Chapter 174: Huang Rong’s Stratagem to Escape Iron Palm Peak
“Yueyang?”
Zhou Yan arrived at the Escort Bureau’s meeting hall, and Zhang Wangyue roughly explained the situation of the personal safety escort.
A middle-aged male merchant, his wife, and a maid, a total of three people, picked up two people in Luoyang and then rushed to Yueyang.
The Mongol Army had now taken Zhongdu, and their forces continued to move south. The line from Cangzhou to Baoding was in chaos, and the merchant paid a generous escort fee.
Fu’an accepted this escort mission.
Hearing this, Zhou Yan thought of the Beggars’ Sect Conference.
However, according to the fragmented information known about the Legend of the Condor Heroes world, the Beggars’ Sect Conference seemed to be in June or July, so he would definitely miss it.
Zhang Wangyue said, “Brother Zhou, aren’t you going to explain the ambush of the escort team by the Vajra Sect at the Tong Pass wharf to Young Master Lu?”
Zhou Yan understood his intention, “I will take this escort mission.”
“Thank you, Brother Zhou.”
“You are too polite, Chief Escort.”
Zhou Yan replied thus, thinking that after completing this first escort mission of early spring for Fu’an and returning from Yueyang, he would go to Yang Miaozhen’s mountain stronghold in Caizhou. Once in Zhongdu, he would discuss his future plans with the Boss and Chief Escort, resign from his position as Head Escort, visit Li Mochou and Little Dragon Girl on Zhongnan Mountain, pay a visit to Qiu Chuji, and then find an opportunity to kill Helian Chuncheng and his son, Yin Kexi, and others.
The merchant couple and their maid were suitable companions for Mu Nianci, but by chance, Mu Nianci had gone with Guo Jing to Cuya Mountain to visit Yang Tiexin and his wife.
Zhou Yan then had Liang Xiaowu select runners for the escort.
Two escort bureau horse carriages, three runners, plus Zhou Yan and Liang Xiaowu, making a total of five people. The runners also served as drivers during the journey.
Zhou Yan returned to his courtyard, packed a few changes of clothes, carried two ingots of gold and dozens of taels of silver, and went to the escort bureau with his spear, sword, and bow.
Around noon, he saw the merchant couple and their maid.
The head of the household was named Zhang, around forty years old, gentle and refined, with the demeanor of a scholar. His wife was slightly younger, and by her appearance, she was learned, sensible, and virtuous. The maid was a pretty young girl, very delicate.
They clearly looked like the head of a wealthy household.
The hour of Wei (1 PM to 3 PM) is auspicious; a pair of wealth and nobility. This is the escort bureau’s saying for auspicious times.
Firecrackers hung from the escort bureau’s gatehouse, and the scent of pine wafted in the spring breeze.
Duan Huai’an had prepared farewell wine.
Zhou Yan raised his bowl and drank it down in one gulp. The Boss said, “Raise your cup to the sky, tread upon mountains and rivers. When you leave, you’ll be a dragon transforming from a serpent; when you return, you’ll soar through the Four Seas.”
After the Boss finished speaking, he said with deep emotion, “Despite the chaotic times, Fu’an is flourishing under the hard work of the Chief Escort, Head Escort Zhou, and others. If Changfeng can open a branch office, Fu’an can too. My wife and I look forward to your return.”
Zhou Yan understood the Boss’s intention: Fu’an wanted to open a branch office, and he would be the second Chief Escort after Zhang Wangyue, in charge of the branch. Given Fu’an’s current strength, it was indeed feasible to open a branch.
He had the intention to leave and made no promises, saying, “Thank you, Boss. I will certainly complete this escort mission well.”
“Have a smooth journey.”
“Alright!”
Amidst the crackling of firecrackers, Zhang Wangyue, Huyan Lei, Wang Kui, and others saw Zhou Yan and the merchant off. As it was a personal safety escort, no escort flag or small triangular flags were flown. Liang Xiaowu led the way, Zhou Yan covered the rear, and the runners drove the carriages. The sound of the carriage wheels echoed as they left Zhongdu.
…
Zhou Yan, having transmigrated, was on his first escort mission to Jingzhou. Upon reaching the Baoding area, he was met with the desolate scene of “lonely villages, setting sun, residual clouds, light smoke, old trees, and cold crows.”
The Mongols were moving south. After the battle of Zhongdu, traveling this road again, he saw widespread suffering and starvation.
When merchant Zhang saw this scene, he often couldn’t help but curse, and Zhou Yan couldn’t help but look up to him.
The journey was uneventful. Zhou Yan led the team through Baoding, out of Anyang, crossed the Yellow River, and arrived directly in Luoyang.
Merchant Zhang asked the escort team to wait in the suburbs, and he would enter Luoyang with his wife and maid himself.
