Si Lei waited for news in the capital. As soon as it got slightly dark, the cannon fire instantly engulfed the reeds, burning them to ashes. Catapults began to fire their cannons from fixed points.
Two hundred artillery pieces were fired. The camp gate was blasted to pieces, and the wooden bridge caught fire. Even Type 94 cannons were pushed to the camp gate and bombarded it indiscriminately, directly blasting the newly built camp to pieces.
Some bandits hadn't completely fled the camp, so they pushed a cannon in to retaliate, firing a single shot that revealed their location. Xie Bing fired directly at the same spot, shaking the rocks and engulfing the entire camp in flames.
Yang Gao, who had retreated to Monkey Island, watched as artillery fire raged across the island, and the entire mountain stronghold was ablaze, illuminating a corner of the sky.
His expression was very solemn.
The old man beside him thought to himself, "Just as I thought."
Xie Ying stood to the side watching, secretly glancing at the old man.
The old man met her gaze and said, "Such an aggressive fighting style, it must have been Si Lei who did it."
Yang Gao said, "How could that damned royal family possibly command Xie Bing?"
Xie didn't listen to him at all.
The old man said, "Money can make the devil turn the millstone."
Upon hearing this, Yang Gao's expression darkened further. He had already looked down on Si Lei, but he never expected that the Xie family, whose wealth rivaled that of a nation, would also be driven by money.
In this way, no matter how much he looked down on Si Lei's abilities, as long as he paid, Xie would avenge him for any grudge.
"We were careless!" Yang Gao slapped his face and shouted, "We only accepted 10,000 taels from Si Hong, and now we're facing annihilation."
"That old bastard Si Lei will definitely hunt us down to the ends of the earth."
The problem is that his son didn't die at all.
The old man ignored him, leaving Yang Gao to wallow in self-pity.
He turned around, found Xie Ying, and reached out to her: "Give me what you're holding."
Xie Ying took a step back, but the old man grabbed her and pulled her towards him. Xie Ying resisted him, but the old man was quick and snatched the brocade pouch away in an instant.
"Give it back to me!" Xie Ying threw a punch, which the old man easily blocked. With his other hand, he began to unpack the brocade pouch. When he saw the familiar birth date and the Tai Sui amulet, he confirmed that it belonged to Xie Ying.
He immediately returned the brocade pouch to her.
"Very good. From now on, wherever I go, you will have to follow me."
Xie Ying was confused; that was a brocade pouch given to her by His Highness, and she couldn't afford to lose it.
"Give it back to me!"
The old man tossed her the brocade pouch, then boarded the boat with his cane and had Xie Ying escorted onto the boat.
Xie Ying refused to cooperate, so the old man said, "If you don't obediently come with me, you'll never know the truth. And once you know the truth, you'll be thanking me."
"Child, we are all suffering the same fate. We should stick together."
"Who's unfortunate, Liu? My father is General Xie. My mother is the daughter of the Wang family, the wealthiest merchant family in the Southern Region." Xie Ying looked at his charlatan-like tone and, for some reason, felt increasingly disgusted. The other party also stopped being polite and began to forcibly control her.
The old man laughed heartily: "What an interesting child. It's alright to have a family member who finds joy even in hardship."
Xie Ying began to resist, but before she could move, someone reached out from behind and covered her mouth with a handkerchief. A short while later, Xie Ying fainted.
The old man then had the bandits drag the man to his cabin. Yang Gao followed closely behind; Monkey Island was not a place to linger, and they planned to go straight to Twin Islands.
Yang Gao also threw Si Hong into the same cabin.
Si Hong looked at Yang Gao with disgust. Yang Gao raised his chin, acting as if no one else was there.
The old man held Xie Ying, who was lying on the bed, tightly, which made Yang Gao unable to help but lower his head and ask, "Manager Qian, could this be your granddaughter?"
"no."
"There's no need to hide it. Just tell me. I'll protect her for your sake."
The old man fell silent again. Yang Gao, realizing he couldn't extract any useful information, had no choice but to give up.
Si Hong recognized Xie Ying lying on the bed: "Why are people from the Xie family here?"
"Manager Qian, are you sure you haven't mistaken me for someone else?"
Upon hearing this, the old man slightly raised his cane and thrust it forward with a sudden jab. It struck Si Hong's thigh, and Si Hong clutched his leg and screamed in pain.
"You old bastard, you're asking for it!"
Yang Gao quickly stepped in front of Si Hong and said to the old man in a polite tone, "Manager Qian, please calm down. This is the island lord's sworn brother; you can't harm him."
The old man sneered, "You traitor!"
The traitor, Si Hong, clutching the bloody hole in his leg, stared at the old man with trepidation. This frail-looking old man with graying hair was capable of delivering deadly blows.
Yang Gao took out some medicine from his pocket to apply to Si Hong's wound, but then he remembered that his father had blown up his own place. He was so angry that he bandaged the wound with a bit more force, and Si Hong's screams immediately rose in pitch.
"Aaaaaaah!!!"
Si Hong eventually fainted and lay on the other side.
Xie Bing tidied up his camp in the reeds and then reported the news. Xie's captain immediately sent a message to Xie Gorge.
