GBP Chapter 94 Deceiving Sun Yuanhua Again
Chapter 94 Deceiving Sun Yuanhua Again
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After entering the city, Liu Ye went straight to Wang Bao's residence, a five-courtyard house. In a short period of time, this fellow had amassed a fortune from the believers in Dengzhou City, bought this house, and had several young and beautiful female disciples serving him. He was living a very comfortable life.
Despite past unpleasant experiences, Wang Bao still treated Liu Ye with respect because he had secured Dengzhou and, with the rebels' tacit approval, had extensively recruited followers and amassed wealth. Liu Ye demanded that he fulfill his promise to remove the dozen or so Yi people from the city, which Wang Bao readily agreed to.
"Brother Liu, don't worry, you're very loyal, and I'm not ungrateful. How about this, I'll take care of getting them out of the governor's office, and you just need to provide backup, okay?"
"No problem, but does Protector Wang have any way to get them out?" Since he needed the other party's help, Liu Ye became more polite and stopped calling him "Daoist Master" all the time.
Wang Bao chuckled: "That's not difficult."
His method was simple and brutal: Sun Yuanhua and a dozen or so Portuguese were imprisoned in the governor's office. A few servants and cooks remained to attend to Sun Yuanhua. Their daily food needs, including grain, meat, and vegetables, were delivered daily by a special person—the owner of the grain and oil shop responsible for the delivery—who happened to be one of his followers. On certain days, under the pretext of delivering vegetables, he would let the dozen or so people in, then have them exchange clothes with the foreigners, who would then impersonate the deliverymen.
"What will happen to those dozen or so men after we replace the barbarians?" Liu Ye asked.
"Hehe, Brother Liu, those who do great things don't concern themselves with trifles. Afterwards, these dozen or so men might be questioned and thrown into jail. As for whether they'll be beheaded, that depends on their fate. I'm not an unreasonable person. If they come out alive, I'll give them travel expenses; if they die, I'll give them resettlement money. They won't lose out."
Liu Ye nodded in agreement. Snakes have their ways, rats have their paths; some things can only be done by cunning and deceitful people. As for his own guards, they couldn't think of any other way but to openly charge in.
Back at the governor's office, he pretended to be travel-worn and went to find Sun Yuanhua, saying, "Lord Sun, I told Li Jiucheng's men about what you mentioned yesterday, and sent a message over at full speed. Li Jiucheng agreed, but Kong Youde said that it's not safe to go by land because they are fighting with government troops and things are in chaos. He said you should go by water, landing in Tianjin and heading to the capital."
Sun Yuanhua never imagined Liu Ye would lie to him. In his view, there was no benefit in lying to him about such a matter, so he believed him without a doubt. He nodded and said, "It's commendable that Kong Youde has considered everything so thoroughly. It was worthwhile for me to have valued him in the first place. Whether by water or land, it's faster than by land. The sooner we reach the capital, the sooner the people of Shandong will be free from their suffering."
Once you're on the ship, keep heading south, and you'll find you're not going north. But by then, it won't be up to you. Just make sure you don't jump into the sea, Liu Ye thought to himself. He quickly replied, "That's right. I have nothing else to do, so I'll accompany you to the capital, sir."
"Oh?" Sun Yuanhua was quite surprised, but he had a good impression of Liu Ye. It was not a good thing for such a person to stay in the rebel stronghold. It was not a bad thing for him to come to the capital with him.
"If I were still the Governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou, I would definitely try to secure an official position for you after we arrive in the capital. Unfortunately, I am currently in a precarious situation myself. However, I can recommend you to my mentor and the Grand Secretary. If they approve, you are sure to have a bright future!"
"Although I have no interest in an official career, I still appreciate your kindness, sir." Liu Ye responded to Sun Yuanhua's words, "Since you wish to depart as soon as possible, I will make the arrangements. Also, do you remember the dozen or so Portuguese in the governor's office?"
“How could I not remember? Do you have a way to take them with you? These men are skilled in artillery; it would be a pity if they died at the hands of the rebels. It would be great if you could take them to the capital.” Sun Yuanhua valued these men highly, especially admiring their integrity in refusing to surrender to the rebels.
Taking the opportunity, Liu Ye said, "That's probably difficult. Li Jiucheng only said to let you go, but he didn't say to let them go. However, I have an idea. If you are willing to compromise, you might be able to save these dozen or so people and take them out of the city with you."
"No problem. As long as it can save them, I don't mind suffering a little hardship."
After deceiving Sun Yuanhua, Liu Ye went to find Wu Ruowang and revealed the plan to him. Wu Ruowang was overjoyed. Upholding the ethics and principles of mercenaries was certainly not wrong, but being able to escape alive without betraying their beliefs was even better. He tightly grasped Liu Ye's hand and repeatedly expressed his gratitude: "Liu, you are a good person! As long as we can escape the clutches of these rebel soldiers, you can take us anywhere."
“Hehe, Mr. Wu Ruowang, we also have a saying: ‘If you’re going to do a good deed, do it to the end.’ You’ve only temporarily saved your lives. In the future, it’s hard to guarantee that the rebels won’t change their minds. Only by sending you out of the city can you truly escape.”
Amidst Wu Ruowang's profuse thanks, Liu Ye left the governor's office without stopping to contact Liang Xiaoming and others.
Liang Xiaoming and Lin San, along with their guards, split into six or seven groups to enter the city. They were inevitably ripped off by the guards at the city gate, but fortunately, they all made it in smoothly. They found an inn closest to the governor's office and stayed there, sending someone to wait for Liu Ye at the gate so he could be led to the inn as soon as he came out.
Liu Ye was parched, so he went into the room, poured himself a large bowl of water, drank it down, and slammed the bowl down. He said, "Everything's arranged! Wang Bao will find a dozen or so men to deliver the food and switch the Portuguese out. I've tricked Sun Yuanhua into disguising himself and joining these Portuguese to sneak out, so my lie that Li Jiucheng promised to send him back to the capital won't be exposed. Tomorrow, you'll meet me outside the governor's office, and we'll leave the city together after we meet up."
Regardless of Wang Bao's character, his efficiency was certainly remarkable. The next day, just as dawn broke, a dozen or so shop assistants from the grain and oil store arrived at the governor's office, carrying rice, flour, meat, vegetables, and other supplies. The soldiers at the gate asked in bewilderment, "Normally two or three people are enough to deliver these things; why are you sending so many today?"
The shop assistant said with a forced smile, "Sir, our manager is preparing a birthday banquet for his elderly mother, and starting tomorrow, we won't have enough people to deliver the goods. So, we're only delivering enough for seven days at a time. Two or three people simply won't be enough!"
The reason sounded reasonable, and the soldier didn't think too much about it. He waved them in and casually asked, "Won't the meat and vegetables spoil if you send so much at once?"
As the waiter had others carry the goods inside, he replied, "Sir, the meat is cured. The weather is still cold, and the vegetables won't spoil for a few days, but they won't taste very fresh..."