The carriage stopped in the woods in the suburbs. Zhou Yan shot a few wild rabbits, and everyone roasted them.
Liang Xiaowu said, “Head Escort, when the team gets close to Kaifeng Prefecture, should I go ahead to Zhenwei Escort Agency to find Young Master Lu?”
Zhou Yan patted Xiaowu’s shoulder, praising him for thinking things through.
After filling their stomachs with rabbit meat, half an hour later, two horse carriages approached from the direction of the city.
“Could it be merchant Zhang?”
Liang Xiaowu stood up and craned his neck to look.
The carriages approached from afar and stopped by the convoy. Merchant Zhang and his wife alighted.
Liang Xiaowu looked at the second carriage and asked, “Sir, the person we are meeting is in this carriage.”
“Precisely!”
As merchant Zhang finished speaking, a wrist as white as jade lifted the curtain of that carriage, and a figure gracefully descended.
Zhou Yan looked closely at her face, and a familiar voice rang out, “Long time no see, Head Escort Zhou. Are you well?”
The spring breeze passed through the willows, turning them green like embroidery. On one side of the road, the weeping willows had new shoots like curtains, their pale yellow and tender colors faintly visible in the spring light.
Huang Rong stood under the willow, hands behind her back, with a half-smile.
“Lord Zhou.”
The Medicine Boy leaped down from the carriage, closely following Huang Rong.
“Big Brother.”
Shagu landed and ran towards Zhou Yan.
Dressed in black clothes that fell like leaden clouds, Mei Chaofeng landed and said, “Head Escort Zhou, we meet again.”
“Ah, Merchant Mei, Shagu.” Liang Xiaowu’s jaw dropped.
Zhou Yan was somewhat dumbfounded. He had truly not expected that the person merchant Zhang was meeting would be Huang Rong.
If merchant Zhang had said he was going to Kaifeng to pick up four people, Zhou Yan would have had some thoughts, but to pick up two people in Luoyang was completely beyond his expectations.
Huang Rong looked at Zhou Yan’s astonished expression with great satisfaction, thinking that there would finally be a time when he was caught off guard.
Merchant Zhang cupped his hands in a bow and apologized, “I am a steward of Guiyun Manor, and this is my wife. I did not truthfully inform you about the escort mission. Please forgive me, Head Escort.”
Zhou Yan gave a wry smile.
Huang Rong raised the escort order in her hand and asked, “Head Escort Zhou, I want to go to Yueyang. Does this escort mission still count?”
Liang Xiaowu had never encountered such a situation and couldn’t help but ask, “Merchant Zhang said he was picking up two people.”
“It’s simple,” Huang Rong smiled charmingly. “Shagu and the Medicine Boy are going to Guiyun Manor. It’s just me and Mei Ruohua, doesn’t that count as two people?”
Liang Xiaowu knew she was being unreasonable but had no grounds to argue. He looked at Zhou Yan.
Zhou Yan realized belatedly, “How do you know where Iron Palm Mountain is?”
Huang Rong smiled sweetly, “Clever. You know my purpose, and I should thank you for it. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have met Qiu Qianchi, nor would I know about the Iron Palm Sect. The legacy is on Iron Palm Mountain. Naturally, I thought of the Iron Palm Sect. After a little investigation, I learned that the previous sect leader of the Iron Palm Sect was Shangguan Jiannan, a subordinate of General Han. If I can deduce that Iron Palm Mountain is at the Iron Palm Sect’s headquarters, is it difficult or not?”
Zhou Yan truly felt he had experienced Huang Rong’s intelligence and sighed inwardly in admiration.
“What you said seems reasonable. What about Mr. Zhang?”
“It’s simple. When I was in Kaifeng Prefecture, I contacted Zhenwei Escort Agency and sent a letter escort to Guiyun Manor. They and their maid came to Kaifeng Prefecture. I predicted that the steward would say he was picking up people in Kaifeng Prefecture, and you might become suspicious, so I changed the location to Luoyang, and then they hired an escort in Zhongdu. Do you want me to analyze why I was certain that the person escorting the escort would be you?”
Zhou Yan said, “Several horse carriages, the escort bureau from the Huai River to Yueyang, the journey is arduous and time-consuming. We will definitely pass through Nanyang and Xiangyang. The person Fu’an has the most confidence in for this route is me.”
“So clever. With our combined efforts, we will be invincible. The escort fee has been paid, and reputation and credibility come first. Even if you don’t go to Iron Palm Mountain, you must take me to Yueyang.”
“Alright.”
Huang Rong said spiritedly, “Then let’s set off, Head Escort Zhou.”
…
The two groups parted ways. The steward couple, along with Shagu, the Medicine Boy, and the maid, took the Huai River route directly to Guiyun Manor on Taihu Lake.
Zhou Yan and Liang Xiaowu continued their escort mission. After reaching Kaifeng, they changed course and then traveled from Nanyang, Xiangyang, and Jingzhou to Yueyang.
