Chapter 155: Secret Conversation

Qin Cheng spent the afternoon strolling through Wushan with Bai Xinxin. After a whole afternoon of bustling about, by the time the sun began to set, he finally felt a hollow sensation in his stomach. He then decided to take Bai Xinxin and little Rong'er out to find a place to eat some dishes and drink some rice wine, while also taking the opportunity to get some fresh air.

Because the Commandery Governor's Mansion was situated in the very center of Qansang City, Qin Cheng had been quite visionary when choosing the location for the Sirius Residence, placing it not far from the governor's mansion. Now, bringing the two women out, they did not have to walk far before arriving at the Floating Fragrance Tower.

When the chamber of commerce was developing members in Qansang City, it intentionally started from the city center. This was both to conveniently leverage the influence of the Commandery Governor's Mansion and to ensure the safety of Qin Cheng, who was a thorn in the side of certain vassal kings within the territories of both the Xiongnu and the Great Han. Up until now, although the chamber of commerce's overt forces had not yet expanded extensively, they already had several strongholds, which included the Yang Family Old Shop and the Floating Fragrance Tower.

As soon as Qin Cheng stepped into the Floating Fragrance Tower and took his seat, a waiter trotted over in a seemingly natural and brisk manner, asking Qin Cheng and his party what wine and dishes they would like to order.

"General, there is half a prey, upstairs," the waiter said in a low voice while they were ordering their food.

The reason it was called "half a prey" rather than "prey" was to indicate that the waiter currently only suspected those people and did not have absolute certainty that they were indeed the "prey."

Little Rong'er looked at the waiter in confusion, not understanding what he was talking about. Just as she opened her mouth to ask clearly, Bai Xinxin pulled her back. Bai Xinxin used her eyes to signal her not to move around, and even more so, not to say anything reckless.

"How many people, and in which room?" Qin Cheng asked.

"Spring Pavilion," the waiter gestured with his eyes toward a private room on the second floor. "Three people went in first, and then two more entered later."

Qin Cheng nodded imperceptibly and said, "If they truly are the prey, there should be scouts keeping watch on the ground floor and outside. Take a few waiters to check. If there really are such people, don't ask questions; first have someone seal off the road outside the windows of Spring Pavilion, and then immediately come back and report to me."

"Understood!" The waiter acknowledged, then raised his voice to call out the dishes ordered by Qin Cheng and the others, heading to the back hall as if nothing was amiss.

At the main strongholds of the chamber of commerce, there were generally elite soldiers from the army planted by Qin Cheng to lie in wait, and Nangong Shang would also send a few swordsmen. The purpose of doing this was, of course, to deal with sudden emergencies.

"General, what were you two talking about just now?" Little Rong'er rested her chin in her hands, blinking her bright, limpid eyes as she asked curiously.

"Adult matters, children shouldn't ask," Bai Xinxin tapped her little head to instruct her.

"I'm not a child anymore, I'm already twelve years old!" little Rong'er muttered discontentedly.

"Even at twelve, you're still a child, still a kid!" Qin Cheng chuckled, then said to Bai Xinxin, "There might be trouble later. If there are any unexpected circumstances, the two of you must be careful. However, someone will naturally protect you then; just don't run around blindly."

"Understood, General, rest assured. I'll keep an eye on little Rong'er," Bai Xinxin nodded and said.

"Agh, you guys are so annoying! What on earth are you talking about? So secretive, tell me, I promise I won't blab!" Little Rong'er wore a frantic expression.

"Little brat!" Qin Cheng reached out to ruffle little Rong'er's hair.

...

On the second floor in the private room, Spring Pavilion.

Chen You sat straight and proper. Opposite him was a middle-aged man with a rather dark complexion, and standing slightly behind and to the side of the man was a burly youth with his hands clasped behind his back.

The atmosphere in the private room was rather stiff. Chen You's face was dark, and his breathing was somewhat disordered, while the man opposite him wore a cold expression, his gaze toward Chen You neither friendly nor warm. All of this indicated that the conversation between the two sides this time was not pleasant.

"If it weren't for your failed assassination last time, letting that fellow escape back to Shanggu, how could our princess and the Wulan King have been defeated? You must take responsibility for this! We provided you with intelligence, but you failed to accomplish the task. Under such favorable conditions, when the other side only had two or three people, you couldn't even leave behind a single hair of theirs, causing many of our Great Xiongnu warriors to lose their lives in vain. It is utterly foolish!" The middle-aged man crossed his arms, staring straight into Chen You's eyes with contempt. His tone was sharp, without the slightest intention of sparing Chen You's pride.

"Special Envoy, kindly choose your words with more courtesy!" Ever since they met, the other party had been wearing a stern face and lecturing him, which made it impossible for Chen You to maintain his composure no matter how much patience he had. He said with dissatisfaction, "The failure of the last assassination operation not only resulted in the sacrifice of your warriors, but the two dozen swordsmen we sent didn't a single one survive either! We weren't the only ones who suffered losses!"

"That is precisely where your foolishness lies. So many people died yet you couldn't even leave behind two individuals. Could it be that your men are all good-for-nothing rice buckets?" The special envoy snorted coldly.

