novelSusiti Chapter 72 A beautiful woman, yet she became a thief.
Chapter 72 A beautiful woman, yet she became a thief.
Huyan Zhuo's lifelong pride in his linked cavalry formation was rendered useless, losing so easily without even a chance to unleash its full power.
Moreover, they were all captured by Liangshan.
Five thousand went, one returned.
He boasted of his martial arts prowess, yet he couldn't defeat Yang Zhi or Qin Ming, not to mention that Lin Chong, Lu Zhishen, Wu Song, and others from Liangshan didn't even offer a fight.
Overwhelmed with grief, Huyan Zhuo fell off his horse and fainted.
This terrified Zhang Shuye, who immediately ordered his men to carry Huyan Zhuo back to camp and asked the army doctor to guard him throughout the night.
Upon receiving the news, Han Tao and Peng Qi dared not delay and immediately returned to the military camp, only to find it deserted and the three thousand armored cavalrymen nowhere to be seen. Only then did they believe that Huyan Zhuo had truly been defeated.
They looked at each other in bewilderment for a moment.
What they found even more unbelievable was that an hour after Huyan Zhuo fainted, Wang Lun actually sent an envoy, a man who looked shrewd and capable, who called himself Zhao Si.
Zhang Shuye immediately met with Zhao Si, and everyone was astonished when they heard Zhao Si's purpose for coming.
"When my chieftain heard that General Huyan had fallen off his horse, he was very worried and specially ordered me to bring him medicine for bruises and sprains, and also asked me to pass on a message to General Huyan."
Seeing that this person was not intimidated at all among the enemy troops and spoke and acted with great composure, Zhang Shuye became even more suspicious that this person was a leader in disguise.
"Your name is Zhao Si?"
"Yes, Zhao Si."
"What is your rank in Liangshan?"
"Ah!" Zhao Si scratched his head. "I am the chieftain's personal servant, so I don't have a chair to sit on."
Zhang Shuye's eyes lit up. It was actually his personal servant. If he could win this person over...
He waved his hand and said, "Come on, give this Brother Zhao two ingots of gold."
Zhao Si's eyes lit up: "You're a really good official."
Zhang Shuye chuckled, speechless: "So, an official who gives you gold is a good official? What bad official have you ever seen?"
Zhao Si immediately felt sad and said, "I am originally from Chuzhou. Eight years ago, the Liao people crossed the border to raid my village, causing my family to be destroyed and many people to die. Not many people in the village survived."
When the Liao army went on expeditions, it did not carry provisions and supplies. Instead, it relied on plundering the people's food, property, and people along the way to replenish the army's material needs. This practice was called "plundering the grass and grain".
Zhang Shuye personally served Zhao Si a cup of tea: "Tell me slowly."
"I escaped by hiding in the mountains. Later, I went to Chuzhou with about thirty other villagers to find the prefect. But we didn't expect that we would have to pay a fee just to get in. We finally managed to scrape together the money and paid it, but instead of the prefect, we met some kind of military advisor."
Zhang Shuye was somewhat bewildered, unsure whether Zhao Si was telling the truth or not. Could the Song Dynasty government really be so corrupt?
"When the recruit heard about our situation, he said he was willing to send troops, but we would have to pay them a sum of money."
After Zhao Si finished speaking, Zhang Shuye flew into a rage, slamming his fist on the table: "You bastard! What is this man's name? I will definitely impeach him!"
He was well-versed in the ways of officialdom; a military advisor in a prefecture or county had no authority to mobilize soldiers. What this military advisor said was nothing but a complete scam to swindle money.
It would be one thing if they were just swindling wealthy and heartless businessmen, but they're swindling homeless refugees.
"How would I know his name?"
Zhao Si looked somber, glanced at Zhang Shuye, and said, "Later, the thirty-odd of us became bandits. We first joined a small mountain stronghold, but then that stronghold was swallowed up by another stronghold. I escaped in the chaos and ran to Liangshan Marsh. I was appreciated by the chieftain and made him his personal servant, serving him in his daily life."
