Chapter 250.2: Hello Chang'an
Chapter 250.2: Is There Still a Hongmen Banquet? (Part Two)
The adviser whose bones Ah Dian had crushed was quickly dragged over. He collapsed to the ground, kneeling and begging for mercy, confessing everything about Wei Jun’s collusion with Xu Zhengye.
It was also under Xu Zhengye’s instruction that Wei Jun ambushed and attempted to kill Chang Kuo in Chuzhou.
One reason was to eliminate Chang Kuo, who had long been a thorn in his side.
The second was to ensure Li Yi’s safe passage to Yangzhou without being hindered by Chang Kuo.
Deputy Commander Li clenched his fists, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at Wei Jun.
“So—you had long been secretly conspiring with Xu Zhengye! Back then, when you claimed that you feared the rebel army would attack Chuzhou and forbade me from leading troops to rescue Hezhou, you were only colluding with Xu Zhengye, deliberately obstructing us!”
And he had actually believed it—thus missing the chance to save his friend’s life!
Chang Suining spoke,
“Ah Dian, hand this man over to Deputy Commander Li for disposal.”
Such rebel scum—whether turned over to the court or executed on the spot—mattered little.
Leaving him to Deputy Commander Li was simply a token of goodwill.
Facing his enemy, Deputy Commander Li showed no mercy.
He thrust his sword straight through Wei Jun’s chest on the spot.
Wei Jun’s eyes widened as he fell lifelessly to the ground.
Seeing this, his adviser rolled his eyes back and fainted in terror.
Yet soon enough, he was awakened again by a splash of tea water.
For a brief moment as he opened his eyes, he thought all that had happened was merely a nightmare.
But when he looked up and saw the young lady standing before him, despair washed over him completely.
“There are still things I need to ask you,” she said.
The adviser hastily nodded.
“This humble one will speak truthfully of everything!”
In his fear and anxiety, he heard the girl above him ask calmly,
“Was the food edible?”
“...?” The adviser hesitated, then cautiously replied,
“It was... stained with blood, I fear it can no longer be eaten…”
Chang Suining said evenly,
“So that means there was no poison in the food?”
“No!” the adviser quickly answered.
“It... it was only mixed into the tea!”
Chang Suining turned and instructed,
“Uncle Ren, find someone to bring up the rest of the dishes.”
Having said this, she sat back down where she had been before.
Since they had come all this way, she might as well fill her stomach.
Chu Xing glanced around at the bloodstains that had yet to be cleaned, and at the corpses of Wei Jun and the others still lying about—the unease in his heart grew even stronger.
Facing a lady who could still sit down and eat at a time like this—what could he possibly do?
His own general gave him the answer.
Chang Kuo commanded,
“Men, drag out all these obstructing things!”
Then he too sat down beside his daughter and beckoned the soldiers to join in.
Inside and outside the Prefect’s manor, Deputy Commander Li was already handling matters and restoring order.
They might as well take this brief time to eat their fill.
Soon, more dishes were brought in—still steaming hot.
Chu Xing hesitated for a moment, then found a seat and began wolfing down his share.
He truly had not eaten a hot meal in a long while—and correcting the young lady’s behavior could wait till later!
When Deputy Commander Li was finally done with his duties and came back, what he saw was a hall full of people crowding together and eating heartily.
He fell silent for a moment, then ordered his men to bring out everything edible within the Prefect’s residence.
In the end, Chang Suining instructed that whatever remained should be packed up and taken away—to feed the brothers outside the city.
Watching these people eat and pack food as though they were bandits who had stormed a city, the adviser, clutching his writing brush, could only weep inwardly.
The Prefect had called this plan “catching turtles in a jar”—but the turtles were never caught, and instead the man was dead and his house emptied!
To steal a chicken and end up losing the rice, to fail at catching the turtle and get robbed instead!
When he saw Chang Suining walking toward him, he hurriedly held up the letter with both hands, forcing a strained smile.
“I have written everything according to Young Miss Chang’s instructions, and stamped it with the Prefect’s seal… please look it over, Young Miss Chang.”
Chang Suining took it, examined it carefully, and nodded.
After sealing the letter, she handed it to Deputy Commander Li.
“I must trouble you to send this under the name of the Chuzhou army, by fast courier through the night to Li Yi—as quickly as possible.”
——
By dawn, Chang Suining and her group had departed from Chuzhou, now accompanied by an additional twenty thousand soldiers.
These were lent to them by Deputy Commander Li, leaving ten thousand troops behind to guard the prefecture.
Chang Suining looked back at the army behind her with a sigh of emotion.
After so much patching and gathering, they had finally assembled a full three armies.
Three armies—enough to frighten Li Yi out of his wits.
With a bit of clever strategy, things should now be about settled.
“Xiao Ah Li, this Hongmen Banquet was truly wonderful!”
Ah Dian sat on horseback, one hand gripping the reins, the other holding a bun. His cheeks were puffed full as he spoke unclearly through his mouthful of food.
“We didn’t have to spend a single coin, and the food was delicious!”
he then looked back at the army trailing behind.
“And we even got to take so many people with us!”
Finally, he summed it up with longing,
“Are there any more Hongmen Banquets like this? If there were one every day, that would be perfect!”
Chang Suining nodded in agreement.
“Indeed.”
Hearing this, Miss Jiacai and the others all burst out laughing.
“Such a Hongmen Banquet—ordinary folk could never stomach it! Only our Young Miss Chang and the Grand General could!”
The warm winter sun rose as the army marched swiftly onward.
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