Wandering Sword Seller's Life in the Qin Dynasty

"So..." Xu Qing glanced at him with a deep look, "This time, are we brothers just supposed to be treated like lambs by Jade Tiger, getting cut into our flesh for nothing? And we just have to swallow this insult?"

Situ Wanli's face was ashen, and he sighed heavily: "What can we do even if we can't bear it? This is Korea. Behind Jade Tiger stands Ji Wuye; they have power, influence, and money—we..."

“Perhaps…” Xu Qing suddenly spoke, interrupting Situ Wanli’s dejection. His voice remained steady, yet carried a calm, ruthless air, “there is another way…”

Situ Wanli's eyes suddenly lit up, as if a drowning man had grasped at a straw: "Brother Xu, tell me quickly, how can you teach me?"

Xu Qing's lips curled into an enigmatic smile: "Didn't Jade Tiger say that the situation in Korea is unstable right now, and those mad dogs from Baiyue are stirring up trouble in Xinzheng? Those powerful figures were worried about the debts they owed from plundering Baiyue back then, fearing that the Baiyue people would seek revenge and settle scores with them. Doesn't Jade Tiger fear that?"

Xu Qing paused, then spoke each word with conviction, striking Situ Wanli's heart.

"During the war against Baiyue, Ji Wuye was stationed in the central government of Han and did not personally attend. But his henchmen, Liu Yi, Bai Yifei, Fei Cuihu... weren't they all eating their fill? If we're talking about the people most hated by the Baiyue people, they are definitely among them!"

Situ Wanli's expression changed several times, his eyes flickering uncertainly: "Brother, do you mean... to use one wolf to devour another? To let the Baiyue people..."

"Let heroes fight heroes, let good men fight good men."

"Although the Jade Tiger is not a hero."

"But those Baiyue people are not either, which is perfect for letting them fight like dogs."

Xu Qing spoke calmly, outlining a solution to break the deadlock.

Situ Wanli instantly understood, but one problem remained: "Those Baiyue outlaws are all exceptionally fierce, why would they work for us?"

"They're not helping me, they're just trying to make a living. Seeking revenge is a perfectly natural thing to do, how can that be considered helping us?" Xu Qing smiled calmly, his words carrying a deeper meaning. "You just need to find a way to locate them..."

His gaze fell on Situ Wanli.

Looking into Xu Qing's calm and unfathomable eyes, Situ Wanli felt an indescribable sense of trust overpower his doubts. This Brother Xu, with his superb sword-making skills, always managed to do something astonishing and was shrouded in mystery.

Since Brother Xu dares to say this, he must have something to rely on.

"Fine!" Situ Wanli slammed his hand on the table. "I'll dig three feet into the ground if I have to, but I'll find these people!"

He pondered that perhaps he would have to get down to business and have his disciples from the farming family in South Korea contribute.

The disciples of the Farmer School are spread across the seven kingdoms, and gathering information is one of their specialties.

Killing Jade Tiger might not be easy, but finding a group of Baiyue people stirring up trouble in Xinzheng would be no problem for Situ Wanli.

He couldn't swallow the humiliation of being torn apart by the Emerald Tiger. Even if the Hidden Dragon Hall had to move to another country in the future, he would make that greedy fat tiger pay the price before leaving.

Chapter 78 Brother, you'll be the one negotiating with the Baiyue people!

Soon, Situ Wanli learned what those Baiyue madmen had been doing in Xinzheng City.

Previously, in order to demonstrate his benevolence, the King of Han took in a group of Baiyue refugees.

As a result, just after the refugees were settled, the refugee camp was struck by disaster.

Many refugees died from plague and fire.

This was the first thing that the Baiyue rebels did after they appeared.

But what they did went far beyond that.

They then broke into the royal palace at night, attacked the residence of the Korean crown prince, and kidnapped the Korean crown prince.

However, before the Korean crown prince could be rescued...

Another new thing has happened.

The princess of South Korea has been kidnapped again by this group of Baiyue rebels.

"What a bunch of lunatics!" Situ Wanli placed the secret report on the table, his Adam's apple bobbing involuntarily. He looked at Xu Qing, "Brother Xu, cooperating with these desperados is no different than asking a tiger for its skin!"

After learning about the many things the Baiyue rebels had done, Situ Wanli couldn't help but have many doubts.

Previously, I only knew a little about what these people were doing.

After further investigation into their actions, he was quite taken aback.

No wonder the whole of Xinzheng was engulfed in turmoil, and no wonder the Jade Tiger General threatened those wealthy merchants and nobles under the guise of the Baiyue people, causing them immense fear.

Who wouldn't be afraid of a madman like that!

Even the heavily guarded Crown Prince, who was staying in his residence, became a target for hostage-taking.

The palace was a forbidden area, and the other party could enter at will.

First they threatened the King of Han, then they kidnapped the Korean princess.

Ordinary people's defenses are not as strict as those of the palace. If these guys set their sights on me, how should I defend myself?

Although, it's unlikely that the madmen of Baiyue would target him.

It's more likely that Jade Tiger's men used the name of the Baiyue rebels to launch the attack, but the key point is that they couldn't stop Jade Tiger's men from attacking them.

