Chapter 202: Night Ambush On The Road
Lu Yun inwardly cried out ‘sinful’, reached out to press Xie Min’s sleep acupoint, then hurriedly tucked her in properly. But for some reason, those two crimson spots still seemed to sway before his eyes. Lu Yun wanted to take a deep breath to calm himself, yet he feared inhaling the enchanting smoke, and for a moment he was thrown into disarray.
‘Master was right; women truly are the heavenly demons of martial artists.’ It took a good while for Lu Yun to calm down. He steadied his mind and patrolled the room, his gaze fixing on the carpet beneath his feet—this was precisely the location of the secret chamber marked on the blueprint.
However, Lu Yun did not act rashly. Instead, he bent down and carefully examined the carpet, noticing that at opposite corners, each was tied to a thin silk thread. One end of one thread was fastened to the post of the golden brocade tent, the other to under the low table. If anyone lifted the carpet, the threads would surely snap.
Lu Yun gently untied the thread fastened under the low table, confirmed there were no other mechanisms, then carefully lifted the carpet, revealing a floor laid with fine wood. The floor’s color was very dark; one had to look closely to discern the seams.
Lu Yun focused intently on the seams forming a ‘day’ character shape, and sure enough, in the central area, he spotted an inconspicuous long hair, as if shed by the owner and unnoticed by the servant. But when Lu Yun gently pinched the long hair, he discovered it was glued to the floor. When the mechanism activated, the hair would naturally break. Lu Yun carefully lifted the long hair, then pressed the mechanism under the low couch.
A grinding sound rang out as two wooden floor panels slowly shifted downward, revealing a four-foot square cave entrance before Lu Yun’s eyes. He peered inside and saw a dazzling golden light—countless gold ingots neatly stacked within!
After a brief inspection of the chamber, Lu Yun leaped inside. In this small secret room were placed several boxes of various sizes, all locked; they should contain Xie Min’s private treasures. But most striking were the gold ingots piled in the corner.
That pile of gold ingots was fully over seven feet high and four feet square, an astonishing sight. Lu Yun roughly calculated—it was approximately three hundred thousand taels. He picked up one gold ingot and examined the bottom, seeing the seal script ‘Ju Quan Xin’ and that string of numbers; it was precisely the batch redeemed from Shang Luojia.
‘Finally found it.’ Lu Yun sighed softly, but finding it was no use. Even exerting all his strength, plus Uncle Bao outside, they couldn’t move much out. Besides, dawn was about to break.
Helplessly, Lu Yun slipped that gold ingot into his sleeve, then leaped out of the secret chamber. He carefully restored the scene to its original state, then gracefully left.
.
Taking advantage of the night not yet breaking, Lu Yun and Uncle Bao quickly left Cuihe Garden. The two ran nonstop to that small forest before stopping.
“Are you certain?” Uncle Bao hurriedly asked in a deep voice.
Lu Yun nodded and tossed the gold ingot from his sleeve into Uncle Bao’s hand.
Uncle Bao caught the hefty gold ingot, examining it while giving a bitter smile: “Even certain, we can’t move it. We can only wait for them to transport it out.”
“Mm.” Lu Yun acknowledged, catching the gold ingot Uncle Bao tossed back, and said softly: “I’ll head back to the city right away to report to Father.”
“This subordinate will bring men to keep watch here. Young Master, rest assured—not even a fly could escape my eyes.” Uncle Bao said in a deep voice.
Lu Yun nodded; he absolutely trusted Uncle Bao’s handling of matters. The two briefly discussed a few more points, then Lu Yun left the small forest, heading straight for the capital city.
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On the midnight two days later, Cuihe Garden suddenly bustled. Guards drove mule-drawn wagons out from the garden doorway. Under torchlight, one could see the carriages covered with thick blankets, seemingly not loaded with much volume but evidently extremely heavy. The drivers had to whip the mules desperately; the beasts snorted loudly to slowly pull the wagons.
