Chapter 67 - Xianbei Spies (Part 1)

Seeing Xu Lang's surprised expression, Lu Zhi thought that Xu Lang might have heard about these two individuals, so he hurriedly asked, "What's wrong? Could it be that Tiantong has heard of this Ma Jun's name?"
Xu Lang quickly shook his head and denied, "No, I was just curious about the talents of this father and son, who are both skilled in this field, that impressed Mr. Lu so much."
Without answering Xu Lang's question, Lu Zhi chuckled and said, "Not only do I value them, but they were actually highly regarded by those eunuchs. However, because they didn't want to be valued by the eunuchs and also because of their eccentric nature, they disdain associating with them, which led to offending the eunuchs and being saved by me."
"You will gradually experience and understand their temperament once they arrive."
"Even if their temperaments aren't strange, I'm afraid no one in this world would want to have any connection with those treacherous eunuchs who are causing havoc in Great Han," Lu Zhi said with some emotions, then turned to look at Xu Lang by his side.
"Tiantong, you agree, right?" Lu Zhi said, his eye corners showing deeper wrinkles, accompanied by a thought-provoking smile.
"Yes, Mr. Lu makes a valid point."
Although Xu Lang's response seemed indifferent on the surface, he actually felt a wave of turbulence in his heart.
This sentence and smile both give Xu Lang a strange feeling, and coupled with Lu Zhi asking him at the beginning if there is anything he is hiding from him, all of these seem odd and make him feel that Lu Zhi is hinting at something.
While Xu Lang hesitated about whether to sound out Lu Zhi's thoughts, Lu Zhi actually expressed his intention to leave and didn't give him the opportunity.
"Alright, I won't bother you anymore. I'll go back and think of a good reason to persuade this father and son to willingly come and help you earlier."
With a single word, Xu Lang left without looking back, leaving Lu Zhi with a receding figure.
Even after Lu Zhi's figure disappeared completely from Xu Lang's sight, he still did not regain his hollow gaze and murmured, "What exactly... could it be that Liu Bei said something to him that day?"
.................................
On the second day, after half a day and night of preparation, the first part of Ju Xue's plan, which was the selection of the caravan as bait, had been completed.
In order to avoid any possible spies from the Xianbei tribe within Ju Yang City, more than twenty soldiers led by Guan Hai changed their attire that evening, and arrived at the Eastern Market Guesthouse, pretending to be newly arrived merchants in Ju Yang City, and settled in.
At the sound of the opening bell, they also prepare themselves, bringing along carriages and banners, and boldly pass through the market tunnel, heading towards the outskirts of Zuyang City. All of this is just for appearances, to avoid any spies in the city that could jeopardize the entire plan.
Just as the caravan of about twenty people left Juyang district, an accident they least expected happened: Xianbei people entered the Shanggu county early and launched an attack on the unsuspecting caravan.
Based on the location of the attack, this group of several hundred Xianbei cavalry not only arrived in the jurisdiction of Shanggu County earlier than expected, but they may also be hiding, waiting to launch the next attack.
Because the location of the attack was near Ning County and Guangning, and the target of the attack was a trade caravan consisting of about twenty people, after plundering the goods, they did not flee north and disappear, but instead continued to advance southward towards the heartland of Shanggu County.​​​​​​​
This situation, though considered an accident, was actually anticipated as calculated yesterday. However, things are not as simple as they seem.
Surprisingly, this news came from two individuals who claimed to be survivors of the attack, and they appeared at the market in the city of Juyang.
When Ji Yong was patrolling in the city, he found them wearing tattered clothes and spreading the news of their caravan being attacked, with dirt and grime on their faces, near the free trade zone and the Eastern Market.
It's fortunate that Ji Yong discovered it in time and controlled it in time, so this news did not spread. However, the identities of these two individuals who claimed to be survivors of the attacked merchant caravan raised numerous suspicions for Xu Lang.
The sun is already high in the sky. At this moment, Xu Lang is in the hall just receiving this news from Ji Yong and has already ordered a swift blockade of this information. Ji Yong, with the order, continues to investigate to prevent similar people from spreading and spreading this news.
Just after Ji Yong left, Ju Shou, Zhen Yi, and Lu Zhi, who had received the news, hurried into the palace.
After listening to Xu Lang's narrative, Ju Shou quickly said, "Lord, there may be another twist to this matter."
Xu Lang certainly knows that there is a problem, and the problem is significant.
The traveling party, to which these two individuals belong, was attacked near Ning County and Guangning. It is impossible for them to escape all the way to Juyang on foot without any horses or supplies.
Moreover, those Xianbei people have hundreds of cavalry in total. If their caravan is really attacked and looted, given the Xianbei people's consistent style, there is zero chance for them to escape and make it all the way to Juyang.
