Chapter 440

The fifth day of the ninth month, just reached the Zi hour, Gusu, Mount Xuanmu, Panxiang Temple.

In the inner courtyard's meditation room, two slender and graceful figures lay on the embroidered bed, sleeping head-to-head.

One wore a snow-white soft silk nightgown, and the other wore a small cotton garment.

Slender waists under thin quilts, fragrant breath, graceful and soft, thin and delicate, each with its own beauty.

The night wind blew, and the woman in the soft silk nightgown frowned slightly, her eyelashes trembling, her full chest rising and falling, and she suddenly woke up from a dream.

This night, Zhi Shao was restless; she barely fell asleep, only to be startled awake by a nightmare, tossing and turning, unable to sleep again.

She sat up, hugging the thin quilt, and gently rubbed the silver-threaded twisted bracelet on her hand; this was what Jia Cong had given her years ago.

Today, for some reason, she was restless, and Jia Cong's figure was circling in her waking thoughts and dreams, as if there were some strange connection, as if he were very close to her.

She quietly got out of bed, walked to the window, and looked out. Through the swaying tree shadows of the mountain night, she could only see a corner of the city wall at the foot of the mountain, as well as the dark and unclear houses and streets in the city.

Zhi Shao getting up woke up Xing Xiuyan, who was sleeping beside her. She rubbed her eyes, got out of bed barefoot, and walked to the window.

She asked: "Sister Zhi Shao, there is wind at night, why are you standing by the window?"

Seeing her gently stroking the silver bracelet in her hand, she giggled: "Are you missing Cousin again?"

Zhi Shao's face flushed slightly, but she didn't hide it, saying: "Yes, I miss him. We haven't been separated for this long in these two years."

"Today is very strange; I've been restless. I wonder how Cong Sanye's errand in Jin Ling is going."

Xing Xiuyan's words held some envy as she said: "Look at you, how good you are. If you miss someone, you just say you miss them, open and aboveboard, without having to hide it."

Zhi Shao was slightly stunned when she heard this and laughed: "What kind of talk is that? Could it be that you are hiding something?"

Xing Xiuyan's small face flushed, looking as if she had something to say but stopped.

Zhi Shao laughed lightly: "You little girl, you're not very old. Could it be that you've opened your mind and are actually hiding thoughts of someone? Tell me quickly, who are you missing?"

Xing Xiuyan blushed and defended herself: "I was just saying it casually, how could I be missing anyone?"

Hesitating for a long time, she said: "Sister Zhi Shao, my father received a letter from my aunt saying that they want to take us to the Love Shenjing to settle down...."

In these few days, the Xing Zhong couple had already been preparing for the move north, and naturally, they couldn't help but nag Xing Xiuyan incessantly.

Xing Xiuyan felt both happy and worried in her heart. Once the confused feelings of a young girl were stirred up, they would circle in her heart and be hard to leave.

Being able to go to the Love Shenjing would not only mean having Zhi Shao for company, but also being able to see her cousin often; she was naturally willing in her heart.

But she knew what her parents and aunt were planning. This so-called marriage, no matter how she heard it, sounded absurd and ethereal. Once it caused a stir, how would she face Jia Cong and Zhi Shao?

……

Zhi Shao was slightly stunned when she heard this and said: "Isn't your aunt the Lady of the residence?"

In these two years, Zhi Shao had returned to the Jia family and lived in the West residence with Jia Cong, later moving to the Count's residence.

Ever since Jia Cong began to rise in power, the Jia She couple, besides paying respects to Grandmother Jia, rarely went to the West residence, only acting as kings behind closed doors in the East Road courtyard.

Plus, because of Zhi Shao's past experiences, Jia Cong deliberately avoided them, so in two full years, Zhi Shao had only bumped into the Jia She couple a few times.

Although they met very rarely, for some reason, she loathed these two from the bottom of her heart.

But she was sincere and emotional, and she liked Xing Xiuyan's detachment and innocence, so she wouldn't develop any estrangement from Xiuyan because of Lady Xing.

Even their temperaments were compatible, and they often shared intimate talks, so they frequently slept in the same bed.

She laughed: "That's a good thing. Master and Senior Sister are going to the Love Shenjing's Muni Temple to see the Pattra-leaf Scriptures and will return to the capital with Cong Sanye and me. By then, you will be traveling with us, and it will be even livelier."

Xing Xiuyan heard this, her pretty face blushing, looking charming. Thinking of being able to keep company with Miao Yu and Zhi Shao in the Love Shenjing, not to mention seeing Jia Cong from time to time, her heart was full of joy.

