Chapter Forty-Two: Caught in the Trap

Liu Xie had been kidnapped yet again.

When Liu Xie regained consciousness and found himself surrounded by several heavily armed soldiers, a sudden sense of foreboding flickered through his mind.

Why did this feel somewhat different from what he had originally anticipated?

"My esteemed... brothers? What is the meaning of this?" Liu Xie asked, wearing a ingratiating smile.

He had no idea where he currently was. Despite being trapped in a predicament, the depths of his eyes revealed not the slightest trace of fear.

The room was dimly lit, preventing Liu Xie from clearly making out the faces of the soldiers.

Yet, he could vaguely discern the standard attire of local imperial Han soldiers. Initially, Liu Xie had assumed these men might be local bandits who made a living by kidnapping, but now it appeared things were not quite so simple.

Roughly estimating, Liu Xie counted about five soldiers inside the room.

Hearing Liu Xie's inquiry, one of the soldiers stepped forward, exuding the swagger of an arrogant military ruffian, and said, "Oh, you're awake?"

Liu Xie raised his head to look up at the soldier before him, who appeared to be a sturdily built fellow.

"Are you imperial Han soldiers?"

Hearing the surprise and doubt in Liu Xie's voice, the soldier let out a cold laugh. Instead of denying it, he brazenly admitted to it.

"That's right! We are Han soldiers! What about it? Are you wondering why the Han soldiers would kidnap you?"

"Good sir, I don't believe I've committed any offenses, have I?" A trace of panic leaked into Liu Xie's voice.

Seeming to detect the fear in his words, the soldier casually patted Liu Xie on the cheek and laughed with thinly veiled contempt.

"You certainly haven't committed any crimes, and I never said we captured you because you did something wrong!"

"We simply abducted you because we want some ransom money."

"Aren't you afraid I'll report this to the magistrates?"

"Go ahead! See who cares!"

With that, the soldier squatted down to look at Liu Xie, allowing the latter to clearly see his scar-marred face covered in dense, bristly whiskers. The soldier tried his best to put on a benevolent expression as he smiled.

"Don't worry, as long as the exact sum we want is paid in full, we will send you back safe and sound, without a single hair missing!"

"Big brother, please don't kill me! I'll give you however much money you want! Just spare my life!" Liu Xie feigned sheer terror as he pleaded with them.

"Hahaha! Big Beard, stop trying to scare him!" the other four soldiers behind the scarred man roared with laughter.

***

Hearing what the man had said, Liu Xie roughly pieced the situation together in his mind: the local officials were likely mixed up in this as well.

He simply wondered why they hadn't just slapped a fabricated charge on him and dragged him off directly.

Although Liu Xie was currently trapped here, he felt not an ounce of fear.

He had long since laid out a contingency plan. In fact, it could be said that Liu Xie had allowed himself to be captured here entirely on purpose.

Rather than saying Liu Xie had fallen for a trap and been caught, it was more accurate to say he had deliberately walked into danger to come here.

This was Liu Xie's trap within a trap.

He had his own distinct intentions in coming here.

Liu Xie glanced toward the single window in the room. Although it was shut tightly, he could tell through the cracks that the day outside must already be growing late.

He estimated that Erniu and the others should be getting ready to make their move by now.

At that moment, the door of the room was pushed open, and a slightly familiar figure stepped inside.

Upon seeing the newcomer, the several soldiers in the room all stood at attention and respectfully shouted in unison, "Fourth Brother!"

Hearing how the soldiers addressed him, Liu Xie couldn't help but lift his head. Reflected in his vision was a familiar face.

The person who had entered was none other than Qiao Si, who had previously escorted them into the city.

Or perhaps he should be called the Fourth Young Master of the Qiao clan—Qiao Yue.

Qiao Yue cast a glance at the bound Liu Xie. His eyes remained calm and unruffied as he gave a cold instruction to the guards keeping watch.

"Keep a close eye on him. The ransom letter was sent out not long ago; if he gets lost, you can all kiss your heads goodbye."

"Fourth Brother, don't you worry! With me here, there's no way this brat is running off!" The scarred soldier patted his chest, giving Qiao Yue his absolute guarantee.

Qiao Yue glanced at him and nodded. "This kid is a fat sheep. If he vanishes, yours will be the first head I take!"

At Qiao Yue's words, the scarred soldier shrank his neck back, and the rest of the guards in the room did not even dare to breathe heavily.

Seeing this, Qiao Yue swept his gaze across the room one last time, finally resting his eyes on Liu Xie. Liu Xie met his gaze directly. Both attempted to glean something from each other's eyes, but apparently, neither found anything of note.

With that, Qiao Yue turned and walked out.

After a long while, once they were certain Qiao Yue had gone far enough, someone finally dared to speak up.

"Tch, we only call him Fourth Brother to save face. Who does he think he is? I can't imagine what the boss saw in him to make him the second-in-command!" The tone was heavy with obvious resentment.

"Shh! Keep your voice down! If he hears you, you won't live to see a good day!" another guard warned.

Listening to their conversation, Liu Xie could roughly sense that Qiao Yue was unpopular among this group of men.

Despite currently being tied up, Liu Xie felt no anxiety whatsoever. Instead, he simply closed his eyes to rest and preserve his energy.

Who would have thought that a tiny county like Yuzhang would hold so many complicated undercurrents?

How truly fascinating.

While Liu Xie remained entirely unbothered, Erniu, who was outside preparing the rescue operation, was currently pacing back and forth in his room like an ant on a hot pan. Although he was aware of Liu Xie's plan, the emperor's life or death remained unknown at this moment. If anything at all went wrong with Liu Xie, Erniu would have no choice but to offer his own head in apology.

Just as Erniu was about to lose what little patience he had left, the door to the room was thrown open.

"Tiger Brother, we've found the place where Your Majesty is being held!"

The one who burst through the door was Qin Yu. He brought Erniu good news the moment he stepped inside, which simultaneously served to steady Erniu's anxious heart.

"Good, very good! Where is it? Do you have any clues about the location?" Erniu asked eagerly.

Seeing this, Qin Yu patted his chest with confidence and replied, "Tiger Brother, you can rest easy. Over the past few days, I've been cooperating with His Majesty to basically set up the Skynet intelligence network here in Yuzhang County. As for intelligence, I've already got it..."

"Assassin!"

Erniu let out a sudden, thunderous roar, lunging forward to kick Qin Yu flying. At the exact same instant, an arrow shot through the window of the room. Fortunately, Erniu's reflexes were lightning fast; almost instinctively, he jerked his head to the side, narrowly dodging the hidden projectile.

The poisoned arrow buried itself into the wooden wall, missing Erniu's face by a mere finger's breadth. Erniu was a vicious and ruthless man; disregarding the danger, he vaulted straight through the window frame to hunt down the assassin who had fired the shot!

However, he was a fraction of a step too late. By the time he went out to search, the assassin had already vanished without a trace.

When he returned to the room, he saw that Qin Yu had already gotten back to his feet and pulled the hidden arrow out from the wall.

Seeing Erniu re-enter, Qin Yu handed him a strip of cloth that had been attached to the arrow.

"Tiger Brother, look at this. It was tied to the arrow shaft."

Erniu took the piece of cloth and saw a line of small characters brush-written across it:

"The hour of Zi the day after tomorrow, Hanshuan Pavilion in the west of the city. Two tens of thousands of taels of gold in exchange for your master's life!"