So even before Ju Shou and others arrived, he ordered someone to send these two people who didn't speak the truth to Dijie, so that Dijie could fully utilize his expertise and abilities to make these two speak the truth.
Luckily, Di Jie has never let Xu Lang down in such matters. Just as Xu Lang and Ju Shou and others were discussing the preliminary countermeasures, several soldiers brought two thin and haggard young men, who were tortured by the special punishment of Di Jie, to the hall.
In order to accelerate efficiency, Xu Lang only had Diji "treat" them first, and then handed over the interrogation to him.
Therefore, when these two skinny young men were brought over, the expressions on their faces clearly showed that they had been completely "enlightened" by Diji.
When they saw Xu Lang, they immediately threw themselves to the ground without hesitation, kneeling on the cold floor. They kowtowed several times towards Xu Lang and the others inside the palace, until the soldiers who came to restrain them held them back. Only then did they stop, but their pleading words were never heard.
"My lord! My lord! This humble servant knows his mistake, spare this humble servant!"
Although these two individuals appeared to have slender figures, their voices were extremely loud. Within moments, the echoes of their begging for mercy resounded noisily throughout the hall.
"Okay, okay! Stop making a fuss, speak honestly. Whatever I ask, you answer."
"Sir, feel free to ask! We, humble citizens, have no secrets, have no secrets!" After listening to Xu Lang's words, their heads nodded like tambourines.
First, let the two calm down a bit, and after confirming that they won't make any more noise, I rubbed my temples, which were slightly sore from their crying, and asked in a deep voice, "I'm asking you, how many Xianbei riders were involved in this raid?"
"I remember you said at the beginning that they had over a thousand riders in total?"
The two men exchanged glances, and one of the slightly taller young men responded first, "Reporting to Your Excellency, there were indeed over a thousand Xianbei riders who raided us this time!"
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely true, I guarantee it with my life! Moreover, I heard that these thousands of riders are all from one tribe, and their leader seems to be named Ketu, a skilled warrior..."
Is it not more accurate to say "thousands of people" instead of just saying "thousands of people"?
And in times like these, how can you know it's from a single tribe and even know the name of the chief?
Xu Lang's gaze flickered, it seems this guy hasn't had enough trouble yet, or he's still lying!
However, considering that the intelligence provided by my scouts can also be incorrect, and they may also make mistakes or say the wrong thing in tense situations, Xu Lang still adopts a cautious attitude, coldly snorting, and continues to ask, "How is it possible that there are only a thousand people? I have heard from my scouts that this time the Xianbei people are heading south, and the number of their cavalry is definitely not less than ten thousand!"
"Ah, ah... Yes, yes! It's true that there are ten thousand people, indeed over ten thousand people!"
Just as the tall person was about to continue speaking, Xu Lang waved his hand to immediately stop him, turned his head, and looked at another person. "Now it's your turn to speak. You tell me how many people there really are."
No hesitation at all, almost purely driven by the primitive instinct of survival, at the moment when Xu Lang's voice fell, another person quickly replied, "Yes! Lord, it is indeed ten thousand people! The commoners might only have encountered a portion of them at first, but if the scouts say there are ten thousand people, then there must be ten thousand people. The commoners must have remembered it wrongly!"
"Yes, I remember it now. They did indeed have a whopping ten thousand people, a dense crowd..."
Upon hearing the other person talk about this, Xu Lang had already made a rough judgment about the identities of these two individuals.
Maybe these two are Xianbei people sent to disrupt his army morale and gather information about his military situation, which would explain the obvious logical and critical information inconsistencies in their testimonies.
Maybe these two people were interrogated by Dijie and their minds became disordered, or the incident caused them too much stress, leading to their incoherent ramblings.
Regardless of the reasons, it's certain that we won't gain anything useful by questioning them further here. Instead of wasting time and energy interrogating them, it's better to hand them over to Dijie and let him and Ju Shou come up with a solution.
With this in mind, Xu Lang looked towards Taishi Ci and raised his finger, pointing at the two of them, instructing, "Ziyi, keep them locked up and see if we can get Dijie to interrogate them properly. If we can get some useful information out of these two in the shortest possible time, it would be even better."
Taishi Ci immediately agreed and gave a signal to the soldiers who had brought the two men in, indicating that they should retreat.
The soldiers understood and quickly knocked the two men unconscious as they began to beg for mercy. Then, they picked up the two men, one in front and one behind, and followed Taishi Ci as they walked out of the palace.
At this moment, Lu Zhi, sitting beside Xu Lang, spoke out and advised, "Tiantong, although these two individuals may appear to be Yanbei spies, they might still be of some use if we keep them alive. Let's not just kill them like this."