The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 210 A Brilliant Plan Fulfilled! The Golden Cicada's Three Escapes Unfold, a Series of Deadly Intents!
Half an hour later.

The candle flame flickered, stretching and flattening the shadow of Liu Shuyi, who sat upright to the side. Outside the window, hurried footsteps filled the air, as if something momentous was happening.

Liu Shuyi had his eyes closed, his left hand resting on a bundle on the table, and his right hand gripping a horizontal sword, his fingertips constantly rubbing the scabbard.

Although Liu Shuyi had never learned swordsmanship, he was an experienced criminal police officer in his previous life and his skills were not bad. During the time he transmigrated, he intentionally ate more meat to make up for his original body's thinness, and at the same time, he intentionally exercised in between investigations... As a result, his physical strength finally improved and he was able to use some of the skills from his previous life.

Compared to experts like Lu Yangyuan, he is certainly not as good, but in an emergency, he can still wield the horizontal sword and make some moves, which might be of great use.

The journey home ahead was far more dangerous than before, with the possibility of enemy attacks at any moment. Therefore, he had to seize every chance to survive, even if it was just a slight increase in his chances!
Boom boom boom!
There was a knock on the door suddenly.

"Doctor Liu!" Cheng Chumo's voice came.

Liu Shuyi suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze reflecting the flickering candlelight: "Come in."

Cheng Chumo pushed open the door and entered.

At this moment, he was wearing armor, a sword at his waist, and a straw hat, but his two signature battle axes were nowhere to be seen.

He said, "Everything is ready, we can set off."

Upon hearing this, Liu Shuyi immediately stood up.

As he held his sword at his waist, he asked, "Have the other two teams been handed over?"

Cheng Chumo nodded: "It's all been explained. Their mission is to create a diversion and disperse the enemy's forces, not to actually return to Chang'an."

"So once they detect the enemy's presence, they can immediately stop advancing and, depending on the situation, either hide in the mountains or enter the nearest city to take refuge... We have no other requirements for them, as long as they can survive, they can do whatever they want."

In the early stages of the return journey, according to Liu Shuyi's plan, these two teams would attract most of the enemy's attention, so their danger was even greater than that of themselves.

Therefore, Liu Shuyi specifically instructed Cheng Chumo not to impose too many restrictions on the other two teams, and to act flexibly according to the actual situation after completing the task of attracting the enemy's pursuit.

He only hoped that he could meet these Imperial Guards who had accompanied him on his journey again in Chang'an in the future.

Liu Shuyi picked up the bundle with his left hand, slung it over his shoulder, and picked up the straw hat with his right. He took one last look at the room that had confined him for a day and a night, took a deep breath, put the hat on his head, and turned around, saying, "Let's go! Let's set off!"

…………

"The imperial court has urgent business and has ordered us to return to Chang'an immediately. This is Military Advisor Zhang's token. You must open the city gates at once, without delay!"

Lu Yangyuan rode his horse at full speed and arrived at the city gate. Without giving the soldiers guarding the city a chance to ask any questions, he took out the token he had obtained from Zhang Bu.

After confirming the tokens, the soldiers dared not delay and immediately opened the city gates.

Upon seeing the city gate open, Lu Yangyuan did not hesitate at all. He threw the token to the soldiers and said, "Return it to Military Advisor Zhang for us."

After saying this, the thirty-odd riders and one carriage quickly rushed out of Xingzhou City.

"Strange, am I remembering it wrong?"

Watching the rapidly receding figures, one of the soldiers said, "I remember when Doctor Liu and his men came, there were more than a hundred of them, right? How come only more than thirty left?"

"Why bother with all this?" The city's garrison commander glared at the soldier. "We're only responsible for guarding the city gates; everything else is none of our business."

After saying that, he waved his hand and said, "Close the city gates!"

…………

In the south of Xingzhou City, there was an inconspicuous house.

dong dong dong.

A middle-aged man dressed in gray hurriedly knocked on a closed door in the backyard.

Soon after, candles were lit in the room.

Two figures appeared on the window paper: a beautiful woman with a graceful figure dressing another person.

After a while, the door was opened.

The man in gray looked up and saw a beautiful woman in her early twenties behind the door. She had a slender figure, a rosy face, and her hair was sticky with sweat.

