes, this little one will search all the way, and will definitely find the jade pendant for the young master."

The four barbarian guards began to search, the tall barbarian guard searched the most carefully, and the speed was the slowest. Chen Qingshan felt strange. Could she not know whether Wang Yang brought a white jade pendant or not? While pretending to look for jade, she whispered to Wang Yang: "What's wrong?"

"Be on guard, follow me to the west, don't walk too fast."

Wang Yang noticed that something was wrong for three reasons. First, there were four torches by the fence in the past, but today there were only two, which made the faces of several guards at the fence entrance unclear. Second, the guards stood more concentrated today than in the past, all standing in the shadows by the fence, while there was no one near the torches. Third, when he didn't return to the tent in the past, the guards were relatively slack, sometimes leaning on the fence, or walking around to relax, or laughing and talking to each other. But tonight, those figures stood upright, as if nailed to the ground.

There is a problem...

The west is Lema's residence, and where Wang Yang is going is there, not the Nine-Headed Tent where Le Luo Luo is in the east.

First of all, Wang Yang cannot trust Le Luo Luo. Although Lema may also be on the same side as her brother, even if Le Luo Luo set some trap, the probability of Lema not knowing is very high. At that time, he could either get Lema's help or take hostages. Secondly, if this matter has nothing to do with Le Luo Luo, then the person behind the design has the ability to replace all the guards at Wang Yang's residence. With such energy, the target may not just be himself, and Le Luo Luo's side might be even more dangerous. Finally, the closer to the Nine-Headed Tent in the east, the more open it is, while the road to the west is winding and complex, with many crossings, and there is a place to dry animal skins not far away, which is suitable for maneuvering.

At this time, a group of guards came out of the fence and walked toward Wang Yang step by step in the ink-like shadows.

Wang Yang pulled Chen Qingshan and ran!

The tall barbarian guard almost simultaneously rushed toward Wang Yang, pulled out his knife, and shouted loudly: "Protect the Han envoy!"

Wang Yang shouted: "Kill him first!"

The tall barbarian guard originally wanted to sneak attack Chen Qingshan, but didn't expect to be directly ordered to kill by Wang Yang. And Chen Qingshan's trust in Wang Yang had been engraved into her bones, and she didn't care why Wang Yang suddenly ordered to kill his own people. Anyway, he said it, so she had to do it. The order was issued and the action was taken. When the tall barbarian guard's knife tip was about to approach Chen Qingshan's back heart, the young girl's sword had already burst out from her waist—

"Zheng!"

The sword light was like a snow practice across the sky, drawing a crescent-like arc!

A blood line suddenly appeared on the barbarian guard's throat, and a piece of crimson spread in an instant.

At the moment the blood mist sprayed, Wang Yang had already pulled the corpse to block in front of Chen Qingshan.

Pu pu pu!

Three small arrows nailed into the corpse!

Those guards who were originally embedded in the shadows seemed to suddenly break free from the shackles of darkness, rushing out fiercely, like a group of night crows flying in surprise and rushing into the moonlight!

At this time, killing sounds rose from several directions in the village! It turned out—

The killing intent was not just in this one place...