The Splendor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 19 Two Clearances
With his hand resting on the cold crossbow, Xiao Yi was completely focused, sensing Jie Hui's killing intent.

Finally, the crossbow bolt was pointed at the floor.

He guessed right; Xie Hui wanted to live more than avenge his men.

"Speak." Xie Hui, still standing on Xiao Yi's blade, his triangular eyes gleaming, asked, "How are we going to escape?"

Xiao Yi glanced at the high wall on the west side out of the corner of his eye, but did not mention his plan. Instead, he pondered and asked, "Shi Dechong didn't go to the front yard. Where did he go?"

He wanted to guide Jie Hui to find the secret passage or hiding place in the Shi family mansion, but then he heard Jie Hui mutter to himself.

"No wonder."

"What's the wonder?"

"He summoned the soldiers to the main hall, but then took the commander's military tally and went to the back garden, leaving me to search the whole courtyard."

Xiao Yi immediately thought of Shi Dechong's hurried rush to the study, which was clearly not unfounded.

He used his guards to hold the enemy back in the front yard, while he escaped alone with the military tally.
He quickly changed his mind and asked in a confident tone, "At this critical juncture, do you know what use the military tally is?"

"Naturally, it means mobilizing the Imperial Guards."

"The situation is already under the Emperor's control. Can he still mobilize the Imperial Guards?"

Xiao Yi asked another question with certainty, which made Jie Hui somewhat uncertain.

“There will always be those who obey orders. If you, young master, gather the old general’s men, even if you can’t accomplish anything, it will still give the emperor a headache.”

Xiao Yi had been wondering why so many troops had been deployed to surround the Shi residence, but now he understood and asked, "How does Shi Dechong plan to get out?"

"You mean..." Xie Hui pondered, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes, and said, "Since he can't escape anyway, let's hand him over to the officials and try to secure a better future?"

Xiao Yi was taken aback, not expecting Jie Hui to be so quick-witted, even thinking ahead of him.

A master at selling for personal gain.

Immediately afterward, Xiao Yi realized that Jie Hui had found a way to survive, which meant he could kill him.

The thought flashed through his mind, and sure enough, the murderous intent reappeared in those triangular eyes.

In an instant, Xiao Yi analyzed how many opportunities there were to make a move. Jie Hui was dressed in light leather armor, carrying a crossbow and a horizontal sword, while he only had a dagger at his waist.

He immediately spoke up to continue calming Jie Hui down.

"I have a pretty good idea of ​​which way he's going to run."

Xie Hui's murderous intent vanished instantly, and he asked, "Which way?"

"Come with me."

After saying that, Xiao Yi bent down to pick up the horizontal sword, but Jie Hui stood firmly on the ground, raised his crossbow, and raised his chin.

"Walk."

"Without trust, how can we work together towards a shared future?"

"I have the knife, you just need to come up with ideas."

"it is good."

Xiao Yi seemed to trust Xie Hui completely, and walked down from the pavilion, leading the way and looking for an opportunity to escape.

Xiao Yi thought of Shi Dechong's words, "You and Chun Tao are the people I trust the most," and with a thought in mind, he walked towards the courtyard where Chun Tao lived.

"Why are you carrying this bag?" Xie Hui asked.

"it works."

"Did you know all along that the historians were about to face a great calamity?"

"Guessed some."

“You little monkey, you’ve got some skills. But if you dare to play tricks, I’ll kill you and you can come looking for it yourself.”

After walking for a while, Xiao Yi suddenly stopped.

The faint sound of heavy footsteps could be heard from the corridor ahead. It sounded like only one person was making such a loud noise, and it was very likely that it was Zhang Mantun.

"Someone's coming, over here."

Xiao Yi changed direction.

He casually scattered the bean feed for the horses from his bag onto the ground.

After passing through two more courtyard gates, we arrived at the maids' quarters.

Far from the front yard, it remained quiet, with maids preparing to rest carrying basins of water or clothes as they moved about.

Jie Hui was overjoyed and suddenly kicked open a door.

Inside the room, two maids were changing clothes. Standing by the brazier, they stripped naked, paused for a moment, then ran away with their heads covered.

"what!"

"Haha."

Jie Hui grinned, his eyes gleaming with lust, and kicked down door after door, causing the maids in the courtyard to scream.

Seeing that he was distracted, Xiao Yi quietly gripped the dagger with his right hand.

Then, Jie Hui narrowed his eyes and stared intently at the back of a tall and burly maid.

"Damn it, no way?"

Jie Hui muttered to himself in confusion, then reached out and shoved Xiao Yi's shoulder.

"Take a look quickly."

Xiao Yi looked over and saw the tall maid turn her head to look in his direction. She was heavily made up and covered in rouge and powder. Who else could it be but Shi Dechong?

The three looked at each other and were stunned for a moment.

"Young master, please don't leave."

Jie Hui laughed heartily and strode towards Shi Dechong.

"do not come."

Perhaps sensing the ill intent in Jie Hui's eyes, Shi Dechong panicked slightly, but tried his best to maintain his usual dignity, and shouted, "I told you not to come any closer!"

