Three Kingdoms: Jiangdong is no longer a rat

Chapter 67 Mansion
Xu Sheng's expression was solemn. He ordered his men to tie up Su Ze and the other fleeing soldiers. He discussed with Han Yang, "Qian Tong has been on the run for a long time. It's difficult to catch up. Now we can only try our best."

Han Yang asked somewhat frustratedly, "What does Wen Xiang plan to do?"

Xu Sheng said in a deep voice, "The only solution now is to free up 130 war horses, and have each man ride two horses to pursue them. I'll trouble Lord Han to escort these surrendered soldiers back to Yuncheng first. Please also report this matter to the young master."

Han Yang didn't hold out much hope of catching up with Qian Tong. Hearing this, he said, "In that case, I'll return to Yuncheng first. The enemy still has over a hundred cavalrymen. Lord Xu is pursuing us all the way, so we need to be careful."

Xu Sheng nodded, and selected 130 cavalrymen including Zhao Cuo, and ordered the other cavalrymen to give up their horses. The 131 people and 262 horses continued to chase towards Nanyang Mountain.

After chasing for half an hour, they still couldn't find any trace of the enemy. They were now less than ten miles away from Nanyang Mountain. Zhao Cuo said dejectedly, "Qian Tong escaped so quickly. I'm afraid I won't be able to catch him this time."

"Let's chase them to Nanyang Mountain first," Xu Sheng muttered, waving his arms and shouting to the surrounding cavalry, "Change horses and give chase with all your might!"

All the cavalrymen responded in unison, changed their horses, and galloped away.

After chasing for another five or six miles, Nanyang Mountain was already in sight. Zhao Cuo suddenly pointed ahead and shouted, "Wen Xiang, look!"

Xu Sheng looked up and saw a group of horsemen in the sky ahead, guarding several black chariots in the center and fleeing in panic. Seeing the pursuers approaching, seventy or eighty of the riders turned their horses around and charged with their spears.

"Come closer, form a formation and charge!" Xu Sheng shouted.

It was too late to rearrange the formation and speed up. The cavalrymen could only try their best to get closer to Xu Sheng while running at high speed, and barely formed a cone formation. Before the formation was formed, the two sides had already started shooting at each other. With a huge force coming, the two cavalry armies collided with each other.

In an instant, screams and the neighing of war horses filled the air. The two cavalry armies suddenly joined together and then separated, turning their horses around and forming new formations, leaving forty or fifty corpses on the ground.

Qian Tong's troops had less horsepower than Xu Sheng's troops, and they had to speed up in a hurry, so they suffered heavy losses in the charge. Among the thirty or forty corpses, more than twenty were theirs.

However, Qian Tong's personal cavalry were truly brave. In order to stop the pursuers and buy Qian Tong time to escape, they only took a short breath before charging again.

Xu Sheng said to a village chief beside him, "You and Zhao Cuo go chase Qian Tong, leave this here to me."

The captain and Zhao Cuo responded in unison and sent out fifty or sixty riders to chase after Qian Tong.

But in just a moment, Qian Tong, who was fleeing alone, was shot off his horse by an arrow from behind by a cavalryman. He lay on the ground with foam at the mouth, and his eyes looking up at the sky were full of despair.

If it weren't for the eight boxes of gold that slowed down the entire cavalry, how could he be caught up? But if he gave up the eight boxes of gold, what was the point of living?
While ordering people to treat Qian Tong, Zhao Cuo pried open a copper box, wanting to see what treasure it was that Qian Tong valued so much. He only escaped alone at the last moment.

The moment the lid of the box was opened, the dazzling golden light instantly dazzled his eyes.

Zhao Cuo lowered the lid of the box with a dull look in his eyes, pinched his cheeks, and muttered, "I've made a fortune."

As Xu Sheng and Zhao Cuo pursued Qian Tong, Yan Yi, heavily guarded by Chen Gan, Yin Li, and a host of personal guards and assassins, was making his way to the Qian residence. Wan Bin, his face full of flattery, diligently led the way.

Qian Tong's mansion covers an area of ​​dozens of acres and is built in a very grand manner. A row of tall walls are built on the north and east sides, which are connected to the city walls on the west and south sides, surrounding the mansion in the center, forming the image of a city within a city.

Since ancient times, sitting north and facing south has been considered respectful. The gate of the Qian Mansion also faces south, which is inspired by the idea in the Book of Changes that the sage king faces south and listens to the world.

There are nine steps in front of the palace gate. On both sides of the steps stand two stone lions with bared fangs and claws and a fierce look. Five or six steps away from the stone lion on the left, there is a drum. No matter whether it is an official or a commoner in the city, if they need to see money or copper, they can beat the drum to make a sound.

However, since this drum was erected, few people dared to hit it. It was just a decoration.

Yan Yi was no stranger to Jian Gu, as there was one erected in front of the gate of Yan Mansion. Jian Gu also often appeared in the costume dramas he had watched in his previous life.

When he stopped in front of the mansion gate and watched, dozens of people around him held their breath and stood quietly around him, waiting until he walked up the steps towards the vermilion lacquered gate. Only then did they follow closely according to their status.

Compared to two months ago, he is even more powerful.

After entering the mansion, there was a row of private schools on both sides of the gate. Unlike the private school he had seen in Geqi Pavilion, there were more than ten private schools here, and there were no wanted posters posted on the walls, making it look very tidy.

When someone comes to pay a visit to the mansion master, if he is not of high status, he will first wait in these rooms, tidy up his clothes, and wait until the mansion master summons him before he can enter the mansion to pay a visit.

Across the front yard, there is a hanging flower gate. The wood carvings on the gate are exquisitely crafted, and each hanging lotus column is carved vividly.

There are corridors on both sides of the hanging flower gate and a hall in the middle. Behind the hall, there is a sandalwood screen with a painting of the scene of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty slaying a white snake with a sword. It can be seen that Jifen Tong admired Liu Bang.

After passing the screen, there is a spacious courtyard with a hanging flower gate on each side, connecting to a flower hall and a forest garden respectively. In the middle is a solemn and dignified main room. On the room hangs a large gold-inlaid plaque with three large characters written in a flamboyant style: Tingshi Hall.

The so-called hearing room is naturally the place where Qiantong’s daily directors hold meetings.

Looking over the roof of the hearing hall, you can see several hundred steps behind it, where there are several three- or four-story attics standing. They are antique, with flying eaves and pointed corners. The eaves are decorated with auspicious birds that look like they are flying into the clouds. This must be the backyard where Qian Tong lived.

Yan Yi's gaze grew more astonished as he traveled. Qian Tong, a mere bandit whose territory was less than a quarter of Wucheng, had a mansion even larger and more imposing than Yan's! With such extravagance, how could he not fail?
In fact, he was a little unfair to Qian Tong. Although Qian Tong was greedy for enjoyment, it was also closely related to the small population of Yuncheng. With a small population, there was naturally a lot of vacant land. Qian Tong could not find any other use except to expand the mansion.

However, because Wucheng has a large population, if Yan Baihu wants to expand his mansion, he will inevitably have to occupy a large number of surrounding houses. If he forcibly requisitions them, it will easily cause public resentment and damage his reputation.

"Qian Tong, this prodigal son, built such a huge mansion. How much money must it have wasted on me!"

Yan Yi sighed, a trace of heartache showing on his face. He was already looking at every flower and tree in Yuncheng with the eyes of a master.

(End of this chapter)