Yueyang is five to six hundred li from Hengyang. Qiu Qianren once “annihilated the Hengshan Sect with his palm.” It is estimated that the Iron Palm Sect’s headquarters is within the Hengyang area. Zhou Yan thought that he would have Liang Xiaowu and the others wait in Hengyang, while he would accompany Huang Rong and Mei Chaofeng to investigate Iron Palm Mountain. If he truly obtained the Wumu’s Military Writings, he would make a copy and give it to Zhang Wangyue and Yang Miaozhen later.
As the convoy moved forward, Liang Xiaowu rushed ahead to Kaifeng Prefecture.
Huang Rong and Mei Chaofeng shared a horse carriage.
Traveling swiftly, they arrived at the outskirts of Kaifeng Prefecture in the evening. Lu Beihe had been waiting for a long time.
During the journey, Zhou Yan had asked Huang Rong about the situation in the city.
Huang Rong’s knowledge was limited.
Wanyan Honglie had moved the capital. There were people from Ouyang Feng and the Vajra Sect in the Imperial Palace. Huang Rong did not risk seeking out Hou Tonghai, but she did mention that Yang Kang was currently recruiting many Jianghu experts.
Changfeng’s branch office in Kaifeng had already begun operations, but the Boss was someone else.
Zhou Yan mused that Helian Chuncheng and Yin Kexi had completely defected to Yang Kang.
…
We drink with camaraderie, tying our horses by the tall building beside the weeping willows.
Huang Rong and Mei Chaofeng became merchants again. Zhou Yan and Lu Beihe met and naturally drank wine without issue.
During this time, Zhou Yan learned from the Young Master of Zhenwei Escort Agency that the Boss of Changfeng’s branch office in Kaifeng Prefecture was a Hu person surnamed Yin.
He guessed it was Yin Kexi’s father.
Kaifeng Prefecture, apart from Wanyan Honglie moving the capital, had been tense for a while after the loss of Zhongdu, but there were no significant changes.
Zhou Yan spoke frankly, mentioning Changfeng hiring assassins at the Yellow River Tong Pass wharf and the intention of the monk Bao Neng from the Western Regions to target Fu’an’s escort team.
Lu Beihe was indignant.
Rivalry among peers, or malicious slander and schemes to seize escorts, were common occurrences, but a setup to annihilate them was truly beyond Lu Beihe’s imagination.
Zhou Yan apologized, saying it was all because of him. Lu Beihe did not mind and instead advised him not to worry. Huang Rong smiled and said that Zhou Yan should not be an escort in the future, but should act heroically and take down Changfeng Escort Agency in Kaifeng Prefecture, killing Helian Zhantai and his son.
Huang Rong was innocent. Zhou Yan was clever. She wished Zhou Yan could travel light so she could play with him, just like finding Zhou Botong on Peach Blossom Island.
Zhou Yan chuckled. Huang Rong’s words might have been a joke, but they touched upon his own thoughts.
The wine was finished, and they parted ways. Before leaving, Zhou Yan cautioned Lu Beihe to be careful of Helian Chuncheng.
There would inevitably be a struggle between Changfeng and Zhenwei in Kaifeng Prefecture.
Lu Beihe, full of youthful spirit, said that if Helian Chuncheng became too aggressive, he would advise his adoptive father to follow Yang Miaozhen’s example and raise an army to resist Jin, preventing Changfeng’s escort teams from leaving the borders of Kaifeng Prefecture.
Zhou Yan sighed upon hearing this, truly worthy of being the descendant of the ruthless Lu Wenlong.
…
Ten thousand valleys and a thousand peaks open in succession, Mount Zhu Rong is the highest and most imposing. The waters of Jiujiang flow to Jing and Yang, and the mountains of Baiyue connect to Yi and Zhen.
Traveling from Kaifeng Prefecture, Zhou Yan, Huang Rong, and their party crossed the Yangtze River and then all rode horses. They passed Xiangyang without entering Snake Valley and, traveling at full speed, arrived at Hengyang City after half a month, passing Yueyang.
The mist and rain of Tian Di Yi Suo enveloped Hengshan City. At dusk, they found an inn to rest temporarily.
Zhou Yan pushed open the window and gazed into the distance. Looking at Hengshan through the misty rain, he naturally thought of the Hengshan Sect.
His knowledge of the Hengshan Sect came from The Smiling, Proud Wanderer.
The night rain of Xiaoxiang, Master Mo Da, the thirteen forms of Hengshan cloud and mist with a thousand changes, the erhu sounds and hearts are broken.
Suddenly, the window of a teahouse in front of Zhou Yan’s vision shattered, and a burly man tumbled out. A figure shot out from inside the building, and the sword’s edge, like illusion and mist, pierced the night rain.
Blood splattered within his sight.
