"The morning clouds rise, the sun sets in the pavilion; when the mountain rain is about to come, the wind fills the building... Mr. Gu, are you trying to remind me of something?" Shen Tang looked at Gu Chi with a half-smile, handed him a wine jar, and said, "Whatever reminder you have, I'll pass it on to Yuanliang for you."
"It's not really a reminder. Yuanliang understands it well." Gu Chi took the round belly wine jar handed by Shen Tang.
It was palm-sized, enough for a dozen sips. Even someone with low alcohol tolerance could finish a jar.
He continued, "From my understanding of Yuanliang, he never likes doing meaningless things. If there's no profit to be made, why would he bother coming to Xiaocheng? The geographical location of Xiaocheng means this place will never be peaceful. Why would he take such a risk?"
At this critical moment, he remained silent. It was highly unreasonable!
Gu Chi's words seemed like casual conversation. Shen Tang listened without participating in the discussion.
With someone offering free drinks, Gu Chi didn't hold back either. He drank three or four jars in a row, causing his cheeks, usually pale, to gain a touch of color from the alcohol. Shen Tang chatted with him for a few moments when a young servant dressed in the attire of a housekeeper appeared around the corner, looking around.
When his eyes locked onto Gu Chi, they suddenly lit up. He hurried over, barely catching his breath, "Mr. Gu, what are you doing here? My master has been searching for you everywhere. Please come with me."
Shen Tang found the servant's attire somewhat familiar. After a moment, she remembered: wasn't he a servant from the county government? Last time, a county servant bought a lot of wine from her. Wasn't the master of the county servant the county magistrate?
Since when did Gu Chi have a connection with the magistrate of Sibao County?
Shen Tang remained impassive.
Gu Chi rubbed his temples, slightly intoxicated, and smiled apologetically at the servant, showing good temper, "I smelled the wine on the road and my wine-loving spirit got awakened. I shouldn't have run out without informing the magistrate. Thank you for guiding the way; let's go now."
The servant was overjoyed, "Of course, of course." He also cleverly paid for Gu Chi's wine.
Shen Tang smiled happily as she accepted the silver coins.
Unexpected windfall.
Originally, she intended to treat Gu Chi to drinks for free. Since someone was willing to pay for him, she wouldn't refuse. Shen Tang smiled like a money enthusiast, weighing the silver coins in her hand with satisfaction.
Gu Chi found an excuse for the servant to step aside.
"Do you know about Lingzhou?" he asked Shen Tang.
Shen Tang looked up in surprise, "Lingzhou?"
"False beauty becomes a conspirator, chaos reigns in the northern heavens; twenty routes of smoke and dust surge towards the Purple Palace... Soon, there may indeed be endless conflicts among the twenty forces... Ah, Lingzhou isn't exactly nearby, but it's not far either. This news should have arrived by now..."
Shen Tang blinked in confusion. "What... What does this mean?"
Gu Chi stood up and brushed off the nonexistent dust from his clothes. There was no trace of drunkenness on his face. "It's nothing, Shen Lang, take care."
Shen Tang watched Gu Chi's figure disappear around the corner until he was completely out of sight. The habitual smile on her face gradually faded, replaced by a frosty expression.
She knew naturally what had happened in Lingzhou. The Lin family was originally from there, but due to the recent turmoil, they had to relocate south to seek refuge with relatives. These events had occurred not long ago. The urgent letters sent everywhere were intercepted by a gang of bandits...
Given this back-and-forth delay, with the speed of information transmission in this era, logically, the news shouldn't have reached Xiaocheng yet. So how did Gu Chi know?
Either he had a more secretive and quicker source of information, or he was directly involved in this matter.
Reflecting on his last words, she leaned towards the latter conclusion.
Previously, Qi Shanshan had analyzed that some alien forces were stirring trouble in the northwest, either the Beimo or the Shi Wu. Coincidentally, the magistrate of Sibao County was aligned with the Shi Wu, and Gu Chi had some association with him—and behind Gu Chi were the forces of Beimo.
Therefore—
Had Beimo and Shi Wu joined forces?
Even if not allied, they were definitely cooperating.
The servant brought Gu Chi back, warmly welcomed by the magistrate. Sensing a faint smell of alcohol on him, the magistrate's smile deepened. "Mr. Gu enjoys wine? The prefecture just happens to have a few jars of aged fine wine. I'll have someone send them to you later."
Internally, however, he rolled his eyes. Gu Chi looked like he wouldn't last long, neglecting his health for the sake of wine. Who knew how many more years he could abuse his body like this? If it weren't for Gu Chi's usefulness, he wouldn't want to deal with him. It was simply because Gu Chi reminded him too much of someone he had known before—those eyes always made him uncomfortable.
Pretending not to hear the magistrate's contradictory thoughts, Gu Chi casually thanked him without sincerity.
The magistrate didn't mind his rudeness. This time, he had something to discuss with Gu Chi—regarding that batch of tax money. He had intended to delay, but the court was pressing hard.
Zheng Qiao may have lost the people's trust, but his downfall is still a long way off. The magistrate relies on his influence and dare not slack off. He even needs to prepare extraordinary treasures to please and handle matters.
Since they must be delivered, they must be delivered safely.
What worries him is that he is seriously short of manpower now.
There are two main reasons.
Firstly, the territory of Sibao County is not safe. In order to ensure the safety of the tax money, several fake teams were sent to confuse the enemy. Although the things transported by the fake teams are fake, the forces escorting them are real.
Secondly, in order to catch Gong Wen, who knows where he has gone to, the garrison in Sibao County was ordered to arrest him. However, apart from appearing in the mountains outside Xiaocheng some time ago, there has been no news of Gong Wen since then.
If Gong Wen cannot be caught, the troops sent out cannot be recalled.
The magistrate has been having trouble sleeping lately.
To solve this problem, he wanted to borrow private troops from local aristocratic families in Sibao County. However, those cunning old foxes, despite their lofty promises, backed out as soon as things got real. They were quick to retreat when the magistrate showed a slightly stronger attitude. Moreover, many of them found ways to annoy him—either crying poverty or weakness, claiming that these private troops were not as powerful as the guards of the prefecture office and were only good for guarding their homes.
Without private troops, he fears the troublemakers will cause chaos.
In short, no matter how it's put, they refuse to lend troops.
Forced into a corner, the magistrate can only seek other solutions—such as inviting the brothers Zhai Huan to serve as external aid.
One skilled in letters, the other in military, their cooperation is seamless.
The two brothers are from the southeast, traveling to the northwest just for adventure. Their roots are not here, and they have no ties to the various powers in the northwest. The possibility of them being corrupt is extremely low, which makes them reliable to use.
Recently, the magistrate went in disguise to privately discuss with Zhai Huan, and the results of their conversation were satisfactory.
Now, only the final step remains.
The magistrate said, "The Shi Wu and Beimo are allies, so they should help each other and seek mutual benefit. Mr. Gu, do you agree?"
All that's left is to tell Gu Chi not to stab him in the back on behalf of Beimo.
This batch of tax money absolutely cannot afford any accidents!