HUS Chapter 73: Framing
Tufa Sunxie hadn't told Bali Mo the truth.
Such a confidential matter naturally couldn't be spoken of to outsiders.
Even among the lords of the Tufa tribe, those who knew of this matter didn't exceed one hand's count.
Otherwise, once the news leaked out, not to mention that the other three major tribes would inevitably covet this batch of armor, even Bali Mo, this small tribe chieftain, might not necessarily refrain from harboring evil intentions.
If Bali Mo truly possessed one hundred armored cavalry, he might not lack the courage to confront the Tufa tribe directly.
At that time, unless the Tufa tribe mobilized their entire force and traveled a thousand li to deal with him, they really couldn't do anything to him.
Tufa Sunxie's trading partner on the other side of the mountain only agreed to deliver the goods across Canglang Gorge.
Once there, the transaction would be considered complete between both parties.
The trader was unwilling to venture deep into nomadic tribal territory, so the subsequent transportation and security could only be handled by the Tufa tribe themselves but he couldn't bring several hundred or a thousand cavalry along. That would be too conspicuous.
As long as he dared to mobilize such a large force, people who originally hadn't noticed him would start paying attention to his movements.
Therefore, Tufa Sunxie appeared completely unconcerned before Bali Mo, as if it really was just a batch of gifts he had bought for his elder brother but Bali Mo took it seriously and laughed heartily, "So that's it! Lord Sunxie, you only need to drink wine, eat meat, and enjoy song and dance in my tribe.
Since you've arrived at my territory, you are my most honored guest, Bali Mo. Such a small matter will naturally be handled by me, Bali Mo."
Tufa Sunxie's eyes flickered as he laughed magnanimously, "Good! Then I'll only send two people to go with your men to wait at the Canglang Gorge entrance to receive the goods."
...
At this time, outside the western entrance of Canglang Gorge, the families of those captured herdsmen had already discovered something was wrong.
When dusk fell and they still didn't see their men driving the cattle and sheep home.
The women who had prepared dinner or the half-grown children who were playing mounted their horses and went to the grasslands to search.
As a result, they only saw cattle and sheep gathered together still leisurely grazing, but the herders were nowhere to be seen.
There wasn't even a pool of blood on the ground because it had all been licked clean by the cattle and sheep.
The people were gone, their horses were gone, but the herds remained.
There were no scraps of clothing torn by wild beasts on the ground, nor any bones left from gnawing...
Very clearly, only one conclusion was plausible: they had been captured by someone and the people who captured them weren't after their cattle and sheep.
The women or children who had gone out to search for their relatives immediately drove the cattle and sheep hurriedly back to their camp.
They had already smelled an extremely dangerous scent.
The cattle and sheep hadn't even been stolen, so the other party's purpose could only be more terrifying.
So their first action wasn't to continue searching for their relatives but to immediately strike camp and flee.
Of course, they also dispatched family members at the first opportunity to report this matter to the chieftain.
...
When Kang Zhengyang led his men back to Feng'an Estate, the news immediately spread throughout the estate.
The Estate Head and Corps Commander Kang had taken more than three hundred able-bodied young men to suppress bandits. This concerned every household. Who could fail to pay attention?
Kang Zhengyang had already unified everyone's story beforehand. As soon as they returned, they released the previously agreed-upon version of events.
Thus, the villagers quickly learned that those who had killed Kang Zhengyan and the others were a group of passing merchants who were both traders and bandits.
Corps Commander Kang led his men to track them all the way and caught up with them at Canglang Gorge but when Corps Commander Kang led his men to Canglang Gorge, a group of Xianbei people were attacking these merchants.
The Feng'an Estate men nearly got pulled into this melee. Fortunately, Estate Head Yang and Corps Commander Kang were alert, and they managed to escape by luck.
Following Kang Zhengyang's instructions, the corps soldiers told the villagers that those black-hearted merchants had all been killed by the Xianbei people in an act of thieves falling upon thieves.
Actually, two-thirds of these three hundred corps soldiers knew nothing at all. They themselves believed these words.
They had only followed Yang Can to Canglang Gorge, making the trip for nothing without participating in any combat throughout.
The hundred or so who had participated in combat were scattered across the entire battlefield at the time.
Among them, aside from about ten who might have understood the general situation, what the others knew was only: they had planned an ambush and completely annihilated the bandits but the Corps Commander told them that those mountain goods smugglers had powerful backers. Once the truth was known, it would bring disaster to the village.
Therefore, they needed to frame the Xianbei people on the other side of the mountain and insist that the ones who killed these bandits were the Xianbei!
Although these corps soldiers had military attributes, they weren't purely military.
At least they lacked the merit promotion system of a regular army.
Therefore, even if this victory was entirely credited to them, there was no military merit to gain.
Moreover, if it was publicized, it would bring trouble to themselves and their families. Of course it was better to frame others.
Furthermore, Corps Commander Kang also said that those mountain goods smugglers had transported several carts of silk, tea, and porcelain.
After the Estate Head tallied and appraised these spoils, they would be distributed to everyone.
Even the most simple-minded among them knew what choice to make now:
Speaking the truth would bring fatal disaster; framing others would also gain them benefits.
Naturally, they must keep their mouths tightly shut.
As for those dozen or so who knew some of the truth, Kang Zhengyang used both kindness and authority to order them to keep the secret.
After returning to the estate and settling down somewhat, Kang Zhengyang summoned several brothers and trusted squad leaders to his home.
Kang Zhengyang carefully instructed them again, telling them to supervise and watch over those corps soldiers who knew the truth.
Afterward, he wrapped those two armor components into a bundle and hurried off to Phoenix Mountain Manor.
...
