Chapter 192: Capture the thief first and capture the king first

Hu Weiyong remained silent and kept watching.

At this time, Hu Lai pointed at the two banks of the river and shouted, "Dad, Dad... Look, look, what... what is that?"

Hu Weiyong's heart skipped a beat and he followed the direction of Hu Lai's finger. Then, a scene appeared in front of him.

On both sides of the river, a large number of cavalry appeared, densely packed.

A large number of assault boats are also heading here.

Hu Weiyong's face darkened. His face turned pale, but there was an indescribable doubt in his eyes.

"Dad, Dad. Are you here to arrest us?" Hu Lai's voice trembled uncontrollably.

Hu Weiyong said: "This... shouldn't be the case."

"But……"

Hu Weiyong said, "I understand."

Hu Lai was already panicking because there were ships heading here one after another.

Even many civilian ships began to block the way.

Now that we are drifting downstream, it is impossible to return even if we want to.

There seemed to be a dragnet ahead, with no way to escape.

Hu Weiyong stood at the bow of the boat, with his head slightly lowered, thinking hard, but he was in a state of confusion.

He had planned everything, but the only thing he hadn't expected was why... he would be robbed here.

Logically speaking, this is absolutely impossible.

Taking a deep breath, he said, "Don't panic, everyone. Deal with it well. There must be some misunderstanding. We have a token from the Japanese envoy."

As he spoke, he calmed down, but Hu Lai was already trembling like a sieve, his forehead was covered with cold sweat, and his face was filled with an unconcealable uneasiness.

It’s not that he didn’t believe his father, but the facts made him feel fear.

At this time, a small boat was approaching, and the people on the boat all bent their bows and drew their arrows.

Standing at the bow of the boat was a man wearing the uniform of a centurion official. This centurion official was tall and gave people an invisible sense of oppression.

He pressed the hilt of the knife at his waist and shouted with full force: "Hu Weiyong, there is no need to resist stubbornly. We have set up a dragnet here. You can't escape. Many of your families are on these boats. If they start fighting, I'm afraid you will be in trouble. Just surrender and I will spare you the pain."

As soon as these words were spoken, Hu Weiyong's face on the boat changed suddenly.

He continued to mutter, "Absolutely impossible, absolutely impossible. How could this be possible? How many people knew about this? All the planning and arrangements... were flawless..."

The man on the opposite boat continued impatiently: "If you don't surrender, we will shoot arrows at you."

Hu Weiyong's heart was filled with sorrow at this time. He felt a sense of desolation. He did not expect that after planning for so long, he would end up in such a situation.

A cunning rabbit has three burrows. He thought he had thought of any possibility, but he never expected that a magical soldier would descend from the sky here.

Hu Weiyong gritted his teeth, determined to die. Then, his eyes were filled with chilling coldness as he looked at Hu Lai and said, "We cannot surrender. Once we are captured, Zhu Yuanzhang will not let us go. I know his methods too well. When that happens, not only will our entire clan be annihilated, but you and I, father and son, will also be cut into pieces. We will neither be able to live nor die. Rather than surrendering, we might as well fight them."

A hint of cruelty flashed across Hu Weiyong's eyes.

There was a fierce look in his eyes. After all, he had experienced turbulent times before, so even as a civil official, he was still somewhat fierce.

Hu Weiyong continued, "My son, go back to the tent to get weapons, send a message to the ships, and tell them that since there is no way to survive, it is better to fight to the death."

At this time, Hu Lai shouted to the boat on the opposite side: "We surrender, we surrender, we surrender..."

After hearing this, Hu Weiyong flew into a rage. He subconsciously widened his eyes and shouted, "You little beast, you little beast, can't you even tell right from wrong? Do you think you can survive if you surrender? We are fighting them now. Even if we are eaten by fish, at least we will be spared from physical pain..."

Hu Lai was extremely anxious, but he turned a deaf ear to Hu Weiyong's words and only said to the centurion: "We were coerced by Hu Weiyong, and now we surrender. I beg you to spare our lives, please spare our lives..."

Hu Lai shouted loudly.

Originally, in this panic, the fellow tribesmen and servants of the Hu family had to take out their weapons and were ready to fight, but their arrogance suddenly diminished. Everyone was at a loss, looking at each other.

Hu Weiyong was furious when he heard this. He shouted, "Hu Lai, what are you doing?"

Hu Lai was in tears, his body trembling, but he looked at Hu Weiyong and said, "Hu Weiyong, you still think you are my father, you still think you were the right prime minister. You are old and confused, you don't have the ability to rebel, but you are still ambitious. Don't you know how much you are worth? Now, you have made us all die with you, why are you still yelling at me?"

Hu Weiyong's eyes went dark, and he managed to steady himself. He sneered, "Okay, very good."

Just when the chaos was in full swing on the ship.

Several ships had already arrived, and some people boarded them. Hu Lai knelt down immediately when he saw this. Hu Weiyong saw that the situation was hopeless, so he subconsciously wanted to jump into the river.