"Haha, you know what, the eldest young master is indeed a bit spoiled."

As he spoke, Jie Hui reached out and pressed Shi Dechong's shoulder.

At the same time, Chun Tao came out of the side room with a cloak and hurriedly tried to save Shi Dechong.

"Young Master, hurry up!"

"Stop this woman!" Jie Hui pointed his crossbow at Xiao Yi.

Xiao Yi didn't want to get entangled with them, so he deliberately slowed down and looked back, only to see Zhang Mantun running towards him.

"You traitorous murderer, where do you think you're going?!"

"Whoosh—" A furious shout and the sound of wind breaking rang out at the same time. Xiao Yi retreated several steps and came to a short distance behind Xie Hui. He raised his hand and pointed, saying, "Zhang Mantun, look who's that?"

"It's your mother!"

Zhang Mantun was scolding, but his gaze was still fixed on Shi Dechong, who was dressed as a maid, and he was clearly stunned for a moment.

"This woman is too...so...so...Young Master, is that you?"

"Iron Fang, save me!"

"It really is? Don't harm Young Master!"

In an instant, Zhang Mantun lunged forward, Xiao Yi stepped back to dodge, and Jie Hui raised his crossbow.

"Oh!"

The baton grazed Jie Hui's nose and struck the ground.

The cold arrowhead of the crossbow was pointed at Zhang Mantun's throat, only two steps away.

"Go to hell."

Jie Hui sneered and pulled the trigger.

"despair."

"Whoosh."

The moment the crossbow bolts were fired, Xiao Yi suddenly rammed into Jie Hui's shoulder from behind.

The crossbow veered off course, and the arrow became embedded in a pillar.

"Damn it, what are you doing?!"

"Brother Mantun, we're even now."

After saying this, Xiao Yi leaped over the railing of the long corridor, entered a side room where a maid lived, and climbed out through the window.

He completely ignored the fierce clashes and roars coming from behind him as Zhang Mantun and Xie Hui fought.

"Young master, get out of the way, or I'll twist this dog's head off!"

"You bastard, die!"

"Screw you!"

“Fuck!”

"Oh!"

"Boom..."

Xiao Yi left the courtyard, and finally it was quiet.

He hurried toward the bamboo grove on the west side, winding his way along paths until, finally, after passing through another gate, he would reach that area.

Suddenly, he stopped.

Ahead, at the gate of the courtyard he needed to pass through, stood several armored soldiers.

My gaze shifted again, and there stood a line of imperial guards in the corridor, where a general wearing bright silver armor and a red cloak was pacing back and forth.

"Have you found the seal?"

"Reply General, not yet."

"Where is Shi Dechong?"

"Gone."

"Guard every gate of the courtyard, and make sure that not even a mosquito can fly out of the Shi family's house."

"Yes! You guys, go over there..."

Xiao Yi quietly retreated, but he could only take a detour through another courtyard gate to reach the bamboo grove on the west side.

The Shi family mansion was gradually losing its peace. The fire in the stables and the changes in the front yard spread fear rapidly, and the servants ran around like headless flies.

As he passed through a courtyard, he suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from afar.

"Haha, don't run away, let me have some fun first!"

It is Jie Hui.

Xiao Yi frowned, not wanting to pay any attention to this person.

After walking a few more steps, he suddenly realized that since Jie Hui was still alive, he might have already killed Zhang Mantun and Shi Dechong and taken the military tally.

If that's the case, then we can take it.

Xiao Yi put his baggage aside, gripped the dagger, and tied his wrists to the hilt with a strip of cloth to prevent the blade from being taken away.

Once he was ready, he tiptoed to the gate and peeked inside.

Two maids ran from the other side of the corridor and hid in a side room. Then, Jie Hui chased after them.

Even from a distance, Xiao Yi could still see the lewdness and madness in those triangular eyes.

"Hahaha, Qiushuang, I can smell you, you smell so good."

Xie Hui smiled and chased after him into the side room.

Xiao Yi waited a few moments before quietly going over. He listened intently to the sounds inside the room, then walked to the window, gently poked open the paper window with his dagger, and peered inside.

He first recognized Chun Tao, who was protecting a little maid with her hands tied. She must be Qiu Shuang. Both of them had tears on their faces and were in a panic.

"do not come!"

"Commander Jie, please spare her. She's only owed a debt of gratitude to the Shi family..."

"Go away!"

When Chun Tao's pleas went unanswered, she suddenly lunged at Jie Hui, grabbing a hairpin and stabbing it into his face.

Jie Hui grabbed her head and slammed it against the corner of the table twice.

"Boom! Boom!"

Xiao Yi's gaze sharpened.

Through the gap in the paper window, one could see Chun Tao lying face up on the ground, her forehead split open.

Blood flowed down her beautiful face, and one could vaguely see the way she used to try to put on a serious expression.

Xiao Yi felt his breathing become heavy, so he closed his eyes to calm himself down.

Jie Hui was armored, carrying a sword and a crossbow; he couldn't kill him if he went up rashly.

We need to wait a little longer, until he takes off his leather armor and is at his most excited before we make our move...

(End of this chapter)