Both of them knew that they would be in danger, but they did not expect it to be this dangerous. Before they even reached Qi, they were already being pursued by experts!
Regardless of whether they felt guilty or not, their hearts were clouded by the possibility of Niu Youdao's success.
Fei Changliu explained: "Princess, the entire plan was personally made by Niu Youdao and the disciples of the three sects were under his command. According to his plan, the disciples of the three sects could not stop him even if they wanted to. After that, he and Zhuo Chao dug into the ground to fight. Even if the disciples of the three sects wanted to help him, they were unable to do so as they did not have the ability to burrow underground. When the two of them came out, the disciples of the three sects immediately attacked. Two Golden Core disciples lost their lives because of this. How can you say that we did nothing? "
"Princess!" Lan Ruoting reminded her, stopping Shang Shuqing from speaking any further. The matter had already happened and was already in the past. There was no point in dwelling on it. It was also not appropriate to blame the three sects. The three sects seemed to have suffered great losses in the Qi Kingdom for the sake of the warhorses here.
Bai Yao spoke again: "Sect Master Fei, are you saying that Niu Youdao and Zhuo Chao both have the ability to burrow underground?"
Fei Changliu was silent for a while before nodding lightly: "Niu Youdao burrowed underground first and Zhuo Chao pursued him …"
Under the scorching sun, the river was dry. Crowds of people were busy digging and carrying soil between the two mountains.
A group of people stood on the river bank. Two local officials were holding a map in front of Shao Pingbo, comparing the terrain and explaining it to him.
An old man carrying a load of soil slowly came ashore. Suddenly, his feet slipped and he fell on the slope of the river bank. The workers immediately put down their load and went to help.
This movement caused Shao Pingbo, who was staring at the map, to raise his head. He then raised his head to look at the parasol above his head. He suddenly turned around and waved his hand, knocking the parasol in the official's hand to the ground. He said coldly, "The commoners are toiling under the scorching sun, and you are pretending to open an umbrella. What are your intentions? How will the commoners see me?"
The official holding the umbrella was so frightened that he fell to his knees and kowtowed repeatedly: "Young Master, this lowly one is confused! This lowly one is confused!"
Shao Pingbo turned his head to look at the porter who had just gotten up from the fall and asked coldly, "Why did he fall?"
An official at the side said carefully, "It's probably because he's old and his legs aren't as nimble as before!"
Shao Pingbo stared at him coldly. "Are you sure that someone didn't skimp on the rations and starve the laborers?"
The official hurriedly explained, "There is absolutely no such thing. Under the Eldest Young Master's strict orders, even if I had ten thousand guts, I would not dare to relax my supervision!"
Shao Pingbo said, "I still stand by what I said. If the people are there, the land is there. If the people are gone, the land will be gone. If the people are gone, the land will be gone. People are the greatest wealth of the Northern State! I know everyone's difficulties, but these laborers are doing physical labor. If they don't have enough to eat, how can they work? I don't ask you to let them eat dry rice for every meal, but three meals a day, two of which are sparse and one of which is dry is the bottom line. If someone colludes with the rich to embezzle food supplies, if someone starves to death, this canal will be the burial ground of his entire family! Just like what I said, deal with whoever you find. Don't let them off lightly! "
"Yes yes yes!" The official wiped the cold sweat on his forehead with his sleeves. "Don't worry, Eldest Young Master. Everything is done according to Eldest Young Master's instructions."
Shao Pingbo waved his hand and pointed at the area between the two mountains. "Before the rainy season arrives, the canal's diversion node must be opened. Otherwise, the river will rise and the construction will be delayed by another year. The irrigation of the plains behind the mountains depends on this. It will affect the entire year's harvest of a large area, affect the rations of many people, and then affect the settlement of a large number of people. You have a great responsibility! "
The official said, "Don't worry, Eldest Young Master. I will definitely open it before the rainy season arrives!"
Shao Pingbo glanced at him coldly. "It's useless to say that you'll listen. How can you guarantee that?"
The official braced himself and said, "Gather more laborers from the refugees and send more people to speed up the work!"
Shao Pingbo said, "If we increase the manpower, how will you guarantee the laborers' rations?"
The official said, "After the canal is built, whoever's land is irrigated will naturally have to pay for it. I will talk to those rich families."
Shao Pingbo said, "That makes sense! However, I have two requests. First, no laborers can starve to death. Second, you can't be rude to those rich families. You have to reason with them and make it clear to them. If you scare them away and cause a bad impact, causing other rich families to retreat and affecting the Northern Prefecture's great plan, I will not forgive you! "
The official wailed in his heart, but he still braced himself and agreed. "I will remember it!"
"Report the progress of the project every three days. I will wait for your news in the Northern Prefecture."
"Yes!"
Shao Pingbo's gaze swept across the local officials present. Slowly, he said, "Everyone is here to make a living for the people of the Northern Prefecture. I can't treat you badly." He turned to the general standing at the side and said, "General Xu, gather the families of the local officials and send them to the Northern Prefecture together. I will provide for their families and let them do their work in peace here."
General Xu cupped his fists and accepted the order. "Yes!"
Shao Pingbo then said to the officials, "Before the rainy season arrives, everyone must work together to open this canal. I will wait for the good news in the Northern Prefecture. When the good news arrives, I will personally send everyone's families back and personally celebrate everyone's success!"
Everyone was terrified. He was going to take everyone's families as hostages!
They had long heard of this young master's ruthlessness. If they could not complete the task, the consequences could be imagined!