Although that somewhat childish marriage made her restless in her heart, as long as the time came, she would insist that she didn't like it and wouldn't marry, and the awkward matter would pass.

Although, saying she didn't like it was somewhat of a lie....

However, this somewhat self-deceiving thought made the young girl's mood lighten again. She chatted with Zhi Shao for a few more words, and then they held hands and went back to sleep.

……

Gusu, Yan Huajie.

In the pitch-black night, Jia Cong led a large group of men to storm the Geng residence.

Jiang Xiao Liu had entered the Geng residence's outer courtyard several times and was already clear about the distribution of the servants. He led a team of more than twenty men to various parts of the outer courtyard and controlled all the servants there.

Although the movement was very fast, it still caused some commotion. The cries for help from a few servants, although met with a few blows from scabbards, still alerted the inner residence.

Jia Cong led his men to the archway of the inner residence and could already hear the sound of doors opening and closing, as well as some chaotic footsteps.

The archway of the inner residence was quickly rammed open, and a large group of tough men holding blades surged into the inner residence like a tide.

Jia Cong directed his men to guard the passages and doors of the inner residence and drive out the people in each room.

The inner residence was still home to many serving maids and housekeepers, all of whom were scared by the murderous-looking intruders, screaming and running around like headless flies.

Soon, the sounds of blades clashing and shouting appeared in the inner residence.

The men Jia Cong brought quickly gathered toward the place where the sounds of fighting were coming from.

In the middle of the surrounded crowd, five or six men were waving their blades in resistance, and several corpses were already lying on the ground.

Jia Cong shouted: "Circle the formation to surround the enemy, retreat to the distance of a blade's length, load the firelocks, and prepare to fire!"

As soon as his voice fell, all the men participating in the fight quickly retreated from the circle, advancing and retreating in an orderly manner, appearing well-trained.

Dozens of firelocks around were leveled and aimed at the five or six men in the center of the battle circle, waiting only for Jia Cong's order to fire a volley.

Even if these few men had steel bones, they would instantly be shot into sieves.

The surrounded men all looked ashen. Although they hadn't experienced a firelock formation, they knew that no one could escape a volley.

One of them shouted: "Put down your blades."

The others were relieved and hurriedly threw away their blades, fearing that if they were a moment late, the other side's firelocks would fire.

Just now, their desperate resistance was nothing more than a cornered beast fighting; seeing the countless elites surging into the inner residence, they knew in their hearts that they couldn't escape.

……

Actually, even if they continued to resist stubbornly, Jia Cong wouldn't rashly open fire, but would adopt a military formation to surround and kill them.

Just now, it was nothing more than setting up a formation to apply pressure and intimidate them.

This time, he brought almost all the men who had sneaked into Gusu, but only twenty of them carried improved Lumu guns, just in case.

For tonight's raid, he didn't intend to use firelocks at all, because as long as a gunshot rang out, it would alert all of Gusu.

By then, Luo Xiong's Su Zhou Guard would act upon hearing the news, and it would be even harder for them to get out of the city.

……

Jia Cong glanced at the man who had just spoken; he was under forty, with regular features, a high nose bridge, and a short beard, looking imposing.

Jia Cong had long since memorized the portrait of Zhou Zhengyang that Zou Min'er had newly drawn.

That man looked desperate, but didn't forget to ask: "Who exactly are you?"

Jia Cong sneered: "Zhou Zhengyang, we finally meet."

Jia Cong didn't answer the other party's question. Jiang Xiao Liu squeezed in front of Jia Cong and said: "Cong Sanye, all the servants in the residence have been controlled, and not a single one has escaped.

I asked carefully just now; the Geng family's female relatives moved to a separate villa to escape the heat more than a month ago, and the Geng family's servants were given a gag order by Geng Physician, so no news had leaked out.

They said Geng Physician would return to the residence every other day, and it just so happened he didn't return today.

This old fellow is also cunning; he often returns to the residence, so outsiders would never guess that he would actually hide a man in his own inner residence."

Jia Cong said to Wei Yongzhou beside him: "Tie up and gag all the servants in the Geng residence and lock them up. Our men will withdraw from Huayan Street immediately, as fast as possible! But the commotion just now wasn't small, I estimate it won't be hidden for long..."

Just as everyone was about to reorganize and leave, Zhou Zhengyang and the others were escorted out of the inner residence, and one of them suddenly said: "I am not in the same party as Zhou Zhengyang; I am a man of the Zhongche Office!"

Jia Cong looked back; the speaker was a man in his thirties, with an ordinary appearance and sharp eyes, his right foot bandaged as if he had suffered a serious leg injury.

Zhou Zhengyang, who was walking in the lead, looked at the man with surprised eyes, but was pushed out of the inner residence by the escorting soldiers.

