Chapter Nineteen: Sitting on the Ground and Dividing Wealth

  Zhao Jian chose a black armor, this armor was very light, but extremely solid. Zhao Jian used a long spear to stab it, and the armor only left shallow white scars, and there were also matching face masks and inner armors, which could be considered 'flawless'.

  Zhao Kun put it on his body, very fitting. Zhao Kun secretly regretted that he only knew how to use a crossbow and had slightly faster reflexes than others. If he encountered an expert, he would be completely powerless. However, Zhao Kun also understood that one person's bravery could not change the entire battlefield situation. It was better to read more military books. Learning martial arts was something for the future. This altar contained the rhythm of heaven and earth, but Zhao Kun did not discover any other secrets.

  After a few hours, the princess of Shu led dozens of robust and powerful Han men into the secret passage. These warriors were very rough and had the fierce spirit of the grassland nation. At that time, the minority nationalities had been through many wars and lived a hard life, so they naturally had strong combat effectiveness. On the other hand, the Song Dynasty army had been indulged in pleasure and laziness for many years and lacked training, so they were no match for the minority nationalities.

  Seeing Zhao Jiong here, the Liao soldiers drew their swords and surrounded him. Zhao Jiong gripped the hand crossbow behind his back in case of emergency. The Shu princess spoke a few words to the surrounding soldiers in the Liao language, and those soldiers retreated. These people were all old soldiers who had fought against the Song army for many years, and naturally they felt a strong desire to kill when they saw a Han person.

  Under the command of the Shu princess, the Khitan warriors of Liao moved quickly, and box after box was carried towards the secret passage. It took several periods to move everything, and the Shu princess left half of the armor, guns, gold, and silver treasures for Zhao Jie according to their agreement.

  The princess of Shu walked to Zhao Jie's side and handed him a treasure map, saying: "This is the distribution diagram of the entire hidden passage mechanism. I will send someone to find you as a contact person. Where can my people find you?"

  "Just come to Jinlin School Field to find me, I will definitely deliver the goods of equal value as promised, and will not let you suffer losses. And when the princess establishes Western Liao, I will be on one side to restrain the Golden Army." Zhao Yan said with a solemn oath.

  "We will meet again." The Shu princess gave Zhao Ye a meaningful glance before turning to leave. The hollow mountain body was left with only Zhao Ye, who distributed the treasure and armor on the four platforms to prevent others from being suspicious. As for meeting the Shu princess, Zhao Ye did not want too many people to know about it.

  The main switch of the organ had been turned off by Princess Shu, and Zhao Yan held a torch and walked slowly up the dark passage. The passage was winding and tortuous, and several times he entered a dead end, but finally relied on the treasure map to continue advancing correctly.

  When Zhao Yi walked to the exit of the tunnel, he didn't find any passageway. He repeatedly studied the treasure map's symbols and it clearly indicated that this was the place. Zhao Yi looked up and finally found a faint light on top. With all his might, he pushed away the obstructing object and opened a hole just big enough for one person to pass through. As he crawled out of the hole, he saw that the obstructing object was a bronze Buddha statue, its surface covered with dust, apparently no one had come here for many years.

  Zhao Bian walked out of the temple and found that this place was not far from Bianjing. Zhao Bian also thought about taking away some gold and silver, but later felt that the Wu family had guarded it for a hundred years, and doing so would not be what a gentleman should do. As the saying goes, "a gentleman loves wealth, but takes it in a proper way". He abandoned this idea. After walking on the official road for a while, Zhao Bian intercepted a horse cart and headed towards Kuai Shu Castle.

  Zhao Kuo had been underwater for a long time, and many people from the Wu family by the lake had given up hope and left. Wu Haotian also organized a meeting with the elders to discuss how to deal with the imperial family's difficulties, and this time he even pulled Wu Zhongyuan over. In fact, Wu Zhongyuan was more worried about his own sister, but since it concerned the fate of the family, he had no choice but to attend the elder's meeting.

  Wu Caiyun didn't leave, she just took the guqin to the lake and gently stroked the strings. The sound of the guqin was melodious and ethereal, but it always carried a deep sadness. Tears kept falling from Wu Caiyun's eyes, dripping onto the strings...

  Wang Xichen stood not far away, his brow furrowed in concern. He blamed himself for not stopping Zhao's rash behavior. He was worried about the future of the Imperial Guard and the fate of the Song Dynasty. In his heart, Wang Xichen said: "You little scoundrel, don't die, no matter what, I won't scold you anymore."

  Zhao Kuang had urged the carriage driver to speed up several times, and if the driver hadn't seen Zhao Kuang wearing armor and thought he was a deserter, he would have thrown Zhao Kuang out of the carriage long ago. The horse-drawn carriage rushed into the outer city gate of Zhaixu Castle, startling the six Wu family guards at the entrance, but when they saw Zhao Kuang in his black armor, they immediately pretended not to see him.

  Zhao Yin's carriage didn't stop until it reached the inner city of Shuixi Castle. Zhao Yin and Wang Xichen had been strolling around the city for several days, and the guards in the inner city also recognized them. What puzzled a few people was when did Zhao Yin go out?

  Zhao Yan said to the carman, "Wait a moment." Then he rushed into the inner city. The middle-aged carman was so anxious that he almost cried. He had been running wildly and nearly killed the horse. In the end, he was still sitting in the carriage, really unlucky. Before long, a servant came out and gave the carman ten taels of silver, which instantly lifted his mood from hell to heaven. Even the flowers and grass around him seemed more beautiful in the carman's eyes, as if he were dreaming.

