Chapter 86

Cheng Duo released Yong Ge's hand and walked toward the only artificial mountain in the courtyard.

Seeing him place his hands on the mountain as if to move it, Wei Ling hurriedly stepped forward. "Let me help you."

"No need. Just watch for me."

He spoke with certainty, and Wei Ling could only step back a bit, puzzled. "This mountain looks solid. Can you move it alone?"

In fact, Wei Ling didn't think that even together with Cheng Duo, they could move this mountain. It seemed like Cheng Duo was overestimating himself.

But as soon as he finished speaking, Cheng Duo's muscles bulged, and with a strong effort, the thousand-catty heavy mountain made a barely bearable rustling sound… As the mountain was gradually moved, an iron door with a ring of iron appeared before them.

"A secret room?" Wei Zhenyuan was taken aback. He didn't expect Cheng Duo to build a secret room under the artificial mountain. And was his strength really that great? Even his most valiant generals might not be able to lift the mountain alone!

Wei Ling thought the same and, having fought against Cheng Duo before, he could tell that something was off. "Your strength seems to have increased?" Cheng Duo was already naturally strong, but could this thing still enhance his strength?

"It's gotten a bit bigger." Cheng Duo exchanged glances with Yong Ge. Neither of them had any intention of revealing Cheng Duo's origins.

Cheng Duo kneeled down and easily opened the iron door. As the sunlight entered, the once pitch-black tunnel gradually brightened.

Wei Ling gasped, "Night pearls?" He looked at Cheng Duo in suspicion. This man's origins were so mysterious that he used priceless night pearls to light up the place? And each pearl was the size of a fist, roughly counting, there were five or six pearls in this short tunnel alone!

Wei Zhenyuan felt the same but was somewhat relieved by Yong Ge's nonchalant expression, clearly indicating that he was aware.

Both men thought the tunnel was already extravagant, but when they passed through it and entered another door, they witnessed a scene of gemstones scattered on the floor and gold and silver piled up like a mountain!

The reflection of gold and silver, along with the surrounding night pearls, lit up the secret room to be as bright as day. Wei Zhenyuan and Wei Ling stood stiffly in the secret room, suspecting they were hallucinating.

Are these… these gold and silver treasures all real?

Wei Zhenyuan's throat tightened, and he swallowed with difficulty. "Y-Yong, Yong Ge, how did you and Cheng Duo get all these things?"

Yong Ge glanced at Cheng Duo, his fair and handsome face slightly blushing. "This is the treasure of that Hu Gong."

"Impossible!" Wei Zhenyuan refuted without hesitation. "I just handed you the map a few days ago. Moreover, you two have been right under my nose. How could I not know when you went out?"

His son and son-in-law were busy with the brickyard every day, and when he was bored, he would let Meng Ji take him to the adobe warehouse to take a look. Sometimes they would sit there for an entire afternoon and never noticed anything unusual.

Cheng Duo said, "Of course, the treasure was already here before you came. Otherwise, why would Yong Ge and I build a secret room in our own courtyard for no reason?"

"What do you mean, you had already found Hu Gong's treasure?"

"Yeah." Yong Ge touched his nose. "Actually, the mountain where Hu Gong hid the treasure is behind Brother Cheng's house. He accidentally found it while hunting. We hadn't even gotten married at that time."

Yong Ge chose to lie. Firstly, he didn't want his biological father to know that he had fallen down the mountain along with Cheng Duo to save him. Secondly, the treasure was originally brought back by Cheng Duo, and Yong Ge didn't contribute much to it. This way, his father couldn't find an excuse to diminish Cheng Duo's credit.

"No, it was found by Yong Ge and me together," Cheng Duo touched the back of Yong Ge's head. He understood his intentions, but he didn't care about such superficial credit.

Yong Ge held his hand and anxiously said, "No, if it weren't for you suggesting to go back and take a look, I wouldn't have remembered."

The son and son-in-law quarreled over who discovered the treasure. Wei Zhenyuan held back a laugh and said with no good temper, "Alright, I know that Cheng Duo made the biggest contribution. I won't let him suffer."

With so much wealth, he dared not only to rebel but even to provoke the heavens!

The surprise from his son and son-in-law was too great. Their affection was evident, and if Jin Ti could see this, he would surely be happy.

