nucmednet Chapter 93 The Arrival of Liang Xiaoming
Chapter 93 The Arrival of Liang Xiaoming
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After leaving the flower hall, Liu Ye decided to act immediately. After contacting Lin San, he would use whatever method was necessary to bring Sun Yuanhua back to Lingao. He didn't tell Bai Lian and her disciples about this yet, as it would be difficult to explain to them in a few words why he wanted to kidnap an official who had been dismissed by the court and take him to Lingao.
Considering the unrest near Dengzhou and the absence of Bai Lian and Ling Xi'er, Liu Ye rented a carriage from a local security agency, along with a bodyguard. Following the Dengzhou Rebellion, many wealthy families who had temporarily escaped the chaos fled the city, needing not only carriages but also escorts. Security agencies seized the opportunity to act as personal bodyguards. Escorting wealthy merchants and their families was obviously faster and more lucrative than long-distance transport of valuables—of course, these agencies could only handle a few petty thieves taking advantage of the chaos; they were simply out of luck when facing large groups of rebels.
This escort agency, named "Yangwei Escort Agency," was the only one in Dengzhou City and had a fairly good reputation. The journey from Dengzhou to Huangxian was short; a round trip by carriage could be completed in a day. Liu Ye had given them ample silver, and the coachman's whip cracked loudly as they arrived in Huangxian before noon. Guided by Liu Ye, they headed straight for the coal mine they had purchased. To avoid encountering the rebel army, Lin San chose to hide in the coal mine.
It's said that "bandits pass like a comb, soldiers pass like a fine brush," and when the rebel army breached Huang County, the county town was naturally littered with corpses, a truly gruesome sight. However, the coal mine was located in the suburbs, and since the rebels only cared about gold and silver, they didn't even bother with the few dark, unremarkable pieces of coal here. So, apart from the workers who had all fled, the mine and its tools remained intact. Liu Ye arrived at the coal mine, told the carriage and the bodyguards to wait where they were, and went into the coal yard alone.
The coal yard was piled high with coal that hadn't been hauled away, like small mountains. Because of the war, nearby residents had either been killed or fled for their lives; although no one was guarding it, no one was touching the coal that was neither edible nor drinkable. Passing by one of the coal piles, Lin San heard footsteps and was peering out when he bumped into Liu Ye.
He stepped forward excitedly, preparing to kneel down, saying, "Master, your subordinate has come to take you back..."
Liu Ye helped him up: "Get up, let's get down to business. The master doesn't appreciate this. How many people did you bring?"
"Because it's inconvenient to dock and enter the port, only fifty people came, and there are still..."
Before he could finish speaking, Liu Ye took two steps and stopped, staring in astonishment at the group of guards walking towards them. The leader was none other than Liang Xiaoming.
Liang Xiaoming was even more agitated than Lin San. He took two quick steps, hugged Liu Ye tightly, and shouted, "What the hell is wrong with you? You left here all alone to risk your life, leaving me with all the family's problems..." As he spoke, he punched Liu Ye hard on the back twice.
"Hehe..." Liu Ye was momentarily confused and could only chuckle awkwardly. He never expected Liang Xiaoming to come and pick him up in person.
After scolding him, the two sat down in a makeshift wooden shed and discussed in detail what had happened in the past six months.
Facing his travel companion, the person he trusted most in this time and space, Liu Ye had no need to hide anything and recounted his experiences over the past period in detail, from visiting Sun Yuanhua and being kidnapped by Bai Lian, to actively infiltrating the rebel army, experiencing life-and-death trials, and being powerless to stop the rebels from entering the city.
This experience was more dramatic than any TV series, and coupled with his eloquence, Liang Xiaoming listened with great interest, sometimes frowning and sometimes grinning as the plot unfolded.
“Mingzi, you’ve come at just the right time. This time I came to Shandong, I’ve accomplished nothing except for mining tens of thousands of catties of coal. The mutiny still happened, and Dengzhou still fell. However, I managed to save the lives of Sun Yuanhua and a dozen Portuguese men. Once we get them out, we’ll leave. Let Li Jiucheng and his men handle things in Shandong. It will take the imperial court a year or two to sort out this situation. Once we’re free, we can get involved in Shandong.”
"Ahem, let's talk about the future later. First, let's talk about you. Do you know that as a leader, such risky behavior is a major taboo? The idea of using the rebels in Shandong is not wrong, but it shouldn't be done by you. If anything happens to you, everything we've done will be meaningless." Liang Xiaoming said with a hint of disappointment.
Liu Ye said with a wry smile, "I understand! I'll never do it again. It was a complete accident back then. Opportunities are fleeting, and I was only thinking about seizing this sudden opportunity so that it would be much easier for us to intervene in Shandong in the future. Besides, I didn't think that much about it at the time..."
Liang Xiaoming continued to lecture him for half an hour, until Liu Ye swore he would never take such a risk again, almost to the point of vowing, "If I break this vow, may I never have a son..." before he barely got away with it.
"So what are your plans now? Are you going to take a boat back to Lingao immediately, or...?"
"No rush. The main force of the rebels is not in the city right now, so Dengzhou is relatively safe. I need to send Sun Yuanhua and the Portuguese out of the city first, and then I'll leave."
Liang Xiaoming frowned. "Even if the main force of the rebels isn't in Dengzhou, there must be quite a few garrison troops. How can we, with so few men, get Sun Yuanhua and Putao out of the rebels' guards? Do you have a plan?"
"This all depends on that charlatan Wang Bao. Thanks to me, he's doing very well in Dengzhou City now. It's time to collect some interest from him; that was the condition we agreed on back then."
"And what about those two White Lotus Sect women you met? What should we do with them?"
Liu Ye hesitated. After all, the two were members of the White Lotus Sect. He could use them, but he couldn't bring them back to Lingao. What if they lost their minds and spread the rumors about the Eternal Mother's Vacuum Hometown in Lingao?
“They’re not inherently bad, and even though they’re part of a religious sect, they’re not my enemies… However, we’re on different paths, so let’s walk our own sunny path and let them continue on their narrow bridge…”
After deciding on their course of action, the group set off for Dengzhou City.
To avoid suspicion, Liu Ye didn't follow them but instead returned via the same route in the escort agency's carriage. Liang Xiaoming and Lin San, with fifty guards, kept a distance from him, and entered the city in several groups to avoid arousing suspicion from the rebels—although Dengzhou was no longer under martial law, the checks at the city gates were still very strict. To prevent the Patriot rifles they were carrying from being exposed, Lin San specially found a large cart, covered the guns with tarpaulins, piled a heap of coal on top, pretending it was a coal transport vehicle, to evade the city gate guards' inspection.
Unlike his feelings when leaving the city, Liu Ye was full of confidence on the way back. With fifty guns as his backup, he was no longer fighting alone.