Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 215 Chai Dai Meets
Zhao Yuanxing took the teacup with both hands, took a sip, and put it aside. In response to Yue Ling's words, he said, "Today, I do have official business to report to the Marquis."

Yue Ling nodded and also poured tea, "Okay, I'd like to hear more about it."

Zhao Yuanxing looked up, as if recalling what had happened recently, and said thoughtfully: "Recently, when we were escorting the convoy to the south, we passed through Qijiatun on the south bank of the Zhang River and saw a group of people with strange behavior."

"My Lord, you know that when we escort a caravan, we have to pay attention to suspicious people we meet along the way. We originally thought that they were interested in the goods we were escorting, but we didn't know that another group of people arrived behind them with a carriage, and went deep into the houses along the dirt road in the village."

"When we got closer to investigate, we heard a child crying inside."

"Not long ago, our Yunxing Escort Agency was accused of human trafficking, which caused the agency, which had been cultivated for generations, to lose all its credibility. Now we can only rely on the connections we have accumulated in the past and do some of the jobs left by others to make ends meet with the pitiful salary."

"The more you practice martial arts, the more you spend, but the less you practice martial arts, the less food you have to eat. This has led to the current situation. Apart from the Marquis, if there is anyone else who wants to find the real culprit, it is our escort agency."

"So, we sneaked up again and followed them closely. But after we entered a courtyard, several cars of children seemed to disappear into thin air after entering the door, and there was no more movement."

"Then we suspected that there must be a tunnel in the house that could lead to people."

"We don't know what's going on underground, and we don't dare to alert the enemy, so we can only return to Cangzhou Prefecture as soon as possible to inform the Marquis. Qijiatun is probably a den of human traffickers."

"I hope that the Marquis can follow the clues and find the real culprit!"

The more Zhao Yuanxing spoke, the more excited he became. Not only did he pour out his grievances, he also wanted to kneel down and kowtow to Yue Ling.

Jia Yun helped Yue Ling to get up and saw that Yue Ling, who had watched the performance, actually started to perform.

Yue Ling's face was covered with veins, his eyes were wide open, and he said, "How could such a thing happen? How dare you do such a treasonous thing again under my rule? No need for trial, you will be executed immediately!"

As he spoke, Yue Ling and Jia Yun hurriedly ordered, "Prepare the boats as soon as possible. We must eliminate this den of thieves immediately!"

Jia Yun bowed and responded, "As you wish."

After Jia Yun left, Yue Ling relaxed his expression and said, "When we are ready, we will ask Zhao Biao to lead the way for us."

Zhao Yuanxing cupped his hands and said, "I am very happy to serve you, my Lord."

"But this matter is urgent. If we act with great fanfare, the thieves may flee. It is better to fight quickly and decisively."

Yue Ling nodded, "They are just a bunch of thieves. I don't take them seriously anyway. It would be best if we can prepare a boat to take the children back."

Zhao Yuanxing was startled when he heard this, and then nodded, "That's true, my Lord, you have considered everything."

Yue Ling smiled and asked Zhao Yuanxing, "I have fought with Zhao Hao before, so I know that he is an extraordinary martial artist, and his swordsmanship is indeed superb. But I wonder what kind of martial arts Zhao Biaotou practices, is it internal or external boxing?"

Yue Ling was a military officer, so it was normal for him to be curious about martial arts. Zhao Yuanxing did not suspect him and answered according to his usual answer: "As an escort in the escort agency, you are exposed to the wind and sun, so you naturally practice the external ways to strengthen your body. I think the Marquis is also an expert in this area. How can my nephew get the upper hand over the Marquis?"

Yue Ling smiled stubbornly and waited for Jia Yun to leave and come back. As soon as he entered the door, a cool breeze blew in, which made Yue Ling frown, and Zhao Yuanxing shivered.

"Since the Marquis has made arrangements, I will not bother you any more. Recently, my Yunxing Escort Agency will not be escorting any more, and will only wait for the Marquis's orders."

Yue Ling nodded and said, "Don't worry, I will not let a villain go, and I will certainly not mistreat a meritorious official."

Zhao Yuanxing nodded repeatedly, bowed and left.

After Zhao Yuanxing left, Jia Yun closed the door, came to Yue Ling, and asked, "My Lord, how is he? Is there something wrong with him?"

Yue Ling smiled and said, "You are acting cautiously, but in my opinion, there are still too many flaws."

Speaking with Jia Yun, it seemed as if he had returned to his old business.

"As a martial artist who practices external martial arts, aren't his fingers too delicate? Even if they weren't covered with calluses, they would still be as strong as his body. Although they are wrapped with cloth to cover them, the flexibility of his fingers is also very high."

"For example, when drinking tea, the subconscious action of holding the cup is difficult to conceal."

"With such dexterity, he must not be a bodyguard who relies on brute force to travel the world. His work with his hands may be more delicate."

"Besides, when you entered the room just now, there was a gust of cold wind, which made him shrink his neck. This is not the performance of an external martial artist. Not to mention that his body is strong enough to resist the cold, but it can also reduce some of the effects. But he seems to be different. Although he has a well-trained body, he seems to be extremely sensitive to temperature."

Yue Ling nodded and concluded, "He is most likely the one who dealt with the snake venom. Snakes are extremely sensitive to temperature, and if you keep snakes for a long time, they will naturally be affected."

