Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 815 Return
"Madam."

Zhao Zhongliang bowed to Xie Yuyan.

Xie Yuyan nodded: "How are the preparations going?"

Zhao Zhongliang said, "When we came out of the Northwest, we placed the grain, medicine, and firearms in the place agreed upon with He Du's commander."

Xie Yuyan nodded.

Zhao Zhongliang led the caravan, claiming to be delivering goods to Bianjing and Quanzhou, but in reality, they were transporting military supplies.

With the secret arrangements of He Tan and Wang Yan's men, they used the guise of transporting goods from the border markets to smoothly pass through various checkpoints. They also hid the military supplies in batches. When He Tan raised his army, they could easily obtain the supplies by following the pre-arranged route.

“It’s a pity we don’t have many warhorses,” Zhao Zhongliang said. “Otherwise, we would be even less constrained if we deployed them all.”

Xie Yuyan said, "It's already quite difficult to secretly exchange some horses in a border market that was only opened this year."

Not to mention the high cost of warhorses, purchasing them in large quantities would also attract the attention of the owner.

“This is already very good,” Xie Yuyan said. “The Marquis of Changyuan’s residence will send people to meet him, and He Tan should be able to escape smoothly.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhongliang's eyes lit up, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief. When he left the Northwest, he was very uneasy. If it weren't for his wife's prior instructions, he might have been tempted to secretly run back to help.

They had prior knowledge of the unusual movements of the troops in the Northwest, and their personnel had been keeping a close eye on the situation in Da Shun City. Their merchants also helped to relay the information. Although they couldn't be sure what methods those people would use, as long as they made some arrangements, they could gain an advantage.

Zhao Zhongliang took a deep breath, hoping that everything would go smoothly.

"Then what happens next..."

Xie Yuyan said, "Continue heading towards Quanzhou. The boss's people will be keeping an eye on you, but they won't care when it's time to make a move."

The owner wouldn't ignore the Empress Dowager and the court and target her and the caravan first. As far as the owner was concerned, once the overall situation was settled, it was equivalent to having her life and death in his hands. There was no need to be distracted by her at this time.

"When you arrive at each place, you must deliver the message," Xie Yuyan instructed Zhao Zhongliang. "You must also prepare ships and manpower."

Zhao Zhongliang nodded immediately.

Xie Yuyan continued, "I will come to find you after I finish what I'm doing."

Besides Marquis Changyuan, the Empress Dowager also secretly issued decrees to several officials. Originally, Abbess Jingyuan should have gone there herself, as she had memories of the future and could have helped from the sidelines.

“Please be careful, Madam,” Zhao Zhongliang whispered. “Those people are no longer hiding. If they find out where you are, they might have bad intentions.”

Xie Yuyan nodded: "You are the same."

Zhao Zhongliang withdrew. He had been looking forward to knowing his master's true colors, and now that he had finally reached this point, he felt no fear, but rather elation.

Next, he will handle all the tasks that the lady of the house has instructed him to do perfectly.

……

South of Da Shun City.

The Wuya tribe, led by Wumu, is pursuing the He family army.

Umu, mounted on his horse, watched the disheveled state of He's army with a smile on his face.

The Wuya tribe was forced to submit to the Great Liang because He Tan's father led troops to besiege them. In recent years, whenever there was trouble in the northwest, the Wuya tribe would go to war, and countless tribesmen had been lost as a result. He had long been fed up with this kind of life.

“If the He family army can be destroyed by my hand,” Wu Mu said, “I will be the god in the hearts of my people from now on.”

Umu was extremely pleased, after all, these soldiers in front of him had once struck fear into their hearts.

After a long while, the general sent by the Wuya tribe returned to Wumu and reported: "He Tan's troops didn't even engage us. As soon as they saw us coming, they began to rout." Upon hearing this, the tribesmen around Wumu burst into laughter.

The general continued, "We didn't dare to continue the pursuit, fearing there might be an ambush."

Umu was somewhat dissatisfied. In his opinion, with He Tan gone, the He family army had lost its morale. They should have taken advantage of their defeat to wipe them out in one fell swoop. His own generals were too cautious, having been frightened out of their wits by the He family man before.

Seeing the anger on Wu Mu's face, the general whispered a reminder: "Didn't someone come over a few days ago... to warn us to be careful...? Even if He Tan is gone, the He family army won't be so easy to take down."

That was a message sent by the Duke of Wei, instructing them not to be careless.

Umu said coldly, "Their plan is to force the He family's troops to march south and fall into their encirclement, so that they can wipe them out without lifting a finger."

"If we really do that, what will we get in return when rewards are given for our contributions?"

Umu hadn't thought of these things before, but Cao Jun reminded him, and then he suddenly realized.

Upon hearing this, the general exclaimed in astonishment, "Then we...we now..."

“No rush,” Wu Mu said. “Tomorrow, tie someone to the chariot and cover their face with messy hair. The He family army will think it is He Tan and will definitely come to rescue him.”

"Then we'll take them down in one fell swoop."

The general responded.

The next day, the He family army, led by He Ji, He Heng, and He Xing, indeed approached Da Shun City again.

Upon hearing that a person was tied to a chariot, He Heng immediately ordered a hundred men to follow him to seize his young master, but fortunately, He Ji stopped them.

He Xing secretly regretted that if He Heng had gone to his death, he could have found a way to kill He Ji, and the He family's army would have been under his command. Whether to send these people to the court or to take them into his own service would be up to him to decide.

"If that really is the young master, they must have an ambush."

He Heng's eyes widened: "So what? Are you just going to ignore it?"

He Ji said, "We will naturally try to save the young master, but we need to come up with a safe strategy first."

They finally decided to send someone to launch a feigned attack to lure out the Wuya tribe's troops, while the rest of them would attack from the other side, catching the Wuya tribe off guard.

Taking advantage of He Ji and He Heng's inattention, He Xing hurriedly passed the message to Wu Mu.

With their preparations complete, the Wuya tribe easily repelled the He family army once again. Just as Wu Mu had said yesterday, the Wuya tribe launched a full-scale attack, pursuing the enemy relentlessly.

As He Xing fled, he surveyed his surroundings. To avoid being accidentally injured, he planned to hide until the situation stabilized before revealing himself.

As the troops of the Wuya tribe drew closer behind him, He Xing was about to turn around and leave when he noticed that the fleeing troops had slowed down.

Are the soldiers preparing to surrender?

As He Xing was pondering, he suddenly noticed that not far ahead, the He family soldiers who had fled earlier had gathered together and formed a military formation.

The "desperate soldiers" around He Xing also ran back to the army formation.

Whether it was an illusion or not, the moment they entered the battle formation, their backs straightened, their spirits lifted, and they seemed to have been reborn, their previous disheveled appearance completely gone.
He Xing instinctively reined in his horse. In the blink of an eye, everyone around him had disappeared, leaving him standing there alone.

The next moment, the army formation dispersed, revealing a lone rider in the center.

When He Xing saw the person clearly, his pupils contracted sharply, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face. His horse seemed to sense his panic as well, neighed, and took two steps back.

He Xing stared at the figure, his mouth opening and closing, but he couldn't make a sound, because he saw He Tan.

(End of this chapter)