Volume 1 Chushan Bandits Chapter 36: Escape Plan
It drizzled at dusk, and it was still a little chilly on that night in late March.
Wang Bing stood in the yard and could see lights on in the house next door through the courtyard wall.
Dark clouds obscured the stars and the moon, shining through the faint , and the horns looked like a python's head rising ferociously in the depths of the darkness.
Hearing the footsteps coming from behind, Wang Bing turned around and saw that it was Lu Xiong. He said, "There has been no movement next door for a while. They should have left?"
"Can I take a look?" Lu Xiong asked.
"What are you looking at?" Wang Bing waved his hand and said with a wry smile, "Go and take a look. If you find that the place is empty, should we go to Lord Deng and report it?"
Lu Xiong was slightly startled and asked, "How do you think they will deal with this, sir?"
"What's so hard about this?" Wang Bing sighed. "I remember you said that Xu Wuxuan and his men were bandits recruited by Wang Xiaocheng in Tongbai Mountain. Regardless of how complicated the Tongbai Mountain stronghold is, and regardless of whether there is really someone behind Brother Xu, it should not be difficult for Xu Wujiang and his men to think that this is one of their few options. I just didn't expect that my meeting with Zhu Tangzhou would cause such a big disturbance in the local area."
Xu Wujiang and Xu Huai knew that the situation was extremely dangerous for them, but under such circumstances, Xu Wujiang still led his troops to Qingxi Village, and Xu Huai was still entering and leaving the military village without any problem today. Lu Xiong guessed that they might have made some kind of decision.
Of course, Lu Xiong did not want to embarrass Wang Bing, so he did not tell him all the details. However, he did not expect that Wang Bing already knew everything.
Lu Xiong sighed, "The tree wants to be still but the wind does not stop. You can only wait and see what happens."
"Just wait and see what happens! Just wait and see what happens! Too many people are just waiting and seeing what happens, and watching the world fall apart," Wang Bing said in a tone of indignation, but then he said dejectedly, "Given my current situation, there is no other way but to wait and see what happens..."
The night wind was damp and cold. Lu Xiong was just about to persuade Wang Bing to go back to the house to rest when he heard the faint sound of galloping horses coming from the west gate of the village. Soon he heard the gate open and several riders galloping towards the inspection office.
"Xu Jieji sent out his troops rashly, and they were all killed by the bandits. Not a single one survived!"
They were only about thirty or forty steps away from the Inspection Office. It was late at night and there was no one around. Someone was shouting in panic in front of the Inspection Office. Lu Xiong and Wang Bing heard it clearly.
"What happened?" The girl Wang Xuan heard the disturbance outside, pushed the door open in surprise, and asked her grandfather what happened.
"My husband was right. They escaped!" Lu Xiong said with emotion.
"What do you mean by escaping from the shell?" Wang Xuan asked in confusion.
…
…
Tang Tiande was dragged by Jin Longquan to the street market to drink, but he could not get rid of the resentment in his heart. The wine tasted unpleasant in his throat, and the beauty had no color on his face. He returned to the military camp to rest early, but tossed and turned and could not sleep.
Hearing the news coming from a fast horse galloping into the military camp, Tang Tiande quickly put on his clothes, took his sword and rushed to the Inspection Office. Jin Longquan and many other officers in the military camp also rushed over after hearing the noise.
Xu Wujiang set out at dawn with more than 20 soldiers and were expected to arrive at Qingxi Village before noon. At this time, he should have taken over the defense of Qingxi Village, built more deer horn wooden horses to block the road, and then gathered the village guards and militia from nearby villages. Why did he send out his troops so hastily that not even a single person survived?
The Huaiyuan Inspection Office had a total of 120 soldiers. Xu Wujiang's troops were completely wiped out by the bandits. The loss was devastating. How could everyone not be shocked?
Walking into the front hall of the Inspection Office, it seems that the person is Du Chaoen, the elder of Qingxi Village, who is talking to Deng Gui who is wearing a robe. Tang Tiande stepped over, grabbed his shoulder, and asked anxiously: "Xu Wujiang left the military camp at dawn, and Lord Deng ordered him not to fight recklessly. How come he just arrived at Qingxi Village and his entire army was destroyed?"