Seeing Yue Ling's thorough analysis, Jia Yun couldn't help but sigh, "Sure enough, Master, you can detect so many problems as soon as we meet. You can see the big picture from the small details. Your skills are too profound. How can I learn from you?"

Yue Ling shook his head. "This is just my current guess. I need evidence to prove the truth. Now I just have to wait for news from the Xue family."

"Oh, there is one more thing. Ask Zhao Hao to come with us when we board the ship. I will take him with me."

……

In the inner house of the government office, in the northwest courtyard,
Li Dehui came back from outside and looked in a very good mood.

There was nothing special about it. Yue Ling learned from the Huang family that everything was going well and was also preparing a boat to go to Zhang River.

It was not impossible to dig a boat on a river that was several dozen feet wide. Li Dehui borrowed some good men from inside the city, a total of more than 400 people, to help him accomplish the task.

More than four hundred people are already a lot for the Japanese pirates who are now short of manpower.

Even when they went ashore to rob, there were less than 800 people.

It was only when Li Dehui's leader heard that the person assassinated was Anjing Hou Yue Ling that he was willing to send more people.

One hundred people went into the water to dig the boat, and three hundred people waited on the shore. It was absolutely foolproof.

The Japanese pirates had been invading the border for a long time and had fought many battles with large and small armies. They also had some knowledge of Dachang's army.

Dachang focused on numbers, using more people to defeat fewer, thinking they had the upper hand. The Japanese pirates, on the other hand, focused on quality, often defeating more with fewer people, and their momentum grew stronger. They crisscrossed the border for hundreds of miles, invincible.

In fact, in Yue Ling's opinion, it was because there were few wars in the southeastern coastal areas, and the fortifications were abandoned, so there were not many soldiers who had undergone formal training. Moreover, the armor in the southern regions was mostly paper armor, cloth armor, and cotton armor. Facing the samurai swords with good forging skills today, they really had no advantage.

But even so, the Japanese pirates were full of confidence and perhaps were still dreaming.

Once Yue Ling died, Cangzhou City was in chaos and once again fell into a chaotic situation that they could control.

"What good news happened today?"

When Hou Yao saw Li Dehui come in, he couldn't help but ask with a look of pride.

Li Dehui laughed heartily and said, "What do you care about me? If I meet a pretty girl on the street, what's wrong with that?"

Hou Yao shook his head and said nothing more.

Instead, Li Dehui moved closer and saw him writing something behind the desk.

After taking a closer look, he found that he was still studying what Yue Ling had mentioned to him about using wood ash to purify sea salt and how to control the concentration, and he became a little bored.

Li Dehui couldn't help but complain in his heart: "What's the point of studying this kind of thing? After the marquis dies, who will care about this?"

"What's this Marquis Anjing? I think he's just bullshit. The Northern Barbarian boasted so much, but it turns out he's just trash that can't even be defeated by this kind of people. Without even a little bit of defense, he's about to fall into our ambush. I can't wait to see him begging for mercy."

"What a wonderful expression he would have when he saw that the person who had feasted with him and lived in the government office was the one who took his life?"

Thinking of this, Li Dehui was even more eager to try it out.

"It's a pity that we can't torture him to death. We should chop off his head and take it to apologize to the head of the family."

……

"What? They're all for me?"

Lin Daiyu took the list from Xiangling, flipped through it, and looked at the healthy woman unloading the goods outside the courtyard. She looked even more puzzled, "Why did Miss Xue suddenly send me these things?"

There is no such thing as a gift without reason. Lin Daiyu couldn't help but become a little alert.

Xiangling passed on Xue Baochai's message, saying, "My daughter said that she has been too busy lately and has no time to come to the government office to spend time with Miss Lin. A few days ago, I received a letter written by Miss Lin on behalf of the Marquis, and then I remembered that I had forgotten Miss Lin when I was discussing official matters with the Marquis."

"This is the supplementary apology gift from the young lady. They are all selected from Gusu. Miss Lin, please do not refuse."

"The girl also said that when she is done with her work, she will come to visit Miss Lin in her room. Miss Lin is a very beautiful and talented woman, and she has long wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with her."

It was really difficult for Xiangling to say so much at once. Fortunately, she had recited it several times on the way, so she had a rough draft in mind. Although she was not very smart, her memory was still pretty good.

But after hearing what Xiangling said, Lin Daiyu felt a strange feeling in her heart.

What do you mean by forgetting about her when discussing business with Brother Yue? She is not the eldest wife in this room...

Lin Daiyu was in no position to find fault for the moment. She had always been soft-hearted and would not tolerate tough situations. But this time, she really couldn't reach out and hit someone who was smiling at her.

Besides, Xue Baochai is also very smart. She had already figured out that the letter was written by her. So...

Xueyan picked up the list that Lin Daiyu had dropped, flipped through it, and her eyes suddenly sparkled, "Food! Food? Food again!!!"

"Girl, this Miss Xue is a very good person!"

Lin Daiyu frowned and shook her hands, saying, "Don't come and make trouble. Sister Xiangling, go back and tell Sister Xue that I welcome her to visit, but Brother Yue has been very busy recently and must be planning something big. I will send the invitation after this period of time."

Since the other person is generous, Lin Daiyu will not be stingy.

The daughter of a marquis has the nobleness of a marquis's daughter.

(End of this chapter)