  Zhao Yin's return news shocked the entire Shu Shi Castle, Wu Hangtian and a group of elders gathered together again. Everyone congratulated Zhao Yin without exception. Wu Hangtian was even more enthusiastic, extremely satisfied with Zhao Yin, and liked him more and more as he looked at him. Wang Xichen first gave Zhao Yin a punch in the chest, then whispered in his ear: "Now you can't escape being the son-in-law." After finishing speaking, he burst out laughing.

  Just then, Wang Xichen was pushed away by a hand and fell to the ground. Wu Caixia ignored everyone's gaze and rushed into Zhao Jin's arms, hugging him tightly. Zhao Jin was extremely embarrassed and could only gently comfort Wu Caixia. Wang Xichen was about to scold loudly, but seeing that it was Wu Caixia who pushed him away, he could only silently curse his bad luck.

  Wu Haotian walked over and said, "Xuan'er, isn't this a return? Are you still afraid he'll run away?" Wu Cai Xuan suddenly remembered that she was hugging Zhao Yan in front of everyone in the manor, and with a shy expression, she let go of Zhao Yan and hid behind him. Zhao Yan was now the celebrated hero of Quan Shi Manor, although most people didn't know the secret of Quan Shi Manor, but the terrifying lake water that the Wu family descendants knew about made this place a forbidden zone for the Wu family, as well as an execution ground for their enemies. Wu Haotian had already decided to bind Zhao Yan and the Wu family together, and Zhao Yan's breaking of the curse of the Cold Water Lake naturally earned him the respect of everyone in Quan Shi Manor. In fact, for nearly a hundred years, the Wu family had an agreement regarding those who were to be executed: as long as they dove to the bottom of the lake and picked up a piece of the special yellow rock found only there, and then returned to shore, no matter how great their crime, they would immediately be released on the spot, without exception.

  Unfortunately, no one has been able to do so in nearly a hundred years. Later, when the Wu family read out this agreement to those about to be executed, they were met with only curses and insults. Everyone knew that once you fell into the lake, there was no survival, and those who knew of this matter felt that it was a shameful thing for the Wu family. The Wu family also felt wronged, but their ancestors had left them with no choice but to follow through. If someone cursed loudly, they would be immediately pushed into the lake, and that would be the end of it. Throughout the generations, the Wu family head never came forward to clarify things, which naturally led a group of self-proclaimed righteous men to come out and say that the Wu family was cruel and not worthy of association. However, this also made many petty scoundrels dare not bully the Wu family members, so I suppose it's a case of losing something in the mulberry grove but gaining something in the eastern melon field.

  Zhao Kan told the Wu family about everything that had happened in the water, using his excellent eloquence to embellish and vividly describe the events. Zhao Kan also informed the Wu family about the discovery of the treasure and armor, but omitted the part where he met the princess of Shu. Without delay, Wu Haotian immediately mobilized dozens of trusted Wu family members and set off with Zhao Kan towards that abandoned temple.

  When the crowd walked through the long tunnel and saw the treasures on the four platforms, they couldn't help but feel excited, cheering and shouting. Wang Xichen stepped onto the platform, looked around for a few moments, furrowed his brow slightly, but quickly calmed down and pretended to be cheerful.

  Wu Haotian said to Zhao Yan beside him, "I'm old and I'll call you a wise nephew, I don't know if it's okay." Zhao Yan said, "It's an honor for me." Wu Haotian laughed and said, "Haha, great! This time my wise nephew took risks, the treasure here I'll only take half, the rest will all belong to you." Zhao Yan smiled and replied, "Wu old master won't take a single coin, it will all be used as capital for the new factory. I've already taught Wu Zhiyuan how to make glass, and I believe there will be many more things relying on the Wu family in the future."

  "Well, in that case, let's just say it's only natural to help out one's own family. What's the point of being so distant?" Wu Haotian said generously. Zhao Yan led Wang Xizhen away from the underground cave, and as they were leaving, Zhao Yan asked Wu Haotian for the right to use this place in the future, which Wu Haotian agreed to without hesitation. As Zhao Yan and Wang Xizhen rode their horses on the official road, Wang Xizhen said: "I think you should tell the truth now." Zhao Yan was taken aback, asking: "What do you mean, Brother Wang?"

  "I still don't acknowledge it, I just took a look and there are two platforms with things placed on them that are clearly not right. First of all, the Vermilion Bird has the saying 'auspicious beginning and prosperous destiny', which should have books and scrolls placed on it, but instead there's a mess of gold and silver. The Black Turtle has the saying 'stable words and nourishing origin', which should have precious medicinal herbs placed on it, but instead there are some messy weapons. At first I thought this was because the people of Liao didn't understand the rhythm, and were placing things randomly, but the empty brocade box in the middle made me certain that someone else had been here besides you." Wang Xiyan said firmly.

  Zhao Yan wanted to test Wang Xizhen, so he pretended to be hesitant and said: "Maybe someone came in before I did." "No way, I observed the moss underfoot, it was trampled not long ago, if it were a day ago, it would have turned yellow, but according to my observation, those mosses are still green. Moreover, if someone had come earlier, how could they leave so much money behind without taking care of it? So I'm sure someone arrived almost at the same time as you did."

  "It's a good thing you're not an enemy, or else any scheme to deal with you would be useless." Zhao Yan couldn't help but say in admiration. "So, from now on, you must give me a high-ranking official position," Wang Xi Zhen said with a pleased smile.

  Zhao Song then told Wang Xizhen about his meeting with the Shu princess and their alliance. After listening to Zhao's account, Wang seriously said: "Establishing an alliance like this is not wrong, it's very beneficial for us. However, you're still a bit naive in handling matters. If the Shu princess turns against you and kills you, you'll die in vain."

  "Alright, alright, you're so long-winded." Zhao Yan yawned.

  "You rascal, I'm thinking of you!" Wang Xichen scolded with a smile. The two galloped towards the Golden Scales Arena.