Translator: DragonRider
The man on the horse made a gesture, and those men in black immediately moved quickly to drag all the dead bodies on the mountain path to the nearby woods, and buried them on the spot.
In this gloomy rainy day, flood went everywhere, and the smell of blood was overwhelming. These men in black, like ghosts and goblins, moved as fast as lightning, which made the butler and the guard feel cold on their backs. Half of the face of the man on the horse was covered by a bamboo hat. Even though he looked handsome, they didn’t dare to raise their heads to have a look.
“Who are you and how did you bump into these bandits?” Just when the butler thought he couldn’t get response, the man on the horse began to ask.
“Your Honor! I’m the butler of the Ling Family in Tanyang. I’m heading to the capital on my master’s command for some family matter, and these are the guards. We were heading north when it happened to rain. We have intended to go to Liantang town ahead, but we had hardly reached the hill when we met with the bandits. If you haven’t been here in time, we might have lost our lives here today,” The butler answered immediately.
Faced with the overwhelming momentum of the man on the horse, the butler didn’t dare to conceal his identity any more.
“The Ling Family in Tanyang?” the man’s cold and serious tone softened, and he asked, “Is it the mansion of Ling Xingzhong who had been the Ceremonial Master twenty years ago?”
“Yes, he is my master.” The butler got surprised, and he hadn’t expected the man could actually know the Ling Family, and even the things of the Family twenty years ago. The butler asked carefully, “Your Honor, may I know who you are?”
The man didn’t respond accordingly, “You don’t need to know who I am. The bandits have been eliminated. Just take the fainted guy and leave hurriedly.”
The butler got anxious. Although he was curious about the identity of the man, he knew it would be in vain to ask more. Since the momentum of the man was so overwhelming, and he was followed by such a capable and vigorous team, he couldn’t be an ordinary man. And there was no point asking for more.
Thinking here, the butler expressed his thanks once again, “Yes, thank you for saving us.”
Then he tipped the guard Wang a wink.
The guard Wang nodded at the butler, and then he called others around to lift Stone who was still in a comma, and carried him into the carriage.
Stone had been cut on the shoulder, and he even got fainted now, so they had to reach the Liantang town and find a doctor in a hurry.
After lifting Stone into the carriage, the butler was about to get in too. But because he had stood in mud for a long time, his shoes got wet and slippery. Consequently, he slipped and fell off the edge of the carriage.
“Uncle Li!” the guard Wang hurried to hold him up.
The man on the horse looked over too.
There was some water in the place where the butler had fallen, and his body got wet immediately, which made his face change greatly. Regardless of the acute pain, he struggled to get up in a hurry. “Gosh!’
“Uncle Li, what’s wrong?” The guard Wang asked, “Did you hurt yourself?”
The butler, without answering him, took a letter from his bosom quickly, the corner of which was drenched.
“Damn! The letter our master asked me to deliver to the capital got wet.”
Hearing the words, the guard’s face changed too, and he urged, “Uncle Li, get on the carriage quickly, and find a dry cloth to dry it.”
“Right!!” the butler got restless, and he got into the carriage with the help of the guard. He untied the package in a great bustle, taking out all the clothes and pressing them all on the letter, and murmured, “What can I do? This is the letter for Yuwen Family.
Since he was in the carriage, the butler relaxed a little, thinking no one could hear his words.
But what the butler didn’t know was that the man on the horse had heard the words with his originally indifferent eyes getting sharp immediately, sweeping directly towards the carriage.
Guard Wang and his companions were in a hurry to go to the Liantang town, since whether it was for Stone or the letter, they couldn’t find a better solution until they got to the town.
But just at this moment…
“Wait.”
This simple word stopped the guard and his companions. They looked at each other, and then Wang responded, “Your Honor, what are your orders?”
“You’re delivering a letter to the mansion of Yuwen Family, aren’t you?” The man on the horse questioned them with sharp eyes.
The mansion of Yuwen Family? Guard Wang and other followers looked at each other again. It was their task to escort the butler of Ling Family to the capital. As for the details, they had no ideas. It was not until a moment ago that they got to know they were delivering a letter. But as for the destination, they actually didn’t know, because they hadn’t heard the butler’s words.
“Well, we have no idea where this letter will be sent. So I don’t know whether it is for Yuwen Mansion,” the guard answered cautiously.
He got restless in the heart. They were all very clear what kind of place the Yuwen Mansion was, but why did this man suddenly ask this way?
“Get the butler of the Ling Family out to answer,” said the man on the horse.
Guard Wang hesitated, but faced with the overwhelming momentum of the man, he finally chose to approach the carriage. “Uncle Li.”
The butler was examining the letter, and he raised his head after hearing the calling, “What’s up?”
“The lord asked whether we are delivering the letter to Yuwen Mansion,” the guard explained.
Feeling stupefied, the butler hid the letter on his hand under the clothes subconsciously. He frowned, wondering how could the man get to know it.
