Chapter 302 Owing a Favor

Chapter 302 Owing a Favor

Chapter 302 Owing a Favor
At noon that day, Xiao Xia transferred Zhang Qiao back to his own residence.

In the afternoon, she was fed two more pills and the wound was re-dressed. This time it was Xiaoqing who changed the medicine for her. Zhang Qiao would not allow Xiao Xia to take advantage of him again no matter what.

At this time, the housekeeper came to report, "General Chengdu is here to visit!"

Yuwen Shu was also called Yuwen General, and Yuwen Chengdu was also called Yuwen General. Sometimes it was difficult to tell the difference, so Yuwen Chengdu took the initiative to ask everyone to call him General Chengdu. Although he was being modest, he started calling him General Chengdu.

Xiao Xia rushed to the courtyard, only to see Yuwen Chengdu looking up at his jujube tree. Such a large jujube tree with lush branches and leaves was rare, and it had become the eye of Xiao Xia's mansion.

"I'm sorry to have kept General Chengdu waiting for so long!"

Yuwen Chengdu looked back at Xiao Xia, took out a flying knife and handed it to him, "This is yours!"

Xiao Xia neither admitted nor denied it, but smiled and said, "Please take a seat in the hall!"

The two men sat down in the lobby. Yuwen Chengdu knew that the other party was wary of him. After all, his last name was Yuwen.
He then spoke frankly, "I was also the one who put up the ladder on the north wall of Anyifang."

Xiao Xia also wanted to laugh, "Why?"

"He is my adoptive father, I have to give him face, so I promised to protect his personal safety, but I don't care about assassins. If you don't show up, I will go straight back to the barracks after the Qinglong Temple is over."

Yuwen Chengdu smiled and said, "If I'm not mistaken, you were in that underground warehouse at that time."

Xiao Xia smiled slightly and said, "You are half right. This flying knife is indeed mine, but I am not in the underground warehouse. It is open to the public and no one can hide there. I am actually hiding in Baotai Martial Arts Hall."

Are you kidding? His wealth is all in the secret room in the underground warehouse. How could he admit it? Once he admits it, it would be equivalent to telling Yuwen Chengdu that there is a secret room inside.

Yuwen Chengdu was stunned for a while, then he suddenly raised his thumb and said with a smile: "Great! Awesome! No wonder they couldn't find him, it turns out he was hiding in their old nest. The old nest is empty, so it's naturally the best hiding place. He is indeed both wise and brave!"

In fact, Xiao Xia only realized later that he could hide in Baotai Martial Arts School, but by then he was already in the secret room.

Xiao Xia said calmly, "I have nothing to do with the assassination, but these assassins are related to me, and the relationship is very deep. I will definitely rescue them, even if it means offending your adoptive father!"

Yuwen Chengdu shook his head. "You don't need to explain to me. Even if Yuwen Shu was stabbed to death, that's his own business. It has nothing to do with me. I'm only responsible for the safety of the emperor. I don't want to be involved in any other assassinations."

Xiao Xia nodded silently. He had heard a long time ago that Yuwen Chengdu wanted to sever ties with Yuwen Shu. Now it seems that the rumor is true. Yuwen Chengdu's wings have become strong enough and he no longer needs to rely on others.

Yuwen Chengdu took out a bronze plate from his bosom and placed it on the table and pushed it to Xiao Xia. "Take this bronze plate to the Wannian County Office to retrieve the body of the female assassin. You can take the body by following the plate and there will be no unnecessary questions."

After saying that, he stood up, bowed and said, "Goodbye!"

Xiao Xia was grateful and sent Yuwen Chengdu out of the gate. When he saw him getting on the horse, Xiao Xia clasped his fists and said, "Brother Chengdu, I owe you a favor!"

Yuwen Chengdu looked up and smiled; this was exactly what he wanted to hear.

"Take care, brother Xiao!"

After Yuwen Chengdu left, Xiao Xia pondered for a moment, then sent someone to find Sun Lei, gave him the body-collecting card, and asked him to send two unfamiliar men to Wannian County Government to retrieve the body.

Yuwen Chengdu was indeed reliable and without any unnecessary nonsense, he took out Zhang Lian's body, put it in a big bag, and quickly sent it to Xiao Xia's mansion.

The body was well preserved and had not been humiliated. There were more than thirty arrows on the body. Xiao Xia personally removed the arrows one by one, a total of thirty-four arrows.

Xiao Xia had actually met Zhang Lian. Back then in Jiangdu, Liu Erhu wanted to kill Xiao Xia in the street, but it was Zhang Lian who saved Xiao Xia.

Xiao Xia sighed, stood up and carried Zhang Qiao out, carefully letting Zhang Qiao kneel in front of Zhang Lian. Zhang Qiao leaned on her aunt and cried bitterly. Xiao Qing and A Chu supported her on both sides and cried with her.
In the afternoon, Butler Liu brought a coffin and Xiao Xia put Zhang Lian's body into the coffin.

He turned around and found Zhang Qiao. Zhang Qiao was half lying on the bed, her eyes were red, staring blankly at the ceiling. She fainted twice from crying. Xiao Xia couldn't bear it anymore, so he forcibly carried her back to the room. If she continued crying, her arrow wound would really burst.