The beautiful woman nodded to the man in gray and said sweetly, "Master wants you to come in..."

After saying that, she swayed her shapely hips and turned to go back to her room.

The man in gray didn't dare to look any longer and quickly lowered his head before following him inside.

Upon reaching the table, he hurriedly said, "Master, something terrible has happened! Du Gou and the others left overnight!"

"Leaving overnight again?"

An old voice sounded.

The man in gray looked up and saw a man dressed in fine clothes with half-white hair and beard sitting behind the table.

Although the man was quite old, he was tall and strong, with bright eyes, and looked very robust.

The beautiful woman stood behind the old man, massaging his shoulders with her slender, white fingers.

The man in gray said, "They left in a hurry not long ago. Our men have been keeping an eye on them. There's no mistake."

The old man frowned slightly: "They resolved the chaos in Xingzhou on this trip, and they should be feeling quite triumphant. Why would they leave in such a hurry overnight?"

The beautiful woman said sweetly, "Is it possible that they know about our ambush of Liu Shuyi on the way?"

“How could they possibly know?” the old man said. “Judging by the time, if Liu Shuyi had been traveling day and night, he would have arrived at the ambush site only three or four hours ago. In such a short time, it would have been impossible for him to send the message back.”

"If Liu Shuyi had walked any slower, he might not have reached the ambush site yet!"

The beautiful woman had a pair of amorous, peach-blossom eyes. She gently stroked the old man's shoulder with her fingertips, and said coquettishly, "Master, please don't be angry. I'm just ignorant and guessing...but..."

Her tone changed again: "Master knows how cunning Liu Shuyi is. What you said is indeed impossible for other people, but it may not be possible for Liu Shuyi."

The beauty's coquettishness worked; the old man's furrowed brows quickly relaxed. He raised his aged hand and patted the soft hand on his shoulder, saying, "Third Sister is right. Liu Shuyi is cunning and treacherous; anything can happen."

"Since we have decided to make sure that none of them return, and that Li Shimin and the others will regret their decision, we certainly cannot just watch them leave."

As he spoke, he looked directly at the man in gray and said, "Immediately send a message by carrier pigeon to secretly pursue Du Gou and his group. Once they reach a deserted place, take action!"

The man in gray nodded and quickly left.

Watching the gray-clad man leave, the old man turned around, put his arm around the beautiful woman's waist, and pulled her onto his lap.

Looking at the alluring beauty in his arms, the old man laughed and said, "Third Sister, you are truly a blessing bestowed upon me by heaven. Since you came to my side, everything I do has gone very smoothly."

"Liu Shuyi may have already been dealt with, and Du Gou and Changsun Chong are also doomed... If this news reaches the court and Li Shimin hears it, I believe it will be quite interesting."

Upon hearing this, Third Sister chuckled. She stroked the old man's chest with her soft hand and said in a coquettish voice, "How could I possibly have such abilities? It is you, Master, who is so shrewd and farsighted. No matter how capable Liu Shuyi is, he is still far inferior to you."

The old man was overjoyed and burst into laughter.

He stood up, holding the beautiful woman, and walked towards the bed: "I'm pleased, let's enjoy another night of passion tonight..."

"My lord is truly vigorous and virile; I fear I cannot bear such favor..."

"Haha, don't worry, this old man will cherish you..."

The old man came to the bedside, threw the beautiful woman onto it, took off his clothes, and was about to press himself down on her...

Boom boom boom!
But then, the knocking on the door started again.

"Who?" The old man frowned, displeased that his pleasant mood had been interrupted.

A man in gray robes called out anxiously from outside: "Master, something terrible has happened! A message has come back by carrier pigeon, saying that Liu Shuyi wasn't in the group that left last night! Liu Shuyi didn't leave Xingzhou City!"

"What!?"

The old man and the third sister both exclaimed in surprise.

"Liu Shuyi didn't leave?"

The old man frowned, his expression full of surprise.

A thoughtful look flashed across San Niang's alluring face: "Could it be that Liu Shuyi has sensed something...? Did he send out that team to test whether anyone intended to harm him?"

"In that case, it makes sense why they left in such a hurry tonight."

The old man's face was grim: "This Liu Shuyi is truly cunning!" Third Sister, however, did not grit her teeth like the old man. She looked at the old man and said, "Fortunately, Master was farsighted and ordered people to keep an eye on Du Gou and the others... Since Liu Shuyi did not leave last night, he must have left with Du Gou and the others."