Hu Weiyong fell into the water, but before he could sink, someone jumped into the water and quickly pulled him out.

Hu Weiyong, who was soaked from head to toe, was tied up and taken to the river bank.

Hu Weiyong was panting and looked extremely embarrassed.

At this time, someone rode up to the river bank. Several clerks who came with him grabbed Hu Weiyong's hair, looked at his face carefully, and said in a slightly excited voice: "Captain, it's Hu Weiyong, it's Hu Weiyong, Hu Weiyong has been captured."

Among this group of people, the one sitting on the tall horse at the front was Deng Qianqiu.

At this time, Deng Qianqiu got off his horse and saw Hu Weiyong, who was dishevelled. He couldn't help but smile and said, "Mr. Hu, we meet again. I hope you are well."

Then, Deng Qianqiu said to the people around him: "How can you treat Lord Hu like this! The court has not yet issued an order to punish Lord Hu, and he is still the right prime minister. How can you be so rude!"

Hu Weiyong raised his head slightly, his wet hair stuck to his face, and he had lost all his usual smugness. He looked at Deng Qianqiu with hatred in his eyes, and sneered, "Deng Qianqiu, stop pretending. I will kill you or chop you up, it's all up to you."

Deng Qianqiu said, "How can you call for war and killing? Besides, it is not up to me, a small captain, to decide whether Mr. Hu lives or dies. The emperor will make the final decision when the time comes."

Hu Weiyong's pupils shrank, but in the end, he was like a deflated ball, and said dejectedly: "Okay, okay, the winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. I don't have much to say, but... I just want to know how you knew that I would come from here..."

"Escape from here, huh?" Deng Qianqiu grinned. "But I have no obligation to tell you this! Well, Mr. Hu, please follow me back to Beijing without further delay."

Hu Weiyong laughed loudly: "Okay, okay, okay, Deng Qianqiu, if you dare to let me go back to Beijing, that's great. But if I go back to Beijing, I'm afraid that many people in this world will not be able to sleep. Aren't you afraid, Deng Qianqiu?"

Deng Qianqiu said calmly, "What am I afraid of? I am innocent. I am not like you, who is always playing dirty. As for other people, what do they have to do with me?"

Hu Weiyong lost his voice for a moment.

He felt that the young man in front of him seemed to be his natural nemesis and would not listen to him at all.

He felt even more sad.

Deng Qianqiu then instructed his attendants, "Remember this. Take care to protect Lord Hu's family and escort them to the capital. Don't let them suffer any injustice along the way. We are not judges. Only your majesty can make the decision on this matter."

Then he ordered his men, "At the seaport, tell Niu Shisan to do his best to suppress the bandits. Don't be polite to these people. Kill those who deserve to be killed and cut them into pieces if necessary."

When Hu Weiyong heard this, it seemed that even the last bit of hope had been shattered in an instant.

He couldn't help but roar: "Deng Qianqiu..."

The person at the seaport was the last trump card Hu Weiyong had buried in his early years. Not only did he have his brothers in charge, but he also secretly had several concubines to give birth to children.

He had planned everything and had left many escape routes for himself and his family, but... now even his last trump card had been revealed.

And once they are wiped out, it means that the Hu family may really become extinct.

He gritted his teeth, full of resentment.

"What a shame, what a shame! I should have cut you into pieces back then. What a pity."

Deng Qianqiu just smiled at this.

Deng Qianqiu ignored this kind of impotent rage.

…………

"No, no, no."

Someone rushed into Li Shanchang's inner residence like crazy.

The person who came was none other than Li Cun Yi.

Li Cunyi was terrified. When he saw Li Shanchang, he hurriedly prostrated himself on the ground and said sadly, "Li Wenzhong entered the city and many people were arrested, brother... and... and Hu Gong... no, Hu Weiyong... he actually escaped. Looking at him, it seems that he had planned it all along. Brother, we have been fooled by him."

Li Shanchang looked haggard. He only glanced at Li Cunyi and said, "It was you who was fooled by him, not us."

Li Cunyi said: "Brother, I am your brother, and your brother is not me, right? We are brothers, even if our bones are broken, we are still connected by tendons."

Li Cunyi's face was grim as he continued, "Now... there are government troops everywhere. I'm afraid someone will betray me soon. Brother, please save me!"

Li Shanchang's face was cold, and he said, "You are afraid now, but what's the use? Can you teach me how to save you?"

Li Cunyi immediately said: "Brother, I will go to see His Majesty now..."

"Haha..." Li Shanchang laughed bitterly, "It has come to this point, and you still want me to beg for mercy? I can't even protect myself, what else do you want?"

"Brother." Li Cunyi looked at Li Shanchang cautiously: "What kind of person is Zhu Chongba? He was just a crude barbarian. If it weren't for brother's love for him and not looking down on his crude background, how could Zhu Chongba be what he is today? How could Zhu Chongba be so ungrateful!"

(End of this chapter)