After Yang Can led his men back to the estate, it caused another commotion in the estate.
Yang Can returned to Feng'an Fortress and immediately summoned Accountant Li.
"Master Li, how much cloth, silk, porcelain, and tea do we still have in the warehouse?"
Li Damu brought the account books for Yang Can to see. Looking at the remaining numbers in the books, Yang Can felt they could still sustain his expenditures for a while However, he had already entered the hidden fields and hidden households into the accounts, and he didn't have Zhang Yunyi's means of accumulating wealth. Continuing to live off savings like this wasn't a solution.
It seemed that this business venture must be started as soon as possible.
Yang Can pondered silently. He should have a good talk with that Persian cat later and probe her background.
He hoped this Persian cat who had traveled between the Western Regions and the Central Plains with her family since childhood wouldn't disappoint him.
Yang Can returned the account book to Li Damu and instructed, "Go prepare one hundred bolts of silk, two hundred bolts of cloth, plus a bit of tea and porcelain. Tomorrow I need to reward the young men who suppressed the bandits."
Li Damu agreed and went to make preparations.
At this time, the slender-waisted and graceful-necked Qingmei quickly walked into the tea hall.
Behind her followed Rena'baier, carrying a food tray in her hands.
On the food tray was steaming hot jade rice chicken porridge, bright green blanched vegetables, and several dishes of pastries.
Qingmei said with concern, "Master left in such haste yesterday without taking any food. You must be starving, right? Eat something first to tide you over, then go bathe and wash away the dust of travel."
The young lady had hypnotized herself into thinking of Yang Can as the only man in her life.
With this mindset, and given that Yang Can was an extremely handsome man, Qingmei naturally gradually developed genuine feelings for Yang Can.
The reason she hadn't yet given herself to Yang Can was simply due to a little greed.
She felt her status couldn't compare to the young mistress, nor did she have the advantage of being "first," so she wanted Yang Can to fall in love with her first.
That way, in the future she could receive more affection.
If she gave away her body too rashly, she feared she wouldn't gain his tender care.
Yang Can now might like her, but that didn't necessarily mean he truly loved her.
Marrying was no different from a second birth. Of course one had to calculate carefully.
Previously she had no choice, but now that she had this opportunity to stay by Yang Can's side, of course she must first cultivate feelings.
The young lady was quite clever. However, though she hadn't given him her body yet, in terms of care and consideration, her mindset was already that of family.
Yang Can smiled, "I wasn't exactly starving. The village corps are accustomed to bringing their own dried rations and water when going to battle. I obtained some from them on the road."
As he spoke, he still walked to the table.
Rena'baier was arranging the food items from the food box onto the table one by one.
She had changed into Han-style shirt and skirt, but...
These clothes couldn't be Qingmei's that she'd passed on to her, could they?
Looking at how tight that "hezi" was, it seemed very ill-fitting!
This degree of tightness was nerve-wracking.
Yang Can looked at the tightly bound roundness before him and the deeply squeezed cleavage, truly worried that the "hezi" would snap open with a pop and spring into his face.
Rena'baier clearly noticed Yang Can's gaze and glared at him with embarrassment and annoyance. However, her eyes no longer held the disdain and hatred they had when she first arrived.
She was now Yang Can's slave. Though the girl Qingmei looked after her, if Yang Can truly wanted to force himself on her, who could stop him?
But Yang Can hadn't.
Therefore, in Rena's heart, this "Azat" (nobleman who owned land, estates, and soldiers) was already considered a noble "Azat," a man who possessed the bearing of a noble warrior.
"On the fifth day of the fifth month, I want to summon the stewards of the other five major estates and three major pastures to come. Qingmei, the date is approaching. You must start preparations early."
Yang Can instructed Qingmei while eating.
Qingmei said confidently, "Master can rest assured. Qingmei knows how to arrange this kind of noble family banquet."
Actually, though Qingmei had seen many such noble family banquets, she had never personally organized one.
Steward Tu was experienced in this area, and Qingmei, as Suo Zhanzhi's personal maid, had been better at adorning her mistress at such banquets to make her master shine more brightly. However, before Yang Can, she wouldn't show any timidity.
Qingmei said confidently, "Master Jingyao is skilled in making incense, playing the zither, tea ceremony, and flower arrangement. These are all elegant pursuits, showing that the nun must be well-versed in noble etiquette. She can help me. There's also Rena. Rena can sing and dance well. For the wine feast, I'll have her put in more effort. In short, this is your first time hosting such a grand banquet, Master, So we will definitely give it our all and make it splendid and glorious."
Yang Can nodded with satisfaction. He had originally thought that fake nun who liked to steal meat was completely useless, but unexpectedly she could be "recycled" here.
His thoughts turned, but he still didn't tell Qingmei about his suspicion that Jingyao was a spy.
There was no real evidence for this matter. Just because he discovered that girl stealing meat?
This evidence was seriously insufficient.
This at most proved that the young master didn't observe the monastic rules, or proved she wasn't really a nun at all but judging from how much Qingmei revered her, if she said to Qingmei "wine and meat pass through the intestines," this girl would probably believe it.
Forget it. Better for me to be more careful myself.
Though Qingmei revered her, she wouldn't tell such secret plans to a nun and aside from that, he had nothing to fear her knowing about.
Yang Can nodded, "Good, then I'll leave this matter entirely in your hands."
Hearing this, Qingmei couldn't help but smile sweetly, instantly feeling like the mistress of the house.
"Oh yes."
Yang Can put down the porridge bowl, planning to drink a cup of hot tea before going to bathe.
"Rena, go wait for me in the small flower hall. After I bathe, I have something to discuss with you."
Rena's face instantly lost all color!
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