Xie Ming

Why should a lone hero need a brocade robe? He wipes away the frost and snow at night with his sword.

Even if a thousand cavalrymen block my path, it will not hinder me from venturing into the tiger's den alone.

He shattered the heavy clouds, stars seemed about to fall, and returned with blood staining his sword.

The mountains stand like a sea under the setting sun, a long wind howls through the valleys like a surging tide.

On the night of the fifteenth of the eighth month in the second year of the Hongguang reign, Liu Zhecheng devised a plan to impersonate Xiao Chuang and go to the pass.

Once the equipment was on his person, at 9:45 PM, his son, with only twenty-odd cavalrymen, broke through the pass under cover of night, intending to deceive the heavens and seize the gate!

"drive--"

"drive!"

Before Shili Slope, the horse galloped forward, and Master Liu headed for the pass.

Before long, the North Gate of Hangzhou was almost in sight.

When this small cavalry unit knocked on the gate and drove to the front, armored helmets and white horses appeared. Liu Zhecheng, dressed as usual, pulled on the reins and stopped his horse.

He raised his head and shouted at the soldiers guarding the pass.

"Uu——"

"Shut up!"

Who will guard the pass?

"Quickly order the gatekeepers and soldiers inside to open the city gates!"

"Quickly, open the door!"

Master Liu showed no hesitation whatsoever and gave the order without hesitation.

Hearing the commotion outside the pass, they were disturbed by a knocking on the door. On the city tower, a soldier on night duty suddenly peeked down to look.

He listened to the sound and answered.

"what?"

"Come, who goes there?"

"This is so dark."

"By order of the higher command, the entire city of Hangzhou is under martial law."

"No foreign soldiers or civilians are allowed to enter the city."

"Which one are you?"

Tell me!

Ding Yongjia, standing on the city wall, followed the proper procedures without any delay and quickly returned.

However, it was clear that such words did not fit Liu's plan, so he hurriedly rebuked him again in order to intimidate him with his arrogance, make a quick attack in chaos, and take advantage of the situation.

"Bah!"

"You're blind as a bat."

"I am Xiao Jingchuan, the Duke of Jingguo, who was personally appointed by His Majesty as the Grand Commander of all the armies in the land."

"By imperial decree, I entered the palace to meet the Emperor."

"Who dares to stop me?"

"Stop arguing, hurry up and open the city gate for me!" Liu Zhecheng, disguised as Xiao Xing, cursed.

However, despite his impassioned words, the soldiers on the city gate dared not readily believe him.

Ding Yongjia, being the head of the squad, was stunned by the words spoken at the city gate. He stood there, flustered, and asked the person next to him for advice.

"Ah? This"

"Hey, you! I'm talking to you!"

"Did you hear me clearly? Did you say it was about Duke Jingguo, Xiao Jingchuan?" Ding Yongjia asked in a panic.

Upon hearing this, and seeing that the job had been assigned to him, the other soldier beside him became even more flustered.

"Uh, yes, right?"

"It's so dark at night, we can't see anything clearly, so is it or not?" Soldier B stammered and answered hesitantly.

Unexpectedly, the squad leader was also the kind of person who was tough on his own.

Seeing that soldier B was cowering and backing away, I got angry.

However, given the current seriousness of the matter, it was the right thing to do to act quickly and decisively, so he resorted to angry words and curses.

"Hey, that's all nonsense."

"What do you mean you can't see clearly? Even if you could see clearly, would you recognize me?"

"You really think you're something special. Get out of here."

"Quickly send someone over," the soldier said.

Soldier B, fearing further trouble, refused to comply and crouched down, adopting a dodging posture.

"Huh?! I, I'll go!" Soldier B stammered.

Hearing this, the squad leader became even angrier, his brows furrowed, and he glared and puffed out his beard. "Huh?!"

"You fucking bastard, if you're not going, what are you waiting for me to do?"

