Chapter 16: Scheming for Hides

  In a small wine house opposite Wangshun Pavilion in Zhangjiakou Market, Di Zhe and Che Feng sat at a window table.

  Although the culinary skills of his family's chef far surpassed those of this shabby restaurant, Di Zhe had always enjoyed eating out, where he could hear all sorts of gossip and see the hustle and bustle of the streets, with merchants and beggars passing by. It was precisely because of this that Di Zhe had the opportunity to make a few rough friends.

  Two days after ambushing the Lu family's merchant caravan, he quietly returned to Zhangjiakou. This time, he left Xiao Zhiyan to guard the mountain stronghold and brought Che Feng along.

  Che Feng ate quickly, a plate of beef was gone in the blink of an eye, and after eating his fill, he sat there waiting for Di Zhe, with a style that was completely different from Xiao Zhiyan's ability to drink a pot of wine for an hour.

  Di Zhe chewed slowly and swallowed, without being in a hurry.

  The car was blowing gently with nothing to do, looking left and right, observing for a while before saying: "This collection is far worse than before!"

  "Have you been here before?"

  "In the past, I and my father often bought goods from here to transport to the grasslands to sell to Mongolians. At that time, the streets were so crowded that even horse-drawn carriages could not pass through!"

  Implicitly and explicitly, Che Feng never considered himself a Mongolian, although he looked very much like one.

  Di Zhe smiled as he ate and listened carefully to the discussions of the vendors and travelers in the tavern. On the streets, alleys, and countryside, there are always true words being spoken. Among the common folk, news spreads fastest through two places: taverns and brothels.

  After the merchant team was ambushed, Lu Jiaming didn't show any reaction on the surface, Zhai Zhe didn't believe that Lu Fuyou would let it go so easily.

  Just as the two were talking, a guard rushed into the tavern, looking around and spotted Zhai Zhe's table. He ran over, muttering to himself: "He's really here, I've been searching everywhere!" When he reached Zhai Zhe's table, the man bowed respectfully and said: "Second Young Master, the master is looking for you! You must return immediately!"

  "Is there something urgent?"

  "I don't know, it's the order of the East House!"

  Di Zhe stood up and threw a piece of silver to let Che Feng settle the bill. He then followed his guards back to Wang Shun Ge.

  He returned to Zhangjiakou for a day, and Di Tang didn't talk to him about the grassland matter. Some things were mutually understood between them without being explicitly stated, but Di Zhe didn't know why his brother suddenly looked for him.

  The guard led him to the gate of another courtyard and left on his own, the door of Zhai Tang's study was ajar, Zhai Zhe pushed open the door and entered, there were two people sitting inside: Zhai Tang and Fan Yongdou.

  When Zhai Zhe entered the door, Fan Yongdou looked up and greeted him: "Second Master is back!"

  The title changed from "Second Master" to "Second Young Master", and Di Zhe felt a slight sense of unease.

  Fan Yongdou put down the celadon tea cup in his hand and said, "Since everyone is here, let's not beat around the bush. Was it you who did Lu's merchant caravan?"

  Dai Tang's expression didn't change as he said, "As the host, I'm in a hurry to see what business you have with my younger brother. This is nonsense and shouldn't be spoken recklessly. Human life is at stake!"

  Fan Yongdou's dark face slightly relaxed, saying: "The conversation here is limited to the three of us. I'm not afraid to let you in on a secret either - the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty has already sent people into the Duo Yan grasslands, preparing to eliminate the horse thieves there and ensure the safety of the merchant caravans."

  "Excellent!" Zhai Tang pretended to be delighted, his tone still dripping with sarcasm.

  "The Jurchen people not only want to protect the merchant group, but also want to take that side!" Fan Yongdou made a throat-cutting gesture and continued: "But your move has startled the snake in the grass!"

  Di Tang and Di Zhe exchanged a glance, neither of them spoke.

  Fan Yongdou revealed a mysterious smile and said, "Don't deceive me anymore. In this past month, the Second Master has not spent enough days in this village to count on one hand. That Xiao Zhishan is gone, he was originally a horse thief from the grasslands!"

  Zhai brothers still did not acknowledge, Fan Yongdou said slowly: "My sister is 17 years old this year and has not been married yet. Zhai Dongjia knows that my parents passed away early, and my sister has always been the flesh in my heart. I heard that Second Master also didn't engage, why don't our two families become Qin Jin's good relationship? What do you think?"

  Di Tang nodded his head and said: "This is very good!"

  Di Zhe's heart was anxious, he took a step forward and shouted: "Big brother!"

