Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 807 Destroyed
He Tan smiled upon hearing He Xing's words.

He Xing saw only mockery in those words. He was furious and said with red eyes, "What? Isn't that right?"

He Tan interjected, "Do you think that as long as you have the support of your clan, your family could do a better job than my son and I?"

“Of course,” He Xing said without hesitation, “You insist on tying yourselves to the Wang family, but how much benefit have the Wang family given you? Now that Wang Bingchen has become prime minister, you are the ones who have to avoid suspicion.”

"The same goes for the case in Daming Prefecture. The Wang family took all the benefits, but the He family was punished instead? If the Wang family truly cared about the He family, they could easily have erased this minor offense."

He Tan stared coldly at He Xing: "When it was discovered that you were connected with the Xie family, I wished I could throw you and your father into prison. It was your father who handed over the family's remaining wealth to the court and cooperated with the government in investigating the case, which is why we have this result now."

"The clan thought you had truly repented, and several elders took turns sending me letters asking me to promote you brothers, which is why I agreed to bring you to the camp."

He Xing clenched his fists: "We've only done one or two deals, and we haven't taken much benefit from them."

“If it weren’t for this,” He Tan said, “even if the court wanted to be lenient, I wouldn’t agree.”

He Xing's face grew even more menacing: "You still dare to say such things now?"

"What?" He Tan met He Xing's gaze. "If I beg for mercy, will you spare my life?"

He Xing replied decisively, "Of course not."

He Tan's face darkened: "I'm telling you this to tell you that if you continue like this, your fate will be even worse, and you might even implicate your clan."

“Impossible,” He Xing said. “Without people like you, the He family would only get better and better.”

He Tan scrutinized He Xing: "You're so confident, who's supporting you?"

He Xing remained silent, while He Tan guessed, "Who is Xia Mengxian's backer?"

He Xing's expression immediately changed.

He Tan continued, "Then how are you going to cover up my death? The court will eventually need to see my body. How can these knife wounds on my body be concealed? I guess... unless you create a rebellion or a border war. So, you kept saying you wanted to pass on the news from here, trying to trick me into handing over this, right?"

He Tan reached into his robes and pulled out a bronze token, the credential for mobilizing troops. Before He Xing could react, He Tan suddenly raised his hand and threw the token toward the cliff.

He Xing tried to stop it, but it was too late; he could only watch helplessly as the token fell.

"You..." In his anger, He Xing looked at He Tan again, only to find that He Tan had pulled off the Hetian white jade from her neck, thrown it on the ground, and then picked up a stone and struck her heavily.

The jade plaque was broken into four pieces.

That was the He family's jade token. Even without the imperial court's token, producing the He family's jade token would at least gain the trust of the He family army.

He Xing went completely mad. He realized why He Tan had been talking to him—to figure out his intentions and then react accordingly. If he hadn't tried to assassinate He Tan earlier, He Tan might have entrusted the token to him. He had been too hasty.

He Tan struggled to his feet, raised his long sword again, and looked at He Xing: "Are you here to retrieve the token, or to kill me?"

He Xing naturally wanted to see where the token had fallen. Although it was winter, there were many pine trees at the foot of the mountain, and it might be hanging on some branch.

However, finding the token was not as important as killing He Tan, so He Xing gripped the hilt of his knife tightly.

Having achieved his goal, He Tan seemed more relaxed: "Won't there be other monkeys on this mountain? If they take it, you'll never find it again."

He Xing's eyes twitched again. He knew that He Tan was deliberately trying to distract him, but he still fell for it.

Being too concerned about something means you'll become controlled by it.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, He Tan swiftly moved his longsword, kicking up stones from the ground and throwing them at He Xing. Without caring whether he hit them, he immediately turned and leaped down the other side of the cliff. He Xing instinctively dodged, but by the time he came to his senses, He Tan's figure had already disappeared before him. He hurriedly ran over to see what had happened. The cliff looked precipitous, but there was a gentler slope on the side, which allowed him to leap down.

He threw the token to another spot and descended the mountain from this side. This was calculated; he couldn't have both.

Just as He Xingzheng was unable to make up his mind, Wumu finally arrived with his tribe.

He Xing was filled with rage, feeling that Wu Mu was useless. If he had arrived a moment earlier, he wouldn't have let He Tan go.

"Where is He Tanren?" Wu Mu asked first.

He Xing briefly explained what had just happened: "He was seriously injured and couldn't have gone far. If we chase after him now, we can definitely capture him in less than half an hour."

Umu frowned: "What about the token? Without the token, will He Tan's men believe what you say?"

He Xing wasn't sure: "He Tan is very strict in managing his troops, and tokens are required... Besides, not all the Xiang Army generals are his men, so they won't send out troops without official documents and tokens."

He hadn't expected He Tan to be so decisive, immediately destroying both items.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Wu Mu instructed He Xing, "Why aren't we going to go find them?"

Searching down the cliff was fraught with difficulties, but He Xing had no choice but to bite the bullet and do it. He couldn't afford to waste too much time, or he might ruin his master's grand plan.

He Xingdao: "Then... He Tan..."

After thinking for a long time, Umu finally made up his mind: "Do you know what lies below here?"

He Xing looked carefully and said, "The pass to the north... should be Da Shun City."

At this point, He Xing froze: "There are many garrison troops stationed in Da Shun City. If He Tan runs there, he might be able to persuade those troops to capture us. Even if he doesn't have the token to order the garrison to send troops, he can still hide in the army and escape."

Wu Mu, however, was not in a hurry. Instead, he smiled knowingly and said, "Really? He Tan really went to Da Shun City, which saves us some trouble."

He Xing was surprised: "You...you mean, the garrison of Da Shun City is the master's people?" He Tan was worried about the safety of the northwest frontier and had even submitted a memorial to the court requesting reinforcements. Later, a small portion of the garrison in Daming Prefecture went to Da Shun City.

If there are problems in Dashun City, wouldn't He Tan be shooting himself in the foot?

“I don’t care what method you use, you have to find the token,” Umu said. “You don’t need to get involved in capturing He Tan.”

He Xing knew that half of his credit had been taken, but he could only swallow this bitter pill, since he had failed to kill He Tan. However, he did learn about his master's plans. It was a grand scheme, and many pieces would be put up one after another, and he was just one of them.

……

Umu ordered his men to split up: one group would flank from below the cliff, while the other would pursue them down the cliff.

Despite his injuries, He Tan remained swift in action, and given the difficulty of pursuing him on horseback in the mountains, Wu Mu had no other option. To prevent He Tan from escaping, he ordered the lighting of beacon fires and the firing of arrows to signal the troops of Da Shun City to encircle him.

This was all planned in advance. If they couldn't win over He Tan, they would have to ask Da Shun City for help. Although this would expose the spies their master had planted, they couldn't worry about that now.

If something happens in Bianjing, the surrounding troops will inevitably have to go to the rescue. At that time, the most difficult force to deal with will be the troops under He Tan's command. Therefore, we must deal with He Tan in advance and can also use the He family army to do some things.

Therefore, no matter what, He Tan must die.

With the message sent out, Wu Mu felt much more at ease: "Keep moving forward and search carefully. Don't let He Tan escape."

(End of this chapter)