Could it have been noticed the moment the letter was taken out？
The butler got out of the carriage. He looked at the man on the horse, and the moment the butler met with the sharp and exploring eyes of the man, he trembled. But he tried his best to calm down, and soon he got prepared to go through the motions. He was about to open his mouth when…
“You said you were going to send the letter to Yuwen Mansion just now in the carriage, didn’t you?”
The butler got shocked. Had he been heard? How could it be? They stood so far away, and besides he spoke in a low voice.
“Your Honor! May I make so bold as to ask whether you are acquainted with the Yuwen Family?” The butler thought a lot for a moment, and eventually chose to sound the man out.
But for the man on the horse, the words of the butler just meant that he had admitted it. So the man just spoke out his identity directly, “I’m Yuwen Tong.”
What?
The butler was so frightened that he almost fell off the horse again. Guard Wang and other guys also opened their eyes wide, feeling the whole thing unbelievable.
Marshal Yuwen?! No way! How lucky they were! They unexpectedly came across Yunwen Tong, the most famous marshal of the Great Yue just as Stone had wished.
Just at this moment, all the men in black had finished burying the bodies of those bandits. They came back one after another and formed a line again before Yuwen Tong.
“Marshal, the mission is done,” a man in black in front said.
Seeing that, the butler got extremely shocked.
No wonder these guys were so valiant! No wonder the man on the horse got such a powerful momentum.
Guard Wang and the butler got so nervous and swallowed. The butler asked the man on the horse cautiously, “Are…Are you really the Marshal Yuwen?”
“Don’t be so rude! How dare you query the identity of our marshal,” the man in black looked over with sharp eyes, showing a hint of homicidal intent.
The butler waved his hands at once. “No, No, No, I dare not! I just haven’t expected I would come across Marshal Yuwen in person.”
Yuwen raised his hand to stop his man. “It’s not convenient to talk here! Set off now to Liantang Town to have a rest.”
“Yes!” All the men in black responded in unison. They mounted their horses quickly, and the orderly cavalry returned.
Seeing the scene, the butler and Guard Wang couldn’t regard the cavalry men as devils or ghosts any more. All they could think of was admiration.
They were worthy of followers of Marshal Yuwen. They were so well-trained and so powerful! That was what a man should be like!
“Please.” Noticing the butler and his companions didn’t move, Yuwen Tong just said.
“All right! We’ll go now.” The butler answered at once, and got into the carriage immediately.
Guard Wang and others got on their horses quickly. Their hands trembled slightly as they pulled the reins, and they straightened their backs subconsciously.
Yuwen Tong just made a gesture, and the team went forward immediately.
Seeing this, Guard Wang and others followed up at once while escorting the carriage.
Sitting in the carriage, the butler felt excited for a while, and then felt torn. Although he had believed in the heart that the man was Yuwen Tong, he still kept his head. The letter must not be handed over until he got hard evidence, he thought.
The butler didn’t give much thought to the question of why the letter should be handed over. It was reasonable after all, wasn’t it?
His Master ordered him to hand the letter over to people of the Yuwen Family, so who could be more suitable than Yuwen Tong to represent the Yuwen Family?
Yuwen Tong let his men slow down to coordinate the movement of the carriage. With his eyes flickering slightly, he got confused in the heart wondering why Ling Family would send a letter to Yuwen Family.
Upon arriving at Liantang town, they settled down in an inn.
Stone was still unconscious and had a fever, and Yuwen Tong sent someone to find a doctor for him.
The butler was led to see Yuwen Tong by one of his henchmen. Having taken off his bamboo hat, Yuwen Tong looked calm but dignified while sitting there in an imposing manner.
“Your Honor,” the butler was about to kneel down to pay respect when Yuwen Tong stopped him and said, “Save the empty courtesy, just sit down.”
“No, No, I dare not.” The butler responded at once.
“Why did your master, Lord Ling, let you deliver a letter to Yuwen Family?” Yuwen Tong asked directly, with his eyes staring at the butler acutely.
“I have no idea. My master just ordered me to send the letter to the members of the Yuwen Family.” The butler answered.
“Well, bring me the letter for a look,” said Yuwen Tong.
The butler was about to nod straightforwardly when he stopped suddenly. He looked at Yuwen Tong with some hesitation, “Marshal, um…Do you have any token to prove your identity?”
A token? Yunwen Tong knew immediately what the butler was thinking. The butler was just worried about his identity, and wouldn’t take out the letter easily. He was wise in a sense. Therefore, Yuwen Tong didn’t get angry, he took out his token straightforwardly instead.
After checking the token, the butler returned it to Yuwen carefully, and took out the letter. “The letter had got a corner wet, and I’m not sure whether the writing has been destroyed.”
Taking it over, Yuwen Tong opened the letter after confirming the seal on the envelope.
The letter did get a corner wet, but thanks to the timely handling and limited affected-scope, it didn’t influence reading, though some writing had become vague.
But the content…
After reading it, his face got weird. It was…really hard to explain in a few words.
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