  Di Tang stared at him for a moment, then said: "After seeing your sister last time, my younger brother has been thinking about it all the time. This marriage is indeed fulfilling this kid's wish." After that, Di Tang and Fan Yongdou burst out laughing together, two old cunning foxes knowing each other's thoughts.

  Di Zheqiang suppressed the discontent in his heart, but at this time, he had a falling out with his elder brother and lost the support of the Zhangjiakou business. Those bandits would be like trees without roots and would soon fall into trouble.

  "Now that we're one family, some things need to be clarified!" Fan Yongdou paused and said: "Second Master has the ability, on the grassland he can lead a group of horse thieves, which is also the reliance of our two families." He pointed east with his hand, "There's also a group of people on Duo Yan Grassland who want to cooperate with Second Master!"

  Di Tang looked at Di Zhe, after all, the matter of the grassland still had to be decided by Di Zhe himself.

  Fan Yongdou watched the movements of the two people clearly from the side.

  Di Zhe asked: "How to cooperate?"

  "The people over there want to work with you to take control of the Doyan Grasslands' horse thieves as soon as possible!" Fan Yongdou was no longer beating around the bush.

  The Jurchen people want to cooperate with him, which means their power on the Duo Yan grassland is not as strong as Fan Yongdou said! In an instant, Di Zhe understood the reason, but for him, it was an opportunity that could be borrowed. With the support of the two companies of Di and Fan, and the help of the Jurchen people, he can quickly expand his own strength.

  Di Zhe pretended to hesitate, then said: "The idea is great, but it's very difficult!"

  "We will support you!" Fan Yongdou finally said what Zhai Zhe most wanted to hear.

  "I will do my best!"

  Fan Yongdou nodded in satisfaction and said: "The time left for us is not long, we must end the dispute of Zhangjiakou before the end of the grassland war."

  Di Zhe understood Fan Yongdou's concerns. The Lu family had been sending merchant troops to the grasslands, but at this time, the Chahar and Tumote armies were facing off against each other with tens of thousands of soldiers in Guihua City, and a great war was about to break out. Lin Dan Khan had no power to take care of Zhangjiakou, and if they waited for the situation on the grasslands to be resolved, the situation would be extremely unfavorable for the Fan family.

  The three of them chatted for a while, discussing some details, including Zhai Zhe's collaboration with the female Zhēnrén and his marriage to Miss Fan.

  Di Tang and Fan Yongdou both made it clear that the marriage should be settled before the merchant team departs, at this time both parties need a stable relationship, Di Zhe has no power to oppose. His impression of Fan Yi is not bad, but he doesn't want his lifelong event to be so hasty, let alone that he and the two families of Di and Fan are not on the same rope as ants.

  Di Tang acted quickly and on the second day ordered someone to send this news by fast horse to his old father in Jie Xiu's home.

  The news in the village spread quickly, and it was said that the Fan family and the Di family were going to be married. No one felt surprised, since Ge Feng escaped from Zhangjiakou, the Di and Fan families had been getting closer and closer, and their marriage was a natural consequence.

  Dai Tang began to instruct the steward of the house to prepare the betrothal gifts, and Dai Zhe didn't need to worry about the affairs of the business. The efficiency of Wang Shun Ge was extremely high, and within a few days, all kinds of jewelry and clothes were prepared, just waiting for an auspicious day.

  Di Zhe didn't care about these things, his mind was all on the horse thieves' old camp in Duo Yan grassland.

  After staying in the cottage for four days, he returned to Duo Yan Grassland. This time, in order to avoid drawing attention, he simply created a fake appearance of returning to his old home in Jie Xiu.

  This time back to the old camp in the valley, Di Zhe returned with a full load, and Fan Yongdou directly sent thirty sets of armor as a gift. Due to the Ming dynasty's trade ban, the grasslands lacked ironware the most, many Mongolian arrowheads were made from bone and stone, and bandits also lacked blades, not to mention helmets and armor.

  Di Zhe chose only ten suits of armor to reward the bravest warriors in the village.

  Xiao Zhiyan ignored these armors and said, "The most important thing for the bandits is to act quickly. When they fall into danger, they should escape immediately. It's not a confrontation between two armies, what do we need these armors for?"

  "It's inevitable that there will be times when two armies clash!"

  "What about these people? Are they going to fight each other?" Xiao Zhi sneered at Di Zhe's words.

  No matter what Xiao Zhiyuan's attitude was, the gaze of the horse bandits in the mountain stronghold towards Di Zhe changed again. In a month's time, almost no one here could still remember the Drill Sky Eagle buried not far away in the mountain ditch, armor and helmets, these things that were previously unthinkable were actually all obtained, Meng Kang also rubbed the helmet for a long time like a child after taking it from Di Zhe's hand.

  These things were distributed and they all worked hard to prepare for them.

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