Qin Gong

Chapter 686: Civil Disturbance in Linzi

Chapter 686: Civil Disturbance in Linzi

“Ah! Ah!! I am the King of Qi… Ah! My dear brothers, you guys… Ah!!”

Under the cover of night, beside the campfire, Tian Jia was beaten and kicked by a group of men.

An adult who makes a living with a sword has far more strength than merchants or ordinary people, not to mention how fierce his fists and feet would be when he fights.

Soon, Tian Jia, who was once of noble birth and looked down on others, gradually lost the strength to even speak.

Shui Shou, who was standing next to Bai Yan, stared at the scene in a daze. Looking at the big man whom he would never forget in his life, what emerged in Shui Shou's mind was the humiliation of the past and the disability of today.

Shui Shou will never forget that day, when he was beaten by one person after another, tortured in public into a cripple, and almost lost his life.

Thinking of his wife and parents, Shui Shou had thought countless times in the past how nice it would be if his legs and feet were still able to move.

“Wooo ...

"Woooooo~!"

Then, under Shui Shou's gaze, the tied-up servants of Tian Jia were lifted up one by one with fear on their faces, and knelt on the ground. Then, one man after another came behind them, holding a sword in one hand, and then swung the sword to chop them down.

As the servants were chopped to the ground one by one, the better ones died on the spot, twitching all over and eventually becoming motionless. But for the unlucky ones, after the sword missed their target, a man would come forward to finish them off and stab them from behind with a sword.

Just a moment.

Several people lost their lives in front of Shui Shou.

Shui Shou, who had been an honest and well-behaved boy since childhood, had never seen such a scene. When he saw several living people die in such a tragic way, his pupils were full of panic. However, when he looked at Zhongdi who looked calm beside him, Shui Shou calmed down.

"Brother, you must protect your brother and sister-in-law, and your parents in the future. Do you want to avenge this hatred with your own hands?"

Bai Yan looked at the dying Tian Jia and handed the Zhanlu in his hand to his brother.

In a quiet atmosphere.

Bai Yan looked at his frightened brother in front of him, saw the hesitation in his brother's eyes, and saw Zhan Lu. Bai Yan did not force him. He looked at Tian Jia and prepared to turn around and help his brother get revenge.

But just as he turned around and put down Zhanlu, Bai Yan suddenly felt a pair of hands on the hilt of Zhanlu and grabbed his hand.

Looking back at his brother's actions, a smile finally slowly appeared on Bai Yan's handsome face.

Growing up with his elder brother, Bai Yan naturally hoped that his elder brother would be honest and obedient all his life and spoil him, the younger brother, just as he had been since he was a child.

But the world is changing, no matter how good things are, they are in the past, and my brother can't stay the same all his life.

Bai Yan couldn't stay with his parents and his brother and sister-in-law all his life. After all, his brother also had to take care of his family and face the future.

"I am the brother of the King of Qi! If you dare to kill me, the King of Qi will never let you go. If you let me go..."

Tian Jia was dying. While gasping in pain, he looked at Shui Shou, who was walking towards him step by step with a sword in his hand. His eyes were filled with fear and despair. Holding on to the last glimmer of hope, Tian Jia threatened, revealed his identity, and made promises.

However, as Tian Jia was watching, Shui Shou, holding the Zhanlu, looked at Tian Jia with panic in his eyes and trembling.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths...

The men around were holding bloody swords, and many men were holding torches. They all looked at Shui Shou quietly, and Bai Yan was no exception.

Finally, under the cover of night, with everyone watching, Shui Shou trembled for a while, and seemed to have made a decision. He walked forward with Zhanlu in both hands and slashed at Tian Jia's face with the sword again and again.

Tian Jia eventually lost his voice. Among all the people who were captured, only Tian Jia's favorite concubine was still alive. However, her pretty face was already frightened out of her wits, and she looked at the people in front of her with a pale face.

Half an hour later.

Next to the stream.

The moonlight shone on the earth. Bai Yan watched his brother Shui Shou washing himself in the stream, then raised his head and looked at the bright moon in the sky.

I can remember that the last time I stood by the stream with my brother, waiting for him to wash up, was six or seven years ago. When I was a child, there was not much at home. Apart from collecting bird eggs with my uncle, I would go down to the river with my brother.

"Brother Yan, if the King of Qi doesn't surrender, are we really going to attack Linzi?"

While thinking, Bai Yan heard his brother's voice and came back to his senses. He looked at his brother standing in the stream, who had recovered and was looking at him.

Bai Yan knew that his brother was worried that if he led the troops to attack Linzi, he would be hated by the people of Qi, so he was silent for a moment.

"If we don't fight! Yan will not be able to explain to the Qin court, nor to his soldiers. Li Xin, Yang Yan, Yan Mao, Hui Pu, all of them will be implicated for no reason. Even if the Qin court changes generals and captures Linzi, all of them will make up for their mistakes!"

Bai Yan explained.

Attacking Linzi would certainly make the people of Qi resentful, but if they did not fight, the crime of neglecting the war would affect not only Bai Yan, but all the generals under his command.

On the one hand, there is the righteousness to his motherland, and on the other hand, there is the affection for his comrades. Bai Yan can only choose the latter. Not to mention that all the soldiers have followed him through life and death, Bai Yan also has to consider himself and his wife Tian Feiyan.

"Why did King Qin Ying Zheng let Brother Yan lead the troops to Linzi?"

After hearing Bai Yan's words, Shui Shou fell silent, but he became even more confused. Perhaps in Shui Shou's eyes, everyone said that King Ying Zheng of Qin favored Brother Yan, but if it was a favor, why would he give such an embarrassing and thankless task to Brother Yan, which would be a difficult task if one was not careful?

