Chapter 234

"Xu Zaijing! Close this gate!"

Hearing Yelu Sun's voice, Xu Zaijing pulled the Li Colt to a stop. He looked back at the thieves inside the stronghold who were blindfolded, sitting tied together, and had broken legs.

He nodded.

"Clang!"

The wooden gate of the stronghold was closed.

Xu Zaijing, however, remained on the stronghold wall, while the Li Colt ate fine grain contentedly under the wall.

When Qingyun, Yelu Sun, and the group of more than ten people arrived at the foot of Golden Yangshan,

Xu Zaijing pulled the powerful bow in his hand.

The feathered arrow shot out,

piercing flesh, and the surviving thieves, whose mouths were covered with cloth strips, wailed in extreme pain.

"Don't move around! If you dare to move again, I'll shoot your heads!"

The group of thieves, because of the hot weather and the pain of their fractures, were covered in sweat; hearing Xu Zaijing's words, they nodded repeatedly.

After waiting on the stronghold wall for about forty-five minutes, Xu Zaijing descended.

After feeding the Li Colt some water, man and horse slowly left the place.

Walking to a distance, Xu Zaijing then mounted the Li Colt.

After descending the mountain, the Li Colt's speed increased.

When they caught up with the carriage team, Qiu Jing on the carriage had already been jolted to the point where his buttocks felt like they were about to split.

Looking at the sun, it was currently only the hour of Chen (before 9:00 AM).

Xu Zaijing waved his hand to signal, and the carriage team slowly stopped.

"Yelu Sun, you and I will return to Bianjing first; Qingyun, you take Seeing Alan and Xunshu and the Gao family brother to follow quickly; there is no need to spare the horses' strength."

"Yes, Young Master."

Qingyun and the three others bowed in acknowledgment.

Hearing Xu Zaijing's words, Yelu Sun explained the situation to the imperial guards in Northern Liao language.

Naturally, there were those who were uneasy.

"If he wanted to kill me and you, he wouldn't need to deceive me at all!"

Seeing Alan translated the conversation between the four beside Xu Zaijing.

Xu Zaijing said: "Mm, he is a sensible person."

Subsequently,

the Li Colt, the Li Colt's son, two Northern Liao Dragon Colts, and four fine horses were brought out. Xu Zaijing and Yelu Sun each took two horses, and after taking some fine grain and water found in the stronghold, they rode lightly toward the west, whipping their horses.

Because the two were traveling light, with no armor or weapons on the horses' backs, and each had two horses to switch between,

therefore, by the hour of Wei (after 2:00 PM),

the two had already ridden along the post stations and entered the Xin Cao Gate of Bianjing.

Although the four horses were all spirited and robust, after running for nearly six hours with only two rests, they were somewhat unable to take it. When they arrived outside the Donghua Gate, all four horses were sweating profusely.

Xu Zaijing held up the token given by the Empress and brought Yelu Sun into the Imperial Palace through the Donghua Gate.

"I trouble the eunuch and the Imperial City Department to pass on a message; the matter I am reporting has some relation to the Imperial City Department, and also to the people in the Northern Liao state guesthouse."

Hearing Xu Zaijing's words, the eunuch hurriedly waved his hand to let a small eunuch go and pass the message.

At this time, it was already the hottest part of the day, and the lips of both Xu Zaijing and Yelu Sun were somewhat dry.

Inside the cool palace,

the Emperor was taking a nap on the couch.

The Grand Eunuch walked over with light steps and said softly: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

"Hmm? Is it time?"

"Your Majesty, it is not yet time; it is the Empress who has brought someone over, saying that, saying that Jingge'er has brought Yelu Sun of Northern Liao."

The Emperor took a deep breath and, with the help of the Grand Eunuch, sat up.

"Hmm~~~"

The Emperor was halfway through stretching when he stopped:

"That mischievous monkey brought whom? Northern Liao? What else does he know?"

"Your Majesty, I don't know much either, only that Jingge'er and that Yelu Sun arrived outside the Donghua Gate, each with two horses."

Inside the cool palace,

the Great Zhou Imperial Prince Zhao Fang had just arrived and saw Xu Zaijing at a glance.

Subsequently, Yelu Sun looked at Xu Zaijing, who was talking easily with Zhao Fang, and his heart gave a slight jolt.

At the same time, he was also considering how much benefit Great Zhou would demand from Northern Liao for his identity.

The Empress of Great Zhou glanced at Yelu Sun, smiled kindly, and waved her hand; a female official then offered Yelu Ying a cup of iced, sweet, and thirst-quenching drink.

Subsequently, the Empress continued to look at Xu Zaijing with a smile.

Zhao Fang, beside Xu Zaijing, wrinkled his small nose and sniffed, asking in surprise:

"Jingge'er, what is this smell on you?"

"Your Highness, it is... the smell of sweat..."

Other than traveling, he was beating people; he hadn't bathed in nearly two days, and there might even be enemy blood spots on his body and face; this smell was indeed somewhat strong.

"Sniff, sniff, hehe, it smells really good."