Jia Cong's expression was solemn as he asked: "You are Chen Kuishan of the Jin Ling Zhongche Office!"

The man said: "I am indeed Chen Kuishan. I once left the Zhongche Office emblem in the Geng residence's outer courtyard, but a long time had passed, and there was no movement. I was just feeling a bit desperate; fortunately, you finally found this place."

Jia Cong said: "That emblem of yours was left in the outer courtyard. Under normal circumstances, besides the people in the Geng residence, outsiders would never be able to see it, and even if the Geng residence's servants saw it, they would just take it for children's graffiti.

Fortunately, my men came into the Geng residence to investigate; it can be considered that the net of heaven is vast, and nothing escapes."

Jia Cong sighed again: "Battalion Commander Chen sneaked into the Jin Ling Guard and was regarded as a trusted aide by Zhou Zhengyang. If you could have sent news earlier, we wouldn't have had to spend so much effort capturing him."

Chen Kuishan hurriedly replied: "I was coerced by Zhou Zhengyang to escape from Jin Ling together; he was extremely guarded against those around him.

Our group arrived at Haishan Zhu in Changzhou, and two people wanted to escape halfway, but were killed on the spot by Zhou Zhengyang and his trusted aides.

My leg was injured in the fight, and I have been unable to move freely since, so I have been unable to send out information."

Jia Cong smiled slightly: "Battalion Commander Chen has worked hard. First, follow us out of the city, and when we return to Jin Ling, I will definitely help you claim credit...."

……

Jia Cong's men surged out of the Geng residence one after another, and Zhang Wu was already there with men to meet them.

All the men were divided into several routes and withdrew from the intersections on both sides of Yan Huajie.

It seemed that only a moment had passed, and the entire Yan Huajie had eerily returned to calm.

When Jia Cong's men left, they extinguished all the candles in the residence and carefully closed the Geng residence's main gate.

From the outside, the entire Geng residence looked the same as usual, without the slightest abnormality, sinking into sleep in the long night.

Coming like a thunderclap, leaving like clouds dispersing without a trace, only elite soldiers tempered by battle could achieve such a level of orderly advance and retreat.

But even so, the brief fight in the Geng residence's inner quarters just now still caused quite a commotion.

On Yan Huajie, many residents were startled from their sleep, and some even saw the strange sight of figures moving on the street, as well as many people vaguely entering and leaving the Geng residence.

But ordinary people are generally of a nature to avoid trouble and be afraid.

As long as it doesn't concern them, no one will deliberately get to the bottom of it to avoid trouble; at most, there will be more bizarre topics of conversation after tea and dinner.

It wasn't until the Zi hour was about to end that the knocked-out watchman slowly woke up, looking around in terror.

But what he saw in his eyes was still the empty street, exactly the same as his usual watch-beating situation.

Could it be that the dark figures moving rapidly on the street just now, those cold, flashing blades, and the blow he received on his back were all his hallucinations? The watchman shook his head heavily and soon confirmed everything he saw before he fainted.

Looking at the pitch-black Yan Huajie, he felt an unprecedented fear; the familiar street seemed to have become a strange beast with a giant mouth, ready to swallow him whole at any time.

The watchman stumbled to his feet and ran toward the nearest county government office to report the strange sight he had seen to the officials.

It was just that it was the middle of the night, so which government office would have people? He could only wait until dawn.

……

The fifth day of the ninth month, three quarters past the Zi hour.

Because Chen Kuishan had a leg injury, Jia Cong had a strong soldier carry him on his back and follow the main force to withdraw from Yan Huajie.

As the group turned a corner, Chen Kuishan saw seven or eight carriages parked by the side of the road, and many of the accompanying people boarded different vehicles separately.

Chen Kuishan looked roughly and saw heads moving, actually nearly a hundred people, and this was just one route of men.

In the rush, Chen Kuishan saw a few people wearing hoods being pushed onto one of the carriages; that should be Zhou Zhengyang and the others, which made Chen Kuishan breathe a sigh of relief.

Just now when withdrawing from the Geng residence, he saw with his own eyes another route of men withdrawing from the other end of Yan Huajie.

That is to say, hundreds of people participated in tonight's raid on the Geng residence to capture the man. Such a large formation made Chen Kuishan feel shocked and bewildered.

Just now in the Geng residence's inner quarters, Jia Cong didn't reveal his identity, and no one else said a word to him along the way.

Up to now, Chen Kuishan still didn't know the origin of these people, but being able to set up such a large formation, they would definitely not be a rabble; it could only be the work of the imperial court.