However, everyone had no choice but to agree in unison. "Thank you, young master!"
When the crowd dispersed, Shao Sansheng waved his hand to signal the people around Shao Pingbo to leave. He reminded him, "Young master, isn't it a little inappropriate to take the families of these officials as hostages?"
Shao Pingbo's white hair was extremely conspicuous under the sunlight. He stared at the busy work site and sighed softly. "How could I not know that it's inappropriate? However, in this chaotic world, people's hearts are like water. They should be restrained by the law … The order comes from me. Sometimes, they will be afraid of me so that the order can be carried out quickly. It's not a bad thing!"
Shao Sansheng was silent for a while and said, "Young master, Miss Su has failed to target Niu Youdao!"
Shao Pingbo suddenly turned around. "What happened?"
This matter could not be explained in a few words. Shao Sansheng took out the translated secret letter from his sleeve and showed it to him.
Shao Pingbo received it and read it. Slowly, he said, "It's not surprising that she failed. I have already warned Sister Zhao that Niu Youdao must be prepared. She should not act rashly!"
After he finished speaking, he stared at the paper in his hand and frowned. He muttered, "Even such an expert failed … Moreover, a group of people suddenly appeared beside her …"
After a long time, he handed the paper back to Shao Sansheng and said, "Send a message to Sister Zhao. I want to know everything that happened after Niu Youdao left the mountain. Remember, details. I want details!"
"Yes!" Shao Sansheng replied.
"Cough cough …" Shao Pingbo coughed violently.
A few days later, Shao Pingbo was reading official documents under the lamp in the study room of the Provincial Governor's Mansion in the prefecture capital of the Northern Province.
Shao Sansheng entered and handed over another secret letter. "Eldest Young Master, Miss Su's reply has arrived."
Shao Pingbo did not raise his head. He waited until he finished the document in his hand before putting down his brush. He took the secret letter and read it carefully.
This time, there were several pages in the secret letter. After reading it for a long time, Shao Pingbo slowly placed it on the table. He stared at the lamp on the table in silence for a long time before sighing. "Sister Zhao was careless. I'm afraid that Niu Youdao already knows that the assassins came from the Waning Moon Pavilion. I'm afraid that Linghu Qiu's identity has aroused his suspicion."
Shao Sansheng asked, "What do you mean?"
Shao Pingbo took out the secret letter. "Look at the beginning of the secret letter. It's about the description of when Niu Youdao left the mountain."
Shao Sansheng took the secret letter in his hand but did not read it. "I've already read the secret letter. The beginning says that after Niu Youdao left the mountain, he went to Qingshan County to purchase some things …" He paused and suddenly realized something. "Eldest Young Master, do you mean that Niu Youdao is deliberately revealing his whereabouts?"
Shao Pingbo leaned back in his chair and nodded. "It's just a few things. There's no need for him to personally purchase them. Also, there's a group of experts from the three sects who suddenly appeared around him. It's obvious that they've been prepared. He's using himself as bait and has long set up a trap to lure those who want to harm him into it. Even an expert like Zhuo Chao couldn't kill him. It's obvious that he's well prepared! "
"If he's so capable of self-defense, why did he send people to secretly accompany him? Why did he pretend to be weak? If it's not to lure those who want to harm him, then what is it? What is he trying to achieve by deliberately making trouble for himself? It's not hard to understand. His trip to the Kingdom of Qi is of great importance. He wants to know who is trying to harm him in advance so that he can act in the future. Therefore, he wants to capture people alive and find out who wants to harm him so that he can deal with them! I'm afraid that someone from the Waning Moon Pavilion has fallen into his hands! "
Shao Sansheng said, "Miss Su said in the letter that she has been reprimanded by the Waning Moon Pavilion. When the Waning Moon Pavilion reprimanded her, the content of the reprimand proved that the five people who attacked her are all dead. There should be no survivors in the hands of Niu Youdao."
Shao Pingbo sneered. "This proves that Linghu Qiu is from the Waning Moon Pavilion!"
Shao Sansheng was stunned. He really could not keep up with this Young Master's train of thought.
"Niu Youdao planned before he took action. His secret entourage was not exposed before he took action. How many people Niu Youdao sent to ambush Zhuo Chao and how he killed him is still a mystery. Sister Zhao and the Waning Moon Pavilion have no idea what happened. None of the assassins returned. How could the Waning Moon Pavilion know the specific casualties? "
"Zhuo Chao's group of seven people. One was responsible for luring Linghu Qiu away, one was responsible for observing the situation in the Boundless Pavilion, and the other five were responsible for carrying out the operation. This is the general outline of the operation. Before this, Linghu Qiu was inseparable from Niu Youdao. After the incident, do you think Niu Youdao will suspect Linghu Qiu? If Niu Youdao doesn't suspect Niu Youdao, then Niu Youdao is not the Niu Youdao I know. Since he already suspects Linghu Qiu, it is unlikely that Niu Youdao will tell Linghu Qiu that he has captured people alive. After the incident, Niu Youdao will definitely tell Linghu Qiu that all five assassins are dead! Therefore, the Waning Moon Pavilion will also think that all five assassins are dead! "
"Niu Youdao deliberately set up a trap to capture people alive. Even Zhuo Chao died in his hands. Do you think it will be difficult for him to capture people alive?"
Shao Sansheng seemed to understand. He asked doubtfully, "The Waning Moon Pavilion's cruel methods of dealing with traitors are not child's play. Even if there are people who are caught, they should know the consequences of betrayal. How could they confess so easily?"
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