Wouldn't it be better to have another Qin general lead the troops?

"Before Yan left Xianyang, all the Ying clan members in Guanzhong had gathered in Xianyang City. They all seemed to be writing letters to ask the King of Qin to divide the world. Not only were the ministers in the court very subtle, but the Ying clan members and the King of Qin were also testing each other."

Bai Yan explained.

Shui Shou walked ashore from the stream, heard Bai Yan's words, shook his head, and sighed that the relationships between big shots were so complicated.

Although he didn't fully understand Zhongdi's intention, Shui Shou could sense that compared to the intrigues among the villagers and compared to the place outside Linzi City where wars could break out at any time, Xianyang in Qin State was a place where people's hearts were more complicated, full of power struggles and calculations, and people were fighting for their own interests.

"General, the body has been buried!"

The two leading men came to the stream in the night and bowed to Bai Yan.

In the dim night, Bai Yan nodded when he heard this, stood up, took out a small bag of money from his pocket and handed it to the two men.

"Take the people back to Shanwu, meet Shanwu, and let everyone relax! What happened today must not be spread out!"

Bai Yan instructed.

Hearing this, the two men nodded quickly, saluted Bai Yan, and turned to leave.

These people were all close associates of Bai Yan and Wei Lao, so it was impossible for Bai Yan to kill them to silence them. Moreover, Tian Jia's death was just something that shouldn't be spread out at the moment, and it didn't mean that they would have to be so worried in the future.

King Jian of Qi, Tian Dan, Tian Rong, Prince Sheng and others will sooner or later learn of their origins, and by then the matter between their brother and Tian Jie will certainly not be concealed.

If there is no news about Tian Jia for a year or two, or three to five years, everyone will guess that Tian Jia is dead, but they will have no evidence.

"Brother, let's go!"

Bai Yan turned around and said to his brother Shui Shou.

Shui Shou nodded, wearing wet clothes, and followed Bai Yan. The two brothers walked towards the Qin army camp together.

The next day.

As the sky brightened, Bai Yan got up early and discussed the next deployment with Wei Lao, Li Xin and others.

The arrival of a scroll of bamboo slips surprised Bai Yan, Wei Lao and others.

"God help Qin! Tian Dan, Tian Heng and others conspired against the King of Qi. The secret was leaked, and the King of Qi ordered people to arrest the two overnight!"

As Bai Yan spoke, he handed the bamboo slips to Mr. Wei.

After reading the bamboo slips, Old Wei was also surprised. His face did not know whether to laugh or cry, and he seemed to be mocking the ambitions of Tian Dan, Tian Heng and others.

"I'm afraid this matter is also related to what you said to the King of Qi before!"

Old Wei sighed, handed the bamboo slips to Li Xin and others who were full of doubts, and then looked at Bai Yan.

Both the master and the disciple knew that the fact that King Jian of Qi was able to discover it and be on guard was most likely related to the previous reminder. The bamboo slips that Tian Ding gave to Bai Yan before leaving were truly unimportant.

"The king and his subjects are suspicious of each other, and the father and his son are alienated. It won't be long before the King of Qi surrenders to Qin."

Mr. Wei's tone was somewhat complicated.

When Wei Lao came to Qi State when he was young, he often marveled at the wealth of Qi State, the prosperity of commerce, the culture of the people of Qi, the theories of various schools of thought, and the mutual respect between the ruler and his subjects.

But now, after seeing the scene in Qi State and the intrigues among the powerful people in Qi State, Mr. Wei couldn't help but sigh that perhaps Qi State was destined to perish.

"I plan to meet the King of Qi to discuss this at the gate of the city!"

Bai Yan looked at Mr. Wei and said.

Before in Xianyang, King Ying Zheng of Qin ordered him to lead his troops south to pacify Qi as soon as possible. However, as for persuading King Qi to surrender, Ying Zheng never mentioned any promises to the King of Qi from beginning to end. It seemed that everything was left to Bai Yan.

If it were something else, Bai Yan might still hesitate, worried that his actions would displease Ying Zheng and make him unhappy.

Fortunately, Bai Yan still has confidence in persuading the King of Qi to surrender.

The fiefdom of five hundred li was recorded in detail in historical books of later generations, which also meant that Ying Zheng could accept this request.

Bai Yan only needs to reduce 250 miles on the basis of the 500 miles. Regardless of whether the King of Qi agrees or not, Bai Yan has room for maneuver and can explain to Ying Zheng. If the King of Qi thinks it is too little, then Bai Yan can continue to negotiate. As for Xianyang, Bai Yan can secretly send someone to deliver bamboo slips to the right prime minister Feng Lao.

As long as Bai Yan did not agree to give the King of Qi 500 li, Old Feng could persuade Ying Zheng to personally promise the King of Qi a fief of 500 li.

"After experiencing the conspiracy between the clan members, I am afraid that the King of Qi is also uneasy at the moment. Moreover, the city is full of Qi ministers who are pleading for Tian Dan and Tian Heng, as well as the aristocratic forces of Chu, Wei and Yan."

Old Wei nodded and very much agreed with Bai Yan's appointment with King Qi.

Inside the Qin army camp.

Following Bai Yan's order, five soldiers quickly rode their horses and rushed towards Linzi City.

Just outside the gate of the Qin army camp, a carriage slowly stopped. Two scholars in silk clothes looked at the Qin cavalry riding away and glanced at each other.

"It looks like these Qin cavalry are going to Linzi!"

Chen Ze said.

Fu Yao nodded, and then the two of them came to the gate of the camp together, reported their origins to the Qin soldiers guarding the camp, and asked to see Bai Yan.

(End of this chapter)