Du Chaoen was also panicking. After confirming the news in the evening, he took two soldiers and rode to the Inspection Office to report the news. Without even taking a breath, he said to Tang Tiande, Jin Longquan and others:
"Xu Jie arrived at Qingxi Village at noon. After receiving the reward, he said that although the bandits in Hutou Village seemed to have a large number of people, they were actually a motley crowd and not a threat. Deng Langjun was too cautious. He disliked the simplicity of Qingxi Village and was impatient to stay there. We tried to dissuade him for a long time but to no avail. In the afternoon, we could only see Xu Jie leading his troops to Hutou Ridge. At dusk, a military horse with its back and buttocks full of arrows and blood ran to the vicinity of the village. I led my men to Hutou Ridge. When we were four or five miles away, we saw blood all over the valley and many broken guns and arrows, but no trace of Xu Jie and the soldiers he led. I guess they all met with an accident!"
Tang Tiande and Jin Longquan looked at each other in horror. They didn't know the details, so when they first heard the news, they thought that Xu Wujiang's entire army was destroyed!
We didn't do anything on the first day, and more than twenty soldiers were wiped out, and even their bodies were nowhere to be found. How could this be tolerated?
"Mr. Deng..."
Seeing Deng Gui's face turn pale, Jin Longquan thought he was frightened by the bad news, and reminded him quietly,
"What should we do next? Please give me some advice, Mr. Deng."
"Go and capture Xu Wujiang's wife and that idiot!"
Deng Gui's chest heaved violently like a volcano about to erupt. He ordered people to arrest Xu Wujiang's wife and Xu Huai, but then he said,
"No, you come with me to capture Xu Wujiang's wife and the idiot!"
"Mr. Deng, why is this happening?" Tang Tiande asked in surprise.
He didn't know what was wrong with Deng Gui. He thought that Xu Wujiang was too reckless to fight against orders. But no matter what, he died in a bandit incident. Deng Gui didn't show any sympathy and actually wanted to arrest his family members. Wasn't he afraid that his subordinates would cause trouble?
Jin Longquan also advised: "Mr. Deng, this is absolutely not allowed!"
Deng Gui is not the most powerful person in the world, and Jin Longquan doesn't want to be criticized by the villagers after this matter becomes public, so how could he obey orders easily?
How could Deng Gui not guess that the annihilation of Xu Wujiang's troops was actually a trick to escape?
How could he not have guessed at this point that the person behind Xu Huai's break-in into his bedroom the other day was actually Xu Wujiang, not Tang Tiande? He had fallen into a trap!
However, Tang Tiande and Jin Longquan stopped him from catching people, and the other soldiers were indifferent. Deng Gui was so anxious that he wanted to stamp his feet.
Of course, he couldn't tell the whole truth. He stared at Jin Longquan and Tang Tiande, thinking several things in his mind, and said:
"Before today, I received a secret report that Xu Wujiang was secretly colluding with the bandits of Qingxi Village. I didn't believe it at first, so I sent him to Hutouling for reconnaissance, and then sent him to Qingxi Village with the Wuzu, hoping that the secret report was false - but I didn't expect that this guy was guilty of his crime and actually forced the Wuzu to join the bandits! They are not dead and their bodies are nowhere to be found, they have obviously escaped and joined the bandits. And Xu Huai, that fool, broke into my house secretly, and it must have been Xu Wujiang who instigated him behind the scenes. How hateful, you told me that Xu Huai broke into my house secretly, I should have thought of these..."
No one would believe that more than 20 soldiers were colluding with the bandits. At this time, Deng Gui could only accuse Xu Wujiang of colluding with the bandits.
If Xu Huai had not broken into Deng Gui's house the other day, Tang Tiande and Jin Longquan would not have been easily persuaded by Deng Gui. But now Tang Tiande grabbed his sword and banged on the pillars, his forehead bulging with veins as he shouted angrily, "It's a pity that this bastard threw shit on my head!"