But with such a large move on the official side, why hadn't he heard a single word of news beforehand? Luo Xiong of the Su Zhou Guard must also have been completely unaware.

Who exactly was that young man leading the team?

Until the carriage started, Chen Kuishan was still full of questions.

……

Half a mile away from the Tieling Pass ferry, at a remote small river mouth, the boatman Zheng Xiaohai's boat had long been waiting there.

In these few months, Zheng Xiaohai's life had been very comfortable; he had made two big deals in a row, earning enough for two years of food and clothing expenses.

He hoped to take on a few more such deals, save enough silver to buy a new big boat, and his future days would definitely get better and better.

His wife even teased him for always dreaming, never expecting that when luck came, even the mountains couldn't stop it; the same good deal had actually come to his door again.

Yesterday afternoon, a man in his thirties found him and said that Young Master Jia, who had once taken his boat, wanted to use his boat again.

It was still going up the river, and they needed to follow the old rules, needing to avoid the inspections of military boats along the way. The price for the boat trip would definitely satisfy him.

Zheng Xiaohai had done business with Jia Cong twice and earned nearly a hundred taels of silver from him, knowing that this Young Master Jia was very generous.

Hearing about this deal, he naturally agreed wholeheartedly.

……

The fifth day of the ninth month, Mao hour (5-7 AM), dawn was slightly bright.

Gusu, West Chang Gate.

Chang Gate is located in the west of Gusu city, so old Gusu people call it West Chang Gate. From here, going west along the river, one can reach Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Jin Ling, and other places.

The first quarter of the Mao hour is the time when the Gusu city gates open.

The West Chang city gate was like any other day, gathering many peddlers, merchants, traveling doctors, relatives visiting, and travelers leaving the city early.

The bustling crowd was crowded in front of the pitch-black city gate, and the city-guarding soldiers were maintaining order in boredom.

Among the crowd leaving the city, some were chatting messily, some were curled up in carriages pretending to sleep, and there were many small peddlers carrying goods boxes and selling them in the crowd.

Among the crowd were a few inconspicuous large carriages of various styles, mingling with the carriages and people leaving the city.

On the shaft of one of the large carriages, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy sat beside the driver, wearing coarse cloth clothes, a felt hat on his head, and a dark complexion.

A pair of eyes under the felt hat often looked left and right, just like a country boy who hadn't seen much of the world.

At this time, a man with a bandaged left leg and leaning on a crutch squeezed to the front of the carriage, holding a package in his hand.

He took a piece out of the package and handed it to the boy, laughing: "We have a long journey ahead, so I went to buy some Gusu rice cakes; this stuff is delicious and filling."

Until now, Chen Kuishan still didn't know Jia Cong's identity, only knowing that this boy was the leader of this group.

On the way, he had tried to ask the two men taking care of him, but they wouldn't talk at all, their words were cautious, and they had the air of strict military discipline.

Jia Cong glanced at Chen Kuishan and smiled: "Mr. Chen just went for a while; I was worried that your legs and feet were inconvenient. The city gate is about to open, please get on the carriage quickly."

Chen Kuishan smiled, climbed onto the carriage somewhat clumsily, and the moment he entered the carriage, he glanced at the carriage behind him.

In that carriage, Zhou Zhengyang and his accomplices had all been drugged by Jia Cong and were sleeping in a heap, so there was no fear of them causing trouble at the city gate.

……

The first quarter of the Mao hour finally arrived. The sky to the west was still pitch black, but the east had already revealed the golden yellow of the rising sun, slanting into the crowd leaving the city, pulling out heavy shadows.

The city gate opened with a rumble, and the crowd that had been waiting for a long time filed out of the city one after another, soon scattering onto the many roads heading west out of the city.

After one of the large carriages drove out of the city gate, a wild pigeon flew out of the carriage, flying toward the direction of Jin Ling....

The few old soldiers guarding the city gate were somewhat familiar with the flow of people leaving the city every day and vaguely felt that the number of people leaving the city today seemed to be more than usual.

But this was also a common occurrence; if it were the end of the year, the number of people leaving the city every day would be even more than today.

……

Not far from the West Chang Gate, a worker from a rice cake shop hurried away from the shop and headed toward Daoqian Street....

At the intersection of Yan Huajie, a constable from the county government office, leading a few yamen runners, was dozing off, cursing in his mouth, and followed an old watchman into Yan Huajie.

It was no wonder that the constable was in a bad mood; it wasn't even dawn yet, and he had just come out of his bed and still wanted to ease his sleepiness.

This damn watchman went to the county government office to report a case, saying that hundreds of bandits had entered Yan Huajie last night; no matter how he heard it, it sounded like nonsense.... (End of chapter)