Chapter 414: 414
Chapter 414 – Hu Che-er
Hu Che-er was one of the historical figures that made a name of himself during this civil war period . In the other timeline, he served as one of Zhang Xiu’s commanders .
When Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu plotted to kill Cao Cao at Wan, Hu Chu-er was the one who volunteered that he would poison Dian Wei, who was acting as Cao Cao’s bodyguard commander . He stole Dian Wei’s halberds, so their men could kill everyone .
Hu Che-er succeeded, but Dian Wei still had short weapons with him . Unfortunately, Dian Wei discovered Hu Che-er’s plot and killed him, but the former still died by the overwhelming army of Zhang Xiu .
In a way, Hu Che-er was the key contributor to Dian Wei’s death .
But in this world, Hu Che-er did not serve Zhang Xiu since Zhang Xiu did not declare independence from Li Jue and Guo Si’s regime . Instead, Zhang Xiu and Zhang Ji were sent to serve Tong as a tribute .
Without a lord, Hu Che-er found a mercenary organization to make a living . Liu Yang and Khan found them and recruited them to their army .
Now, Hu Che-er received a commission from Liu Yang that he and his men had to keep Hua Xin and Huang Wan’s family as hostages, so both Han loyalists could be blackmailed later .
They could have kept their family members in Chang’An to enslave Hua Xin and Huang Wan forever . Also, Khan could have used his brainwash skill to tamper with these people’s minds . Unfortunately, Khan declined all of Liu Yang’s suggestions and kept on saving his lifespans to create more soldiers, so he could wage wars against Han citizens .
In Liu Yang’s mind, Khan was a mad man and untrustworthy .
As illogical as it looked, Liu Yang took everything with her, so she could have more options to improvise to any situation .
Hu Che-er and the family of the former ministers were also the variable options that she kept . However, she did not expect that Hua Xin and Huang Wan would be bold enough to take risks .
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Inside the hideout, the assassins were resting . Although it was noon, most of them were sleeping, leaving only a few guards to monitor the Hua Xin and Huang Wan’s family members .
Everybody thought that no one would find trouble with them on daylight since this was Tong’s capital city .
The hideout was an open field inside of the city wall, which used for assembling the garrison army or erecting a temporary encampment for VIP merchants . At this place, Hu Che-er had constructed wooden shacks and pitched several tents for his 1,000 men and their hostages .
Liu Yang paid a high price to rent this space for these people, so the minor officials or lowly guards would not dare to offend them .
Hu Che-er was in a bad mood because they were in a bad position in this territory . Since Ye City disallowed all civilians to possess any weapon, such as swords, spears, or even a short knife, they could not wander around the city to establish their dominance in this city . With policemen swaggering around with swords and shields, they did not dare to stir trouble .
"What kind of city is this? Even Luoyang doesn’t have this security . "
Without proper weapons, Hu Che-er was afraid that Hua Xin and Huang Wan’s family could escape if they fight back .
The assassin leader looked at his men and voiced his thought, "We should leave that girl here and escape when we have the chance . I’m sure those two geezers will rat us out . "
His subordinates disagreed, "No, boss . I don’t think they have the balls . We have the hostages here . "
"These hostages are as good as none! All of them should have been imprisoned at Chang’An, but that stupid girl took them here . It’s like telling Zhang Tong’s men that [We are offering these hostages back, so please come and kill us!] . You get it?"
Unfortunately, Hu Che-er’s men did not think that way . They still believed that Hua Xin and Huang Wan’s family members were their trump card, and they could continue blackmailing these two ministers to do their bidding indefinitely .
"You’re overthinking, boss . Our princess is doing the right thing . Had she left them at Chang’An, we wouldn’t have been able to exploit those two bastards . With them here, we can enjoy our retirement without having to work, right?"
Hu Che-er’s face twitched, "Fine . I’ll take a walk on the street . All of you keep guarding, then . "
"Okay, boss . Buy us some women when you return!"
"..."
The assassin boss abandoned his men . Instead of visiting the town as he promised his goons, he took his horse, planning to leave the city before hell could break loose .
Unfortunately, a transparent being appeared in front of Hu Che-er .
It was one of Tong’s souls, [Sloth] .
Sloth pointed his index fingertip at Hu Che-er’s head .
Sloth Curse!
It was a unique skill that only demons who overcame their [Sin of Sloth] had .
Hu Che-er suddenly felt exhausted as if he had not slept for days . He collapsed on the ground and fell asleep .
Not only Hu Che-er was affected, but everyone in the camp, including all hostages, also was inflicted with the curse . Purple gas enveloped the hideout, putting all assassins and hostages asleep .
It was a peaceful approach to rescue all hostages without a casualty .
An hour later, Hua Xin, Huang Wan, Lu Zhi, and policemen with many carriages arrived . They separated all hostages from the assassins and escorted them to Lu Zhi’s resident . As for the assassin group, they were tied and brought to the justice department for trial and interrogation .
All assassins and Hu Che-er woke up at night .