On the contrary, if he really died, it would be a pointless death. Others would only think that he died as a result of retaliation by the Baiyue rebels, and he would have nowhere to seek justice. His family property would be more likely to fall into the hands of Jade Tiger.

Therefore, self-preservation is the most important thing.

Now, upon closer examination of those merchants' behavior, it's clear they weren't cowards at all; they were all quite shrewd.

But if it happened to Situ Wanli, he was afraid too!

This kind of madman acts without any regard for the consequences.

Is it possible to cooperate?

"The Baiyue people may seem crazy, but if you examine their actions closely, you'll find that they actually have a sense of proportion," Xu Qing said calmly, analyzing the situation for Situ Wanli.

"Do you have any sense of propriety?" Situ Wanli raised an eyebrow; he couldn't see any sense of propriety at all.

"The deaths of the Baiyue refugees are a thing of the past, there's nothing more to say. It was nothing more than the Baiyue rebels, led by Tianze, retaliating against those who had sought refuge with Korea, and issuing a warning. This warning was directed not only at the Baiyue people who had sought refuge with Korea, but also at the Korean monarch and his officials. The subsequent appearance of Baiyue assassins in the palace was also a continuation of this matter."

"But afterwards, both the attack on the Crown Prince's residence and the capture of the Korean princess demonstrated Tianze's discretion in his actions."

"He clearly had the opportunity to kill the Crown Prince of South Korea directly to retaliate against South Korea, but he did not do so."

"Wouldn't it have been better if he had infiltrated the Korean royal palace, kidnapped the Korean princess, and directly attacked the King of Han? But he still didn't do it."

Situ Wanli's eyes flickered, and after hearing Xu Qing's words, he also began to think carefully.

"As you said, this group of people does have some sense of propriety."

"But what exactly are they after?" Situ Wanli had a new question. "The fact that they didn't directly kill the Crown Prince and King of Han, plunging Han into internal strife, shows that for Tianze, revenge is the goal, but not the primary one..."

“Usually, people only take hostages if they want something,” Xu Qing interjected. “Perhaps he has something else in mind.”

He did not tell Situ Wanli what Tianze wanted, nor did he explain the meaning of it to Situ Wanli.

Situ Wanli simply pondered Xu Qing's words deeply.

Then, she exclaimed, "Tell me, how did things suddenly turn out like this?"

"South Korea was perfectly fine before."

"As a result, in a short period of time, all sorts of messy things happened one after another, making this place a chaotic mess."

“Brother, listen to my advice. If those Baiyue people can’t be trusted, let’s retreat.”

"Of course." Xu Qing nodded, not refusing Situ Wanli's kindness.

South Korea has indeed become increasingly chaotic lately.

For an outsider like Situ Wanli, this was certainly hard to accept.

Xu Qing knew the reason.

The root of the problem is that Han Fei has returned.

Han Fei returned to his country, and the gears of fate began to turn, plunging the entire country of Korea into turmoil.

"Speaking of which, after all this rambling, have you actually found the whereabouts of those Baiyue people?" Xu Qing asked Situ Wanli again.

“To be honest, my men did discover the whereabouts of those Baiyue people,” Situ Wanli said to Xu Qing. “It is precisely because they discovered their whereabouts, combined with the many things they have done before, that I have this suspicion.”

Where are they?

Xu Qing asked Situ Wanli.

“Outside Xinzheng City, there is a swampy area, teeming with miasma and sparsely populated. Ordinary people rarely venture there to avoid the poisonous miasma, but my men have their own ways of circumventing it. There, they discovered the whereabouts of the Baiyue assassin group…”

"Further investigation revealed that those people had disappeared into the desolate mountains over there."

"According to the investigation, there used to be a gold mine there, but it was gradually abandoned after the gold mine was mined out. However, many mine shafts still remain there."

"The Baiyue assassin group might be hiding there."

Situ Wanli shared his speculation.

"very good!"

Xu Qing nodded, then looked at Situ Wanli and said, "Brother Situ, you have a good way with words, so why don't you go and talk to these people from Baiyue?"

"I?"

Situ Wanli stared wide-eyed, utterly incredulous.

"Brother, that's not what you said before!"

"I only asked you to find them, I didn't say I would personally go and talk to them!" Xu Qing had a very good memory, and Situ Wanli's attempt to renege on his promise wouldn't work.

“But…” Situ Wanli felt a little wronged. It was clearly you, brother, who took the initiative to propose cooperating with the Baiyue people. Now that I have helped find the whereabouts of the Baiyue people, why do you want to be a hands-off manager and not care about anything?

talk?

How do I talk to people about this?

Hire them to kill Emerald Tiger?

How much money will that cost?

“Brother, you can’t do this!” Xu Qing sighed. “You’re older than me, you should have your own opinions and ideas. How can you put all the pressure on me, a young man?”

Before Situ Wanli could reply.

He then said, "Alright, alright, I'd better go with you, brother."

"If you can't reach an agreement with the other party, then I will do the talking."

In any case, Xu Qing's intention was to drag Situ Wanli into the mess, so that Situ Wanli could not expect to reap the benefits without lifting a finger.