The two gold ingots had already been brought over. Zhao Si didn't stand on ceremony; he grabbed one and put it in his mouth. Upon discovering it was real gold, he was overjoyed and put it in his pocket.
Zhang Shuye asked, "Tell me, what message does your chieftain want to convey to General Huyan?"
"You were a beautiful woman, why did you become a thief?"
……
Zhang Shuye was stunned for a moment before he realized what Wang Lun meant: Huyan Zhuo was working for the Song Dynasty court, but he was actually a thief, while they, as bandits of Liangshan, belonged to beautiful women.
He was silent for a moment, then said, "Brother Zhao, now that you have accepted my gold, do me a favor, okay? If you do it well, I will give you even more gold in the future."
Zhao Sixi said with delight, "Such a good thing! You are truly a great official."
"After you return, I will have you carefully record Wang Lun's every move, especially important military matters such as the Thunderclap Bomb and the Divine Arm Bow, as well as the relationships between the leaders."
"The relationship between the leaders?"
"Yes, for example, who doesn't get along with whom, who Wang Lun punished, and so on, understand?"
Zhao Si understood immediately: "Okay, I get it."
He looked at Zhang Shuye and hesitated, then asked, "You want me to be a spy and betray the chieftain?"
Zhang Shuye smiled and said, "No, how could this be betrayal? What I asked you to do did not harm him at all; it was just passing on some inside information to me."
Zhao Si nodded and said, "That's true."
"The so-called betrayal of the chieftain means you have to poison Wang Lun and assassinate him while he's asleep at night, but I won't let you do those things."
"Oh right, I absolutely cannot do these things, not for any amount of money."
Zhang Shuye nodded: "Then it's settled? You and I will keep this to ourselves, but you mustn't tell Wang Lun."
Zhao Si patted his chest and said, "No problem, I'm very loyal."
He successfully completed his mission of delivering medicine and conveying a message, and received two ingots of gold. Satisfied, he left the military camp.
Back in Jeju, Wang Lun and his vanguards were still discussing matters in the main hall when Zhao Si reported gleefully, "Chief, I have completed my mission."
Wang Lun smiled and said, "Oh? Tell me more."
"They do indeed no longer have heavy cavalry in their camp. I estimate there are about four or five thousand men, mainly infantry. There are only two generals, Han Tao and Peng Qi. They don't look as imposing as our Liangshan leaders."
The leaders burst into laughter.
"That man named Zhang Shuye knew I was the chieftain's personal servant, and immediately tried to bribe me, giving me two ingots of gold."
Zhao Si took out two gold ingots, somewhat reluctant, but still handed them to Wang Lun.
Wang Lun waved his hand: "Keep it, consider it your hard-earned money."
Zhao Si was overjoyed, now genuinely happy. He carefully put the gold away and said, "I've already agreed to be his spy. What should I do now?"
He carefully repeated what Zhang Shuye had said.
The leaders burst into laughter. Zhang Shuye thought he had successfully turned Zhao Si to the enemy, but little did he know that Zhao Si's defection was actually arranged by Wang Lun.
Only someone as cunning as Zhao Si could do such a thing.
"By using the Thunderclap and the Divine Arm Bow, you revealed that we possess a large quantity of these items, causing him to misjudge our strength and hesitate to act rashly."
The leaders nodded in agreement, believing this would serve to intimidate Zhang Shuye.
"As for the relationship between the leaders, you... revealed that Yang Zhi and Chao Gai have a grudge, and that I am giving Chao Gai an important position."
Everyone was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized that Wang Lun wanted Yang Zhi to be the "traitor".
He had already fallen into obscurity because he lost the birthday gifts, and the culprit was none other than Chao Gai. Zhang Shuye would definitely believe this story.
Only Yang Zhi looked worried and distressed.