Cui Fugui calmly opened the door, and a group of soldiers rushed in like wolves and tigers.
Cui San pointed at Cui Fugui, "Officer, it's him, Chen Xiaobei's father-in-law."
Several soldiers chuckled dryly, "Elder, at the order of the Marshal, you are invited to the mountain as a guest."
Cui Fugui appeared very calm, "Gentlemen, please calm down, may I have a moment to pack some clothes."
Cui San whispered a few words into the leader's ear. The soldier nodded and asked, "Elder, do you have a servant? He can come with us to the mountain."
Cui Fugui feigned helplessness, shrugged his shoulders, "What a coincidence, Ah Xiang went to the prefecture to buy medicine and won't be back for at least three to five days."
My family runs a pharmacy, and it's normal for my servant to go out to get some herbal medicine.
The soldier nodded and said nothing more.
Cui Fugui seized the opportunity to raise his voice, "Gentlemen, if you are in a hurry, please allow me to leave him a letter. He will naturally come to find me on the mountain when he sees it."
The soldier nodded, "Alright, then hurry and write it, and then you can come with me."
Cui Fugui returned to his pharmacy, first quickly wrote a letter, and put it in the drawer beside him.
Then, he unhurriedly wrote another one, in the tone of writing to Ah Xiang.
As expected, before he finished writing, Cui San rushed in, leaned over to look at the content of the letter, and said with a grin, "Cui Fugui, stop dawdling. Even if you dawdle for three days, Chen Xiaobei won't come to save you."
Cui Fugui naturally understood that relying on Chen Xiaobei to appear was almost impossible, so after finishing the letter, he went back to his room to pack a few clothes and left with them.
Soon, the news of Chen Xiaobei's father-in-law being captured was reported to Zhu Meng.
Seeing the news from the foot of the mountain, Zhu Meng couldn't help but sigh.
"In the end, I was forced to take this step. If I had known, I shouldn't have been so merciful to Centipede Ridge. Even burning the mountain down would have driven out the villagers of Hetou Village."
Zhang Liao repeatedly waved his hand, "Marshal, please do not be so hasty. The hearts of the people are still important. Otherwise, even if we win the world, the common people will not obey."
Zhu Meng looked at him, "We can only place our hopes on the Great Tuguo and the Great Lin Kingdom. Otherwise, we can hardly protect ourselves, let alone conquer the world."
At this time, in Cui Family Village, Ah Xiang cautiously crawled out of the cellar after waiting until there was no more movement outside.
He first went to the pharmacy to find the letter left by Cui Fugui and carefully put it away.
Then he went back to the room to get two pieces of clothing, took some dry rations, got some silver fragments, and quietly left the village.
As dawn broke, Ah Xiang arrived at Centipede Ridge.
The guards on duty were from the garrison brought by Hu Fan from the county town. Upon hearing Ah Xiang introduce himself as the servant of Chen Xiaobei's father-in-law, they naturally let him up the mountain.
Cui Hongyu was making breakfast when she heard someone report that Ah Xiang had arrived.
Upon hearing this news, Cui Hongyu's heart sank. Her father had refused their suggestion and stayed in Cui Family Village.
Now that Ah Xiang had arrived, it was likely that something bad had happened.
Cui Hongyu hurried out to greet him. As soon as she reached the main entrance, she saw Ah Xiang crying as he approached.
Seeing Cui Hongyu, Ah Xiang quickened his steps, knelt down with a thud, and said, "Miss, something terrible has happened, something terrible! Master, Master has been captured by the official army."
Cui Hongyu stepped forward to help Ah Xiang up and gestured for him to sit on a nearby stone.
"Uncle Ah Xiang, don't rush, speak slowly."
Ah Xiang took out the letter from his sleeve and handed it to Cui Hongyu, then recounted the events of the previous night in detail.
Cui Hongyu's brows furrowed after listening. Why did the official army suddenly start arresting people!
At this moment, Chen Xiaobei arrived after hearing the news. Seeing Cui Hongyu's distressed state, he couldn't help but ask, "Hongyu, what happened?"
Cui Hongyu handed the letter to Chen Xiaobei, "My father was captured by Zhu Meng's men."
Chen Xiaobei was also confused after reading the letter. If they wanted to arrest him, they would have done so long ago. Why choose this particular time?
"Uncle Ah Xiang, please rest here for now. Let me think about this." Chen Xiaobei took the letter and turned to find Prince Xiao Jingyun.
"Your Highness, the situation is worse than we anticipated. Zhu Meng has begun arresting villagers."
Before he finished speaking, Liu Rumei also arrived in a hurry.
"Your Highness, last night, the city garrison went out and captured over a thousand commoners into the city."
Xiao Jingyun's brows furrowed, and he felt an inexplicable heaviness in his heart.
At this moment, Princess Zhaoning also arrived, and as soon as she entered, she asked, "Brother, what happened? It's so noisy this early in the morning."
Seeing Princess Zhaoning, Xiao Jingyun became angry. He thought, it's all your master's fault for causing trouble.
However, he held back the words after thinking for a moment. In front of Chen Xiaobei and Liu Rumei, he had to maintain royal dignity.
"The city garrison has begun arresting commoners to use as hostages. They probably heard the news that the two armies of the King of Qin will arrive today."
Princess Zhaoning was also taken aback. She immediately understood what was happening and looked at her brother with gratitude in her eyes.
She knew that if Xiao Jingyun had openly stated this and scolded her, she could only bear it silently and would only embarrass herself in front of everyone.
"Brother, what should we do? Should we send people to rescue the commoners in the city first?"
Xiao Jingyun shook his head, "The ones coming are Prince Zhao from the east and Prince Liu from the north. The two armies are no more than a hundred thousand men. That's not enough to surround Qingniu County."
"We have to wait longer."
Princess Zhaoning became anxious, "But what about so many commoners in the city?"
"Don't worry, Zhu Meng won't do anything to them. He will try his best to treat the common people well, only then can he win their hearts."
Xiao Jingyun stood up, put his hands behind his back, and paced back and forth twice. "The most troublesome issue now is that Zhu Meng has captured Cui Fugui of Cui Family Village. He is Brother Xiaobei's father-in-law."
Chen Xiaobei listened and bowed to Xiao Jingyun again, "Your Highness, Hongyu's mother passed away early. It was my old father-in-law who raised her. Please lend us your help."
After speaking, Chen Xiaobei bowed again, then turned and left.
Watching him leave, Xiao Jingyun sighed and looked at Liu Rumei and then at Princess Zhaoning.
"What do you two think we should do about this matter?"
Liu Rumei clasped his fists, "Your Highness, there is no room for negotiation in this matter. We must go up the mountain to rescue him."
"Yes, Brother, if the people are not rescued, it will likely damage your reputation," Princess Zhaoning quickly added.
Xiao Jingyun gave her a sideways glance, thinking, you still know about damaging my reputation.
"Alright, since you both agree to rescue him, let's discuss how to do it."
Liu Rumei smiled slightly, full of confidence, "Your Highness, after listening to Chen Xiaobei just now, I thought of a plan. I don't know if it will work."
Xiao Jingyun's eyes eagerly turned to Liu Rumei, "Then tell me quickly, what is the plan?"
"My plan is that we send people up the mountain."
Upon hearing Liu Rumei's words, both Princess Zhaoning and Xiao Jingyun were stunned.