The sergeant followed Tian Yu's finger and saw the pile of boxes. He was stunned at first, then smiled and said, "You are a sensible person."
"But I have been ordered to go aboard and inspect."
"If the cargo on your ship is normal, I will take you to see the city guard, but whether you can see him or not depends on his mood."
He was about to go onto the boat.
After hearing this, Tian Yu slowly said, "Does the general really want to search?"
After hearing this, the sergeant stabbed his spear on the ground and sneered, "Why, do you have something to hide?"
As soon as he shouted, the soldiers behind him raised their spears and pointed them at Tian Yu's chest.
When the sailors on the ship saw this, they were also unhappy and shouted, "Why? Our Zhen family has traveled to several states, and no one has dared to do this to us!"
Seeing them surrounding him with sticks in their hands, the sergeant felt a little unsure. He just wanted to scare them, so why did these people react so strongly?
Used to being domineering?
However, the other party doesn't look like a spy, otherwise how could he be so bold as to resist the soldiers?
The sergeant was not afraid of these people. What he was afraid of was that these people were so confident and had they already colluded with their superiors?
If you don't keep your eyes open and get blamed by your superiors, won't you be the one who suffers in the end?
Just when he was about to lose face, Tian Yu stopped everyone, stepped aside, and said to the squad leader, "General, please investigate."
"But I would like to remind you that there are sons and daughters of noble families on board. If you offend them, you will have to go before the city guard to have a say."
"It's hard to say who the city guard will side with by then."
After hearing this, the captain hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "I'm not afraid of being scared!"
He waved to the soldiers behind him and shouted, "Get on board and search!"
When the soldiers heard this, they rushed onto the ship and searched every room.
The sergeant led his men to search from the bottom warehouse, but they did not find any secret rooms. Instead, there was a lot of food and valuables in the warehouse. The wealth of the warehouse made him and his soldiers jealous.
However, they understood that the Zhen family, a world-famous wealthy family, must have many backers, and one of them might be their immediate superior, so they absolutely did not dare to covet these things.
They searched one by one, from the bottom floor to the top floor, and finally only a few rooms were left, from which sounds of laughter could be heard.
The chief went up, banged on the door a few times, and said, "Open the door!"
Tian Yu said coldly beside him: "I advise you to think twice."
Suddenly, a shout was heard from inside the house, "Who dares to disturb my interest?"
The door was suddenly opened, and a young man with his arms half-opened was hugging a concubine dressed in silk and satin. His face was filled with anger, and he shouted, "What a blind dog!"
At this time, Yuan Xi had put on some makeup and glued on some beard, which was very different from his previous image, in order to prevent the soldiers who participated in the Battle of Qingzhou from recognizing him.
The sergeant saw Yuan Xi's arrogant face and was about to speak, but Tian Yu said coldly: "This is the son of the Zhen family. You should think before you speak."
After hearing this, the chief lowered himself by three points. When he saw that the concubine in the young man's arms was beautiful and young, he cursed in his heart, saying that children from wealthy families only know how to play.
When he looked over Yuan Xi's shoulder, he found that there were two concubines on the big bed in the room.
One of them was lying in the quilt, his face facing inward so his face couldn't be seen clearly, and the other one was sitting up, with a well-proportioned figure and great charm. Although his face was a little dark, it couldn't hide his charming appearance. He was looking over here.
Shi Chang thought that he had underestimated these nobles, but they really knew how to play.
He glanced inside and found nothing unusual, so he stepped back and said with a smile, "It's just routine. Please forgive me."
Yuan Xi snorted coldly and slammed the door shut.
The sergeant cursed in his heart, but after searching the ship, he found everything normal. Except for a few guards such as Tian Yu who were carrying iron swords, there were no other armor or weapons. It seemed to be a normal merchant ship.
Before he got off the boat, he asked his men to carry the box of silk cloth and said to Tian Yu, "Come with me into the city."
After hearing this, Tian Yu ordered dozens of people to push carts loaded with valuables off the boat, and followed the sergeant into the city.
Yuan Xi looked through the crack in the window and thought that from now on it was up to Tian Yu.
Tian Yu once worked with Liu Bei in Xuzhou. Among everyone, he was the most familiar with Guangling, and only he was capable of undertaking this important task.
Zhen Mi and Cai Zhaoji sat up from the bed and asked Yuan Xi, "Did you get away with it?"
Yuan Xi hugged Cao Xian in his arms and said with a smile: "It's okay for now, but we have to wait on the boat. The night is the key."
"It's still early, let's take a break first."
Cao Xian felt that Yuan Xi's hands were beginning to become dishonest, and blushed as he whispered, "Sir, don't you want to conserve your energy?"
Normally, she had no scruples when she was alone with Yuan Xi, but now with so many people present, she felt a little embarrassed.
Yuan Xi saw Zhen Mi's half-smile and half-smile, and quickly coughed, "Yeah, the four of us are sitting at the same table, what should we do?"
Tian Yu followed the captain into the city and arrived at the city lord's mansion. He presented the gift and the Zhen family's business card. The guard asked, "Are you the young master of the Zhen family?"
Tian Yu said: "The young master is still on the boat, I am a servant of the Zhen family."
The guard heard it, went in to report, and came out a moment later and said, "Madam said that since you are not here, she is waiting for you at any time. You can do business in the city first."
When the chief heard this, he smiled at Tian Yu and said, "You are lucky. Not everyone can do business here."
After hearing this, Tian Yu said to the guard, "Thank you, ma'am."