Just then, Xie Lanzhi received intelligence from her spies that the Huns were a decoy and had no use whatsoever. Furthermore, the bandit leader Yang Gao had escaped to Twin Islands.
Xie Lanzhi suddenly felt a bit worried. She summoned a secret agent to check if Little Phoenix had tampered with Xie Ying's body.
The spy told her directly, "His Highness gave Miss Xie a brocade pouch."
Could that brocade pouch be a Tai Sui amulet? Xie Lanzhi's lips twitched: "Poor child."
She's now been kidnapped and taken to Twin Island as a stand-in. At the same time, she's obtained a clue about Anshan. Twin Island is very likely connected to Anshan.
Si Hong is in charge of the treasury; he's essentially a businessman. An Shan is also a businessman. Naturally, they're birds of a feather. It would be expected if they got involved.
Are there any of your people on Twin Islands?
“There is one. But…” The spy seemed unsure of the other person’s abilities. “He’s still being tested, so he’s currently a novice.”
It's better than nothing. Xie Lanzhi decided to go to the island herself.
She deliberately kept this a secret from the spies. The spies didn't dare to monitor her casually. So, after the spies left, she took a few changes of clothes and went to the shore. Unexpectedly, someone was already waiting. The person, wearing a white mask, bowed to her: "Marshal, your subordinate has been waiting here for a long time."
Xie Lanzhi asked, "Who are you?"
The opponent held up an iron plaque: Strategy.
The sun and moon, heaven and earth, are beyond calculation. That word "calculate" refers to a secret agent.
One of the six trump cards under Little Phoenix's command.
Xie Lanzhi muttered to herself, "Little Phoenix is quite capable."
They could even guess that she wanted to act alone.
"Did she leave me any messages?" Xie Lanzhi asked. "Did she say anything when I was acting alone?"
Ce said, "Her Highness said she wants to see Wu Shang."
Xie Lanzhi: "......"
Xie Lanzhi clenched her fists instantly, gritted her teeth, and said with a smile, "Tell her. Married women cannot communicate with men in private."
Ce said, "His Highness said it's none of your business."
"These are the words your master left for you."
I'll endure it! Xie Lanzhi turned away, trying her best not to lash out. I'll definitely teach her a lesson when she gets back!
The two men found a merchant ship flying the Yue Kingdom flag, which was said to be a black ship bound for Twin Islands. They pretended to be merchants, but in reality, they were businessmen from Twin Islands.
Xie Lanzhi boarded the ship as a Black Gold VIP at Twin Islands.
It is said that this black gold VIP was acquired for one million taels of silver. The Twin Islands have always been known as a bandit island, but in reality, they are a money pit for the wealthy overseas.
Anyone who throws a fortune can get to Twin Islands. All you need is a red invitation card personally issued by the island's lord.
There were many people on the ship dressed in fine clothes. They all wore masks. To avoid looking out of place, Xie Lanzhi also hastily put on a half-face mask, only revealing her chin.
The people on the ship, seeing that she was a woman, asked curiously, "Miss, you dare to go to Golden Island?"
"Gold Island" is slang for going to Twin Islands.
Xie Lanzhi didn't expect that covering her face would attract attention because of her gender.
She nodded, thought for a moment, and then took out the red invitation card from her bosom. The seemingly ordinary red invitation card had a pale golden outline in the light coming from outside the boat, while the other side was a striking black and gold.
A brief silence fell over everyone on the boat. Ce, standing nearby, blinked, puzzled.
Even Xie Lanzhi began to doubt herself. Was Jin spending too little money?
The whole ship erupted in cheers.
"Look, it's black gold! Black Gold Shopkeeper!"
"My God, after all these years, I've only ever gotten a bronze-gold rank. How much did this black-gold rank cost?"
"Why is Black Gold on our ship?! Shouldn't Twin Islands have sent a larger ship instead?!"
"I heard that black gold costs at least a million taels to obtain. That's a million taels! I thought the black gold of Twin Islands was just a legend."
"I never expected to meet you today."
"Miss, may I ask your name?"
Soon, someone came in from outside the ship and specifically reminded them: "Please, gentlemen, do not make any noise. We will be arriving at Twin Islands soon."
"Furthermore, do not strike up a conversation with distinguished guests or inquire about their identity."
"Don't forget the rules of Twin Islands."
Xie Lanzhi took note of the rules of Twin Islands.
She glanced at the spy beside her; Ce was staring at an inconspicuous merchant, dressed very simply, holding a silver token, completely unnoticed by Black Gold. Some even looked down on him for using a silver token.
A bunch of lawless and unscrupulous businessmen are even engaging in internal competition themselves. Xie Lanzhi thought to herself, "How interesting."
Twin Islands, as their name suggests. Two adjacent islands, one with coconut groves and the other without. They are connected by an iron bridge.
The ship reached an island without coconut groves, and the other merchants disembarked.
She was about to disembark, but the people on the ship kept her behind. They spoke to her very politely: "Sir, may I ask your name?"
"Have you forgotten the rules of Twin Islands?" Xie Lanzhi said calmly.
The other person paused for a moment, then apologized and went to fetch someone else. This person was also a businessman, but somewhat different; he seemed to be a middleman.