"I'm keeping an eye on things here, so stop dawdling and hurry up."

"During the day, I remembered that I was ordered to allow the Duke of Jingguo to return to the capital."

"Who the hell knows what's going on?"

"How dare you or I dictate the course of events in this world?"

"Quickly, go and call General Ma over here."

"To be of any use right now, we need to find someone with a big head."

Turning around, he saw that it was Soldier B who was still not moving, so he went up and kicked him.

"Go quickly!"

"Damn it, if someone from outside the city comes later, you're in big trouble." The squad leader, Ding Yongjia, said fiercely.

It is said that a higher-ranking official can crush a lower-ranking one, and even a lowly soldier has no way to disobey orders.

"Hey, this, this, this..."

"Why are you trying to pin all this blame on me?!"

So, reluctantly, the soldier grumbled a few words and slowly turned around.

Seeing the peasant's stubbornness, the foreman caught up from behind and kicked him in the buttocks.

"Hurry up!"

Before long, Liu Er was outside the city, unable to bear it any longer.

On the North Gate Tower, that General Ma, with his slow, deliberate steps, finally approached.

Upon seeing the commander, Ding Yongjia's arrogance vanished instantly, replaced by a servile and obsequious demeanor as he bowed and greeted him respectfully.

"Hey, General Ma, General Ma, hehe, look at this below the city."

However, before the man could finish speaking, the centurion swept his hand away, cutting him off.

He approached, his expression solemn, his square face stern, and he crouched down to peer out from behind the wall.

Unfortunately, it was already past midnight, and the area outside the city was completely dark.

Even if a fire were lit on the wall, the light would be insufficient to clearly discern the faces of the people below the pass.

A quick glance revealed a group of twenty knights, the leader of whom wore a rather impressive helmet and armor.

The armor plate reflected a bright light, and even General Ma hesitated to take out his large horizontal bar.

"Uh, haha."

"Um, those below the city, may I ask if it is the outgoing military commander-in-chief, the Duke of Jingguo, who has come in person?"

Mustering his courage, General Ma from the city wall asked a question.

Unexpectedly, Liu Er, who was in front of the gate, was holding back his anger and had nowhere to vent it, so he retorted.

"What the hell are you talking about!"

"How dare you, a mere gatekeeper, question me like this?"

"Damn it, if you keep dawdling, you'll delay my military affairs."

"Once I enter the city and see you, Lord Liu, I'll make you pay!" he declared threateningly.

Upon hearing these words, Ma Baizong on the city wall became frightened and his expression turned even more sinister.

"Oh, no, I wouldn't dare, I really wouldn't dare."

"Lord Duke, please don't be angry."

"It's really not that I'm being nosy and trying to stop you, but yesterday there was a strict order from above that the whole city was under martial law and no unauthorized people were allowed to enter."

"Oh, no, no, however, Your Excellency, you should not stop them from joining us."

"Your humble servant, Ma Chengquan, last year when you got married, I accompanied Lord Liu to your residence to offer my congratulations and gifts. Have you forgotten?!"

General Ma Chengquan is cunning and ruthless. What appears to be flattery is actually a strategic retreat.

What congratulations? It's just a smokescreen.

He certainly doesn't have that kind of good fortune; he's just quick-witted and wants to use this pretext to probe a bit more.

If the other party were to actually accept this casually thrown-out nonsense, then he would certainly not be the real Duke Jingguo.

The next course of action was either to capture and kill the suspect and report the incident.

Such a scheme was a last resort; the idea was to deceive him, and whether it succeeded or not, they could have something to say when Lord Liu came to ask later.

At the same time, both above and below the pass, Liu Er was also startled upon hearing these words.

He pondered for a moment, then turned his head, thinking that if it weren't for the fact that he was the warlord's personal attendant and had been busy with the household affairs on the wedding day, and thus knew some of the inside story, he would probably not be able to answer a single question right now, and would really be a failure and ruin his efforts.

(End of this chapter)