Chapter 9: Rescuing the Great Confucian Cai Yong (Part 1)

  "What do you want?" Cai Yan's lips trembled slightly, almost biting out bloodstains with her white teeth, her eyes staring straight into Qin Xu's eyes, and said in a trembling voice.

  "Hah!" Qin Xu was amused by Cai Yan's tense expression, and with a pretentious serious tone, said: "Cai Dajia, can't you understand that just now you helped me out of trouble, and now I'm repaying you? Why must you think so badly of it?"

  "Is your hand on my shoulder also a form of repayment to me?" Cai Yan asked Qin Xu, pointing to the hand resting on her slightly thin shoulder, as a faint blush flashed across her pale face in the moonlight.

  "Cough, cough. This was an accident, an accident..." Qin Xu's old face turned bright red as he stared at his hands, silently scolding himself for almost causing trouble twice today.

  Cai Yan's eyes were fixed on Qin Xu, and she didn't know whether Qin Xu's words were true or false. Unfortunately, the only thing she saw was that Qin Xu's eyes were very clear.

  Just as Qin Xu's hand landed on his shoulder, Cai Yan already knew that Qin Xu wasn't being deliberately frivolous. This kid in front of him seemed to have a lot of guts and some habits that didn't conform to etiquette. Even if it was Lü Bu before, hadn't he still been patted on the shoulder by this kid? However, when Qin Xu leaned in close, Cai Yan's heart felt like his tightly tied hair had been disturbed, filled with panic, shyness, and anger all at once, with a hint of expectation that Cai Yan was unwilling to admit.

  "Qin Zhubu, did you just mean that there's a way to save my father?" Cai Yan suppressed the sudden surge of emotions in her heart and asked Qin Xu in a steady voice: "What do I need to do?"

  "Do you know where Lord Cai is being held by Old Wang?" Qin Xu didn't know that in just a short while, so many thoughts had already flashed through Cai Yan's mind, and her self-address had also changed from "your servant" to using her own name.

  "It should be locked up in the imperial prison, not far from here, just on the west side of the city's Xiyuan. It is the emperor's personal army, under the jurisdiction of the Dragon and Horse Guard." Cai Yan listened to Qin Xu's serious question, as if suddenly thought of something, her eyebrows furrowed, and asked: "You ask these things, won't you be thinking..."

  "That's right!" Qin Xu nodded affirmatively and smiled, saying: "You should thank your benefactors, Generals Li Jue and Guo Si."

  "Are you saying that General Lü might deploy the Xiyuan Forbidden Troops to defend against the incoming Western Liang army?" Cai Yan clasped her hands together at her chest, furrowed her brow in thought for a moment, and said: "This is impossible. General Lü was once an attendant of Dong Zhuo, so the Forbidden Troops will not listen to his orders."

  "Oh my sister Yan!" Qin Xu's hands unconsciously grasped Cai Yan's beautiful shoulders and said: "This is Chang'an, not Luoyang. The Xiyuan Forbidden Army in the palace was under Dong Zhuo's command before. Although it has been overturned, who knows if that person will believe these people or not."

  "Right!" Cai Yan also seemed to deliberately forget the fact that Qin Xu was holding himself, and excitedly said: "I'm really stupid. This time the Western Liang army came to offend, Wang Yun's old thief is also suspicious, how could he let the Imperial Guard who used to belong to the Western Liang army occupy the palace?"

  "Bingo!" Qin Xu snapped his fingers and took the opportunity to remove his hand from Cai Yan's shoulder, who seemed to have not noticed. "This is our chance! As long as we hurry before Old Wang remembers to transfer Cai Yan, he won't have a chance."

  Cai Yan didn't understand what Qin Xu meant by "Wang Yun has no chance", but that didn't stop her from acknowledging Qin Xu's plan. With both hands grasping Qin Xu's shoulders, she said very seriously: "Qin Xu, as long as I can use this strategy to rescue my father, Cai Yan will definitely repay you."

  "Are you going to save him?" Qin Xu helplessly rolled his eyes, and Cai Yan didn't even think of bringing him along.

  "Not bad!" Cai Yan's face flashed a determined look, saying: "Although Li Jue and Guo Si's attack will cause Wang Yun to be in disarray, who dares to say that these original Xiliang Army soldiers won't rebel? It's too dangerous, you don't need to go with him."

  "What identity did you use to make those soldiers believe that you are not an imposter?" Qin Xu patted the hand that Cai Yan had placed on his shoulder, striking at Cai Yan without mercy. "The Long'an war is about to break out, and there will definitely be unusual movements within the city! The distance between Chang'an City and the Xiongnu border is not far, it's possible that Li Jue and Guo Si have joined forces with other tribes this time, otherwise, given their personalities, even if they were lent a bit of courage, they wouldn't dare to offend the mighty general."

  "You seem to be quite familiar with Li Jue and Guo Si, the two thieves?" Cai Yan heard Qin Xu's words, nodded thoughtfully, and asked Qin Xu in doubt.

  "You've forgotten that General Lü was also their colleague, I have some understanding of these two from the Western Liang army." Qin Xu replied casually.

  Familiar! Of course familiar! Weren't you the one who was kidnapped by the Xiongnu soldiers at this time and became their queen? Qin Xu thought to himself.

  Since I'm "lucky" to be in this era and also familiar with Cai Yan, and even took advantage of her unintentionally, it's only natural that I wouldn't abandon her. This isn't the style of Director Qin.

  Qin Xu saw that even the famous Cai Wenji in history was deceived by himself, and he felt very relieved in his heart. A smile of complacency appeared on his face unintentionally, and he said: "You may be in danger if you go, but I'm different. I am an official of the General's mansion of Fen Wu, and there are also ten soldiers from the Trap Array Camp as witnesses. Even if they discover something, they wouldn't dare to do anything to me."