Upon hearing this, the old man sneered, "No matter how cunning the fox, how can it outwit the hunter! Even if Liu Shuyi already knows we're going to ambush him, so what? I've already found out their whereabouts! The outcome will still be the same!"

As he finished dressing, he opened the door and said to the gray-clad man outside, "Tell the pursuers to be extremely careful and not let Liu Shuyi and his men escape!"

Faced with the old man's instructions, the gray-clad man subconsciously swallowed and said, "Master, there... there is one more thing."

"Is there anything else?" The old man frowned, displeased with his subordinate's dawdling.

The man in gray hurriedly replied, "I just received news... another team has left Xingzhou City."

"And this team..."

He glanced furtively at the old man and said, "They came from the governor's office, and they also carried Zhang's token, saying they were carrying out Zhang's orders... Just like when Du Gou and the others left, they were all wearing bamboo hats, covering their faces..."

Before the man in gray could finish speaking, the old man's tiger-like eyes suddenly widened: "You mean... this is also one of Liu Shuyi's men?"

The man in gray bent over even deeper: "It...it should be..."

"How many people?" Third Sister's voice suddenly rang out from inside the room.

The man in gray looked up and saw Third Sister swaying her slender waist as she approached the old man. He dared not look at this enchantress any longer and said, "More than thirty people."

"More than thirty people?" Third Sister raised an eyebrow: "What about the previous group?"

"There were also more than thirty people."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Upon hearing this, Third Sister's ever-smiling expression finally changed; her eyebrows shot up, making the gray-clad man's hair stand on end.

The man in gray knew all too well how terrifying the seemingly alluring woman before him could be.

He lowered his head, not daring to answer.

Third Sister gave the gray-clad man a cold look, then said to the old man, "Including the guards, Liu Shuyi and his men numbered over 120. Ten of them left last night, leaving over 110."

"The first group to leave tonight consisted of over thirty people, and another thirty-odd people just left, which means there are still over thirty people who haven't left..."

"If I'm not mistaken, another group of about thirty people will probably leave soon..."

"Report——"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a man dressed in a tight-fitting outfit came running over.

Upon reaching the old man, he hurriedly said, "News came from the city gate that a group of people wearing straw hats and dressed in black, carrying Zhang Bu's token, hastily left Xingzhou City."

Upon hearing this, the man in gray was startled and felt even more awe towards Third Sister.

The old man raised his eyebrows and looked at Third Sister, saying, "Is Liu Shuyi trying to lure the tiger away from the mountain?"

"The master is wise!"

The coldness on Third Sister's face disappeared, replaced by a charming smile. She said, "Liu Shuyi and his group only numbered a little over 110, but they were divided into three teams, and these three teams set off at different times... It's obvious that they wanted to lure us away from our base. They used one team to draw our people away first, and then they took the opportunity to slip away."

"Furthermore, to be cautious, Liu Shuyi later split into two teams... It is likely that these two teams will take different routes. In this case, we will not be able to determine which team they are hiding in, which will cause us to hesitate and give them more time to escape."

The old man raised his hand and gently stroked Third Sister's nose: "Third Sister is indeed exceptionally intelligent; she saw through Liu Shuyi's scheme in an instant."

Third Sister said softly, "How could I be as capable as you, Master? It was clearly you who had already thought of it. I was just saying it for you."

The old man laughed heartily, quite satisfied with what the third sister had said.

He said, "Third Sister, what do you think we should do?"

Without any hesitation, Third Sister said, "Of course we can't let them leave so easily."

She looked at the old man: "Sir, you can give the order to have people keep an eye on these two teams, and then call back the people who were chasing the first team, and have them split into two groups to chase the two teams separately."

"Liu Shuyi had a good plan. He thought that hiding in two teams would make us hesitate... But he had no idea how many people we had. Even if we split into two groups, we could easily deal with them."

The old man gently tapped San Niang's shoulder with his fingertip. He pondered for a moment and said, "What about the first team? Are we just going to ignore them completely?"

Third Sister said, "The latter two teams left secretly, while the first team did it openly, claiming to be a special envoy of the imperial court returning... It's obvious that the first team was bait to lure us in."

