latelenovela Chapter 646 Northern Garrison
Chapter 646 Northern Garrison
The following day, negotiations between the imperial court, led by Yang Sichang, and the Qionghai town officially began.
The negotiations weren't held at the Ministry of War. Yang Sichang probably sensed that Liu Ye's demands would be very harsh, and there was no need to suffer humiliation on his home turf. He figured a different location would be better. So, he chose a place Liu Ye would never have imagined—the Northern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Liu Ye had no idea what the other party was up to and wanted to find out, but there wasn't enough time. Asking Wen Tiren about it now would greatly increase the risk of exposing their relationship. After thinking it over, he figured there wasn't much of a problem, otherwise Wen Tiren would definitely have risked sending someone to inform him, so he decided to keep the appointment on time.
However, it is always better to be safe than sorry. After the incident at the "Hall of Heroes", he dared not be careless again. He arranged for Lin San's guard battalion and Qin Tian's special forces to disguise themselves as civilians and disperse to ambush people in advance just one street away from the North Town Commandery. They would pretend to be diners in restaurants and shops and pedestrians on the street, so that they could provide nearby reinforcements if there was any movement.
Before leaving, Liu Ye thought of someone—Li Fei—and sent someone to summon him.
Since being rejected at the Tianjin docks while offering his services, Li Fei hadn't shown his face, perhaps due to the setback. When he arrived, Liu Ye told him, "Li Fei, I remember you had a falling out with the Embroidered Uniform Guard back then, and you were even chased all the way to Guangzhou, right?"
Li Fei remained calm and composed as he replied, "Exactly."
"Very well, today I'll give you a chance to finally get your revenge," Liu Ye said with a smile. "Yang Sichang, of all people, chose the Northern Garrison Command as the location for the negotiations, which is the stronghold of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. You could have chosen not to go to today's negotiations, but I'm taking you anyway. Even if the Embroidered Uniform Guard recognizes you, with my protection, they can't do anything to you. I want you to experience what it's like to have your enemy itching to get. How about that? Doesn't it sound satisfying?"
Upon hearing this, everyone was somewhat surprised. Such a seemingly naive idea was not something a seasoned general would do.
Under Liu Ye's gaze, Li Fei's eyes remained completely calm as he replied indifferently, "As long as the general is willing, I dare to go to the inner palace."
Liu Ye looked around for a while but couldn't find any suspicious clues, so he chuckled and said, "Hehe, okay, let's go then."
After turning and getting into the sedan chair, Liu Ye smiled slightly. He wasn't just bored enough to take Li Fei to show off to the Embroidered Uniform Guard; he wanted to use them to uncover the mystery of Li Fei's background. If, as Li Fei claimed, he only had a personal grudge against the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, then the latter would never have acted in this situation. If he was lying, the Embroidered Uniform Guard would find out and do everything in their power to take him down. Although this was somewhat risky and might inadvertently harm innocent people, Liu Ye's determination was firm. After all, he couldn't trust anyone with such an unclear background to hold a high position in the Qionghai Army.
When Liu Ye and his entourage walked through the bustling streets and arrived at the gates of the Northern Garrison, it felt as if they had stepped into another world. There wasn't a single beggar on the long street, and pedestrians were extremely rare. Those who did pass by hurriedly with their heads down, as if worried that the gates of the Northern Garrison might whirlpool and suck them in.
Seeing this, Liu Ye asked Yan Guang, "Are the people in the capital so afraid of the Embroidered Uniform Guard?"
“The Embroidered Uniform Guard isn’t that scary. What’s scary is the Imperial Prison set up by the Northern Garrison Command,” Yan Guang explained. “The Imperial Prison can arrest, interrogate, execute, and execute people on its own, without going through the usual three judicial departments, or even the Embroidered Uniform Guard commander. It goes straight to the emperor. Once you’re in the Imperial Prison, you can’t call for help from heaven or earth. Even if you don’t die, you’ll be badly injured. That’s what makes the Imperial Prison so terrifying.”
Upon arriving at the gate of the Northern Garrison Command, Liu Ye alighted from his sedan chair and carefully examined this most feared government office in the Ming Dynasty. He began to imagine where he would escape to if something unexpected happened.
At this moment, several sedan chairs came from the other end of the street. When they arrived at the gate, the first sedan chair carried Yang Sichang, who had arm wrestled with Liu Ye at Yongding Gate.
Enemies meeting are bound to be furious, and sparks seemed to fly between their eyes as they met in mid-air. Liu Ye thought to himself: If I weren't temporarily keeping a low profile and quietly making a fortune, the first thing I would do is chop you up, you traitor.
Yang Sichang's gaze towards Liu Ye was also unfriendly. He probably hated this arrogant and domineering general to the core. Not only had he ruined the peace negotiations, but he had also embarrassed himself. The three major border towns were no match for Qionghai Town, and in the end, they even joined Qionghai Town in driving away the Tartars, allowing Liu Ye to enter the city in glory, while his own orders became a joke.
Neither of them was willing to back down, and they greeted each other first, creating a tense atmosphere.
At this moment, a middle-aged military officer dressed in a python robe came out of the door, smiling and trying to smooth things over: "Minister Yang and General Liu have arrived. Please come in."
Yang Sichang was at a loss with Liu Ye, but he couldn't show weakness either. In his dilemma, he heard this and took the opportunity to step inside, casually asking, "Commander Luo, why did you choose to talk here?"
Liu Ye thought to himself, "So this place wasn't chosen by Yang Sichang after all."
This military officer was Luo Yangxing, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He smiled like a Maitreya Buddha, completely unlike the image of a secret service chief. Upon hearing this, he replied, "This is my humble suggestion to His Majesty. One of you is a high-ranking official in the Ministry of War, and the other is a general who has rendered great service. His Majesty has entrusted me with keeping an eye on you, and I am terrified that something might go wrong and jeopardize His Majesty's plans. Therefore, I have resorted to this simple method: have you two talk under my watchful eye. This way, once your tasks are completed, I can also report back to His Majesty."
Luo Yangxing appeared harmless with his smile and spoke politely, but Liu Ye had already discerned the underlying meaning: "The Emperor has ordered me to keep an eye on you, but I don't want to follow you around the streets; it's too much work. Let's talk on my turf." Openly informing the monitored party of the surveillance and having them monitored right under his nose was undeniably domineering, and even Yang Sichang, the Emperor's favorite minister, couldn't challenge him.
Yang Sichang didn't say much, just waved his hand and said, "Lead the way." Then he followed them inside.
Seeing his rivals go inside, Liu Ye couldn't back down. Since they were already there, they couldn't just desert. Liu Ye and his group also entered the gates of the Northern Garrison.
A commander behind Luo Yangxing stared at Li Fei, who was following behind, and hesitated, saying, "Sir, the person behind Liu Ye looks a bit like the guy we've been looking for..."