At this moment, Wei Zhenyuan completely trusted Cheng Duo, not just because of the silver he provided. It was because, despite having so much wealth, Cheng Duo still married his Yong Ge and lived with him in a small mountain village to run a brickyard. If Cheng Duo were an ignorant countryman, Wei Zhenyuan wouldn't think much of it, but unfortunately, he was a man with great vision and skills. Wei Zhenyuan couldn't believe that he didn't know what having such wealth meant!

…

After coming out of the underground secret room, Wei Zhenyuan gathered everyone again. Wei Li and the others had been waiting for a while, and seeing Wei Zhenyuan's renewed spirit and flushed face, they had an idea of what happened. "General?"

Wei Zhenyuan used tea instead of wine and raised his cup, saying, "The court is corrupt, controlled by the Fu clan, and military funds are owed year after year, resulting in countless soldiers freezing and starving to death on the border. Now, He Kuntai has defected to the enemy, killed our Wei family soldiers, and framed us unjustly. What do you all think?"

Everyone's spirits were lifted, and they said in unison, "We will follow General's orders!"

"We will follow you, General!"

"General, let's rebel!" "You're right, let's rebel!"

"Good." Wei Zhenyuan laughed heartily, then finished his cup and slammed it on the ground. "I, as your General, will lead you all in rebellion against those damn bastards!"

"General is wise!"

Wei Zhenyuan continued with his instructions, "Wei Li, you lead the men and rush back to the capital as fast as possible to bring back the Marquis and the others. If you encounter He Kuntai's messengers on the way, kill them without mercy! Wei Ling, you send someone to secretly investigate He Kuntai's group's travel routines and routes back to West Ridge Camp. Remember, don't alert the enemy, and we'll strike one month later."

This was a plan Wei Zhenyuan and Cheng Duo had discussed in advance. They delayed the assassination to avoid alerting the enemy since Wei Li needed time to return to the capital.

Both Wei Li and Wei Ling saluted in unison, "Understood!"

"Wait, I have another idea!" Cheng Duo suddenly spoke up.

"What is it?"

"After Wei Li returns to the capital, he can do this…"

Cheng Duo's idea was that instead of pulling off a quick escape like a cicada shedding its skin, they should stir up trouble in the capital and even the entire Da Xia.

In reality, Da Xia was already in a precarious state, with various local princes and governors moving restlessly. The court was a mere formality, but no one was willing to take the lead.

Given this situation, Cheng Duo decided to give them a push. It was a simple matter. Wei Li and the others would arrange for heavy rain to wash away the facade of a certain temple, revealing a stone tablet that foretold the crowning of a new emperor. Then they would bribe people to spread the news far and wide.

The prime candidate for the new emperor would naturally be none other than Empress Dowager Fu. As she wasn't the biological grandmother of the current emperor, she had a firm grip on political power, even choosing the current puppet emperor from the Xia imperial family.

Once the stone tablet was exposed, people with ill intentions would immediately suspect the Fu clan's involvement, given her capability and motive to usurp the throne. Regardless of how the young emperor reacted, the various local princes and governors would surely seize this opportunity to stir up trouble, under the guise of supporting a righteous cause while secretly seeking independence and no longer obeying the central court.

There was King Cheng of Xia in the south and the Governor of Jiangdong in the east. One was surnamed Xia, commanding an army of two hundred thousand, while the other had control over rich resources and a formidable army.

Cheng Duo didn't believe that with this opportunity, they couldn't stir up some trouble.

The murkier the waters in the capital, the easier it would be for Wei Li and the others to lead people out. By the time Empress Dowager Fu realized something was wrong, they, as the instigators, would have long disappeared.

"You, who are you exactly, to understand the court's matters so well?" Wei Zhenyuan felt a chill down his back. If he guessed correctly, Cheng Duo had just come up with this strategy of diverting disaster.

In the short time of a cup of tea, Cheng Duo had calculated everything, from the layout to the people's reactions. It was terrifying! But this was the "Sithu Novel" that the 10th generation of the Dao family from the 10th line had read.

Cheng Duo shrugged casually, "I have a friend who runs a restaurant in Twenty li Slope, and his family has properties in the capital. We chat sometimes in our free time. Besides, such small tricks are common and well-known among us. It's not something I came up with."

