“It’s me.” A lowered male voice sounded from outside the door. It sounded like Li Fu.
Third Brother Li’s face lit up. “It’s him. Quickly, open the door.”
One of his subordinates was about to do so when Zuo Tong suddenly called out, “Something’s wrong. We have men stationed outside.”
He had arranged for more than a dozen men to keep watch outside. If someone had truly arrived, they should have come in to report first.
Third Brother Li thought about it and realized that was indeed the case. He had been so excited just now that he had forgotten all about it.
A sense of foreboding welled up inside him. He was about to speak when more than a dozen Jinyang soldiers suddenly leaped onto the courtyard wall, each holding a repeating crossbow.
Zuo Tong’s pupils contracted. “You… you people?”
The subordinates behind him grew even more alert, their hands moving toward the daggers at their waists.
It wasn’t that they did not want to carry swords. The guards at the city gate inspected everyone entering the city, and no one was permitted to carry a weapon unless they held a special status.
Zhao Feng raised a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture. Then, with a loud thud, he jumped down from the courtyard wall, which was more than two meters high, and casually went to open the gate.
A minor task like this normally did not require his presence, but he happened to be on leave today, so he had come along to take a look.
Third Brother Li and the others: “…”
How overbearing!
They did not take them seriously at all!
Zuo Tong’s heart turned cold. He immediately understood that they had probably been discovered long ago.
Or rather, they had been set up!
From beginning to end, this had been a trap—a trap aimed at them!
With a creak, the courtyard gate opened, and Dong Si walked in with a beaming smile.
“Guests from Sizhou have come to our Gefeng, so why didn’t you announce yourselves?”
He glanced at the several boxes in the courtyard, and his smile grew even wider. “Look at you. You came all this way and even brought such generous gifts. How thoughtful.”
At this point, Zuo Tong instead became calm. “What happened to the men we left outside?”
Dong Si explained with a perfectly serious expression, “When they saw us, they were probably so delighted that they wanted to cheer and shout. But loud disturbances are prohibited in Gefeng so as not to inconvenience the residents, so I had them keep quiet.”
By now, Third Brother Li had finally accepted the fact that Li Fu had played him. His face instantly went deathly pale. “Where’s Li Fu?”
Dong Si still had a fairly good impression of him, after all, he had brought Lord fifteen hundred jin of gold cakes.
So he patiently offered an explanation. “He’s working right now. He’s busy.”
Third Brother Li nearly spat out blood. That seemingly honest and simple-minded Li Fu had not only set him up, but had done so without the slightest concern.
“So, from the very beginning, he was just stringing me along?” Unable to accept it, he gritted his teeth and asked.
Dong Si frowned. “How can you think that way? Weren’t you having a wonderful time together?”
Third Brother Li’s vision blurred with black spots.
Having a wonderful time?
That was true. Li Fu must have been having a wonderful time.
Seeing his expression, Dong Si decided to tell him some good news. “Li Fu has even earned merit this time. He’ll receive two hundred taels of silver and has been promoted.”
“I heard you two are good friends, and may even have been family generations ago. You must be happy for him, right?”
Two hundred taels might not amount to much to the powerful and wealthy, but to ordinary people, it was an enormous sum!
It was equivalent to more than eighty years of a common laborer’s total wages—in other words, money an ordinary person could never earn in a lifetime. After all, no one could work for more than eighty years.
Third Brother Li reeled and nearly collapsed.
Damn it, this was too hateful. They had used him as a stepping-stone—and not merely stepped on him, but crushed him to pieces and ground him into the dirt together with his flesh and blood.
What made him even more frustrated was that the person who had used him as a stepping-stone was Li Fu, the honest man he had always looked down on!
Zuo Tong gave a self-mocking smile, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “The Sixth Princess truly has some impressive methods.”
Dong Si modestly waved his hand. “What methods? Do you really think dealing with you requires any special methods?”
Zuo Tong felt as if he were about to vomit blood.
How arrogant!
No—how had someone who spoke like this not been beaten to death already?
“What do you intend to do now?” He clenched his teeth and swallowed his humiliation.
Dong Si found his attempt to turn the tables utterly ridiculous. “Shouldn’t it be your emperor who needs to answer for what he intends to do? You secretly infiltrated Fengzhou to steal our blueprints. What a despicable act!”
Zuo Tong’s face turned purple, then green. “I did this alone. It has nothing to do with His Majesty. I hope you will not implicate him.”
Dong Si gave him a strange look. “Implicate him? Lord and the First Prince are siblings—bound together even if their bones are broken. They ought to grow closer in the future. Why would we implicate him?”
Zuo Tong: “…”
Their bones really had been broken!
At that moment, he realized more profoundly than ever that the Sixth Princess truly harbored treacherous ambitions and would never submit to His Majesty.
Dong Si looked toward the boxes. “Go and inspect them.”
Several soldiers immediately stepped forward to examine them.
Suddenly, the men behind Zuo Tong sprang into action, gripping their daggers as they lunged at the soldiers.
Before they could make a move, however, the crossbowmen standing on the courtyard wall pulled their triggers. Arrows shot out.
At such close range, they almost never missed.
Cries of agony rang out.
Zuo Tong’s expression turned cold. Ignoring the screams of his companions behind him, he suddenly lunged at Dong Si.
That man was clearly an important figure. If he could take him hostage, he might have a chance to escape.
Dong Si merely took one small step back, clearing the way.
Zhao Feng strode forward and met the attack with his saber.
The two instantly began fighting.
There was no denying that Zuo Tong was skilled. Armed with only a dagger, he actually managed to go back and forth against Zhao Feng’s long saber.
Only after seven or eight exchanges did Zhao Feng kick him to the ground.
Before Zuo Tong could get back up, Zhao Feng viciously brought his foot down on his knee.
With a crack, the bone broke.
“Ugh…” Zuo Tong groaned, the veins on his forehead bulging. Yet he forcibly endured the pain without crying out.
Zhao Feng did not relax his vigilance simply because he had gained the upper hand and broken his opponent’s leg. With swift movements, he knocked the dagger from Zuo Tong’s hand with the tip of his saber, then dislocated both of his arms.
Zuo Tong had completely lost the ability to fight. He glared viciously at Zhao Feng. “Who are you?”
He had never imagined that the martial strength he took pride in would not last even ten moves against this man, despite the advantage Zhao Feng’s weapon gave him.
Zhao Feng frowned. “My name is Jinyang Army!”
The muscles on Zuo Tong’s face twitched. He looked toward Dong Si. “If you have the guts, kill me!”
Zhao Feng, who was not good at arguing, suddenly remembered what Dong Si had said moments ago. He simply borrowed the words and used them himself.
“Does killing you really require any guts?”
Dong Si: “…”
Why was this man stealing his lines?
When he showed that he didn’t approve of the money and goods, the other party quickly adjusted their offer and proposed paying in installments.
At that moment, he felt rather strange. It was almost as if the other party had known all along that he wouldn’t agree.
He sighed. “Even if Daqing were to return to Yan, so what? Given Daqing’s strength now, it would be difficult for them to deal with Fengzhou.”