"but……"

She hesitated for a moment, then said, "But Liu Shuyi is cunning and treacherous, so we must be on guard."

She said, "How about this, we leave a few people to continue tracking. If we're wrong and Liu Shuyi isn't in the other two teams, we'll still have time to turn around and deal with them."

The old man pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Third Sister's considerations are thorough. We will do as Third Sister says."

"Besides that... I will write to that guy and ask him to take action as well. Since he contacted me to deal with Liu Shuyi and want to keep Liu Shuyi in Hebei forever, I can't just do it all by myself."

As he spoke, the old man turned his head and looked towards the city gate. His aged face was filled with icy killing intent: "Liu Shuyi, you forced me to give up the ancestral land I had cultivated for so long, and made me hide in Hebei Province like a stray dog... I will grind you to dust!"

Hearing the old man's murderous words, Third Sister narrowed her charming eyes.

She also looked towards the city gate, a meaningful smile playing on her lips...

…………

Two hours later.

On the mountain road to Xiangzhou.

The horses' hooves thundered across the earth, sounding like thunder in the silent mountains, startling the surrounding birds and beasts into scattering.

"drive!"

Cheng Chumo rode his horse at full speed from the back of the group and caught up with Liu Shuyi ahead.

He said to Liu Shuyi, "Doctor Liu, most of the people chasing us have left, leaving only a dozen or so who are still secretly following us."

Upon hearing this, even the composed Du Gou and the astute Changsun Chong's eyes lit up.

Lu Yangyuan looked at Liu Shuyi with even more excitement.

Liu Shuyi smiled and said, "Our enemy has really not disappointed us at all."

“It’s only been two hours since we left Xingzhou City… In such a short time, they were able to react quickly and call us back directly. This means they must be hiding inside Xingzhou City, otherwise they couldn’t have acted so fast.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Yangyuan slapped his thigh and said, "If we had known they were hiding in Xingzhou City, we wouldn't have needed to leave so cautiously. We could have just dragged them out directly!"

"Pull? Pull with what?"

Changsun Chong said, "Don't forget, Xingzhou was originally a place of rebellion. Even if Jiang Rui and Chu Xiong are gone, it doesn't mean that others have given up the idea of ​​rebellion."

"As for how many of these deeply hidden enemies there are, you just saw it yourself. If these people really attack us in the city, given how unfavorable the situation is for us, it's already a sign of kindness that those people in Xingzhou didn't help them betray us. Do you really expect them to risk their lives for us?"

Lu Yangyuan opened his mouth, but his face immediately fell: "That's right! I didn't think things through and I was talking nonsense again."

Liu Shuyi laughed and said, "It's not entirely nonsense. If they were really so confident that they could take care of us in the city, they wouldn't have given us the chance to leave! In the end, they still have their concerns."

"However, what Changsun, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, is not wrong. Although I have gained the favor of some yamen runners, it is not enough to make them risk their lives for us..."

Hearing Liu Shuyi's words, Lu Yangyuan felt much better. He said, "The enemy is hiding in Xingzhou City... Could it be the illegitimate son of the Prince of Xi? After all, they are hiding in Xingzhou City."

Liu Shuyi shook his head: "It's hard to say... Moreover, the Snake Tiger Guards, who have been operating in Xingzhou City for many years, have searched for so long but have not found the whereabouts of those three people. I suspect that they are worried about being found out and are in danger, so they may have already left."

"They left?" Lu Yangyuan frowned and said, "If it wasn't them, who else could have such power and harbor such murderous intent towards us?"

"We have no clues about the enemy yet, so we shouldn't speculate wildly and make subjective assumptions that could affect our subsequent response strategy."

"Moreover, who the enemy is is not important at the moment. The most important thing is to find a way to get rid of the enemy's pursuit and take advantage of the time that the other two teams have bought for us to get as far away from Xingzhou as possible."

As he spoke, Liu Shuyi looked at Cheng Chumo and said, "Is there a way to get rid of the tails behind us? We can't let any of them escape, otherwise the enemy will still know our whereabouts accurately."

Cheng Chumo had been waiting for Liu Shuyi to say this. He grinned, his teeth bared, and said, "Just you wait and see!"

Liu Shuyi nodded: "Once we've dealt with them, we'll change our route and officially head to Jizhou... Until then, let's continue acting."

(End of this chapter)