Tang Tiande did not go back to put on his armor, but took his soldiers and followed Deng Gui to Xu Wujiang's house.
…
…
Wang Bing and Lu Xiong waited in the yard for a while, and soon they saw a string of lanterns being held up in the Inspection Office, and figures walking quickly towards them.
"..." Wang Xuan had no idea what was going on. She saw a group of soldiers in armor walking towards her. The courtyard gate suddenly opened. Deng Gui's fleshy face looked gloomy and ferocious under the light of the lantern candle. She was so scared that she grabbed her grandfather Wang Bin's hand tightly.
"Mr. Deng, I just heard a commotion outside. Did something happen to Xu Jieji?" Wang Bing asked with his hands behind his back.
"Something happened, and we disturbed Mr. Wang." Deng Gui was slightly relieved to see Wang Bing and Lu Xiong still there. However, he saw that there was no movement in the next yard, so he whispered to the people behind him, "Send someone to block the back and open the gate!"
At that moment, two people climbed over the wall into the next yard, opened the gate, and dozens of soldiers filed in, but there was no sign of Xu Huai and Su Di.
"Where are Xu Huai and Di Niang? I saw them walking in the yard at dusk." Wang Xuan stood on tiptoe and looked at the soldiers running around next door, but there was no sign of Xu Huai and Su Di, so she asked in surprise.
Deng Gui was so angry that he kicked down half of the courtyard door. After a long while, he spoke to Wang Bing through the courtyard wall:
"Today I sent Xu Wujiang to lead a team of soldiers to guard Qingxi Village, but I didn't expect that when he arrived at Qingxi Village today, he couldn't wait to go out of the village to fight. When it was almost evening, I saw that Xu Jieji had not returned. The villagers rushed to check, but they didn't find him alive or dead. The villagers suspected that he was in contact with bandits, so Deng came to ask his wife about it, but he was gone..."
Although Wang Bing had no official position, and even Deng Gui suspected that Wang Bing and Lu Xiong were secretly involved in the matter, he did not dare to accuse Wang Bing, nor did he dare to speak too confidently in front of Wang Bing.
Of course, Su Di and Xu Huai are gone now, and Deng Gui no longer needs to use the "secret letter" as an excuse to make Tang Tiande, Jin Longquan and others believe that there is something wrong with Xu Wujiang's "complete annihilation of his army".
The next step for them was to send people to Qingxi Village to investigate the scene and then report the situation to the prefecture and county truthfully.
Of course, Deng Gui was also very frustrated inside.
He never expected that Xu Wujiang had already seen through his plot and was trying to help him escape at this critical moment.
"We can't wait until we report this to the prefecture and county before dealing with this matter," Tang Tiande hated Xu Wujiang for plotting against him, and at this time he walked to Deng Gui and whispered, "Most of those Wuzu were forced to leave by Xu Wujiang. The most urgent thing is to send people to Yuhuangling immediately to capture these Wuzu's family members and bring them to the Inspection Office for questioning. If Xu Wujiang takes all these family members away, then 'the sky is free for birds to fly, and the sea is wide for fish to leap'..."
Deng Gui looked at Jin Longquan, and Jin Longquan turned his head and looked away.
It was a common practice to bring the Wuzu's family members to the Inspection Office forcibly forcing the coerced Wuzu to escape and surrender, but Jin Longquan did not want to do this offending thing for no reason.
"Captain Tang, I will personally lead the soldiers to Qingxi Village tomorrow to investigate the bandit situation. At dawn, you will take a team of soldiers to Yuhuang Ridge to capture the young soldier and bring him to the Inspection Office to assist in the investigation of this case!"
Tang Tiande was willing to take the lead, so Deng Gui naturally pushed the matter onto him and said to Wang Bing:
"The bandit problem is very serious. It is of utmost importance to protect the public security of Mr. Wang. Tomorrow I will invite more local soldiers to help the Jin captain guard the military camp. At the same time, I will also arrange more soldiers to guard Mr. Wang. I also ask Mr. Wang not to enter easily during this period. If there is anything wrong, please forgive me!"
"Thank you, Mr. Deng, for thinking of me." Wang Bing said with a bow.