Xu Zaijing looked at the Empress with embarrassment.

It was true; the female officials and palace maids serving Zhao Fang were all carefully selected by the Empress, and they were usually in the cool palace, using incense and bathing, so how could they let Zhao Fang smell any sweat?

"Fang'er, what smells good?"

Before the words were finished, the Emperor walked over from the inner room.

At this moment, a cross-breeze happened to blow through, and the sour smell almost suffocated the Emperor, and then he saw the two youths in the hall who seemed not to have even washed their faces.

The Emperor glanced at Xu Zaijing with annoyance, and Zhao Zilong also entered the hall under the guidance of a eunuch.

"Great Zhou Emperor, I traveled by large ship from the Jin state to Great Zhou; they thought I didn't understand Great Zhou language, and the person collecting the money called himself Bao of the Ruyang Marquis's mansion..."

After Yelu Sun finished speaking, Xu Zaijing said:

"Your Majesty, I was afraid the Prince of Yan would use some underhanded tricks, so I thought about going to Yanzhou to take a look; firstly, to eliminate harm for the people, and secondly, to... to tell others that I am not to be trifled with! I didn't expect..."

After listening to the two finish, the Emperor said:

"Zilong, this kid says the Yanzhou Imperial City Department has already been deceived by the Prince of Yan; do you think this is possible?"

Zhao Zilong hurriedly bowed deeply and pondered for a moment before saying:

"Your Majesty, I have been derelict in my duty; the most important matter for the Jingdong East Road Imperial City Department currently is... to assist Zhao Meifeng of the Huainan East Road; we are indeed short of manpower!"

Xu Zaijing nodded in approval; fortunately, the old man didn't say they were colluding with the Jin state, as there was a Northern Liao royal family member standing right there.

"Your Majesty, Master Zhao, in that Golden Yangshan stronghold, there are elite soldiers wearing Great Zhou infantry armor, and on the road, there is a retainer of the Prince of Yan's mansion, Qiu Jing."

Zhao Zilong hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, I request to go to the pigeon house and have the Imperial City Department officials of Qizhou go to Golden Yangshan immediately."

The Emperor waved his hand and said: "Draft an imperial decree, have the yamen issue a notice, and send cavalry to meet and escort Qiu Jing and his party, sparing no horse's strength!"

The Hanlin scholar in the hall hurriedly licked his brush and wrote furiously.

"Does the Ruyang Marquis have anyone in the Upper Four Armies?"

"Replying to Your Majesty, yes! He was recently nominated for promotion to Regional Military Commissioner of the Left Wing of the Tianwu Army."

"Mm, tie up everyone related to him and wait for disposal."

"Keep the Prince of Yan's mansion under watch for me; not a single person is allowed to leave, and additionally, summon the Prince of Yan to the capital."

"Draft the decree."

The Hanlin scholars continued to write furiously.

Watching Xu Zaijing, who was quietly pushing Zhao Fang further away with his hand, the Emperor took a deep breath, smiled at the Empress, and said:

"Wash these two clean for me, and then bring them over to see me."

After finishing, the Emperor glanced meaningfully at Yelu Sun.

Imperial City Department,

pigeon house,

the capable officials of the Imperial City Department put the hastily written notes into the bamboo tubes on the pigeons' legs.

In the direction of Qizhou, Zhao Zilong released at least ten pigeons at once.

"Where is Meifeng currently?"

"Chief, he should be on his way back to the capital."

"Mm, release twenty carrier pigeons along the route; ensure he arrives at Golden Yangshan tonight."

After Zhao Zilong turned and left the pigeon house, he walked toward the palace where the Emperor was with high spirits.

Not to mention the matter of the Prince of Yan, Yelu Sun, whom Xu Zaijing brought back this time, was the most valuable person for digging up intelligence.

Outside the Donghua Gate,

a squad of one hundred imperial guards, in light armor and with sharp blades, each with two horses, galloped toward the east of the city, ignoring the scorching sun.

This caused the people of Bianjing to cast sidelong glances and speculate about what had happened.

Another team of fifty armored soldiers from the Left Class of the Imperial Command galloped out from outside the Xuande Gate and left the city through the Southeast Xuanhua Gate.

Tianwu Army station,

this team of imperial guards drove their horses straight in after showing their tokens.

After the drums for gathering the generals finished sounding,

hearing that it was an imperial decree from the palace,

the Master of the Bao family came to the main tent in high spirits,

"I have seen Master Pei."

Minister Pei Yuanchen looked at this general of the Ruyang Marquis's family with a solemn expression and unfolded the imperial decree in his hand.

"..."

After reading it, Minister Pei Yuanchen raised his chin and said: "Take him."

And this Bao family descendant knelt on the ground in disbelief, staring blankly at Minister Pei Yuanchen, not yet having reacted to what had happened!

He was then stripped of his armor and weapons by the elite imperial guards and tied up.

He had been about to take another step forward and be promoted to Regional Military Commissioner of the Left Wing of the Tianwu Army!

"Master Pei, is there a mistake? Please don't tease this subordinate."

"Take him away."

(End of chapter)