  "No! I must go with you!" Cai Yan said suddenly after listening to Qin Xu, with a determined look that seemed to say "if I don't go, you're not going either".

  "This..." Qin Xu felt a bit overwhelmed, it seemed that when women really wanted to do something, they were even more stubborn than men. After careful consideration, Qin Xu nodded and agreed to Cai Yan's request.

  In Qin Xu's view, Chang'an City has high walls and thick walls. Lü Bu is invincible in fame, and he launched a surprise attack at night, waiting for labor with ease. Although it is unrealistic to defeat 200,000 troops, it can also block the two thieves for a while.

  In the city of Chang'an, Lü Bu's army only had half the number of total soldiers, with nearly 30,000 troops. Except for a portion of soldiers monitoring the surrendered Western Liang army in the city, some following Lü Bu to plunder the camp, and another portion guarding important passes and protecting the Emperor and officials' safety, tonight the city will definitely not be peaceful. It is an opportunity to take chestnuts from the fire. As long as they take advantage of the news of the two bandits' attack before it spreads widely and disrupts the military's morale, the success rate of the rescue plan is extremely high.

  "I hope Cai Yong's mental quality is better. Don't lose the hope of life because of Wang Yun's few words and commit suicide, which would fulfill Wang Yun's intention." Qin Xu prayed silently in his heart. He remembered that Cai Yong had committed suicide, seemingly around the time when Li Jue and Guo Si invaded Chang'an, but Qin Xu couldn't recall the exact timing, which made him feel extremely regretful.

  "Yan sister, and Qin... big bad egg, where are you going?"

  Just as the two were about to put their plan into action, Lü Linggui's voice suddenly came from behind them. Her big eyes were full of surprise as she stared at Qin Xuan and Cai Yan.

  "Ah!" Qin Xu and Cai Yan were both startled, turning back to look, Lü Linggui was still dressed as before, pouting her small mouth, waiting for the two to respond.

  "This..."

  "We..."

  Qin Xu and Cai Yan discussed the matter of saving Cai Yong, seemingly intentionally or unintentionally, neither of them took into account the opinions of Lü Bu, the person directly involved.

  Qin Xu knew that Lü Bu's army was doomed to lose this battle in history! The reason is simple, no matter how powerful Lü Bu was, and no matter how good his soldiers were at fighting, the fact that they were outnumbered by nearly ten to one was undeniable. Moreover, they had to divide their forces. Lü Bu was also human, and being outnumbered was a taboo in the art of war. Otherwise, back then at Tiger Trap Pass, Lord Lü would not have let Liu Bei's brothers escape.

  Furthermore, the civil officials led by Wang Yun in the rear were also at odds with Lü Bu, constantly thinking of ways to weaken his power. Moreover, due to the Dong Zhuo affair, they stubbornly believed that the Western Liang army was just a motley crew, and if this battle didn't hinder Lü Bu's progress, it would be thanks to heaven. Relying on them to stabilize the rear was almost an absurd idea.

  Furthermore, Qin Xu still has the idea of surrendering to Cao Cao, so Qin Xu does not have any psychological burden in using Lü Bu's prestige to rescue Cai Yan.

  Cai Yan didn't know that in times of crisis, Cai Yong's old friends were all afraid to take her in because they feared Wang Yun, and had left the Wei family. Only Lü Bu, the most unlikely person to help, arranged for her to live with his daughter. Lü Lingqi treated Cai Yan like an older sister, listening to her words and following her plans, even plotting against Wei Xu, her cousin, without batting an eyelid.

  Cai Yan not only forced Lv Bu's general Wei Xu, who was also her younger brother-in-law, to rebel for some reason, but now she wants to use Lv Bu's military order to directly summon people from prison, so Cai Yan has always felt a sense of guilt towards Lv Linggui in her heart. Now that she sees Lv Linggui, Cai Yan is indeed somewhat conscience-stricken and doesn't know how to explain things to Lv Linggui.

  "I just seemed to hear Cai Bobo's name, is Yan sister thinking of a way to save Cai Bobo again?" Lü Linggui asked excitedly.

  Looking at Lv Linggui's face without a hint of pretence, Cai Yan's face showed a faint blush, and she forced a smile to ask Lv Linggui: "Ling'er sister, how did you come out? Weren't you accompanying Mrs. Yan and Mrs. Diao?"

  "Hum! Isn't it all because of this big scoundrel!" Lü Linggui surprisingly didn't respond to Cai Yan's question, and instead let out a soft hum, her large eyes staring intensely at Qin Xu, leaving him bewildered.

  Lü Linggui's attitude was terrible, and Qin Xu probably could guess a few points, but had nothing to say, and could only touch his nose awkwardly, saying to Cai Yan: "Don't delay, I'll go see the soldiers assigned to me by General Lü first, you send Miss Lü back."

  Cai Yan looked deeply at Qin Xu, got a affirmative gaze from him, which didn't mean to leave her alone, then she said softly to Lü Linggui: "Ling'er little sister go back first, the two madams are still waiting for you, after things are over, sister will tell you in detail."

  "What's with this big bad guy? Him?" Lü Linggui pouted, looking at Cai Yan with dissatisfaction and distrust of Qin Xu.

  "It's my sister who needs Master Qin's help, and Master Qin is going to help my sister. Ling'er, you should go back first, don't let the two ladies wait anxiously." Cai Yan couldn't think of a way to explain the plot between Qin Xiang and Lu Lingxue at the moment, so she could only gently persuade Lu Lingxue to leave.

  "I won't! I want to go too! I just saw you bullying Yan sister!" Lü Lingyi, who had already taken it for granted that Qin Xu was a bad person, clenched her small fist at Qin Xu, her words shocking!