"Special Envoy! Do not place all the blame on us. You must know that if it hadn't been for your intelligence miscalculating Qin Cheng's combat prowess and underestimating his personal strength, we wouldn't have dispatched a mere twenty-odd swordsmen to carry out the assassination!" Chen You growled in a low voice.

"Oh? Then I would like to ask, how many people did you intend to send just to kill two people?" the special envoy said contemptuously.

"You—" Chen You was at a loss for words, the muscles on his face twitching a few times. After a long moment, he grunted, "At least we would have sent first-rate swordsmen, and besides, didn't your tens of thousands of troops fail to kill him as well? Are you really any better than us?"

"Insolent!" The Xiongnu special envoy slammed the table fiercely. "Are you looking down on the combat power of the warriors of the Great Xiongnu?"

"I am merely speaking the plain truth."

...

While Qin Cheng was conversing with Bai Xinxin and little Rong'er, it wasn't long before little Rong'er, under the combined soft and hard tactics of Qin Cheng and Bai Xinxin, gave up the idea of getting to the bottom of the matter from earlier. With a pout, she muttered to herself, "You only know how to bully a child," pinched the outer thigh of Qin Cheng fiercely, and then beamed with smiles again.

"You little brat are getting addicted to pinching people, aren't you?" Qin Cheng recalled the sinful pinch little Rong'er had inflicted in the pavilion earlier, and couldn't help but ruffle her hair a few more times, saying to Bai Xinxin, "You should keep a tighter rein on her usually."

"Little Rong'er is grown up now; I can't manage her anymore," Bai Xinxin scoffed.

At this moment, the waiter walked over carrying a tray of dishes, loudly shouting out the names of the dishes, and then said to Qin Cheng, "General, there are indeed a few suspicious-looking individuals inside and outside the shop. Following the General's instructions, we didn't alert the enemy, and only arranged manpower at the main entrance and outside the windows of the private room. As for the next step, I await the General's instructions!"

Qin Cheng nodded and said, "Have you figured out whose background they come from?"

"Your subordinate already sent men to investigate, but no news has been sent back yet," the waiter replied.

"Then wait for the news to come back before making plans. After all, it's not yet certain whether they are our prey," Qin Cheng said. "Just keep a close eye on them. If they leave the private room ahead of time, you personally lead people to tail them. You know what to do; be careful, their vigilance is very high."

"Your subordinate understands!" the waiter acknowledged. With that, he cleared the tray and turned to leave.

...

"Alright, nothing is the matter. Let's eat." Qin Cheng picked up his chopsticks and said with a smile to Bai Xinxin and little Rong'er.

"Hmph, stuff yourself to death!" Little Rong'er buried her head, continuously piling food into Qin Cheng's bowl as she "viciously" said.

"Stop messing around, just mind yourself," Bai Xinxin said with a smile as she placed a piece of meat into little Rong'er's bowl.

"I don't want to eat meat. Eating meat makes people fat, I refuse." Little Rong'er returned the piece of meat to Bai Xinxin. "Anyway, Sister Bai doesn't have to worry about getting married, you should eat more!"

"..." Qin Cheng.

While Qin Cheng, Bai Xinxin, and little Rong'er were eating, a young man dining alone in the corner of the main hall glanced over in their direction, a look of deep contemplation in his eyes.

...

Chen You and the Xiongnu special envoy stared at each other wide-eyed. The guards behind both men slipped their hands into their sleeves, narrowing their eyes as they stared at the other party, looking as though a single careless move would trigger a bloody brawl.

After a long standoff like this, Chen You finally spoke up, "Special Envoy, I advise you to calm down. We are not here to lock horns with you today."

"You are the ones who need to calm down!" The Xiongnu special envoy snorted coldly, easing his posture. "Speak, what do you plan to do next?"

"Lord Liu's meaning is that since Qin Cheng has already returned to Shanggu, it is inconvenient for us to make a move against him again. After all, Shanggu is his territory. Therefore, Lord Liu says we can temporarily put Qin Cheng aside; after all, he is merely a border commandery governor, not worth us spending too much energy on him. We have more important matters to attend to." Chen You took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and spoke.

"You Han people have a saying: harboring evil and letting it fester," the Xiongnu special envoy said. "If we don't find a way to finish off this fellow Qin Cheng now, once his influence grows in the future and poses a massive obstacle to what we are plotting, it will be even harder to kill him then! Therefore, this person Qin Cheng must be eliminated as early as possible."

Hearing the phrase "harboring evil and letting it fester," Chen You sneered inwardly, thinking to himself: *If you lack education, don't pretend to be cultured. The profound essence of the Great Han's written language is not something you barbarians can understand!* He furrowed his brows and said, "But it is very difficult to strike in Shanggu now. This fellow stays in the military camp all day long; surely we can't charge into the military camp to kill him."

"If the military camp won't do, wait until he is out of the military camp. If Shanggu won't do, wait until he is not in Shanggu. There will always be an opportunity, as long as you are willing to put in the effort!" the special envoy said coldly.

"Very well, then we shall do as the Special Envoy says. I will report this to Lord Liu and ask him to make the arrangements!" Chen You thought about it and found it made sense, so he agreed, then said, "Now that the problem of this fellow Qin Cheng has been settled, let us discuss more important matters..."