When they found that everyone was tied and locked in prison, they panicked .
"What the fuck had happened!? Why are we here!?"
"This is a dream, right?"
"No way! I remember that I just went to sleep!"
While everyone was in an uproar, Hu Che-er remembered the last thing that he saw .
It was a ghost or a spirit that cursed them .
’Come to think of it, Zhang Tong is known to be an immortal emperor . Many of his subordinates are rumored to be immortals, as well . Well, fuck . This trip was a mistake . That little girl must have already been caught . Hua Xin and Huang Wan should have ratted us out the moment they arrived . ’
The assassin leader sighed .
’I should have migrated to this city and join them as a normal soldier from the very beginning . I’m a stupid idiot!’
Soon, Sima Fang’s men isolated every prisoner for a separate interrogation . The investigation lasted all night .
When it was Hu Che-er’s turn, it was already the morning of a new day .
The assassin leader was brought to an open field with four of his subordinates . Each of them was still tied with ropes .
Sima Fang, who had dark bags under his eyes, did not sleep last night . He was busy squeezing all information from this group . Several tight mouths were executed after a bit of torturing by slicing a piece of their skin, one piece at a time .
The ground that Hu Che-er knelt on was soaked with blood . The stench of iron made everybody here nauseous, but they kept on working .
As Hu Che-er looked at the floor, he found several white pieces of human skin .
Sima Fang did not clean the floor on purpose . He left it to intimidate other prisoners .
"What’s your name?" Sima Fang glared at Hu Che-er .
Intimidated, the assassin leader had no will to resist . He confessed, "Hu Che-er . "
"Are you a Han citizen, or are you from Xiongnu?"
"Neither . I’m from Turkic Tribe . "
"How did you come to work with the Xiongnu?"
"Well, I’m the strongest warrior in my tribe, and these guys hired me . What can I say?"
"From the records, you are their leader, right?"
"Yes . "
"Then, what’s your objective in this city?"
Hu Che-er gulped . Although he did not want to confess, surviving was more important . He was afraid that he might get killed if he was caught lying . Since they had interrogated many men, some of them should have spilled all the information already .
"We’re using Hua Xin and Huang Wan’s family as hostages so we can manipulate them to work for us . "
"Is that all?" Sima Fang knew that there was more hidden info .
"No . We’re working for the princess . We’re waiting for her command, but we have lost contact with her . "
Sima Fang got interested, "Who is she, then?"
"She’s called ... err ... I forgot . "
Hu Che-er could not recall Liu Yang’s name . Since everyone was calling her "Princess," no one paid attention to her real name .
"Was her name Wang Yi?"
" . . . I’m not sure . "
Sima Fang changed his approach, "Had she come together with you when you entered this city?"
"Yes . The princess went to seek an audience with the emperor with Hua Xin and Huang Wan . She said that she planned to use both of them as her parent or something, so she can infiltrate the emperor’s harem . "
"Ah, we already know of that part . Well, do you have anything else to say?"
"A-Are you going to let me live?"
"If that’s all the secret you know, then you’re useless to us . If you want to live, you need to tell us something else that we didn’t know . "
Sima Fang used a mind game with Hu Che-er . With the psychological pressure, prisoners usually spilled random information or secrets to save their skins .
"I-I know the Xiongnu’s movement! Chanyu Khan has occupied the Yi Province, and he is planning to strike Jing Province next! They are also using Yuan Shu’s territory as a buffer, so Cao Cao and the emperor can’t attack them while they are attacking other provinces!"
Sima Fang nodded . His expression was as solemn as ever, "Keep going . "
"Yes! Chanyu Khan is also a mad man . He doesn’t care about his domestic affair at all! All of the captured Liu Yan’s officers have been killed, and they are looking for survivors . All citizens have become the Xiongnu’s slaves or have been forced to join their military . Most of their cities have been reduced to ruins!"
"Then, do you know about Khan’s relationship with this so call princess?"
"T-They are not in good terms . The princess wanted to protect the people and improve the agriculture and finance of all regions, but Khan refused to follow her advice . "
Sima Fang’s subordinates grinned as they acquired a few more puzzle pieces regarding the Xiongnu . With this new Intel, they had just scored some achievements .
"If you have a chance to work for the emperor, will you become his loyal subject?"
"Yes! Yes! Definitely!"
Sima Fang waved his hand, "Release this man . From now on, you work for me and his majesty . "
"THANK YOU! Hu Che-er greets my lord!"
The minister clicked his tongue, "Don’t you dare to call me [My lord]! Do you want to make me a rebel!? Can someone take this brute away and give him a bath!?"
The interrogation continued . In the end, Sima Fang executed half of the assassins as some of them had unacceptable attitudes or suspicious background .
As for the surviving prisoners, Sima Fang transferred them into his Intelligence Agency, planning to squeeze more information from them with a more extreme method .
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.
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The next day, Sima Fang presented his investigation result and brought Hu Che-er along so that Tong could interrogate this assassin leader himself .
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