“Faster! We must reach the dock before dawn!” Pei Yukou rode a tall horse, somewhat anxiously urging the drivers. Behind him was an oiled wall fragrant carriage, with Xie Min’s maidservants following alongside.
Pei Yukou constantly urged the convoy to speed up, but hauling such heavy loads, it simply couldn’t go faster. An hour later, they had only gone seven or eight li from Cuihe Garden, still half the distance to the dock.
“Sister-in-law, why don’t you go ahead to the boat and wait.” Pei Yukou saw the team moving too slowly and said to the person in the fragrant carriage.
“Uncle, no need to be anxious; it’s still early before dawn. We can go slowly.” A woman in the carriage responded; by the voice, it was Xie Min.
“Better to go faster.” Pei Yukou frowned tightly: “What is loaded on these carriages to make them so heavy?”
“Uncle will know when we arrive.” Xie Min played coy.
“Better to see now what exactly is loaded!” Before the words finished, torches suddenly lit up successively around them; the convoy had been surrounded by a group of people ambushed by the roadside.
“Who dares block Pei Clan convoy?!” Pei Yukou’s face darkened as he held his saber at the ready, blocking before the oiled wall fragrant carriage. His subordinate guards also drew their weapons, tensely protecting those mule-drawn wagons.
“Heh, didn’t expect the rumors to be true.” A mocking laugh rang out as several middle-aged men, escorted by a group of warriors, emerged from the darkness. One of them grinned at Pei Yukou: “Pei the Third, you truly dote on your sister-in-law.”
“Lu Wei!” By the firelight, Pei Yukou recognized the man’s face and gnashed his teeth: “Don’t you dare slander!”
“What did I say wrong? In the dead of night, where are you taking your sister-in-law?” That person was precisely Lu Clan’s martial guard steward Lu Wei. Beside him stood observation steward Lu Kan and finance steward Lu Xin; the three had been waiting here for some time.
“Mind your own business!” Pei Yukou snorted coldly: “When did Lu Clan dare to show off force against Pei Clan?! Get out of the way now, or don’t blame us for not holding back!”
“Don’t keep saying ‘our clan’ to scare whom?” Lu Kan sneered: “If your great uncle and your father knew of your dirty deeds, they’d break your dog legs!”
“Lu Kan!” Pei Yukou was not startled but enraged instead, his face frosty: “Explain clearly—what dirty deeds have I done?!”
“You and your sister-in-law committing adultery—did you think you could fool anyone?” Lu Kan’s icy gaze fell on those wagons: “But we’re not here to catch adulterers; we’re here to take back what your sister-in-law stole from our clan!”
“Absurd!” Pei Yukou laughed in extreme anger: “What status does my sister-in-law hold? What relation to your Lu Clan? Even for slander, pick a proper target!”
“Looks like you’re still kept in the dark.” Lu Wei sneered, then sobered: “Lu Clan’s former finance steward Lu Jian, executed for heinous crimes, stole 3.5 million strings from the clan, which Xie Min then redeemed into three hundred thousand taels of gold at a merchant family’s money house, hidden in her Cuihe Garden.” He couldn’t help chuckling: “That money was originally for the two to elope with. Who’d have thought, after all Lu Jian’s toil, both money and woman ended up yours to enjoy.”
“Urgh! You dare escalate the insult!” Pei Yukou flew into a rage and suddenly shot from his horse, slashing his saber at Lu Wei’s face.
“Come well!” Lu Wei had constantly provoked Pei Yukou with words, but far from negligent, he maintained high vigilance. As Pei Yukou’s golden saber flashed, he drew his silver sword, meeting it tit for tat. Pei Yukou’s saberplay was domineering and fierce, repelling thousands of soldiers; Lu Wei’s swordplay was dense and devious, full of perilous peaks!
In a flash of steel, the two had exchanged dozens of moves. Though Pei Yukou held the offensive and seemed dominant, he was stuck fast like taffy by Lu Wei, unable to break free for the moment.
“What are you waiting for!” Lu Wei thrust a sword like a spiritual serpent and bellowed at Lu Kan and Lu Xin: “Make your move!”