He thought this was just right, as the nobles would usually only meet the nobles due to their status and would not meet a servant like him, so this saved him a lot of trouble.
But who is the lady that the guard is talking about?
Sun Ce's wife?
He rolled his eyes and pulled the officer aside and said, "Thank you for your help, sir. How about I treat you to a drink?"
The captain said hurriedly: "I still have to be on duty."
Tian Yu laughed and said, "Why don't you just leave it to your subordinates? Sir, where is the best restaurant in the city?"
He half-forced himself to pull the sergeant along, and together they went to the city.
As the sky gradually darkened, the dock became deserted, and many ships docked one after another to unload cargo overnight.
At this time, the city gates several miles away from the dock had been closed, and the goods unloaded from the ship were piled up on the dock, waiting to be transported into the city tomorrow.
Yuan Xi looked out the window and saw that there was no movement at the city gate in the distance, and he couldn't help feeling a little anxious.
He calmed down, turned around, and said to the three women on the bed: "No matter what happens later, don't go out."
The three girls all had red faces at this time, and they nodded at the same time.
Yuan Xi opened the secret compartment under the bed, inside were his armor and ring-handled sword.
The three women stood up, helped him put on his armor, fastened his ring-handled sword, and then covered him with a robe from the outside.
After a while, there were a few knocks on the door, and Guo Jia's voice said, "The boat behind us is catching up."
Yuan Xi nodded to the three women, pushed open the door, and then closed it behind him.
He followed Guo Jia to the stern of the boat and saw several merchant ships with three windproof lanterns hanging on their bows slowly approaching on the river in the distance.
These ships were used to transport his soldiers. Each ship had one or two hundred people, and six or seven hundred of them were all wearing armor and carrying swords. This was Yuan Xi's strength.
You have to know that Yuan Xi's entire fortune now is only a little over a thousand sets of armor. Including the previous cavalry, he brought almost half of his own armored soldiers in this battle.
Guo Jia spoke up: "They arrived on time, but it is hard to say when the city will be able to start."
"There is no movement from Taishi Ci's side either. If there are no cavalry, even if we enter the city, it will be difficult to control all the city gates in a short period of time."
Yuan Xi nodded. Although his thousand soldiers could match several thousand men, the number of soldiers in the city was no less than that.
If the two sides get into a stalemate, the casualties on our side will increase significantly. Only by launching a surprise attack when the enemy is unprepared, controlling the four gates and the barracks before the defenders in the city react, and forcing the defenders to surrender can the casualties be minimized.
Seeing the boat behind them getting closer and closer, Yuan Xi and Guo Jia looked at each other and knew that if they docked now, soldiers might come up to check at any time. If they were caught, the defenders in the city would surely be alert, and then Tian Yu and his men would be in trouble.
Thinking of this, the two could only suppress their nervousness and wait quietly for changes in the city.
At this time, in the City Lord's Mansion, Madam Wu was talking to Zhou Yu. She asked, "What is the situation in the city today?"
Zhou Yu replied: "It's normal during the day. Right now, Mr. Qiao is leading his troops to patrol the city."
He thought for a moment and said, "When I was patrolling in the city during the day, I met a group of merchants. They said they were from the Zhen family and had obtained Madam's permission to do business here. Is this true?"
Mrs. Wu nodded and said, "Indeed, one of his servants brought the Zhen family seal. I saw that there was no problem with the seal, and I heard that the Zhen family man was still on the boat, so I asked him to come again tomorrow and let his servants sell the goods in the city first."
"The soldiers reported that these servants were searched when they entered the city. Only the leaders had iron swords. They have all handed them over and will be exchanged when they leave the city."
Zhou Yu was relieved after hearing this and said, "Since Madam says so, there should be no problem."
"A few dozen people without weapons can't do anything in the city."
He was suddenly stunned, and felt vaguely that something was wrong.
When Mrs. Wu saw it, she asked, "What's wrong?"
Zhou Yu shook his head and said, "Maybe I'm overthinking it. How come the Zhen family, a well-known and wealthy family in the world, only has a few people wearing swords?"
"You know, the waterways are not safe either, and there are often robberies. Is this their first time using the waterways?"
Mrs. Wu hesitated after hearing this and asked, "Did they leave all the swords on the boat?"
Zhou Yu thought for a moment and said, "I'll go to the military camp and ask the general on duty during the day."
Mrs. Wu was also a little worried after hearing this, and said, "I'll trouble you, Gongjin."
Zhou Yu left the house, mounted his horse and headed for the barracks.
It was already winter, and the streets of Guangling City were deserted at night. The sound of horse hooves hitting the bluestone pavement made Zhou Yu feel inexplicably uneasy.
He entered the barracks and found the squad leader who had led the troops into the city during the day. He found that the other party was drunk and his breath was full of alcohol. Zhou Yu's face darkened and he said, "Have you been drinking?"
The commander said incoherently, "General, please forgive me, I have already changed guards and am not on duty."
Zhou Yu heard this and said, "Let me ask you, were you the one who brought the Zhen family caravan in during the day?"
The captain said in a daze: "No, that's right."
Zhou Yu asked, "When you went aboard to check, did they carry swords?"
After hearing this, the captain sobered up a bit and said, "Only the leaders brought swords, and they took them away when they entered the city."
Zhou Yu's heart sank when he heard this. "Are you sure that other than them, no one else on the boat had swords?"
The captain nodded quickly: "Confirmed."
After hearing this, Zhou Yu turned around and left.
Something's wrong!
He arrived at the gate of the military camp and was about to mount his horse when he saw a bright fire snake rising up in the dark sky and into the clouds.