"Well-known tricks… what are they?" Wei Ling asked curiously.

Cheng Duo then explained how he and Xie Yuan did business together, like offering free ice water to deceive people into entering the restaurant, then luring them to seemingly save money with combo packages that had hidden charges, and offering upgradeable VIP cards…

"These are all considered tricks. In our circles, these are leftovers played by others. If it weren't for… things that happened later, people would keep coming up with new tricks."

The entire audience fell silent, including Wei Zhenyuan and Wei Ling. Even the generals were scratching their heads. "So these are tricks used to deceive people? But I always felt like the guests were getting the better end of the deal."

"I haven't figured it out either…"

"No wonder my cousin always loses money in business. He's too naive!"

"You dare call others naive? You don't even understand basic tactics like encirclement!"

Cheng Duo felt like facepalming. He wondered if he had chosen the wrong team to rebel with.

Wei Zhenyuan also felt a bit embarrassed and said, "Alright, enough arguing. Let's continue with the main matter."

Yong Ge smiled, glancing at his father, then at Cheng Duo, and secretly held his hand. Cheng Duo immediately understood. It wasn't that the subordinates under his father were too dumb, but that people from the future had too many tricks up their sleeves. He shouldn't have set his expectations too high for them…

Before leaving, Wei Li received a package of things thrown into his arms by Wei Zhenyuan. "This should be enough for you!"

According to Cheng Duo, Wei Li and the others would need silver to fake the stone tablet and spread rumors, and it wasn't a small amount.

Wei Li opened the package and was stunned to find it filled with silver ingots. "General, where did you get this money?"

Others might not know, but as a confidant of the general, he certainly did. Their general was so poor that he even shamelessly borrowed money without repaying it!

Of course, the subject of borrowing money without repaying it was none other than their young general.

Wei Zhenyuan couldn't maintain his composure and kicked him in frustration. "Get lost, you idiot! Isn't the silver sent as a token of respect from my son-in-law good enough for you?"

He accidentally hit his wound and winced in pain.

Wei Li looked sympathetically at Cheng Duo, thinking that now the general didn't even spare his son-in-law!

(T/N: Can't imagine General Wei has this kind of image in everyone's mind… (̶◉‿◉) )

But he didn't dare to wait for the general to get angry again and quickly waved his hand, leading a few other commanders to run off. Their horses were waiting in the forest outside the village, and they brought several soldiers with them. They didn't need to return to Jiupan Stockade; they could go directly on their way.

After Wei Li left and Wei Ling was about to return to make arrangements, before leaving, he wanted to leave more people behind for Wei Zhenyuan. "Uncle, the Xiongnu are rampaging everywhere, and it might be our turn in Yang Village soon…"

Wei Zhenyuan waved his hand confidently. "Don't worry, I'm just injured, not crippled. Even if the Xiongnu come, I can still handle them!"

Besides, Yang Village wasn't completely undefended; the village chief had organized a group of able-bodied men to patrol day and night.

When it came to those patrolling villagers, Wei Ling was a bit speechless. With such a large group of people sneaking into the village, they didn't notice anything. What use could they be when the Xiongnu attacked?

Meng Ji had already followed Wei Li to the capital, so apart from Yu Dazui, Wei Zhenyuan only had Cheng Duo and Yong Ge by his side.

Wei Ling was about to advise further when Cheng Duo said, "It's indeed better to leave a few more people. Yong Ge and I plan to go to Mount Yufang to bring back Li Wang."

They had been worried about Wei Zhenyuan's injury, so they hadn't mentioned it earlier. Fortunately, the area around Mount Yufang was barren and heavily guarded, so the Xiongnu wouldn't likely go in that direction.

However, leaving Li Wang in Mount Yufang for too long wasn't a good idea, so after discussing with Yong Ge, they decided to go there themselves.

Wei Ling was surprised. "Yong Ge is going too?"

Wei Zhenyuan sourly said, "Yong Ge, my injury hasn't healed yet. You can just let Cheng Duo go." After they finally recognized each other as father and son, couldn't Yong Ge stay and accompany him?

Speaking of Mount Yufang, Wei Ling suddenly remembered something. "Oh no! Uncle Li took my letter with him. If it's discovered by people from He Kuntai, he might be in trouble!"

"What?!"