Xiao Xia sat down at the head of her bed, held her hand and said, "The dead must be buried in peace. I have three plans. Please choose one!"

Zhang Qiao slowly turned his head and looked at Xiao Xia, and his dull eyes suddenly became a little more lively.

Xiao Xia smiled gently and continued, "The first option is that I will find a good cemetery in Chang'an and bury her there. The second option is to cremate her and send her ashes back to Mount Qingcheng. The third option is to take advantage of the winter and send her body back to Mount Qingcheng. All three options are feasible. You can choose one."

Zhang Qiao's eyes turned red again. "Don't cremate her. I want to bring my aunt back to Qingcheng Mountain myself."

Xiao Xia nodded, "I'll let Tianyan Martial Arts School take over this matter. They have experience. Sister Li will go back with you, but you have to wait a few days until your wound heals." The next day, Xiao Xia came to the military camp. He hadn't been there for two days. Today is the eleventh day of the first lunar month, and there are still four days left until the Lantern Festival. There are a lot of things to do at this time of year, but these things are rather trivial, not big things. They are mainly various patrol and duty arrangements.

There were only three documents on Xiao Xia's desk that needed his signature. One was the patrol duty plan, the same as last year; one was the plan for arresting and punishing ruffians; and one was a subsidy plan. Since it was not a shift, everyone had to be on the road, so there would naturally be subsidies.

Xiao Xia took a look and signed all three plans. At this time, Liu Wenjing came in and said, "Something happened at Qinglong Temple yesterday morning. More than 30 people died. In order to catch the murderer, Wei Wentong brought hundreds of soldiers to our patrol area and almost got into a fight with our soldiers."

"and after?"

"Later, Wei Wentong admitted his cowardice and withdrew from Chang'an County. Should this matter be reported to the higher authorities?"

Xiao Xia shook her head tiredly, "There are too many messy things during the New Year. If no one is hurt, don't make trouble for yourself. Just suppress it!"

"I understand the humble position!"

Liu Wenjing went out, and Xiao Xia stood up and walked to the door of the tent, asking the soldier standing outside, "What's the matter?"

"There's a man outside the camp looking for you. He says he's an old friend of yours and he looks very strong!"

"what!"

Xiao Xia understood immediately and walked out quickly, only to see a man in black standing outside. He looked extremely strong and it was Zhang Jue.

Xiao Xia hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Uncle Zhang, I heard you were injured?"

"Hey! I'm wearing leather armor underneath, so I'm not hurt. Where's Zhang Qiao? I heard someone rescued him. Was it you?"

Xiao Xia nodded, "Let's go into the big tent and talk!"

Zhang Jue breathed a sigh of relief and followed Xiao Xia into the camp. The two of them sat down in the big tent, and Xiao Xia asked the soldiers to serve tea.

"Uncle Zhang is still injured?" Xiao Xia found that Zhang Jue was limping.

"He twisted his arm when he jumped into the moat. It's not a big deal. How's Zhang Qiao's injury?"

"She was shot in the chest by an arrow, but luckily she was wearing leather armor, so the arrow didn't penetrate her internal organs. It was just a flesh wound. I treated her with Spring Rain Pills and Diamond Pills. It should be able to scab over in a few days. Unfortunately, Aunt Lian died."

Zhang Jue's voice choked up, he covered his face and cried, "It's all my fault. I was so eager for revenge that I killed Lian Mei."

"Assassination is risky in itself, and it should have nothing to do with Uncle Zhang!" Xiao Xia comforted.

"No, I went to the Yuwen Mansion on the sixth day of the first lunar month, strangled a mastiff to death, and sank it into the pond. I was still hoping that they wouldn't find out, but it turned out that the Qinglong Temple was a trap, and they must have discovered the mastiff. It was me who killed them!"

Zhang Jue slapped himself hard several times, until the corners of his mouth were covered in blood.

Xiao Xia didn't know how to persuade them. They shouldn't have been so hasty in the assassination. Yuwen Shu had so many bodyguards and warriors, they were not there to do nothing, it would be strange if they didn't fail.

Xiao Xia sighed inwardly, and then said, "I have retrieved my aunt's body. It is in my house. I plan to have the martial arts school send the body back to Qingcheng Mountain. Zhang Qiao will also be coming with us. Uncle Zhang, please go to my house and take a look!"

Zhang Jue wiped away his tears, shook his head and said, "I don't have the face to see them, so I'll leave A Qiao to you."

"Uncle Zhang, time will slowly heal the pain, so don't be too hard on yourself."

Zhang Jue sighed, stood up and said, "I'm leaving. I'm going to Jiangnan. Tell A Qiao that I will visit her in the future."

Xiao Xia quickly took out a hundred taels of gold from his box and stuffed it into Zhang Jue's pocket, "Uncle Zhang, use it on the road!"

Zhang Jue took the gold, patted Xiao Xia on the shoulder, turned around and strode away.

Xiao Xia walked to the front of the tent and watched his figure disappear at the camp gate.

Xiao Xia sighed softly, not knowing when they would see each other again.

(End of this chapter)