readsfreenovel Chapter 534 Lamb to the Slaughter
Chapter 534 Lamb to the Slaughter
Just as I breathed a sigh of relief, I heard the sound of horse hooves behind me.
The kidnappers immediately became alert.
It was already obvious that Gao Yuan and Shouhou had brought people with them, but no one had expected the arrival of a large number of people.
Feng Ming couldn't help but turn around and look over, and was held even tighter by the two kidnappers beside him.
The rumbling sound of horse hooves raised a cloud of dust. The sound was heavy but orderly, with a momentum that could only be achieved by a cavalry army of hundreds of people.
As the sound got closer, a group of armored cavalrymen were seen approaching from afar.
As we got closer, we saw that the leading group of people were mixed with commoners and scholars.
Feng Ming recognized Wen Qingyan first. On his left was a deputy general leading troops. Then, looking to the right, he saw Yuan Qi, Yuan Liang and other guards and bodyguards of the Yuan family, and behind them was a large army with smoke and dust billowing.
If Feng Ming hadn't seen him again, he would have forgotten about Wen Qingyan.
Wen Fei had set out from Jindu to Beiji many days before Zhou Chang.
But for some reason, he was much slower than Zhou Chang on the road.
Zhou Chang rushed all the way here and received reports of Wen Fei's whereabouts twice. He knew that he was walking slower and slower, or rather, she was walking faster and faster, so he no longer took it to heart.
When they got close to the border of Vietnam, they directly overtook it and left it behind.
When Feng Ming saw Wen Fei and Yuan Qi appear at the same time again, he curled his lips in his heart.
The total number of kidnappers is dozens, but there are only a dozen of them left on the shore. Not to mention that dozens of people cannot fight against the army, let alone a dozen people, who are even less of a match.
The kidnappers who were still waiting to be transported on the shore panicked and began to retreat to the river with their swords picked up.
The man in white mask walked to Feng Ming's side leisurely and stood still, but he scolded his men first: "Why did you stop? Keep moving. With His Royal Highness Prince Yi here, no matter how many troops there are, they dare not do anything to us. Why are you panicking?"
The kidnapper calmed down after being reminded.
Yes, with hostages in hand, what are they afraid of?
Unfortunately, the prediction came true. When the cavalry team of a hundred men arrived at the shore, they saw Feng Ming's hands were tied and he was being watched closely by several kidnappers, so they could only rein in their horses and stop, not daring to move forward.
At this time, the second batch of small boats returned, and the kidnappers loaded the last batch of gold onto the boats in front of a hundred cavalrymen and sailed to the center of the river.
Wen Fei is really good at causing trouble instead of helping others. If he had come earlier, he could have launched a large-scale encirclement and suppression, or if he had come later, it would have been a waste of time anyway. It would be of no use if he came now.
Feng Ming couldn't help but complain in his heart. He felt uncomfortable looking at Wen Qingyan riding a horse in the distance.
But he really did wrong the top scholar by doing this.
The new left-hand assistant general, Lord Wen, originally did not know how to ride a horse. Although he and Yuan Qi were both from the south, he was afraid of water since childhood and did not dare to take a boat, so he could only travel by land by carriage.
The carriage moved slowly, but it also traveled day and night, otherwise it would have been too late to arrive.
There was no delay during the period. As soon as he entered the territory of Northern Vietnam, he sent someone to deliver a letter to General Lin, the governor of Northern Vietnam. Then he went to the Beiji garrison camp to find General Mao and presented the handwritten letter from General Lu Hui of the Wuwei Army. Only then did he mobilize his troops and rush over.
After this operation, Wen Fei, who had set out before Zhou Chang, fell behind.
Even so, after hearing that Yuan Qi was the last person to deal with today, he was afraid of wasting time and even reluctantly rode his horse to catch up.
At this moment, he was still unsteady on the horse and needed support from Yuan Qi from time to time. He looked extremely embarrassed. But after hearing that Prince Yi had become a hostage, he did not care about anything else and followed with his men.
Wen Qingyan was the first to see Prince Yi Fengming, but he was so dizzy from being tormented by the horse that he couldn't make a sound.
However, General Mao Jianmao, the garrison commander of Beiji who came with them, spotted Feng Ming's position with Yuan Qi's prompting and shouted loudly: "You have been surrounded. Release His Royal Highness Prince Yi, and maybe you will be spared."
Why does this sound so familiar?
Zhou Chang rolled his eyes. What a stupid "dialogue".
Feng Ming also looked down on it in his heart. What's the point of saying such things now?
The people led by Gao Yuan and Shouhou came even closer, but they never said a word. It was not that they didn't want to go, but that the time was not right yet.
With the "heavyweight" hostage of Prince Yi in his hands, the white mask was not afraid. He took the knife from his men and put it on Feng Ming's neck: "Don't come over again, otherwise I can't guarantee that I won't slip and hurt your prince."
Naturally, no one dared to move.
"What are you still standing there for? Why don't you go find a boat instead?" Although Feng Ming's hands were tied, fortunately his eyes and mouth were still intact, and he couldn't help but remind them.
Wen Fei finally reacted and hurried back to discuss with General Mao who was leading the troops.
Yuan Qi said something to Yuan Liang, and then Yuan Liang turned his horse around and galloped away.
Seeing this, Red Mask couldn't help but worry: "Are they going to adjust the boat?"
The man in the white mask put down his knife and snorted, "Hmph, what are you worried about? Where are we? Just tell them to go and fetch the boat. When they get there, we'll be out to sea. We don't need to be afraid of them."
Going to sea?
Zhou Chang and Feng Ming's hearts trembled at the same time: "Where is this place? What river is in front of us? What river?"
The white mask only sneered and didn't intend to answer at all.
He had no choice but to watch the last batch of gold being transported to the end, and even when only one small boat was left to return, the white mask pulled Feng Ming to the dock.
Feng Ming was unwilling, but had no way to resist.
Zhou Chang was extremely unwilling, but there was nothing he could do.
"Your Highness Prince Yi doesn't really expect them to send boats to rescue you, right? Haha..." The white mask laughed loudly. The sound was harsh and unpleasant, and it didn't sound like a human voice.
Feng Ming just wanted to delay time: "Wait, even so, you don't want the warrant? Why don't we trade here? Anyway, the gold has been transported to the big ship by you, and we can't catch up with you."
The man in the white mask seemed to have really forgotten about the warrant. He thought for a moment and said, "I'm sorry, but that means you have to come on board with us. This is just in case. As the saying goes, it's better to be safe than sorry."
As he spoke, he gestured to the red mask on the other side and said, "Tell them to send another small boat over to the people behind with the clearance warrant. You don't have to worry about them catching up."
"Yes, what waves can a small boat create?" The red mask said, and gestured towards the big ship in the middle of the river.
Feng Ming noticed that the man in the white mask said "clearance warrant" instead of "warrant received", and he mentioned going out to sea just now.
It seems that what we expected was correct. These kidnappers are probably not from Lin Country at all. They will leave the country by land and sea after taking the last batch of ransom.
However, the eastern side of Vietnam is close to the sea, but both water and land routes lead to only one place, and that is the Mirage Kingdom.